//------------------------------// // The Birth of Discord // Story: The Balance // by Path_of_cloud //------------------------------// Seeker caught his friend before he hit the floor. As horrible as everything had been it was only going to get worse. Wrath was unconscious, the Princesses were… well honestly, he didn’t know. Wrath had failed to share that information with him, but looking at the blood and gore around him, he couldn’t blame him. Worst of all, these madmen were still pursuing them, and with all the screaming from before it wouldn’t be long before the cottage was investigated. He needed to get Wrath to safety, and away from this nightmare. The exhaustion from the massive amount of magic that had been spent was starting to hit him hard, and the fact he had used two extra spells wasn’t helping either. One would allow Wrath to put his new wings off and on at will. Even with a limited knowledge of pony society, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that blood stained wings that didn’t match the rest of somepony’s coat would bring about a lot of uncomfortable stares and accusations. The other had been placed in the now healed eye. Whatever had happened to Wrath was dangerous and uncontrolled, so he had connected Wrath's vision with his own. It only worked one way, but if Wrath lost control again he’d be able to find out through it. He could still perform one jump though, but after that he’d be lucky to remain awake. The question was, where would he teleport to? His cave in the forest had probably been ransacked and put under guard by now. The town he has observed from the tree line was also a no since everyone would panic, if they weren’t sided with these animals. That left the castle. Celestia and Luna had snuck him in on the occasion for some… recreational activities. They would never expect to find them there either. Still, that far of a teleport with two beings would render him unconscious with his already dwindling magic. If they didn’t find them after so long, they’d start searching everywhere. The two of them being found incapacitated and unable to defend themselves would be disastrous. Voices could be heard outside, time was up. Seeker looked at his only friend in the world, the Princesses already transcending mere friendship. He made a decision, a drastic one. His finger’s snapped and his friend was gone, sleeping in the oversized bed of the Sun and Moon. A single teleport had pushed his magic to its limit, but at least he remained conscious. He grabbed a chair and threw it at a window shattering it as he followed after and jumped out himself. He sprinted through the trees, his energy depleted, but unwilling to give up and be caught by the hoof beats trailing after him. Like this, they would all be chasing after him. All he had to do was lose them in the deeper part of the forest, and they’d spend their time searching for him and never be the wiser to Wrath being hidden in the castle. His body screamed at his stupidity and deep down he knew his mind agreed. He’d never escape like this, and instead of saving himself, he had chosen to save someone he’d known a whole three months. This wasn’t the time to be thinking like that; he had to keep moving, the trees flying past him. He ran forward, right to the edge of a ravine. He looked to both sides spotting a bridge in the distance. He darted for it, panting heavily. Suddenly, an orange Unicorn appeared before him. He screamed, “For the Prince,” shooting a bolt of green energy directly at him. His instincts kicked in as his body lowered, the bolt sailing over his left shoulder taking some of his fur with it. As if on their own, his muscles tightened and sprang, and he found himself sailing through the air in one massive leap onto the unprepared Unicorn. His right hand curled around the horn, the claws scratching it, as his left pinned the struggling assailant to the ground. Magic flowed into him from his right arm. His head whipped back as he felt his reserves of magic refill and his exhaustion slip from his body. He looked down, and there under him lay the shriveled shell of his captive, the pony’s face had contorted into pure terror and pain. Seeker almost puked. He had never killed before, and it had been an accident, a horrible accident. This was unheard of, draining another being’s magic and life. It was so wrong, but it had felt so good. He started moving, again the rope bridge swaying as he ran. He had to get the almost addictive feeling out of his head; he needed to get to safety. If only he could fly. Before, he had been too exhausted to attempt traversing the ravine, but now that he had the ill-gotten energy, he couldn’t afford giving away his position by breaking the tree line. Hooves soon echoed their beat as they met the bridge’s wood. To Seeker’s horror they were already charging across the other side as he reached the end. For a moment, he considered cutting the rope bridge and letting them fall to their deaths. For the umpteenth time that night he fought back the urge to empty his stomach. He retreated into the forest, the shouts of his pursuers hot on his tail. He ducked under a low branch as he turned, attempting to lose them. His breath came in short pants, his lungs screamed for air, and his feet hit the ground in heavy thuds. He broke into a small clearing, only to find himself trapped by a large rock formation. Within moments, a small army of ponies, in guard armor and out, came bursting out of the trees, cornering him against the wall. Panic settled into his mind as he looked for an escape route. Seeker spread his wings and blew a wall of fire between him and his assailants, giving him precious time to flee. He launched himself into the air to make his escape. A quick sharp pain shot through him, accompanied by two large holes in his wings. Two daggers buried themselves into the ground as Seeker crashed on top of his wings with a sickening snap and a loud scream. Blue Sky landed in front of him and pulled the daggers from the ground. “Not so fast, abomination.” “What did I do to deserve this?” he managed to hiss out, the pain seething through his body. The Pegasus smirked. “You were born, for one, and then you had the audacity to try and get close to our princesses.” Seeker growled at the bastard. “What did you do to them?” “Celestia shared a love poison with their prince,” Blue Sky motioned towards the unarmored ponies. “The two of them will be wed and their prince will be made a king, maybe Luna will join them.” Seeker felt hatred for the first time in his life, “I won’t let you do that to them!” He stood up, his wings bending in an awkward position. His claws dug into the earth as he bared his fangs and growled. The stallion laughed at him. “You think you can stop this.” He flashed a sadistic smile. “Want to hear a story? It’s one my father told me. Forty-Five years ago my father discovered that some whore of a Unicorn secretly bore a dragon’s child. He and a group of trusted allies decided to rid the world of the disgusting mistake and its parents. They found the cave with the dragon sleeping inside, and the Unicorns of the group collapsed the cave on top of him with their magic. The way my dad tells it, the beast’s howls were second only to its crushed skull in beauty. Sadly, the mother had taken the child scavenging. The group quickly spread out searching for the bitch and her child. Dad was a lucky man; he found them first and ran her through with his sword. In her last moments she teleported the child to safety. They never found it, but it seems that the universe has given me the chance to finish his work.” Everything stopped as Seeker relived the murder of his mother, the blade piercing her beautiful pink coat. From that moment on he had been forced to live every moment of his life in fear of ponies trying to kill him. He spent most of his time starving until he learned to scavenge for food in the unforgiving forest. Now, here in front of him, stood a stallion that was proud of what his father did to him and his family. The bastard had even caused the deaths of his best friend’s family now. The Pegasus had tried to follow in his dad's footsteps, but Seeker wasn’t like his parents. He wasn’t going to be ambushed and killed. No, he was going to take control. Seeker lashed out with blinding speed, grabbing onto the horns of the closest two Unicorns. Once again the addictive taste of magic and energy poured into him, but this time, there was no repulsive feeling, no regret. The Unicorns fell, drained of their essence, dead on the ground, but he no longer cared as the power flowed into him. He snapped his fingers, his chaos magic bringing the forest to life. The vines wrapped around the army, ensnaring them. The Unicorns tried to combat them with magic, but the strange foliage resisted. Earth Ponies tried cutting at it, but for every vine cut, two more took its place. Some of the Pegasi attempted to fly away to safety, but were quickly plucked out of the air by the unnaturally alive forest. Blue Sky charged Seeker, daggers ready to end this chaos, but Seeker had spent his life growing up in the forest fending off the strange and powerful creatures that lived in it. He was prepared, and as soon as the Pegasus was in range he dodged the thrust with ease and threw his assailant into the rock face. The impact created a loud thud, and the stallion collapsed onto the floor, his chest rising and falling slowly. Seeker stared at the trapped ponies. He was feeling a tad peckish, and a whole buffet lay before him. Might as well enjoy a meal while he wait for his pray to wake. He grabbed onto the vines allowing energy and magic to channel into him, but he couldn’t get enough as corpse after corpse fell from the vines onto the floor. His remorse was gone, replaced by an unending hunger. The Pegasus awoke to a new nightmare. All of his men and two of the other advisors lay dead around him. “Welcome back.” Seeker stood behind him. He grabbed him and pinned him against the rock wall. Blue Sky watched in horror as the clawed hand rested against his head. “O-others will come; they’ll stop you!” “Maybe, but first, you owe me a wing.” The captive screamed in agonizing pain as the bones and feathers in his wings tore apart and wrapped around Seeker’s arm. The sensation continued again as the Kirin’s wing followed suit. “With all this power, I can even transfer all of the pain to you. Hurts, doesn’t it?” He sunk his claw into the Pegasus’ shoulder, drawing blood. The strange essences flew past each other, never touching, into their intended recipients. A blue Pegasus wing formed onto Seeker's back where his left wing had once been. At the same time, a broken and ripped draconic wing materialized onto Blue Sky’s back. Seeker spread his new wing, getting a feel for it. He felt powerful, and he wanted more. A bat flew past in the night, and with a snap of his fingers, a cage materialized out of nowhere and trapped it inside. He grabbed the winged creature from its cage and placed his other hand on the still conscious stallion. Once again the magic activated as the bat and him swapped wings, the horrible pain channeling into the injured advisor. The wings grew in to match the recipient’s body. The bat seemed wrong with the ruined dragon wing, and so, in his kindness, Seeker swapped the Pegasus’s last good wing with the bat's new ruined one. He smiled as his new creation flew into the night and the deformed Pegasus doubled over in pain and misery. He found himself in bliss at messing with nature and the power; he flew off into the night with his conduit to revel in the feeling further. He sapped the life force of every pony that was searching for him, as he fused various body parts onto him, forcing the pain onto his captive. Every time he added a new limb or appendage, Seeker felt stronger, and he loved every second of it. Power. Now, that was what he really wanted, and he couldn’t get enough. With his newly mismatched body parts, he flew to castle. On his way he summoned a chocolate milk storm made of cotton candy clouds, pausing to indulge himself in the sweet liquid. He ripped houses in the village from the ground and forced them to float in the air, some upside down even. Pigs were granted magical wings and chickens given laser vision. He reached the castle, his castle, and landed on the steps. He looked around at his own slice of chaos in this boring world. An idea hit him, a light bulb appearing above his head and exploding into hot sauce flavored sweets. With a mouthful of the candy, he decided that he needed to christen his newly acquired land, and he had the perfect way to do it. The broken Pegasus looked up at him full of hatred, and he smiled mischievously back. “Let’s see if you can fly with those wings.” A snap of Seeker’s newly acquired eagle claw and Blue sky found himself hundreds of feet in the air and falling fast. He screamed in terror and tried to flap his shredded, broken wings as hard as he could. Amusingly, it was for not as he hit the ground with a sickening mix of splat and crack. The sun began rising in the horizon as he admired his new piece of artwork. He decided to call it, Splat Goes the Pegasus. The broken body and blood smeared everywhere looked absolutely delightful. The former Kirin entered his castle and sat upon his throne. He had chaos and destruction to plan, and a certain mare-stealing Prince to play with. Wrath woke up wrapped in warm silk sheets. The nightmares had ended for now, but reality was no better. He could worry about the loss of his- it just had to wait til later. He dragged his body to the window as he heard a terrified scream pierce the silence. He was just in time to watch Blue Sky fall the last hundred feet to his twisted and horrible death. He felt no remorse for the bastard, but what he did feel was the blood drain from his face. The advisor's executioner stood far below the window sill, a horrible creature that seemed to be stitched out of the parts of many different creatures. The face though, it gave away the identity of the murderer, Seeker. Even with different eyes, a giant fang, and two mismatched horns, it was still his friend’s head. A flash of midnight blue light forced his attention to a sealed letter falling onto the bed. He grabbed it quickly, hoping it held the answers he was lacking. Dear Wrath, I have managed to free my sister from a love poison, the culprit responsible for her strange affection. Oddly enough, the “Prince” had no knowledge of the poison. We confirmed his story with a mind scanning spell. This is all very strange. Before we could investigate further, we felt a horrible wave of magic filled with malice and hunger from the direction of the castle. It appears that something has been unleashed, and whatever it is, is extremely powerful. We need you to head down to the vault under the castle and retrieve the Elements of Harmony. Once you have them head to the southern entrance to the forest. We’ll meet you there. Whatever you do, you and the guards are not to engage the source of this foul magic. Luna Wrath opened the door and galloped down the hallway. Coming from the opposite direction was a small group of guards. Wrath prepared himself to fight, but the guards stopped before him and saluted. The leader of the group, a white Unicorn, spoke up, “Wrath, sir! Advisor Blue Sky was just murdered outside the castle, and the strange creature that killed him has entered. We were sent out to secure the Princess and receive further order, sir.” The guards were treating him as a superior and going to check on Luna, this was a good sign. It meant that not all of the guards had been corrupted by the advisors, but they were in danger of Seeker if he thought they were. He issued his orders, “The Princess has left to gather Celestia so that they may put an end to this chaos. I am ordering you take all of the guards down to the town and protect and help the citizens. They are you first priority, and you are not under any circumstances to attack the intruder. Am I understood?” “Sir, yes sir!” they shouted in unison. The leader spoke up once more, “Will you be joining with us Wrath, sir?” “No. I have my own mission to complete. Now, GO!” They ran off to inform the guards of their orders and see to them. Wrath continued quickly to the vault. He reached a dead end and pushed three bricks into the wall. Instantly, it slid open, revealing a secret staircase that lead under the castle. The torches along the wall lit up magically, lighting the way. Celestia and Luna had brought him here once, feeling that his position might require him to be able to access it one day. They had explained that the most powerful magical artifacts ever created were kept inside should the world need them. The vault also housed a small number of books that held horrible dark secrets, foretold the future, or any mixture of the two. He reached a wooden box, similar in appearance to a jewelry box. Opening it revealed six different colored orbs right where they should be, The Elements of Harmony. With the box in his mouth he headed for the door. A strange sensation overtook him as he went to leave. Looking around, he noticed a book on a pedestal that appeared to be calling to him. He walked up to it, put the Elements next to it, and read the title. The Balance By: King Curator. King Curator, Luna and Celestia’s father He opened the book gently and skimmed the index. The tome was split into three sections: The first, The Elements of Harmony, the second, The Seven Sins, and finally, The Epilogue. The first two sections each had an opening and seven sub categories. The one that caught his eye though was The Second Sin: Wrath. He flipped to the start of the chapter and read quickly. The first few pages described the sin itself and its negative and positive impacts. The next few pages made the stallion step away from the book in shock. It detailed him perfectly, noting that King Curator had seen the bearer in a vision one night. He shook his head; whatever secrets this book held within would have to wait until after this mess was over. He grabbed the box and ran to meet Celestia and Luna, uncertainty clouding his mind. Within moments of reaching the forest entrance Celestia and Luna arrived. The Elements were quickly handed off. Celestia stared into the distance, cotton candy clouds drenching everything in chocolate milk. “Seeker… is responsible for this isn’t he?” Wrath looked at the sorrow in her eyes. “He is the source of the magic you’ve felt, but he isn’t responsible.” Wrath looked down ashamed. “I am. I was given one task, protect the kingdom in your absence, and I failed. I couldn’t protect the citizens, I couldn’t protect Seeker, and I couldn’t protect … my family. But I Promise you, I will do whatever it takes to end this.” Wrath’s resolve rang true as he looked to the castle. Luna pointed to the scar on his face and asked gently, “What happened, Wrath?” He started toward the castle telling his tale, “This whole thing has been one giant ploy by the Council of Advisors and a select group of guards working directly under them. Along with supporters of the Prince, they poisoned Celestia and forced you to step in to fix it. They did all of this so they could murder Seeker. I discovered the conspiracy and tried to save him. I was tortured and my family was murdered in front of me for my defiance, but I told them nothing. I broke loose and killed my captives, but I blacked out after Seeker performed some magic to fix me up. I awoke in your chambers and found Seeker outside, changed almost beyond recognition and way more powerful from what I’ve witnessed. He murdered Blue Sky right there and entered the castle.” Celestia flew beside him and listened intently until he finished. “I sympathize with your loss Wrath. You’re not at fault for all of this. We were all played by the council, and now it seems they’re paying the price. Seeker has to be stopped. The Elements of Harmony should be able to return him to his senses.” “It’s not that simple Celestia. Seeker has started spreading his chaos to the town and the guards who remained loyal have all seen him. I instructed them to help the citizens and stay away from Seeker.” The chocolate milk drenched his coat, washing away the sweat. Luna wore a troubled face as she flew along Wrath’s opposite side. “That was a good call. I see the problem though. If we return Seeker to his normal state of mind, he will be persecuted by the guards and citizens for what he’s done.” “You’re right, sister. When we use the Elements, we’ll have to trap him in stone.” Celestia looked ready to cry. Her voice quivered, “I-it’s for the best. The spell will eventually break down and he’ll be released. Hopefully by then, no one will remember what he did in his darkest hour.” Luna stared in shock at her sister’s suggestion. “You can’t be serious! Who knows how long that’ll take?” “Luna, I agree with her. He’s done horrible things. And if he wasn’t there to stop me when my family was killed, I may have joined him. I owe it to him to make sure that he’s stopped, but I also have to be sure that he can be happy. After all of this, he deserves that,” he finished as he came to the castle steps, Blue Sky’s body still lying there in the chaotic rain. “FINE! I don’t like it, but… I understand.” They steeled their resolve and entered the castle. Inside, the once elegant halls were reduced to insanity and madness. Stained glass apparitions moved upon the windows as if alive, while the walls oozed hot sauce. Upon a throne of cotton candy sat Seeker. “Wrath it’s good to see you up! Not using the new toys, huh? Oh well. So Celestia, it seems Luna managed to free you from that love poison. How do you like what I did with the palace?” Luna pleaded with her love, “Seeker, stop this madness at once! We can go back to how things were.” He growled, annoyed. “Seeker was always such a boring name, I think I need a new one. You can call me Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Destruction. Has a nice ring to it. And no, I won’t be stopping. I do however have a counter offer. Join me Celestia and Luna as my queens, and we can rule this land, no this world, forever! Oh, and Wrath can be our champion.” “Discord it is then, but we shall never be your queens while you force your madness on this world.” Celestia looked strong, but it was little more than a façade as she damned the Kirin she loved. “I’m sorry Discord. We will always love you.” Three brightly glowing orbs each flew from behind the Princesses as their royal armaments shined with the same intensity. They were lifted gently into the air as a rainbow colored beam struck the Spirit of Chaos and Destruction. His body began turning to stone from the feet up. The worst part was that in their attack they had returned his mind to its proper place, where he was forced to watch in horror as he turned to stone. A single tear rolled down Discord’s face as the last piece of his body was encased in stone. With the deed done Celestia and Luna allowed their emotions to escape them as they held each other tightly, crying. Their love was gone, banished to protect him and everyone else. Wrath merely walked away as ice covered his heart. Unlike the Princesses, he’d never see his friend freed. With Discord gone, the world returned to normal, and within twelve hours, all of the conspirators had been gathered. The guards had been required to have their minds scanned for involvement and to everypony’s relief most of the guard had been innocent of the treason. In the end a small handful of guards and supporters of the Prince stood trial with the last three living council members. Celestia and Luna resigned to deliver their sentence as Wrath stood next to them. Luna allowed Celestia to deliver the news as she was still emotionally drained from the petrification. “For acts of treason, conspiracy, and homicide we sentence you to life in the dungeon.” “WHAT!?” Wrath screamed in rage. “They orchestrated the death of our friend, your love, and are responsible for all the death and misery that’s befallen the kingdom and its people, and they get to live!?” Wrath screamed in outrage. Celestia stared at Wrath in anger and shock. “There has been enough death as it is. They will spend the rest of their lives rotting in a cell.” “Fine. They can spend the rest of their lives in a cell,” Wrath conceded. Wrath’s hoof arched over the necks of the three advisors as a red ethereal blade flowed from it. All three of the advisors necks spilled blood onto the floor as they gasped desperately for air. Luna looked away horrified as Celestia attempted not to puke. Wrath looked over his shoulder at the scene as he walked out. “Looks like their lives are over. By the way, I quit.” A saddle bag carrying a single book was all Wrath took with him as he left the castle and the only home he had ever known.