The hedge maze in the Park, Sunday
The hedge maze has continued to grow since the first day. The hedges topped off at ten feet tall, but once past the entrance, giant thorned vines slither between the rows, wrapping like tentacles around the ankles of the unwary. Gremlins and beasties stalk through the shadows, and anything attempting to fly over, from a full grown dragon to the
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Merrill"Oh, I don't know. I like stories with endings like that, myself," said Merrill, flapping her wings to get a foot or two higher in the air so she could wave the spellbook in her talons at him. "Er. This isn't a story book, I just meant -- I'll just stop talking now."
Steve"You're doing fine," Steve said with a reassuring smile. "What'd you bring?"
MerrillMerrill actually sagged in relief at that, because she hadn't been expecting reassurance, and it surprised her enough that she forgot to flap her wings for a split second. "A book of spells," she said proudly. "For magic."
And she was going to stop right there before she started babbling again.
Iron PonyTony stepped up next to the poor kid for more support, pulling himself up to his full, sigh, pony height.
"I have a tax form for generosity." A beat. "And the ability to blast you in the face if that doesn't work."
Steve"Solid plan B," Steve agreed with a tiny grin. "I have the medal the US Army gave me for rescuing a camp full of prisoners. One of them was my best friend." He stood to his full, not a pony height with the kind of rigidity that made other people want to improve their posture. "For loyalty."
And he was giving his "You're Life Choice are Bad and You Should Feel Bad" look for all he was worth, too.
DiscordDiscord actually started to look worried. "Er. What -- what are you doing?"
Kenzi"Awwww," Kenzi cooed. "You didn't really think it was about rocks, didja, dude?" She grinned wide, and threw a banana peel on the dais. And then held up one in each hand. "Bananas! For Laughter! And Vitamin A!"
Didi"And a blanket," Didi added, moving to drape it over Discord's shoulders if he'd let her. "To remind you people are kind and take care of each other."
Roscoe"And I have my mirror," Roscoe said, angling it in Discord's face again, "to show you what honesty looks like."
He gave Discord a vaguely sympathetic look. "The truth hurts, huh?"
Discord"No." Discord reared up and flung off the blanket, fury distorting his strange face. "No, it can't be! This isn't Equestria! You have no Tree of Harmony! You can't have this magic!"
But they could. And they did. Through the link formed by Pinkie's years on the island, through Discord himself, and through the powerful magic of the interdimensional friendships forged in the island's protective -- if often Quixotic -- embrace, the Tree of Harmony's power reached through the dimensional void, fed through the talismans wielded by the Fandomites, and ignited, enveloping each of them in a warm, healing light.
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Iron PonySo now Tony was glowing and floating like a magical girl mid-transformation. That was a thing that was happening. "What."
Didi"It's amazing, isn't it?" Didi grinned at him, floating upside down as the laser did its work.
RoscoeRoscoe was also floating, which was unsettling.
And then there were the rainbow lasers of it all. The ones jutting out from his hands, pointing right at Discord's heart. Or approximately where a heart might be on a pony if ponies had hearts where humans did.
Merrill"There are plenty of other kinds of magic, especially here. It's too bad you didn't realize that," Merrill told Discord. Like the kind affecting them now: strange magic, yes, but it felt familiar enough to her. She lifted the foreleg that wasn't holding onto the spellbook to admire the glow, then realized what that meant, and . . .
"Oh," she said with just a faint hint of regret, because it would be a lie to say she wouldn't miss being a griffon, at least a little bit.
But at least these bright rainbow beams she seemed to be aiming in Discord's direction were pretty!
Kenzi"Wooooooooooohooooooo!" Kenzi screeched, flapping her wings and cheering. "Take that, asshat!" Then she blinked. "I GOT MY SWEAR WORDS BACK! OH BABY YES!"
Iron Pony"Seriously, what," Tony said, trying to correct his floating with the boot jets. All four of them. "I better stop being a pony after this is over."
Steve"Well, it's not the weirdest thing I've ever seen, but this is way, way up there," Steve commented, trying to look Completely Okay with this.
He was not at all okay with this.
DiscordAw, but it was so pretty! Such bright shining lights, such vibrant rainbow colors! They all pounded into and around Discord while he flailed and shrieked, repeating over and over that this world didn't have Harmony, this couldn't be happening --
Right up until he stopped yelling anything.
The rainbows blasting into him exploded outward and upward, a rainbow mushroom cloud and shockwave shooting over the entire island. In its wake, all the chaos and silliness Discord had brought vanished and reset to normal. Buildings stopped floating. The animals returned to their natural shapes. The soap streets resolidified to cobblestone and asphalt. And all the residents returned to their varying degrees of humanoid forms.
When the dust cleared and the heroes returned gently to the ground, all that remained of Discord was a white marble statue, frozen mid-shriek.
MerrillBy the time the dust cleared Merrill had managed to pick herself up off the ground.
"Oh, well, that's --" She blinked at the statue. "Not something I expected to happen. I don't know what I expected, really."
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