//------------------------------// // Released // Story: The Day of Discord // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// Perhaps in retrospect it was a mistake to let school groups tour the castle's statue garden without any kind of Guard escort, but Princess Celestia, compelled by the need to reassure her subjects that there was no danger whatsoever associated with those statues, ordered it done anyway. She would long regret that decision, for that, instead of any arcane method tried by the traitorous Agents of Chaos, was how the draconequus Discord was released from his stone prison. Although there was no specific prophesied timeline as had been the case with "Nightmare Moon", the same stellar alignment that had aided her escape also weakened the petrification spell that held Discord immobilized. The continued machinations of the Agents of Chaos, influencing the environment around Canterlot, prevented the spell from regaining strength as the stars moved out of alignment again, and Celestia's check of the statue after the failure of Operation Whirlwind proved to be a false hope of its sturdiness. Finally, to combat rumors springing up of some dark secret being hidden in Canterlot Castle's statue garden, Princess Celestia allowed unescorted tours of school groups and similar tourist arrangements to openly tour said garden without escort. That decision was controversial, to put it simply, and even some within the castle's guard service whispered opposition to it. Captain of the Guard Gibraltar privately disagreed with it, but felt duty-bound to follow the orders given to him (and remind his subordinates of the same principle when necessary). The morning and afternoon shift leaders, Lieutenant Captains Stratocumulus and Fidelitas respectively, shared the opinions of the Captain and had to constantly be wary of any signs of rebellion or disagreement. The night shift leader, Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, tried to share the body of concern with Princess Luna, but the younger royal sister simply refused to even entertain the notion of going against her older sister's decree. Shortly thereafter, the catastrophe of Discord's release would once again sunder the united ranks of the Canterlot Guard, opening the way for future catastrophes as well... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The cracking, once initiated by the spat between the three members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, spread quickly over the whole form of the statue - too quickly, in fact, for anypony to have done anything more than raise an alarm upon hearing and seeing it happen. As it turned out, however, Discord was alone when the stone covering finally shattered in a blinding blast of magical energy, stone fragments being hurled into foliage and damaging the garden's other statues when they impacted. "Confounded overpowered magical artifacts, totally unfair, underestimated those alicorns..." the released draconequus mutters to himself as he picks off the remaining pieces of the shattered stone covering. He then began contorting and twisting his long body in various ways to work out the kinks within, in some cases literally taking off and then putting back on the limbs of his composite body. "Where am I anyway?" Discord then asks himself as he looks around at his surroundings. "A statue garden?! They put me on display like a trophy?! Oh, those alicorns will certainly pay for this!" The sound of other voices draws Discord's attention to his right, in this case to a pair of Guards who had just galloped upon the scene. As one spoke to his partner, both of them pointed the sharp end of their pikes at Discord: "The statue is alive?!? I thought that was all just rumor!" "Now what do we do? There's nothing in the Academy training about how to handle a living statue!" the other Guard stallion answers back. "So, you two have come to play, have you?" Discord now mocks, his face twisting into a malicious grin as he rubs his lion paw and eagle claw "hands" together in anticipation. "It does not matter those alicorns have seemed to succeed in erasing my name from common knowledge of ponykind in Equestria. I shall teach you again, as many times as necessary, and as painfully and viciously as necessary! Do your worst, peons, for you cannot harm the almighty Discord!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MEANWHILE, IN THE CANTERLOT GUARD OFFICES... "Slow down, soldier! Repeat to me what is going on out there." Captain Gibraltar was saying to the Lower Class Guard that had rushed into the office, disrupting what had been a peaceful session of processing paperwork. "There's something definitely going on with the statue of Discord, sir!" the Lower Class Guard breathlessly exclaims. "The squad heard cracking noises coming from the statue garden after the Ponyville class passed through, and the Lieutenant sent me to you while he had two other squad members check it out!" "Princess Celestia has worried about that statue a lot, I sure hope this isn't the reason why..." Gibraltar thinks to himself as he suddenly rises from his seated position behind the desk. The Captain of the Guard rivets the attention of the Lower Class as he begins his stream of orders: "Listen to me very carefully, Guard, because I only want to give these orders out once. You are to inform your Lieutenant that they are to start evacuation of all tourists and non-staff workers in the castle right this very moment, to be coordinated by Lieutenant Captain Stratocumulus. You are also to have Lieutenant Captains Fidelitas and Shining Armor summoned to the statue garden immediately. I will inform the Princesses of what is happening, and all of them will need to know about this. Stratocumulus will have operational authority for the moment, do not try to find me here later. Do you understand everything I just told you, Guard?" "Yes, sir!" the Lower Class replies in a shaky salute. "Then go! And make everything doubletime, you understand?" Gibraltar adds. "Understood, sir!" the Lower Class answers again, already having turned and started out of the Captain's office. As soon as the Lower Class had departed the sight of the Captain of the Guard, Gibraltar took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare himself for a very long day, before starting out of the office himself. Unfortunately for the Captain, the chaos had already been unleashed, and there was virtually nothing he, or anypony is his command, could do against it...