//------------------------------// // The Sky Darkens // Story: The Chaos Within // by StapleCactus //------------------------------// “Dex!” Pan’s voice echoed within the halls of Canterlot Castle. Guards stood alert for any order by their rulers. I pushed off the ground, rushing towards Discord’s scowling figure, my own set in a determined glare. Sword met talon as I reached him. “Treachery,” he growled as I fought to overpower him. With a swipe of his lions paw, I flew to the opposing wall, crashing into it and crumpling in a heap on the floor. “Did you honestly believe me weak, human?” Very well, time to test this. I stood and brushed the marble dust away. Giving no return statement, I brought my glasses away from my eyes and tossed them away. Don’t break on me. Discord’s form blurred and the world fell away in swirls of displaced color. I leapt towards him, hoping to use the angle of descent to my advantage. Discord laughed and formed a cloud in my way. I sliced through it, only to meet a pie in the face. The momentary blindness forced me to miss him and feel his talons on my skull. The air rushed around me, I had been flung through the air. I hardened once more, ignoring the coming impact to wipe away pie crust and Boston creme. The wall never came as I was enveloped in a bluish glow. Telekinesis. I swiveled my head to see Luna controlling the magical energies, setting me down and transferring pure magic into my body. “This is all I can do,” her voice resounded within my mind. Good enough. “Getting help from the princesses, human? It won’t be enough to save you,” Discord growled. Belief: Space dilation is possible. My body imploded to nothing, only to reform behind Discord, allowing another strike against his hide. I jumped above him as he howled in pain once more. Letting gravity take over, I adjusted the sword to pierce his skull between the horns. He saw me coming and jumped to the side, leaving a pit of acid behind. Belief: Acid is water. Just as quickly as it formed, the toxic substance turned to clear liquid. I splashed down within it, allowing its cool temperature to refresh me. Enough of this. Belief: Chaos does not exist. I slammed my fist into the marble floor of the room, causing a shockwave to spread my belief to the walls. In my crouched position, I looked up at Discord’s sudden change in attitude. He was snapping his talons, attempting to conjure anything in his normal manner. “You’re done,” I snarled. Harmonic energy swirled around me, free from its counterpart. Standing, I brought my sword into a two-handed grip and ran towards him. When I came within striking distance, he was still stunned, giving me a free shot at his neck. A jump and upward strike split his skin from chest to chin. He stumbled back and I dropped back to the floor. His visage changed from shock to confidence. “So you learned a few tricks.” A click of his talons healed him. “Not enough to matter.” I’m still getting Chaotic magic just from cutting him. How much does he have? Until I gained enough Chaos from Discord, I had to use Harmony as much as possible. “Order: Height is directly proportional to gravity.” “Dex, no!” Celestia’s voice rang out, just as my own completed the rule. The castle groaned under the increased stress from its own size and being on a mountain. The blurs of ponies fell against the strain and Discord was brought to his own hands and knees. I faltered for a moment, adding a minor belief that allowed the rule to ignore me. Before Discord could do the same, I brought my sword down across his face. The cut went skin deep as he reinforced his own body, but it was enough to transfer more Chaos to me. He jumped away, launching a sphere of concentrated magic at me. Bringing my sword to bear, I collected the energy. Neutral. Unnecessary. The forces spun around the blade as I learned its nature and repurposed it as sharpened air. A swing pointed towards Discord released the magic as a thin crescent of hardened wind. As he was distracted from my attack, I rescinded my Harmonic order. The quick change to normal gravity brought a grunt of relief to the ponies while Discord floated in the air for a moment. Slipping as he fell, he launched another cotton candy cloud towards me. I cut through it, expecting it to split away, but as I walked between the halves, they clamped shut. With my head in the clouds, he had the advantage again. Instead of his usual antics, I felt his paw and talons both pierce my body and begin to pull away from each other. Still too low on Chaos to heal, I blindly swung, feeling nicks and cuts into his arms and torso. In another scream of pain, Discord pulled his talons out of me. I knocked the fluffy sugar away to find his paw severed and still embedded in my stomach. Falling to my knees, blood poured from my wounds and I pulled the lion paw out. As I tossed it away, Discord glared at me as if I would die from the look alone. Blood loss caused me to stumble when I stood up to face him again. “Dex!” A pink glow formed around me, slowly stitching my wounds closed. I looked at my audience to see a Pan-colored blob with a similarly colored luminescence to that of the spell. Thanks Pan. My injuries were sealed, but the spell didn’t end. I felt my strength increase as it continued. “Adrenaline. For the bloodloss,” the blur said at my confused expression. A low growl echoed within the chamber, not unlike that of a dragon woken from slumber. “You will die,” the draconequus said in a deep voice. All manner of playfulness had left his countenance. Blood dripped from the stump his paw used to be and cuts adorned his hide. Sweat beaded upon me as adrenaline coursed through my veins. Time to end this. “Order: All things must die. Order: All things must be harmed. Order: All things must cease to exist.” Belief: My mind calculates all odds. Belief: My muscles work at full capacity. The princesses gasped at my rules, for not only did it make Discord mortal, but so did it make them as well. Furthermore, it forced all beings to be harmed, allowing death to occur by injury. Because Discord had no Harmony, he could not refute the order. Neither of us could strengthen our bodies against harm. Discord crouched low, preparing himself for an attack. I did the same, only to trick him as I warped behind him and sliced through his tail. More chaos flooded my mind and the sudden deluge left me open for him to buck me against the wall. I recovered quickly. Belief: I weigh four thousand pounds. My steps sank into the marble as I ran towards Discord. He summoned spears to pierce the floor upwards. As I dodged around them, he brought more boulders into existence. The final attack he used was a large beam of energy coming from his hand straight at me. If I stayed still, I’d get all three; if I moved, I’d get two out of three; if I warped away, I’d get hit by the energy blast when he redirects it. Choosing the last option, I warped a yard away from him and caught the blast with my katana. Chaos. The battle was nearly over, so I redirected the energy back to Discord instead of absorbing it. The magic flung towards him in a half circle of fire and light. When it struck him, I jumped through it to embed my sword in his skull. To ensure his destruction, I pulled down on the sword until his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Chaotic energy swirled from the gap I caused. The sword absorbed the Chaos as fast as it could. My Harmonic magic ran out, but there was still more Chaos to collect. I will fix this. --- The man leaned against his sword embedded in his kill, absorbing every last ounce of its essence. The strength of a god filled his mind and soul, bleeding the color out of him until he was nothing but black. The ponies in the room looked onward in shock, for a mortal man had done the impossible. Silence filled the chamber. No one spoke a word or moved a muscle, all waiting to see what would happen next. A cutting laugh split the quiet, slowly increasing into mad hysterics. He turned to view his audience with deep blue fire burning in his eye sockets, but never stopped laughing. “I TOLD him I’d be back!” The undulating, unworldly voice of the man spelled the end to the knight known as Dex. Sinis had returned, and he was too strong to stop this time.