//------------------------------// // Return of Disharmony, Part One // Story: Road to Disharmony // by McStudz //------------------------------// Equestria. Once, it was divided into six regions. One for each Element of Harmony, although nopony knew this at the time. These regions were what are now Ponyville, Appleloosa, Cloudsdale, Fillydelphia, Canterlot, and Manehattan. These places tolerated each other, but each region wouldn't want anything to do with the next. And then the Alicorns and Draconiquis showed up. The Alicorns, known as Celestia and Luna, came from a country far to the south that was all but destroyed, while the Draconiquis, whose true name has been erased from all records known to ponykind, came from the north. One side seeked to prevent what happened to their home from ever happening again, while the other was seeking the unity of his home. Both sides met each other not that far away from the border of modern Equestria. Both Celestia and the Draconiquis shared the same ideas of peace. Luna was still to young to understand such things entirely. Both the Draconiquis and Celestia had a feeling that what they were looking for was in these six regions they were close to. Each region would have one of these "Elements of Harmony", a title coined by the Draconiquis. After some time searching for these Elements, they would be found, almost as if they wanted to be found. These Elements united the six regions into what is now Equestria. Eventually, a capital was built in the center of Equestria, where the Everfree Forest now stands. This was when things went awry... The Draconiquis wanted to use the Elements of Harmony to unite his people, so he decided to go back to his homeland and use them. Shortly after he arrived back, the Elements magically reappeared back in Equestria, and there was no sign of the Draconiquis for a long time... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "STERLING, WAKE UP!!!" I bolted awake in a cold sweat. I was in the Everfree Forest, just off the beaten path, enough to remain concealed. How long had I been asleep for? I checked my watch. It was 9 AM. I had to get to Canterlot before I had Celestia or The Doctor go looking for me. "Alright, Sterling," It was Discord again. He was the voice that woke me up. "It's showtime. Get to the Sculpture Garden, pronto; we've got work to do. We'll talk once you break me out, just don't screw this up." Alright. It's time. I was going to be able to go home as soon as I break Discord out. Although... I still felt like I was doing the wrong thing, like I was being misled. Oh, well. It didn't matter. Like Discord said; I've got work to do. I summoned a Dark Corridor and walked through. There was no turning back now. This would be a turning point in my life, even though I had no recollection of my past before I landed in Equestria. My life would never be the same again. If only I knew how right I was going to be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was so close. I was in the Canterlot Sculpture Garden now. There were ponies everywhere, so I used my invisibility, even though I looked like an Earth Pony. Wouldn't want anypony to see what I was about to do. While I was invisible, I turned back into my humanoid form. I followed a group of schoolfillies for a bit. I could hear what the teacher was saying... Talking about how each statue represented a certian trait, but none for the Elements of Harmony. Friendship... Victory... Music... Intellect... Love... The list goes on and on. Finally, the teacher stopped at the statue I was looking for. "Bingo." I muttered. "Now this is an interesting statue." She said as she pointed at my target. "What do you notice about it?" The students answered, "It's got an eagle claw!" "And a lion's paw!" "And a snake tail!" And there's a LIVING BEING inside! I wanted to yell. "This creature is called a Draconiquis" the teacher explained. So that's what the Northerners were called. That would explain my weird dream. "The head of a pony, and a body made of all sorts of things! What do you suppose that represents?" The pupils gave their different answers, and three of them got into an arguement about it. Time to spring into action. I ran up behind Discord, drew my blade, and plunged it into the statue's pedestal. This is it. "You're both wrong!" one of the fillies yelled. The three of them started beating each other up. I pushed the blade deeper into the pedestal. I could feel the statue beginning to move. The faint sound of a heartbeat. I could now hear the teacher breaking up the fight and explaining that all three of them were right; that the statue represents--IS, I added--Discord, which means, "a lack of harmony between ponies." I reminded myself that this was a title that Celestia gave him, to cover her tracks and make her look like the heroine. The class started moving on, with the three fillies still arguing over what they thought Discord was. "You'll see," I whispered. "In time." Now the statue was beginning to crack. I could hear a deep, menacing laugh. Soon, I thought. Soon, I will be back home. Soon, I'll have all of my memories back. I then thought of all the events prior to this key moment. My arrival. Meeting Luna, Twilight, The Doctor. The audience with Celestia, and my sudden betrayal. She didn't even force me to see things her way. She knew what I was here for, but she didn't stop me. She should have. Wait, what am I thinking? Celestia was the enemy, and none of her subjects could be trusted. I recalled the party Pinkie Pie had planned for me. The Doctor trusting me with the museum while he was out on an "important errand." Luna trusting me from the beginning. It suddenly dawned on me. If Discord was defeaten again--and what would stop that from happening?--I could be in the same situation as Discord. Trapped in stone. I could quite possibly never see home again--not that I remember much about it--if this doesn't work out. Everypony trusted me to do the right thing, and I failed them. I betrayed them all. That's when I realized the error of my ways. I was wrong. Discord was wrong. I have been lied to. And it was all because of the one I was releasing. What have I done? I considered reversing the effects of my blade, but it was too late. There were too many cracks to count on Discord's shell of a prison. I decided to run. Well, fly, really. I was still invisible, so Discord would never see me fly away from the the scene of the crime, away from the impact zone of the Weapon of Mass Disharmony I had just unleashed. While I flew, I could still hear Discord, clear as day. "Now where do you think you're going, Sterling?" he demanded. "You aren't chickening out, are you?" "Shut up, Discord!" I yelled. I flew faster. I think I even broke the sound barrier. Good thing I had my hood up. This coat is amazing for that. "But Sterling," Discord said, soothingly. "You did free me, after all. We still have lots of work to do if we want to take over Equestria..." "NO!" I bellowed. I couldn't even hear myself, over the wind. But I could still hear Discord. "I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU! I REFUSE TO BE YOUR PUPPET! YOU MADE ME DO THIS! YOU NEVER LEFT ME, YOU CONTROLLED ME! I'M NOT STUPID!" "I never thought you were stupid," Discord replied, with the same calm tone he's been using this whole time, while my rage, my hatred for him duping me increased. "That's why I picked you. While you were smart, you were also gullible. I could easily manipulate you to do my bidding, because you weren't sure who to trust yourself. "But, since you don't want anything to do with me anymore, fine. I'll let you in on a little secret, my little pawn..." He was now whispering. "...I never meant for you to live after you released me." I turned my head, to see myself looking into his yellow eyes, with red, mismatched pupils. I maneuvered away from Discord, stopped suddenly, turned off my invisibility and hovered away from my real enemy. "I know, Sterling... You want to destroy me. You want your life back. I'll tell you what: Defeat me, and I'll let you go, with all your memories. It's as simple as that." Discord beckoned me towards him. "So go ahead, hit me." I drew my sword and charged at him. "Go on and hit me!" Discord yelled. "Hit me! HIT ME!" I flew towards him at top speed, blade ahead of me. I would cut him clear in two at the momentum I was at. That is, if he didn't move out of the way. But he wasn't. He just hovered there, waiting for me. He was crazy. "HIIIT MEEE!!!" He roared. As I sailed towards my enemy, I realized something: This is all part of Discord's plan. If Celestia and Luna could have destroyed him, they would have. So what made me so sure that I could do it? I needed the Elements of Harmony. I had to warn the others. Attacking Discord would just kill me. But if I could teleport back to Ponyville... I tried to focus my energies on getting back to the museum, to tell The Doctor, but I couldn't. I stopped mere feet away from Discord's position. Of course. My powers came from Discord; he can control them. I was a sitting duck now. "Hmm," he shrugged. "Or not. You really thought I would just let you go back and warn all your little friends about the can of worms YOU yourself opened? Do you think I'm stupid? I knew you wouldn't kill me. You CAN'T kill me. Oh, well," Discord was looking into my eyes now. "It's my turn now..." His eyes flashed, and I could feel my form reverting back to an Equestrian. I then started to feel heavy. Discord was rising--No, I was falling! "I no longer need you, Sterling Smoulder." He said menacingly. "So I'll be taking back all those powers, and let you die as one of them. I guess I'll see you in hell... Oh, wait. I'm IMMORTAL! Have a nice trip, my little pawn! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Discord did a little victory dance before he disappeared. The last thing I saw was a bunch of pink clouds materializing from nowhere, spewing out chocolate rain. I closed my eyes and thought of all those I betrayed... Those who called me their friend... And, deep down, I considered them my friends. I would die in an Equestrian form, but who would I really be? Then I thought of Luna again. She trusted me completely, and I turned around and betrayed her. I never deserved such trust. Maybe it would be better that I die here. Perhaps Discord gave me a small mercy. I don't know. I could feel a tug, like something breaking my fall. I felt the wind being knocked out of me. I'm sorry, Luna. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By now, the Element Bearers were made aware of Discord's breakout. Celestia would never force anypony to do her bidding, so she asked them if they would weild the Elements of Harmony again, and defeat Discord. That's when Pinkie Pie said something that took all of them aback. "Hold on a second!" She interrupted. "Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. CHOCOLATE RAIN!" Twilight Sparkle just told Celestia to not listen to her, but why would Pinkie say something like that? Sure, Twilight knew that Pinkie Pie can be random at times, but this sounded like a warning. Did Pinkie know something nopony else did? It wouldn't be the first time, either. Twilight remembered that time where those Parasprites invaded Ponyville, and only Pinkie Pie knew how to get rid of them. Everypony else thought she was out of her mind. Celestia unlocked the room where the Elements were sealed away. "Have no fear, ponies," Celestia assured them. "I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord..." She levitated the chest towards the Element Bearers. "...With these." The case opened and out came... Nothing. Everypony--even Celestia herself--was shocked. Where were the Elements??? "That chamber was protected by a powerful spell that only I could break," Celestia explained. "This doesn't make sense..." That's when Discord revealled himself to them all. "'Make sense'?" he mocked. "Oh, what fun is there in making sense??" He revealled that he had the Elements, that he knew who they all were (he even said which Element was his favourite--Laughter), based on what Sterling knew, and some figuring out on Discord's part--for example, Sterling had only met Pinkie Pie and Twilight, but Discord figured out who the other Element Bearers were. After Celestia demended that Discord tell what he did with the Elements, he told them where he hid them... "But I'll only tell you my way:" Discord insisted. "To retrieve your missing Elements, Just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan; Then find the Elements back where you began." And with that, he was gone. Twilight was the first to figure out what he meant by "twists and turns"--the Palace Labyrinth, inside the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. The Element Bearers were on their way to where they thought Discord would be hiding the Elements of Harmony. But none of them knew exactly how Discord broke free. All Celestia would tell them is that since the Elements of Harmony were no longer in her or Luna's control, Discord was able to break free. But that was only half the truth. Sterling Smoulder had released him. Celestia had sent Luna to go and watch Sterling, and if he fell, to bring him back to the castle. Celestia would make her next move from there. But what was taking Luna so long? Suddenly, Celestia heard Discord laugh. "What are you waiting for, Celestia?" he asked. "And where's your sister? She wouldn't be hiding, would she?" "I won't say a word to you, Discord!" Celestia replied sternly. "All I will say is that you won't get away with this." "Au contraire, my dear Celestia. As we speak, your little ponies will be pitted against each other, and Sterling is... gone, to say the least. And you thought that he could help in my defeat. Ha! I'm the one who brought him here in the first place!" Celestia's eyes widened. "You killed him?" "Of course I killed him." Discord scoffed. "Just because he was useful to me before doesn't mean that I'll keep him once I'm done with him. It's like a used tissue. No one wants to keep something like that; it'll just get in the way and make a mess." Perhaps that's what's taking Luna so long, Celestia thought. She can't find Sterling because Discord destroyed him. "Now, I can't have you go and do anything I don't want you to," Discord continued. "So I'll keep you locked in here. Don't want you helping your little ponies. Now, I must be off. I'm gonna wipe that smile off of Pinkie Pie's face, hopefully for good. I might as well finish off what I started with her; isn't fair to leave one of my pawns in the game and not the other. Ciao!" And with that, Discord was gone. For the first time in over one thousand years, Celestia wasn't sure what she would--or could--do. If Sterling is dead, would Luna be next? Luna said that she knew something that would defeat Discord once and for all; that it had something to do with Sterling. The six Elements of Harmony would slow Discord, but not for long. He knew how to get out now. Perhaps Sterling was gone, Celestia thought. And Luna was corrupted again... If that were true, then not even the Elements of Harmony would stop Discord. "Sterling Smoulder, please don't be dead," Celestia pleaded. "The fate of not only Equestria, but all of reality lies in your..." Celestia was about to say "hooves", but she knew Sterling wasn't an Equestrian. What word did The Doctor use? "...all of reality may be in your hands." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up in a completely white room. I was somehow a human again. Was I dead? Or is this a dream? I couldn't tell. I got up on my feet and tried to find any distinguishable landmarks, or anybody who could tell me where I was. Nothing. Although my coat was now white instead of black. "Welcome to the afterlife, Sterling. You're dead." That would explain where I am. But where did the voice come from? As if in answer, a bright-greenish light appeared, expanded, and out came Discord. "Discord!" I cried in shock. "What is this? How did I get here?? How did you get here???" "I told you, Sterling," Discord replied, "You're dead. This is the afterlife. And I'm God." "What? You are NOT God!" I retorted. "Oh, blasphemy!" Discord was mocking me. "You're lucky I don't cast you out or smite you or something. Don't you remember what I did?" He snapped his fingers, a screen appeared out of the floor, and I was treated to a play-by-play of my supposed last moments. Discord appeared on the screen. "This is Sterling Smoulder's Last Failure, brought to you in part by Chaos!" he said. Great, I thought. He's treating this as a spectator sport. I saw myself advance towards Discord. "As you can see here," he said, "Sterling was closing in waaaay beyond the speed of sound; I'll bet he'd give Rainbow Dash a run for her money! Perfect maneuver, going in for the kill... And oh, what's this? He's intercepted by Yours Truly! What would happen next? Of course, Sterling goes down!! And it's over, folks! Sterling Smoulder fell to his death!" The screen went back into the floor. "You see, Sterling," Discord continued. "You never had a chance. You knew this. You can't kill me. It's impo--" Suddenly, I could see a Dark Corridor appear, much like what I used to travel long distances. Although I didn't summon it. Someone, or rather somepony, walked out of the portal. It was Luna, but not quite. She was taller, leaner, and her mane flowed much like her sister's, only darker. Her eyes glowed a bright white. "Oh, bother," he scoffed. " In she comes, and ruins my fun. You're just like your sister, Luna. Why so serious? I was just getting started when you showed up. Oh, well..." Discord turned towards me. "You're living in a dream world, Sterling. None of this is real, it's all in your head..." His voice began to morph into Luna's. "Now wake up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I opened my eyes. Instead of being in a white room, I was on a cloud; and instead of being a human, I was an Earth Pony again. I looked up and could see several clouds with a hole in the middle of each of them. These were probably used to slow my fall. But it couldn't be a mere coincidence that these clouds were in this exact position and saved me. Someone had to put them here. I tried standing up on the cloud. Thanks to my having four legs, I was able to balance easily on the uneven terrain of the cloud. Who put these clouds here? Somepony had to do it. Did they see me in my human form as well? As if in answer, I heard a voice. It wasn't Discord. No, I knew he thought I was dead, and the Discord in my dream wasn't real. This voice wasn't one I had heard before. "It's about time you woke up!" It was a cheery kind of voice. I turned my head towards where the voice was coming from. The voice's owner was a grey Pegasus with a blonde mane, and yellow eyes that were looking in different directions. She was adorable. But that's not the point. I had to find out how much she knew about what led me to my current position. "I was worried that you might've gotten brain damage from that fall," the Pegasus continued. "I was just in time with those clouds, too. Yep, that's being a mailmare for you; always right on time, no sooner, no later!" I interrupted her. "Um, if you don't mind me asking," I began, "how did you know I was going to fall? And who exactly are you??" The Pegasus hit her head as if she forgot something important. "Derp! Of course, you have no idea who I am, do you? Didn't The Doctor tall you about his assistant?" "Assistant?" I repeated. "Who might that be?" "Me, silly!" the Pegasus. "Wow, it's like all of you outsiders are slow. Are you sure you didn't get brain damage from that fall?" "Yes, I'm certain." I assured her. "You still haven't answered my questions. Who are you, and how did you know what was going to happen?" The Pegasus apologized. "Sorry. My friends always tell me about how absent-minded I can be sometimes. I'm Derpy Doo. The Doctor told me that you were going to be here, and that I should probably make sure that you didn't get hurt or anything. It's like he's always one step ahead of things! And it looks like he was right about you not having a Cutie Mark." I winced at that. Looks like Luna told The Doctor about that, too. I just hope that Derpy here didn't know what happened to cause me to need her help. She continued, "Even Princess Luna was worried about you." My eyes widened at this, but I let Derpy go on. "She said that you might the power to save Equestria. What power would that be?" It sounded like she already knew about Discord's release. The Doctor probably told Derpy everything, her being his assistant and all. I shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea. I was just a regular person who was pulled into Equestria. I was used, and then disposed of. I'm just an interloper. I shouldn't even be here right now, and I'm pretty sure that I have nothing to do with saving Equestria. Leave that to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They have the Elements of Harmony, after all." How could Luna be so hopeful, even after I betrayed everyone? That's when I heard another voice. "But the six Elements won't be enough, Sterling Smoulder." I turned toward the voice. It was Luna. Derpy bowed in midair (Don't ask me how she did this), while I just stood there, not knowing whether to run or not. "How could I have anything to do with restoring Equestria after what I've done?" I asked Luna. "I completely betrayed you all." "That's because you were under Discord's control," Luna assured me. "Do you feel like my sister and I are the enemy now?" I thought about it. Discord tried to get rid of me as soon as I got cold feet about taking over Equestria, while Celestia and Luna never lifted a hoof to stop me when I flat out told them that I thought they were wrong. I shook my head. "No," I said weakly. "Now that I think of it, I should have trusted you and Celestia." "It's alright, Sterling," Luna said. "Discord has a way of blinding others to the truth. Trust me, I know... But now's not the time to explain," She moved towards me. "I have to show you something. Not even my sister knew about this before Discord broke out." I noted that I always consider that I released Discord, while everypony else says that he broke out. "You see, Sterling, there is a seventh Element of Harmony, and I think that you might be able to weild it." Next thing I knew, the three of us--Luna, Derpy and myself--were in the castle ruins within Everfree Forest. Looks like I was right about what I thought this morning. My life was about to change, and the tables would turn on Discord. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTHOR'S NOTES: :gasp: PLOT TWIST!!! This is the starting point of changing the events after Discord's defeat. A seventh Element of Harmony has been revealled, but, to quote Discord, "These are only my first changes!" In time, you'll know why I've listed this fanfic under "Alternate Universe". Thank you for sticking with me through all the kind-of-boring parts that were so abundant in this first part of Road to Disharmony (at least, that's what I thought of it). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it only gets better after this! Also, A few notes on this chapter: In case you were wondering about that whole Star Trek-esque introduction (Think "Space. The Final Frontier... Blah-blah-blah... Boldly go where no man has ever gone before..." Do you see the similarities in how I wrote it?), that was indeed another strange dream that Sterling had. His subconsciousness was trying to piece together Equestria's history. And... I'll let you in on a little secret... Luna had a little bit to do with some of the details in Sterling's dreams in this chapter. Now, as to why I chose to call Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo "Derpy Doo". Well, I really didn't know which name was her "official" name, so I decided to combine the two names. Anyways, Please feel free to leave any feedback; positive, negative, suggestions, questions, I want to hear it all. I want to find out how I can improve my work. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! Also, if you catch any of my references to other things scattered throughout my story, let me know you got them! P.S. See what I did there with the title? ;) Stan McStudz. We're done here.