//------------------------------// // Throne of Chaos // Story: Reign of Chaos // by AkumaKami64 //------------------------------// Shining Armor galloped through the halls of Canterlot Castle with several dozen royal guards following in his wake. Outside the windows, he could glance and perceive the state of things. All day long, they had been out in the city, trying to keep this...chaos under some semblance of control; Food that came to life, jumbling together into some bizarre art-like construct of an equine shape…water droplets raining up out of puddles and taking sudden turns in midair…the roads suddenly becoming fluid and rippling before solidifying randomly again…clothes that melted off and formed into large Cloth-Spiders. A red carpet that was either trying to strangle or hug as many ponies as it could. The list went on, each as unbelievable as the last. It seemed like it would go on forever. Until purple thunder leapt from the cotton candy clouds, so loud it seemed to make the ground shake, drawing the attention of everypony to the sky again. That was when Shining Armor saw Him. Discord the Draconequus, Lord of Chaos, Spirit of Disharmony who currently had his baby sister held in his magic as he floated to the castle. It didn't dawn on Shining Armor at first that this was probably what Discord wanted. The thunder, the slow fly to the castle rather than teleport? He was showing off, gloating. Not that there was much else he could do: He was duty bound to protect the Princesses and he was brother-bound to try and rescue his sister. Bursting through the door, he wasn't too shocked by what he saw. To the right were Twilight and her friends, the Element Bearers. Speaking of the elements, they seemed to be wearing them. Only, the gems were all grey and the necklaces had...changed. In fact, they weren't necklaces at all. Instead, they were now all golden bridles harnesses on their heads, keeping them silent- and probably suppressing the unicorns' magic. The gems were fixed above their heads, as if crowns, much like Twilight's had always been. Their hooves, however, were encased in the marble floor, making it impossible for them to move. Their heads up at the guards' arrival. Some of them looked hopeful, others looked unimpressed. Twilight looked both happy and terrified to have him here. To the left side was the real show, which made Shining realize the thunder hadn't caused the tremors earlier. There, bursting from the floor was a large thicket of giant black vines, covered in thorns...holding and binding the Alicorn sisters, pulling all their legs taut and pinning their wings to their barrels. Both princesses gritted their teeth, Luna looking drained and Celestia looking defiant yet...Shining would like to say it was uneasy, but that was clearly fear in her eyes. To add insult to injury, Luna had a sock covering her horn and Celestia had a...bong. An honest to Sun bong. A big one too, covering all of the eldest Alicorn's horn. And in the middle of it all, half way to the throne, there stood the Draconequus, giving the newcomers a coy smirk, "Ohh, goodie. You're just in time for the show and I did want an audience for this," He mocked with what was, apparently, genuine excitement as he rubbed his claws together. "I'll only say this once: Let them go," Shining Armor ordered, buying a few extra seconds. "Oh I will, in time, Royal Guard Captain Shining Armor," Discord promised with a smirk, "Both your precious Princesses and your beloved little sister." Twilight's friends blinked at that, turning to her in surprise, but unable to ask what they might want to know. Applejack gave Twilight a pitying look, having no desire for Big Mac to be here and make her know what Twilight was going through right now. Shining didn't react to the Chaos Lord knowing his name, but he couldn't help biting his lip at being called out on being Twilight's brother. Discord knew even more than expected. "Of course, you're probably also wondering about the...other one," Discord said cryptically as Shining went wide eyed, "Don't worry, I haven't touched her...yet," He added on with a smirk. He didn't even seem bothered by the several spells that got launched his way, bouncing off an invisible and rubbery shield, landing randomly about. The charging miniature army that came after them, on the other claw, had his attention. His talons were clenched into a first, held out to the charging group...then his pinkie claw extended. Everypony froze. Even ones like Shining Armor, in midair to lunge at Discord, found himself completely unable to move anything. Completely still, unable to move or react or do anything but stare at the omnipotence they dared strike. Opening his talons in a bursting motion, the numerous royal guards found themselves flung back, as if struck by a hurricane. As the wind twirled them about, it ripped and dissolved their armor into dust. Pixie dust, to be exact…the candy, to be clear. The heap of stallions and a few mares lay in a more colorful mess. Without their enchanted armor altering their color schemes to varying needed degrees, their true colors were revealed. All of them felt drained, as if they ran or flew a marathon with weights. Fatigued as the rest, Shining Armor still managed to push himself to his feet and glare at the chimeric titan, who was busy scowling at a small scorched chuck of the carpet, "That was a really expensive carpet. The nation that made it does even exist anymore," Discord commented distastefully. "The carpet...?" Shining repeated in annoyed disbelief, "You're concerned about THAT!?" He yelled, motioning to the princesses and the elements. Discord rolled his eyes, the sun outside rolling across the sky in the same motion, "I happened to like Hyaenus, Captain, which is rare for me," He retorted as he raised his lion fist and curled it into a fist. Shining tensed, ready to throw up a shield spell...only to go wide eyed as something brushed by his hooves. Snapping his attention down, he saw the pixie dust swirling and slithering beneath him. Glancing behind him showed waves worth of it floating over and around the soldiers, all staring in confusion and wonder as it flew and crawled forward, like a legion of insects. Discord's prisoners and audience all watched as the specks flew past Discord, who still kept his fisted paw raised with a look of absolute victory on his face. All the ponies went wide eyed at the swarm shot to the throne itself, seeming to embed or absorb itself into the structure. The seat of power creaked and groaned as deep, chaotic magic warped and altered its very existence. The amethyst flowers turned blue as their roots grew greedily over the edge, appearing as thorny and darker relatives of poison joke. The golden daises shifted and quaked, turning into dull steel with small spikes adorning the edges, including along the sides of the steps. The flowing water suddenly changed to the brown of chocolate milk, oozing from the maws of iron serpentine dragons, with disturbingly wide jaw and too-long teeth and messes of misshapen horns atop their heads while their tails both went along the underside of the dais lips to the back. The two lights behind the throne melted into the wall as two iron poles formed, flanking the throne. Thin, black, thorny vines encircled up them up the length before joining into an oval at the top, a soft yet ominous blue-green light appearing in the centers. The great archway around the throne was not spared a transformation either. With jagged, uneven spikes, its rim looked more like the horrid jaw of a giant than anything that belonged in a throne room. The gold turned to a sickly blue with irregular, mold-like texture. The depiction of the starry night framing the curve was replaced by the image of an upside down purple fire, burning down at what looked like many small, disfigured orange figures. The orange-dark orange checker pattern was replaced by the grey-purple that Discord often replaced grass with. And as a cherry on top, the symbol of the son eroded away into a circle with lines pointed out in all eight directions: The Symbol of Chaos. The throne itself was the same high-back, ruby-eyed, horned seat he had used in Ponyville. And through it all, the carpet remained unchanged and undamaged, the scorch mark long repaired. Twilight, and the rest of the girls, shuddered as her knees wanted to buckle. Despite everything Discord had done, she didn't think any of them imagined Discord's throne being so...intimidating. As the last of the dust vanished into the throne, Discord finally lowered his paw, having never taken his eyes off the soldiers staring past him. "I win," Discord said in finality as he slowly turned and began to walk to the throne. His tail calmly shoved away the two guards that tried to make a jump on him, stunning them with the impact. Discord just chuckled as he strode forward. Shining Armor was about to bark a desperate plan to his subordinates, until he caught Celestia's gaze. She had this resigned, sad frown on her face and gently shook her head: No. They couldn't win this fight, not here and now. The captain of the royal guard gritted his teeth as he looked back to the usurper, calmly waltzing to take the throne. He looked to his sister and those five brave mares that must have stood with her against this enemy and failed. The sight broke his heart. His sister, Twilight Sparkle...bound, gagged, helpless, defeated...crying. And she was begging him to stop, to give up, for now at least. Or maybe that's just what he wanted and needed to believe at the moment, that that was what she wanted as well. Fighting back his own tears, he cast a shield spell, stopping more soldiers from running forward to pain and failure, "St...Stand down," He ordered begrudgingly. "Captain?" One of them asked from behind him. "We can't beat him," Shining admitted, to them and himself. The ends of Discord's lips curled up at that as he walked up to the throne. From the lack of resistance or completing his goals or even some random third thing was anypony's guess. With a strangely content sigh, he sat into the throne, his tail seeming to disappear as he did, "A bit cliché, I'll admit, but I suppose I'm allowed one of those every few chapters," He mused, idly examining his claws. He paused as silence reigned throughout the room, glancing up to see everyone giving him looks of fear or indignant resignation or just plain hate and disgust. He sighed in annoyance at that, "Fine, I guess I'll get the ball rolling again, as usual," He muttered as he snapped his lion claws. The armor-less guards found themselves lined up in the back half of the throne room, as if they were attending a session of the royal court. They also found their rears firmly stuck to the floor. 'We're here as witnesses,' Shining Armor realized with gritted teeth as his comrades, after a few moments of struggling, resigned themselves to the show before them. "Well, first Court of Discord in over a thousand years," Discord said with a brief smirk as he tapped his cloven hoof. The Element Bearers found their bound forms being moved through the marble, as if it were a conveyor belt, phasing through the carpet before they were lined up in front of the throne and staring at their new ruler, "Bearers of Harmony, otherwise nicknamed as the Mane Six: Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle," Discord started, looking them all over. Pinkie Pie looked utterly defeated with a deflated mane, Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf, Applejack was just glaring at him with animosity, Rainbow was STILL flapping her wings and trying to break free, Rarity was trying to hid her fear behind a noble act of holding her chin high and not giving him any satisfaction and Twilight...Twilight looked utterly broken, lost in her own despair. His scowl probably was more ominous than he intended it to be, "You six blindly ate up your precious princess's words, deciding to try and put me back in stone without a second thought on the matter, sans Pinkie Pie," He commented in annoyance, "If I were a more petty King, I'd have you all encased in stone as well, even just for a little while." "Discord..." Celestia whispered pleadingly, only to find his tail slithering from behind a vine and wrapping around her muzzle. "You had your chance to talk, Celestia," Discord said coldly as his talon dug into the throne, which repaired itself instantly, "You had a longtime to talk and say whatever you Chaos-well pleased. Now it's my turn," He growled as turned back to the thoroughly terrified mares, "That said, you six? I'm impressed," He added on with a smirk as they all blinked, even the guards and the Alicorns, "You fell for my trap, hook line and sinker, but you managed to dig yourselves out of that little hole and "won" our little game. And you did win, girls. If I had bothered to give you a chance, you would have beaten me back there," He praised, looking strangely proud and amused by them, "And since I'm in such a good mood? Here's your sentence: You're all pardoned of attacking me with your only punishment being an impending month of community service," He declared with a grin. Everypony had wide eyes at that. Discord? Pardon? Mercy? Forgiveness? This wasn't what most of them imagined eternal chaos would be like. Pinkie Pie's mane, unnoticed by most, regained a bit of poofiness. Not a lot, but some. Discord chuckled at their looks, varying between suspicion to hope, "And your first hour or so of it will be as the throne room decorations. I'll send you home a little after the court session is over," He waved his talons, making them zip back over to their original place, leaving them to simmer in their confusion. From there, a frantic minded Twilight looked to the Alicorn with a bong on her horn, wishing that they could speak. Discord's tail vanished behind the vines, which deposited the weakened Alicorns before the throne. Both Alicorns shook on their uneasy limbs before removing their horn 'decorations' and raising their heads to stare down the Lord of Chaos once more, "...How did you beat them?" Celestia whispered coldly. Discord didn't answer, glaring down at them with more than mere annoyance, his mouth just short of a snarl. Then at once, he sighed, eyeing them with a tired contempt, "You know, most in my position would try to have you both publically executed or mind controlled to be my warriors or queens, or even just make you my slaves in one fashion or another," He mused darkly. "What did you do to the elements?" Celestia rephrased at the conquering king. "But really? After everything?" He commented with snort, "I just want you both gone." "Why didn't-!?" Celestia started, only to find her mouth filled with very gooey and sticky peanut butter. "What part of, you had your chance to talk, did you not understand?" Discord asked rhetorically. Seeing her sister cease in her struggle with the substance, Luna sighed as she addressed the Draconequus, "What are you going to do with us, Discord?" She asked in resignation. "Do, Luna? You must not have been paying attention. Here, maybe this will get your attention," He scolded with a smirk. *THWACK!*THWACK!*THWACK!*THWACK!* The two Alicorns yelped as they felt Discord's tail slap each of them on both flanks before vanishing from sight again, "Craven beast! Does your depravity have no bounds?!" Luna screeched with an indignant blush. Discord smirked knowingly, cruelly. The kind of smirk that made her know she missed something very important. The gasps and mutters of horror and disbelief behind her only made that even more clear. Celestia frantically tapped on her sister's wither, making Luna look to see the white Alicorn pointing to the younger's flank. Luna followed the line of sight and went numb. Her flank was blank. Her cutie mark, symbolizing her connection to the moon and the night itself, was gone. A weary look to her sister's mark showed the same. "Alicorns Celestia and Luna," Discord spoke up, drawing their wide eyed gaze, "For all you have wrought against me, I hereby strip you both of everything: Your ranks as princesses, your affinities and guardianship over the Day and Night, and your very homes. As of now, you are both banished from the lands known as Equestria and all others under my rule," He proclaimed with a scowl. Twilight let out a muffled, sobbing scream and plea as Discord's red eyes glowed briefly, the Alicorns finding themselves engulfed in a crimson glow as well, "You have five days to get pass the borders. You'll both be individually teleported to some place at random otherwise," He warned dispassionately. Celestia barely even registered the fact the peanut butter melted out of her mouth, "You...you can't do that...," Celestia muttered with wide, horrified eyes. "I just did," Discord countered with a dry smirk. Celestia stared at his smug express for a long, long minute. Then she exploded. "AHHH!" She screamed as her mane and tail turned into flames, her eyes burning red with hatred as a burning yellow and searing red beam erupted from her horn, the force of it knocking out most of the stained glass windows. Discord didn't even move as the beam shot for him. But the chocolate milk did, rushing upwards to block the attack like a shield. Or rather, a barrel. The attack ended as quickly as it began, Celestia collapsing as she reverted to her usual form, her main fading from multicolored to a rosy pink. When she looked up, she bit back a curse as she saw the beam was now a golden and crimson glowing liquid, resting in a now upright cylinder made entirely of frozen or solidified chocolate milk. Discord dipped his talons in it, pulling out a glass cup filled with the substance. With a savoring hum and a smirk, he drank the entire thing in a single, drawn out sip, "Ahh, liquid sunshine. Not bad, Celestia. Consider it your last contribution to the ponies of Equestria," He mocked playfully before scowling, "Now, I believe you have about three days to scram?" "You miserable-!" Shining Armor yelled, only for a snake tail to appear in front of him and press his jaw closed. "Sister, we need to leave," Luna urged quietly as she helped her stand again, "We will be of no help to anypony if we are lost in the farthest reaches of the world, myself even more so," She pointed out. Celestia reluctantly nodded, her cosmic magic basically spent without her connection to the sun, "...This isn't over, Discord," Celestia promised, to him and her ponies. "On the contrary, it is, Celestia," Discord said with a humorless smile, "My time of giving you chances is long over," He counter promised. He was serious. All the time she had known and fought him, all she ever wanted was for Discord to take them seriously, to not treat her and the ponies like they were some mere joke or plaything to him. Well, she had her wish, it seemed. Discord wasn't willing to play with her anymore, and this was the result. Head held high in defiance, Celestia turned and slowly headed to the door with her sister at her side. The ponies, guards and element bearers alike, watched in sadness and sorrow as they paced towards the exit, possibly for the final time. Some bowed their heads solemnly, others openly wept at the helplessness of the situation. When they reached the door, Celestia turned to glare at Discord one last time, before sending a look over all the ponies…an apology for her failure and a plea to stay strong. Her gaze lingered on her st- former student a touch longer. Luna, meanwhile, glanced meaningful at the Royal Guard captain and the element bearers, nodding intently to both. With that, they both left, the door slamming shut behind them. There was a long, heavy sigh at that. Surprisingly enough, it was from Discord himself, "Well, that's over with," Discord said, rolling his neck as he looked over his audience, "So, who's hungry?" He asked with a grin. Absolute silence greeted him. "Oh come on now, all you noble soldiers have been running around the better half of the day, dealing with one bizarre feat of chaos after another. You must be skin and bones now," He said, his skin growing taut as his muscles seem to wither away before his whole form dissolved into...sawdust? "I mean really, weren't you looking forward to a nice double-daisy hayburger today, Private Gray Stone?" Discord commented as he stepped out from behind a random guard with a grey coat and silver-white hair, as most of the ponies leaned away from their conqueror. "H-how do you know that!? Or my name?!" The private asked in shock as the chaos lord kicked off his feet and floated down to near-pony level. Discord gave a mysterious, knowing, coy smirk at that, "I may have just took over the job, but doesn't mean I wasn't prepared for it," He commented as he looked over the ponies, "Now, don't be shy, I'm not cheap. Who's hungry?" He asked again. Slowly and hesitantly, a lone hoof rose up, others slowly joining as well. Discord chuckled at that, "Well, since most of you are being less than honest, I'll just give you all a Kingly Treat," He quipped with a snap of his fingers. Sans Twilight and company, still gagged and pinned in the floor, all of the stallions and mares suddenly found a paper bag in front of them. Tentatively, one by one, they started to open the bags and examine the contents. What they saw confused most and disturbed more a few. Shining Armor looked to the soldier neighboring him as he pulled out a clear, sealed bowl of soup, "Jagged, isn't that...?" He asked slowly. "Hollow Shades Mushroom soup, garlic flavored," The dark green stallion answered slowly, looking back into the bag, "Complete with Bitz crackers and a ponpsi soda," he added on with a twitching eyebrow. "Your favorite foods...," Shining summarized, peeking into his own as Discord floated back to the front but didn't return to the throne just yet. Even if he did normally love it, he wasn't really in the mood for peanut butter after what just happened. "This guy is good," Jagged admitted in resignation, looking around as everypony found their preferred meals, making eating them very tempting. "Umm, Sir Discord?" One pony in the back called, raising his hoof. "Yes? Something wrong with your food, Sergeant Shield Edge?" Discord asked curiously. "No, umm, may we use the restrooms?" He asked in embarrassment, having been holding it in for a long time now, since before the chaos even started. Discord clapped his hands, the rears of the ponies unsticking from the ground as he did so, "Twenty minute lunch break, Ponies! Eat and do your business!" He declared, the double doors opening...upwards, like an upside down drawbridge. Several ponies ran out the first chance they got, either to get away from Discord or to use the bathroom in most cases. Some slowly left, some feeling awkward or unsure and others just afraid to draw attention to themselves. More though, sat with conflicted looks, glancing towards their captain who glared stubbornly at the newly self-enthroned King of Equestria. Discord made a show of looking confused, pressing a lion finger to his chin curiously as he looked quizzically at Shining Armor. Then he made a noise of understanding, "Oh, don't worry, Shiner. You can pick up your baby sister after the session is up," Discord assured before smirking in amusement, "Which can resume and end the faster everypony else files out for lunch." Shining stiffened at the little tidbit, glancing to his sister. As devastated as she looked, tears matting her fur, she still managed to nod. They had to play by Discord's rules now. Briefly gritting his teeth and swallowing his pride, Shining Armor stood straight and at attention, "...Your Highness," He acknowledged begrudgingly, turning abruptly to march out the door, the rest of his soldiers following suit, several with brief nods to Discord, their expressions the same as their commander. Once the last of them left, the doors slammed down with a giant, facehoof worthy fart noise. "That's more progress than I imagined from them," The King noted in approval as he stroked his beard, glass lima beans falling out, before turning his attention to the six mares hoof-trapped in his floors. Despite their growing nervousness, Discord flew and air rolled over to them with an amused smile on his face. Twilight and Fluttershy leaned down, fearful due to current events and nature respectively while Rainbow Dash and Applejack each glared at him with suspicion and defiance. Rarity and Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, were merely eyeing him curiously at this point. Regardless, they all flinched when his tail snapped directly over their heads. When they looked up again, they all soon realized three things. The first was that they were no longer wearing any gagging headgear. The second was that Discord's throne was now directly in front of them with its owner sitting in, tail once more vanished. The last was that Discord now had the faded Elements of Harmony floating above his lion paw. Only now, they were recolored more dully and looked....squishy and chewy. Discord promptly ate his life sized, element-shaped fruit snacks, to their disbelief. Despite their horrified expression, Discord actually looked more comfortable, "There we go, now that that's out of the way, I think it's time you six and I have a little chitchat, clear the air a bit," He suggested with an almost pleasant smile. He found this all too amusing to be completely so. Well, they had to give Discord this. He was nothing if not unpredictable.