The battle that had been unfolding between the Great Elder Dragon Char and Discord, the Master of Chaos, was unlike anything any pony had ever seen before. It was an abstraction of violence turned sideways, two forces vying to be the victor, it would be remembered by historian ponies in years to come as the 'Symphony of Controlled Chaos.' The musician being that of the Elder Dragon, while the conductor was none other than the Master himself, Discord.
The Great Dragon Char hurled a torrent of fire at the mountain sized Discord. Raising his paw, the flames impacted Discord's palm, instantly turning the fire into water before splashing to the ground as steam and grass suddenly springing from the ground. Pointing his free claw to the ground beneath the dragon, Discord drew his claw up conjuring a sudden wild growth of roots that sprang from the ground; wrapping itself tightly around Char. Roaring angrily, the roots did not stop at binding the dragon. Instead they increased in size, beginning to twist itself in a trunk, forming around the dragon. Waving his arms like overly showy magician, Discord guided his enormous tree higher and wider till the Great Dragon Char was completely encased within the trunk of the tree. An explosion of branches, sprouting countless leaves protruded from the top bringing a sudden flash of green to a very grey field.
With his arms crossed across his chest; Discord nodded in his own approval at his handy work. Once more noticing the buzzing near his ear, he glanced over to see Princess Celestia attempting to speak with him nearby.
"Have you contained it, Discord?" Princess Celestia asked apprehensively.
"I would think so. The bark is one hundred times stronger than any known metal to Equestria. It is so restrained that I don't believe it can even blink at this point." Discord replied confidently.
"Perhaps you shoulder have led with this." Princess Celestia remarked in hindsight.
"I believe a thank you is in order." Discord said expectantly; looking at each pony.
Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Lady Frost and Lord Tundra soared near Discord's head. Discord waved his paw, gently swatting them away, the flapping of their wings being rather annoying to listen to.
"How do you plan to move the tree from the fields, Discord?" Princess Cadance asked curiously; floating near his ear.
"Move?" Discord asked looking surprised at the notion.
"You can't just leave it hear, Discord." Princess Luna remarked.
"Why not? It's an immense improvement to these dull and bland fields." Discord stated, being uncooperative.
The trunk of the massive tree started to turn black, the smell of burning wood started to fill the air. Black smoke began billowing from the trunk of the tree, fire suddenly leaping out from the grooves, the leaves suddenly blazing in a storm of fire.
"Impressive." Discord said with a swell of fascination.
The massive tree began to split down the middle, clouds of black smoke rising into the air. The stress of bending wood echoed across the fields, the Great Dragon Char slowly drawing itself from its wooden tomb; its roar further shaking apart the tree. Half of the tree fell against the ground, breaking the earth beneath it and shaking the very foundations of Castle Char.
"Most impressive." Discord remarked clapping his paw and claw together several times.
"Lady Frost, Lord Tundra, deal with the flames! Discord, no more games!" Princess Celestia commanded, flying higher into the air to put distance between herself and Discord.
"Oh, the games are just beginning." Discord mumbled, interlocking his fingers and cracking his knuckles.
The Great Dragon Char slithered out from the burning tree. Having heated its body to burn itself free of its wooden tomb, the dragon now burned like charcoal, each step blackening the field beneath it. Its eyes burning with fury, growling a deep roar at the sight of Discord, the dragon snapped its jaws challenging him.
"Oh! You want to play? Come on then." Discord said in excitement.
With lunging bite of its jaws, the dragon missed Discord's neck, watching him sidestep away. Discord raised his claw and paw above his head, placing on his hoof, positioning himself in the Crane Kick and gave Char a leaping kick right into his jaw. The dragon rolled over, covering a quarter of the field as it tumbled over. Discord stuck a ninja pose, a black belt magically appearing around his forehead.
"Take that Cobra Commander!" Discord shouted.
A sudden and literal light bulb appeared over Discord's head; lighting up.
"I mean Cobra Kai! Oh what's the use, the moments passed and I blew it." Discord mumbled, dragging his paw down his face.
The dragon whipped its head around, spitting fire Discord's way. Quick to react, Discord opened his own mouth, swallowing the fire and inflating like an enormous balloon. The volley of fire soon dwindled, while Discord straightened up looking grossly overweight. The very sight of Discord resembling that of a giant ball had charge slithering towards him ready to sink its teeth into him. With a hiccup, Discord opened his mouth once more, with the dragon just several hundred meters away, firing a concentrated beam of stuffed animals, office supplies, every pony's left sock, old atrac players, easy bake ovens, newspapers, trading cards, shopping carts, snow globes from all over Equestria, ninety-nine red balloons, a blue box, and of course Celestia's kitchen sink; these were just some of the things that ponies could make out. The regurgitation of infinite junk that Discord was firing at the dragon was just complete… chaos.
The Great Dragon Char shielded itself from the debris using its wing. Discord's inflated body shrunk down to its regular massive size once more, nearly leaving the dragon in a mountain of junk.
"Well that's quite embarrassing. I've been meaning to return those." Discord mumbled sheepishly.
"Discord! I said no more games!" Princess Celestia shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice so that he could hear her.
"Settle down Celestia, I've got this under control." Discord said wave his paw at her.
The Great Dragon Char whipped out its wings, throwing millions of pieces of junk in all directions, roaring in anger. Discord raised his arms from being struck by the flying debris, realizing the mess he had further created, with a quick snap of his claws the all the junk vanished without a trace. Lowering his arms, Discord was pounced by the Dragon once more, slamming him hard onto the ground. Vanishing from beneath the dragon, just as the jaws of Char were about to bite his neck, Discord hovered in the air high above the Ashen Fields looking none too happy.
"Finish this, Discord. Before any further pony gets hurt!" Princess Cadance urged him.
"I wish it were so easy, Elder Dragons were very magical and powerful creatures; every scale of it emits a powerful force of magic. If I were to use my full powers I might end up sending half of Equestria into the Fourth Dimension, it's a very lovely place but I don't think any pony will quite understand it." Discord explained.
Char had finally found its enemy flying high above its head, beginning to beat its wings hard, the dragon rose from the ground slithering into the sky after him. Its massive shadow passing over Ponyville, flying past Canterlot, its roar disturbing the very air around it, the dragon shot another blast of fire towards Discord ready to battle him in the heavens.
Shining Armor's battalion was protecting the Eastern end of the Narrows. Several dozen spiders were fighting with the civilian Flame Ponies attempting to breach their homes, while the Soldier Ponies dealt with the bulk of the swarm just outside the Dark Marsh. It would have seemed that the Eastern end was not fairing all that well but that was until a familiar party cannon went off. Four spiders were thrown off their legs, sprawling across the road covered in confetti as Pinkie Pie rolled out the front door of the bakery armed with her party cannon.
"You may break our windows, smash our doors, but you will never take our cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie cried holding the cord to her party cannon.
"For the custard cream!" Shouted dozens of Flame Ponies spilling out of all the shops and homes from both sides of the street.
Ruby Simmer stepped out from the bakery, in her arms she held several blackened and burned soufflés. Pinkie Pie took one off the top, jamming it into the front of her cannon before ripping the cord hard, firing the soufflé at an unsuspecting spider as it impacted it with the force of a cannonball.
Fluttershy could hear the sound of Pinkie Pie's party cannon all the way from Ember's home. She had volunteered to watch over any and all foals and fillies that had parents fighting in the battle today. Ember's home was halfway between the bakery and the end of the Narrows. The bulk of the fighting was taking place just outside while Fluttershy did her best to console all the young and scared ponies.
Lionel and Licorice were among these young ponies. Licorice was very anxious, almost shaking, but Lionel did his best to comfort her by asking about the homework assignments he had neglected to do. Even with all the fighting going on outside, Lionel didn't seem at all worried, Ember had promised to come back and it reminded him of his promise to look after Fluttershy and Licorice.
"Did any of you ponies also hear that party favor?" Fluttershy asked softly, turning to at least a dozen foals and fillies gathered in the living room.
Several foals and fillies nodded yes.
"That's my good friend Pinkie Pie; she was the pony that brought cupcakes to the Ashen Fields." Fluttershy said softly, the word cupcakes suddenly seemed to ease the tension in the room. "She's going to make all these mean spiders go home and then she'll throw the biggest party for all you ponies when this all over."
Every foal and filly liked the idea of having a party, considering that many enjoyed all of the excitement and ponies that showed up for the coronation a few days ago. Although, the moment was ruined with the sudden shatter of a window as an arm of a spider came crashing through trying to get in. Every foal and filly screamed, Fluttershy was quick to herd them up, directing them towards the hallway; unsure of where to go.
"Ember has a basement! We can hide there!" Lionel shouted rushing into the hallway and pulling on a stone door.
"Okay every pony, everything is going to be alright." Fluttershy said softly, gently flapping her wings and floating over them.
Lionel struggled to open the door, it slid open just enough to have the foals and fillies slip through. The front door started to slide open. The spiders on the other side were ramming it quite hard. Another crash from the living room spelled out that a spider had gotten in. With just Licorice left to go the spider from the living room came barreling into the hallway. Aiming a strike at Fluttershy, the spider missed hitting the stone door closed, leaving not but Lionel, Licorice, and Fluttershy in the hallway. The spider hissed loudly, raising its legs ready to strike again. Lionel and Licorice screamed in fright.
"Now wait just a minute, Mr. Spider!" Fluttershy said sternly.
The spider stepped back in surprise, not expecting to be spoken to like that.
"Have you no shame in scaring poor defenseless ponies? Destroying other pony's property, coming in uninvited, and even tracking mud into this house." Fluttershy scolded him, pointing to the leg prints it left behind.
"I… uh…" The Spider mumbled.
"I don't know where you got the idea that being a big meanie was okay, but you better start changing your attitude and fast or I'll have to give you the stare." Fluttershy said almost threateningly.
"The what?" The Spider asked in confusion.
"The stare!" Fluttershy said loudly, her eyes suddenly becoming focused; staring intensely at it.
The spider quickly started to back away, looking very frightened by Fluttershy. Lionel and Licorice watched in amazement at what Fluttershy was doing to it. The spider backed its way up to the door, trying to shield its eyes from Fluttershy's gaze.
"Now you go home and think about what you've done." Fluttershy said, pointing to the front door.
Nodding its head in acceptance, the spider quickly pulled the door open, much to the surprise of the spiders on the other side as it carefully stepped out and closed the door behind it.
"What's this then?" The spider asked looking at the spider that had just stepped outside.
"I'm going home to reevaluate my life choices." The spider replied, stepping past the rest.
"You'll what?" Asked another spider in confusion.
Lionel and Licorice quickly approached Fluttershy who was taking several deep breaths. It would seem that even the soft spoken Fluttershy could get angry when she wanted to, which only made Lionel and Licorice compliment her further.
"I thought you were going to have that spider stand in the corner!" Lionel said in amazement.
"I thought you were going to make it write a thousand words essay on why it was bad to be mean!" Licorice exclaimed.
"Can you teach me to do the stare?" Lionel asked excitedly.
"Well-" Fluttershy began, finally getting her heart to settle down.
The door suddenly cracked, the spiders had resumed beating against it making all three ponies jump out of their hides. Pieces of the stone door were now crumbling away, Fluttershy looked just as scared as they did, but all it did was remind Lionel of his promise.
"My room!" Lionel shouted, pulling on Licorice's arm.
Fluttershy floated up the stairs while Lionel and Licorice flew up the steps. Reaching the open door of his room, Lionel pulled Licorice in with Fluttershy close behind. Together they pushed against the door, sliding it closed when the sound of the front stone door crumbled away and the hissing of spiders came echoing in. Lionel, Licorice, and Fluttershy quickly ran to find cover under Lionel's elevated granite bed and hid beneath it staring at the door.
"Do you think they'll find us?" Licorice whispered, sounding very frightened.
The sounds of thrashing could be heard from the other side of the door, with the thick walls of stone it was hard to hear how close the spiders actually were.
"We'll be just fine, Licorice, spiders aren't all that bright." Fluttershy whispered encouragingly.
A heavy thud came from just outside the door with several scratches coming from the others side. It was enough to have Licorice squeal in fright while Fluttershy covered her eyes. Lionel wasn't too far away from screaming himself, the scuffling from outside the stone door only intensified making Lionel's heart race in fear. Closing his eyes, Lionel did his best to cancel out the noises coming from beyond the door.
"Lionel!"
Lionel opened his eyes, attempting to stand up from under his bed and banging his head with loud thud from the granite above. Licorice reached over to see if he was okay but Lionel had wormed his way out from under the bed and stood facing the door. There came a loud thud against the door, there was movement from the other side; unnerving scratching continued.
"Lionel! Get back down here!" Licorice hissed at him.
"That was Ember's voice." Lionel said, shaking from fright but adamant on staying his ground. "He's come back, just like he promised."
The stone door swung open, smoke swooped in. The smell of burnt spider filled the room as Ember stepped through; breathing hard and looking panicked. Lionel stared in disbelief at Ember, who in turn stared just as surprised, but overwhelmingly relieved to see him.
"Are you… alright?" Ember asked, try to catch his breath.
Ember watched Lionel slowly walk over to him. Pressing his forehead against Ember's chest sobbing quietly to himself. Surprised by Lionel's affection, Ember carefully stroked the top of his head trying to calm him down.
"I told you I'd be back." Ember said gingerly, noticing Fluttershy and Licorice coming out from under the bed.
There were hoof steps bounding up the stone stairs as Topaz reached the threshold of the door.
"We've cleared the house of spiders, the foals and fillies are safe. Shining Armor's battalion has routed the swarm of spiders and Pinkie Pie's cannon has the spiders running scared through the Narrows." Topaz informed every pony.
"Thank goodness." Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief.
From the North Tower's dungeon entrance spiders were swarming into Castle Char. Following their master's orders, the spiders were in search of Smolder, the Flame Pony they had to take back alive. Although nearly every spiders had no real idea of what the Flame Pony Smolder looked like, it just so happened that spiders were not so good in telling one Flame Pony from another. To make matters worse, the spiders could not find one cinder of a Flame Pony anywhere in the castle.
"Where's all them fire ponies?" A spider asked aloud in confusion; standing at the top of the stairs.
"Did any spider find the one called Smolder?" Another spider asked from the other end of the Main Hall.
"I ain't found spit!" Another spider hollered from the staircase leading to the Infirmary.
Along the edge of the Main Hall the door to Argo Fleece's office was slightly ajar with Private Nightshade, Private First Class Cosmic, and Specialist Peanut huddled together peeking through. When the order was given to flee the castle, Goldie Fleece had stayed behind to safely store dozens of important ledgers, deeds, contracts, loans, and other important slates in metal vaults hidden beneath the floor of the office. This caused Cosmic to stay behind to ensure her safety while assisting her where he could. Not wanting to leave Ms. Fleece to complete this task alone, Gleam stayed behind as well to help organize all the slates worth keeping for her. Peanut, being the gentlepony that he was, offered to help, refusing to leave her, Goldie, and Cosmic to finish this task alone. Nightshade wasn't about to abandon his friends to run to the Narrows but he spent most of his time trying to convince them to leave nonetheless. Unfortunately, when every pony was ready to leave, several dozen spiders now swarmed the Main Hall blocking their only exit to the Narrows.
"We should have left an hour ago." Nightshade whispered.
"Thank you, Captain Hindsight." Cosmic whispered back.
"I wasn't the one trying to impress my new special somepony." Nightshade snapped back.
"Did Goldie say I was her special somepony?" Cosmic asked quickly, looking excited at the idea.
"Of course not! I was being facetious!" Nightshade hissed.
"Don't go making things up like that!" Cosmic snapped back, looking rather disappointed.
"Do you think we can take them? At least hold them off long enough to get Goldie and Gleam out?" Peanut asked, trying to count the number of spiders.
"I wouldn't even want to chance it at this point. We're better of barricading the doors and waiting it out." Cosmic replied, not liking the odds.
"The dragon is supposed to be trying to tear this place apart; we can't stay here any longer." Nightshade remarked.
"So what's the plan?" Gleam asked curiously, strolling up to the three of them.
Peanut, Cosmic, and Nightshade turned around to see Gleam and Goldie ready to throw hooves. Gleam was wearing bracers, a standard issue Soldier Pony chest piece, and a circlet bearing an orange gem at the center. Goldie on the other hoof was already in her Flash Step, consumed in flames, looking expectantly at them; waiting for them to throw open the doors and attack.
"You're not seriously suggesting we try to fight our way out, are you?" Nightshade asked looking surprised by this.
"My sister has been a Soldier Pony for fifteen years; she taught me how to fight before I learned how to read." Gleam remarked, slamming her hooves together eager to fight.
"Avalanches and snow storms are a constant threat to ponies and yaks up north. I've learned to maintain a Flash Step for more than twelve hours. No spider is going to want to get near me." Goldie stated, her flames flourishing around her.
Nightshade looked to Cosmic and Peanut to see what their thoughts on the matter were but wasn't too surprised to see them awe struck for their crushes. A noise from within the Main Hall drew Nightshade's attention, peeking back through the crack in the door, Cosmic and Peanut leaned in to see what it was as well.
Sapphire carried me down the corridor leading from the ruins of the courtyard to the Main Hall, in hopes of finding a doctor pony to look me over. In all honesty, I felt numb all over; my hide felt cold and paper thin. It wasn't just because I leaning on Sapphire for support, it was also due to the amount of fire I had been exposed to; compared to what my body was normally used to. It would take time for my body to adjust between such varying temperatures, but I knew I couldn't let myself wait that long.
"Smolder's been hurt! I need a doctor pony over here right away!" Sapphire shouted, exiting the threshold of the corridor into the Main Hall.
Her voice echoed for a time, drawing every spider in the room to look her way. Sapphire froze on the spot, surprised by the absence of a single Flame Pony, and the sheer number of spiders that were now looking her way. I was just as surprised, even though my face didn't really show it, but I knew we were in trouble.
"Did that pony just say Smolder?" Asked a spider looking unsure.
"No! I-uh- said… boulder! Yes! Boulder!" Sapphire shouted sounding very suspicious.
"Do we eat it or not?" Asked another spider, looking confused.
"We'll eat the blue one and… take the Fire Pony to the master and tell him it's Smolder." Suggested another spider.
There was a sudden upheaval of hissing that seemed to be every spider agreeing to this plan. Sapphire was starting to back up towards the corridor slowly, doing her best not to just drop me to the floor to defend the two of us.
"You got… a plan?" I asked, my head still throbbing.
"I'm working on it." Sapphire whispered to me.
Glancing over her shoulder, Sapphire spied a few more spiders climbing over the side of the staircase to block her from returning to the corridor. Changing direction, Sapphire started to back us into the corner of the Main Hall, trying to keep the spiders in front of us and have the wall at our backs. The spiders were slow to approach, attempting to get every possible angle on us, making sure there was no room for us to run when they decided to attack. I struggled to support myself, trying desperately to ignite my flame further, but my body was not having it. Sapphire started to lower me to the ground, ready to face the horde of spiders on her own.
"Sneak attack!" Nightshade bellowed leaping high over the spider; his wings giving him tremendous lift.
Coming down hard on the nearest spider to Sapphire, Nightshade wrestled the spider hitting it repeatedly in the face. Peanut and Cosmic were just seconds behind, Peanut dropped a spider, effectively flattening it with his immense physic while Cosmic shoulder checked the spider into the wall knocking it out cold. No pony was more surprised or as relieved to see them as me, Sapphire seemed more confused onto what was taking place. Nightshade, Peanut and Cosmic quickly created a perimeter around Sapphire and I; ready to defend us.
"You don't yell sneak attack when you're actually sneaking up to attack, Shades." Cosmic pointed out.
"I couldn't think of a cool action one liner in time." Nightshade replied.
"What is Smolder's condition, your Highness?" Peanut asked respectfully to Sapphire.
"He's hyperextended his muscles, he needs rest and immediate medical care." Sapphire reported.
"It's not that bad, Peanut." I mumbled.
"What the hay happened to you, Smolder?" Cosmic asked looking me over.
"Picked a fight with the dragon, Bob." I answered with a smile; watching Cosmic recoil to his first name.
"How does he know you're first name? I thought we were keeping that a secret?" Nightshade asked looking surprised.
"Peanut spilled the beans after telling him his name was Charles." Cosmic replied looking annoyed.
"Soldiers! Please! We need to focus on the spiders!" Sapphire shouted watching the spiders encroach upon them once more.
"We're just passing the time before the second sneak attack." Nightshade replied.
"Second sneak attack?" Sapphire asked looking puzzled.
"Sneak attack!" Gleam shouted spraying a wide area of spiders with fire.
Their screams threw every spider into a frenzy of confusion. A golden streak bounced from spider to spider, leaving burning hoof prints on their faces and bodies. Goldie's Flash Stepped rivaled the speed of the most veteran Flash Steppers, leaving a trail of fire in her wake while Gleam shot flames wide to disperse the spiders.
"Ms. Fleece and Ms. Fizzle?" Sapphire asked in surprise.
"Who knew that the mares pushing slates all day knew how kick the hay out of spiders." Nightshade commented.
"Yeah." Cosmic and Peanut replied with a loving sigh at the sight of it.
Spiders from all over the castle were rushing from every corridor to seek out the screeches coming from the Main hall. Sapphire flared her mane; her sprained hoof was not going to slow her down in this fight. Dozens more spiders poured in from the shattered windows and corridors.
"This time, I get to save you from some spiders, okay?" Nightshade said looking over his shoulder at me.
"Nightshade's first name is Alonso." Cosmic said bluntly.
"It's better than Bob!" Nightshade shouted in embarrassment.
"No it's not!" Cosmic shouted back.
Peanut knocked Cosmic's and Nightshade's heads together with a thud. It was enough to get their heads back on the task at hoof and engage the spiders. Sapphire iced her way through a couple of spiders to reach Gleam and Goldie, attempting to square up the number while Peanut, Cosmic, and Nightshade battled the spiders near the stairs.
I was able to get to my hooves, my body still aching, the splitting headache still thriving. Not wanting to be left out of this fight I tried to flare my mane but failed to get any fire going. Several spiders leaped from the staircase, landing beside me, I could hear the cries of Cosmic and Nightshade directing the others to my defense. The spider raised its leg, ready to strike, I turned my head bracing myself for the strike feeling my head sear with pain. There was a sudden flash of white light that surrounded me. The stone floor disappeared from under me as I felt myself suddenly falling.
Dropping only a few feet I landed atop my bed of granite, groaning in miserable pain at the sudden jolt to my already aching hooves; I rolled over onto my back. Staring up at the ceiling of my Royal Chambers I began to wonder what had happened to me. If memory served anything, whenever I attempted to do something concerning magic, my forehead would pain me something awful. Without trying to over think it, I came to the conclusion that my magic sensed my fear and reacted accordingly. Most likely, a teleporting spell had sent me to the one place I felt safest; even if it was a couple feet higher from the bed. Rolling over towards the door, I saw something I wasn't expecting. The Orc was slumped against the door of my Royal Chamber.