Discord twiddled his thumbs as he attempted to drown a goldfish. The fish blubbed happily in the deathtrap the draconequus had constructed for it. There was no escape from the doomed, watery grave.
The goldfish wiggled a fin as it munched pebbles of food.
“Just you wait, Goldie Pox,” Discord said. “Any moment now, you won’t be able to hold your breath anymore, and then… well…” He shrugged. “You’ll sleep with the fishes.”
Goldie Pox blinked his fishy little eyelids.
“Stop that,” Discord said. “It’s unnatural.”
“You’re no stranger to the unnatural, Discord.”
Discord looked up. His room was dark and shadowy, the strange glow of Goldie Pox’s fishbowl the only light. “And dost thou speakest of the devil?”
One shadow in particular drifted down. The beaked face of Shadowfright materialized, his purple eyes burning out of the black. “I’m natural enough. I was born. I live. Perhaps one day I shall die. Maybe.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know it was even possible for your kind to die.”
“Our regenerative properties have been deemed astronomically impossible by the ponies for centuries.” Shadowfright smirked. “But then, nopony’s tried to split my atoms in a long while.”
“Well, I certainly hope I’m there for the show,” Discord growled. “I’d be happy to participate.”
“Participation is overrated.” Shadowfright slithered up to Discord and wrapped a tendril around his middle. “It’s much easier to take the side path and watch all the pieces fall together. One by one.”
Discord tried to stand up, but Shadowfright held him down. He teleported a meter away and stuck out his tongue. “Neener, neener.”
“Far be it from me to give out unwanted hugs,” Shadowfright said. “I suspect you get lots of those from your dozens of friends.”
“Of course,” Discord said. He crossed his arms. “I’m a nice draconequus now. Friendship is magic, yadda, yadda.”
“Certainly, certainly.” Shadowfright glanced at the pile of friendship reports that had been rolled into balls atop Discord’s couch. “No doubt you care for your friends as they care for you.”
Discord mumbled something.
“I’m sorry?” Shadowfright said.
“I will call the princesses if you don’t leave right this second,” Discord said.
“Oh, aren’t you the responsible one, now?” Shadowfright guffawed. “I tremble at the Lawful-Good draconequus. A paladin’s paladin!”
“Hay.” Discord rolled up the fur on his arms like sleeves. “Them’s fighting words.”
“Oh, I haven’t even gotten started.” Shadowfright wrapped his dark body around Discord. “You’re nothing but a failure.”
Discord struggled against Shadowfright’s grip. “What are you—?”
“You come to Equestria as the conquering King of Chaos, and now?” Shadowfright tsked. “You’re nursemaid to a bunny rabbit.”
Discord sunk through the ground, leaving Shadowfright hovering above the floor. The Nightmare floated down as Discord fell from the ceiling.
“And they don’t even appreciate your gestures of friendship.” Shadowfright brought his cheek alongside Discord’s. “They treat you like a reprobate. An ex-convict. A nuisance. You’re just a nuisance to these ponies. They aren’t your friends.”
Shadowfright shrugged with a sigh. “In fact, I doubt they ever were.”
“You quit that right now, you hear me!?” Discord snapped his talon and conjured a thousand swords, which all pointed at Shadowfright’s core. “Fluttershy is my friend. She will be forever. She was willing to give everything up to show me—”
“How powerful her control over the weak-minded was?” Shadowfright sneered. “She was manipulating you, Discord. They all were. That’s all they’ve ever done. For a great master of chaos”—he hid his face as he smiled—“you act like a child seeking approval, but unwilling to do the good deeds required of it.”
Shadowfright wrapped a wing around Discord’s shoulders. “You’ve just woken up Hearth’s Warming Morning to find bags of coal under your tree.”
His eyes shifted to peer at the draconequus. “Now, I’ve been away a while. What do you do with coal, again?”
Discord gnashed his snaggletooth. “You burn it.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Shadowfright nodded. “It makes for quite the blaze. How did that saying go? ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire?’”
“They lied to me,” Discord said. “I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.”
“Friendship is how the weak seek protection from the strong,” Shadowfright said. “Who is stronger than you?”
“Nopony.” A scraggly grin spread across Discord’s face as his eyes burned. “I guess I should have known. They’ve never treated me like a friend.”
“It’s so true it hurts.” Shadowfright shook his head. “Tea parties and play dates are cheap.”
“Never stuck their necks out for me,” Discord said. “Never showed me an ounce of kindness.”
“Mm.” Shadowfright melted into the shadows. His purple eyes stared out of the gloom. “Such a shame to let such delicious bitterness go to waste.”
“Well, if they refuse to be my friends…” Discord cracked his knuckles. “Maybe it’s time Ponyville became the Chaos Capitol of Equestria once again.” He snickered. “And they with no little Elements of Harmony to send me back to Rockytown”
“Ponyville is nice this time of year,” Shadowfright said. “But if I might make a suggestion?”
Discord squinted at Shadowfright. “What do you want?”
“I want a door opened.” Shadowfright scowled out of the blackness. “A door to the pit of chaos itself. A door that, when opened, will unleash such devastating chaos that Equestria will never recover.”
Shadowfright wrapped Discord in an embrace. “A door to the pit of Nightmares. The doorway of Tartarus itself.”
Discord gulped. “When do we start?”
Shadowfright wrapped tendrils of Nightmare essence around Discord’s body. It entered the draconequus’ eyes, ears, nose, mouth. Discord trembled.
“We just did,” Shadowfright said.
Oh crap. My guess was wrong, but this is much, much worse.
The gives them six, now. I was counting at the end of the chapter and noted that the number of possessed alicorns was five, with Discord they have six which is suspiciously equal to how many Elements of Harmony exist.
Well, balls. This could end badly.
Hold on, Celestia can't pardon Twilight for treason? Luna was instantaneously pardoned for her 2nd attempt at overthrowing her sister. Also, what about all the living dreams who DIDN'T rebel with Scorpan? Where are they?
Anywho, thanks for making it clear that Tartarus is not a Nightmare concentration camp, and also for giving us more insight into nightmare biology. Pardon me while I wet myself at the thought of Nightmare Chaos.
4739498
Way, way, way worse! I've been looking forward to the big reveal for the entire story! Can't wait to see the main man in action.
Actually, I did that so that the five (plus Sombra) would all have singing bits in the At the Gala song last chapter. Now, I guess there ain't much symbolism except what can be derived from the six different fears present in the group.
4739549
I know, right? It'll be great.
I mean... awful. That would be awful.
4742027
That is dangerously close to being a plot hole, yeah. I have a solution that's marginally better than "Because I said so," but I don't know how well it works. It might just feel out of place, or forced, but we'll see how it stacks up.
I can always say this is just draft one, if it proves unpalatable. I think i've got it figured out.
You'll see.
No problem. I'm glad you brought it up, it shows that people are asking the right questions. I've written stories where people were so bogged down just trying to follow things that they couldn't begin to speculate on the actual mysteries. Looks like i'm improving, slowly but surely!
4748052 Maybe a bunch of angry nobles made Celestia sign a law after season one saying she can't just pardon ponies, even if they are posessed by nightmares? I find that in situations like this, if Celestia's hooves are tied for some reason, "blame the nobles" is kind of a go-to response.
4748077
It is a nice go-to response, but it makes things a little "old hat." It feels like every story with Celestia as a major character has her fighting her own nobles. It would be especially odd in this story, since I haven't actually introduced any conflict between them.
My thought was that in "Mare in the Moon Part II," the girls managed to use the Elements of Harmony before she actually committed more treasonous acts. Like, Nightmare Moon's appearance in Ponyville was more "Public Disturbance" than "Attempted Coup." I dunno. We'll see if I can actually sell it.
4750278 Please do. I called it a go to response because it's used often, not because it makes sense. The idea that a 1000 year old ruler with 100% approval ratings can actually be pushed around by a group of mortals who've been raised in her cult of personality for the last 40 generations is absurd to anyone who has ever glanced at a history book. I've always felt that the nobles in Equestria view spending time with Celestia to be the ultimate reward for BEING a noble.
4750434
"Please, mare, I lift the sun."
I kinda like stories where the nobles think they're in control, but it's really just Celestia chessmastering from behind the curtain. I haven't bothered to write that way, but I like it when other folks do it.
That's actually a really, really neat thought! I've always seen Celestia as sort of a mother-figure to the People of Equestria (and beyond), and your suggestion adds a little something nice to the relationship. They love her!
4751006 I think if you want the closest historical analog to Celestia, it would be King Louis the 14th of France. Louis subtly stripped the nobles of their powers, relocated them to his capital and forced them to spend all their time dancing attendance on the king. However, he also threw them lots of parties and Galas, so the nobles still loved him. As a bonus, Louis the 14th 's nickname was "The Sun King."
I could see Celestia over the generations encouraging all the nobles to move to Canterlot, give up their ancestral holdings and private armies for a more fashionable Canterlot mansion and a few servants, and even trade their historical privileges for "the right to help Celestia govern the nation," I.e. be a glorified clerk in an area of government where your special talent lies. I think being an Equestrian noble today means you get an automatic government job related to your cutie mark, but if you want to ever get promoted and earn enough money to afford fashionable clothing for the next ball, you have to actually do your job well. Based on their seating at the Equestrian games, I believe Fancy Pants is the mayor of Canterlot and Blueblood is the equivalent of secretary of state, so presumably they are examples of nobles who actually work hard and are rewarded by Celestia. I think the remaining "privileges of nobility" are basically tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and similar events, and Celestia will officiate at your wedding or something.
4751474 That is a great take on how the Equestrian nobility might work, I really like it.
4751474
That's hilariously appropriate for Celestia.
Hmm. In addition to that, you could have the main motivation behind it be the unification of the tribes after Celestia and Luna defeated Discord. Maybe once Discord was gone and Sombra was a bad memory, the ponies were going to split and return to the tribe system that caused so much grief in days of yore.
I love the thought of Blueblood being Secretary of State.
Hey, with all the worldbuilding you've been doing around the comments, when are you gonna write a story, huh?
4779600
Seconded!
Says the draconequus.
The scariest part about that threat is that Discord probably can and WILL do it given sufficient provocation.
Trying to manipulate the manipulator? Not a good idea.
Oh yes Shadowfright, provoke the nigh omnipotent Lord of Chaos, brilliant idea.
Oh dear, this is going to end badly.
Heh. Hehe, Hehehe, HEH! HEHHEHEHEHEHEH! HAHAHAHAHAAA! AHAHAHAHAAA! *slaps self* sorry about that. I just realized, I made a joke earlier about Nightmare Discord, and now, it's come true. Please send your flames to ShadowLDrago@idiotwithbadtiming.com.