• Published 25th Jun 2012
  • 12,010 Views, 1,211 Comments

Ascension - cloudedguardian



Celestia is dying. Or at least it seems so. Afflicted with a curse that is destroying her very nature, she sets a plan in action. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony will take the throne in her wake... Not that they know that yet...

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Rarity had always hated the morning dew. It was always bitterly cold and soaked her hooves as she walked to and from the fabric stores in Ponyville. Much like a cloudy and dark night, it seemed to exist only to annoy her and her friends.

It’s strange how great of a difference a change in perspective can create.

The young alicorn smiled softly as she traced a white feather along the dark red rose before her. Each ruby petal glittered as dewdrops like diamonds shuddered under her touch, catching the dawn’s colourful rays and casting them about. Rarity sighed contently, looking up and around the silent garden. This was how things should be really, and she couldn’t help but wish Sweetie Belle had been willing to get up with her to see it. As hyper as her little sister was, she was one of the few children that could stop and see the beauty in things like this. She could see the dancer in a blizzard, or the fairy gown in a flower’s frost.

Rarity let out a slow breath, just to watch it fog in the brisk morning air. She couldn’t help but chuckle gently as she remembered how Sweetie Belle had been awoken by last night’s storm, but instead of being frightened, she had pressed her hooves up against the grand windows, and gawked in amazement and glee at the brilliant flashes of lightning that crossed the sky. She watched it like most fillies would a firework show, and it hadn’t taken long before she had joined her little sister in watching it, drawing the filly close with a wing, until they had both fallen asleep under a breath-taking canopy of monochrome clouds.

Perhaps it was because Rarity was so lost in her thoughts like this, that she did not hear the cracking of stone or the shattering there-of. Perhaps it was because she was still so unused to ancient magic that she didn’t feel it rise up in frightened protest as something ancient woke up again. Or perhaps, she was just very unwilling to let her perfect morning be ruined already and was in complete denial about the gleeful shouts she could hear cascading across the gardens.

“I’M FREEEE!”

She knew she couldn’t ignore it forever, and if the maniacal laughter was anything to go by, her attention would be demanded very, very soon. She couldn’t help but admit that she was hoping Twilight would get here first though. She would, of course, have no such luck.

By the time she had taken a deep breath, and braced herself against what she knew was coming, she could already hear his wing-beats echoing out behind her. She knew it was coming now, Discord’s blasted mind games, his incessant bragging and-

“Ah Celestia, it didn’t take me nearly as long to break out this time, I think you are losing your touch! That or you have really bad placement…”

Well, if there was one thing she wasn’t expecting, it was definitely getting mistaken for Celestia. Naturally, she had immediately span around to face him, and was therefore treated to what was undoubtedly the most baffled look that had ever crossed Discord’s face.

“..Avarity?”

Oh how she hated that blasted nickname. Spike had thought of it way back when they were celebrating Discord’s defeat by their own hooves, and although Spike hadn’t meant any harm by it, she had made it more than clear that she never wanted to hear it again. Rarity could feel her cheeks burning red hot under her fur, and was about to release a scathing comeback when Discord rolled his shoulders with a mutter of ‘just checking.’ His devilish grin came back in a heartbeat, and he looked down at her with a look of dramatic perplexity.

“Well. All I can ask is ‘How?’”

“Wow. What a shocker. I was thinking the exact same thing.” Rarity deadpanned, flaring her wings out instinctively as she tried to keep herself calm and her mind from running wild.

Discord actually laughed, and it sounded almost good natured. It was gone in a blink however, and he was soon circling her like a shark, his fangs, err, or rather, fang singular, flashing in the sunlight.

“Why in Equestria are you like that? You almost look like an alicorn!”

There was something in the way he said that that got her ears a-twitchin’. That is to say, it was royally peeving her off.

“That would be because I am an alicorn you incessantly annoying a-”

Rarity nearly bit her tongue as the gardens lit up with brilliant magenta light as Celestia’s own heir teleported in. Although she was glad to see her friend, Rarity couldn’t help but wonder about her timing.

“DISCORD?! Wha- How?!” Twilight spluttered, her wings unfurling to their grand span as she nearly fell over her own hooves in a shocked stagger backwards. She had taken note of how the ancient magicks had shifted in their grand weaving, but she hadn’t expected it to mean the Draconequus of Chaos’s return.

“Why, that’s just what we were asking!” Discord exclaimed, waving a paw at her as he mimicked Rarity’s tone and posture. (Which was not well appreciated by the fashionista herself.)

Blue eyes widened slightly as Discord froze for a split-second as his mismatched gaze landed on the regalia Twilight was wearing around her neck. Something inscrutable flicked across his countenance, before vanishing in a blink as he returned to his eternally irritating self. With a huff, he drew himself up to his full height, placed his hands on his hips, and laughed.

“My heavens, I have certainly missed something. Where IS Celestia? This doesn’t make the least bit of sense! …and I am rather surprised she has finally gotten a sense of humour.”

Still chuckling, he cast his gaze around the garden, as if he was expecting the elder alicorn to simply pop out of a rose bush like Pinkie Pie during a surprise party. While Discord was distracted, Rarity shot a quick concerned look at her ex-fellow unicorn. A look of sheer pain had crossed Twilight’s face, and if it weren’t for the fact that Discord would have heard her, she would have immediately crossed the spans between them, wrapped her lilac friend in her wings, and asked her whatever the matter was. That wouldn’t be possible, however, until the chaotic joker was thoroughly off the table, so to speak.

“YOU!”

Rarity didn’t even need to look up to know who had just arrived. All she could do was hope that she wasn’t stupid enough, or for that matter, angry enough, to pick a fight with him just yet.

“Why, Hello Traitor Dash. How might you be today?”

“Don’t call me that!” Rainbow Dash snarled in response, and Discord almost seemed to be laughing at the hatred that tinged her voice, “You and I both know you were practically cheating!”

“Oh come now, you couldn’t have really expected me to play fair could you?” He asked, his voice inches away from being full out condescending. It almost seemed as if he was resisting the urge to pat the blue speedster on the head.

“But forget that for now,” He said abruptly, straightening up once more, “Where is my old foe? I am just dieing to have a little chat with dear old Celestia!”

Silence reigned. If the awkward silence in the castle had been bad the day before, then none of the mares present knew what to call this. Even in all her fury, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but worry slightly at the shudder that passed visibly along Twilight’s spine as she took a loud swallow and a deep breath.

“She’s gone.” Two words, spoken so quietly they were nearly missed, softly broke the silence.

“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone?’ Gone where?” Discord asked, his look of amusement only slipping enough to reveal the confused irritation underneath.

Rainbow knew, better than anyone perhaps, how this old coot played. She didn’t care what had happened between him and Celestia in the past, all she knew was the chaos he had reigned in Ponyville, and what he had done to her friends. No-one messes with Rainbow Dash’s friends… And although she couldn’t explain quite why, she could honestly say she counted the two Princesses among them. So she very well wasn’t going to let Discord fly off and mess with them just as they were getting back on their hooves. Surely Applejack wouldn’t mind if she just bent the truth a little... It was to protect a friend, after all.

Gone gone.” RD snapped, her voice bitingly cold in her determination. Her gaze grew steely as he turned to face her, but she didn’t stop speaking. “As in permanently. Forever.”

Discord’s ever cocky smile was slipping as confusion replaced amusement, and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but think that she took perhaps just a little too much joy in dropping that final word;

“DEAD.”

Discord almost seemed to deflate.

“D-dead? Celestia?” It came out as all but a splutter.

At Rainbow’s stiff nod, his smile completely vanished as denial took over, and as he landed with a gentle thud on the garden’s cobblestone, he nearly span around to glare at Twilight, whether in anger or in desperate hope neither were sure. Twilight wouldn’t look at him, and Rainbow Dash felt a pang of regret at her words as she watched a completely real tear slide down her friend’s cheek.

Even though Aurora Books was no doubt living happily with her sister, a unicorn and pegasus mare working together for old dreams finally in reach- It was easy to forget that the alicorn “Princess Celestia” had in a way, “died.” As much as Rainbow didn’t get it, as much as it seemed insignificant to her, she should have known better, she should have known that Twilight was grieving for the alicorn that had all but raised her.

With the gentle flutter of feathers and clicking of hooves against stone, one by one the other three arrived. Dash barely acknowledged them, and it was Rarity alone who hastily explained the situation in hushed voices again and again as they arrived. Between Discord and Twilight, RD had no idea what she was supposed to do, and her gaze constantly flickered between the two, as if she was expecting the answer to appear in the air above their heads.

“Who killed her?”

Twilight nearly jumped. She hadn’t exactly forgotten that Discord was there per say, so much as other things had pushed him further down the list of things to deal with. It wasn’t just that that had startled her, however. It was how he had spoken as well. Slow, quiet, and with a deathly cold tone that she had never heard from him before. It was empty of laughter or any sort of joy, and almost sounded hollow.

As silence was the only answer that his question was given, Discord sighed. The girls almost all jumped this time, before shooting each other looks of confusion and trepidation. Very slowly, as if he didn’t want to spook them, the draconequues straightened up, and looked at them with a soft smile as he cleared his throat and spoke as clearly as he could;

“I’m asking you who killed Princess Celestia. Alicorns can only be fatally harmed by celestial weapons carved out of pure, untamed, divine magic…” His expression twisted into one of barely concealed fury, and the next few words were all but spat out, as if they tasted foul to his mouth, “…and by black sorcery.”

He fixed his gaze on each one of them in turn, the soft smile perfectly in place like a mask. It really was nothing but a mask, for even if it was only the pink alicorn who prided herself over parties that noticed, there was no joy in the grin, nor glee in the laugh that followed as he finished his question;

“So, I’m asking you the very simple question of who actually managed to beat that Solar Queen of goody-four-shoes in a fight?”

Pinkie almost startled as she recognized the wistful tone in his voice. It wasn’t the sigh one held when they wished they could have seen something that they had missed, it was hope. Hope that Celestia had gone down fighting with every drop of strength in her, perhaps even wiping out an entire army in the wake of her final magic. Pinkie couldn’t hold his gaze. Her eyes dropped quickly to the bright blue balloon that was her Element, and she refused to let them leave that spot even as they quickly filled with tears.

After a long moment of only silence, Applejack sighed as she realized that she was the only one even willing to answer him. She swallowed and cleared her throat, finding it hard to even remember the words she needed to say.

“Tha Princess wasn’t… beaten in a fight. It was the second one you said. Black Magic… T’was a curse that destroyed her.”

Twilight almost winced at the hesitating words, and in a quiet fidget she started to shuffle her wings awkwardly as she half-folded them, trying to get the bright feathers to lay flat as they fluffed up in response to the tears she was struggling to hold back. The effect on Discord was a little less immediate.

It took a moment, it seems, for him to truly understand what had been said. That Celestia had not died with honour in a great battle to leave her precious student ascended in her mighty wake- But rather struck down by magic that shouldn’t even exist, to rot away in a slow death that had forced her hoof to pass on a different sort of curse. As that understanding sunk in, his smile faded, as fake as it was. As that understanding grew, the bite of the air disappeared. As that understanding reached completion, the sun disappeared behind dark clouds as an aura of magic nearly as old as time itself encased the garden in a black fury.

Who?!

The word came out as a draconic snarl that caused the girls to stagger back in fear as the wind whipped up around them. They had never seen Discord truly angry before. Frustrated, and bored, sure. Even Fluttershy had to admit that his exasperated irritation at her when she had managed to, albeit briefly, escape his tricks was comical. With all his huff and puff, he was a villain to be wary of yes, but not truly feared. This, however, this was not the Discord they had seen and fought against. This was a Discord that felt nothing but pure wrath, and sought nothing but destruction in its wake. And it was terrifying.

“C-chrysalis, the Changeling Queen.” Twilight spluttered, struggling to make herself heard over the storm as her heart pounded in her throat. “Luna told me that she used the last of the power she had gained through my brother into making that curse.”

She won’t be able to fight back then.

A demonic roar split the gardens as Discord shot spiraling up into the sky, his form shifting under the weight of his rage as he disappeared into the black clouds above. Thunder like war drums echoed out from the sky, drowning out Twilight’s shouts for him to come back.

“PINKIE! LET GO!”

Twilight’s gaze snapped back to her friends, her eyes quick to alight on the familiar sight of a furious Rainbow Dash getting held back by her tail.

“No.”

Rainbow Dash and Twilight both turned to stare at Pinkie in disbelief as she smiled around the prismatic tail in her mouth to utter that single word. As Rainbow’s hooves touched stone once more to glare bemusedly at her, Pinkie spat out her tail and locked blue eyes on rose as she gave her friends a sad smile.

“Leave him, Dashie.”

“What are you thinking Pinkie?! He’s going to wreak havoc! We have to stop him! He’s ticked that someone else got his prey,” She spat, “and now he’s going to make everyone else miserable!”

“No. He isn’t.” One by one her friends turned toward her with a look of complete shock at those calm words. Whether it was because of what they contained or because of who said them so solemnly, I couldn’t tell you.

“That wasn’t disappointment, Dashie. That was heartbreak. Maybe I’m the only one that seen, but he was crying.”

Rainbow folded her wings quietly as she mulled over what Pinkie had said. It just didn’t make sense to her… Discord, heartbroken? And not going to go spread chaos and misery across Equestria for the lolz? It didn’t sound like something that could happen for a thousand years… But maybe, sometimes, loyalty meant trusting in her friends' decisions too.

“I’ll go after him tomorrow,” Pinkie Pie declared, still sounding rather unlike herself, “But, for now, let’s just let him be?”


“SHE WHAT?!”

The drone winced at Chrysalis’s shriek, as did every other Changeling in a one mile radius. When their queen got this mad, it was never good. He, however, had especial reasons to be worried, however, as he was the one that had delivered the bad news that had enraged her. Maybe he could just sneak off while she ranted…

“This is outrageous!” Chrysalis spat, her wings buzzing loudly in her anger.

With a fluid movement ruined by a wobble, the Changeling Queen got to her hooves and started pacing. Normally her drones would be happy about this feat, as she had been bed-ridden for a while now, but as her movements seemed fueled by frustration and wrath, well, they were more worried about how quick of an escape they could make if need be.

“First I can’t get a hold of the ones who humiliated me, being apparently so far away that you dolts couldn’t find them! And now-”

“But, but, your Highness, they aren’t even in Equestria anymore! They’ve most likely gone all the way out to Atlantis, and you can’t expect us to follow them underw-”

“Did I say you could interrupt me?” Chrysalis drawled, the words barely concealing a snarl.

The drone cringed under her glare, and wished with all his might that he didn’t have to answer her question.

“N-no Ma’am…” He squeaked, and if he was bowing any deeper he would have been sinking into the moss below.

Chrysalis growled, but she stepped over him to continue her pacing, and he was quick to take advantage of being behind his queen’s back, and ran for his life.

“And now,” She continued, pretending not to notice the fleeing fool as she waved a hoof for emphasis, “Now you’re telling me that not only did I fail to get back at Equestria itself, but that Celestia actually out-smarted me?!” She paused in her rant as if to see if someone was willing to answer her, but none were forthcoming, so she span around and continued her pacing.

“She managed to not only find new rulers for the throne, but Equestria is actually doing better! Apparently, these six new, is she really using the term Queen now?” She asked the guard on her left, and he nodded quickly, before letting out a sigh of relief as she went on to walk by him.

“These six new Queens are actually better liked. National heroes, apparently. Ugh, it makes me sick. Where did I go wrong?”

“Forgetting to calculate in Little Luna?” A sneering voice asked, and Chrysalis bristled at the elder Prince Drone’s laugh.

“I didn’t realize that the Mare in the Moon was an actual pony. Or alicorn for that matter. It’s not like I had seen her around at all!” She snapped sulkily, and her ears went flat against her head as the princes laughed. They knew very well that she wasn’t about to attack her own harem, no matter how mad she got.

“Perhaps you’re right, however…” Chrysalis said suddenly, her anger fading away as a new thought crossed her mind, “It’s not my fault that my plan failed, I had no way of knowing that the legends were true… It wasn’t Celestia that outwitted me, it was Luna!

A look of glee spread across the Queen’s face as she laughed.

“Oh now there’s no use getting mad at external circumstances, now is there? I’ll just have to think of a new plan. I’ve almost got my strength back now, and it won’t be long before I can go hunting again… Six new alicorns… My my my, I bet they have no idea how to use all their new abilities quite yet... Wouldn’t it just be a terrible shame if something were to unbalance them while they were still so green?” Chrysalis asked silkily, and her drones started chittering happily as her devilish grin grew.

“Like, perhaps, if their families were to be gruesomely murdered? Oh yes, that idea haszz merit…” She hissed gleefully, as thunder rolled in the background.

“MY QUEEN! You have to run! You have to-” The cry ended in a gurgle, and Chrysalis span around to see a younger drone collapse on the edge of the clearing she had made her nest in.

“What? What’s going on?”

Thunder crashed louder, as the sky above blackened further, slowly drawing the clearing into a darkness that was only lit by streaks of brilliantly colored lightning. The forest began to leak an aura like miasma to them, and several of the drones shrieked as the cloying scent of hatred filled the air.

Chrysalis felt like her legs had turned to lead. She was still weak from the black magic she had, perhaps foolishly, wielded only months ago. She coughed, choking on the hatred that had settled like a fog about her nest. Squawks and the frightened chirps of birds filled the sky as they spread their wings and flew up and away, like glittering silhouettes against the flickering black clouds as trees shuddered and crashed to the ground. A demonic roar rang through the forest and caused the Changeling Queen to know what fear was.

With the deafening sound of ripping wood, Discord tore himself through the forest and into her camp. As their eyes locked, Chrysalis fleetingly remembered the goofy, almost cartoonish statue of Discord that had stood in the royal gardens, posed in a comically terrified grimace. Her confusion melted into horror as the creature before her snarled, and she realized that this was not that Discord.

No, what was before her was the God of Chaos himself, in all his righteous wrath. Like a dragon whose hoard had been stolen, Discord was bristling with rage, and Chrysalis’s eyes slid shut in a final prayer. She knew, right then, that one does not simply play with the Old Ones… And that her time had now quite suddenly drawn to an end.


With the soft glimmer of gold, the sun rose, bathing the sky in a canopy of shimmering colors that painted the horizon. Discord watched it silently from where he lay, feeling utterly hollow. He could still remember watching Celestia raise it herself for the very first time, and the joy on her face as her eyes alit upon her cutie mark.

Their game had finally ended. Neither he nor she had truly won, for someone else had interfered. He hadn’t minded when it had been the Bearers, it had just meant Celestia had found herself some new pieces. To be honest, he had been looking forward to gathering his own pieces next time and playing by the new rules. He had mulled over the thought many times while waiting to be released, ‘The Elements of Chaos Vs. The Elements of Harmony.’ It would have been spectacular, no doubt… But there wasn’t any point anymore. There was no point to anything, now, really. He had avenged her, and there was nothing left to do.

At the soft sound of hoofsteps on grass, Discord shifted, wondering briefly if he had missed a changeling. There was no shriek at the corpses that surrounded him, no gasp at the chitin that darkly dotted the grass around him, and so he decided he didn’t care who it was. Even as the soft whisper of magic began to hum, he paid it no attention.

As a soft gold lily floated up to brush his nose, however, he started to pay attention. Startled, he looked up at the softly smiling pink alicorn that was standing by his side, wearing Luna’s crown and a look of understanding that did not fit her age. He gently took the lily in his paws, and could still feel the young magic that drifted through it. He remembered Pinkie now, she was the Bearer of Laughter, and had been the only one to actually enjoy his chaos… Until he had started hurting ponies anyway. It didn’t really matter anymore, though, now that he thought about it. Even still, her action didn’t make sense… but what fun was there in making sense?

“You loved her, didn’t you?” As gentle as it was, it was barely a question. They both already knew quite well.

“More than the world…” He replied sadly, running a thumb along a metallic petal, “But a monster can never be with a Princess… No more than Chaos and Order can ever be one.”