The night passed slowly for Discord. He drifted around the castle halls, keeping his eyes and ears open for the Madgod’s next move. It would only be a matter of time before another pony would be possessed and disposed of. The abomination was going to do whatever he could to prevent that from happening, even if it meant an all-out magical brawl. The whole night passed in relative peace, the residents in their beds, and the body of Aegis lying in the infirmary, waiting to be buried the following evening.
Despite his wanderings, the draconequus was fortunate enough to not cross paths with the sociopathic murderer. When he finally did decide to catch some Z’s, he found his room oddly active. Though nothing seemed to stir, an odd presence filled his mind as he rested in the bed. It took mere minutes for the beast to realize he was being played with by the Daedric prince, and decided it best to stay away from his chambers.
A sleepless night cursed Discord. A sleepless night full of anger and regret. If only he’d spoken up before the dinner, when that inkling of dread first started to form, then maybe Aegis could’ve been saved. But he didn’t, and now the guard captain was dead. Not only that, but everypony that had been in the dining hall witnessed his death. Not to mention the cheese that could’ve potentially injured the guests. The worst part of it all was that only he was aware of what exactly had caused the whole mess.
As his mind drifted to and fro, a sad realization dawned on him. Assuming the Elements were going to leave town on schedule, he only had three days to put a stop to Sheogorath’s antics, otherwise leaving him in Canterlot to wreak his havoc unchecked. A feeling of utter sorrow filled the draconequus’s thoughts as the possibility of the Madgod’s domination flashed before him.
Before he even noticed it, the sun started to rise in the sky, blanketing the whole castle in a comforting orange glow. Something about the light helped his nerves settle, much more appealing than the black of night. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Celestia was safe, still controlling the sun, out of the Madgod’s reach.
Or was she?
What would stop Sheogorath from possessing the Princess of Sun? If he could break Aegis’s mind and take the body by force, why couldn’t he do the same to Celestia? Or Luna? Or the Elements? Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie, all of them could be in danger.
The only thing between the Ex-Prince of Madness and the most powerful ponies in the world was Discord’s own power. And if that power turned out to be too weak, what then? What would keep the humanoid from driving the whole world insane? The master of chaos was not willing to stand by and wait to find out.
Sheogorath had mentioned feeling his ‘aura’ before to track him. Why couldn’t he do the same to the Madgod? Focusing as hard as he could, Discord tried to feel the auras of the ponies in the castle. After straining for several moments, a foreign feeling glazed over him. It was different from most other ponies, filled with either sorrow or comfort. This aura was more sporadic, not staying on one emotion for too long. It switched between disturbed and calm every few seconds.
The draconequus snapped his claws, warping to the strange aura’s general location. Just around the corner on a suit of armor sat Sheogorath, whistling a jolly tune into a mirror. The humanoid glanced quickly in Discord’s direction, letting a smile stretch across his face. He murmured something inaudible to the beast, who decided to fly closer. Seeing an odd, deceitful glint in the murderer’s eyes set something off in the abomination’s mind.
He growled…
…
It was a good night for Sheogorath. He’d ruffled a few feathers—both literally and metaphorically speaking—and obtained his first kill in the pony world. He left a certain guard without a brother, the party guests a few scarring memories, and his old friend with a due sense of threat. Honestly, he couldn’t have asked for more. His idyllic dinner party scenario had played out. Well, except there hadn’t been any Skooma involved. Nor were there any concubines.
Actually, thinking about it, the dinner party had been horrible! He hadn’t even been able to eat any cheese! There wasn’t any wine. In fact, nopony really got to witness the power of the Eidar Cheese Rain spell he had crafted for special occasions. They were all hiding under the table like frightened little kittens! He hated kittens! And he hated when people feared him! He’d rather be adored as a demon than feared as a cheese-obsessed pony.
In fact, no one knew it had been his spell. They all pegged it on Aegis. Except for Discord, who actually knew he existed. No, he needed to send a clearer message to the citizens of Equestria that he was coming to take control. He wanted to be fear-dored. Or was it a-feared? At any rate, he wanted renown! He needed to be heard!
He wanted to shatter minds. But you can’t simply shatter minds willy-nilly. No, there’s an art to it. You start with the important people. You make their loved ones suffer through the loss of them, then shatter each relation systematically. Once all the relations are gone, you focus on the world-renown mortals. Once everyone misses the old them, you spread the madness through them.
Yes. He’d already removed one important pony. The pony did have a brother.
So the next target was set. Aegis’s brother would be the next to go. Then it would be time to take his game further. First the guard, and then the world! Or perhaps just an Element. Yes. The pink pony looked like an already-insane creature. Perhaps she would be up to getting her body possessed. He hated to consider posing as a woman, but it would be a necessary sacrifice for his ultimate plan.
Sheogorath replayed his late-night musings through his head as he stared into his own eyes. Sitting comfortably atop a suit of pony armor, using the helm as admittedly-poor lumbar support, he focused into a mirror on the wall. A mirror—which, incidentally, he had conjured—reflected the demonic aura in his eyes, doubling its twisted emotions to anypony that could actually sense them.
Conveniently, just as he noticed his eyes’ intensity, a familiar aura surrounded him. None other than Discord, naturally, was floating gently just around the corner, spying at the Madgod during his down time. He adopted a wide grin as he glanced in the abomination’s direction. Then muttered, intentionally too low for his friend to hear, “You look a bit scared, Chaos.”
With that, the beast darted to his side, an angry shine in his eyes. His face was contorted into an intense scowl. He growled…
…
“Who do plan on murdering next, you sociopathic cretin?”
Sheogorath pondered the question with an indifferent expression on both his faces. He laughed, “How nice of you to consider my feelings, old friend! I haven’t really decided yet.”
The draconequus groaned, “I just don’t get it…”
“Get what?” The Madgod cocked an eyebrow, certain he knew what Discord was referring to. He snickered, “Why would I, a Daedric prince capable of limitless magical feats, decide to torment a world full of peace-loving quadrupeds?”
“Exactly!” his companion snapped.
Without looking away from the mirror, the Ex-Prince of Madness chuckled, “Because it’s fun, Discord. There’s no other reason.” He stroked his beard once before punching the mirror on the wall, his face twisting into a frown. He growled, “There’s no reasoning with Madness! Dementia is the master of a mind! When he wants blood, he’ll get blood!” The Madgod’s fist loosened, the glass shards falling like glitter. He continued with a chuckle, “And when Mania wants a joke, she gets a joke. That’s how it always works. That’s how it’ll always be.”
Discord’s heart skipped a beat as he watched the severity of the mood shifts the Madgod underwent so frequently. He shuttered at the thought of what Dementia-powered magic could do. The abomination sighed, “Can’t you find some other world to plague with your curse?”
“My curse? What curse? You think Madness is a curse?!” The Madgod launched from his armor-chair, a staff appearing in his hand, the blunt end pointing directly at his companion’s face. The ball of the blunt end let out an eerie black glow, reminiscent of a Black Soul Gem.
Discord assumed an offensive stance, his claws ready to conjure up whatever magic they could. He groaned, “And you think it isn’t! The day before yesterday you were all happy-go-lucky about cheese! Last night you killed a pony! And now you’re threatening me with magic! If you want a fight, you’ll get one, Madgod!”
Sheogorath lowered his staff, his muscles relaxing. The ball of magic dissipated as he sat back down on the armor. He sighed, “Forgive me, old friend. The longer I stay without my full power, the worse the Dementia takes over. My metaphysical existence is causing my anger to flourish, while my excitement seems to be dwindling.” He looked deep into his own eyes in the shattered mirror. “Perhaps once I gain a worthy body, my Mania will come back to full power.”
Discord scoffed, “Maybe if you went to a world with more powerful creatures, you wouldn’t have that problem!”
“A Daedric prince never gives up their mark. The last time Nocturnal did it, his eye was stolen and my champion had to get it back!” He wiped a shard of glass from his eyebrow before laughing, “And my mark is Equestria. You can keep the other provinces. But this will be the new location of New Sheoth! Ponyville can be my new Xedillian! I can already see it! Thousands of tourists will meet their ends in the once-innocent little village!”
Discord lashed out a claw in anger. He roared, “You’re absolutely insane! Do you expect me to just let you take over Equestria?”
Sheogorath yawned, “I grow tired of these quarrels. I have a pony to possess. If you’ll pardon me!” Before his companion could object, he was gone.
Discord groaned, “Don’t you dare harm another pony, you bipedal monstrosity!”
Lost in his rage, the abomination continued to think about all the possibilities of the Madgod’s mindset. After what felt like hours of floating in place with claws clenched in frustration, he was ripped from his emotions by a familiar, more comforting voice.
“What’s wrong Discord?”
Twilight Sparkle stood not an inch from the draconequus, looking back and forth between him and the shattered mirror. Not sure how to explain the damage, he simply sighed, “I’ve been under the weather as of late. I’ll fix it and be on my way.”
The unicorn cocked her head to the side and asked, “Fix what?”
Slightly confused, Discord did a double take toward the glass fixture on the wall. Upon his second inspection, he noticed it was entirely unscathed. He groaned, “As I said, I’ve been under the weather. I was certain that mirror was broken…”
“I think you could use a nap,” she giggled. Then her face fell serious and she lowered her gaze as she continued, “Are you going to the funeral?”
With a blank look on his face, Discord repeated, “Funeral? What funeral?”
“For Aegis, of course! You remember what happened last night, don’t you?”
The fire in his gut ignited again as the memory of the cheese rain appeared vivid again. He groaned, “Of course I do. I suppose I’ll be there, though I didn’t really know the fella…”
Twilight smiled warmly and sighed, “Let’s go. The service starts soon…”
With that, the two were off to the throne room where the funeral service would be held. Though Discord’s mind was set anywhere but remembrance for the Madgod’s first victim, he decided that such a gathering was the perfect place for the murderer’s next strike. Sheogorath had said he was going to possess another pony, and that he could only take willing bodies and crazy ponies. Something about the phrase ‘willing bodies’ made it echo in the abomination’s ears at that moment.
And then it occurred to him why…