Chapter Six
Discord was the first one awake, his forelimbs and wings stretching out to their maximum as he slowly righted himself. With a yawn, he glanced down at the still sleeping form of Princess Luna, her soft snoring letting him know that she was still deep asleep.
Last night had gone much better than he could’ve imagined it; he actually had to cast a silence spell in order to keep Luna’s cries from being heard by any unwanted passersby.
Grinning to himself, he reached down and gently ran his talon down her cheek, causing her to stir. “Time to wake my dearest. The moment of triumph for us is soon.”
Luna mumbled something incoherent as she rolled over and continued to snore, causing Discord to pull a face of disapproval and get out of bed. “Ponies, I can’t wait to be rid of them.”
Walking around to the other side of the bed, he stared intently at her.
“Wake up Princess. The sun needs to be risen before any attention is drawn to its absence.”
He waved his paw in front of her face, bringing her awake.
The princess stirred again, her eyelids gently fluttering open into full wakefulness.
“Discord? Is it morning already?” She asked as she slowly sat up, rubbing her hoof across her eyes.
“Yes my dear. You almost slept through when you need to raise the sun.” His false smile was again plastered on his face as his insides roiled with annoyance at her.
“Come my love.” He took a step back, allowing her enough room to climb out of the bed.
Luna yawned loudly as she made her way over to her desk and mirror to get ready.
She applied her eyeliner and placed her hoof-caps on, followed by her necklace and crown before turning and walking out to the balcony to raise the sun and start the day.
“I cannot wait until we can be rid of this accursed thing,” she remarked to Discord. "It is far too bright for this world. Everything shall be much more beautiful when my moon takes its rightful place in the sky.” She finished raising the sun and turned to Discord, smiling. “Don’t you agree love?”
Discord only smiled back, if it could be called a smile.
A knock on the moon princess’s door caused them both to start and look towards the source of the sound.
“Princess Luna! A pegasus has just arrived bearing a message from your sister! She has found the Elements and is on her way back as we speak. She will be here within the hour!”
Luna turned to Discord, her eyes wide with shock and concern, only to find him gone.
She quickly turned around, scanning the room, her expression now one of confusion.
As she looked towards her vanity, she noticed another message on her mirror. She read it, and another smile, one of perverse pleasure, took its place on her visage.
Continue with the act, we don’t want to arouse any suspicion. I have gone out to the land to wreak more havoc. Go and meet with your sister, learn what you can and see if you can stop her. If not, make sure she is at Ponyvilles’ borders at sundown. There we shall end her tyrannous reign. Together.
Still smiling, Luna slowly turned and opened the door, walking out to meet the guard.
“Thank you. Make sure the pegasus gets a hot meal and warm bed. I need to go and make sure we are ready to receive my sister.”
As the door closed behind her, the message faded away, melting into nothingness.
===
Discord’s laughter rang out yet again across the land of Equestria, making its inhabitants quake and tremble with fear. He was currently soaring over the entirety of the land, making sure that he had gotten every last corner but the village, not wanting to miss a single spot before his final moment.
He wasn’t disappointed.
Everywhere one looked, all that was supposed to be right and good in the world of the ponies had been turned into a cruel, twisted, perverted shell of what it had once been. Nothing looked or even acted like it was supposed to, save the village and residents of Ponyville of course.
Not a single pony had even set hoof outside of the city walls in almost two whole days.
The orchards and farms were either overgrown with mutant plants or had withered away to practically nothing, so the only food the ponies had was what they had managed to save and stock in the little time they had had.
And that was quickly running out.
“Not to worry my little ponies,” Discord called down to them, “Soon everything will be as it should. And you will all be in your proper places: underneath my feet as my slaves! Ahahahahaha!” Discord threw his head back, cackling at the skies above.
His laughing fit finally subsiding, he looked down at the village and drew a circle around it with a fore claw.
As he drew his imaginary circle, a host of manticores, hydras, and dragons; some ball-room dancing, some fencing and some playing chess, took up residence along the villages borders, making sure the ponies didn’t leave.
“Don’t go away! We’ll be back after a message from our sponsors!”
Discord chuckled to himself. With another wave of his hand, he created a mirror with bat-wings to appear, another magic looking glass that permitted him to view whatever Luna saw.
“Now then my princess, let’s see what news your sister has brought us.”
===
Luna sat in her throne in the grand hall, awaiting Celestia’s return. Lined up on either side were the nobles and guards, all of them eager to hear of the older sisters’ success.
As she glanced about the room, taking in all of their excited faces and hushed tones, Luna’s heart again filled with jealousy and anger, and she felt her face begin to turn into a scowl.
Shaking her head, she tried to make herself look excited as well, best to keep up the farce as long as she could.
Not five minutes later, the herald sounded the castles calling horn, signifying the Sun Princess’ return. The entire hall became deathly silent as the doors slowly opened and the first few guards entered. And behind them, regal as ever, came Celestia, her royal head held high, with a small saddle bag slung over her back.
The hall erupted into a cacophonous frenzy at the sight of her. Tears, hugs and an overall sense of victory and joy filled the hall and everypony’s soul.
All but one, that is.
Celestia smiled warmly at her ponies as she walked up the aisle to her throne. The smile didn’t reach her eyes however. Her eyes were tired, slightly sunken in with dark circles beneath them.
When she finally reached where Luna sat waiting, a false smile on her face, Celestia sighed with relief and exhaustion.
“It is good to see you again sister. Gathering the Elements of Harmony was not as easy as I had anticipated.”
She lifted the saddle bags off of her back and laid them in between the two thrones, the sounds of heavy stones clinking together and on the marble floor.
Luna raised an eyebrow. “So they do exist?”
“Indeed. Look here.”
Celestia opened the bags and levitated six circular stones out of them. “Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. The six Elements of Harmony!” As she listed them off, Celestia raised them above her head and presented them to the entire audience. “These are the tools that my sister and I will use to defeat Discord!”
The hall erupted with cheers and roars of agreement. Luna was shocked though. Had her sister just said that they would both use them against Discord? No. There was no way that she had meant that. Surely Celestia was planning on doing it by herself, as with everything she did. Besides, even if the elder sibling had meant it, there wasn’t a chance in the world that Luna would even consider going against her love.
But still...
“Sister,” She asked, her tone hushed so only Celestia would hear. “You really don’t mean to include me in this fight? Surely you are able to do this alone?”
Celestia shook her head, her mane flowing softly from an unfelt breeze.
“No Luna.” She answered. “While I gathered the Elements, I learned that no single pony is meant to use them. The more ponies using them, the greater the magic. And while it is possible for an alicorn, originally they were meant to be used by six different ponies, each chosen by a single Element for a certain trait, the six I mentioned earlier. But since there are only the two of us at the moment, it shall have to be us. ”
Celestia then turned to the rest of the hall.
“In just a few hours, my sister and I shall fly out, each holding three Elements each. And with them, overthrow the demon Discord, and restore peace and order to all of Equestria!”
The grand hall again erupted into a din of joyous shouts and cheers. All the while, Princess Luna worried more and more for her beloved Discord and his apparently doomed fate.
===
Discord scoffed and dismissed the mirror with a wave of his hand.
“She sure is full of herself isn’t she?” He asked no one in particular.
With a flap of his wings, he took off and settled into a cloud. “I mean, they’re nothing but rocks! What could she possibly hope to accomplish with them. The best that she could do with them is to fling them at me. HA!” His short bark of laughter echoed across the valley floor. “How simple. Well... no matter.” He summoned his hourglass. “Only a few more hours left until it’s all mine.”
A giant dragonfly flew past, a loud humming emanating from its wings. Discord caught it by its tail, chuckling evilly as the insect tried futilely to get away.
“What’s the hurry my friend?” Discords smile could have chilled the bones of an ice giant. “Don’t you want to play with me?”
Deep red lines springing up from under Discords’ hand began crawling up the body of the dragonfly, twisting and turning as they crept closer and closer to its wings and head.
“It’s awfully rude to just fly past someone and not even have the decency to say hello.”
His grip tightened on the bugs tail, which, coupled with the fiery lines inching up its body, caused the creature to writhe in agony.
The lines finally covered the dragonflies’ body, and it seemed to glow red for a moment before it turned black, and crumbled into ash beneath Discords hold.
“That’s what you get,” he said, watching the remains fall to the ground below.
“And now,” Discord wrapped his fingers behind his head, leaning back on the cloud and throwing one leg over the other. “I think I’ll take a nap, seeing as how I have some time to spare before utterly defeating Miss Primpy Princess.”
Giving another chuckle, Discord closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, confident that his time was near.