Disclaimer: I do not own My little Pony
Prologue Part 1- Freedom
In hindsight, it had been a mistake to allow them to try.
He had won, it had seemed. He had split them apart. Their so called “Bonds of friendship” had been shattered like so much fine china dropped from a cliff. It made him wonder if there had truly been anything there to begin with.
Not that it mattered to him. With them apart, they had surely lost their ability to wield the elements, and without their connections to the elements, they became just like every other pony in the land. Boring and completely out of their tiny, insignificant minds.
Granted, they were crazy even before they had lost their connection to the elements, so that wasn’t their fault. All ponies were born crazy and remained so their entire life’s. It was one of the reasons that he partially pitied ponies.
Yes, Discord, the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony pitied ponies. He pitied their ignorance and denial to the way the world worked. The world was built on chaos and disharmony. It had been this way since his birth a little more than a millennium ago, and would remain so even when pony kind dissolved to dust. Why couldn’t they understand that?
But no. They clung to the idea of “Harmony and Friendship”. They clung to the idea that all things are possible through friendship. If that was so, then why had it been so incredibly easy to destroy the bonds between the element bearers?
He sat there, on his throne, reveling in his victory. Watching the world become what it truly was, Chaotic. He let loose a laugh as he watched pies fall from the sky. Summoning one of his cotton candy clouds, he magically created a glass and let it fill with the chocolate that rained down from the cloud.
He stared at the cup for a moment, pondering the chaos that had brought it forth. He had much work ahead of him, for enlightening the masses to the truth was never easy, and these ponies were so stubborn in their insanity. Still, he would find a way to save them from their ignorance. They would soon learn what he knew.
“Chaos,” He declared to himself. “Is a wonderful, Wonderful thing!” He made to take a sip from his drink but was stopped by another declaration.
“Not as wonderful as Friendship!”
He turned his head, finding the source. The 6 Former element wielders stood there, striking a pose. Applejack, the former element of Honesty. Rainbow Dash, the former element of Loyalty. Pinkie Pie, the former element of Laughter. Fluttershy, the former element of Kindness. Rarity, the former element of Generosity. And finally, the former element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle.
He had always been slightly curious on how magic fit into the formula of Friendship. The others had a personality type that seemed to make the masses flock to them, but magic? At best, it gave the bearer that magical potential that all Unicorns had once held before he had stolen most of their power.
Though from what he could gauge, this little mare held even more potential than the average unicorn, even from back then. Almost as much as… Clover.
Observing the gathered former elements, it seemed that they had freed from his magic. How curious. While the magic he had used to drive them apart had not been very strong, it was still strange that they been able to break his magic. Perhaps it had something to do with Magic’s former bearer.
Why did the thought of Twilight Sparkle breaking his magic spark excitement in him? Was it her potential? Perhaps it was. Had he found the basis for a follower, an apprentice? Perhaps unlike little Celestia and little Luna, who had spat in his face, even after everything he had done for them, she would grasp the true power he could offer her.
Come to think of it, why were the Former elements and Twilight Sparkle even here? And wearing the elements for that matter? Oh. Were they here to try and seal him away again?
He sighed in slight frustration. “This again?” He then proceeded to drink the glass around his drink, opting to save a perfectly good drink for later. Tossing his drink back into a safer place, with an explosion for style, he turned to face the former elements and Twilight Sparkle.
“That’s right!” The Former Element of Honesty foolishly declared. “You couldn’t break apart our friendship for long!”
Oh, is that why they were wearing those oversized trinkets? Discord silently chuckled to himself. Did the former elements think just because Twilight Sparkle had broken his minor piece of magic that they had fixed their bond of friendship? Oh, these poor crazy ponies. When something like a bond was broken, it could never be fixed. The simple truth of the matter was that they were no longer friends. Therefore, they could no longer wield the Elements of Harmony.
“Oh Applejack, don’t lie to me.” He ordered the foolish little mare, using his magic to drag her into the air over to him. “I’m the one who made you a liar!” Feeling slightly peeved that these mares refused to accept the truth, he used more of his magic to bring the rest of the former elements to him. He however left Twilight Sparkle on the ground, intending to extend an offer to her once the former elements were back to the way they were once they had left his little maze. “Will you ever learn?” He asked them.
The former elements floated in the air before him, struggling to break free from his hold. He glanced over them for a moment. Once he used a slightly stronger spell to change their personalities, he would send them away. Then, he would sit down with Twilight Sparkle and talk. He knew he could to do it. He would open her eyes to the true nature of chaos. She would learn that it wasn’t something to be feared but embraced. When she embraced it, her mind would throw away the insanity the plagued the minds of all ponies. In that moment, she would become like him, an avatar. An avatar that would dedicate themselves to awakening minds to the truth. Friendship was a lie, it didn’t mean squat. But first, he would deal with these foolish mares.
But before he could alter their personalities, Twilight Sparkle unexpectedly appeared, in a purple flash of magic, right between him and the former elements. She then created a bubble of pure magic around her and the mares cutting of the flow of his magic holding them up. An impressive feat of magic. He smiled slightly as he watched Twilight Sparkle and her former friends float to the ground. As the bubble touched the checkered landscape, a small circle of boring green grass appeared.
Had her magic just vaporized his own magic? True it was only a small circle that could barely contain her and the former elements, but still. It proved to him that there was more magic in her then he had thought. Was it the influence of her former element? He placed his manticore finger to his lip in consideration.
“I’ll tell you what we’ve learned Discord.” Twilight Sparkle said to him. “We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy. But there’s no doubt it worth fighting for!”
What disgusting sentiment! These weren’t words that he wanted his potential apprentice to be going around frothing out of her mouth. Even from a purely academic point of view, these words degraded her, made her seem like less then she was. Although she wasn’t all that impressive yet, stuff like that would make it much harder for others to see her as a role model of chaos.
“Ugh, Gag!” Discord leaned forward and said, letting his tongue roll out of his mouth, fully expressing his disgust of the very idea.
This belief in the elements was what was causing all these twisted mutilation of the truth. It was the root of all the madness of pony kind. Perhaps an additional failure was what was needed to open Twilight's eyes.
He brought himself back to full height and placing his hands on his hips, he regarded the former elements and Twilight Sparkle with an annoyed expression. “Fine, go ahead, try and use your little elements, ‘frenemies.” He added the last part with a tone that screamed mockery.
“Just make it quick.” He ordered as he disappeared in a bright flash of light, only to reappear on his throne. “I’m missing some Excellent chaos here.” He then closed his eyes and waited.
They spoke, but he paid no attention to it. It was all white noise to him. All he really needed to hear were the cries of confusion that would come when the elements refused to activate. He stifled a yawn as he continued to wait. From the gasps that they were making it almost sounded like-
One of his eyes flew open as something flew by his face. He spotted something else flying towards him, and quickly ducked. Symbols flew through the air around him. Butterflies, apples, diamonds, thunderbolts, all seemingly made of magic. “What’s this?” He wondered aloud as he looked over at the former elements and Twilight Sparkle. There was an energy building around them, as more of the symbols flew from the trinkets on their chests. The energy was somewhat familiar to him. If he remembered correctly, he had felt this energy when Celestia and Luna had betrayed-
“No.”
The Elements! They were activating! But how!? ‘I tore their bonds apart!’ Once bonds were broken, they could never be fixed! When two friends fought, their bond broke. When lovers separated, their bond broke. When parents swear off their children, Their Bond Broke!
Yet here the elements stood, or floated now, Eyes aglow, wielding these artifacts older then himself. The energy that had been building exploded launching a rainbow of energy straight into the sky before flowing downwards towards him. He clenched his eyes closed for the painful impact.
A painful impact that never came. Where there was supposed to pain, a warm feeling enveloped his body, cradled him. He felt the sensation of soothing whispers that he couldn’t quite make out enter his ears. It was like when Auntie Hurricane would come into his room and hold him when he was but a child, frightened from his sleep by a nightmare.
Curious, he opened his eyes, and was met with a strange sight. The world around him was frozen. Even pies falling from the sky stood still in the air, giving no indication that they would continue their descent to the ground. That was not the only strange thing though. The world around him was brighter, more vibrant. Colors he never knew existed seemed to highlight the objects around him. It was… beautiful.
An almost fog like oddity approached him from the direction of the element bearers. It seemed like it was all the colors at once and yet none of them at the same time. It enveloped him, and he could feel that warm feeling increase tenfold. This felt... right. Like he could stand there forever, this odd fog covering his being, and he wouldn’t care. It was peaceful.
A part of his mind nagged him. Peace? No such thing. Fight this feeling.
He felt something like a hoof or a hand cup his cheek, and began to stroke. Pure love flooded his senses, acceptance.
Don’t listen to it! It lies!
Suddenly, very gently, he felt something begin to leave his stomach. It looked like dark smoke. It left him feeling slightly weaker. But the fog was there, stroking him and whispering words of comfort into his ear. ‘It’s alright. Let go.’ Let go? Let go of what?
‘MY POWER!’
Whatever this thing was, it was trying to take his power away from him. No! He wouldn’t become weak like the rest of pony kind. He grabbed hold of the black smoke still leaving his stomach and tried desperately to pull it back into himself.
The fog however grabbed his hand and pulled it away. Enveloping him in what he could only describe as a hug, it began to stroke his head comfortingly and images flooded his head. He saw himself, but not as himself. He was a pony again.
He was about the average size for a stallion, with palish brown fur and a black mane. A horn stood tall upon his head and wings hugged against his side. It appears he had inherited both of his parent’s unique features. He saw himself surrounded by other ponies, accepted and loved. And what was wrong with that? He looked happy, so happy.
Tears welled up in his eyes. The warm feeling came back to him. The fog held him closer and slightly tighter, but it didn’t feel oppressive. He wondered if this is what it would feel like if his mother had survived the birth.
The past is the past. It means nothing. THIS THING IS STILL STEALING OUR POWER!
His mind reeled. He didn’t want to be a pony again. He was Discord. He was chaos. This was all he was. He wouldn’t let this thing take that away from him. He pushed the fog like presence away and once again grabbed the black smoke that still poured out of him, pulling it back into him. He slowly felt his strength return.
Once again, the fog grabbed him, firmly this time and pulled him closer than before. The warm feeling was still there, but there was a sadness that seemed to permeate the air. Another series of image flooded his head.
He was himself, pulling his power towards himself. But something was wrong. The more power that came back to him, the more of him body transformed into stone. When he had pulled all of his power back into himself, he was completely made of stone.
Was that it? Allow his power to be stripped away and become a pony or keep his power and be trapped in stone again. Be free but weak or be imprisoned but strong. Were those his only two options? That wasn’t fair.
He felt the fog begin to stroke his head again. Discord could feel sorrow emanate from this oddity, almost like it was sorry to have to present this choice to him. Was it? Or was he giving this… thing too much credit.
He looked down at his stomach, feeling the black smoke that was his power begin to leave him again. What was he to do?
Why should we lose our power? It is ours! We earned it! It was our just reward for the suffering we endured! Why should we have to give it up?!
Discord reached out, taking hold of the black smoke. This power was his. He had tasted Harmony. It was a lie. A fairy tale. He was possibly the only one who knew the truth. It was his self proclaimed duty to make the rest of the world see the truth. He would not comprise, even if it meant his freedom. He was ageless, immortal. This would be a temporary inconvenience. He would break out again.
As he pulled his power back into himself, the fog entity withdrew from him. The warm feeling that had been present disappeared, leaving a feeling of regret and sorrow. A voice came out of nowhere. ‘Sorry’.
Then the pain hit.
His body became engulfed in the rainbow energy, leaving his skin feeling like it was burning. He opened his mouth and let loss a cry of agony. It felt like he had said something while he screamed, but the pain emanating from his body prevented his mind from telling what it was.
The pain became replaced with a freezing sensation as, from his legs up, he began to turn into stone. He tried in vain to spread his wings to fly away, but they were instantaneously turned to stone. He reached out for something to grasp, to pull himself away from his fate, but as he did, his arms became stone. He made to scream, leaving his face in a silent look of horror as his face transformed into stone.
He couldn’t see. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t speak. Was it to be this way again? Was he to be like this for another thousand years?
He felt slight regret. He regretted not taking that …entity's offer.
No. We’ve made our choice. We shall wait until a time in which we shall break free of this prison. And when we do, we shall show this world the true nature of chaos.
Yes, what point was there in regretting what was already done? He would wait. He would plot. And eventually, he would shatter this prison.
Discord’s mind began to drift. He felt tired, so tired. He began to fall into a slumber, his last thoughts drifting to Twilight Sparkle. Would she still be alive when next he broke free? He hoped so. Like Celestia and Luna, she had rejected him. Yet despite this, he hadn’t given up hope on any of them, especially Celestia and Luna. After all, he had created them in the hopes of having followers who would help him spread the chaos that held this world in its grasp.
And with that last thought, Discord fell asleep.
Discord was unsure of how long he had been asleep when he was suddenly roused from the dream of his defeat. He felt something, a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach. He attempted to look down to see if there was anything touching him, only to be swiftly reminded that he couldn’t move.
‘Well, that’s going to get annoying real fast.’ He thought to himself.
He began to concentrate on the tingling sensation, trying to figure out just what it was that he was feeling. Was he hungry? Unlikely. He never felt the need to eat even when he wasn’t sealed up. He did so regardless. Why? Who knows, but food was one of the many base instincts that he indulged in, even if he felt no drive to do so.
Was it arousal? No. If that was the case he would feel the sensation a little lower. Besides, he hadn’t been thinking of any attractive Stallions or mares moments ago.
Then what was this feeling? It was beginning to bug him. The feeling was steadily growing. As it did, he was surprised to find that the sensation was starting to feel pleasant.
Was he sure this wasn’t arousal?
He started to feel strength flow through him. He felt himself become more and more powerful by the second. What was happening to him? He suddenly could hear voices fill his head.
‘I WANT IT!’
‘I NEED IT!’
‘IT’S MINE! GIVE IT BACK!’
‘NEVER! ‘
Chaos. Glorious chaos. Somewhere in the world. Ponies, many ponies, a towns full at least, were all fighting over a simple object. It was chaos and disharmony in its rawest form. It made him strong, it filled him with power. After all he was the spirit of chaos. Whenever chaos occurred in the world, no matter how small, no matter what it was, it made him stronger. If this continued, if this power continued to flow into him, in less than an hour, he could break free of his prison.
He could feel the tightness that surrounded him beginning to loosen. ‘Yes! YES! By Gitche Manitou, I’ll be out of here in no time!’ He gleefully thought.
What was the first thing he would do when he broke out? He would hide for a week probably. When he had broken out the last time, he had been weak, barely able to access his power. He attributed that to being trapped for a thousand years. While he rested and recovered, he would find out how much time had passed.
That thought gave him pause. How much time had passed? Were the former…Were the element wielders dead by now? Did that in turn mean that Twilight Sparkle was dead? That would be highly unfortunate if it was true. She had so much potential. It would be a shame if such a powerful unicorn had ended up dying while he was away.
If she had died, how had it happened? Old age? An accident? Had she spent her life in ignorance to the truth that he could have provided her? Had a part of her mind always lingered on the thought that something was missing from her life?
He felt himself having more questions. Had she left behind a child? Had said child inherited her power? If so, would said child more open to the idea of Chaos and Disharmony?
Perhaps if the child was young enough, he could…
His mind was dragged back to reality, as the power that had been flowing into him was almost instantly cut off. There had been no warning, no sign, it just turned itself off.
‘NO! DON’T STOP!’ He mentally cried out in despair. It had been so glorious. For a brief moment, he had felt like for the first time, Ponies had accepted what he had to say. They had given into their basic instincts of greed, and had fought each other to claim ownership of a single object.
But then in a single moment they had stopped. Why? No, HOW!? No disagreement of the nature of greed, no matter how small it was, could be solved so quickly. Had someone magically dispelled those thoughts? But that was impossible. Only he had that much power, and he was sealed in here. Unless…
‘Celestia!’
Had she just used the gifts he had bestowed on her and Luna to solve a chaotic situation? If he could move, he would have ground his teeth until there was nothing left but bone dust. How dare she use her power like that! Was she trying to insult him?
Or was it something else? Another thought popped into his head. What if the chaotic situation had been magically induced in its self? Oh, how wonderful that would have been. But who could have done such a thing? It seems that when he got of here, he would have to investigate what had happened.
‘When I get out of here.’ He thought. This incident had provided him with strength, but not enough to break free. He had enough power to shave off a few years off of his sentence, however long that may be. Even he wasn’t completely sure.
He felt the droziness he constantly felt in this place begin to seep into his mind again. He was being magically forced to sleep, no doubt the element’s subtle way to make his imprisonment less cruel. He still didn’t like it. He hated when his mind was interfered with. It felt like control was being ripped away from him. He hated it when he lost control of anything.
Still, he knew there was no point in trying to resist. He would sleep, for now. But when he next woke, perhaps the little squabbles all around the world, big or small, would fuel enough of his power that he could break free of this cursed stone prison.
When he did, he would find the source of that wonderful chaos, whether it be an object, or (He severely hoped that this was the case.) a Pony.
And with that, Discord once again fell asleep.
Discord found himself, once again, roused from his slumber by a sensation in his stomach. Was there a source of chaos feeding him at the moment? This one was different than the last time that this had happened. The power felt different. There wasn’t much of it, but it was strong none the less.
Concentrating, he attempted to feel out the source, focusing his mind on the power currently flowing into him. It was strange. There was a feeling of hopelessness to it. Doubts spinning throughout. Immense sadness. And it was all coming from, if he could believe it, one pony.
He was taken aback by that slightly. ‘All this internal chaos is coming from one pony?’
What in the world could drive one pony to feel all this? He increased his focus on the power, trying to feel out the source of all this internal chaos. This pony, they had been… rejected somehow. Everyone they knew had abandoned them, left them alone. They were weeping considerably, whoever this lavender pony was.
Wait. Lavender?
It couldn’t be. But it was.
‘Twilight Sparkle!’
She was alive! Her image flooded his sense. She looked like she hadn’t aged a day. Did that mean that he hadn’t been trapped for very long? Where he once guessed how many years he had been sleeping, he now guessed how many months it had been.
But he was getting ahead of himself. Why was Twilight Sparkle in such a state of internal chaos? Why was she splayed out on the steps of what appeared to be the throne room? Why was she weeping? Why did she believe that her “friends” and family had abandoned her?
He dove more of his focus into the stream of strength that flowed into him. There wasn’t much more that he could get from this. Much of his power was sealed, even with the new power that he was getting from this. He eventually was able to grasp a single image from Twilight Sparkle’s memories. It showed a white alicorn that was both Discord’s greatest accomplishment and failure. She was walking away from the lavender pony whom she called her “Most faithful student.” There was already sadness and regret radiating off the smaller pony, but upon little Celestia’s next words, even Discord could feel Twilight Sparkle’s heart shatter.
“You have a lot to think about.”
Discord watched the image of Twilight Sparkle, weeping her little heart out. This…. This was good. No, good was too weak of a word to describe what this situation was. Wonderful, brilliant. He almost felt sorry for Celestia. For somepony who preached on and on about the so called “merits of friendship and harmony”, She had a knack for chasing those around her away and into his arms.
‘First Luna and now Twilight Sparkle? My poor little Celestia.’ Discord thought mirth ringing with every word. ‘How many more ponies do you plan to drive into my arms? Perhaps you weren’t as much of a disappointment as I thought you were.’
From the edges of his vision, an unfamiliar pink alicorn walked towards the emotional crushed lavender unicorn. Who was this? Was she one of Celestia’s children? She certainly wasn’t Luna’s. Too old.
The pink alicorn in question began to silently stroke Twilight Sparkle’s mane in a comforting fashion. After a few second, Twilight Sparkle looked up at the alicorn, tears streaming down her face. The alicorn smiled gently down at her, though there was a hint of smugness that coated her face.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight chocked out, obviously finding it hard to speak.
The pink alicorn continued to smile down at Twilight Sparkle. For the briefest of moments her purple eyes flashed green. Her expression evolved into one of anger, or perhaps disgust. “You will be.” She darkly declared as a sickly looking shade of green energy coated her horn.
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widen as she realized too late that this alicorn meant her harm. She tried to jump to her hoofs and react but it was too late. Magical green flames surrounded her in a circle, knocking her to her flank again. The alicorn smiled as a green sphere of energy surrounded Twilight, sending her sinking into the ground.
And just like that, Discord’s view of the events cut off, just like the flow of power he had been receiving. Had that pink alicorn just killed Twilight Sparkle? Unlikely. That spell the alicorn had been using looked very much like some kind of teleportation. Twilight Sparkle was very likely fine. She was probably sent to some kind of prison, of what kind, he could not guess.
Still, this raised the question of who that pink alicorn was. She could have been one of Celestia’s children, possibly even a grandchild. Still, something in his gut told him no. The magic she had been using didn’t look like anything he had ever seen pony kind use before. No, that wasn’t quite true. He had seen one pony use a magic similar to what he just witnessed, but after what Discord had done to her, she hadn’t exactly been a pony anymore.
Regardless, Twilight Sparkle’s mental state had been a complete and utter chaotic mess. Why did that pink alicorn have to come along and ruin it? Perhaps there was still hope. The seeds of doubt had been placed within her mind. Her faith in his little Celestia had been partially shattered.
‘Oh, what I would give just to talk to Twilight Sparkle for ten minutes.’ Discord mentally whined. ‘What I wouldn’t give just to nudge her in the right direction.’
Wait. Could he? Was he capable, as trapped as he was, able to speak to Twilight Sparkle? He stretched out his mind, searching for any sign of the little mare’s mind. It was difficult. His prison made every moment a struggle. He pushed against the restraints that his prison had surrounded him with.
He vaguely began to feel something. There were minds. There were hundreds of them. No, Thousands of them. But as many as there were, none of them processed the unique spark that resided in the lavender pony’s mind. She was either too far away to speak to, or dead. Disappointed at this failure, Discord began to pull his mind back into his prison, but was stopped as his mind brushed along a single pony’s mind.
This single brush caused him to take in a single thought coursing through hundreds of minds.
‘CONQUER!’
What was that? He struggled against his prison again, desperately trying to reach that single pony’s mind. But it was far too late. In his disappointment, he had failed to take in any details on this pony, and as a result, he was unsure which mind he had brushed against. To find a pony he knew nothing about would be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.
He took in what he had just overheard. ‘Is Canterlot in danger?’ He would normally be unconcerned with such things, as little Celestia and little Luna were more than capable of defending themselves against armies and such. But was Twilight Sparkle capable of doing the same? Was she even in danger for that matter? He couldn’t sense her in the city after all. For all he knew, she was hundreds of miles away by now.
But that still raised the question of who these mysterious invaders were. They hadn’t felt like ponies. His mind drifted back to the pink alicorn from a few minutes earlier. Was she their ruler?
He didn’t much care why she wanted Canterlot, as such conflict would give him strength. While he didn’t revel in the fighting of ponies in quite the same way as other’s of his “race”, he could become stronger from such things just like any other Wend-
Suddenly, he felt much energy flow into him. He would have gasped if he could speak. There was so much of it. It was panic, fear, anger, despair. It was glorious. He had thought that the greedy town had provided him with power, but this energy that currently flowed through him made it seem mundane in comparison.
He struggled in his prison, lashing out with all his power. How could he stay in here when there was so much glorious chaos out there? He needed to touch the sweet air, taste the ground beneath his feet. ‘Wait,’ He stopped momentarily in thought. ‘I think I got that statement a little mixed up there.’
He continued to blast his power at his prison. He could feel it breaking. In desperation he lashed out in all directions, not caring how taxing it was to him in his current state.
‘This’
‘Place’
‘Will’
‘Not’
‘Hold’
‘ME!’
With a final burst of magic, the stone that held Discord in place burst around him, granting him freedom.
He fell from the dais that held him, collapsing to his knees, gasping for air. He took a gulp of air, savoring the flavor. It was just as sweet as he remembered it. He shivered as a gust of wind blew against him. He was covered in sweat, No doubt an affect of him overexerting himself to gain his freedom.
He lifted his head from the ground, gazing up at the sky above him. He was in the gardens, where he had been placed the last time he had been imprisoned. The sun shone brightly, as it always had. His little Celestia had always done such a nice job with making the day beautiful. If a bit boring. He had always preferred little Luna’s night sky truth be told. The constantly changing moon cycles had always made her sky feel fresh and interesting.
Yes, the only unique thing in Celestia’s sky was the occasional rainbow and those black flying creatures…. Wait. What?
Yes, Flying everywhere around the sky were strange black creatures. They looked like ponies, but they had a more insectoid look to them. Wanting a closer look, he used what little magic he had left to grab one and brought it over to himself. As it struggled to get free from his grasp, Discord began to examine the strange creature.
The creature, upon closer examination, was not in fact black, but a dark shade of gray. Its eyes possessed no pupils, but were instead a lightish blue-green. Two small fangs hung from its mouth. A small sharp horn stood on its head, but whether it was capable of casting magic or not remained to be seen. On its back, there was a strange shell-like oddity incasing the creatures back all the way down to its flank. Its hoofs were riddled with holes. Insectoid wings fluttered on its back. Its body was completely vacant of hair
‘This creature,’ Discord thought to himself. ‘Could it be?’
Discord ran one of his fingers across the creature’s flesh. The skin had a rubbery feeling to it, yet it felt unusually solid. Using his griffon claw, he pressed his fingers against the skin, experiment with the pressure he applied. The creature began to hiss as, slowly, Discords finger began to break the skin. Seeing bright sickly yellow blood flow down the creature’s side, Discord forced his fingers beneath the creature’s skin. He began to stretch the wound he had made. It was difficult as the skin was quite strong, but he slowly managed to peel back the skin to see underneath.
The Creature squealed and squirmed harder, obviously in pain. Discord ignored the creature’s pleas, placing it on the ground, using his manticore paw to keep it from escaping. He looked at the inner workings of the strange being. The organs looked similar to a pony’s, but where as their organs were a mix of red and occasional blue, this creature’s organs were an even mix of green and blue.
‘There’s no doubt about it.’ Discord smiled down at the creature, though it was unable to see him. Its eyes were clenched shut and it was gritting its teeth. It was obviously in a large amount of pain, though it wasn’t crying. That was unsurprising really. Seeing as how these creatures seemed to be decedents of Azalea, they wouldn’t possess tear ducts. One of the many things that she lost when she transformed. Yet despite all that she had lost, she had gained so much.
This creature’s skin seemed to indicate that her children had evolved quite well. He wondered however if their bones were still as fragile as her children had been. Discord placed his finger gently one of the creature’s rib. He applied pressure.
The bone began to crack, much to the creature’s dismay. It squealed out in pain, but didn’t say a word. Was it in too much pain to form a coherent statement, or was it not sentient enough? Discord left this train of thoughts for the moment. Whether or not the creature was able to speak was irrelevant. What mattered was that Azalea’s descendents did indeed still possess a weak skeletal structure, but seemed to have evolved, developing a rather effective exoskeleton.
He pulled his hands away from the creature, letting it go, but it was unable to get up anyway, for it was in too much pain. His curiosity was satisfied, so he no longer was interested in it. He would let it do what it wanted. If there was something else he grew curious about, he would simple pick himself a fresh one. He looked up at the sky. There were plenty of them to choose from.
His thoughts were interrupted as a large wave of violet magic burst from the castle. It was not unlike the power that the elements gave off, but it was less powerful. The wave washed over Canterlot, catching anything that wasn’t a pony and pushing them along with it. As the wave approached Discord, only one thought went through his mind.
‘Oh horse apples.’
The wave of magic hit him square in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. He was in a large amount of pain for he was not only still recovering from his imprisonment, he had just been hit with a large amount of pure magic. He was unable to see, but he could tell by the feeling of air blowing through his coat that he was currently in the air and shooting at a high speed towards an unknown destination.
And after a few seconds, he reached it. He crashed into the ground, crying out, as there had been nothing to cushion his landing.
Groaning, he picked himself up out of the dirt. It took a few seconds for his vision to return. The landscape was orange and red, rocks were splayed out everywhere. He was in what appeared to be a mountainous region. The Badlands maybe? But that was several hundred miles away from Canterlot. How powerful had that wave been? He knew that it wasn’t from the elements, so what in the world had been powerful enough to not only expel himself from Canterlot but the entirety of the army of Azalea’s descendents?
He was in unfamiliar territory here. He didn’t like not knowing anything. It made him feel like he wasn’t in control. He needed to be in control of everything, to always have a plan of what came next. It was ironically funny if he really thought about it. He who represented chaos, the inherent lack of order and rules, always needed a plan.
‘Speaking of plans,’ Discord thought. ‘I’m in dire need of one.’ He needed somewhere safe to rest while he recovered enough of his power for him to spread chaos in order to throw ponies into a panic. From there, he could reap their emotions and make himself ever stronger. Unfortunately, there were few places that he could hide conspicuously. He hadn’t had time to place a fake statue of himself like last time he had escaped. Therefore, Celstia would notice within two days that he was missing. Three if he was lucky.
Would he have to leave Equestria for a little while he recovered? If he remembered correctly, the Badlands were very close to the border of the kingdom of the Dragons. He would no doubt be safe there, and out of little Celestia’s reach, for the duration of his recovery. On the other hand, leaving His kingdom felt like a defeat. He had been humiliated when he had been sealed away by the form- Current element bearers and Twilight Sparkle, and he was not willing to have the feeling of being beaten again.
He was brought out of his musing when one of Azalea’s decedents fell from the sky and crashed right at his feet. He watched the creature struggle to get up. Its eyes seemed to fall on Discords feet, before looking up and meeting his eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment, before a smile made its way across Discord’s muzzle.
Reaching down and grabbing the creature, Discord picked it up and held it at eye level.
“Can you understand me?” Discord asked the creature.
The creature snarled at Discord and began to squirm, attempting to wiggle free from its captor.
“Perhaps you didn’t hear me.” Discord said, keeping his face and voice even, without a trace of emotion. Adjusting his griffon claw’s grip on the creature, He brought his manticore paw around one of its front hoof. “Can you-“ He roughly twisted the hoof in his paw, not enough to break it, but enough to cause quite a bit of pain. “-Understand me?”
The creature yelped at the sudden pain, and tried to pull its hoof out of Discord’s grip. Having no success, it turned its head to Discord and began nodding furiously.
“Good.” Discord said, lightly smiling. He stopped twisting the creature’s hoof, but didn’t let go. “Can you speak?
The creature shook its head.
“I see.” Discord said. He lowered his head in thought for a moment. That was going to make getting information from this thing much harder. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. An image of a pink alicorn wielding similar magic to Azalea floated through his thoughts.
He returned his gaze to the creature in his grasp. “Are you working for a pink alicorn?”
The creature shook its head twice and then nodded twice.
“Yes and no?”
Nod.
“Explain.”
The creature erupted in a green flash of light, replacing its insectoid form with a brown stallion.
“Your species can shapeshift?” Discord asked, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.
The creature nodded, dropping the disguise.
“So your leader was disguised as a pink alicorn?”
Nod.
“Can she speak? It is a she right?”
The creature nodded, paused, and nodded again.
Discord paused his interrogation briefly to ponder this new information. He wondered if the leader of Azalea’s descendents would prove helpful to him. They had managed to hide in Equestria seemingly for years undetected. In his time of studying when he had broken free last time, not once had he come across any information on these creatures. It might be worth it to at least meet her. If she proved useless, he could always just swallow his pride and leave Equestria, as much as he hated the idea.
Turning back to the creature, Discord asked, “Do you know where your leader is?”
The creature raised its head up in the air, closing its eyes, and remained motionless for a few seconds. It then opened its eyes and nodded.
“Good.” Discord dropped the creature and motioned it to begin walking. “Lead on.”
The creature hesitated, but reluctantly began walking to the north, Discord following close behind it.
A/N- S-K Of The Flame here. Dear readers, please, tell me what you think. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Let me know. And constructive critism is always welcome. I'm always willing to take advice on how to get better.