//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Grand Start of Chaos! // Story: Alicorn Amulet's Prisoner // by Taken-By-Insanity //------------------------------// Within the Everfree Forest, on top of a shelf within the hut of Zecora the Zebra, there was a small chest. Barely the size of the head of a foal. And within this chest was a familiar artifact. A necklace with the image of an Alicorn carved into black metal. The eyes and the gem within the necklace of the alicorn were red, emitting light within the confines of the box. The box suddenly moved, picked up by the owner of the box’s home, Zecora. The zebra was accompanied by Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. “Are you sure about this Twilight? Such an endeavor may just end in a plight.” Zecora rhymed to Twilight. She was uncertain of this idea that Twilight had. It seemed far too risky to her. “Yes, Zecora, I’m sure. I’ll set up as many countermeasures that I can to combat any possibility,” Twilight reassured Zecora. For context, Twilight had remembered about the Alicorn Amulet and wished to test it. Only unicorns had used it before, she wondered what would happen if other types of ponies, or even other species used it. Zecora hoofed the box to Twilight and it was levitated out of her grasp. “Inform me, when you can, for I am curious of what will come of your plan.” Twilight nodded before the two exchanged farewells and parted ways. Within a strange void of red, there laid only one small island. Well, not exactly an island. A chair and table made of spruce floated around the void, with a tea set taking up room on the table. Taking the chair was a being eerily similar to another well-known character. Made from a mismatch of creatures. A talon for the right hand and a lion’s paw for the left. The leg and hoof of a brown horse for the left leg and the leg of a green lizard was the right. The torso was a mystery but was covered in brown fur, with a batwing and the wing of a bird attached to the back. There was a tail that was also reptilian but was a much darker shade of green when compared to the lizard leg, which also ended in a tuft of white fur. The neck and head were shaped like a goat with grey fur and an obvious feminine shape to it. A large poofy white mane sat on top of the creature’s head, almost hiding the antler and horn on its head. Red eyes with yellow sclera looked down at an empty teacup in thought. This was a draconequus. They looked almost just like Discord, Lord of Chaos, and Disharmony, but still had differences that made it apparent that they weren’t him, which were the mane and the placement of their arms. The draconequus sighed, wearing a frown. It gave a yell as it threw the teacup it held in its paw, flinging it into the distance before the sound of shattering glass was eventually heard. “By my fellow Spirits, I hate this place.” The voice of the draconequus was notably feminine. “Oi!” The draconequus suddenly shouted into the void. Oh wait, it’s talking to the narrator. “I’m a ‘she’ and ‘her’, thank you very much.” Ah, yes. This draconequus is Eris, twin sister to the Lord of Chaos known as Discord. Eris sighed before a large painting appeared a few feet away from her tea set. The painting held the image of Trixie Lulamoon, a unicorn made up of different types of blue with the exemption of her eyes, which were purple. “Oh yes mysterious painting, wow me with your tales of wizardry,” Eris said dryly. She was familiar with this little thing, due to how often it showed up to her. The painting shifted and moved, showing Trixie on a stage in front of a crowd, wowing the ponies with tall tales and tricks. The painting shifted again, showing four ponies now on the stage with angry expressions. Expressions that spread to the crowd before they left. “Yes, yes. I’m aware of this one’s backstory. You’ve shown it to me hundreds of times by now. Just skip to the good part.” The painting did as Eris commanded, shifting to a small shop. On a display was the Alicorn Amulet, which Trixie took and put around her neck. Practice using the Amulet’s power was done in an open field. The grass was turned into licorice, animals were turned into other animals, objects appeared out of nowhere, the list of what went down in that field was endless. Then Trixie returned to the town that was shown in the beginning, wearing the Amulet and ready to prove how ‘Great and Powerful’ she was. Eris gave an irritated sigh. “Get out of my sight.” She gave a wave toward the painting and it faded away. How much longer until a new bearer comes to being? Eris was curious how much time had passed since that one was removed. Suddenly, the chair and table vanished from view, the tea set soon following suit. “Oh, would you look at that?” The signs that a new bearer has arrived. “Let’s see, who might this idiot be?” The painting appeared once again before shifting. No longer was it Trixie Lulamoon, but it was a pegasus. A sky blue coat of fur and a rainbow for a mane and tail. Magenta's eyes filled with determination and the cutie mark of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt striking down. Fancy writing appeared on a corner of the picture with the name ‘Rainbow Dash’. “Huh. That name looks familiar…” Eris struggled to remember where she could’ve seen that name and appearance before, but came up with nothing. “Ah, well. I’m sure I’ll remember eventually. Now, why did you put this on?” The picture changed, showing the silhouette of a pony speaking with Rainbow Dash. The Amulet was inside of a box that floated next to the silhouette. After Eris got a good look at the image, it shifted again into a large room made of purple crystal. Five other silhouettes were in the room, standing only a few feet behind her. The Amulet was resting on a small pedestal, its red eyes glinting in the light of the room. The picture then vanished once again. “Hm. We’re they asked to put it on? Must be someone trying to learn about it or something.” Eris put a paw to her mouth as she yawned. “None of the previous users were a pegasus. I wonder what my magic does when channeled through one…” “This feels…weird.” Rainbow Dash looked down at the Amulet as it gave an eerily red glow. Twilight was with the rest of the Mane 6, a notepad and pencil at the ready as they stood behind a wall of thick glass. “Can you put more detail on that, Rainbow?” “How am I supposed to describe this? It just feels weird having this on!” “Try flying!” Rainbow rolled her eyes at Twilight’s command before doing as she was asked. She lowered herself to be ready for take-off and flapped her wings. To say that the result was unexpected would be an understatement. She went into the air like normal, but the ground under her changed into a red crystal instead of the purple it was supposed to be. This wasn’t noticed at first and before the ponies would, lightning would appear out of nowhere and strike their surroundings. Dash quickly set herself down before anything else could happen. Twilight feverishly wrote into her notepad as Rainbow took off the Alicorn Amulet and placed it back on the pedestal. “What the heck was that Twilight?!” Rainbow’s question went unheard as Twilight looked over the room and her, taking note of what happened while also adding in some basic theories to put more thought into later. “Fascinating. It seems able to improve the magic of a pegasus, but it also seems to unlock the ability to cast spells.” Twilight said to herself. “If only there was a way for the Amulet to not corrupt the user’s mind. Applejack, it’s your turn.” Rainbow rolled her eyes before following Twilight behind the safety glass, giving Applejack a nod as the two passed each other. “Huh, what do you know?” Eris watched the scene unfold with the help of the mysterious changing painting. “I’m surprised she so easily took it off. It's probably cause she only had it on for a minute. They’re being really careful while testing. Good. Would hate to see this go wrong.” The painting changed again. An earth pony with the name Applejack. An orange coat and blonde mane and tail. Green eyes and three apples for a cutie mark. She’s also wearing a cowboy hat. A scene similar to the first by Rainbow Dash was shown. Someone had asked her to wear it. “Testing what this thing can do? My, I hope she doesn’t end up making a mistake.” Before Eris could ponder on the possibilities of an earth pony wearing the Alicorn Amulet, a sudden shudder shook the void that she inhabited. “The heck in haystacks?!” After Applejack had put on the Alicorn Amulet, things immediately started to happen. Like the roots of a tree, lines of red spread through the crystal, almost as if they were cracks. “The hay just happened?!” Applejack looked at the effects around her, quickly taking the Amulet off as she did. As if time reversed itself, the red disappeared with no trace left behind. “Are you okay?” Twilight called from behind the glass. It was quite the sight to see how suddenly things started to happen, but the condition of her friend mattered more to Twilight. “Yeah, Ah’m okay. What was that Twi?” Twilight and the others approached Applejack as Twilight responded. “I don’t know. Earth ponies passively release magic all the time into the area around them so I guess the magic just went wild.” Twilight scribbled more into her notepad. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie hopped to the pedestal and looked over the Amulet. “Hey Twilight, do you know what this thing is made of?” She stared into her reflection from the Amulet’s center gem. “No Pinkie, I don’t. The gems on it are enchanted rubies but I have no idea what metal it could be made of.” Twilight responded. “Mm, okay! So what’s that?” The five looked to Pinkie and found her pointing at a wall with her hoof. To everyone, there was nothing there. “Theeere’s nothing there Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash gave the wall a closer look, even tapping it with her hoof. “It’s just the usual purple wall made of crystal.” “Hmmm…” Pinkie squinted as she gave the wall a closer look before shrugging. “Eh, must’ve been seeing things.” Pinkie then moved over to the pedestal once again, picking up the Alicorn Amulet. “Pinkie.” Twilight warily said. “What are you doing?” With Pinkie’s strangeness and how the Amulet reacted when Applejack put it on, the theoretical disaster that could result with her putting it on would be less than favorable, to put it simply. “Is it just me, or is something different about this?” Pinkie asked, looking once again into the gems on the Amulet. “Lemme see.” Twilight picked up the Alicorn Amulet with her magic and looked over it. She too noticed that something was different about it. “Wait.” She gave it another look over and cast a diagnostic spell. “What happened to its enchantments?!” “What are you talking about Twilight?” Rarity finally decided to speak up, looking over the Amulet with Twilight. She too quickly took on a surprised expression. “By the stars, all the magic in it is gone!” “How can it all be gone?” Rainbow questioned. “What, did Applejack use up all of its juice or something?” “That would make sense. But there’s also the chance that it had a finite amount of magic. The Alicorn Amulet is old and enchantments weren’t always able to draw use ambient magic from the environment.” Twilight hummed to herself in thought before giving a sad sigh. “Oh well, it doesn’t really matter now. Thanks for all the help girls.” “It was nothin' Twi,” Rainbow responded. “Yeah Twilight, it was nothin. I should probably get goin now, lots to do at the farm now that I’ve been gone for so long.” The rest of the group gave their farewells and left Twilight to ponder as she held the Alicorn Amulet in her magic. ‘What happened to the magic in you?’ She sighed and set the Amulet back into the small pedestal before also leaving the room. She had some more things to attend to now that this experiment turned to be now impossible. Unbeknownst to Twilight, the red that infected the castle’s crystal had moved after she closed the door. The red moved to the far wall and made a symbol. Eight arrows coming out of a singular point; the symbol of chaos. ‘Dang. So that’s what happens when chaos is channeled through an Earth Pony. Where is Discord? I can’t…move….’