Princesses of Equestria

Chapter 27: The Heartstone

"I did it."

Queen Armonia felt lighter than air. Light enough to float to heaven. But there was no need. Heaven was right here. Her outpouring of phobomancy had made it. A field of golden grass, kissed by rouge roses. The only blemishes in its perfection were a few house-sized armor slabs, and the glob of saliva before her.

A fitting memorial for the self-proclaimed 'Prince of Pandemonium'. The one who'd scarred her. Humiliated her. Crippled her. Whose mocking laughter had haunted her nightmares. Who she'd thought dead, disintegrated by Celestia and Luna for his crimes.

Only he hadn't been dead. They'd succeeded where she'd failed, but hadn't had the resolve to finish the job. He'd come back. Humiliated her again, hurt her again, laughed at her again. Until ...

Until he hadn't.

Because, by Queen Eponia, she'd made him pay.

"I actually did it." Queen Armonia ground her spittle underfoot. "I won." She sounded the words out slowly, tasting them. Scrumptious as oven-fresh rutabaga cake with caramelized icing, and extra sprinkles.

"Ha, ha. Who's laughing now, Discord?" She waited with exaggerated patience for a sardonic comeback. None came. "Me, that's who! Ahahaha!" Overjoyed, Armonia twirled upon a breeze of rose petals, dancing without a care in the whole world, and laughing all the while.

Far above, Fluttershy watched a twisted demon caper in a scorched crater desolate as Tartarus's inferno. Equinox Greens was green no longer. Armonia's fear magic, unleashed when she'd played her suicidal master stroke, had leveled her homeland beyond recognition.

Not that Armonia cared. She was oblivious to the ash-choked skies, the withered grass, the felled jungles, dried rivers, ruptured volcanoes, split mesas, collapsed caves, flattened trees; oblivious to everything except the deed she'd done.

The friend she'd shot and thrown into oblivion.

Fluttershy saw Discord fall. She wanted to blind her eyes.

"Was I a good friend?"

Fluttershy remembered his last words. She wanted to tear her heart out, and never feel again.

Fluttershy heard Armonia revel in triumph. She wanted to go deaf.

"Ha! Goodbye and good riddance, Discord! HAHAHAAA!"

Scratch that. She didn't want to go deaf. She wanted to knock every last jagged tooth out of Armonia's mouth.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Shut up." A whisper through gritted teeth. Unheard. Unheeded. The monster cackled on and on.

"GYAHAHAHA!"

"Shut up shut up SHUT UP!!"

Fluttershy lurched through a fiery haze, heartbeat drumming in her ears, blood boiling, all of her boiling, all of her focused on making the laughs stop.

She just had to clamber to the edge, hurl herself off, hurl herself at Armonia before the sick freak recovered, then Stare Armonia down and use the Element like she had on the phoblins use it to grow vines thick as tree trunks and hit Armonia over and over until the laughing stopped—

"No!"

The others pulled her back, inches from the island's edge.

"Fluttershy, we can't! " Twilight cried, clasping her trembling wings. "The only thing that can help Discord is ..."