Chapter 2: The Fall of Discord
As Blaze pulled away the hardback leather cover, the book almost creaked from the clearly seldom used golden hinges that plated its spine. The pages were old, that was certain, and had an odd texture to them, like papyrus. The unicorn carefully flipped through the first few blank pages before he arrived at what looked like a set of Author's Notes. Eager to see what this book was and who wrote it, Blaze's violet eyes strained in the moonlight to make out the faded words. The hoofwriting was difficult to make out at first, but after careful examination the unicorn could just make out the words.
Dear Reader,
What you hold hear in thy hooves is one of the three Sacred Texts of Equestria. This is the tome of the Dea Solis, our reigning monarch Celestia. May her light guide us all to a brighter future. Within this holy book his a detailed account of all that our beloved Princess has succeeded in accomplishing for all of Ponykind and Equestria.
Blaze furrowed his brow curiously. Glancing upwards before scanning the silent Library, the grey unicorn stallion quietly removed his helmet. His whole world seemed to become brighter and clearer, the silvery moonlight embracing his equally silver mane as it fell around his shoulders. Resting the delicate book on the windowsill, he continued eagerly.
Our glorious Princess has achieved so much for us small-folk in times of darkness and danger. This book contains many detailed records of times that ponies of all races wish had never transpired. Each record was given to me and my scribe by venerable historians from all over Equestria - all of whom I have named in the Appendix at the end of this tome. However, the more recent events have been told to me personally by ponies who were there at the very events. There has been no trickery, deception nor any exaggeration of the events written within.
Learn well, reader...
High Librarian Raven Quill
Blaze's mind was racing all of a sudden, and he wasn't quite sure why. Essentially, this looked like a glorified history book. But it was a history of what Princess Celestia has done over the course of her seemingly immortal life. And what did this Raven Quill mean by 'Sacred Texts'? Not figuring any immediate answer, Blaze turned to look at the circular alcove where the stained glass window stood tall and strong. He scanned the rest of the area quickly. There were three arches, and three symbols portrayed on the painted dome above it. A sun - Celestia, a moon - obviously Luna, and a golden leaf...
A loud crash caused Blaze to jump in shear terror suddenly. The unicorn scolded himself for reacting like a foal, and relaxed when he saw it was caused by his spear falling to one side after he propped it against a gilded marble pillar. Shaking his head, Blaze thought nothing more of the mysterious leaf or the unknown third arch, and locked his gaze firmly on the book before him.
The Fall of Discord and the Foundations of Harmony
As recorded by the pegasus Sentinel at the time of the Draconequus' downfall. Record taken from the Canterlot Historical Archives.
"I was only a young colt at the time, but the events I witnessed shall stay with me to the end of my days. I remember it so clearly - I was living in the low farmlands in the Valley of Fertility with my family. My father was an earth pony, and my mother a pegasus. We owned a small farm down near one of the brooks, growing barley and corn. There wasn't so much a town, but we had a small community of neighbours and friends nearby. I couldn't remember a time when I was more at peace with myself.
"But one day that changed. It started in subtle ways at first, the rain didn't come for days before arriving all at once in a horrendous downpour that drowned half our crops. The pigs we kept started waking during the night and sleeping in the day, and once I swear that a night lasted for no more than an hour before the sun rose. Everypony knew that something was wrong, but nopony - not even the wise unicorn elders - could fathom any answer to the strange and bizarre happenings around the Valley. Some even accused the unicorns themselves of tampering with our ideal lives, causing a rift between the inhabitants of the Valley which threatened to revert back to the old mistrust and xenophobia before the unification of Equestria.
"But we soon learned the source of our misfortune. One night during the longest winter we had ever witnessed, a great tremor could be felt in the earth. Snow fell from the high peaks of the Valley in a great avalanche, and a few ponies in the outermost farms were not seen again. As everypony gathered to try and rescue the trapped farmers, the mound of snow and ice that buried them exploded in a great shower of coldness. Boulders the size of entire house flew as if they were leaves caught in a breeze, and the snow began to change colour - as if it was made from rainbows. In the centre of the vast crater caused by the spontaneous explosion stood a creature that will haunt by dreams unto the ending of the world..."
The grey unicorn drank in the words with a fiery curiosity. The passage faded however, probably due to age and the passage of time. The elegantly written black ink soon disappeared into grey and finally was no longer legible. Blaze sighed in annoyance. He had wanted to find out what happened in the rest of the document. Discord had made his presence known in Equestria for the first time, and Blaze knew that any Pre - Nightmare Moon literature was incredibly rare and valuable. The unicorn flipped through several more pages until he finally found some form of writing that he could read. It appeared that he had missed the span of several years.
"...ruled over us for nearly a decade. The Lord of Chaos was a mysterious and unstable creature, some days being benevolent if a little bit mischievous. During these times, he would return the world to some semblance of normality. The rain returned to being water instead of plates and cutlery, and the days would sometimes last their proper spans instead of a day lasting an hour to a night that lasted a week. However, other times Discord's unpredictable nature turned him into a cruel demon lord who cursed and destroyed our communities.
"He would set fire to our crops for the crime of being too boring, replacing them with statues of himself. He would sometimes go out into the stormy skies and smite a poor innocent pony with warping lightning for no reason at all, and turn the rain into molten silver. Sometimes he brought the sun closer to Equestria, causing droughts and suffocating heat waves that killed many ponies and other creatures. After he would decimate our homes and our livelihoods - and sometimes our lives - he would return to his Palace of Disharmony, built on the edge of the tallest mountain in the land, overlooking the Valley of Misery as it was now called.
"It was Hell, pure unadulterated Hell..."
Blaze had heard stories of Discord's rule over Equestria, but they were when he was a foal. So they had all been kind of 'dumbed down' for his young age. He thought the stories terrible then, but this was an actual historical account. Rain of molten silver? Clearly Discord was not such a jokey mischievous trickster that the foal stories portrayed him as. He was a sadistic, unstable overlord who caused misery and torment for all of Equestria. But the foal stories said that the two Princesses came to stop him, and free Equestria from his chaos and replacing it with Harmony. Blaze had to find out how they really defeated the Great Trickster, what really happened all those centuries ago...
"But on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of Discord's reign, a light could be seen on the horizon. But it was not the sun. Rather, it was the daughter of the sun. Never have I seen something more beautiful than our saviour's visage. Her eyes shone like violet diamonds and her mane danced like the tranquil auroras of the North. She was a pegasus judging by her glistening white wings. Around her neck was a golden necklace, upon which two gems were studded within. Both were wrought in the shapes of suns, identical to the ones emblazoned on her flanks. One of the gems was a bright scarlet, the other a fair grassy green. A magnificent horn crested her head, behind which lay a wondrous, gloriously elaborate crown set with a single purple diamond, also in the shape of a sun.
"Behind her emerged her opposite. This pony was as dark as night, her eyes a deep inky blue like her coat. Behind her blew a dazzling mane of pure night, the hairs shining as miniature stars rippled through her proud crest. Her wings were like that of a raven's, and she too bore a long horn. No crown rested on her head, but the necklace she had clasped around were neck bore three gems instead of two. Each was shaped like that of a moon, again, identical to the ones that marked her flanks. One was a fair sky blue, another a fiery flame coloured orange. The final own was of a beautiful enchanting violet.
"Behold Celestia and Luna. Alicorns of myth and legend, the Daughters of Day and Night, the Sisters of Light and Dark. Behold our saviours..."
Blaze's eyes were glued to the elegant hoofwriting as he grew closer and closer to the climax of the tale, no - account. The events on the pages seemed so surreal and so extraordinary that Blaze had to keep reminding himself that this was non fiction. He readjusted the position of the book to gain the maximum amount of moonlight and continued.
"The Sun Goddess spoke first, her mane blowing before her. 'I am the Fire, tremble before my wrath!' The Valley shook at the sound of her voice, causing everypony - including myself - to bow down in awe, but not terror. Never would this creature emanate terror. Then her sister stepped forth, the night itself crowning her head. 'I am the Storm, yield before my fury!' It do not take a great passage of time before the Lord of Chaos answer their challenge. A terrible thunderclap heralded the arrival of the Draconequus. The distorted creature came down from the mountains on wings of bird and dragon, his serpentine form writhing in the lightening sky. His very act of speaking caused several ponies to wail and cry uncontrollably, so vile was the sound.
'You come here, claiming that I should bow and flee and hide before your anger, yet you are the ones you should be running. I know you two - Celestia, the eldest of the two, daughter of the sun and child of light. Luna, the younger, daughter of the moon and child of darkness. The only alicorns that I have ever seen on the face of this miserable earth. Hmmm, the wings of a pegasus, the horn of a unicorn, and the strength of an earth pony...interesting'
"Discord hovered before the two sisters menacingly, examining the two alicorns as one might examine an interesting gem. The Princesses stood silent and still, following the Draconequus with their eyes.
Discord spoke again, much to the dismay of everypony around for a mile. 'You know, I could always use some overseers as it were. All this chaos is so difficult to keep track of, and these little ponies are so unruly. Someone would have to keep them in line other than myself...'
I swear to this day that the fair Princess Luna's eyes lit up with sheer fury at those words. Whereas the voice of the Lord of Chaos was agonising, the moon goddess' was powerful yet inspiring, almost as if she called for us to rise and stand against this abomination.
'Silence monster, thy words are poison and false. Speak them not to me or my royal sister lest you incur our wrath!' Discord let out a terrible cackle, a sound which caused everypony - myself included - to scream in utter despair and pain. My head felt as if it would splinter in two.
'Royal? What makes you or your sister royal, apart from these pretty little jewels. They mean nothing! YOU are nothing! Join me, or else leave this land and leave me be'.
'Never...' it was the beautiful Celestia that now spoke, and her face was anger incarnate. She stepped toward the Draconequus, her shining horn flaring his magical power. It was then that she turned to face us, and her face turned from rage to steel determination. 'Rise up, my little ponies! Throw off the chains that bind you and join me and my sister. Follow us to a brighter future, one of passion and promise. Of Harmony!' As soon as she utter that final word, all the gems that adorned the alicorns forms glowed brightly. There was power there, ancient, mighty power...
The writing faded yet again as it came to what looked like a massive patch of water damage.
"Dammit!" said Blaze out loud, his voice echoing high in the furthest reaches of the Library's vaulted pillared ceiling. The unicorn flipped over to the next page, where the passage continued briefly before being obstructed by the damage.
"...golden fire. The eyes of the sun goddess were ablaze, her winged form rising high into the sky.
'I am the Fire! You cannot harm me! She spread her wings wide, her horn flaring brilliantly against the lightening sky. For the first time in over a decade, I saw fear flicker across Discord's face. Her sister spread her own magnificent wings, swooping down into the Valley. Her own horn burned br-'...
Blaze ran his hoof across the lines of swirled writing until he found his place again. This was it, the downfall of the Great Trickster. He found that the prose continued a few paragraph lengths down from where he left off.
"...blue lightning. The bolt struck Discord full in the chest, where his heart should be. Our overlord fell back reeling from the moon goddess' attack, and retaliated with a arcing rainbow coloured missile. The blow was dodged, and soon Discord was struck from behind by a fiery chain that bound his expansive wings together. Celestia reared high in the air behind him, her horn the source of the binds. The orange flames seemed to pulse like a heart, and then I saw something amazing. Celestia's chains were forcing Discord's wings to shrink! The Draconequus howled in rage more than pain it seemed, and sent a spinning disc which looked bladed hurtling towards the sun goddess. The strike was blocked by a shield of glimmering blue stars, as Luna flew in front of her sister.
'Bow down and surrender thyself to the power of Harmony!' thundered the dark alicorn. The Lord of Chaos merely looked at her and pointed a taloned finger at her form. A thousand bat like creatures burst from his hand, flying straight for the Princess. From the screeching that came from them, i could tell they were carnivorous.
"But something happened which I will remember for the rest of my humble life. The small-folk were rising, just as Celestia had told us. Earth ponies scrambled up towards the high bluff were the deadly duel was taking place, and a dozen unicorns started to make a line around the combatants, their horns lowered and glowing. Several pegasi leapt into the air and circled round, forming a thick column. Upon seeing what they planned, I quickly rose to join them. At some unspoken command...we humble little ponies struck the Lord of Chaos. The evil spell that he unleashed upon Luna was interrupted as over a dozen earth ponies rammed into his side, toppling the Draconequus over. The unicorns then unleashed their pent up spells, releasing a barrage of shear magical power upon the weakened Discord. The blows caused an explosion which the demonic lord reeled from.
'NO! I will NOT fall today!' The bellow was so strong and malefic, that two pegasi actually fell from the sky. It didn't take a unicorn elder to realise that they would not rise again. Discord raised his two clawed arms high in the air. With a blinding flash of pink fire he vanished".
This time the account was stopped by something that Blaze almost screamed at. Three pages were missing. The unicorn barely restrained a frustrated curse.
"Dammit, buckin' pages...where the-...Goddess, why?" Blaze rambled on to himself as he attempted to find any possible place as to where the missing sheets of paper could be. He trotted over back to the stained glass window, checking behind the marble podium that the book had originally been set upon. Only cobwebs met his eyes, and one his muzzle. Spluttering as he brushed off the spider web, The young guard subconsciously walked back over to the book. Shaking his head, Blaze decided to continue the account without the three lost pages, hoping that he didn't miss to much of this Sentinel's recordings.
"This was it. The end of the conflict that had lasted three hard years..."
"WHAT?" the unicorn guard exclaimed, causing himself to shrink before the rather loud echo that bounced around the room. "Conflict? Three years? Arrrgh great..."
"The two saviours of our people stood beside each other, bloody and battered like the rest of us, but still tall and proud. And there we stood, amidst the smoking ruins of Discord's Palace of Disharmony. The fallen Lord of Chaos himself lay sprawled out below his throne, his body singed and scarred from the mighty magical assault.
'You will pay for this. You will pay for this, you bitches. I'll return, and when I do I will bring your people down' muttered the defeated Draconequus as the great Princess Celestia strode towards him. The jewels that she had worn throughout the war suddenly started to pulse with their inner power.
'Then you must be sealed away, so that may never happen' was all that the white alicorn said in return. Her sister's gems also started to burn bright with magic, the night goddess raising her head high and closing her wonderfully bright eyes. With some unspoken incantation, the crystals flared.
"A mighty, glorious rainbow of light exploded from the sister's gems, illuminating the ruined fortress with the colours of life and love. The great spectrum arced upward towards the stormy sky before slowly, ever so slowly, falling back towards the earth, forming a beautiful archway of Harmony. The trail end of the rainbow struck the defeated Lord of Chaos, enveloping him in a tide of shining colour. And did he scream...
"But the cries of Discord brought nopony to their knees, nopony died or fell to the sound of his wails. With a final blast of power, the rainbow dissipated. In place of the Draconequus stood a statue of white stone, the carving identical to the pose that Discord lay before being struck by the rainbow. It was then that I realised that the two sisters had turned the Lord of Chaos into stone. That was to be his prison, locked within his own body, never being allowed to roam free in Equestria ever again.
"It was over...the War of Chaos was over, and the Foundations of Harmony had been laid..."
So ended the First Life Age of the earth. With Discord and Disharmony vanquished, our great leader Celestia and her counterpart Luna, erased any trace of Discord's rule. The land healed, and the ruins of the Palace of Disharmony were removed. Upon the site of terrible castle now stood the foundations of a new Palace, one that will stand against the wind and fire for all eternity - See 'The Lay of Canterlot' for further information.
Blaze finally blinked, his eyes watering heavily. The young stallion was completely overwhelmed, never before had he heard the Fall of Discord told so vividly and so...truthfully. The foal stories had it all twisted and falsified. With a small chuckle to himself, Blaze lay the book back on the marble podium before the stained glass window of his monarch. Picking up his spear and helmet, the grey unicorn guard began to walk away from the mysterious alcove. It was about time he actually do his job.
But standing like a statue or wandering through aisles of scrolls and tomes wasn't very exciting, and its not like anypony really cared for the Library that much. Yes, it held vast amounts of knowledge, but the only pony that Blaze knew of trespassing within the book filled chamber was Princess Celestia's favoured protégé. And he seriously doubted that she'd come sneaking back in here when she lived in Ponyville...
"Oh...what the hell" he muttered to himself, and plodded back over to the book, picking it up carefully in his hooves. Returning back to the moonlit window, Blaze turned the pages back to where he left off. Who knew history could be so interesting?