//------------------------------// // The Conclave (original one hour version) // Story: Conclave of Chaos // by Syke Jr //------------------------------// The night is quiet. The trees are still. The wind does not blow; the seas, even, are calm and placid. The moon in the sky is not rising, nor setting. The stars are gone. On a lonesome hill, seven stand together, silently regarding a stone figure which, even in its stillness, seems to be mocking them all. Not least due to its dashing pose and laughing face. What truly punctuates the mockery is the very world surrounding the foolish little “rulers”. It couldn’t be more wrong. More boring. The trees are all one colour, now; the clouds no longer a plethora of pastel hues. The hill upon which they stand is no longer decorated in a checkerboard affair. It has been night, now, for entirely too long. And, as previously mentioned, all the little wonders of the world have vanished into a haze of order. Of “Harmony”. Fools. Eventually, one speaks. “We knew this would happen,” the white pegasus says with some weariness. “The Chaos magic has drained from the land. If we wish for the world to be as it was, without the tyranny of the Mad Emperor, we must claim the Chaos as our own.” “We are creatures of Harmony,” says the griffon with a harsh shake of the head. “The chaos must not take hold once more. How can we know one of us will not be corrupted? The Mad Emperor was not always such as he was. No being can be trusted to wield his power.” “Perhaps,” the blue unicorn says softly. “But all of us, together, may bring Chaos back into the world as it was meant to be. Before Discord went mad.” “Do not speak its name,” spits the dragoness. “I agree that this world needs a measure of Chaos to function.” The minotaur looks around at the broken world, its aching dullness forcing even him to face the facts of their mistake. “We may not undo what we have done,” the larger hippogriff says. He turns to the smaller one, who shakes her head, and adds: “I do not relish the idea of using Chaos, but things are not as they should be. I will hear the plan.” The unicorn nods. She steps forward towards the statue of the Mad Emperor Discord, horn aglow, and recites a spell even I could not fathom to conceive. NO- In my ethereal prison I try to writhe. I can feel my essence being twisted, dragged from me, split-- A faint tremor shakes the hill, and the dragoness and griffon growl warily and glare at the stone effigy as if expecting it to attack. Oh, how I would love to oblige and rip them into nothing…. It is done. Before the statue floats a spectral, twisting orb, one that these seven imbeciles should not even be able to behold let alone create. I try to feel rage, but cannot. In this state there is no emotion, only desire, and the only thing I desire is the death of every single one of these simpletons. But, if there is one thing I know how to do, it is bide my time. The unicorn’s spell finishes and she steps back, panting a little. Her sister puts a hoof on her back, gazing at my essence, and says: “we each must take responsibility for those aspects of the world that we wish to live on in the world. “We are creatures of Harmony, yes--” here she nods to the griffon-- “but there must be balance. Dis-- the Mad One’s influence on the realm was too great, perhaps, but his design was, in its way, a wondrous one. This wonder can live on.” “Tell us what to do,” the dragoness says with some bluntness. “Indeed. If this is the course of action, let us take it,” agrees the minotaur. “We all know our aspects,” says the unicorn. “We have tried to take control ourselves, but our magic is not strong enough, or else too unlike the Mad One’s magic. All we must do is speak the words we know to be true in our souls, touch the wyrspirit before us, and accept the Chaos as it flows into us.” “I shall begin,” the griffon says shortly. He steps forward, clearing his throat. “I, Tempest of the Griffon Kingdom, bearer of the Element of Courage, do take into my domain the winds and the storms of the world.” He brushes the whirling orb with a claw and for a moment none of his companions can see him in the blinding light made by the Chaos as it flows into him. A moment later, he stands, dazed, a full head taller than he had been, with wings that could encircle all of them and the statue combined. Next is the dragoness. “I, Dragonlord Emerald, bearer of the Element of Cunning, do take into my domain the fires and and the tremors of the land.” The light bursts forth again, and there stands a dragoness with fire in her eyes and steel in her claws. “I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, bearer of the Element of Compassion, take into my domain the sun and the rainbows of the sky.” And there she stands, sporting both wings and horn, mane flowing with the colours of a sunset. “I, Prince Gaius of the Minotaurs, bearer of the Element of Truth, do take into my domain the plants and the growth of the land.” He snorts with the weight of a world as he finds new footing on larger legs. “We, King and Queen Skybeak and Novo, bearers of the Element of Balance, do take into our domain the currents and the waves of the oceans.” They lean into each other once transformed, tall and proud with eyes that shimmer like water. “And I, Princess Luna of Equestria, bearer of the Element of Magic, do take into my domain the moon and the stars of the sky.” Finally it is done, and the newly made alicorn’s horn glows as she attempts to banish what Chaotic magic they did not steal from the world for good. She fails, of course, but there is nothing to indicate that she knows of her failure. Good. That’s enough. Eventually the seven new rulers, purported wielders of both Chaos and Harmony, return to their lands. They leave behind the broken edifice of the former Emperor. At least the winds blow again. The sea ebbs and flows, the clouds gather in a storm, the moon begins to sink at a pace still too slow. But the stars are back. And that’s something.