| One Hour Earlier |
“Hey, Gojira, are you okay?”
“Huh, what?”, replied Gojira as he regained focus.
“I said, are you alright?”, asked Spike. Gojira knew that now wasn’t the time nor place to have such thoughts and so decided to just ignore them.
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine”, he said. “You mentioned something about crown jewels or whatever.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right, come on, you’re gonna love the sight of them”, said Spike, before pulling on Gojira’s leg and ushering him to follow. Gojira did so, but not before taking one more look around, just to make sure they weren’t being followed.
Little did any of them know at the moment, Gojira’s worries were justified. Across the room and outside the window, a creature crawled the walls of Canterlot, peering in through the window. Its dark body allowed it to camouflage into its surroundings as it used its sharp claws to grip the concrete wall. He continued to climb along the wall, until he reached the roof and was overlooking an outdoor part of Canterlot. More specifically, the castle’s garden.
Gryphon scanned the entirety of the garden, in hopes of finding a certain attraction. And that’s when he saw it. The stone body of none other than the embodiment of chaos himself. He had been to Canterlot time and time again by the order of Des to find the perfect opportunity to try and free Discord, however that time would rarely come. Even worse, Des was starting to become more and more persistent about freeing Discord and, as a result, he was taking his anger out on his fellow subjects. Gryphon was the only one yet to receive the verbal lashing that was Des’ voice and intended to keep it that way.
Gryphon saw how there were very few ponies actually in the castle’s garden and thus started to formulate a plan. He made his way off of the palace roof before climbing down to the garden. He then leapt forward, using his wings to glide in order to create as little noise as possible. He flew overhead any pony underneath him, his dark skin color allowed him to go completely unnoticed in the night sky. With his claws extended, he landed on the soft grass beneath him in a spot of the garden that was completely surrounded by trees.
The shadows, courtesy of the trees, made Gryphon appear completely invisible to the naked eye. As he slinked through the shrubbery, the sight of the imprisoned god of chaos entered his field of view. Not only that, but a couple of ponies walking by. He knew that if Discord was to be freed, then the entire garden and even the castle would need to be deserted. The question of how was now the main issue. As Gryphon pondered, the sound of birds chirping caught his attention.
When he looked back, he saw an entire flock of all kinds of birds. The sight of them caused a thought to enter Gryphon’s mind. It would’ve been a stretch, but he knew that there were all kinds of animals in the castle’s garden; enough to potentially overrun Canterlot. If he could create a stampede of sorts, then it could create a snowball effect that would leave just enough time to free Discord. Gryphon turned toward the birds, a sharp smile crossed his face. Meanwhile, a stallion wearing a standard suit sat alone on a park bench holding an apple.
“Ahem…I-I…y-you see, I was…I”, Anguirus stuttered trying to come up with an excuse. Luckily, the sight of birds flying at him made for a good reason.
“I was referring to those birds”, he said, pointing at the flying flock that was racing toward him. The thought finally registered in his mind as he relistened to what he had said.
“Wait a minute? Bir-”
The words didn’t leave his mouth in time as several came flying at him and quickly surrounded him. They got incredibly close to the point where some landed on him, digging their claws into his suit and even his fur. The sudden feeling of several talons pricking his skin caught Anguirus by complete surprise as he jumped off the bench and started to thrash around.
“Get them off! Get them off!”, he shouted.
As he thrashed around, Anguirus failed to notice the winged figure hiding behind the bushes, watching him with a smug look on his face. If a couple of birds could cause a pony to act this way, then Gryphon wondered what if all the animals were to be let loose. A sharp grin formed on his face as he saw more animals scurrying about in the trees, on the ground, or flying in the air. This would take time, but he would slowly but surely draw any and all ponies out of the garden.
However, what Gryphon didn’t expect was that only an hour later that the simple act of scaring a few birds would create such a snowball effect. He watched from the ballroom window as the entire gala went downhill. Courtesy of the actions of a certain group of mares, the entire ballroom was being currently overrun by animals. The image of dignified ponies screaming in terror brought a smile to the dragon’s face.
Gryphon used his wings to fly back on to the roof and look over the castle’s garden. Due to the…commotion, all members of the royal guard were forced to leave their posts in order to keep the situation under control. As a result, many parts of Equestria were completely empty, including Discord’s statue. Gryphon smiled decrepitly, their chance had finally come. While the interior of the ballroom was torn about by a massive firework, Gryphon pulled out half of a transportation crystal. He threw it on the rooftop, causing it to shatter and form a portal. Right when he walked through it, a massive firework was set off, illuminating the night sky.
For a brief moment, you could make out the silhouette of some kind of dragon that stood on the top of Canterlot. Only for it to quickly vanish as the fireworks died down. Darkness once more shrouded the castle, and the dragon-like creature had completely disappeared.
Orga made his way through the several corridors of their mountain hideout. He had just returned from yet another failed expedition in search of the Kyojin Tomb. Des had been seemingly acting more and more aggressive towards him and other members of their group. It seemed as though nothing more was on his mind other than the Kyojin Tomb and freeing Discord. Since Orga had used up all of the transportation crystals he was provided with, he was ordered to travel into a deeper part of the mountain by the command of Des.
The cave that he took was very steep and very dark, thus he was forced to carry a torch with him. After a while, the light from the torch was no longer the only light source in the cave. The terrain soon leveled out and Orga was met with a massive chamber. Inside of it were hundreds upon hundreds of crystals, each giving off a radiant aura of all kinds of colors. Orga had brought a bag with him before setting down in front of a large collection of crystals. He had also brought a pickaxe and started to chip away at the crystals.
He broke off parts of each crystal before tossing them into the bag. He looked closely at each crystal bit, if he looked close enough he could barely make out the image of Canterlot. Another one depicted a different part of Equestria and so on. However, one crystal he picked up caused him to stand perfectly still. Instead of showing a city or valley, the crystal instead showed a reflection of himself. Because of this, he was able to see the scar that crossed over his left eye.
Orga stared at it for a moment, he was always perplexed by his own reflection. Memories of a life he once lived flashed in his mind as he recalled his younger years. He saw a face that was almost unrecognizable to the one that the crystal he was holding showed. It was thanks to his scar that caused him to appear so different, a simple mark over his eyes was enough to make him look like a completely different pony. He chose to not give it much thought as Orga merely tossed the crystal to the side; if it wasn’t a teleportation crystal, then he had no interest in it.
He continued to dig at the crystals until the bag he had brought was filled. With the bag on his back and a torch in his maw, Orga made his way back up the incline. Afterwards he walked over to Des’ chamber to drop the bag off. When he entered the chamber, he saw how Des was seemingly deep in thought as he stood perfectly still, small trails of smoke escaping from his lips. Orga didn’t really care, however, as he set the bag down near the makeshift table. The thud from the bag caused the table to wobble and thus also shaking a certain gem. It was a very faint noise, but it was more than enough to cause Des’ eyes to shoot open.
“Who’s there?!”, he called out, a couple of sparks escaping his maw. The sparks that landed in the stone ground immediately reduced pebbles to glass.
“It’s just me, my lord”, said Orga.
“What are you doing here?”, asked Des.
“Finishing my chores”, answered Orga as he pointed to the bag of crystals he had just collected.
“You know not to disturb me whenever I’m concentrating, I need complete silence”, he said. “But while you’re here, you can hopefully make my time worthwhile by telling me if you have any information to report.”
“I’m sorry, my liege, but I have nothing new to say. As far as I’m aware, we’ve potentially searched this entire valley”, said Orga.
“Has Gryphon returned from his scouting trip?”, asked Des.
“No, my lord, he’s been gone for a few hours now”, answered Orga. Des stood still for a moment, he then turned toward the Gem of Madness which sat idly on the table. Orga could tell that something was definitely on his mind.
“My lord, you have seen unwell recently”, said Orga. Des didn’t reply at first, instead he walked over to the table.
“A question has been on my mind lately, and if you can, I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation”, said Des.
“What is it?”, asked Orga.
“Around a couple of months from now, I was forced to rest due to an abrupt illness. Before I slept, I remember the Gem of Madness being on this side of the table”, said Des before he lifted the gem with his magic and set it down on the opposite side of the table.
“And when I woke up, it was sitting over here”, he finished. He turned to face Orga. “Would you happen to have any knowledge of why that is?”
“Uhhh…no, my liege, I don’t know how that happened. Besides, I would have no reason to be in your chamber”, said Orga.
This was, of course, a lie; Orga knew exactly what Des was referring to. However, it also got Orga to wonder if Junior had told the truth in terms of the fact that Des had allowed him to handle the Gem of Madness. Although Orga tried his best to pass off his answer, Des continued to stare at him with his pale, yellow eyes.
“Is that so”, he said, quizzly.
“Yes, my lord, I don’t know anything. From what I recall, I was out on another scouting mission that you assigned me”, said Orga. Des continued to stare, almost glare, at him as a couple trails of smoke escaped his maw; it was clear he didn’t fully believe him. Nevertheless, Des eventually dropped his glare and set the gem down.
“Very well, if you have nothing of use to say, then leave me”, he said as he turned away.
“Yes, my lord”, said Orga as he quickly walked away; leaving Des completely alone as he sat back in the center of his chamber with his eyes closed.
Orga walked through the halls of the cave before he eventually made his way to his corridor. His chamber was mostly empty apart from a makeshift bed made out of hay, a couple of workout weights, and several candles being used to keep it lit. Orga walked over to his bed and was about ready to lay in it until he caught a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a brush. Instead of being confused, Orga instead sighed in annoyance as he knew exactly who it belonged to.
“Why does she keep doing this”, he said to himself. He grabbed the brush and left his chamber.
As he walked through the caves, he managed to pick up what sounded like faint, feminine humming. Once more, instead of being confused, Orga instead rolled his eyes as he neared another one of the chambers of the mountain. This chamber was undoubtedly the most colorful part of the entire mountain, second only to the crystal chamber, as flowers and plants sprouted from seemingly every crack in every wall. A stream of water fed into the chamber along with rays of moonlight, these unique aspects of the chamber could help explain the massive amounts of plant growth.
Orga looked around, trying to find the source of the humming. He had a sneaky suspicion what, or rather who, was causing the sound and he would come to find his suspicions were confirmed. Biollante was tending to her miniature garden while humming a peaceful tune to herself. She lifted a couple of flowers and sniffed them, a smile formed on her face. She continued to hum as she danced to another side of the chamber, placing them alongside a wall of flowers. Orga stayed silent as he watched, he couldn’t recall the last time he saw her act this way. Biollante continued to dance until she abruptly stopped after seeing the form of Orga watching her from the side, this sight of which caused her to gasp in surprise.
“Oh my goodness! What are you doing here?”, she asked. Orga gave her a blank expression
“You left this in my room”, he replied, showing her the hairbrush.
“I did? I couldn't have, I’ve had that brush on me at all times”, said Biollante. Orga rolled his eyes.
“This is like, what, the ninth time you’ve done this to me?”, he asked.
“What do you mean?”, asked Biollante.
“Sometimes I’ll find either your brush, satchel, or even your flower pots in my chamber and you always try to act innocent when I return them”, said Orga. Biollante replied with an over exaggerated gasp.
“Are you calling me a liar?”, she asked, a few tears welled up in her eyes. However, Orga could tell they were tears of an alligator.
“Yes”, he said bluntly.
“I’m not sure if I could possibly live with the guilt of being a liar”, said Biollante as she became more and more dramatic. “Des is going to think that I can no longer be trusted and he’ll kick me out. I’ll have to live in the woods for the rest of my life and leave all of my beautiful, precious flowers behind! No mare should ever be subjected to live like that!”
Biollante continued to weep as Orga put a hoof against his temple. “Look, okay, fine I’ll brush your mane if it means I can go to bed sooner”, he said. Biollante immediately stopped crying and perked up.
“Thank you, Ito”, she replied before sitting beside her bed. Orga merely rolled his eyes before he sat behind her. He started to brush her long mane while Biollante continued to hum to herself.
“So, care to explain what’s with the cheery mood?”, asked Orga.
“It’s just a special occasion”, answered Biollante.
“What kind?”, asked Orga.
“Oh, you know, just the biggest night in all of Equestria”, replied Biollante. Orga was at first confused until he thought about it for a moment and he formed a deadpan expression.
“I swear if you say the Gran-”
“The Grand Galloping Gala”, interrupted Biollante. Orga let out an overexaggerated groan. “Just imagine it, Orga. The music, the scenery, the dresses, and of course all those royal flowers they’re bound to have at Canterlot. There truly is nothing like it.”
“Oh please, why do you always get so giddy over that crapshoot”, said Orga. “The gala is just a massive waste of blood, sweat, and tears where a bunch of rich scumbags listen to elevator music for five hours while they eat food that would work better to catch fish.”
“You’re just jealous because you never got the chance to go to the gala”, replied Biollante.
“Believe me, I'm not”, said Orga, bluntly.
“I remember that day, I had purchased this beautiful hoove-made gown that could cause any pony to drop dead”, said Biollante as she reminisced.
“Then it’s a good thing Celestia didn’t see you”, joked Orga.
“No, but somepony else did. I remember how it happened. It was nearing midnight and many ponies were starting to slow dance with each other. I was standing in the corner and then…I saw him”, said Biollante. “He came up to me, took my hoof, and we made our way to the dance floor.”
“And how was it?”, asked Orga.
“It was amazing”, said Biollante. “He was so graceful and delicate, he was unlike any other stallion I had ever met. So much love and passion was felt that night. Little did I know at the time that that love would last for many…”, Biollante stopped talking as the image of a well-dressed, black maned unicorn entered her mind; a familiar face that was gone too soon. Orga noticed this change in tone, but he already knew what was the cause of it.
“Well, despite my view , at least somepony found that henhouse enjoyable…for some reason”, he replied before setting the brush down.
“You know, you’re really bad at trying to make somepony feel better”, said Biollante.
“Hey, I’m trying here”, said Orga. “And besides, I only came here to return a brush, not to catch spilled baggage.”
Biollante humphed and turned away from Orga. “To think I would open up to you”, she said, snootily. “Here I am talking about the happiest day of my life and it seems you couldn’t even care. I would expect that from Junior, but you Ito?”
Orga sighed in annoyance as he put a hoof to his temple. “Alright, alright, fine, I’m sorry for what I said”, he replied. “I’m happy to hear that you had a good time, and you know what, I bet that if Genchiro was still here, I’d bet he’d say the same thing.” Slowly, Biollante turned back around to face Orga, she was admittedly surprised that he still remembered his name. Nevertheless, Biollante showed her gratitude with a small smile.
“Now that’s more like it”, she said. Before Orga said anything, a sudden realization came to him.
“Did you just guilt trip me into apologizing?”, he asked.
“Maybe~”, replied Biollante as she then began to giggle. Orga was annoyed, but was also too tired to deal with it.
“Whatever, I’m going to bed”, he said as he turned to leave.
“You know, you could really go far in being a therapist, you really got me talking for a bit”, said Biollante. Orga merely scoffed at this statement.
“Yeah right, the last thing that would be on my mind is to help the very ponies that I’m helping to eradicate”, he said.
“Well, nevertheless, I enjoyed our talk. In fact, I should probably start leaving my things in your chamber more often”, said Biollante.
“Yeah righ-, wait, so you have been doing it on purpose!”, exclaimed Orga as Biollante’s words sunk in.
“Oh, won’t you look at the time, it’s about time that I got some shut eye”, said Biollante, completely dismissing Orga. “Goodnight, Ito!”
“Goodnight, Bio”, Orga grumbled before he walked away.
As he left, Biollante was left alone in her chamber with her plants and memories. With Orga now gone, she finally let her cheeky smile drop. She turned to the side of her bed where a sack of miscellaneous belongings lay. She reached inside and pulled out a pink gold wedding band with a pattern showing several engraved flowers. A beautiful piece of jewelry from a magical memory that had since turned painful. Biollante could barely look at it before images of the same unicorn flooded her mind, causing her to drop the wedding band back into the bag. She let out a sigh before lying in her bed along with the thoughts of what could’ve been.
Meanwhile, Des took a deep breath as the smoke trails from his mouth ceased to emit. He had started to feel more and more pain each passing day courtesy of his kaiju spirit and he knew the reason as to why. He had housed a spirit that was the living embodiment of impatience and he was paying the price. Des’ horn started to glow as he meditated, taking deep breaths and honing his magic. Nearby rocks started to float in the air as they were enveloped in a deep yellow aura. Nearby candles that lit the chamber started to intensify in flame, causing the wax to melt much faster. Des’ emblem flashed as soon parts of his neck started to glow a luminescent purple. The entire chamber was starting to glow purple, all while Des sat with his eyes closed as a small smile crawled on to his face.
And then, that concentration was quickly lost as a portal appeared suddenly in his chamber. The spontaneous summoning of the portal made Des’ eyes shoot open and cause him to shout in surprise. His horn flashed bright orange as the rocks that he lifted immediately shattered into dust. The fire in the candles had extinguished, causing the only light to be from the portal itself. Des’ pale eyes flared at the portal as a growl emitted from his lips. His glare did falter, however, once a familiar looking dragon walked through the portal.
“Gryphon! What is the meaning of this?”, exclaimed Des. Though Gryphon couldn’t talk, his smile could speak wonders.
(Canterlot)
The clean up crew at Canterlot had their work cut out for them. Almost every single guard in Canterlot had to leave their posts in order to take back control of the ballroom after the events of the night that had played out. Whether it be dealing with wild animals, moving the destroyed pillars, or calming angry guests, the guards were all over the palace; more specifically, the ballroom. Vincent, Sharp Shot, and Raven Inkwell stood at one of the entrances to the ballroom. Safe to say, they were completely dumbfounded by the sight before them.
“Geez, I’ve heard of bringing the house down, but this is a little extreme”, said Sharp Shot. He laughed at his joke, but Vincent and Raven were more stoic.
“I don’t get it, how could this have happened?”, said Raven as she flipped through her clipboard. “It took us almost a week to set everything up and in a couple of minutes it’s now like…this.”
“Well, look on the bright side, it could be worse”, said Vincent, trying to ease the situation.
“Worse? How could this be worse? I’ve received complaints about the poor food quality, reports of a pink mane pony hijacking the stage, and now I have this to deal with”, replied Raven as she gestured to the destroyed ballroom.
“What I mean is, at least neither of the princesses saw what happened”, added Vincent. Though he didn’t notice, Sharp Shot quickly did as he pointed to a different part of the ballroom.
“Umm, I hate to prove you wrong, but…”, he said.
Vincent and Raven turned where Sharp Shot was pointing, the sight they saw nearly caused Raven to faint. None other than Princess Luna had entered the ballroom and she too shared the same look of shock that they did. Even worse, Shining Armor had also been one of the guards to escort her here and was just as taken aback as she was. Vincent looked toward Raven, a nervous smile on his face. It was a good thing Raven’s fur was white, so others couldn’t see how pale she was getting.
“Nice move, Romeo”, remarked Sharp Shot.
“What in the name of Equestria happened here?”, asked Shining Armor.
“Erm…well…you see, t-there was an…incident”, Raven said nervously.
“What kind of incident?”, asked Shining Armor.
“That…is a good question…th-at Vincent will be glad to answer”, said Sharp Shot as he pushed his fellow guard member forward. Shining Armor immediately looked at Vincent, expectantly.
“Ah, yes, what happened, well…we don’t entirely know yet”, answered Vincent. “All we know is that it had something to do with animals, a cake, and whoever that pegasus was with the rainbow mane.” Shining Armor placed a hoof against his temple before looking up at Luna.
“I’m terribly sorry you had to see this, you’re majesty”, he said.
“That’s quite alright, Shining. After all, it hopefully seems as though no irreversible damage was done”, said Luna.
“Yeah, and look on the bright side, it could’ve been worse if that Big Bertha rocket had exploded inside the palace”, said Sharp Shot. His remark, however, immediately caught the attention of everyone he was standing close to.
“I’m sorry, but what was that?”, asked Shining Armor.
“Uhh…what was what?”, replied Sharp Shot. Shining Armor looked to the side and saw the form of Toolshed helping other guards clean the shattered remains of the glass window. He sighed, feeling a mixture of annoyance and disappointment.
“Excuse me, your highness, but I have some other business to attend”, said Shining Armor before walking toward the mechanic unicorn. As he left, Sharp Shot and Vincent wore a worried expression.
“I’m just now realizing that I talk too much”, said Sharp Shot.
“‘Bout time too”, retorted Vincent.
Sharp Shot looked back at his fellow guard member with a glare. As the two spoke with each other, Luna looked around the ballroom to get a full assessment of the situation. Though it had been many, many years since she attended a gala, Luna had a strong feeling this wasn’t part of the festivities. As she looked around, she eventually laid her eyes on a familiar unicron that was just as flabbergasted as she was. Not only that, but Luna also noticed the seemingly saddened look on Caesar’s face; the sight of which reminded her of her recent chat with Gojira and how it ended. The strange actions of the stallion was surely worth discussing with Caesar over. As she made her way over to Caesar, Shining Armor made his way over to Toolshed.
“E-Excuse me! Toolshed!”, he called out, catching Toolshed by complete surprise.
“Oh, Shining Armor!”, she said, a little nervously. “Umm…hey, so…you might be wondering…”
“About what happened here”, interrupted Shining Armor as he gestured to where there once was a stained glass window.
“Yes, exactly that”, said Toolshed. She tried to ease the silence with a nervous smile, but Shining Armor didn’t reciprocate.
“Do you care to explain?”, he asked. Toolshed started to become nervous as her mind flashed back to the charger incident a while back.
“We-Well, umm…you see”, she said.
“It wasn’t her fault, sir.”
Catching both Shining Armor’s and Toolshed’s attention was the unicorn that had helped her with carrying the rocket. His fur was teal while his mane and tail were an iris blue. His lime green eyes wore an apologetic look as he took off his helmet and held it in shame. He had a deep voice that sounded more suited for jazz than for guard duty.
“It was mine, sir. Sparks from my horn caused the fuse to light which caused…this”, he said while gesturing to the destroyed window. Shining Armor was shocked and looked toward Toolshed.
“Is this true?”, he asked. Toolshed lightly nodded. With that confirmation, Shining Armor wore a more stern look.
“In which case, I’m sorry, Toolshed, for jumping to conclusions”, said Shining Armor. “As for you, soldier, you’re gonna help clean up this mess and you can start by moving the remains of Celestia’s statue.”
“Yes, sir”, the guard said softly.
“Good, now if you excuse me, I have to inform Celestia about how the Grand Galloping Gala ended. Thank you each for your time”, said Shining Armor before walking away. With him out of earshot, the guard turned toward Toolshed.
“Sorry about almost getting you in trouble”, he said.
“It’s alright, and besides it wouldn’t have been my first accident with gun powder”, said Toolshed.
“Oh, I’m confident it couldn’t have been as bad as this”, said the guard. Toolshed let out a nervous laugh.
“Well, believe it or not, this is now the second time I nearly burned the entire palace down”, said Toolshed.
“That’s…that’s actually pretty bad”, said the guard as his eyes slightly widened.
“Don’t have to tell me twice”, joked Toolshed.
“Anyways, looks like I’ve got some cleaning up to do. It was nice talking to you and, again, I apologize for nearly making you suffer a lecture from the captain”, said the guard before he started to walk away.
“That’s alright, the name’s Toolshed by the way”, said Toolshed. The guard turned back around.
“My name’s Thorns. See you around, Toolshed”, said the guard. Toolshed watched as Throns lifted a piece of the broken statue with his magic. She didn’t know who that stallion was, but he seemed like an overall decent pony.
Meanwhile, Caesar overlooked the remains of what was once a week’s worth of hard work that had been completely ruined. However, he didn’t appear to be as upset as some of the other guards or staff members were. That was because he was more so thinking of something else. Caesar hoped that the three brothers hadn’t seen what had gone down in the ballroom; he more so hoped they weren’t responsible for what happened in the ballroom. But he was also upset over the fact that he had been so pleased to hear that they would be coming to the gala, and yet he had only spoken to them once. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice the princess of the night approaching him.
“Hello, Caesar”, said Luna. Caesar was caught by complete surprise as he nearly jumped out of shock.
“Oh, Luna, excuse me, I wasn’t paying attention”, he replied. Luna lightly chuckled in response.
“It’s alright, I can see that you’re just as amazed as I and others are over what happened tonight”, she said.
“Ahem, yes, I feel you can probably guess that this doesn’t usually happen at the Grand Galloping Gala”, said Caesar.
“So I’ve gathered”, replied Luna. “You appear to be upset over the resolution of tonight’s gala.”
“Yes…your majesty, I do wish it could’ve ended differently”, replied Caesar. Luna looked closer at Caesar, she could tell he wasn’t being entirely truthful.
“Does something else bother thou?”, she asked. Caesar replied with a sigh.
“Did you see any of the boys?”, he asked. Luna stayed silent for a moment, she was hoping to talk about this more in private. She quickly glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention.
“Me and…Gojira talked for a bit”, she answered. Caesar stiffened; out of the three, he had hoped that Luna hadn’t met him.
“What did he say?”, asked Caesar.
“Not much, I could tell he was uneasy around me, but I wanted him to know that I don’t share any ill feelings toward him”, answered Luna. “He was accompanied by Twilight’s assistant so I couldn’t share any of my knowledge with the kaiju spirits.”
“That’s good, but how did he act?”, asked Caesar. Luna was quiet for a moment as she didn’t know how to answer at first.
“Gojira acted fine at first until…”, Luna’s voice trailing off did little to ease the tension that Caesar was feeling, “he started to appear more and more distressed before he ran away.”
“Ran away? What do you mean by that?”, asked Caesar.
“He told me that he wasn’t feeling well, but I could tell that he wasn’t being truthful. Though I would hate to use this word, Gojira seemed to be almost…afraid”, answered Luna. Afraid wasn’t a word that Caesar would use to describe any of the three brothers, especially not Gojira. The thought that something managed to cause such a reaction out of the oldest of the brothers filled Caesar with anxiety.
“Do you perhaps any guesses as to why he acted that way?”, asked Luna.
“Unfortunately, I don’t; in all my years, I can’t recall anything that Gojira feared. I’ll see if Alpha can give me some kind of answer, he should’ve felt whatever made Gojira react in such a manner”, replied Caesar. He mentally cursed himself for not being able to talk to Gojira or any of the brothers before they left.
“Though I don’t wish to present any wild accusations, it could be possible that there’s something that we don’t know”, said Luna. “Something that’s beyond even our understanding.” Caesar looked down in thought, he hoped that wasn’t the case.
“Excuse me, you’re highness?”, called out a pony. Both Caesar and Luna turned to be met with Raven Inkwell. “Sorry to interrupt, but you’re needed at the front entrance. A couple of the guests aren’t very happy about how the gala ended, especially somepony named Prince Blueblood.”
“Of course, Mrs.Inkwell”, replied Luna before she turned toward Caesar. “Goodbye, Caesar, I’m glad I could share my thoughts with you.”
Caesar merely watched as Luna walked away with Raven while a couple guards followed close behind. This left Caesar alone once more to wonder about what Luna had shared with him. Perhaps the abundance of stress caused Gojira to have a nervous reaction, or maybe he was trying to make an excuse to avoid talking to the princess. Whatever kind of reason he could think of, there was that one potential explanation that Luna shared with him. Were they missing a crucial piece of information or was there another element that he wasn’t aware of? The thought of which made Caesar’s head spin as he decided to leave the ballroom and head back to his quarters. The gala hadn’t gone how he would’ve liked and he was now left with more questions than ever before.
“What have you boys gotten yourselves into?”, he said to himself.
As he walked through the halls, Caesar failed to notice the small insect that scurried on the wall. Its deep maroon color scheme covered most of its crustacean-esc features such as claws and mandibles. It used its four eyes to watch as Caesar rounded a corner and left out of sight. With the coast now clear, the bug quickly crawled across the floor before making its way to another wall. It made slight clicking noises before the concrete the wall was made out of started to slowly dissolve until a small hole was created. The insect crawled through the hole until it reached the other side.
Once outside the palace, the insect was met with two forms. One a dark green dragon and the other a much more threatening alicorn with pale, yellow eyes. Des flashed a toothy grin as the insect crawled on his skin before residing at the tip of his horn which appeared to be slightly dull. That was, until Des’ horn flashed for a moment and the insect disappeared, restoring the horn to its original sharpened state. He then turned toward Gryphon.
“Secure the premises, ensure that no pony comes even close to him”, commanded Des. Gryphon nodded before flying away.
With that, Des flapped his wings before taking to the air. He flew around the palace before coming across the castle’s garden. Just as he was informed, they were completely barren of any semblance of ponies. Leaving nothing but trees, bushes, flowers, a small pond, and a few statues. Despite that, Des only had his eyes on one which he slowly approached.
Discord stood tall and prideful as he was concealed in his prison made of stone, forced to stand for all eternity as he watched thousands, if not millions, of ponies walk past him each and every year. A being of such infinite power reduced to such a helpless state; he who was once a god was now an attraction. For the longest time, not a single equestrian soul ever once considered the possibility that Discord could potentially be set free. That was until this very night. Des used his magic to lift the Gem of Madness, the multiple colors it had started to glow brighter and brighter as the distance between it and Discord grew shorter and shorter.
Meanwhile, from across the castle of Canterlot, a few ponies were surveying the firework display that they had set up. Due to the untimely event that caused the gala to end early, most of the fireworks were left unused. Thus, there was a ton of stock leftover that a couple pyrotechnic ponies had to clean up.
“I’m so happy that Celestia made us put all this time and effort into a display that she never used!”, exclaimed Short Fuse.
“I know, I’m not happy about it either. But you can either stand there and keep winning about it, or help move them before something bad happens”, replied Crossette.
“Right, before something bad happens. Like all of these are just gonna light at the same time and go off, causing everypony in Canterlot to be distracted”, said Short Fuse with sarcasm as he lifted a couple of rockets.
“Yeah, something like that, now come on”, added Crossette as he too lifted a few rockets.
Short Fuse groaned as he and Crossette walked away. However, neither of them noticed the dark winged figure slowly crawling up to the firework display. The sight of the dozens of fireworks gave Gryphon an idea as he noticed how each of the fuses were wrapped around each other. Seeing that no pony was around, Gryphon immediately set to work by snapping his fingers before a flame similar to a match sparked on the tip of his claw. He angled the flame close to the fuse as the rope started to smoke before eventually catching fire. With the fuse lit, Gryphon quickly made his way back to the castle garden before someone saw him.
As the sparks traveled down the fuse, Des lifted the Gem of Madness closer and closer to Discord until it was just hovering above the statue. The gem was flickering brighter than ever before as it seemingly started to gravitate towards Discord like a magnet. Des stared at the statue intensely; several years of work had built up to this very moment of him standing in front of a god. It was time for chaos to rein over the land. With a deep breath, Des let go of the Gem of Madness as it wrapped itself around Discord’s neck. The colors quickly faded as it reconnected with its owner, allowing the silence to take over.
All the while several rockets had already ignited and shot up into the sky, leaving nothing but a smoke trail behind; any second there would be an explosion of color. Des waited as he eyed Discord, hoping that something would happen. That’s when he saw it, one of the fingers started to twitch. Not only that but several cracks started to form on the base, the body, and the head of the statue. The entire hand was twitching as was the feet and wings. More cracks started to form around the head as the entire statue started to shake violently, causing chips of stone to fall off. Time slowed down as the fireworks were mere seconds away from exploding. The cracks culminated in the eyes of the statue which were the first things to break through. The last thing Des saw were yellow eyes with red pupils glowing with excitement.
There were two explosions of color in Canterlot. A smaller one which happened at the castle’s garden, and a much larger and louder explosion that happened in the sky. Every pony in Canterlot had their attention drawn to the abrupt firework show that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Even Luna, who was in the halls of Canterlot when it happened, was caught off guard by the sudden noise. Not a single soul heard the shattering of the stone prison that held one of the most dangerous creatures in all of Equestria. Des stood still, barely even flinching as several chunks of stone came flying at him; only the bright light caused his eyes to lightly flutter. Des was so distracted that he didn’t notice the form of Gryphon right behind him until after the dragon placed a hand on his shoulder. As the light started to die down, Des scoffed sadistically as he waited with anticipation.
“We’ve done it, Gryphon”, exclaimed Des. “The bringer of chaos is now under my command! This is just the start, my loyal subject, the start of a new age of Equestria. The start of a revolu-”
Des was cut off when Gryphon tapped him on the shoulder, pointing at where the statue once stood. Des at first expected to see the sight of the mighty draconequus standing free as ever to mess with reality as if it were a rubix cube. But instead…there was nothing. Or mostly nothing, apart from the single decapitated head lying in the ground. Confused, Des walked forward and used his magic to pick the head up. He brought it over to himself and made it face him. The goat-like head almost appeared lifeless; that was, until the eyes shot open.
The suddenness of the eyes opening caused Des to drop the head as it rolled backwards. Smoke appeared out of thin air as the head was consumed by it. Laughter could be heard growing louder and louder as the smoke then started to fade away. With a body as long as a snake and appendages from nearly every creature in the animal kingdom; standing in place of the statue was a creature that not even the most mentally unstable ponies could dream of. The head rolled in front of the creature who grabbed and placed it on the base of his neck. With a mighty twist and a couple of pops later, the element of chaos was restored to his former glory. Discord continued to laugh maniacally before he regained his breath.
“Hehe, oh how fun it is to finally be able to stretch!”, he exclaimed as he began to do basic joint exercises. Both Des and Gryphon were still amazed by the sight.
“Discord”, Des said incredulously to himself.
“I apologize for creeping you both out”, said Discord. “You see, when you’ve been in the same pose for more than a millennium, your arms become so asleep they might as well fall off!” As soon as the words left his mouth, his left arm fell to the ground. Gryphon was caught off guard while Des barely flinched.
“Just like I said”, added Discord before picking up his severed arm and holding it like a baby. “This poor little guy had to stay up for so long.” Des broke out of his amazement before stepping forward.
“Discord-”
“Oh, where are my manners? I've completely forgotten about introducing myself!”, interrupted Discord before holding his severed arm out as a greeting gesture. Des just stared at it, not moved over the fact he was being offered the arm of an eagle as a friendly gesture.
“What, never seen somepony do this before?”, asked Discord. “Then again, you’ve also probably never seen somepony do this either.” Before Des could say anything, Discord raised his arm and with a snap of his fingers, turned it into a bouquet of flowers.
“Pretty neat, huh?”, said Discord. Once more, Des gave no reaction. At least, that was before the flowers exploded right in his face, scattering petals and seeds everywhere until there was only a smoke trail behind.
“Whoops! Sorry…poppies”, said Discord, pointing at the stems of the flowers. Des replied with a deep, annoyed breath. Discord took the remaining stems and stuck them in his shoulder, which quickly regenerated into his arm.
“Anyways, where was I?”, he said before scratching his chin. “Oh yeah, that’s right, my name is…”
“Discord!”, exclaimed Des. The volume of his voice caught Discord by surprise.
“Well now, somepony has a short temper”, he said before pulling out a thermometer from nowhere. He stuck one end of it into Des’ mouth.
“I must say, Princess Celestia, these past few centuries have not been treating you well”, remarked Discord. Des wore a deadpanned look as he blew into the thermometer where it was rendered to steaming ash in a matter of seconds. Discord looked at the remains of the thermometer and then at Des.
“And your breath has gotten worse too”, he added before pulling out a bottle of mouthwash from nowhere. “You might need this to rinse your mouth out, you’re majesty.”
“I am not Celestia!”, exclaimed Des. His voice caused Discord to stare at him like a child when they got scolded by their parents. Only for his cocky grin to show.
“And you got a new voice actor! Though, I always thought you were a female”, said Discord.
“Do not associate me with that depressing hag that others call a princess!”, exclaimed Des before taking a deep breath to regain his composure. “My name is Lord Des, and I am the one that released you.”
Discord stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment. “I’m sorry…released me?”, he asked. “Somepony clearly didn’t go to school, else they would’ve realized that the only way to free me from my confinement is by using the elements of harmony.”
“That’s not the only way”, said Des as he pointed at the piece of jewelry around Discord’s neck. The draconequus looked down at the necklace; his cocky grin immediately faded once he recognized the gem with radical colors.
“How…how did you find this?”, he asked, incredulously.
“An old temple in the Everfree forest”, answered Des. “The chaos magic that’s stored inside of that gem managed to bypass the seal the elements of harmony had on you and thus-”
“I know how this thing works!”, interrupted Discord. He put a finger on his temple before letting out a sigh. “This just throws a massive wrench in my plan for Equestrian takeover.”
“As in?”, asked Des.
“The amount of chaos magic that is in this gem is the amount of chaos magic that I can use, aka…not a lot”, answered Discord. “The only way for me to regain my full power is for somepony to remove the gem themselves.” Discord looked toward Gryphon almost expectantly, but he remained silent.
“Nothing? Got anything to say, probe bat?”, asked Discord. Gryphon remained stoic. “Huh, usually this is the part where the side character asks the obvious questions.”
“Gryphon doesn’t speak”, replied Des.
“Oh, I’m guessing that’s his gimmick”, added Discord.
“So what you’re saying is that you’re unable to remove the Gem of Madness yourself?”, asked Des.
“Yep, watch”, said Discord before trying to tug on the necklace. His arms started to show several, rainbow-colored cracks before shattering into a bunch of butterflies.
“See what I mean?”, said Discord before turning his arms back to normal. “If only there was a certain pony in this cruel world that would be so kind as to set me free, I would repay them with whatever they would want.”
Discord started to float as he got into a dramatic pose with his arm draped over his head. He hoped his attempt at reverse psychology would work, but all it seemingly did was esract a laugh out of Des. Not just any laugh, but with his mangled teeth, Des appeared to be cackling before he regained his composure.
“I suppose you take me for a fool, element of chaos”, he replied. “For you see, I didn’t set you free without purpose.” Discord looked quizzly at him.
“Excuse me?”, he asked.
“I’ve been working towards a goal of mine for several years and you, my dear draconequus, could be the missing piece that I’ve been looking for. So if you may, I highly recommend that you follow us back to our base where you’ll help us achieve that goal”, said Des. Discord stared at him dumbfounded before slapping his brow with his palm.
“Ok, listen here buddy, I’m not a genie, I don’t grant pony’s wishes, and I’m sure as heck not gonna do that for somepony of your…stature”, said Discord. Des’ smile didn’t falter.
“I’m not sure you have much of another choice, unless you want to wound up imprisoned by the princesses again”, he replied. Discord merely scoffed in response.
“Oh please, it’s only a matter of time until I regain my strength and start my journey to take back this kingdom that was rightfully mine!”, he exclaimed. Discord snapped his fingers in order to open a portal, however the only thing that appeared were a couple of sparks. Confused, Discord snapped his fingers again and the same thing happened. Out of frustration, he flung his glowing arms forward as a door sprouted from the ground. Discord confidently walked towards it and put a hand on the doorknob.
“And I surely don’t need the help of some freak with wings and their dog to take over Equestria, so if you excuse me…”, Discord’s word instantly trailed off once he realized that the door he summoned was a normal door that, when opened, only revealed more of the castle’s garden. He let out a frustrated groan before slamming the door shut.
“What was that you said? Oh yes, the amount of chaos magic in the Gem of Madness is the amount you can use. Aka…not a lot”, remarked Des as he walked forward. Discord let out a sigh, for once in his thousands of years, he was humbled.
“Now then, I’ll present my offer to you once more. Help us and we’ll take over Equestria together, or spend the rest of your life encased in stone. Your choice, element of chaos”, said Des.
Despite being gone for several centuries, Discord’s welcome back party would have to wait. He hated the idea of becoming essentially a servant to this freak of nature, but at the same time he didn’t have much of a choice. Discord was at an all time low in terms of power; just attempting to summon a portal across Equestria was starting to wear him out. If he wanted to take back his throne of Equestria, he needed all his strength, and the only way that was gonna happen was if Des or any of his cronies removed the gem themselves. Thus, an idea formed in his mind, signified by the lightbulb that appeared out of nowhere.
“Ok then, Mr.Des, how about a deal? I help you take over Equestria, and in exchange, you remove this wretched gem and I become your right hoof draconequus”, said Discord. Des looked at Gryphon with a skeptical look.
“And how am I supposed to believe that you won’t turn around and betray me as soon as I set you free?”, asked Des.
“Oh contraire mon frere, when you become ruler of Equestria, you’ll gain full control of the elements of harmony. For what reason would I have to betray somepony who could so easily render me to stone?”, asked Discord. He then spat on his hand before extending it.
“So what do you say, is it a deal?”, he asked. Des stared intently at the arm of an eagle. He didn’t believe a single word that Discord said, but if it meant keeping him under his rule, then he would take that chance. Des extended his hoof and firmly shook Discord’s hand.
“Very well, element of chaos”, he said. Discord smiled mischievously.
“Excellent! I’d say from this point onwards, Equestria’s days are officially numbered”, he replied. “Now then, where is our base of operations?”
“Right here”, answered Des before pulling out the other half of the transportation crystal. Discord, however, seemed unimpressed as a pair of glasses appeared on his face as he got a closer look.
“Umm…I’m pretty sure you can’t live in that”, he said. Des let out an unamused look. Without missing a beat, Des threw the crystal on the ground, causing it to shatter and form a portal. The sight of the portal brought a slightly impressed smile from Discord.
“Now that’s more like it”, he said before stepping toward the portal. Before he went inside, however, Des cleared his throat which caught Discord’s attention.
“Might I suggest leaving behind a decoy of sorts?”, asked Des, gesturing towards the stone pedestal that Discord once stood on for several centuries.
“Oh, right, almost forgot”, Discord snapped his fingers before a massive glob of clay fell on top of the pedestal. The glob began to spin freely as Discord then got to work by shaping it, as if he were making pottery.
“A little here, bring the curves out more…gotta include that jawline…aaaaannnnddd…done!”, exclaimed Discord. Standing tall and proud on the pedestal was what appeared to be Discord, except for certain features. Discord had given himself arms filled with muscle, the lower body of a centaur, and long majestic hair that looked to be flowing in the wind. Des and Gryphon looked dumbfounded by what they looked at.
“So, what do you think?”, asked Discord. Gryphon refused to say anything about it, but it was obvious that he wasn’t delighted. Des, however, was more direct with his complaints.
“I meant a decoy that looked like you, not this…monstrosity”, he said.
“Alright, fine, you’re no fun”, grumbled Discord. A hammer appeared in his right hand as he gave the sculpture a light tap. The entire thing crumbled and withered away, revealing a sculpture that looked exactly like how Discord was when Des first found him.
“Better?”, asked Discord.
“Very”, replied Des. He ear twitched as he heard the sound of hoofsteps coming closer and closer. “Now then, element of chaos, might we discuss our plan somewhere not in public?”
“I suppose, though, this better be worth my time. Don’t wanna be brought back to Equestria only to be turned to stone again!”, said Discord before he flew into the portal. Gryphon followed shortly after as Des wore a bemused smirk on his face.
“Believe me…it will”, he said to himself before entering the portal. The portal quickly closed as a couple of guards entered the castle’s garden.
“Are you sure you heard something?”, asked Hammerlight.
“I thought I did, guess I was wrong”, replied Starbolt as he looked around. He even walked up to Discord’s statue and looked around it, only to find nothing.
The two guards shrugged and left the garden, leaving the statue of Discord alone. Little did they or anypony inside Canterlot know of the pure unadulterated chaos that would soon follow.
The mountain was completely silent as the remaining members slept peacefully inside. Biollante was curled up on her makeshift bed surrounded by her carefully tended plants while Orga was sprawled out in his chamber, snoring for his heart’s content. He was in a deep sleep, dreaming about whatever his mind would make for him. That was until his slumber was abruptly disturbed by the heavy galloping courtesy of his fellow earth pony.
“Orga!”, shouted Junior. The sudden noise caused Orga to practically leapt out of bed as he fell on the stone floor with a heavy thud. He got back up while staring dagger at his companion.
“Junior! What the hay is wrong with you! Can’t you tell there are ponies trying to sleep!”, exclaimed Orga out of frustration. Despite his anger, Junior barely seemed moved.
“Then tell that to whoever used one of the transportation crystals”, he said. Orga was confused by what Junior just said.
“What the hay are you talking about?”, asked Orga. Junior led Orga out of his chamber and into Des’ corridor. Biollante was also there with a messy mane and drowsy look, but still appeared to be just as curious as they were.
“What do you think it’s doing here?”, asked Orga.
“Don’t know, it just appeared out of nowhere”, answered Junior.
“Do you think Des might know?”, asked Biollante.
“I’m pretty sure he was the once that used one of the transportation crystals”, said Junior. Just then, a figure could be seen coming out from the portal. The three were expecting to see Des, only for their winged companion to appear instead.
“Gryphon, what’s going on?”, asked Junior. Gryphon instead stood to the side as Des then walked through the portal.
“Excellent, you’re all here”, he said. “My fellow subjects, I would like you to meet…our newest recruit.”
Des gestured toward the portal as the third and final figure walked through it; or rather, flew through it. Orga, Biollante, and especially Junior were floored at the sight of who Des was referring to. From the snake-like body to the several different appendages, the element of chaos stood before them. The three couldn’t look away from him, thinking that if they did then he would disappear and this would turn out to be a dream. And yet, it wasn’t. The sight of the draconequus standing before them caused them to each say a phrase almost in tandem.
“Oh”
“My”
“God”
“So, I guess this is what you call home, huh?”, asked Discord.
“It’s shelter, not a home”, corrected Des.
“Not with that kind of attitude”, said Discord.
“H-How did…why…i-it can’t be!”, exclaimed Junior as he and Orga and Biollante continued to stare at Discord.
“Planning and patience, Junior”, said Des. “That is why we are currently standing in the presence of the most powerful creature to ever walk on equestrian soil.”
“Oh, stop it, you’re gonna make me blush”, said Discord, trying to act flattered.
“Discord, I would like you to meet my fellow subordinates”, exclaimed Des as he referred to the three ponies still staring at Discord. The others gave little to know response.
“Well not everyone at once”, said Discord as he lightly chuckled. “But anyways, greetings my fellow teammates! You are all currently standing in front of the very being that will help you achieve complete and total Equestrian takeover!”
“Equestrian takeover?”, Junior asked himself.
“I mean I wouldn’t like to toot my own horn, but…”, Discord pulled down on his arm, which opened his jaw and released the sound of a steam engine’s whistle.
“So…what are your plans in helping us?”, asked Biollante, a little wearily.
“Whatever the big stallion asks for, my fellow mare”, answered Discord before pinching Biollante’s cheek. He then turned his attention to the two stallions. “And who are you two, might I ask?”
“Uhh…I’m Orga”, said Orga.
“Orga? That’s an odd name”, said Discord as he floated around the stallion. “I mean, no offense, but you don’t look like somepony I’d name after a caterpillar.”
“Cater-, what?”, asked Orga incredulously.
“And what about you?”, asked Discord, looking at Junior.
“My name’s Junior, and before we ask any more questions, I have one for you Discord”, said Junior as he walked over.
“Junior?…seriously?”, said Discord.
“You can summon anything you want, correct?”, asked Junior. Discord laughed at the questions.
“Oh you know”, he said before a trench coat appeared out of thin air, “just a few things.” He opened the sides of the coat to reveal several miscellaneous items such as a trumpet, tennis racket, pepper spray, bananas, and even a live chicken.
“So that means you’ll summon anything that Des would ask for? Including, perhaps, a certain book of some kind?”, asked Junior. Discord looked puzzled by Junior’s question.
“What do you mean?”, he asked. Des looked at Junior with a harsh glare, but he continued.
“What I mean is, would it be possible for you to summon us…the Kyojin Tomb?”, asked Junior. Everyone looked at Junior. Orga and Biollante were tense, Gryphon was stoic, Des kept up his onslaught of a glare, and Discord had a stare that went on for miles before finally speaking.
“I’m sorry, but what about a tomb?”, asked Discord.
“The Kyojin Tomb, you know, the book you need to revive the kaiju spirits? Aren’t you gonna summon it with a snap of your fingers?”, asked Junior. Discord just looked even more confused. He bent down to Des’ ear level.
“Is he broken?”, asked Discord. Des resisted the urge to let out a sigh.
“Indeed, he is not, draconequus”, said Des before his horn started to glow. Several candles nearby started to grow an intense flame, illuminating the walls of the cave.
“You see, there’s a lot of Equestrian history that you don’t know about”, he said. Discord’s attention was brought to the largest wall of the cave. On it were several cave paintings depicting what appeared to be giant monsters of titanic size. Discord looked intrigued by the sight of these paintings, especially the largest ones showing a three headed dragon fighting a shorter and more robust lizard looking creature.
“What is this?”, asked Discord.
“These are the kaiju. They existed long before the very first ponies to ever walk on Equestrian land”, answered Des before turning to face Discord. “They’ve been on this planet far longer than even you, draconequus.”
“That’s…that’s impossible!”, exclaimed Discord. “And I am the impossible!”
“Indeed it is, these creatures created what would soon become Equestria’s oceans, forests, and even sky. The very mountain you’re standing in right now was manifested by a kaiju”, said Des. “It’s long since been believed that the titans went extinct during an event known as the final war. However, while the bodies of these titans were never discovered, their spirits have lived on for centuries.”
“How?”, asked Discord. Des lifted the candle with his magic and moved over to another cave painting. It depicted a tribe of elderly unicorns surrounding what appeared to be a book of some kind that had many ghost-like figures swarming around them.
“Through this, the Kyojin Tomb. This book contains access to every single kaiju spirit making it one of the most powerful artifacts in Equestrian history. I want you to imagine, draconequus, the possibilities that would come if you were to hold that tomb in your hands”, said Des. “The amount of power that you could unleash, the number of titans that would be set free, the abilities you could obtain. All under your control.”
Discord stared at the cave paintings for what felt like hours, trying to take it all in. The kingdom that he had once ruled over was never even his to begin with. He could mess with reality as if it were a rubix cube and yet he couldn’t wrap his mind around the true history of his kingdom. It was almost too outrageous to believe, which meant a lot coming from Discord.
“And that’s where you come in, element of chaos. With your power and our knowledge, we can obtain the Kyojin Tomb, set the kaiju free, and allow all of Equestria to fall under the rule of the titans. We will be at the forefront of it all and the world will finally be where it should be; at balance”, finished Des.
He and the others waited in anticipation for Discord’s response who still had his back facing them. Before long, Discord started to laugh lightly before eventually bursting into full blown laughter. The reaction was one that none of them, not even Des, had fully expected. Soon, Discord managed to regain his composure and stood up straight, wiping tears out of his eyes with a cloth that appeared out of nowhere before taking a deep breath.
“And here I was thinking that I was the insane one”, he said before letting loose a few stray giggles.
“What’s so funny?”, demanded Des.
“What’s so funny?! What you just said! You mean to tell me that Equestria, MY Equestria, used to be overrun by giant monsters?!”, exclaimed Discord, trying to hold back laughter.
“Uhh, technically, kaiju aren’t monsters, they’re more like animals”, interjected Junior.
“Monsters, animals, tomatoes, potatoes, who cares!”, said Discord. “My point is that whatever kind of cult you and your friends are a part of I’d rather stay out of it. If you genuinely believe that these ‘kaiju’ were the ones that created Equestria, then yes, Des, I do take you for a fool!” Junior was about to argue back, but Des stuck his hoof out in front of him.
“So what you’re saying is that you don’t believe me?”, asked Des.
“What gave you that idea?”, replied Discord, sarcastically.
“Then would you say that you would be in need of hard evidence to prove my claim?”, added Des.
“My lord?”, said Junior.
“Proof? What kind of proof could you possibly bring me that would convince me that this outlandish theory is even remotely true?”, asked Discord. He flashed his cocky grin as he remained stubborn; something Des had hoped for.
“Allow me to show you”, he replied.
Des stood motionless for a moment as the wind began to pick up. The candles inside the cave started to grow in intensity and the surrounding rocks began to shake. Junior, Orga, Biollante, and even Discord were caught off guard by what was happening around them. The only one who didn’t react was Gryphon who remained stoic, but with a small smirk crossing his lips. The wind began to pick up as the candles were completely engulfed in flames. Cracks begin to show in the stone floor as the entire mountain began to shake; it felt as though it was about to tear itself apart. And then, all of a sudden, it stopped. As the wind ceased to blow and the candles completely melted, silence took over. That was, until Des’ emblem flashed.
Without warning, a bright flash of light caused everyone to cover their eyes else they risk becoming blind. As the light died down, Discord was the first to see the cause of it all. What he saw officially proved his skepticism wrong. Floating out from the mane of Des was what looked to be some kind of ghost-like being that was even larger than he was. Its body was shrouded in maroon colored flames, resembling a demon more so than a spirit. Its large wings completely eclipsed its crustacean body. The spirit’s eyes were completely pale similar to Des’ and they were set on only one being inside the cave. The spirit floated closer and closer towards Discord, not once breaking eye-contact. Discord stood completely still, he had never seen anything as hellish as the spirit which was now mere inches away from him. The unnerved look on the draconequus’ face brought a laugh out of Destroyer.
‘Your Equestria?!’, he shouted before breaking out into demonic laughter.
Destroyer started to circle around Discord, who remained still.
‘The hypocrisy of it all, such naivety from a being of such powerful nature, who can’t even comprehend what they don’t understand!’
The pale, translucent eyes of the spirit never left Discord.
‘Answer me this so-called element of chaos; where is your army? Where are those that you claim as being loyal to you? How can you possibly refer to this land as yours when you hold no control over it?’
Discord remained silent, for once he felt as though he couldn’t speak.
‘They don’t want you; they want to forget you. Instead of cherishing your rule, they try to turn your story into a myth. Just like what they did to me.’
Destroyer stopped moving and faced Discord, their eyes never left each others.
‘So tell me, Discord…am I still a fool?’
Discord stared the demon right in its eyes, he felt like he had to. Seeing how Discord refused to answer any of his questions, Destroyer let loose a few more raspy laughs before retreating back into Des’ mane. His emblem flashed as Des took a deep breath, a deep purple mist escaped from his lips in doing so. Junior, Orga, and Biollante all stared wide eyed over what had happened; only Gryohon had seen the spirit of Destroyer before. They waited to see what Discord’s response would be, but the draconequus remained silent. After a few seconds of complete silence, Discord finally spoke up by clearing his throat.
“Well…under further consideration…I’m willing to consider that…perhaps you were telling the truth”, he said. His head turned into the head of a donkey with the phrase ‘jackass’ written on the neck.
“Perfect, now we can finally get started”, exclaimed Junior. “Now then, would you please be so gracious, Discord, and summon the Kyojin Tomb into our lord’s hooves?”
Discord stared at Junior for a few moments before letting out an annoyed sigh. “Is he always like this?”, he asked.
“You have no idea”, replied Orga, who received a glare from Junior.
“Look, even if I wanted to summon whatever kind of book you so kindly asked for, I can’t”, answered Discord.
“What do you mean?”, asked Biollante. Discord placed a hand against his temple.
“How many times do I gotta say this”, he said before lifting the necklace that was around his neck. “This gem limits my magic to a finite amount, meaning I’m unable to conjure up any relics that are as powerful as your very Kyojin Tomb.”
“What about the titans?”, asked Des.
“That’s a whole other can of worms. If what you’re saying is true, somehow, then these creatures are far more ancient than even I am. I’m afraid they’re completely out of my depth of knowledge”, said Discord. The group, aside from Des, looked at each other with worry.
“So…what does that mean about Equestrian takeover?”, asked Orga.
“It’s quite simple”, said Discord before flying over to Junior. “It means no book”, he then flew to Orga, “no titans”, and then to Biollante, “and no Equestria”, he then flew to Des.
“You all get nothing!”, he exclaimed. “Well, except the can of worms, of course”, a can of live worms appeared out of thin air, which Discord began to eat by using chopsticks.
“Are you kidding me? We spent all this time finding the Gem of Madness, spent months waiting for the chance to free this bastard, and now we’re being told that the element of chaos himself can’t even summon a book!”, exclaimed Junior out of frustration. He would’ve continued to rant had it not been for the several stares he received from his comrades. None more so than Des who told him to stop talking without even opening his mouth.
“Exactly”, added Discord, ignoring the fact he was just called a bastard.
“If you’re unable to summon the bodies of the kaiju, could you possibly summon their spirits?”, asked Des. Discord scratched his chin for a moment.
“Possibly. However, not only would such a feat require every last drop of chaos magic this gem has, but I would still require vast knowledge of these creatures”, said Discord.
“Then I will teach you everything you’d need to know about the kaiju”, said Des. Discord let out a halfhearted gasp.
“Really?”, he said, trying to act honored.
“I am the only one that knows about their existence. My beast from within has taught me everything there is to rediscover about this forgotten past. As far as I’m concerned, I am your perfect teacher”, said Des. Without neither Des nor Discord knowing, both Junior and Orga looked at each other for a brief second sharing a worried glance; Des’ statement was only half true.
“And, uhh…how long will that take?”, asked Junior.
“Well, I reckoned…”, Discord pulled out a calculator and pressed a few buttons before a ding sound could be heard, “only a couple of days.”
“Seriously?”, asked Biollante, incredulously. Discord summoned a graduation gown and diploma.
“I’m a fast learner”, he boasted.
“So be it then, element of chaos. With our knowledge in titan history and your strength in magic, we’ll be an unstoppable force! I’d reckon that in a couple of weeks, the true rulers of Equestria will return to reclaim their world”, spouted Des as a small stream of purple smoke billowed from his maw.
“Exactly what I was thinking”, added Discord before he flew into the air, excitedly. “Oh, this is all so infigerating! Though not how I hoped my grand return would play, I’d say our future has never seemed more prosperous!”
Discord then flew to the entrance of the mountain which overlooked the land. “Look out, Equestria, your king has returned from his imprisonment. For it is I, Discord, joined by his fellow comrades, the…”
Discord remained still for a moment as he pondered. He then floated back down to where Des was standing. “Hey, boss man, remind me again, what’s the name of your group?”, asked Discord.
“Pardon?”, replied Des.
“You know a name, to let others know who you are”, answered Discord.
“Why would we need that?”, asked Des.
“To fit with the brand. I mean, no offense, but I doubt anypony would be intimidated by Lord Des and his funky bunch”, said Discord.
“Pfft”, scoffed Orga. “We don’t need a name. Why would we ever do something so trivial as tha-”
“What do you have in mind?”, asked Junior. Orga placed a hoof against his temple, he should’ve seen this coming.
“How about…the Dwellers”, suggested Discord.
“No”, replied Des, bluntly.
“The Anarchists.”
“No.”
“Revolutioners.”
“No.”
“The Dark Scouters.”
“No.”
“The Capitalists?”
“No”, said Des with a disappointed sigh.
Though the idea of giving his group a name never crossed his mind, it got Des to think. Their primary goal was to make the world see that the legends that they made up were true; that titans ruled the Earth. In many regards, in proving that legends were true, they were becoming them. Des looked down at his emblem, he knew what it stood for. He had made his mind up on a name, a name that would signify dignity but also power and pride.
“The Legends”, he said, softly.
“What was that?”, asked Discord.
“The Legends”, repeated Des. “From this day forth, the world will know us only as… the Legends.”
Discord thought about it for a moment. “Could use some work, but sure we’ll stick with that. Though I still like the Capitalists more”, he said.
“The Legends, huh…never thought we’d make our band official”, said Biollante.
“It was probably only a matter of time, and besides, I kinda like that name”, said Orga before turning to one of his comrades. “What do you think, Gryph-”, he cut himself off when he saw the dragon leave the cave by taking to the skies.
“Guess he doesn’t like it”, Orga muttered to himself. Des looked back at Gryphon's departure, perhaps he had the right idea.
“You all may head back to your chambers, but don’t let today fool you. Until Discord has reached his full potential, we will continue to search and supply for any resources that we will need, especially now that we have a new recruit”, he said.
“Took the words right out of my mouth”, added Discord as he let out a yawn. He summoned himself a set of pajamas, a sleeping cap, and a teddy bear. “Would any of you mind if I bunked with you; I promise I won't snore.”
“You’ll sleep with my right hoof stallion, Junior, element of chaos”, answered Des. Junior immediately perked when he heard that.
“Uhh…my lord, s-shouldn’t we have a vote of sorts?”, he asked, nervously.
“Sounds good to me!”, exclaimed Discord before flying down to Junior’s level. “I call the top bunk!”
“What the-, we don’t have bunk beds”, replied Junior.
“Don’t worry, we’ll fix that”, said Discord before flying into the halls of the cave. “Tootaloo, my fellow legends, see you tomorrow morning!” With Discord gone, Des turned to his group members with a much harder expression.
“Keep a close eye on him. Discord may not be as powerful as he used to, but he’s still the most important asset we now have”, he said. Junior, Orga, and Biollante nodded as the last two walked back to their chambers.
“Never thought we would have to be roommates with a god”, said Orga. Biollante nodded in agreement.
“At least he…appears to be nice”, she said before looking back. The draconequus at question grabbed a nearby rock before squeezing it until it turned into a pillow. The sight of which boggled Biollante’s mind.
“Just be sure to sleep with one eye open”, she added. As the two walked away, Des and Junior were left alone in Des’ chamber.
“My liege, while I am astonished at your accomplishment in freeing Discord, I fear there may have been a few key elements that we might have overlooked”, said Junior.
“Me and Discord made a deal when I set him free. He helps us achieve our goal of ‘Equestrian takeover’ and I won’t have him imprisoned by the elements of harmony”, replied Des.
“I see that, however, the plan wasn’t to take over Equestria, but to let the titans reclaim it”, said Junior. “How do you think Discord will react when he finds out we lied to him?” Des merely scoffed in response.
“I’m more than positive that he never intended to keep his side of the deal”, he said. “But since the Gem of Madness prevents Discord from becoming too powerful, I doubt he’ll be going anywhere.”
“About that, my lord. If Discord can’t even lead us to where Kyojin Tomb might be, then of what use does he have?”, asked Junior. Des stared him directly in the eyes as he bent down to his level.
“I think you’ll come to find, Junior, that the element of chaos has a much wider range of capabilities than any of us combined”, he said softly but sternly. Junior wanted to say more, but the forbidding look in Des’ eyes implied he wasn’t wishing to discuss this topic any further. Thus, Junior reluctantly obliged.
“Yes, my liege, I just wish to address my concerns”, he replied.
“Then you may leave now, see how our new recruit is adjusting to his new home”, commanded Des.
Junior nodded before walking away, wondering whatever in the world of Tartarus Discord might’ve done to his chamber. Des was finally left alone in his chamber. With the candles having long since been burned out, the only source of light were the moon’s rays that shone between the cracks of the mountain’s walls. Des was able to go over the events of the past hour. Discord, the ancient ruler of Equestria and the element of chaos himself, was now under his command; or at least for now. Though not as powerful as he once was, Discord would still prove to be a valuable asset for the foreseeable future. It would just be a matter of time until that future would become the present. Des felt a slight throb in his head, he knew what that meant.
“I never thought he could be humbled”, he said to himself.
‘He’s crude, and unspeakably plain. I suppose he couldn’t accept the fact that there are forces of nature that not even he can understand.’
Des scoffed as he looked out over the mountain. “It’s best we rest for now, for tomorrow will be the start of a new era of Equestria; one in which alicorns are no longer the dominant species”, he said. Though Des couldn’t see it, his spirit had formed a sharp grin.
‘Indeed, let us begin.’