//------------------------------// // After-party of destruction // Story: Chaos: the Age of Spike // by Kaliann25 //------------------------------// After-party of destruction Everypony at the Castle of Chaos were exhausted, and tired, because of the mother of all hangovers. But, that could be a good sign. It meant that everyone had a good night. The problem was that, the better the night, the worse the morning. But they all sat together for breakfast, before going back to their respective homes. “It was shorter than I hoped, but, we will remember this party for ages.” giggled Sweetie Belle, with a bag on ice over her head. “Who shaved Princess Celestia’s mane, by the way?” The Princess groaned, and looked around. “I don’t know, but I swear whoever did this, will spend a month in the dungeons!” What pissed her the most, was that she would have to shave the other half in order to match both sides. “Thanks Boss I have diplomatic immunity.” said Prince Magma. Celestia glared at him. “WHAT?!!” “Shut up!!” complained the others. Their headache was killing them. “I’m sorry.” said Celestia, still glaring at Prince Magma. “Why did you do that, Prince Magma?!” “Sorry, I was really drunk, like everyone else, and suddenly, I wanted to see if your floating mane still floated if cut off. And, you were passed out already, and I stumbled across a shaver, and, the rest is history. I’m really sorry!” Ponies, dragons, Agents of Chaos, and Lunar Guards would laugh at this, but the headache convinced them otherwise. Stupid hangover. “I can’t believe you shield behind your title to do something like that, Prince Magma!” scolded Twilight, (who haven’t realized that someone had paint a mustache and nerd glasses on her face). “You should be ashamed of yourself!” “Princess, last night we all did things we regret. This one, is just one of many.” explained the dragon, showing the purple alicorn all the insults someone have painted on his scales. The most noticeable ones were PERVERT and IDIOT. “See? After waking up in the bathtub, covered in whipped cream, and all this stuff, what I did is the last of my regrets.” “You deserved it.” said Pina, with a smirk. “Huh, so you did it, maestra parrillera?” asked Magma, calmly. “The insults, the whipped cream, I have no idea what happened.” explained the dragoness. “You came to me, thinking you were the world’s greatest seductive dragon, and I had no choice by hitting you in the jaw.” “Huh. Sorry.” “It’s cool!” said Pina, with a shrug. “Have you ever been at a sorority party? This things happen.” And they both made a high-five. Everything was forgotten and forgiven. “Yer’ forgiving him just like that?” asked Applejack, in disbelief. “Yeah, this happens a lot among our kind.” explained Pina. “From both male and female.” Applejack had her doubts about this, but, something else called everyone’s attention. “Seriously, did it had to be on mah’ bed?” asked Apple Bloom glaring angrily at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “From all the rooms we have here, ya’ two had to use ma’ bed?!” “How were we supposed to know it was your room?” asked Tiara, raising an eyebrow. “In fact, you of all ponies, shouldn’t have your balcony decorated with peach trees!” “Okay, what the hay happened?” asked Twist. Apple Bloom frowned, as Diamond and Silver blushed, but still kept their head up. After all, it was a party. “The thing is,” began Silver Spoon, “that at some point everyone started to act a little too-chaotic for our taste.” “So we went upstairs, to one of the rooms, to have our own private party.” finished Tiara. “And, the room we chose, was Apple Bloom’s.” Silver Spoon sighed. “As Diamond said, it was beautifully decorated with peach trees. We thought she would have apple trees, or pear trees. Not peach trees!” Apple Bloom groaned, as she reminded what happened next: “And, when certain idiots monopolized the karaoke.” she glared at Snips and Snails. “Singing the songs from Ponicente Fernández over and over, A’ decided A’ had enough of this party.” The two friends chuckled. “Oh come on, we sang with all our heart!” said Snips. “Yeah, reminding our past marefriends, who left us with our hearts broken. But, ay yeguas, ay yeguas tan divinas. No queda otro camino que adorarlas!” The two friends chuckled again. “You two sang with all your heart, it was beautiful!” said Blue Blood, approvingly. “See, Apple Bloom? Somepony who appreciates the art!” “Anyway!” complained Apple Bloom. “Back to my story, A’ went to mah’ room, and got into mah’ bed.” “And?” insisted Twist. “A’ almost made a threesome with those two!” Each one imagined the scene, with their faces getting red, or, holding back their laughter. “And, why didn’t you take your chance?” mocked Scoots. “To Tartarus with you!” groaned Apple Bloom. “I insist, how were we supposed to know that your room was the one with peach trees?” said Silver Spoon. “Aren’t you an A-P-P-L-E? Or half P-E-A-R?” Apple Bloom sighed. “Whatever!” “Well, A’ agree!” suddenly said Applejack. “You’re an Apple, for Boss sake! What are you thinking? Grow peach trees?” “Keep talking, and A’ swear I’ll turn Sweet Apple Acres in Sweet Peach Acres!” said Apple Bloom, showing one of her black apples of chaos to her sister. Applejack frowned, but didn’t say more. It was an excellent threat. As for the rest of the breakfast, everything was fine. But everypony took an extra dose of aspirins and coffee. Lots of aspirins and coffee. When they finished, everyone rushed to go back home, and sleep for the rest of the day. “Luckily, I prepared the crazy doors since yesterday.” said Spike, rubbing his forehead. “They will take you to wherever you want.” They all agreed the hospitality, and walked to the doors. “By the way, before we go, how Celestia’s mane looks when it’s cut off?” asked Pina to Prince Magma. Magma showed her a bunch of hairs he had on his claw. “Normal.” “It’s a shame.” Celestia overheard them, and before she go, she wrote a quick letter to King Flames. Magma was crossing the door, when his father’s response came through his messenger breath. “Huh…” “What did he said?” asked Celestia, smiling. “I’m in trouble. Big deal, I already knew that.” And he disappeared through the door, back to Reptilia. Soon, everyone left, except for the Agents of Chaos. And Rarity. The Bearer of Generosity approached to her sister, with sadness. “You did it, right? After I passed out.” Sweetie nodded. “I told you, this is my decision. Come on, look at the bright side! We’ll be forever together in the future!” “I wish you the best of lucks, Sweetie Belle. That’s all I can tell you. I hope that you never wake up, and realize all that you met a mistake.” She left, to Blood’s mansion. Sweetie seemed a little worried, but right now she had something more important to take care of: that stupid hangover. “Cool party guys, but I must go home.” Said Rumble. “Take care!” “Yeah, tell us what it feel like to be immortal, when you get used to!” smiled Babs. “Remember Spike, A’m the next one.” assured Apple Bloom. “Everyone left, right?” asked Spike with a yawn. “Okay, I am going to bed.” “Me too.” yawned Sweetie Belle. “If you excuse me, I’ll sleep in a guest room. I don’t want to hear you snore with this headache.” “I understand. We’ll clean up tomorrow, okay?” “Yeah. Thank you for the party Spike. I loved every second of it. Except the part where you decided to take the Ponyntendo Switch, and forgot about me.” “You would have fun if you joined us. Anyway, let’s go to sleep.” The two wished sweet dreams to each other, and went to bed. Sweetie could barely believe it. She was actually an immortal. How cool was that? But, she wasn’t in the mood to think about that. Seriously, damn hangover. … Marble Pie finished the last sell of the day, a shipment of tiny rocks, the ones used to make concrete. Slowly, she walked back home. Since her parents have died, she took care of all the operations of the farm, along with her sister Limestone. Like break big rock into smaller, more manageable sizes, the classification of the types or rocks, and of course, the selling. Usually, it was Limestone who took care of the last one, since Marble was really shy, but this time, Limestone had something to do at the town hall. It wasn’t a problem, Marble had get used to do it during the last years. The two sisters met at Rockingtown’s outskirts, and walked back to their farm in complete silence. The same as always. But, when they finally arrived home, the two sisters noticed something was off. “The door is open!” said Limestone. “Do you think there’s somepony inside?” asked Marble, hiding behind Limestone. “Yes. Shut up and follow my lead!” Limestone pushed the door, and prepared to jump over the intruder. But, much to her surprise, what received her was the faint scent of rock soup. A scent so soft and delicate, that only the Pie family had the ability to detect it. “Is anypony here?” asked Marble, completely scared. In the meantime, Limestone have approached to the soup, and smelled deeply. “Unbelievable.” “Is it poisoned?” asked Marble. “No, it smells almost like granny’s. But this is impossible! There’s only one pony who made this soup as good as hers and that’s…” “Marble. Limestone.” said a voice in the dark. Limestone’s jaw dropped. “You?!” Marble couldn’t believe it. “Maud? Is it true? Is that really you?” When the Pie sisters’ eyes got used to the dark, they noticed a figure, petting a rock as it was a cat, or something. Both of them would recognize that gesture everywhere. And of course, they also knew that rock. “MAUD, BOULDER!” shrieked Marble, running to hug her older sister. “Is that you? Is that really you?” Maud accepted the embrace, as she slowly walked back to light, along with her Marble. Limestone frowned. “You haven’t age a day. Just like Pinkie Pie.” “A lot of things changed when I signed that contract.” said Maud, dryly. But her sisters noticed the regret on her voice. Again, only the Pie family could detect an emotion, any emotion, in Maud’s voice. “A contract?!” asked Marble, with hope. “Oh, Maud, that’s wonderful. So you found a job! And everything the ponies say about you is a lie! You went to work, not to blow up ponies, and becoming a terrorist, right?” Maud slowly got apart from her sister. “I am sorry, Marble.” “Why are you back so suddenly?” asked Limestone. Maud looked at her, expressionless. For most of the ponies. The other two could easily see the sadness on her eyes. “Don’t listen to her!” insisted Marble. “Oh Maud, you don’t know how much we have missed you, when you disappeared! Oh! And everypony were so unfair with you! Mom and dad burned all your things, your clothes, photos, even your poems, Maud! I did my best to stop them, but they insisted you were the shame of the family… that you were…” “A heartless sociopath!” finished Limestone. Marble nodded, as she sobbed. “Even Pinkie Pie turned her back on you.” Maud sighed. “I’m afraid I let her down first. I was the one who betrayed the idea she had about me.” “So, you aren’t a heartless sociopath, as everyopony assures?” asked Limestone. “No, of course I am a sociopath. But I do have a heart. That’s why I came here, to see you one last time, before it happens.” “It?” gulped Marble. Limestone just frowned. “Something really bad is about to happen, I’ll make sure of that. I wish I can spare you, but I have to stick with the plan, no matter what. No matter who. Pinkie Pie can take care of herself, she’s used to deal with things like this. But not the two of you. I need to you to promise me you wouldn’t leave the farm for anything.” “Are you serious?” asked Limestone, angrily. “Dead serious” Limestone walked to confront her sister, and looked her to the eye. “How dare you?” Maud didn’t say anything. “How dare you to abandon us, to stain the family’s name with destruction and death, and then, come here, and command us to stay in the farm. You lost the right to say anything to us, since the day you became a criminal!” continued Limestone. Maud, then, put her forehoof on her sister’s forehead. Limestone gasped in surprise, as she was surrounded by Black Light. But it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. It was more like a tingling sensation running through her body. When it finished, Limestone realized she have changed. First of all, she have become as tall as Princess Celestia. Second, a pair of wings, and a horn have grown on her body. And finally, her mane and tail have become like Celestia’s: floating, and ethereal. “What have you done to me?” asked Limestone. Maud sighed. “I really wanted to avoid this, but my orders are clear. I am sorry. That’s why I can only tell you to stay here, out of trouble.” Then, she walked toward Marble, and turned her into an alicorn as well. “Maud! What’s the meaning of this?!” asked Marble, scared. Maud slowly walked to the door. “Don’t worry about that. Just do as I say, and don’t leave this farm. Eat your soup, it’s getting cold.” Maud left, leaving her sisters. None of them knew what to do now, except eating their rock soup. It was as good as always. Only Granny Pie, and Maud knew how to make it this good. But they were worried, how this happened? How could Maud do this to them? And, what was she after, really? In the meantime, Maud Pie have arrived to the town. She smiled happily, as she remembered, at this hour, the workers were getting into their respective beds already. They had to weak up early tomorrow, as good hard-working earth ponies. The earth ponies always worked hard, and always put the community first. That’s why Maud loved to be an earth pony, when she was still a pony. Like Spike, she changed forever at the moment she signed her contract. But, unlike him, she didn’t become a god. She became exactly the opposite. “I really hate do this to my hometown. But, it’s for the greater good.” said Maud softly. “Let’s do this. Rockingtown, I am sorry.” Maud extended her hoof, releasing the Black Light all over the town. Her expression was the same as always, indifferent. But, those who knew Maud, it was an angry expression. Stop complaining. This is your plan, after all. Said Boulder’s voice inside her head. Are you mad because you have to use magic? “I don’t know if you can call this magic. It has nothing to do with anything in this world. But, if I get rid of the alicorns once and for all, it’s worth it. No matter how much you sacrifice, in a job you hate, the community it’s more important than yourself. That’s the way of the earth ponies.” With a last look toward her home, Maud walked to her next destination. It didn’t matter where. She had to go all over Equestria if she wanted to succeed. Back at Canterlot Castle, Celestia have managed to hide from everypony, including her most loyal servants, and trusty guards. Thanks to Spike’s crazy door, she teleported straight into her room, and despite the hangover, she sealed it with the most powerful spells she knew. After a quick rest, she send of her servants to call one of the finest stylists in the Kingdom, who had to sign a confidentially agreement. Luna noticed this, but her sister refused to see her. So, the Princess of the Night asked Pip. “Hey, Pipsy, do you know what happened to my sister at the party?” “I have no idea, I left with Trixie and Pure Soul… right before things got wilder. Have you seen Black and Lighting?” Luna giggled. Precisely, those two have just come, both with their manes dyed, in pink and yellow respectively. Also, Lighting Flash’s body had drawn an tuxedo with black marker. And Black’s fur was all covered in glitter, and stickers. “Yeah. You don’t know what happened to them, neither?” “Like I said, I left right after things got wilder.” “Okay, okay. Are you working today?” Pip smiled. “Yeah, I’m feeling fine. I mean, nothing that a single aspirin and a glass of cold water can’t handle. Now, if you excuse me, my Princess, I should be going!” “Take care, Pip!” Pipsqueak saluted his Princess, and left. And finally, the Princess of the Night heard a shy knock on her door. “Come on in!” Celestia opened the door, and Luna couldn’t help but laugh loudly, and happily. “Oh, Boss! Tia, who did this to you?” “Prince Magma of Reptila. Damn brat.” Luna laughed. “Seriously, how much you drink last night?” “A lot, apparently. I played an enchanted board game, along with several guests. Plumber Kart, I think it’s called. The thing is, that each time you lose, you had to drink a shot. And, since I was the less experienced player, I took the worse part.” Luna laughed uncontrollably. “Considering an alicorn’s resistance, you had quite a lot, dear sister.” “I know. I know.” groaned Celestia. “Lucky you that are pregnant.” “I wonder what else happened at that party.” said Luna. “But, looking at my captains too, you weren’t the only one who have to deal with the consequences of too much drinking.” “That’s true.” agreed Celestia. At the Crystal Empire, Gleaming Shield looked at the mirror, angry. “Caddy, why did you turned me into a mare?” asked Gleaming, with a pout. “But darling, you were the one who suggested to try my make-up in you. Remember? And, also, you looked gorgeous at that dress. Come on, let’s have a girl’s night! Come on!” “This is my punishment for drink that much.” sighed Gleaming Shield. “Okay, but at least let me drink a revitalizing potion. I can’t go on with this headache.” “Silly me!” giggled Cadence. “Here you go, darling. Drink it all up!” Other one paying the consequences was Prince Magma. “Dad, I get this is a punishment, but come on! All of us had too much to drink last night!” King Flames looked angrily at his son. “Precisely my point. You shaved the head of Princess Celestia. You’re lucky she agreed with this light punishment!” Magma looked at his body, where all his insults were made indelible by his father’s magic. Finally, the young dragon sighed. “Dad, look, I don’t care if my students laugh at me, but at least let me erase this word. I don’t want to be responsible to teach this word to my students!” King Flames examined the insult his son was referring to, and nodded satisfied. “I guess you’re right. Good Boss! Who wrote that insult on you?” “The maestra parrillera.” “Such foul language for a lady!” “At least, her calligraphy it’s pretty.” A new day was starting at Rockingtown. The earth ponies were ready for going back to the routine, for what they thought it was going to be a normal day. But, as soon as they looked themselves at the mirror, they all screamed in surprise: “WHAT HAPPENED TO US?” “Are we Royalty now, or what?” “Hey, look! Our neighbors have become Royalty as well!” “An entire town full Princes and Princesses!” “Don’t you mean Kings and Queens?” The inhabitants of Rockingtown used to be reserved and quiet. But this event was too big for any of them to understand. Why the sudden change? What have they done to deserve this? What does that mean? It started. Said Boulder, inside of Maud’s head. “Ponies are very simple creatures, Boulder. They’re weak, they’re mortal. They’re corruptible. Body, mind and soul. I’m the best to tell you, since that’s my case. Alicorns all over the place. With minds as simple as ponies’, that will only lead to one logical conclusion: conflict.” Maud continued walking, until she arrived to the Smokey Mountains. One of the few territories controlled by two pure-blooded earth pony clans. They were in the middle of a mindless conflict for years, and years, until Princess Twilight and one of her bird-brain friends put it to an end. “One of the few good things that moron have done. Why did they were wasting time, fighting against each other, when the real enemies are the other inferior races?” At the bottom of the mountainside, Maud Pie released the Power that the Other One gave to her. The effect was immediate, the families suddenly turned into alicorns, much to the surprise of everypony. Maud made a small nod, and continued her way. You know you have to do this all over Equestria. Not only with earth ponies, right? Asked Boulder’s voice in her head. “I know. But I wanted to start by the worse part, having to transform my fellow earth ponies into an inferior race.” You should started by an earth pony metropolis. Like Mane-Hattan. In order to do this, we need as much conflict as possible. “I know. I designed this plan, remember? Now, what’s the nearest city?” Saddle-Cramento. “Let’s go to Saddle-Cramento.” She walked slowly, with no rush, or pause. “I missed this feeling, Boulder.” What feeling? “To execute one of my brilliant plans. Maybe my own ambitions and goals mean nothing, since the day I signed the contract. But, it pleases me greatly to be back at my own world. And, do something that would potentially erase the existence of alicorns once and for all.” Cadence was the first one to feel the change. Something wasn’t quite alright. The Cristal Empire was really close to the mountains, and naturally, being the nearest alicorn, she felt the sudden change in the environment. “What is this?” asked Shining Armor. As he was the one who created the shield that protected Equestria, he also could feel the strange presence. “It feels like… the energy surrounding Tirek… or Sombra. Something that came directly from… Him.” Shining frowned. “Are you sure?” Suddenly, their daughter ran into the room. “Mom, dad!!” called the filly, the new Guardian of the Crystal Heart. “Something bad is going on, the Crystal Heart is at its full power, but the temperature keeps descending.” “WHAT?” They ran into the chambers of the Crystal Heart. It was like Flurry have said, it was glowing with all its power, reflecting Happiness, and Love from all the ponies. But something was off. The entire weather seemed to get colder any minute. More than usual. “This isn’t normal.” said Cadence, as she looked through the window. “The weather is… kind of normal. Cloudy, but there isn’t any snow.” Shining bite his lip. “A dark presence is coming.” Flurry frowned. “It reminds me that tale, about the Hearts Warming Eve.” The Crystal Monarchs looked at their daughter. “What did you just said?” “You know, the story that aunt Twilight told me. About the mystical spirits who feed from conflict.” Cadence looked horrified at Shining Armor. “Don’t you think…?” “Something horrible is about to happen. We have to alert everyone!” In the meantime, Maud finally arrived to Saddle-Cramento. “Let’s get this started.” said Maud emotionlessly. The Power of the Black Light extended all over the city, transforming all the inhabitants into alicorns. Maud contemplated her work. “Any second now.” Precisely, the chaos was about to begin: “THIS IS A DIVINE SIGNAL! CELESTIA’S REIGN IS ABOUT TO FALL! SOMEONE, UP THERE, WANT US TO TAKE THE POWER!” “WE HAVE THE POWER OF THE GODS!” “Are you crazy, or what? This is sign that something bad is happening!” “YOUR LACK OF FAITH IS IRRITATING ME!” And, with their newfound alicorn powers, they started to shot powerful energy beams to each other. Some of them even tried to move the Sun and the Moon as Celestia and Luna did, and it worked perfectly. This was only the beginning. Soon enough, multiple fight started all over the city, as the new alicorns tried to get supremacy. They had the same idea: to defeat as many of them as possible, in order to have enough practice to overthrown the Princesses. “THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA!” On the distance, Maud looked at her work, and nodded. “I should started by the big cities.” I told you so. Now, where to? We have both Stalliongrado, and Trottenaghe. “Let’s go south. That’s Trottenaghe, I guess.” Yes it is. Maud shrugged, and began to walk. “Unbelievable, don’t you think, Boulder?” What? “The biggest enemy of the ponykind is not a creature who seems like the creators get drunk, and stitched together a bunch of body parts. And is not the idiotic kid that the creature named as his replacement. The biggest threat to the ponykind, is the ponykind itself.” As for Luna and Celestia, they reacted to see the Sun and Moon moving on their own, several times. And also, they felt the increase of magic power all over Equestria. “What’s going on?” “Something bad. Something really bad.” … On the Astral Plane, the three spirits of the Hearts Warming watched the Windigos, who were uncharacteristically active. Something was attracting them… toward Equestria. What happened, that attracted the attention of the creatures? The three Spirits of the Past, Present, and Future, tried to contain them, but it was too late. The Windigos pushed them away, with a power ten times greater than even before. Conflict, they were after the greatest conflict that Equestria ever had. … Spike woke up because of the extreme cold. “What’s going on?” asked the God of Chaos. He closed his eyes, something was wrong. “Something evil have entered into our world.” “Are you sure?” asked Sweetie. “Yeah… it’s like something I’ve never felt before. It is the Other One’s signature.” “The Other One? Shall we be careful?” “You bet!” said a third voice in the room. They both turned to their visitor. It was the president of the Board of Directors, Saint Michael Archangel. Also known as the Hooded Avenger. “Mister Michael! Do you know what’s going on?” “Oh, yeah. You’re about to learn the difference between Chaos, and Destruction.” explained the Archangel. “A Demon have entered into the Equestrian territory. All the active deities have to mobilize to stop it before it’s too late.” “A Demon?” asked Sweetie, scared. “Mister Boss’ employees are Gods, the Other One’s are Demons.” explained Saint Michael. “But, we don’t have time for this. You should go. As a God, you have the responsibility to protect this world. The same goes for your Princesses. And, as the God of Chaos, you’re the one who haves more possibilities to stop this, since you’re the one with less limitations.” Spike nodded. “I will stop this.” “We will stop this.” assured Sweetie Belle, taking her form of Chaos. “Let’s tell the others. We have a big bad guy to annoy until defeat!”