Discord's Family Reunion

by Mister E

Part 23

Part 23

The Chaos / Order Wars

Harmony clung to the shattered remains of her husband. Having temporarily banished her brother, she grieved unabashedly, heedless of any onlookers that dared to venture outside in the storm. Her stream of tears went unabated as she desperately began to gather the fragments of her husbands statue. Finally resorting to magic to sweep the entire courtyard until she was completely certain that she had gathered every last piece. Frantically she used her new found powers to restore the statue to how it had been before that hated lighting bolt destroyed it.

“It’s going to be alright dearest. I’ll bring you back. Everything will be fine. Just give me a moment.”

Harmony slowly carefully allows her power to build, and gently begins to infuse it into the stone of her husband’s statue. Carefully willing the reversal of her brother’s chaos, first she coaxes, then pressures, then attempts to overwhelm, but to no avail. Her husband remains unchanged. Again and again she tries, using every application of order that she can think of, but he remains resolutely stone. Finally, after several hours, one of her guards dares to approach her.

“Princess,” he says as delicately as possible. “The last thing I would ever want is to disturb you in your grief. But I feel I must.”

“I’m sorry captain.” She says looking away from her husband for the first time. “So much has happened in a short amount of time. I’m- I’m sure you have questions.” She stammers, attempting to regain her composure.

“Your highness, I, that is, all of us do. But most of them can wait. But one of the questions that can’t wait is ‘what has happened to all of us’, and another is ‘can you change us back?’” He asks her, worry apparent in his voice.

Harmony rises to her hooves. Looking for the first time at the extent of the changes she wrought. Her entire kingdom has literally been transformed into crystal. Her subjects are now crystallized versions of there former selves. The only thing unaffected was the chaos infused statue of her husband.

“Captain, this... this is all my fault. I lost control after what Cordial did to my husband, and this,” she gestures all around her, “was the result. Give me just a moment to gather my thoughts, and I will attempt to put things right.”

Harmony takes several deep calming breaths. Then she opens herself to her new found powers. She closes her eyes to the mundane world, and opens them to view it with her order senses. She can see the dance of molecules all now perfectly ordered in every building, cart, and pony. Such perfect order nearly makes her cry out at the beauty of it. But she forces herself into concentrating on undoing her rash act. She pours power into her surroundings, saturating it once again with near limitless godlike power. She then uses that power to attempt to reverse the transformation that her unthinking rage had created... And nothing happens. The molecules refuse to move from their new configuration. Harmony looks deeply again with her order senses and realizes what she has done. Her entire kingdom has become order bound. Now and forever, a kingdom of crystal.

“Captain.” Harmony begins, trying to come up with something to say. “This situation will require some time to resolve. Alert the rest of the guards and have them spread word throughout the kingdom to all of its citizens that I will address them all tomorrow at noon. Tell them not to panic, and that all will be explained.”

“Of course your highness,” the guard captain replies dutifully. “Shall I summon your private maids, is there anything you require?” he asks, his voice soft with concern.

“No captain, the only thing I require at this time, is solitude.” She says tiredly. She rises from the courtyard on brilliant crystal wings, and using her magic, she lifts the statue of her husband behind her.

She ascends to the balcony of her private chambers, and carefully lets the stone of the statue come to rest, the figure of her husband silhouetted in the moonlight. She sits before him on a bench they used to share when they came outside to sit and stare at the stars. She gently runs her hoof along his arm, looking up into his frozen eyes, still wide with shock from seeing the oncoming chaos that was about to change him. Again she tries to return him to normal, again she fails.

“I will save you,” she says her voice tight with determination. “I may not be able to save this kingdom, but I WILL save you! Even if it means wringing every last secret, every last scream, and every last bit of chaos out of my brother, I WILL save you!”

She sits alone, staring at the moonlight, as her thoughts begin to order themselves. She notices that as part of Zacherle’s gift, her mind, when relaxed, is better able to make decisions, and plans. Quickly she understands what her course of action needs to be.

She goes inside and pens a letter to Icarus and Boots, explaining to them that she will be arriving soon, and that she will explain everything at that time, but to not, under any circumstances, allow her brother to come anywhere near them if he shows up. And to let her know by letter of he does. She quickly sets the note aflame, and begins to sort through her belongings. It doesn’t take her long to gather what sentimental possessions that she owns, and she places these at the foot of her husbands statue. She then settles in for a restless night’s sleep.

Discord forwards the viewer wordlessly until noon the following day.

All the ponies in the surrounding area that had been affected by Harmonies magic had assembled in the courtyard of the castle and the surrounding area. Thousands of thousands of crystalline faces peered upwards, awaiting the arrival of the princess. At precisely noon, Harmony stepped out onto the grand balcony. A collective gasp went up from the crowd, for none had been aware of their princesses transformation as well.

“Hear me my people!” Harmony’s new voice rang out in angelic tones. “A great tragedy has befallen not just the kingdom, but my family as well.” She waits a moment for the murmurs of the crowd to die down. “Some of you may have heard rumors, that last night, my brother Cordial, had gone mad, and attacked several ponies in the castle. These rumors are sadly true.” Harmony waits again, until the more excited mutterings begin to die down. “Several member of the guard are missing, we can only assume as a result of my brothers rage. And my own dearest husband, has been transformed into this.” Harmony pulls a sheet off the covered statue of her husband that has been beside her all this time.

The crowd erupts into angry shouts as they behold in horror what has happened to their beloved princesses consort.

“My people, please, I beg for silence!” Harmony says, quieting the crowd. “In response to my brothers madness, I took up a weapon that the great Zacherle had left me to safe guard, should a time such as this ever arise. It was this weapon that transformed me into the being who stands before you, and it was also my misuse of this weapon that has resulted in the transformation of not only the kingdom, but yourselves as well.” Once again Harmony allows the crowd a few moments before she again calls for silence. “It is with deep regret that I am forced to admit that these changes I am unable to reverse. Until such time as a way may be discovered, we all,” Harmony says including herself and her husband, “will have to come to accept, that we will be like this... forever.” At this the crowd once again erupts into shouts and cries of dismay. “MY PEOPLE!” Harmony says, her voice ringing like a hundred bells. “This tragedy, and that of the one over a decade ago, can only be traced back to my family. Therefore I will speak my intentions plainly to you all. As of this day, I am abdicating the throne. I intend to pursue my brother, and force him to undo what he has wrought upon my husband and any others his madness has harmed. After I have done this, I promise to do everything in my power to discover a way to transform you all back to normal. After I am gone, the council of nobles will assume all responsibility for the running of the kingdom. I am sorry. I have failed you all. All the ponies I have sought to protect, to care for,” Harmony absently strokes the arm of her husband, “I have failed you all. But I intend to do my best, to make amends.” Harmony stops speaking and takes a step backwards on the balcony. Chaos figuratively erupts in the courtyard below, as thousands raise their voices in protest. “How perfectly fitting,” Harmony says to herself, as she raises her few bags of belongings and teleports away, forever leaving the only home she ever knew.

Discord pauses the remote. “And that was how it all started,” he says addressing the room. “She took Keil with her to the Everfree. She raised a palace, and set up shop so to speak. Icarus and Boots were enraged at what happened to Keil, and vowed revenge. A vendetta that was thankfully not passed down to their future generations. But Harmony on the other hand was a different story. I too had found a place to settle into. One that had fallen to the taint of the chaotic ash. So long as I didn’t use too much of my power she was never able to spy me out, even with her viewing crystals. So neither of us knew where the other was hiding, but both of us were filled with hate, and both of us wanted revenge, so it was only a matter of time before the inevitable occurred.”

Discord forwards the viewer and hits pause.

“This was the first of our many battles.” We had been scouring the land with our viewers, looking for any trace of the other. And I saw her as she was returning from the edges of the Crystal Empire. Apparently she was still in contact with the ruling council, and had been making secret meetings with them to help them ease into the role of fully ruling the kingdom. None of that mattered to me at the time of course, all that mattered was that I had found her.”

Discord hits play.

“Well, look who finally stuck her head up!” Discord says, appearing in front of his sister. “I believe you and I have some unfinished business...hmm?” He says with a sneer.

“Oh by the goddess, yes we surely do!” Harmony replies with a shout, flinging a bolt of pure midnight order at her brother.

Discord raises a claw creating a brilliant shield of raw chaos, white streaked with red, deflecting the bolt into the sky. He quickly discards it as the place of impact begins to be eaten away outwardly by Harmony’s order. He gestures and a cage of chaotic energy surrounds his sister and begins to contract. In response Harmony merely extends her crystalline wings, and as they come in contact with the energy from the bars the are reflected off her wings and flung back to Discord. Discord stands still allowing the chaos to strike him, and he simply absorbs it.

“This is getting us nowhere sister. Time to crank it up a notch. Let’s see how much energy that fancy crystal can handle before it shatters!”

Discord creates a huge magnifying glass between Harmony and the sun. The largest source of chaos in the solar system is now being focused against her. She throws up her wings on reflex to prevent being blinded, and the intense solar rays are deflected in all directions, setting the area ablaze wherever they strike. After only a moment Harmony begins to notice an unsettling vibration begin in her crystalline form. Conjuring behind the screen of her wings she creates a portal, then opening her wings wide she allows the concentrated beam to enter it. The other side of the portal emerges behind Discord, the full force of the concentrated sun strikes him squarely in the center of his back. He instinctively begins to absorb its power.

“You must be mad sister, feeding me even more po- wait... too much, too hot... I can’t... I can’t...” And Discord’s form explodes in a blast of chaotic fire.

Harmony looks at the burning fragments of her brother falling toward the ground.”You tried to absorb the sun brother. How arrogant can you be?” Her muzzle shows signs of sadness, which quickly turn to consternation as she observes the various burning fragments begin to coalesce and rebuild themselves.

“Next time brother. We’ll settle this next time.” She says waving a hoof and extinguishing the fires below, as she flies off toward the horizon.

Several minutes pass before Discord is finally able to restore himself. “Note to self.” He says rubbing his head, “DON’T try to absorb the sun. Bad idea... very bad idea.” He says, rising from the ground heading off in a different direction from his sister.

“As you can see, the first round in our little battle went to my sister. This would prove to be an all too common occurrence. But that isn’t to say I didn’t have my victories as well.” Discord says as he forwards to the next scene.

Discord floats above an ink black lake, that has been contaminated with chaotic ash. The water itself is gloopy and gelatinous. Harmony appears behind him and fires off a mighty bolt of order. Which passes harmlessly through the form of her brother. Suddenly from the trees surrounding the lake, seemingly innocent looking ravens begin to emit a high pitched screech, causing Harmony to clasp her hooves to the side of her head, and from above a mighty hammer wielded by the real Discord lands a pummeling blow, causing Harmony to crash down into the chaos filled lake with a loud plop.

“Got you that time sister,” Discord says in triumph. “No way for you to teleport out with all that chaos clinging to you, hope you can swim in what is essentially chaotic quicksand.”

Discord watches in triumph as Harmony’s struggling form is sucked down beneath the surface of the lake. Down below the surface, Harmony ceases her struggles against the pull of the lake, instead she begins to swim directly downward. After what seems to be an eternity of swimming in absolute darkness, her hooves finally strike the bottom. She paws at the muddy lake bed with her fore hoof, and when she is sure of her footing strikes a mighty blow causing from the floor of the lake to erupt a huge crystal spire, which Harmony clings to as it rises to pierce the surface of the lake. A receding dot on the horizon marks her bothers passage, who had begun his departure as soon as the tip of his sisters crystal began to emerge from the lake.

“Next time sister,” he mutters to himself, “next time.”

Discord forwards the viewer, as scene after scene, battle after battle unfold before them. They watch as Discord breaks the sky itself in one battle, forcing Harmony to enlist the Pegasus race to take control over the weather. They watch as Discord harnesses the kinetic energy of the planet itself to entrap his sister in an overwhelming field of force, only to have her invert it back upon itself and radiate harmlessly into space. Equestria itself ceased to spin on its axis, because of this, causing Harmony to have to push it every morning and evening, giving the appearance of raising the sun and moon in the sky. A ritual that was passed down to her children centuries later. They watch as Harmony traps her brother in a cube of pure midnight order, only to have her brother turn into a miniature sun, eventually going nova which shatters through the void’s embrace outwards in an explosion of raw chaos. Time and time again the two clashed over hundreds, and thousands of years. Each time with devastating effects on the planet. At times Harmony would gain the upper hand, and her brother would be imprisoned for a span of time, at other times Discord would win and his sister would be sealed away. In these intervening centuries the planet recovered as best it could, but both of them were too powerful, and too evenly matched to be held in check for very long. Eventually one or the other would escape to hatch some new plan, and the cycle would repeat. But a little over a hundred and fifty thousand years ago from the present time, Harmony had finally had enough. She had just escaped her latest prison, an extra-dimensional pocket universe composed solely of a huge mirrored sphere, in which she was trapped, forever reflecting her power back upon herself. She reappeared in her castle in the Everfree forest, as her daughters came running to greet her.

“Oh I remember THAT day.” Luna says shaking her head. “You had really got to her that time uncle. Twelve hundred years trapped inside a circular, spherical mirror. By the sky stallion, did she smell bad. Really bad. Her crystal looked tarnished, and I know its hard to imagine, but her mane was a wreck, and that’s saying something since it was made of crystal as well. She was NOT happy.”

On the viewer Harmony wearily made her way down the halls. “Not now Lulu, Sunny,” She says feebly waving a hoof toward her daughters. “Mommy, shower, NOW!” She says making her way into the bathroom, and slamming the door behind her.

Nearly an hour later Harmony reemerges, looking like her normal self, but still moving slowly. She makes her way tiredly back to the throne room and collapses in her chair. She raises one hoof to her brow and kneads it in thought.

“I’ve had enough,” she says to herself, not caring that she’s spoken aloud. “It’s a miracle that we haven’t destroyed the world by now with this feud.” She looks across the room at the far dais where resides the statue of her husband. “Keil my love, this isn’t working,” she says. “He’s not going to stop, and that means I’m not able to stop. We need something to break this deadlock.” Her daughters enter the room and approach their mother.

“It’s good to have you home again mom,” a teenaged Celestia says.

“We missed you so very much,” her slightly younger looking sister adds.

“Girls, we need to talk.” Harmony says addressing both of them. “I’ve hard twelve hundred years to myself, and I’ve done a lot of thinking. And the conclusion that I’ve come to is that to defeat your uncle once and for all, I’m going to need help.”

“Of course mom, me and Lulu will do whatever it takes!” Celestia says.

“No dears,” Harmony says shaking her head. “I wasn’t referring to you, although I will need you both to do something for me in the meantime. No, the help I was referring to was my father. Justice.”

“Grandpa?!?” both sisters exclaim.

“Yes. Your grandfather. He left mysteriously the day that my brother went to the isle of chaos. And has never been seen since. I don’t know many of the details, but what I do understand is that whatever Zacherle and Muenchinger had told him about the future, was what drove him away. After long thought, I believe he was informed about what his son would become in the future, and for whatever reason, chose to leave before those events occurred. I intend to scour the whole planet if I have to until I find him. No matter how mad or deranged my brother may have become, he would never disobey father. If I can find him, I believe we can finally end all of this.” Harmony finishes, letting her hoof fall slack beside the arm of her throne.

“But mom, what will happen to Equestria while you are away? The two of us aren’t powerful enough to handle uncle Discord on our own.” Luna says, her voice filled with concern.

“I’ve already taken steps to insure that you have help.” Harmony says wearily. “After I escaped, and before I returned here, I went into the Everfree and planted a very special seed. A crystal seed. Soon a very special tree will grow, and if ever my brother becomes a threat to Equestria, I want you both to go to this tree, and it will provide you with whatever you need. I expended more than half of my powers to create it, that’s why mommy is so tired right now. This tree will act as a guardian for this world in my absence.”

“But mom, as soon as uncle Discord finds out that you are gone, he’s sure to take over the kingdom, we won’t be able to stop him while your ‘tree’ grows up.” Celestia protests.

“Let him,” Harmony says, her voice flat. “If he wants to rule so badly, just let him. Stay out of his way until the time is right. The tree will let you know. Then do what you must.”

“Mom, are you sure you are thinking clearly? Just let uncle Discord win?” Celestia says in disbelief.

“Hon, I’ve had twelve hundred years to think about it. There is no way my brother can damage the kingdom in a few hundred years of his rule more than we both would if we had even one more battle. This needs to end while there is still a planet to rule over. I’m trusting you both to take care of ‘raising’ the sun and the moon until I return with your grandfather. I’m sure it wont take very long. I still am one of the two most powerful beings on Equestria, how long could it possibly take?” she asks them chidingly.

“Oh, ha ha.” Luna says causing Discord to stop his viewer. “How long can it take she says? It’s been over a hundred and fifty thousand years and she STILL hasn’t found him. And do you know how often she has returned to see us? Three times! For all of two weeks combined!” Luna says in a rage.

“Um sister, it was actually four times. She came back while you were on the moon.” Celestia adds sheepishly.

“WHAT?!? And you never told me? Why?” Luna says glaring at her sister.

“Well, to be honest, because I knew you’d react like... um, that.” Celestia says. “I thought it would be better if you had heard it from her on her next visit... um, whenever that would have been.”

Luna’s face softens. “Yes, I can see what you mean. It’s not your fault that mom’s obsession with finding grandpa has blinded her to the needs of her own daughters. Uncle Discord has spent more time with us in the last hundred and fifty thousand years, than mom has, and half of that time we spent doing battle.”

“Ah yes, fun times, fun times.” Discord says fondly. “I much preferred dueling with you two than my sister. It was never a death match with you two. No personal vendetta’s between us. Sometimes it was almost just a formality, like going through the motions because we were supposed to. I could never really fight you two seriously my nieces, because I never hated you.”

“And we felt the same way about you uncle.” Celestia replies. “We knew that we had to stop you, but it was only for the good of Equestria. We never hated you, you were the only family we had left.”

Discord walks over and gives them both a hug. “Ah girls, you never gave up on me. Even after all that I did. You risked everything to break through the bonds of my hate, and remind me of the love and trust that I had all but forgotten. He gestures at Fluttershy who comes over and joins them. And her, how could you two have known to send her to be the one to reach out to me? The only pony who could touch my heart.”

“Well,” Luna begins, we did have some help with that. You see...” Celestia silences her sister with a glare, and a brief shake of her head. This passes unnoticed by Discord who is facing in Luna’s direction. “I mean, well Fluttershy was the first pony to trust you. It just seem like she was the logical choice.”

“And an excellent choice it was,” Discord says turning to face his wife, letting a claw trail through her mane.

“Alright, this is starting to get mushy.” Rainbow Dash says breaking the mood. “What happened next?” she asks.

“Next?” Discord asks in surprise. “Why, you all KNOW what happened next. The kids and I fought, the tree matured, they got the elements of harmony from it, and turned me to stone. Meanwhile my sister was out there roaming the planet looking for my father. Later I got free, and was seduced by this Pegasus,” he says pointing a claw at Fluttershy, “and the next thing I knew, I was married and hosting tea parties.”

“I seduced YOU?” Fluttershy says accusingly.

“Oh beyond a doubt. Here I was, an innocent draconicus, barely out of my teens, and there you were, a world wise pony who ensnared me with her feminine equine charms. I never stood a chance.” Discord says shrugging his shoulders, as every pony smiles, and several begin to giggle.

“Now listen here mister,” a red faced Fluttershy responds, “In the first place, don’t think I forgot about all those ponies at court you mentioned earlier. And don’t give ME any ‘barely out of my teens draconicus’, who is almost as old as the planet itself. And although I will admit I do have a certain amount of charm, I believe it was a certain sly reptile that was the one who wormed his way into MY heart.” She says playfully stroking his goatee.

“Oh gods, here comes the mush!” Rainbow Dash says taking a long pull of cider.

“So all THIS was the reason that you became so frightened and hysterical when you first found out that your sister was returning. You think she is going to attack you once more?” Twilight asks, her voice filled with concern.

“What? No Twilight,” Discord replies in surprise. “I’m an immortal. The worst she could do to me is imprison me, or destroy my body again. I’d recover, or break free eventually. No my dear friends. What frightens me to death is that my sister is now aware of Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy?” they say in unison.

“Don’t you see,” Discord says, his voice frantic with concern. “Harmony knows that I found some pony that I love. Some pony that means so much to me that I would marry her. I honestly thought that we would be able to live out Fluttershy’s entire life before Harmony even knew about her. Otherwise I would NEVER have put her in such danger.” Discord looks at the faces of the ponies before him, only a few have understood what he is trying to say. “Listen to me my friends. Harmony has broken off her search for our father. Why? Because she now has a more immediate goal. She finally has a way to get her revenge on what happened to her husband. I know my sister, as soon as she found out that I had found true love, she made up her mind. Her letter was sent so that I would know she was coming. To fear her coming, to dread her coming. And as she said, there is no point in trying to run and hide. But she isn’t coming for ME Twilight Sparkle. Oh no, she is coming... for Fluttershy.”

Comments

[ViktornovaMk2]

. . . but (hopefully) Harmony can't hurt and/or kill one of the Mane Six.
If Harmony were to kill off the pony that her own element of Kindness chose. ? . ? . ? *shudder*

[CDR]

...and the ball drops. Can't say I was really surprised here, but I can say this.
Dis gonna be good.

[ShadowLDrago]

Oh dear, I just hope all those years haven't made Harmony go mad, if she touches so much as a single hair on Fluttershy's body, I'LL HUNT HER DOWN AND GUT HER LIKE A FISH!

[Parasprite Polka]

NOT FLUTTERSHY! OH, CELESTIA HELP ME!!!!

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Luna’s face softens. “Yes, I can see what you mean. It’s not your fault that mom’s obsession with finding grandpa has blinded her to the needs of her own daughters. Uncle Discord has spent more time with us in the last hundred and fifty thousand years, than mom has, and half of that time we spent doing battle.”

“Ah yes, fun times, fun times.” Discord says fondly. “I much preferred dueling with you two than my sister. It was never a death match with you two. No personal vendetta’s between us. Sometimes it was almost just a formality, like going through the motions because we were supposed to. I could never really fight you two seriously my nieces, because I never hated you.”

“And we felt the same way about you uncle.” Celestia replies. “We knew that we had to stop you, but it was only for the good of Equestria. We never hated you, you were the only family we had left.”

Discord walks over and gives them both a hug. “Ah girls, you never gave up on me. Even after all that I did. You risked everything to break through the bonds of my hate, and remind me of the love and trust that I had all but forgotten. He gestures at Fluttershy who comes over and joins them. And her, how could you two have known to send her to be the one to reach out to me? The only pony who could touch my heart.”

He has paid his dues

[HeartfireFirebrand]

“Don’t you see,” Discord says, his voice frantic with concern. “Harmony knows that I found some pony that I love. Some pony that means so much to me that I would marry her. I honestly thought that we would be able to live out Fluttershy’s entire life before Harmony even knew about her. Otherwise I would NEVER have put her in such danger.” Discord looks at the faces of the ponies before him, only a few have understood what he is trying to say. “Listen to me my friends. Harmony has broken off her search for our father. Why? Because she now has a more immediate goal. She finally has a way to get her revenge on what happened to her husband. I know my sister, as soon as she found out that I had found true love, she made up her mind. Her letter was sent so that I would know she was coming. To fear her coming, to dread her coming. And as she said, there is no point in trying to run and hide. But she isn’t coming for ME Twilight Sparkle. Oh no, she is coming... for Fluttershy.”

Time for Rainbow Lasers