Twisted history

by LordOfMemory


chapter 8 Plans in motion

Chapter 8

Plans in motion

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic --
the characters and creations are the property rights of Hasbro, Inc.
and the MLP: FiM writers, producers, etc.

(Future) castle of two sister
After running away from Canterlot Discord carefully went through the new memories while comparing them to try and find out when and where Shining Armor had landed only to face palm when he found Shining in the old Crystal empire over a thousand years back. (Oh this isn't good, this isn't good at all. Time is fragile enough already after the mess glitter but made already. I've got to fix this or Fluttershy will never want to have tea with me again or even worse she may cease to exist all together.)

Discord knew he still had time to work with funnily enough as both time lines were stable and the new one wasn't in the same time frame and would only begin to destabilize and overwrite the current timeline once it caught up chronologically. Discord felt a headache coming on as even as powerful as he was time wasn't something he could safely work with due to the nature of his magic and he refused to go to Celestia and Luna for help hating the judgmental looks that he knew would be on their faces when the whole situation hadn't even been his fault this time. (I need someone smart and who will be willing to keep his mouth shut while we work to fix this problem but what pony could help me that doesn't kiss the ground the princesses and their stooges walk on?)

It took a moment but then it hit Discord that the best pony to ask for help would be Star Swirl as he was a pony that not only had the most skill with time based magic but with the lack of emotional attachment to the problem would also be least likely to rip apart the fabric of time in an attempt to move faster than they should when messing with the past. (Oh Discord you are so clever and the best part is that he won't even tell Celestia if I use his pride and arrogance to my advantage all I need to do is make sure that he doesn't find out about our mutual light challenged friend and things will move along swell.) In all honesty Discord wasn't to worried about the old goat finding out but he didn't need the hassle of the pillars on his back when he was already dealing with sunbut, and sparklebut not to mention the information may upset Fluttershy.

Leaving to go get help to sort out his new problem Discord could only pray to Faust that Shining was smart enough to leave the past well enough alone as pre-unity Equestria was anything but pleasant or safe. (I just hope I can fix this before past me gets too involved in this mess and figures things out.) The thought of his past self actually getting involved in this truly terrified Discord as he would never admit it but even with all the focus skill he now had when using his magic he was much stronger back then due to Harmony being nothing more than a seed at the time and how chaotic the continent of Equestria was at the point in history with all the wars and political dealings.

Crystal empire(Past)
Chrysalis woke up with the feeling of ice in her gut as she felt so nervous as she contemplated her chance at some freedom from the castle but when she really thought about her situation she didn't really remember much about her life before the castle having practically been raised within its walls. (Maybe I shouldn't do this. If I get caught I'll just be making things worse for myself and lose master Leonidas' trust not to mention the damage I could end up doing to Gleaming's future considering the animosity between her and the council at the moment.)

Steeling herself she left her room knowing that this could be her only chance at some form of freedom and that Gleaming had known about the risks involved and had decided to help her anyway. As she arrived at Gleaming's room she was surprised by seeing her friend doing some make up work on what looked like a duplicate of her. "Oh Chrysalis good your here now the final phase of my plan can be put into motion."

Gleaming quickly shut the door behind Chrysalis as she started to cast a few glamor spells to change the colour of Chrysalis' coat, mane and eyes while also taking out her fellow apprentice's badge and attaching it to the duplicate construct. "Ok you are now Firefly an old friend from my old job that I'm taking home after a tour of my new place and your duplicate will be using your badge so if any pony checks up on you they'll see you looking after and staying with Sombra and before you worry I was able to apply a weak compulsion spell so that he wouldn't notice anything off about your double here."

Chrysalis was somewhat shocked at what Gleaming had done. "Are you sure the mental magic wasn't a bit excessive? I mean I doubt Sombra would have even noticed anything off about me today of all days considering its the crystal fair." The confused look on Gleaming's face reminded Chrysalis that she had only been with them for a short while and that some of the information she took for granted Gleaming had no knowledge.

"Sombra gets really sick for the day and usually stays in bed all day every crystal fair Gleaming. Me staying by his bedside wouldn't seem uncommon so just having my duplicate there would have been enough but I understand your actions form the standpoint of your lack of information."

(Well now I feel like a jerk. I should probably get him a gift for when we get back to the castle.) As Gleaming contemplated how bas she felt about going a bit overboard her mind processed the last of the information Chrysalis had given her. "Oh my Faust! its the crystal fair, oh my parents are going to kill me for not visiting since my apprenticeship." Quickly sending off the duplicate she grabbed Chrysalis and rushed for the gift shop grabbing a few interesting looking products, throwing some bits at the attendant and then rushed for the gate. (How could I have been so forgetful and I know that my Nova is gonna get me back for not contacting him sooner.)

"I'm so sorry Chrysalis but we'll need to make a slight detour, its been a while since I've seen my family and they'll never forgive me if I don't at least come over and say hello plus I would love to introduce you to them." Chrysalis just nodded as it would be nice to meet Gleaming's family plus it would give her a chance to get some embarrassing info on her friend. (This actually looks like its going to be tons of fun. I'm not only leaving the castle but I'm actually getting invited to meet the family of a friend.) For the first time in a long time a warm feeling filled Chrysalis as she followed after Gleaming as they passed the castle gates heading into the city on a path to the mid city regions.

Temple of Grogar(Past)
it had taken a while but Discord had managed to get past his father's defense system that he had left in place before his eventual banishment. It had kept many of his relics and artifacts safe from pony hands but it had also meant that none of his smarter or more powerful children could get access to any of the tools they would need to keep the ponies in their place. "Oh dad you really should have had a backup plan for an heir incase anything happened to you. Then again from what I remember the only trust worthy ones among us were the Sirens so good call on your part for locking up the big toys one of us may have tried to overthrow you."

Discord would never admit it then again non of his other siblings would either but they had all been jealous of the relationship the Sirens had had with their father even being taught the ability to drain and absorb energy and being granted their melody charms to enhance their already potent magic. Many of his siblings had actually celebrated the banishment of their sisters all except Discord for while he had been jealous he also saw the threat their banishment had reveal. That the ponies were no longer going to just sit down an cower they were actively going to fight back and nothing had made that more obvious than them managing to create Harmony much like his own father had created him. (I will need to deal with that weed sooner or later but for now I only need one little thing from here.)

Passing a small bag of seeds to get his father old tome of curses a small idea popped up in Discords mind for later. (Huh plunder seeds been a while since I played with those. Ooh goody use a plant to end a plant, the irony is delicious but that can wait i need to capture that blasted pony first before anything else) stepping out of the temple so as not to damage anything he could play with later Discord began reading from the tome with the dark magic staring to leak out of it as the words began to flow like a river with their effects taking place as soon as the words left his mouth. All around the swamp skeletons of long dead beasts, warriors and slaves rose up from the depths of mud and water as magic put them back together and gave them strength and purpose once more as they marched off to do their masters bidding.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun, I get to storm kingdoms like the old days and I get to play with dads old stuff this couldn't get any better." The fact that he was actually had access to many of the things his father had forbidden him from playing with just wormed Discords black little heart as he started to read through the book while heading back to the temple to read through his father's library. "Who knew reading could be so much fun and if what I'm seeing I here is only a fragment of what the old man knew then no one can stop me from taking my rightful place as ruler of all of Equus and no body not even my family or the other blasted spirits will be able to stop me!" For dramatic effect Discord used his magic to create booming thunder and lightning to make him look and sound cooler to boost his ego. (Oh I can't wait to find Celestia and Luna it'll be so much fun to share the fun and I could always use a few court jesters and Luna has always had such a fun sense of humor I'm sure that she and her sister could have more use to me plus I'll need to make sure that I have a back up plan and heirs that are both smart and powerful are so hard to find these days.)