(Present, Canterlot)
Fluttershy arranged and rearranged the plates and tea. She was nervous. Even though she was in Canterlot, Discord had ensured she would not miss her weekly teatime with him. And the kindly pegasus had a number of questions to ask of him. Most important of all was the question of whether he knew the alicorn Harmony? Did Celestia tell the truth about everything? Fluttershy knew before she become friends with Discord that he had done awful things in the past, but did he really make all those alicorns go insane? And why?
“Fluttershy, darling, you look so gloomy. Why the long face?” Inquired a voice. Startled Fluttershy jumped, banging her head on the ceiling. She opened her eyes to find a blurry Discord standing over her.
“Fluttershy, dear, are you okay?” a concerned Discord asked as he helped her to her hooves. “What is making you so jumpy?” The concern shone in his mismatched red eyes. He didn’t like seeing his Fluttershy so jumpy and afraid. ‘Whoever is causing my Fluttershy dismay will die a slow and painful death,’ thought Discord as his eyes trained on the shivering yellow pony. He picked her up and pulled her gently to his chest, holding her firm between lion paw and eagle talon. Fluttershy started to bawl. The loss of one of her dearest friends, the near death of another, and now the crashing down of the most foundational pillars of history that she had known in her young life. It was simply too much. At this point, all she could do was cry. And poor Discord, he had to see her like this. What kind of friend was she, causing him so much distress?
“Fluttershy, please talk to me. Tell me what is the matter,” Discord whispered soothingly. The dragonequus’s dragon-like tail twitched in worry. ‘That pony, whoever they are, is going to die!’ vowed Discord. ‘No pony will harm my Fluttershy and keep their life.’
“I’m sorry, Discord,” sniffed Fluttershy. “It’s been a long week. With Rainbow Dash and Spike almost dying… and … and Twilight g-going m-missing! A-and I f-found out t-that everything is a lie! I’m a terrible friend, crying on you like this! I’m sorry.” She buried her head into the brown fur of his chest.
Discord soothingly rubbed her back and whispered, “Shh… shh… There, there, Fluttershy. Tell me what you mean by ‘everything is a lie.’ I am very much confused.”
Hiccupping, Fluttershy finally composed herself. Very quietly, she asked, “What do you know about the alicorn named Harmony?”
“Who told you about her?” asked Discord. “I haven’t heard that name in millennia.”
“Celestia. Will you tell me about her?”
“Well, my darling, I knew her before the land you are now standing on was created. When it was just me, Harmony, and Void. You see, my dear Fluttershy, Harmony is my exact opposite. She is the incarnation of order, agreement, beauty, and life! Because of those qualities, we fought quite a lot, mostly petty arguments. There were a few times Void had to separate us to
keep us from disturbing its sleep.”
“And the Firstborn? Who is he?”
“Ah, the colt with a somber look. Well, that colt came about because of Harmony’s loneliness. She gave up half her soul to make him, and Void named him Sombra. I wanted a creation of my own, but unfortunately I lack the ability to do so. Apparently, you need harmony in your magic instead of chaos to make a living being, so I am left to twist her creations, not to create my own. Because of the Firstborn, Harmony decided to make a world, a world for him to live in. Void granted this, on one condition: I would join her. It was the only time she and I ever worked together. Void called it chaotic harmony, the perfect balance.”
“So what about the Discord-touched? Did you do that to all those alicorns?”
“No, I most definitely did not. There was an alicorn who wanted to be greater than Harmony who addled their brains. I just got all the credit. But I didn’t enjoy seeing those ponies die. I wanted to have fun with them, not to watch as their bloody corpses were draped over lampposts or roofs of buildings. It got worse when Harmony continued to part with pieces of her soul to make more alicorns.”
“Wait. Then how are ponies made? Along with everyone else?”
“A piece of me, magic from Harmony, and a soul coming from Void. The dagger-like teeth on alicorns? All my idea. One thing you must know, Fluttershy, is this: alicorns don’t have their own souls. They have a piece of Harmony’s soul. They are completely soulless without Harmony. They do have somewhat of a free will, but their main purpose has always been to serve the ponies and Sombra. But the Secondborn, the first true alicorn, wanted more. Therefore, she stole from Void and from me and went insane. Her insanity consumed her, making her into a being of horror and blood. Harmony didn’t know about this because she had lost fifty percent of her soul when it had happened and wasn’t omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient as she had been before she started creating. She regained her true self when she turned herself into the tree and went back to manage Void. I stayed so I could watch over the ponies. But without Harmony, I became bored. You know the rest of what happened. I played dangerously, got turned into stone, came back, became a stone again, came back, and now am reformed. What a chaotic, discordant story.”
“Wow,” exclaimed Fluttershy in her controlled manner, “that’s a lot to take in. But Celestia wanted to hide this? And, what does Twilight have to do with any of this?”
“One word. Reincarnation.”
Ω
ΩMidnightΩ
“Wait… wait, this is a misunderstanding. I didn’t break any laws. Another unicorn must have teleported! I was out shopping for my Alicorn lord. He wanted some mangos, and I was sent to get some.” I tried to reason my way out of an almost certain death sentence. Sombra never said I couldn’t teleport. I just forgot that it was illegal to do so outside his walls. This was not good.
“Naw, little meat, I saw you teleport here. It doesn’t matter if your Master said you could do that. If you step outside his walls, you are under our rule. Besides, I don’t think your Master would mind a new unicorn slave.” The purple male Alicorn leered at the frightened dark blue pony. His unnecessarily sharp teeth glinted in afternoon light. The gold Alicorn simply laughed.
Suddenly her horn flared in deep yellow magic, the magic encasing me in its golden hue. She lifted me up while the purple one gathered every single pony around the Mane to see. Alicorns loved to show off. Sombra was not like this. He was a gentle, adorably grumpy, patient, kind somepony I was learning to care a lot about. He wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t like this. He would stop this. But he was not here! Oh, NO! HELP ME!
“Now scream, you pathetic worm!” shouted Goldie. “Let all the ponies hear your fear. A screaming meal tastes all the sweeter. Hahahahaha!” With her magic I was slammed to the ground. I felt my shoulder crack, yet I didn’t scream. I would not give them the satisfaction of hearing me scream. Purple magic encased me, dragging me back into the air.
“YOU HEARD HER,” yelled Purple. “NOW SCREAM!”
Over and over they bashed my head into the ground. But I kept my mouth shut. If screaming was what they wanted, they were not going to get it. Abruptly, they stopped. My head felt like a knife was shredding my insides. It took everything I had to glare at them. I smiled as blood poured into my mouth. Laughing, I stood up on my three good legs and shouted, “Is that the best you’ve got?”
The purple one roared and lunged at me. I barely jumped out of the way, but I wasn’t fast enough. Pain exploded in my remaining good front leg. I heard the sound of meat ripping from bone, and I saw white. I heard somepony screaming in pain behind the veil of white noise. I shook my head. As my vision cleared, I saw ivory surrounded by crimson, and my wound was sheathed in light blue. After my vision fully cleared, I realized that what I was seeing was my bone, the muscles torn off and chewed up by the Alicorn. My leg had meat pouring out of it. I could also see the gouge marks of teeth imprinted in my bone. The blood loss must have gotten to me because they were laughing. Everyone was laughing.
“You’re a big talker, but you scream the loudest of them all!” Purple said gleefully as my blood dripped from his face, “And, by Harmony, you taste delicious.” He stalked me as I limped back, getting closer to me by the second. I had to get out of here! I want to go home. I want to go home. I WANT TO GO HOME!
Light blue magic encased me. I was teleporting! I saw the hatred and disgusted looks on those Alicorns’ faces as I left.
“NO!”
“Goodbye!”
Then they were gone.
I landed in a heap on the floor. Groaning, I opened my eyes to see that I was back at Sombra’s. Well, I guess this was ‘home’ now. Everything hurt, and I was making a stain on the carpet. I must not let Sombra see me like this. Hide. Hide. HidehidehidehideHIDE!
“Midnight, is that you? Did you get the mangos?”
OH, SWEET HARMONY!
“Ms. Star, please answer me. I hate playing this game. It’s quite unfun.”
The closet! I could hide in the closet! I crawled into the closet, burrowing into its many coats. Praying that he wouldn’t see me, I crouched low. I didn’t want him to see me hurt. I wanted him to see me strong, not weak. I couldn’t defend myself from those Alicorns. They were too powerful. And now I was going to die in a coat closet. With no one to mourn me.
“Midnight, why is there blood on the carpet?”
Oh, no.
“Midnight, are you alright? Please come out. If you are hurt, let me heal you. Please come out of hiding.”
I couldn’t let him see me like this. Sombra, please don’t look in the closet.
“You’re in the closet?”
No.
“That is enough hiding, Midnight. Come on out, dear!”
I can’t.
“Can’t, or won’t?”
Tears poured down my face. The pain was becoming very great, indeed. Blackness started to creep in. If death was coming knocking, I would greet death with open arms.
“No, you will not!”
The door opened with a bang. Red magic parted the coats as if parting a sea of red cloth. Ruby red eyes looked upon me in my wretched state. I turned away. I couldn’t bear seeing pity in his eyes. Red magic wrapped itself around my battered body. I cried out in pain as obsidian wings enfolded me. Soft fur caressed my bruised and beaten head. The drumbeats of pain and misery pounded through my body, and tears flowed down my face.
“Shh… shh… it’s alright. I have got you,” soothed Sombra. “Everything is going to be alright.
“‘Hunan blentyn, are fy mynwes,
Clyd a chynnes ydyw hon;
Breichiau mam sy'n dyn amdanat,
Cariad mam sy dan fy mron;
Ni chaiff dim amharu'th gyntun.’”
Golden threads started to stitch my leg back together as Sombra sang. I had no idea what he was singing, but it was beautiful. As he sang, the pain in my head started to fade away. It was like the incident had never happened! I watched as the golden threads sewed my wound closed. When the last stitch was completed, a bright golden light shone. It blinded me. But when I looked at my leg again, it was completely healed. It was as if I had never been attacked! I looked at Sombra and saw his eyes fade from gold to red.
“Who did this to you?” asked Sombra. I didn’t answer. Instead I asked, “What kind of spell was that?”
“It is called the Ultimate Healing spell,” answered Sombra
“What price did you pay for that spell?”
“Someone has been listening to her lessons,” he smiled as he booped my noise with his wing. “The price was feeling all the pain that you went through. And I would do it again if I had to. Unfortunately, this spell cannot be used if the pony is already breathing their last, so come quickly if you’re ever hurt again.”
“So, I wasn’t dying?”
“I already answered your question, Ms. Star, now answer mine. Who did this to you?” I felt the anger that rippled through his body. But I refused to answer. My gut was telling me that, if I did, he would do something that he would later regret. I decided I would protect him. I would not let him go down this path. He closed his eyes and took a breath through his nose. He opened his eyes and looked straight into mine.
“Fine. Have it your way,” he whispered. At that moment, his eyes turned completely white. I felt a small pinch in the back of my head. Sombra looked smug all of a sudden.
“Got it!” he said with a wicked smile. His grin softened to a much kinder smile. He placed his forehead on mine and whispered softly, “Sleep, fy un bach i. Sweet dreams.”
I grew unusually tired. With his magic, Sombra carried me to my room while I struggled to stay awake. But, whatever spell he cast, it was too strong. I fell asleep once my head hit the pillow.
Ω
ΩSombraΩ
She was finally asleep. Now it was time for the hunt. No one would hurt my Midnight and get away with it. This ended now! I cast a spell to remove her blood from the floor as I headed out. The more I thought about her pitiful state, the angrier I became. Extreme danger, near loss of life, all because she had teleported?! THAT WAS PREPOSTEROUS! Unicorns should have had the right to do any spell they wished, so long as it did not hurt anypony. Killing a pony for teleporting? That was unforgivable. I thought She had said She would handle the alicorns. Apparently not.
I teleported right to where Midnight had been attacked. The pair of guilty alicorns were still roaming around, terrorizing other ponies. They stopped what they were doing and turned towards me.
“My Lord,” simpered the golden one with the high-pitched, squeaky voice. “What an honor! It is such a privilege to be graced by your presence.”
“Such an honor,” echoed the purple one. Midnight’s blood still dripped from the muzzle of that awful creature. Wrath surged through my body. These … things sought to destroy one of the few beings I truly loved and expected to find themselves in my good graces? He did not even take heed to wipe the blood off his face before bowing to me.
“You hurt what is mine,” I growled. I slowly stalked toward my prey. Bewilderment and shock flickered across their faces.
“Come again, my Lord?” the purple one enquired. “I did not quite catch that.”
“You, who have the blood of my Midnight Star upon your face, think it such an honor for me to grace you with my presence. You, who tasted the flesh of fy un bach i, believe that I would not take vengeance for her but would spare you. On this day, all will know that I have had quite enough. I am taking back the Council from the Secondborn and will start hunting down all who choose to disagree! Starting, of course, with you. My teeth and ambition are bared. Be prepared. Oh, and what was it you said to her? Oh, right. ‘A screaming meal tastes all the sweeter.’ Oh, I hope you are right.”
The smell of fear permeated the air around the two alicorns. It was then I realized that I had missed this. Seeing my prey cowering in fear. It was exhilarating. My magic besieged the gold one while I myself pounced on the purple. My teeth sank into his neck, filling my mouth with his sweet blood. I shook him like a rag doll and then tossed him to the side. That would keep him down for a while. I strolled over to the goldfish, smiling maliciously as I took my careful steps. Its wings flapped uselessly as my magic held it pinned to the ground. I slammed it into the cobblestone road. The satisfying sound of bones shattering was heard echoing down the Mane. I lifted what remained back into the air and then slammed the creature down again. Over and over again I tossed the thing to and fro until I myself could not have recognized its face. But this would not kill the thing. No. I must rip out its soul for it truly to meet its demise. And to do that, well…
I rent limb from limb with my teeth, stealing away the essential body parts last. Feel the might of a true predator, goldfish. Slowly, ever so slowly, I dismantled the abomination that had had the audacity to call itself an alicorn. I felt its soul leaving the body it had possessed and entering me. My wings burst into glorious red flames as I fed, bringing me back into my original form from when I was first created. I painted the cobblestones red with its blood, enjoying the irony of my success compared to its failed attempts with my Star’s blood. When the last bit of its soul slid into my mouth, I made eye contact with my other prey.
Its neck now fully healed, the purple thing started scrambling for a getaway. And I let it go, much like a cat toying with its dinner. The flying eggplant took off like a bolt of lightning. It looked back to find me smiling. I yelled at the retreating creature, “Fly away while you can. When I catch you, you will meet your end!” I gave a mighty roar and shot after the eggplant. I’d give it credit – it did give a merry little chase, but I grew tired of my play.
My magic encased the creature, stopping its flight rather abruptly. With great force, I slammed it to the ground, creating a crater and shearing off its wings in the process. Its screams reverberated down the Mane. Crowds had formed and were cheering as I began to toss the purple vegetable about. Every blow, every crunch, every slapping sound of raw meat was very satisfying to hear. Sweet was my revenge for all the pain it and the goldfish had caused, for every death they had inflicted, for every mutilation they had made, and every orphan each creature had created. Retribution had been served, warm and sweet to the tongue.
I was not quite finished, however. I tossed its wings to the madly cheering crowd. Now it was time to end this pitiful creature.
“Why… are… you… doing… this?” the thing asked. “What… did… we… do… to… deserve… this?”
“Why, you ask? I thought I had already given you the answer. You and your ilk have strayed off Harmony’s path. You maim, desecrate, and kill her prized creations! Alicorns were formed to serve the unicorns, the pegasi, and the earth ponies. You were never meant to rule! I had thought that, for the past fifty years, the Secondborn was taking care of this mess, but apparently she did was incompetent. Therefore I am taking it upon myself to clean up the mess. I was quite willing to overlook such matters until you two hurt my little Star and made me own up what was happening in my realm. I am going to enjoy making the Discord-touched suffer like they have made the innocents suffer. Eye for an eye, I will harm you like you harmed MY MIDNIGHT STAR! YOU WILL KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD TERROR, YOU FOUL MUTTS!”
The eggplant’s cries were barely heard over the roaring crowd. Now I knew why the alicorns loved to make a show. They hammed it up for the cheers. They killed for the rush of the crowd’s approval. Even killing the citizens of Harmonia, they still sought the approval of their victims. How sickening.
I was glad that those foul things were gone from this word. However, looking back, I wished I had ended their pitiful excuses for lives in private. I gained nothing from a blood-thirsty crowd hot on my hooves. However, it seemed now, unfortunately, that I had a crowd after all. So I teleported out of the Mane and made it back to my home. Only after I arrived did I realize that I was covered in blood, getting it all over the pristine carpet. And I just cleaned this. Ugh…
I went into the bathroom and scrubbed the blood off my body. One thing magic could not seem to clean properly was blood-soaked fur, especially mine for some reason. The kinds of sick jokes a self-proclaimed witty writer could come up with. After I had finally cleaned myself up, I went into Midnight’s room and promptly curled up beside her. I had nearly lost her today. I would never let her out of my sight again. As I closed my eyes, a heavy knock sounded. I tried to ignore it, but it was annoyingly persistent. Grumbling, I eventually got up and answered the door.
“WHAT?!” I complained as I opened the door.
“A-a letter f-from the S-Secondborn, my L-Lord,” stammered the unicorn. I was about to murmur an apology to the frightened messenger, but the poor thing bolted before I could manage to say a word. The letter had fallen on the ground when the poor thing ran.
“A letter from Anteras? That was fast.”