Chapter 34- Organized Chaos
A pair of blue jays were perched on a tree branch, leaning against each other. The female had her head resting over the chest of its partner. The male was singing a song, marking his territory. He stopped though, lowering its head to look at newcomers. Princess Celestia walked through the Canterlot gardens, one that lead to a hedge maze. She picked up her head to look at the sky and smiled ever so lightly. That letter she received from Spike was telling her to show up in the morning with a special delivery. She turned her head to look behind herself as the Statue of Discord was being pushed on a cart.
The guards posted at the entrance to the maze nodded to their ruler, and then moved aside to bring their wings out of the way to allow her to pass. With a nod, the white servant unicorn that pushed Discord’s cart stepped out of the way. Silently, the solar princess continued inside the hedge and used her magic to drag the cart with her. The blue jays that had been perched took off to fly away. Something about that statue caused the love birds a certain sense of foreboding.
When the cart vanished from view, the guards moved their wings back in place to prevent anyone else from entering. Princess Celestia lost the smile she had, lowering her head a bit. According to the instructions from the Doctor, she was to bring the statue to the center of the maze. Knowing her champion, it was surely for no good.
Being through the maze hundreds of times, she guided the cart rather quickly to the center. Still, it was nice to see that the flowers on the hedges were properly maintained. With a regal manner, she picked up her head to look at the large open space where a figure in a dark cloak and hood was standing next to The Doctor. The Tardis stood behind them both, casting a large dark shadow off to the path leading to the exit of the maze.
“Doctor,” Princess Celestia said, bowing her head to greet the Time Lord. She then turned to look at the dark figure and bowed as well, though she had no idea who this was. Another champion Luna summoned? “We are going to free Discord, aren’t we?” Celestia said, closing her eyes to sigh. Why else bring the statue here? Her head turned to the side, bringing the cart to a stop. The statue rested on a pedestal, always unmoving. She could still feel the chaotic magic trapped inside.
“Actually, there’s no need,” spoke a voice behind the Tardis. A dark silhouette of emerged from the shadow of the Tardis.
“That voice,” Celestia said, raising her eyebrows.
“Oh, the look on your face is absolutely priceless!” Discord said, pushing his face through the shadow. His paw and eagle claw were holding his cheeks, unable to remove the smile from his face.
“Discord! How?! Why?!” The ruler of Equestria lowered her head to look to the sides. That was impossible! The Elements of Harmony had sealed him away! She was there, and chaos was still locked away in the statue. Unless.... “No.”
“Oh Celestia, you must really stop with the theatrics,” The Doctor said, shaking his head to the sides. “Yes, Discord’s free. Yes, he had a double. No, he can’t access the power trapped by the elements. And no, that’s not a champion for a pony. Did I miss anything?” The Time Lord said, turning to look at Discord.
“Oh, you're no fun Doctor. But I suppose time is the essence and all that... Oh, time to a Time Lord. You must get these all the time!” Discord said, lowering his hands to laugh. “Celestia, let me introduce you, to my champion,” he said. The dark figure lowered his hood, revealing that the human had shoulder length, curly black hair.
“Oh can we just get on with it?” Severus Snape said, frowning. “Look at her. She’s looks like she’s going to break.” The wizard said to frown. They all turned to look at the princess, which her left eye suddenly started to twitch.
“How is this possible? Why is this possible?” Celestia finally said, frowning.
“Oh, I have had Snape for a while now. I believe even before you have had The Doctor,” Discord said, closing both eyes a bit. He snapped his eagle claw, creating a tall glass of cocoa moo for him to drink from a straw. “If you don’t mind, I am going to get started now.”
“Started? For what?” Celestia said, still trying to understand everything. Discord rolled both eyes, wondering why he even bothered sometimes. One would think a thousands years of peace would had given the sun guide Alicorn some sense of intellect.
“I will handle this. Discord,” Snape said, nodding to his partner. Discord released a sigh and nodded. Tossing the glass behind himself, the draconequus walked over to the center and made a stick appear in his paw. He had started to draw a magic array in the ground. The princess picked up her eyebrows, recognizing the familiar pattern.
Another champion summoning?
“Look here princess,” Snape said, moving into his dark cloak and pulling out a wand. He waved it a few time to create a large puff of gray smoke. After another wave, the center of the smoke cloud begun to open up and create a glass display. “First, I suppose I should thank Discord here for sparing my life.” Snape said. Images of his death at the hands of a snake were being shown inside the viewing crystal. The next second after Harry Potter vanished, the body of Snape vanished.
“Discord summoned me. He offered me a deal. Be his champion, and he would grant me a wish.” Snape continued his narrative, showing how Discord would appear and disappear around the wizard’s shoulders. As the spirit of chaos floated around, Snape was being healed. “All I had to do was do him a favor. I nodded, since he offered me a bonus. He would grant me one wish of my choosing,” The image inside the display showed a smiling Discord holding up a single digit from his eagle claw. The image of Snape nodded once.
“Little did I know what the hell that favor was,” Snape said. He waved his hand, making the crystal view piece vanish back into the smoke. “I have to help him save Equestria.”
“What?” Princess Celestia said, turning to look at Discord. He had finished drawing the array and made his stick vanish. Next, the hard part.
“I suggest you let Discord concentrate,” the time lord said, turning to walk over to Snape.
“I agree. If Discord dies, I vanish into eternity as well,” Snape said, relaxing his frown to sigh. Celestia turned to look at the humanoids, narrowing her eyebrows.
“Discord... Dies?” She asked, not sure where her voice had left to.
“Oh yes. His magic has been fueled by chaos. Thanks to the Elements of Harmony and Bromance, the chaos in this world has slowly been decreasing. Looks like Discord’s gambit has failed...” Snape said. The solar princess raised her left forehoof to rub her head, with eyes closed as she tried to understand.
“Let’s start with a question then. Right. Celestia, what would have happened to Equestria if Twilight had not discovered the changelings in Ponyville?” The Doctor asked. He moved to slide both hands into his pockets.
“Well, the Elements of Harmony would have surely-” Celestia raised her head, both eyes opened wide. “Are you saying Discord knew?!”
“Well, yes, he is chaos. After last time he was sealed away, Discord learned his lesson. Chaotic? Yes, but hardly stupid,” Snape said. It was true, Discord had set an elaborate plan against the residents of Equestria, but she thought it was due to being trapped for a thousand years. “But in order to ensure it looked believable, Chaos here thought it was a brilliant idea to seal away most of his powers into the double. Bloody idiot.” Snape frowned and turned to look as Discord begun to chant.
“With most of his powers gone, Discord went into hiding to once again rebuild his powers from scratch. But not enough Chaos to feed off thanks to the ponies. While trying to find other sources of chaos, he was at the Canterlot wedding. Thanks to the madness made by the Changeling Queen, he managed to get some power back. That is also when he stumbled upon the true plot behind the infiltration.” The Time Lord picked up his head to look at Celestia’s face.
“So... What does this have to do with his death?” Princess Celestia said. She turned to look back at Discord as the array begun to glow blue.
“Well, he’s the reason why the summon spell went wrong. Good thing too, pony champions would have made terrible partners. Hardly chaotic at all, now there isn’t it!” Snape shouted that last part, trying to make sure Discord heard him.
“In any case, Discord tried to make use of the chaos as best it could, but humanity has a way of not liking Chaos very much...” The time lord said. “Discord bet that a different kind of champion would have brought more chaos, but he lost that bet. It was no surprise though, considering that Twilight casted the spell. The perfect champions were found. Even Luna picked an excellent champion for herself.”
“When that blew up in his face, Discord there thought it was smart to bring Alduin to this realm. Some chaos that made!” Snape once again shouted. “If he bothered to do his homework, he would've found out human champions tend to get the job done. I should know,” the wizard shook his head to the sides. “In any case, that dragon thing took less than an hour to finish. Nowhere near enough Chaos Discord needs. With his options dwindling, he decided to help the champions instead of creating more chaos.”
“But why help? I don't understand...” Celestia said, shaking her head to the side. She could understand why Discord wanted chaos. But why save Equestria?
“Of course you wouldn’t. Love is deep for men,” Snape said, releasing a sigh.
“Wait... Did you say, love?” Celestia said.
“Don’t be daft. Yes, love. Nothing more chaotic than love. And what’s more chaotic than with falling in love with his perfect opposite,” the wizard once again said. “This is all your fault.”
“My fault?!” Princess Celestia said as she raised her head. Discord still loved her? After all this time?
“Well its kinda obvious.. You love your land more than him. What choice did he have, but save the land you love?” The Time Lord said, small smile on his face. Discord raised his head, finishing the chant. The blue magic array slowly vanished, leaving only the marking on the ground. The chaotic spirit collapsed to the ground, eyes closed.
“Oh you daft wanker,” Snape said, rushing over to help Discord to his feet. “Here, help me get him over already.” The Doctor rushed over to help the wizard. Each one helped Discord under his front appendages and lead him to his statue.
“Discord... Why?” Princess Celestia rushed over, looking down at Discord with her eyes closed a little. The proud trickster had lost much color to his body. Instead of a leathery brown, it turned pink. Both eyes once full of mirth had dropped down to fall.
“What fun would it be, creating chaos for changelings? I would much rather have it from ponies,” Discord said with a small smile. Snape and The Doctor moved Discord to the statue. Slowly, the draconequus moved to touch the statue.
“His only hope is to try and reconnect with the chaos trapped in his petrified double,” Snape said, grunting a bit at the discomfort of carrying his partner. “He has to willingly surrender himself into imprisonment.”
“Discord....” Princess Celestia said, her voice a whisper.
“You must hurry. The humans are about to do something stupid.... Find the last champion I summoned. The humans need him more than any other,” Discord said, his voice getting weaker with each breath. Slowly, he begun to faded from view. Snape and the Doctor slowly moved to stand up, no longer feeling the weight of the chaotic spirit on them.
“Tell me... Why?” Celestia said, leaning her face closer to his own. Water begun to collect at the bottom of her eyes.
“Silly mare. Like chaos needs a reason to do anything. Love is the same...” Discord managed to say before vanishing into small yellow lights to fade into the statue. Snape picked up his hands, moving them to and fro.
“It looks like he’s not dead yet at least,” Snape said. The potions master showed no signs of fading. “But I have no way of knowing if he managed to reconnect with his old sealed power.” Celestia lowered her head, closing both eyes. A single tear escaped from each eye, sliding down her long face.
“Come now. We have no time to waste. Where could that last champion be?” The Doctor said.
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Junebug smiled, looking around the beautiful Sunday morning. Thank Celestia she was no longer under the Changeling’s parasitic bite! She walked into the Ponyville marketplace, carrying her saddle baskets withe her daisies to sell. Until she walked into a tall figure.
The figure was dressed in a dark cloak, hiding most of his body from view. This human was hunched down a bit, a large backpack hung from both shoulders. The human was looking around, trying to find a good spot to set up shop. After feeling the bump, the human turned around.
“Oh, I am so sorry...” Junebug stopped talking, lifting her gaze up to look at the human. A hood covered his head, while a dark violet scarf hid the lower part of his face from view. Large black strapped boots were on his feet, all the way up to his thighs. He wore a brown leather leather vest and carpenter’s tool belt around his waist.
“What are ya selling?” He spoke in a slightly deep and cracked voice.
“Oh! Daisies! Would you like one?”
“I’ll buy it at a high price.”
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“Isn’t there anyway to save him?” The princess said.
“Well, there is one way, but you're not going to like it,” Snape said, his face getting a slight frown.
“Please! Tell me! I must help him! I will do anything!” The solar princess picked up her head, opening both eyes to look at Snape. She couldn’t see at all, tears now streaming from her face. The wizard turned to look over the the Time Lord to nod.
“Discord needs chaos to live. At this point in time, there is only one thing that can cause enough chaos to give Discord a fighting chance,” The Doctor said with a grim face.
“An Element of Harmony or of Bromance must die.”
Author’s notes: Well, two more champions. Unfortunately, not the ones anyone was hoping for. Chapter Proofreaded by the now broken minded LyonAzakura.