//------------------------------// // The Walking... ponies... // Story: The Secret Side Of Discord // by Lemon Pegasus //------------------------------// It was a sudden flash of yellow and orange, as one of the distant walls was blown open as if it was nothing, before a storm of royal guard flooded in! Laba's and Spiral Dusts's fears were coming true, they were under attack! Discord had one goal on his mind right now: find Starswirl and leave as soon as possible! He was around 50 yards from the school where Starswirl would surely be, but he wouldn't be able to get there before a pony caught him! Creatures of all kinds fled in to defend their village, there were unicorns performing magic duels and pegasi wrestling mid-flight! Whole groups of guards were swept up by one huge Manticore which pounced at them from behind a nearby building, roaring and snarling as it battled the attackers! Discord only realized that a guard was charging at him moments before it took a swipe at him with his magic-mounted long-sword! Discord managed to grab the handle of the sword mid swipe, before wrapping his huge hand around the pony's neck and lifting him to eye height, before growling at him and launching him a great distance like a super athlete! He kept hold of the sword, might come in handy. He sprinted for the school, no more guards making their way towards him now that pretty much the entire village's supply of soldiers and armed creatures had rolled up on the scene. Discord was about to make a leap for the door, when three armed guards stood before, spears drawn. Discord slowly backed away, before one yelled "get him"! Discord was ready to swipe at them, when there was a green ray shot at them and they were all consumed in a green ball before imploding, as if sucked into a void of some sort. It was Chrysalis, she had come out to defend her village like many others had, not only that, but Laba was mid duel with a guard too! He seemed oddly skilled with a blade, he was easily a match for the guard he did battle with, who was overpowered within seconds. Now he was clear, he swung open the door and sprinted inside. The room was very much empty, though there was equipment scattered about as if there was a class happening before this attack started. There was a moment where Discord stood there for a moment, not much happening, before he was knocked to his feet, and the noise from outside came back to him! He managed to get up and twist around, now face to face with a stallion wielding a battleaxe using his magic! Discord used his sword to block a mighty blow from this axe, before Discord's was disarmed with a clever twist from his foe! Discord stood their, defenseless, the stallion was about to attack, before a great ball of red transformed the stallion into nothing more than a puddle of ash! Discord looked to his left to see: Starswirl! He stood in the doorway, facing Discord, clearly he had cast a fireball on the attacker to defend him! Discord called to his foal, before he ran at him, right into his embrace. Discord couldn't waste too much time though, you know, there was kind of an invasion going on! One problem, holding Starswirl in his arm was a HUGE risk, Starswirl -weird as it may seem- would likely be safer running beside Discord! He knelt down and held his child by the shoulder. "Stay close to me, now. If you're attacked, use your spell. If I'm attacked, run! If Laba or Chrysalis or one of the village residents is willing to care for you, go with them. If a guard captures you, call for help, okay?" Starswirl nodded, clearly having a brave moment. Discord stood by the door, hearing dozens of battle cries and crashes of metal against metal outside. Starswirl stood by his leg, ready to run outside. Discord held out of his hand, counted 3...2...1... and, hold on... why doesn't he just fly... problem! Solved! Discord dropped his sword and took Starswirl in his hand. He then sprinted outside and straight into the middle of a Hollywood battle scene! Well, Hasbro studios -more like- but you get the point! He readied for take off and shot into the skies like an arrow from a bow, before... he... started falling! His wings were glowing a feint green, he must have been shot by a flight jinx! And now he was plummeting towards the ground without any chance of slowing, Starswirl as well! He was about to hit the ground, when within a flash, he was flying horizontally off the ground, before landing clumsily onto his feet, just managing to keep his balance. A familiar yellow pegasus landed beside him: Spiral Dust! "Good to see you again, sort of..." "SORT OF?" Did he have any idea how many bronies would pay big money to meet him? "Well, we're in the middle of a battleground, so it's hard to be happy..." Okay, that was a fair point... "So, do we have a plan?" Discord asked, of course if they didn't they were screwed... then again, weren't they already? "Yeah, run like the wind!" Well, it was something! "We are out numbered, and we have no experience! We're bailing like it's going out of fashion!" "Hold on, you're going to just abandon your fellow villagers?" "What fellow villagers?" Discord looked around. Yeah, good point, by now there was just an army of celestial guards and no more villagers! Not only that, but they were charging at Discord and Spiral... yeah, now would be a good time to leg it! Discord and Spiral sprinted to the gate that stood a not so great distance away! Discord wasn't used to having to sprint, especially while carrying a foal, usually he would just fly! After a number of turns, they eventually came to the gate! Spiral flew ahead to crack open the huge wooden gate, which heavily swung open with great force! Discord ran through and fled into the forest, Spiral Dust following, as well as way too many guards! Suddenly, he sprung an idea! He grabbed Spiral dust and clicked his fingers before ducking behind a bush. The guards all ran by, not at all knowing where the three of them were, thanks to that invisibility spell Discord just cast! Continuity! "Hello? Where did you go..." Discord would find him and make him not invisible, but... where was he? Well, damn! "Spiral Dust, I cast an invisibility spell on me, you and Starswirl! I don't know where you are, so..." Discord leaned against a tree, Starswirl in his other hand. "So, come near this tree and I'll try and find you!" "Uhm, which tree?" Actually, there were in a forest! This was going to be harder than expected. "Hold on, I got this." Wait, who was that? Discord said nothing, and that wasn't Spiral Dust's sweet, buttery voice... that sounded like Laba! Hold on, it was Laba! The unicorn stood beside a bush, his horn glowing, before an almost silent blue pulse shot out of his horn and revealed Discord's, Starswirl's and Spiral Dust's location. Spiral Dust was stood by a different tree. "I managed to escape, as well as bringing a few residents with me." A group of ponies revealed themselves behind Laba, including Chrysalis! There were only three of them other than Laba and Miss Chrysalis abyss. An orange, male earth pony with a black mane. A light green lady earth pony with a dark green mane. And a red, male pegasus with a brown mane. He seemed to be carrying saddlebags. "You also cast an invisibility spell? Clever. Anyway, we were prepared for an event like this. We have a series of tunnels under Ponyville which a friend of mine has been keeping clear, if we can get there." Hold on, Ponyville? Isn't that a really long way away? "Uhm... why Ponyville?" Discord asked. "Well, if you're looking for a group of fugitives, the last place you'd look is directly under Ponyville! We'll be safe there, hidden, if nothing else." Actually, that was a fairly good point. "Friar here brought a map." Using his magic, Laba lifted a map from the red Pegasus's saddlebag, supposedly he was the one called "Friar." "So... we have a long journey ahead of us?" Discord asked, as if he hadn't already endured quite the journey. Laba replied "I guess we do" before checking his map. "And I believe we have our route..."