DISCORD'S REIGN
Chapter 15-Us & Them
The silence was complete and absolute. Discord loved it. He was a showman by nature, reveling in moments like this.
"Your princesses are no more! I am in charge now!" he announced, catching a glimpse of the guards advancing on him out of the corner of his eye.
"Now, now, boys," Discord added condescendingly snapping both fingers. The guards blinked, frozen in place. "Let's not mar this joyous event with violence."
The pegasi guard on his left began brushing himself off wildly as he screamed about spiders, while the other guard on Discord's right shrank into the fetal position. Discord grabbed both guards by the back of the armor and held them up in view of the crowd.
"Now then, if all of you want to try and avoid being mad for all eternity, you will bring me the bearers of the elements of harmony!" the chimera dropped the guards and set his hands back on the railing of the balcony. "You have two days to bring the six ponies to me."
He snapped his fingers once more, freeing the guards of his mental snare. The crowd below regained their senses to an appropriate degree of panic as ponies galloped in every direction. He knew not all of the ponies in Canterlot and the surrounding areas would go after Twilight and her friends. He didn't need them to, all he needed was a few desperate or crazy enough to get a group together to prove his point.
The energy of their confusion drove him as he tightly gripped the railing of the balcony. He closed his eyes, concentration evident on his furrowed brow. His hands began to glow, an otherworldly aura slowly tracing the entire castle. In a few minutes, the entirety of the massive stone structure glowed a bright sunlit yellow. A slow but building rumble shook the whole city as Canterlot castle freed itself from the side of the mountain and floated above the capital.
This was Discord's Equestria now.
They had worked through the afternoon, with almost nothing to show for it. Luna simply had no idea how to create new elements of harmony. Celestia was the only one with knowledge of how to free one from stone, and she wasn't talking. It was a spell she designed especially for the elements to use, and never written down. As Luna admitted sheepishly, they weren't written down so as to keep her from creating her own elements and overthrowing her sister. Ironic now that the measures she took to prevent herself from being turned to stone were now preventing her from being freed from it.
"My apologies Twilight." the lunar princess admitted, "I cannot seem to recharge the old elements, or create any new ones."
Twilight released a frustrated sigh. This had to work! This was their only hope! The other five ponies had spent most of their time flipping through a few of Twilights books that sparked their various interests, though it was mostly Twilight and Luna doing the work.
"It's okay." the lavender unicorn assured, "We'll figure this out."
On the inside, her hope was slowly fading. No amount of magic seemed to be working on the elements, or Celestia's stone prison. Twilight paused to look around the library. Rarity had her nose in a book on Parisian fashion, while Pinkie Pie and Applejack were having a quiet conversation about something on the edge of the stairs. Rainbow still had that same dejected look on her face as when she first arrived. Fluttershy sat close next to her, Rainbow's thousand yard stare seemed to pass right through the floor and out the other side of the planet. They all had to work together in harmony for this to work, and Twilight recognized potential disharmony when she saw it.
"Hey Fluttershy, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked stepping away from her work.
The shy pegasus whispered something to Rainbow as she got up. The cyan pegasus held her expression as if she were the one sealed in stone.
A short walk away from the corner where Rainbow sat, Twilight had to ask, "What is going on with Rainbow today?"
"I don't know Twilight. She's been acting like this since she got back from Cloudsdale with Appleja-" the canary yellow pegasus blushed heavily and scolded herself mentally for letting a few words slip.
"She went to Cloudsdale with Applejack?" Twilight asked obliviously, "Why?"
Fluttershy frowned. She had really painted herself into a corner now.
"Um...well...they...uhm..."
A sudden realization hit Twilight like a sack of apples.
"You mean...the two of them..."
Fluttershy was as red as the setting sun, giving Twilight her answer.
"Oh." Twilight had never considered either of them would swing that way. To be honest, she had never even contemplated her friends orientation, though she supposed two mares together probably wasn't as uncommon as she expected. After all, she already had a lock on the most eligible stallion in town.
Still, a hardworking farm girl and a rowdy stunt flier? She had always read that opposites attract, but she also read you don't get to pick those you love. She would have been happy for them, had it not appeared that they both weren't exactly on speaking terms.
Besides being partially upset at two of her best friends for keeping her in the dark about their relationship, her concern was also peaked by their apparent distance from each other.
"What happened in Cloudsdale?"
"I don't know." Fluttershy whispered. "She won't tell me."
A distant rumble interrupted their conversation as the ground trembled softly beneath their hooves.
Confused looks shot around the room as the vibration ceased just as quickly as it had come.
"What was that?" Applejack asked standing from the stairs.
Pinkie bounded down the stairs and out the front door to investigate while her friends stood and stared.
"Oh wow! The chocolate milk rain is back! Horray!" she stuck her head back through the door, her mane still somehow puffy, despite being drenched. Apart from Pinkie, everpony in the library wore the same shocked expression. They hurried to the nearest window and saw the pink clouds gathering over Canterlot in the distance as well as a few over Ponyville. The castle was hovering commandingly over the city as lightning lit up the unusually colored sky.
Twilight's eyes widened. Discord was making his move now, and they were still no closer to freeing princess Celestia!
"No, no, no! We still haven't freed the princess!" she added in panic as Pinkie frolicked in arguably her favorite part of impending chaos.
Rainbow immediately pushed her hurt deep inside her, knowing if any of them were to have a chance of weathering this, she couldn't be distracted by the events of last night.
"You think he's turned everypony on us?" Rainbow broke the silence she had held since arriving.
Twilight's gaze held out the window towards Canterlot, "I don't know."
As if to answer her question, a scroll appeared in front of Twilight. The royal seal keeping it rolled was not an 'L'
or a 'C', but a 'D'.
The other five and Luna gathered around the lavender unicorn as the letter hovered in front of her.
"Dear element bearers," she began aloud, "By now I'm sure you've all noticed my redecoration of Canterlot and my re-zoning of the sky to allow floating castles. I trust I don't have to remind you all of the conversation we had at the library about you being hunted down by the populace you claim loves you. I sent a scroll to everypony in Equestria to inform them of the price I put on your heads. It's funny the lengths some will go to protect themselves and their families isn't it? So if you've left town, I congratulate you on making the right choice! If you haven't, then I suggest you make the right choice, or I'll be seeing you a lot sooner that you think! The time will come to make that decision right...about...now."
As if on queue, a few ponies began to gather in the village square, each holding the communiqué from Discord.
The news of Discord's takeover spread like wildfire through the kingdom, sending major cities and small towns alike into panic. Soon a rather large crowd had gathered in the square, the mayor struggling to quiet the uneasy citizens.
"I know these are dark times everypony, but we must trust in the princess-"
"The princess is gone!" a stallion in the crowd shouted, earning a few shouts of agreement from others who saw the fall of Celestia as complete as ever.
"The letter says Discord will spare our town if we bring him the element bearers!" another yelled, gathering a few more calls and whinnies of concurrence.
"And you believe him?" the mayor shot back, trying desperately to talk some sense into the already anxious ponies.
"I believe he'll curse our lands if we don't, so what choice do we have?" another pony answered, "It's us or them!"
Twilight took a step back from the window as the crowd slowly began to move towards the library.
"I don't like the look of that group." Rainbow said keeping an eye on the mob.
Applejack knew of one place they could hide out until they figured out a plan.
"Twilight!" the country mare called, "Use your magic to take us to the farm!"
"All of us?" the lavender unicorn shot back surprised, "I've never teleported more than one other pony!"
The mob had begun to surround the library, angry ponies seeing their targets through the windows waiting for them to come out.
"Forget that! I'll fight my way out of here if I have to!" Rainbow added taking a defensive stance against the door.
"Rainbow! We're supposed to be helping them!" Twilight said trotting to the center of the room, ready to try and teleport all seven of them to Sweet Apple Acres, "Not fighting them!"
The other element bearers and princess Luna gathered around Twilight as she concentrated on charging the biggest teleportation spell she'd ever attempted. She was already tired from lack of sleep the past night, she prayed she had the energy to teleport everypony without leaving half of somepony here and the other half at Sweet Apple Acres.
"If anypony has any extra limbs when get there, let me know!" Twilight grimaced, a transparent purple ball of energy surrounding them. With a loud crack like thunder and a flash of light, they appeared behind the bright red barn.
"Everypony still the same... as when we left?" she panted.
After a brief once over, they all seemed to have their wings, horns, and hooves in the proper place. An unmistakable deep voice drew everypony's attention to the corner of the barn.
"I'll get to it in a second Granny!"
Big Macintosh came around the barn and stopped, seeing he had some unexpected company. He held his constantly calm expression and swished his wheat stalk from one side of his mouth to the other.
"Howdy."
Applejack didn't have time for pleasantries. "Big Macintosh you have to unlock the cellar!"
"Eeyup."
Without another word, he turned tail and the six ponies and alicorn princess followed him. He flung the heavy wooden doors open with a flick of his neck. The other's quickly trotted into the space beneath the barn, leaving the red stallion standing above them with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Somepony want to tell me what it is y'all are doin' hidin' in the cellar?"
Twilight climbed out of the cellar and pointed a hoof behind him. The pink clouds loomed heavy on the horizon toward Ponyville and the rest of Equestria.
"Hm...Discord again?" Mac asked, getting a nod from Twilight.
"Alright. Now I'm no element bearer er nothin'..." he began, turning his head back toward his sister and her friends still in the cellar, "But shouldn't y'all be stoppin' him?"
"We been tryin' to ya big dummy!" Applejack snapped, though her occasional insults bounced off her brother's thick skin.
"It's a long story Mac, I'll explain later." Twilight explained through a yawn. The amount of magic it took to take a group that large that distance had exhausted her. "You wouldn't happen to have a bed free would you?"
"There's one inside the farmhouse." Big Macintosh said taking a step towards the stately old home. "I'll show ya."
As they walked away, Applejack couldn't help but wonder why they had all immediately entered the cellar, when the angry mob was back in Ponyville.
"We'll have to sleep in the barn until we figure out how we're gonna stop Discord." the country mare stated ascending the steps. A quick glance back toward town instilled an uneasy feeling in her stomach. The seed of doubt she carried about stopping Discord sprouted, becoming a growing dread that began to eat away at her confidence.
"Looks like it's gonna rain soon." Rainbow said to nopony in particular, but directing it toward Applejack.
"Yup. Better head in the barn." she responded. Still the same tone Applejack had used back in Cloudsdale. It still stung, but at least the earth pony acknowledged her.
'Better than a buck to the face...' Rainbow thought.
Applejack turned to face their royal guest, "Sorry about the accommodations princess Luna, you can stay in the farmhouse in my bed if you like."
"We-I am most grateful for your most generous offer, fair Applejack," Luna said, "But I will not warm myself indoors while those responsible for saving the kingdom many times over shiver in the cold!" the alicorn proudly took a step toward a rather large pile of hay in the corner.
"I shall lay here this night." the lunar princess proclaimed, settling herself atop it with a ruffle of her wings.
Applejack nodded slowly before addressing the others, "Y'all just find someplace and get comfortable. Whenever Twilight wakes up, I'm sure she'll tell us the plan." the muted orange mare's motherly tone belied her worry at the increasing desperation of their situation.
A distant rumble of thunder echoed her concern as she took a glance over her shoulder at the fog that seemed to be consuming the town they called home.
Twilight followed Big Macintosh into their quaint country home, the permanent scent of apples heavy in the air. All the furniture and she assumed the house itself; was made of applewood. She greeted Granny Smith, the elderly mare busy knitting socks for Applebloom in her favorite rocker.
Pictures of mares and stallions, all sharing apple themed cutie marks adorned the walls. Applejack's extended family photos took up most of her living room. Twilight had seen all the faces at one time or another during her time in Ponyville. As she followed him to the steps, she noticed a picture of a mare and stallion she was sure she had never met before.
The mare had Applejack's coat but Appleblooms mane, while the stallion was almost the spitting image of a much older Big Macintosh. The hat the stallion in the photo was wearing seemed very familiar to her as Big Mac broke her stare with a gentle throat clearing.
"My Ma and Pa." he said stopping on the first landing of the steps to the second floor.
"Oh! I...I was just..." she had always assumed something had happened to Applejack's parents, but never felt the need to inquire due to the awkwardness such a question could create.
"It's okay." the workhorse assured, "If we didn't want folks to see 'em we wouldn't a hung 'em up."
Twilight glanced away from the picture and back to the stallion's gentle smile, nearly the same one as his dad in the photograph, "You look just like your father."
The rural stallion nodded at her compliment turning his head toward the top of the stairs, beckoning her to follow. "That's what everypony says."
Twilight found herself stealing glimpses of Mac as he climbed the stairs, admiring every toil-hardened muscle in his powerful flanks.
'Ugh...if only I wasn't so tired-'
Mac snapped Twilight out of her daze, "Here we are."
He pushed opened the door to reveal a simple bed, with nothing but a few spare yokes hanging on the wall and a modest desk flush in the corner. She had never imagined what Mac's room looked like, but if she had it would be along these lines.
"Ah know it ain't much..."
In truth, Twilight was just thankful for a bed. Expending that much magic at once had sapped what energy she hadn't spent working through the night and with Luna all day.
"It's fine Mac, I just need somewhere to sleep for a while." Twilight trotted over to the bed and laid on her belly, stretching out every leg before rolling onto her back and letting out a long yawn. Big Macintosh held his smile as he watched the cutest mare in Ponyville make herself comfortable.
"So you want to tell me what's goin' on out in the barn?" he asked watching Twilight shimmy under the plaid sheets. He noticed her sapphire eyes gently closing; the comfort of being in a bed for the first time in days, coupled with the comforting scent of Big Macintosh's bed was slowly melting away her resolve to stay awake.
"Right...Discord escaped...and he's the princess...I mean he looks like the princess..." she paused to let out another long yawn before continuing her response in the form of a soft snore. Mac leaned against the doorway and smiled; taking in the sleeping form of the filly he was so glad he gave another chance. He strode over quietly and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek as he pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.
"G'night Twilight."
The stallion closed the door softly and took his leave. He walked back outside to the barn where he found most everypony asleep with the exception of princess Luna. Mac noticed that his sister and Rainbow Dash were sleeping on opposite sides of the barn, backs turned. He shook off his concern for another time as he softly addressed the princess.
"What brings you to our neck of the woods your majesty?"
Her star-studded mane blew gracefully without wind, her head turning slowly in his direction to respond, "Dark times, I'm afraid."
"I s'pected as much." Mac whispered with a nod, not wanting to wake the others, "Discord, from the looks of it."
"Yes, the spirit of disharmony walks the land once again. He sealed my sister in stone," she began, looking out through the open barn door toward the chaos enveloping the rest of the kingdom. "The subject-I mean element bearers and I were trying to find a way to free Celestia when Discord put a price on our heads."
Big Macintosh withdrew slightly hearing the suggestion that the citizens of Equestria would turn on those who had kept them safe for so long at the order of a despot. Surely the populous would have a bit more loyalty?
"A price? I take it no pony came to collect?"
Luna scoffed, "They did. The subjects are merely sheep. If you threaten them, they'll usually give you what you want."
"That wasn't the way my sister ruled. She was kind, forgiving, trusting...everything I should have been. Instead I was Nightmare Moon." Luna trailed off, Mac somewhat confused as to why she brought up herself being Nightmare Moon, but decided not to press the matter. He noticed a distinct emotional distance in Luna's tone when she spoke of her sister, a concept quite alien to the close-knit Apple family. Though he supposed he couldn't blame her for maybe being a little upset, after all she did banish her to the moon for a thousand years.
"S'alright. You're princess Luna now ain't cha?"
His accent drew a smile to her regal features as she held her gaze toward the rest of her kingdom.
"Indeed I am...er..."
Big Macintosh blushed in embarrassment. He had forgotten to introduce himself, and to royalty no less! Granny Smith would tan his hide if she were still physically able.
"Macintosh Apple, your highness." he quickly added, a simple bow accentuating his introduction.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, noble Macintosh." she responded, extending a hoof and expecting a gentle kiss on the end.
Big Mac gladly took her hoof and shook it vigorously before giving it back before a rather dizzy Luna.
"If'n you'll excuse me, I've got a few chores ta finish up before dark."
Luna watched him go, amazed at how even in the face of a chocolate milk flavored apocalypse, some ponies still found it necessary to work until their last day. She also took notice of the stallions more impressive physical attributes, casting her mane beside her head with a quick flick of the neck.
'Macintosh Apple...perhaps living in a barn won't be so bad.' she thought grinning, crossing her forelegs in front of her and resting her head upon them.
Discord had allowed night to fall regularly over the land, Luna's moon rose above the clouds, its crescent face shining brightly between the stray cotton candy clouds that managed to make it out this far.
Twilight rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her hooves and looked out the only window in Big Macintosh's room. It was pitch black except for the lights in the barn. She could have easily slept until the next day, rolling over away from the window and rubbing her face into the pillow, still trying to squeeze a few more blissful minutes out of this rather firm mattress. A few medallions hanging on one of Mac's spare yokes somehow managed to directly shine moonlight into her eye, as if nature itself was forcing her to get out of bed.
Her mind began to drift, influenced by Mac's scent toward some saucy thoughts about what she and Mac could do on a sturdy bed like this. She grinned to herself as she stretched her legs, tossing the blanket off of her top half, willing herself to leave the bed and continue trying to figure out a way to stop Discord. She exited the room and started down the stairs when a hurried Big Macintosh met her halfway.
"Twilight!" he said breathlessly. She had never seen him so worked up before, "Go hide in the cellar, Rainbow said she saw a group of ponies from town headin' this way!"
She squeezed by him as he hurried Granny Smith and Applebloom into the upstairs bedrooms, despite the yellow filly's protest.
"But I wanna go to the sleepover in tha barn!"
"I told ya it ain't a sleepover! Now mind Granny till I get back." the stallion closed the door and headed back outside. The crowd had a few torches and more than a few of them had ropes, ready to hogtie Twilight and her friends no doubt. He met them at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, standing as broad as he could in front of the iron gate.
"Somethin' I can do for y'all?" he asked calmly as the girls looked on from the darkened barn, both Twilight and Applejack feared for Mac's safety. He was outnumbered ten to one easily, and to try and help him if things got out of hoof would only give away their hiding spot and force them to find new refuge.
"I think you know why we're here Mac." the workhorse recognized the stallion that seemed to be leading the group as the colt of the kindly old stallion who ran the cart repair shop. Axel, if his memory served.
Axel never knew an honest days work, so it didn't surprise him that he'd show up looking to take the easy way out and try to listen to Discord.
"Well, the element bearers ain't here."
"Don't feed me that line! We've checked everywhere else they live, and this is the last place on our list."
'No use tryin' ta stop 'em.' Mac thought, maintaining his always cool composure as he switched his wheat sprig from one side of his mouth to the other.
"Fair enough. You can look wherever you'd like."
They sent a few into the house with Mac, finding nothing but Granny Smith and Applebloom. After a thorough search, they turned their attention to the barn.
"How bout down there?" Axel motioned toward the structure.
The workhorse nodded, leading them to the barn while silently praying the other ponies had taken his warning seriously and hidden in the cellar.
He slowly pulled the two large barn doors opened and allowed the invaders inside. Every square inch of the interior was inspected, six ponies and an alicorn literally stuffed beneath the floor planks of the barn, looking through the floorboards at those who would have them turned over to Discord.
The wood creaked and groaned under their hooves as Big Macintosh kept a close watch on the invaders from the door. After an exhaustive search the mob turned back to the red stallion, frustration clear on their faces.
"We know you know where your sister is Mac." the cart mechanic's son growled, "Now are you gonna tell us, or are we gonna have to kick it out of you?"
Twilight cringed hearing the threat of violence. She glanced to Applejack, who wore a confident expression in the face of her brother taking on ten stallions at once.
"You're more than welcome ta try." he said cracking his neck and taking off his yoke.
"If you think you got what it takes."
Twilight couldn't help but admire Big Mac's bravery in the face of such a challenge, her adoration quickly being replaced by extreme worry for the red earth stallion's safety.
"I hope Mac knows what he's doing." Twilight whispered.
"Don't worry, he does." Applejack answered just as softly.
"Did ya happen ta catch sight a the medals he's got in his room?" she continued.
The lavender unicorn returned a nod. "What about them?"
"Three words cousin. Ponyville. Heavyweight. Champion."