//------------------------------// // Episode 1: Good Morning (Part 1) // Story: Born to Chaos and Nightmares // by Thorax //------------------------------// Quick Note: This story works off the "Canon" set up in Equestria's Crazies, it might help, just a bit to read that before this. However, if you're willing to just accept a few things, there isn't any real reason this story cannot be enjoyed without reading the previous one. Chapter edited by ZeroInfinity Canterlot was quiet. The daily routines of the people of Equestria's capitol had not yet begun and those who went about their business during the night, had already retreated inside for the dawn approached, though this story does not belong to the domain sun, nor to the domain of the night. No, this story belongs to a rather strange filly, born to a rather strange family. Her name was Lucid Dreams, and this is her story. The black filly slowly made her way through the large dark room, carefully avoiding any obstacle that would alert her prey to her presence. Even in the darkness, her mismatched features almost certainly gave away her heritage. For she was not a pony, she was a Draconequus, one of only two. Much like her father, her limbs were an assorted mash up of different creatures. Her left arm was a lioness's, her right an eagle's. She kept her father's original legs and wings, however. She did gain a few of her mother’s traits though, as would be expected. Instead of her body being a patch work of colors, its entirety was midnight black. She had her mother's eyes, too, blue and reptilian in appearance. She was truly a strange creature. However, she was a strange creature on a mission, and her target laid across the room, sleeping soundly and probably dreaming about bunnies or something. Not for long, the filly thought to herself Tip-toeing across the room, the filly managed to navigate her way through the objects scattered about without managing to alert her target. Slowly she pulled herself up onto the platform on which the prey rested and, in one quick pounce, she struck. "Dad wake up!" shouted the filly as she slammed against her father. Discord groaned at the sudden impact, but quickly fell back into the comforting depths of sleep. "Come on Dad, wake up already!" Lucid growled as she struck again. Once again Discord stirred at the impact. However, instead of getting up, he rolled over in an attempt to block the impacts and return to his dreams of chaos and rampage. Lucid was not one to give up, especially on a day like today. Once again she backed up, however she did not pounce. Instead, she snapped her claws and in a moment of complete, anticlimactic sadness a tiny bolt of lightning struck her father in the back of the head. "Oh come on Dad, I know you're awake!" shouted the filly as she stamped on the bed." Discord had finally had enough however, he wasn't about to get up just yet. Groggily he began poking his wife, who had surprisingly managed to sleep through their daughter’s assault. "Wh...What?" groaned the still sleeping mare "I didn't do it, I swear that’s not my bat and Celestia was like that when I got here." mumbled the mare as she continued to sleep. "Moony, wake up." whispered the male Draconequus "What?" hissed the midnight Alicorn as she finally broke from her sleep; slowly she reached in the dark attempting to find a light source. After several seconds of flailing her leg in the dark, she gave up. "Your daughter wants you to get up now." Discord answered trying his best to stay awake "I've already told you" Moony growled "Before sunrise, she's your daughter." with that the mare of Darkness returned to her slumber. Discord contemplated trying to wake his wife up again. However, thinking back on how well that had worked out in the past, he realized it was probably best if he just got up and did whatever Lucid wanted before that blasted ball of hate and light decided to kill any further chance of sleep. For a few more seconds and his thoughts returned to Chaos and Rampage. Oh how often he had thought about snapping his fingers and plunging Equestria into darkness, not permanently or anything, just long enough to get a good night’s sleep. Once again, though, he was knocked out of his dreams by a soft impact. Looking down he gave a chuckle as he starred at his little ball of chaos. "I'm up already, what more do you want from me?" Lucid expression quickly changed from slightly annoyed to angry. This made Discord uneasy; another one of her mother’s traits she had received was intimidation factor. Like her mother when angry enough, Discord could almost feel himself once again turning to stone. "You promised you wouldn't forget!" Whined the filly "Well I didn't forget so ha!" answered Discord "Okay Dad, then what's today?" "Your birthday!" shouted the older Draconequus as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly the room was filled with bright lights and streams as several clown ponies entered the room from the closet door. Dozens of balloons began to rise from beneath the bed. However, his daughter wasn't smiling and once again he could feel the bed rustle from beside him. He didn't need to turn around, he could feel his wife's gaze of hatred on his back, without saying a word or turning around he snapped his fingers and the rooms returned to its darkened state. "I was joking," he said with an awkward chuckle "Then what day is it?" Lucid asked smugly Discord began to run through the dates in his mind, sadly that wasn't something he was good with and he continued to draw up blanks. That is until a very cold and terrifying realization hit him. "It's.....it's not our anniversary is it? If it is you have to hide me," whispered the terrified Draconequus. Lucid crossed her arms and once again began to stare into her father’s soul with the stone turning gaze "No Dad, it's my first day of school. You promised you'd bring me." Discord gave a sigh of relief. "Good, if I had forgotten our anniversary I think your mother might kill me." Once again the feeling of being watched returned to the Draconequus as a shiver ran down his spine. "So honey," rang the voice from behind him. "When is our anniversary?" Moony asked as she starred at her husband’s back. Waiting for any sign to strike. "Well look at the time!" Shouted the larger Draconequus "Time to get breakfast sweetie!" with a snap of his fingers both him and Lucid were gone. Leaving Nightmare alone in the bed. "Don't worry honey, I know where you sleep." She told herself with a devious chuckle as she stretched out across her now almost empty bed, slowly drifting back into sleep. With a flash of light the two Draconequus reappeared inside the castles main kitchen. Teleporting wasn't something the filly had mastered yet and as such was left slightly dazed as she stumbled to get a proper footing on the cold marble floor. Discord gave another chuckle as he watched his daughter fall over in an attempt to climb up onto the counter. After a few more seconds of watching Lucid clumsily climb, he turned his attention to the large pantry door. This door held some of his best memories, sneaking food late at night, getting caught, that one time Flambé tied him to the shelf and left him there for three days, all great memories. Though Flambé had long since passed away, he made it one of his primary goals to ensure that he kept a "close" relationship with his descendants, whether they wanted it or not. "Found it" Discord stated triumphantly as he pulled his prize from the dark depths of the pantry. "Pinkie O's?" Asked the confused filly as she stared at the box her father currently held. "What are those?" "Just the single greatest Cereal known to anyone ever! I've had this box hidden for over 150 years!" Lucid grimaced at the thought of the now rotten cereal that had to be sitting in the box. "Oh don't be like that." Discord retorted "It's magically enchanted; this stuff will last longer than I will. See, it even says so on the box." He finished as he lowered the box so it was now eye level with his daughter. "Laughter in every box." the filly read aloud. "What does that mean?" "I'll show yo-" The larger Draconequus was cut off as the large wooden doors to the kitchen were opened. "Good morning, Discord." came the soothing voice of the Sun Goddess as she slowly shut the doors. "Good morning" answered Discord It was only then that Celestia noticed the smaller Draconequus sitting atop the counter "Oh hello Lucid, I didn't see you there, is my favorite niece getting ready for her first day of school?" Before Lucid was able to answer, the echoing clatter of a spoon impacted the bowl cause the three of them to shift their attention to the table across the room. That was the first time any of them had noticed Princess Cadence sitting at the table. "Feels bad man," muttered the pink Alicorn as she teleported away, leaving only an empty bowl and sadness where she once sat. "Now that's awkward," Celestia said flatly before abruptly perking back up "So sweetie are you excited for your first day?" The young filly nodded in excitement "Once I'm done eating, Dad is going to bring me to class." Discord was about to open the cereal, when a devious idea unleashed itself on his poor innocent mind. "Celestia," spoke the Draconequus in as sweet as possible voice "I seem to be having some trouble with this box, would you be so kind as to open it." "God of Chaos, eh?" Celestia said sarcastically as she pulled the box towards her. "Can't even open a box of cereal." As the Sun Princess finally managed to rip open the top of the box she was met with quite a chaotic surprise, as a torrent of balloon and confetti erupted from within the box, engulfing Celestia in a multitude of colors. The two Draconequuses did their best to suppress any giggles. However their feeble attempts were quickly destroyed as the torrent of party favors began to dissipate and eventually stop, leaving Celestia's new hair "style" revealed for all to see. Both Discord and his daughter collapsed into a fit of laughter as the stunned Celestia stood in silence, her once beautiful flowing mane, had been blasted into an abomination of mismatched colors and spiked in different directions. Slowly the traumatized mare lifted the box up to eye level, revealing the image of the familiar pink and puffy maned pony. "Pinkie Pie...." muttered the shell shocked Princess "If you'll excuse me, I need to go have a talk with an old friend." With a flare of her horn and a flash of light she was gone. "Dad, what's auntie Celestia going to do?" asked the confused filly as she shook the remnants off the boxed party off of herself. "I believe she's going to go giggle at some ghosties," Discord answered flatly as he poured a bowl of cereal for his daughter. "Not even the dead know rest from your aunts jimmie rustling," he added silently Half an hour, two dead toasters and one broken door later they were ready to leave. With a snap of his talons a small backpack appeared on the back of his daughter and with another snap they now stood outside the main entrance to Canterlot Castle. "Are you ready, Kiddo?" asked the much taller Draconequuses as he prepared to snap his talons one final time. "Wait!" Shouted the filly "You have to walk me there, we can't just appear. The other kid will think I'm weird." Discord gave a reluctant sigh "Fine, we'll walk, but your mother has to come pick you up." All the Draconequus wanted to do was return to his warm bed. For the most part the walk was uneventful, except for the odd pony who felt the need to bow to the passing Lord and his Daughter. However, there was one thing that caught the filly’s attention causing her to stop. The large stone statue that sat in the middle of Canterlot, it was a statue dedicated to two heroes that had saved Equestria from total destruction. They stood back to back as if they were still ready to make their last stand, a Griffin and a Unicorn who had given their lives sealing the gates of Tartarus. Lucid could not recall their names, though she remembered the stories her aunts and mother had told her. Apparently the heroes where partners with her mother, and they had chosen to dedicate their lives to protecting the peaceful creatures of Equestria from threats most ponies had never even known existed. It wasn't for several years after the incident that her Aunts and Mother decided to give a formal speech for an event no one had ever known happened. Several weeks later the statue had been erected in honor of the two them. Their sacrifice also served to create almost total peace between the Griffins and Ponies, which had been maintained to this day. The small filly continued to stare at the statue. When, I'm old enough, I want to be like them, I want to change the world. she silently told herself. "Hurry up Lucid, or you're going to be late." Picking up the pace the filly was able to eventually catch up to her father and in a matter of minutes they had arrived at the new building for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. With a quick hug and a wave goodbye, the filly darted off into the large stone building, leaving her father outside on the street. "Poor fool; she has no idea what kind of nightmare she's forced on herself." He told himself and with the final snap of his talons and another flash he was gone, leaving a confused crowd of onlookers. As Lucid made her way through the school she was met with several awkward glances and a more than a few stunned students and teachers. The filly couldn't help but laugh at some of their reactions, their reactions differed between each of them, some were stunned, some looked scared and other just looked in awe. That was one of the many perks of being a Draconequus, she spread a little bit of chaos through her appearance alone. After some careful searching and finally convincing one of the teachers to give her directions she was able to find her classroom, though unfortunately for her she was late. Silently she opened the door, wincing as it squeaked. However, the students and teacher seemed to take no notice as she crept inside. As the teacher began to turn around to face the class Lucid did the only thing she could, she dived for the nearest open seat. "Nice try." spoke the teacher in a smug voice. "Crap..." muttered the filly as she knew she had been busted "That kind of language is not acceptable in here, Miss Dreams. Normally, I'd give a late student a warning for being late, but you're not a normal student are you?" asked the teacher. Lucid only shook her head. "So which one made you late? Your mother or your father?" "My Dad," answered the filly as she began to slightly rise from her seat, all eyes still on her. "So, how many toasters did it take to make you late?" "Two," answered the confused filly. "Wait... how did you know it was a toaster?" The teacher gave a soft chuckle. "I have my ways," she said, and with that she turned back to the chalk board, magically picking up a piece of chalk as she began to write her name on the board. "Hello class, my name is Miss Sparkle. I'll be your teacher this year."