Okage: In the Shadow of Discord

by Final Resistance

The Boy Meets the King

“Hmm hmm hmm…Da da da.” An earth mare sings in her kitchen while watching a pot of water boil. “I am a super mom and a wonderful wife.” She sways back and forth to her tune, adding ingredients as she goes. She moves from the pot to a cutting board. With quick swings of her knife, she slices through bundles of hay in front of her.

Suddenly the door to the kitchen opens, revealing a young mare of about 13 years. Her fur a light pink and a mane with messy pink curls. She bounces into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face and a question in her head. “Hey mom! What’s for dinner?”

The mother stops her tune to look at her young daughter bouncing around. She giggles before answering her daughter’s question. “Pinkie, we just had lunch. You will burst your small frame if you keep eating like that.”

Pinkie’s bouncing stops as she looks to her mother. “Oh come on, Mom. It smells so good. Please tell me tell me. Me and Ari are both hungry.”

The door opens again to reveal a stallion of 16 years of age. His fur the color of wheat and well-kept mane sways with his movements.. He walks in much more calmly then his sister and looks to their mother.

“I tried to stop her, mom. I know you are busy with dinner.”

Pinkie’s frustration begins to slip to the surface. “Come on, Mom. Can you just please tell us what we are having? Is it stew? Is it hayburgers?”

The mother puts her hand to her chin as she thinks about what to say. She could tell them exactly what they are having but that would be too easy. A mischievous smile crosses her face. She looks to her son. “Well, what do you think dinner is, Ari?”

“Uhh…” Ari starts to weigh the options his sister put out and looks around the room. There is a pot sitting on the stove, so stew is a good possibility. However, she is cutting hay over on the cutting board so she could be making hayburgers too. He looks to his mother for help but only sees her smiling face. “I’m saying…stew.”

The mother’s smile never falters as she looks to her children. “Well…” She pauses to build up the suspense for the two children. Both were leaning in close to hear her reply: the girl, to hear what she will be eating later, and the boy, to see if he had guessed correctly. “It’s a secret!”

“Oh come on, Mom!” Pinkie throws her hands up in frustration from being tricked so easily. Ari breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that even though he may not have guessed right, it would be revealed later and by then, most will have forgotten.

Suddenly, the mother’s ears perk up. “Oh, Ari. I almost forgot. Your father brought home a strange bottle last night. We set it over there on the table.” She points to a pink and green bottle sitting on the kitchen table. Both children approach the bottle and begin to examine it. The bottle has a thin neck but the body of it is wide. It has jewels set in the side of it and two handles on each side. “We tried to get the cap off, but no matter how hard we pulled, it just wouldn’t give.”

Ari examines the cap on the bottle. The cap looks about the same as the rest of the bottle and doesn’t have any special seals to hold it in place. He picks up the bottle and starts to pull slightly on the cap. It doesn’t budge, so he starts pull with all his strength. The cap still doesn’t yield and stays firmly on top of the bottle. Ari places it back on the table.

“See? It’s just so strange to see a bottle like this.” The mother becomes lost in her own thoughts.

“Mom!” Pinkie yells, bringing the mother back to reality. “It’s pointless to have a bottle we can’t open! We should just throw it away!”

“Hmm…what should we do?” The mother starts to think of the options she has. Suddenly she claps her hands together. “Oh, that reminds me! I forgot to pick up bread in town! I can’t leave—I’m busy cooking.”

Ari slowly raises his hand. “Well I could…”

“I would, Mom, but darn it—I have a test in school tomorrow. I can’t go and sacrifice my education, now, can I?” Pinkie interrupts.

“I suppose you shouldn’t throw away your education.” She looks to Ari and his hand, slightly in the air. “Ok Ari, I need you to pick up bread for me at the bakery in the village. They will just put it on our tab so all you have to do is pick it up. Thank you.” With that she returns to the pot on the stove.

Ari leaves the kitchen and makes his way towards the front door. Before he reaches it, though, a voice calls out to him. “Ari!” He turns and sees his grandparents sitting in the living room together. His grandfather waves him over and Ari approaches the old stallion. “’Afternoon, Ari. Where are you going on such a nice day?” His grandfather asks with a smile.

Ari returns the smile before answering. “Mom forgot bread, so she is sending me to pick it up.”

The grandfather chuckles and shakes his head. “Oh, your mother can be quite an air head sometimes. She always just acts on the moment. She went on an adventure when she was young and met your father. They both traveled around and saw the world before returning here.”

The grandfather looks Ari in the eyes. Those old eyes have seen so many things and are still filled with so much life. “I also went on adventure when I was young. It’s how I met your grandmother.” He slides his hand into the hand of his lifelong partner. “Adventuring is in our blood, Ari. Never forget that. Now you better get off to town before dinner is done.”

Ari nods his head. “Ok Grandpa. I’ll see you two later!” Ari races out of the house. His Grandparents watch him as he leaves.

The grandmother decides to speak up. “He’s a good kid.”

Ari exits the house and enters the warm embrace of the sun on a nice day. He looks around and sees the old fountain out front. He remembers many good times with that fountain. Now it sits there without any water. He turns and makes his way towards some steps when he runs into his sister.

“So, what’s for dinner?” Ari shakes his head. “Aww!! Come on, tell me!”

“What happened to your homework, Pinkie?” Ari asks.

“Homework?” She asks with confusion. Then she suddenly jumps. “Whoops, never mind. I better finish it soon. I have a twilight date with Snowflake before dinner.” She runs her fingers through her curly hair to break any tangles. “To polish my feminine airs, I have to build up experience while I am young. Well, at least that’s what the book said…” Pinkie starts to rub her chin in thought.

Ari raises an eyebrow to this. “What kind of book says that?”

“It’s Mom’s book. I think the name was…Controlling Guys Made Easy.” She starts to bounce away. “Enjoy your errand, Ari! La da da, hmm hmm hmm,” she sings, as she bounces toward the house.

Ari just shakes his head and makes his way down the stone steps. At the bottom is a huge set of gates leading to the road. His father put a spell on the gates to open whenever a family member walks up to them. So as Ari approaches, the gates begin to squeak and creak as they open. The old hinges grind, begging to be oiled and cleaned. After opening, Ari steps out on the road and makes his way to the town.

The town was founded inside the Everfree Forest. The place is known to have monsters but nothing comes near the town, making it a nice place to live. As Ari reaches the town gates, he sees two boys from the town standing there: Snips and his best friend, Snails. They both seem to be in thought as Ari approaches them. “Hmm…Applebloom, Sweetiebelle, or Scootaloo?” Snips says to himself.

Ari decides to speak up. “What’s wrong?” Voicing his question towards Snips. He is the brighter of the two.

Snips jumps in surprise. “WA?! Oh, it’s you Ari. When did you show up? I didn’t even notice you.” Snips says while clutching his chest.

“Ari, you look real gloomy. Did you hear the circus is coming to the field close to town tomorrow night?” Snails says in his dull voice.

Ari looks at the nearby field and can see several tents being put up. A smile creeps onto his face seeing all the strange characters the circus has to offer. “Sounds like fun!”

“I-I-I’m definitely gonna ask Trixie out this time! I-I-I will do it! Trixie and I will go out on a romantic date and everything!” Snails stutters as he speaks. He pumps his fist into the air to emphasize his point.

“I’m just struggling with who I should ask out. Ari, why don’t you ask somepony out too? It’s the circus, after all!” Snips says.

Ari nods. “Just gotta narrow down my list.” Ari says, with sarcasm.

Snails decides to mock Ari not noticing the sarcasm. “HA! I bet he doesn’t have the guts to ask a girl out. Ha ha ha, chicken!” Snips decides to join in on his friend’s laughter.

Ari just shakes his head and continues into the town. Leaving the two laughing colts to their fun. As he enters, he sees a sign that has been there as long as he can remember. The paint has worn away with time but its greeting is still loud and clear. Whenever somepony visits the town they always get a picture with it.

Near the sign, a familiar face greets him. A childhood friend who always stood out and made sure she did. She wore clothing that made her the center of attention whenever she entered a room. Ari decides to greet her.

“Hi Trixie!” His voice full of enthusiasm.

The unicorn continues to stare off into the sky. No acknowledgement of his existence. Her face is blank and her eyes glazed over.

“Trixie? Are you all right?” He asks with concern.

Again, no response, just more staring. Ari reaches to touch her shoulder when her head snaps down and her eyes meet his. “Oh, hello Ari. Sorry, Trixie was just daydreaming. Hey, did you know the circus is coming to town?”

Ari nods. “Yeah, just found out, actually.”

Then there is a silence between the two before Trixie speaks up. “…well? Aren’t you going to ask The Great and Powerful Trixie to go with you?” She asks with annoyance.

“Oh yeah sorry.” Ari rubs the back of his head. “So…wanna go to the circus with me, Trixie?”

Trixie sighs and shakes her head. “Sorry. Somepony else already asked me. If you had asked earlier…um…sometime soon, I…I need to tell you something important…uh…I have to go. Trixie shall see you later.” Trixie runs away and Ari can see a blush on her face.

Ari sighs in defeat and makes his way to the bakery. As he walks through the town, he can see many stores have closed for the day. The water has disappeared recently, so not many places can stay open without the water supply. He hears whispers from the people he passes talking about ghosts and the water problems being related to one another.
Ari puts the problems in the back of his mind. He can’t bring the water back or deal with ghosts. He just wants to get the bread for his mother and head home quickly. Ari reaches the bakery and opens the door. The smell of fresh bread rushes into his nose. Behind the counter sits a pudgy earth mare. Her light blue coat contrasts with her wild pink mane.

“Lalalalalalalalala, lalalalalalalala.” She sings behind the counter.

“Excuse me.” Ari tries to get her attention.

“lalalalalalalalala, lalalalalalalala.” The mare continues to sing behind the counter.

“Hello?” Ari asks slightly louder this time.

The mare whips around startling Ari. “Huh? Oh it’s you, Ari.” She starts to shake a large wooden spoon at his face. “Don’t I always tell you? A stallion should speak up!”

Ari nods, never taking his eyes off the spoon in front of him. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good boy. You’re here to pick up the bread, right?” She reaches under the counter and pulls out a loaf of fresh bread. “Here you are!” She hands Ari the bread and he takes it.

With Trixie’s words still floating around inside his head, he only manages a half-hearted “Thank you.”

The mare puts a hand on Ari’s shoulder. “Anything bothering you?” Ari shakes his head and puts on a fake smile. “Come on; keep your chin up, boy. Girls like the assertive ones, you know!” She turns around and goes back to her previous task.

Ari makes his way towards the door before he is cut off by the baker’s husband. He is tall and skinny but has a heart of gold. “Don’t worry too much about what she said, Ari. She has a sharp tongue but she really does care about you.” Ari looks up and puts on a genuine smile. “There we go.” He walks away and Ari leaves the bakery.

The sun was starting to set when Ari left the bakery and ran into Pinkie. “Hey, Ari! Are you done with those errands?” Ari nods. “Okay, then let’s go home! I think dinner should be ready about now.”

Pinkie notices the sad expression on her brother’s face. “What’s wrong? Did the bakery mare give you another lecture?”

“No, not really…” Ari says.

Pinkie sighs. “Ari, you’re the type that…blends into someone else’s shadow. At least there is someone that sees some good in you.” Pinkie leans in close to Ari’s ear. “For instance…Trixie.” The name causes Ari’s face to flash red. Pinkie giggles at her brother’s response and pokes his shoulder. “You lucky stallion!”

All of the family was gathered in the living room around the strange bottle the father had brought home. The grandparents sat on the couch enjoying the family time while everyone else looked at the bottle.

The father was the one examining it the most. He was a light brown unicorn and had a fascination with strange objects. He picks up the bottle rotating it to examine each of its features. “Hmm… this crest, if I remember correctly…”

The mother giggled at his actions. “Your father is crazy about that bottle! He really loves antiques.” She goes back to watching her husband drool over the object if front of him. She claps her hands together. “Oh, I remember something! The circus is in the field outside the village tonight!” She looks to her children. “Why don’t you two go and have some fun?”

Pinkie jumps up and down with excitement. “All right, Ma, see you later!” She makes a move to leave when her mother stops her.

“Pinkie, you shouldn’t go out at night alone. Go with your brother.” Her voice is full of concern.

“Don’t worry! Snowflake is picking me up!” She continues to bounce in a circle, singing to herself. “La di da, I have a date tonight!”

Pinkie races out of the room. “Oh Pinkie…a boy is picking you up?” Her mother calls after quietly. “You’ve grown up so much. I’m so happy for her.” She gushes.

Ari makes a move to leave when his father calls to him. “Ari, my son. Let’s talk for a bit.”

Ari is shaken at a prospect of a talk with his father. He knows how long his father draws on a conversation.

“Ari look at this symbol on the top here. If my theory is correct is the symbol of the rainbow tailed rat that only comes out on certain full moons…” The father says as he looks over the bottle.

“Uh dad?” Ari tries to interrupt.

“All we need to do is…then we find a rare flower…then a sword that went missing 200 years ago…” His father is now lost in thought.

“Dad?” Ari tries again but his father rambles on and on. Ari decides the best thing to do is wait it out.

“Then it’s just simple quantum mechanics. Did you get all that, Ari?” His father finally finished with his explanation.

Ari had stopped listening hours ago but nods his head. “Yeah, Dad, I got it.”

His father smiles in approval. “That’s my boy. Oh, the circus is in town right? Go have some fun!” Ari doesn’t wait for another word. He dashes out the front door and races down the steps. He follows the road to the field.

Both Snails and Trixie leave the big circus tent. As they approach, Snails waves to Ari. “Hey Ari, you missed the whole show. It was awesome! There was fire, clowns, and all types of wild animals. You’re such a dork for missing out.”

Trixie doesn’t say a word and just stares at Ari.

Snail decides to move onto the next phase of his plan. “Hey Trixie, I know a play with a great view. Let’s go.”

Both walk off, but Trixie looks over her shoulder to Ari, standing in defeat.

Ari decides to walk up to the pudgy stallion standing at the opening of the tent. “Ahh, time for a nice drink after a successful show.” He notices Ari walking up. “Sorry kid, the show’s over.” The man studies Ari. “Anypony ever tell you that you have an overshadowed personality?”

Ari rolls his eyes. “Thank you bringing that up.”

The stallion put up his hands. “All right, I was just messing with you. Seriously though, watch out for ghosts around here this time of night. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a nice bottle of wine calling my name.” The stallion walked off to a nearby trailer.

Ari rubs the back of his head and stretches. “Well, guess I can’t do anything now. Might as well head back.” Ari follows the road home and notices two ponies talking ahead. One he could see was his sister and the other was her, date Snowflake. They seem to be arguing, so Ari decides to sneak closer and listen in.

As he approaches, he hears his sister scream. “Omigod!!”

“Oh noooooooo! It-it-it’s a ghost! It’s a ghost!” Snowflake screams as he runs away.

“Coward,” Ari says under his breath as he rushes to his sister’s aid. She is lying on the ground with the ghost close by. As Ari rushes forward, the ghost becomes frightened and makes a break for it down the path.

Ari’s father appears at the end of the path causing the ghost to make its way through the woods instead. The father rushes to his children’s side. “What’s wrong?! What’s going on?!” He sees Pinkie lying on the ground. “Pinkie? Pinkie! Open your eyes, Pinkie!”

It has been a few hours since the attack on Pinkie. She had been moved to her bed and a doctor had been called to treat her wounds. He worked fast and told us the wounds are not too bad. The real problem was Pinkie was cursed by the ghost. Ari was waiting in the living room while the doctor tended to his little sister.

“I should have been there. I’m her big brother, and I let her down,” Ari whispered to himself. He hears a door close upstairs and sees the doctor leaving. “Doctor, is my sister going to be alright?”

He sighs and speaks slowly. “I have done all I can. The wounds aren’t the problem but something else the ghost did.”

“What did it do?”

“It’s best you hear it from your parents.” The doctor gave Ari a pat on the shoulder and left. Ari slowly makes his way up the stairs thinking about what a ghost could have done to his little sister. He entered the room to find the rest of the family had already gathered.

His father looks to see who has entered and waves his hand to bring Ari in. “Son…Pinkie is…she’s.”

“Oh, Pinkie, my poor baby girl,” Mother says in a sad tone.

“My granddaughter…my granddaughter,” says Grandpa. Grandma just stood next to him silently.

Ari approaches the bed to see his sister. She looks about the same as any other time but something felt off. Suddenly, Pinkie spoke. “…Atwhay appenedhay otay emay?”

Ari draws back. “Wa…what happed to her?”

Grandpa answers, “Pinkie is —she’s…under the curse of pig Latin!”

“What is that?” Ari asks.

“It’s a dreadful curse in which you can only speak in pig Latin.” Grandpa answers. “The victim skips the first consonant of a word and adds it to the end with an ‘ay’!!' Oh Pinkie, you poor little thing!”

Pinkie speaks again in the strange language. “I, asway tackeday ybay a hostgay! Rotherbay, elphay, emay! I amay alkingtay llay eirdway!”

Father shakes his head. “The pig Latin curse…I use to play it often for fun when I was little.”

Grandpa perks up. “Oh me too, I used to speak in pig Latin. Like, oodgay orningmay.”

“Guys, Pinkie is in trouble!” Ari practically shouts.

“Ari is right everypony! If we don’t do something soon, Pinkie will become some comic relief girl, not a precocious pretty princess! This is horrible!” Mother wails.

Pinkie tries to sit up. “I ontday antway otay ebay a omiccay eliefray irlgay!”

“What should we do? How can we break the ghost’s curse?” Grandpa asks.

“We need to figure something out. My little Pinkie will become comic relief…Oh no, what a tragedy!” Mother is almost crying.

Father walks forward, shaking his head. “Even the doctor condemned her…as incurable. Damn…there is only one thing we can do!” Father makes his way to the door before calling the rest to follow. “Everypony, follow me! I have an idea.”

“Where are we going?” Grandpa asks.

“To the basement, Father. The key to saving Pinkie is there. I just know it.” Father turns to Ari. “Ari, help us out, ok?”

Ari nods. “Yes, Dad.”

His father looks to him with a serious expression. “To save your dearest sister, are you willing to put your body and soul on the line?”

Ari nods again. “Yes, Dad.”

Mother decided to speak up this time. “Honey, the doctor said that it won’t endanger Pinkie’s life.”

Father looks to her. “Oh yeah? Well, you’ll do it anyway, Son! For your sister! You will bear anything even if it is hard, painful, or unbearable, won’t you?”

Ari lets the pride of a big brother drive his decision. “Yes I will!”

Father looks surprised. “Huh? Good, excellent! That’s the spirit, my boy! I found something really amazing the other day, so everypony, follow me!”

Everyone is now standing in the basement. They stand in a circle around the bottle Ari’s father found the previous day. It sits in the middle of a magic circle that has been drawn on the floor.

Ari’s father speaks up. “Now that everypony is here, I can explain. This bottle I found the other day…it hold the power to change destinies.” He point to the bottle dramatically. “Behold the legendary vessel! It’s Pollack’s Bottle, I’m sure of it! Isn’t it amazing?”

Ari looks at the bottle in amazement. “Wow…”

“Wow! What do I get to wish for?” Mother begins to ponder what she wants.

“Pollack was a person who existed several hundreds of years ago. Legends say that he obtained the power to change a pony’s fate and hid it in this bottle.” Father explained.

Ari is amazed again by the story.

Grandpa decides to voice his suspicions. “Son, I hate to say this but this sounds very suspicious.”

Father claps his hands together and looks to grandpa. “Well father, seeing is believing! I knew something like this would happen, so I drew my own magic circle a while ago. I will call upon that great power that changes fates.”

They give each other skeptical looks but move to the edges of the room. “Now we begin.” Father gets into position and starts to perform a strange dance. “We call upon a power forlorn, to issue forth and be reborn. We beckon you our honored guest, To be present and grant us our request. We before your majesty kneel. Grace us now, your true self reveal!” Father sings. In the back of his mind, though, he questions if he remembered the chant correctly.

After he performs the last of the moves, he moves to the side of the room and watches the bottle. For several seconds the family waits and stares at the bottle. Then a bright light appears in the circle, blinding everypony in the room.

As the light dims, they slowly open their eyes to see a strange sight. A small dragon standing in the center of the room. He wears a suit similar to a butler. He adjusts his tie before addressing everypony in the room. “Oh, at last, at last! The time has come for my great master to revive!” He looks at each member of the family before giving a small bow. “I am his chaos butler. The name is Spike. Nice to meet you, everypony! Now let me do the introductions!” He steps to the side of the bottle and clears his throat. He holds out a hand addressing the bottle.

“The chaos king who presides wickedly over all chaos and malevolence everywhere…Lord Discord Chaos Disorderly XIV!” Spike announces.

“C-chaos King?” Mother’s voice shakes.

“Huh? This is strange” Father says as he scratches his head.

The bottle suddenly starts to bounce up and down. A voice begins to speak from inside. “Ahem! You may call me Chaos King, Discord! I am pure Chaos! Let my malevolence and sheer chaos awe and terrify you!” The family members shake a little at the voice coming from the bottle.

“Now, foolish ponies, answer me! Why have you summoned me?!” The voice demands.

No one speaks in the room; all were trembling with fear. Ari takes it upon himself to answer. “W-We need a favor from you.”

Father steps up quickly to elaborate on his son’s statement. “Let me explain as the family head. We have a favor to ask. We want you to save the life of my child! My daughter Pinkie…is under the curse of a ghost and is on her death bed!”

“Um, there’s nothing wrong with her life, though…” Grandpa says.

“Anyway, we would like you to break the ghost’s curse on my daughter!” Mother shouts.

The voice in the bottle answers them. “A ghost? Oh, one of those lower-class chaos beings. That’s all? Fine, that’s easy. But you must know, in order to benefit from me, the chaos king…one of you must make a chaos agreement with me…and serve as my slave, servant, and follower.”

“Is that true?” Father asks.

“Oh so very true.” The voice from the bottle mocks.

The whole family sits in silence staring at the bottle. Father clears his throat before speaking. “All right. If that’s what we need to do…to save my baby girl, I can…I will sell my soul ten times over!”

“Well, I…I’ll sell mine, too!” Mother adds.

“Yep mine too!” Grandpa shouts. Grandma nods her approval. All eyes turn to Ari.

“Well son?” Father asks.

Ari puts a hand to his chest and shouts. “I will too!”

Everypony smiles at him. “Excellent! You’re a brave boy, son! You going to embark on such an interesting…I mean a difficult and honorable burden! God, I’m so proud to have a brave son!”

Spike claps his claws together to get everponies attention. “Okay! It seems we have all come to an agreement! Now, everypony, could you stand in line here?” He points to wall. “We are going to judge everpony’s shadow.”

We all line up against the wall before Spike continues. “…Three-hundred years ago, the great chaos king Gohma destroyed half the world; however, he was defeated by a hero. Lord Discord, who graces us with his chaos presence today…is the reincarnation of and the successor to the Great Chaos King Gohma!”

The bottle bounces again and the voice inside is filled with glee. “Yes, I have waited in this bottle for 300 years due to some deplorable error. At last, my powers of revival have been accumulated! All due to my endurance and effort! Oh, how great am I!” A mocking laugh erupts from the bottle.

Spike claps his hands together in applause and urges us to do the same. “That’s my master! However, master’s power is only a fraction of what it once was. Until his revival is complete, he must borrow a pony shadow. Since it will be Master haunting it, the shadow must be top class. Only the best for my master.”

With a snap of his fingers, two ghosts appear. “I invited two shadow experts to help with the judging.” With another snap of his fingers, a microphone appears. “We are about to begin, the first Discord Cup Shadow Contest! Stallions and Mares…Start casting!”

Each family member is put in front of the ghosts to be judged. Each is judged to be unfit by the ghosts and stands aside for another to take their place. It is now Ari’s mom’s turn.

The ghosts go up and down, back and forth, and give their verdict to Spike.

“Oh, madam, it’s a near miss! There seems to be a slight problem with your figure. The judges apologize. You would have been perfect 5 years ago.” He bows slightly. “Personally, I believe you are perfect!”

The mother steps out of the judging circle breathing a sigh of relief for not being chosen. Spike holds the microphone to his mouth as he announces the next contestant. “And now let me introduce the son, Ari!”

Ari takes a deep breath as he enters the circle. The ghosts begin their inspection of his shadow with great haste. They go over every detail looking for any flaws. For several minutes, they inspect the shadow before giving their verdict to Spike. “Wow! It’s-It’s a surprise! Ari has won over all of the judges! They have given him excellent marks! He has a perfect score!” Spike turns to the “crowd”.

“The first Discord Shadow Cup victory goes to…Ari! Congratulations! Congratulations!” Spike and all family members begin to clap for Ari.

“You did it!” His mother shouted.

“I am so proud of you, boy!” His grandfather exclaimed.

“Well done Ari! I always believed in you!” The Father was jumping with excitement.

Out of the bottle rises a dark ball of energy. It floats in front of Ari for several seconds before slamming into the boy’s shadow. The shadow becomes darker than before and the shadow begins to crawl into the air. As it stretches, it starts to take shape. Mismatched horns extend from the top along with two ears. Ari falls onto his flank as two miss matched yellow eyes open up and stare at him. A toothy grin spreads across the shadow’s face as two arms extend from either side. The new shadow creature stretches and inspects its new form.

The shadow begins to laugh. “Oh yes, this is indeed an impressive shadow. Yes, this will do very nicely.” His gaze shifts to the young stallion in front of him. He reaches out with one of his hands and causes Ari to flinch. The creatures hand hovers over Ari’s head and come down slowly to pat him. “Hmm, your name was Ari right? Well, from now on, you will be my servant and subordinate!”

The shadow pumps a hand into the air. “Are you ready?”

Before Discord can continue, Father interrupts. “Enough about that. What about my daughter, Pinkie??”

Discord lifts a hand to his chin and scratches. “Oh, I almost forgot about that.” He removes his hand from his chin and raises it into the air. “Now let me show you the power of Chaos King Discord! Take me to her.”

Everypony and creature leaves the basement and heads up to Pinkie’s room. The door is opened to reveal the mare still sleeping in her bed. Ari approaches and Discord examines her. “Hmm…this curse should be easy enough to remove. Stand back, everypony.” Discord raises a hand into the air and snaps his fingers. A trail of energy leaves his finger tips and makes its way to the sleeping Pinkie.

The magic slowly moves down her body, covering her in a soft glow. Dark spots appear on her skin and are enveloped by Discord’s energy. One by one, each spot disappears, leaving behind nothing more than the soft glow of magic. Soon, all spots are gone and the glow disappears from Pinkie.

“Well, that’s all. Wake up, mare!” Discord commands.

Pinkie’s eyes slowly open and gaze at everypony in the room. She slowly rises from her bed and stands in front of her entire family. “What happened to me?” Suddenly realization struck her. “Oh my god, I’m cured! I can speak like a normal pony again!” She began to bounce around with joy.

Mother has tears streaming down her face. “Pinkie, I’m so glad you’re all right!”

Father has tears streaming down his face, as well. “Oh Pinkie! Ha ha ha, I’m so glad!”

Grandpa steps forward. “Are you alright, Pinkie?” His gaze slowly moves down to see a strange sight. “Pinkie, your shadow…”

Pinkie’s bouncing stops at her Grandfather’s words. “My shadow? What about it?” Pinkie looks down and sees a horrible sight. “My shadow turned pink! I can’t believe it!”

Discord laughs uneasily. “Whoops, it appears I made a slight miscalculation.”

Pinkie throws her arms into the air. “I can’t go outside with a shadow like this! I’ll never get married! What am I supposed to do!”

Discord is fed up with Pinkie’s whining. “Shut up. As promised, I broke the curse. I never said I wouldn’t turn your shadow pink!”

Spike claps his hands for Discord. “That’s my master! Your logic is wonderfully chaotic! Oh I’m so proud to serve such a master of Chaos!”

Pinkie grabs her head and begins shaking it violently. “Why me? Why my shadow? Oh noooooooooo!”

Ari is running and running through darkness trying to escape the mocking laughter behind him, each step taking him closer and closer to salvation. Until the shadowy face of Discord pops up, stopping Ari in his tracks. The shadow laughs at him and closes in. Ari tries to get away and find himself falling.

*CRASH!*

“Ow.” Ari had fallen from his bed to the floor, waking him from his nightmare. He looks at the shadow on the ground. He stomps it a few times but gets no reaction. He begins to dance, but still nothing from the shadow. He shrugs his shoulders and heads down to the kitchen. He finds his mother singing to herself.

“Oh, good morning, Ari. Would you like some breakfast?” Her smile drops when she sees her son’s face. “You look pale, honey.”

“Yeah, I had a nightmare last night.” Ari said.

“Oh, poor baby. It’s a nice day outside today. Put that nightmare behind you and go outside.” She returns to her singing.

Ari takes her words to heart and steps out the front door. He walks into the sun light and stretches as far as he can. His muscles release their tension and his bones pop. “Hmm…that felt good.”

He looks up at the clear blue sky and laughs at himself. “Silly nightmare.”

A mysterious voice speaks. “Well, it was just a nightmare. I am the same ordinary pony I have always been. What a relief! That’s what you’re thinking isn’t it? Hahahahahahahaha.” The voice mocks, “Too bad!”

Ari’s shadow pops up to reveal Discord. “This is reality, kid. You are now the servant of the great Chaos king Discord, forever!” He begins to laugh at Ari’s shocked expression. “We’ll be together a long time, so get used to it.” More laughter follows.

Suddenly, Spike appears in front of Discord and Ari. “Oh, master Discord. Such a beautiful day, don’t you think? How about breakfast, master? Madam’s omelets are the best.”

Discord crosses his arms. “Spike, we have no time for breakfast. From now on I will use this boy to spread chaos across the world.” He pinches Ari’s cheek. “To begin, we will drive the nearby town of Ponyville into chaos! Hahahahahahahaha!”

Spike bows. “I’m so proud of you, master Discord. So proud to be in the service of one so chaotic.” Spike stands up. “Your Spike is always at your side with passionate devotion. At least, after I finish my omelet.” The drake smacks his slips thinking of the delicious breakfast.

Discord nods. “Off to the village, boy! We have chaos to spread!” With that, Discord disappears into Ari’s shadow.

Spike starts to clap. “Hurrah for master! Good luck, master!” Spike disappears to leaving Ari alone once again.

Ari sighs in defeat. “What have I gotten myself into?” Ari makes his way towards Ponyville.

As Ari makes his way towards town, a stallion flags him down. “Ari! I heard you learned a new trick. Can I see it? Your dad is running all over the village, telling everypony about it.”

Before Ari can speak, Discord appears. “What trick are you talking about?”

The pony begins to laugh. “Oh man, that is so cool, Ari!”

Discord scratches his head. “Ponies are complicated.” Ari just shrugs and continues towards town but is flagged down by another pony. This time an old mare who looks quite distraught.

“Oh, my hat is up in that tree. I can’t get it, and it was a gift from my late husband. What will I do?” She wails.

Discord appears again. “Hahahahaha, feeble ponies. So little power. Here, let me show you mine.” Discord stretches up into the tree with little effort and plucks the hat from high above. “It is a trivial task to retrieve your hat.” Discord hands it to Ari who then holds it out to the old mare.

She claps her hands together. “Oh, thank you, young man! You must have been sent from heaven!”

Ari blushes at the compliment. “Oh, it was nothing really.”

Discord, however, didn’t like her compliment. “Hey, you old bag! I am chaos through and through. Fear me and grovel.”

The old lady smiles at both Discord and Ari. “Thank you God…”

“No, not like that!” Discord shouts in frustration before disappearing again.

Several other children stopped Ari on his way to the town and each asked for a chance to see his shadow “trick”. Discord was happy to make appearances, but each time was met with nothing but laughter instead of fear. As they reach the town gate, Discord appears again, but this time, to speak with Ari. “Strange, according to my plan, as soon as I reappear in this world, ponies should be terrified and running for their lives. While quaking with fight, they are supposed to swear their undying obedience to me!” Discord begins to shake. “But look at their reactions!”

Ari takes in all he has seen this morning before answering Discord. “That is strange.” Playing to the ego of the chaos king.

“Yes, so now I must show them my power through a display of chaos! Then they shall see the terror I can create.” Discord disappears into the shadow as they enter the village.
As they enter, Ari can hear Discord’s voice. “This is no job for a vessel of pure chaos such as myself. But hey, I might as well do it, ha ha! Ask ponies in this village if the is anything around here I can mess with. Information is an important part of subjugation, Ari. Remember that.”

“Yes sir.” Ari replies and approaches a stallion on the street.

“Oh Ari, there is terrible terrible news.” Discord springs up at the sound of trouble.

“Oh I knew my return would spread quickly. Fear me, mortals, and bow to me.” Discord strikes a pose.

The stallion looks at the shadow before returning his attention back to Ari. “Hey, nice trick. Anyway there is a ghost in the church!!”

“Hey!!” Discord screams. “You’re scared of some low level being but aren’t scared of me?! Foolish pony!”

“The ghost must be eyeing the treasure in the church’s basement.” The stallion continues.

“Don’t ignore me, pony. I am the chaos king Discord!” Discord yells before some news reaches his ears. “Treasure? What treasure?”

The stallion hangs his head. “They say if we ever lost it, our village would be finished.”

Discord turns Ari around to speak with him. “Hee hee, did you hear that, Ari? We will get that treasure and laugh as they wallow in misery.” Discord rubs his hands together. “The treasure might even enhance my chaos powers.” Discord disappears.

Ari makes his way to the church at the other end of the village. As he approaches the steps leading to the church, a stallion stops him. “Are you going to the church, Ari?”

“Um…yes?” Ari replies.

The stallion looks shocked by Ari’s answer. “There’s a ghost in there. You could be killed and besides you need to get permission from the town office to gain entry.” With that said, the stallion walks off.

“Well it’s a good thing they’re right next to each other,” Ari says before ascending the steps. The hill is steep and takes some time for Ari to reach the top, but when he does, he is greeted with the sight of the village office. It is the building his father works in as the assistant mayor. Ari walks inside and is greeted with the smiling face of his father.

“Hey son, come to see your dad at his cool job? I’m so proud of you.” Father gushes.

Discord jumps up and slams a hand on the desk. “Fool, open the door to Church!”

Father’s smile never falters. “Oh, hello, Discord. What business do you have inside?”

Ari decides to answer. “No use in arguing. Dad. Just open the door, please.”

Father nods his head. “Sure, son. This is going to be interesting.” A flash from his father’s horn and the door to the church was open for Discord and Ari to enter.

Ari leaves the offices to enter the Church next door. As he reaches the door, Discord begins to speak. “Let’s go and show this village what true chaos is!”

“Oh please wait, master!” A voice calls out. Ari turns to see Spike materialize. “Master, your plan is brilliant and truly inspired. However you, Ari, are nothing more than a rookie, so try not to get in Master’s way. So long.” Spike disappears.

Ari opens the church door slowly and peeks inside. “No sign of the ghost in the main area. Probably down below, then.” Ari enters the church, closing the door behind him. The church is fairly small for such a community but has large stained glass windows to let in a dazzling display of colors. Ari turns his attention to the door leading to the basement.

The door creaks open with a small tug and Ari looks below. It is filled with cobwebs and other things, but no ghost. He descends slowly, listening for any noises that would give him an idea of where it might be. When he reaches the bottom, Ari notices a fountain that has a lion’s head as its spout. “The water has been off for several days. In the room next door, there should be a valve I can turn to restore the flow of water.”

As he approaches the door to the next room, Ari starts to hear noises from the other side. He can hear the low growl of a creature and a chill runs down his spine. “Well? What are you waiting for, Ari? Open the door and let’s get that treasure.”

Ari obeys and opens the door to the next room. Inside is a ghost with long, skinny arms. It’s wandering back and forth. Discord appears before the ghost. “So you’re the third rate creature trying to steal my thunder! Surrender and pledge your allegiance to me!”

The ghost stares at Discord before its gaze slowly drifts to Ari. Its mouth hangs open and drool begins to drip to the ground. Ari feels a chill down his spine and looks around for a weapon of some kind. He finds his saving grace in the form of a large stick. He picks it up and holds the make shift weapon like a sword. “Look at him, Ari. He quivers with fear at my pure power.”

The ghost springs into action a reaches for Ari. Ari doges to the side and takes a swing at the ghost. The branch makes contact and the ghost recoils in pain. “Yes!” Ari cheers.

His happiness quickly disperses when the ghost come back for another attack. Ari dodges again and makes another attempt at striking the ghost. This time, however, the ghost is ready and parries Ari’s attack. The stick flies from his hands and clatters against the far wall. The ghost picks Ari up and slams him into a wall. The ghost opens its mouth wide and prepares to swallow its meal.

“I have had enough of this.” Discord’s hand shoots from the shadow, piercing the ghost. It drops Ari and wails in pain before slowly disappearing. “Well, that was odd. Oh well, I got rid of that floor-scrubbing demon who betrayed me.”

“Yeah, thanks for the save by the way.” Ari says.

Discord pats his head. “Oh, my dear little Ari. If you die, I die. So it is a simple reason to keep you alive. Now, gather your weapon.”

Ari picks up his stick by the far wall and is surprised to see it still in one piece. A glint of metal catches his eyes and his attention becomes focused on a small chest.

“That must be the treasure the villages were talking about! Quickly, gather the goods inside!” Discord says with glee.

Ari picks up the small chest and opens it. All that is inside is an odd glass tube. “What is his? It’s just a piece to a broken machine! They tricked! They will feel my anger. I will have revenge, boy!” Discord disappears.

Before Ari leaves, he approaches a large valve that controls the water flow in town. It is large and rusty but with a few tugs, Ari is able to restore the flow of water. With his task complete, Ari makes his way out of the Church.

As Ari steps outside he is greeted with the cheering of the village residences. They cheer and call out congratulations to him. He blushes from so much attention. Ponies were asking him for his tale of getting rid of the ghost to wanting a picture with him.

Discord’s rage is boiling by this point. “Fools, they have it all wrong. It was all my doing. You should be praising me! Oh, well with everypony assembled here, it just makes this easier for me. I shall show them the face they should fear!” Discord shoots out from the shadow in a display of sheer power. “Listen well, ponies! I am the Chaos King Discord!”

The villagers are shocked by the display before their eyes. Each startled face fuels Discord’s ego, and he continues with his speech. “Now that I have returned to this world, all that walk, fly, or crawl shall by my subjects! As a reward for your willing subjugation, I shall grant you insects a long, delightful purgatory! I hereby declare, that I will saturate this land with a black cloud of astounding chaos! My plague of chaos will infect every corner of this world! Bow before your lord and master, Chaos King Discord!” Discord stretches high above everypony to give them a good look at their new leader.

None of the villagers speak and just stare in amazement at Discord. “Aha! Look Ari, they’re speechless!!”

All of the villagers remain silent. Then one starts to laugh. Then another starts to laugh as well. Soon, all who are present are in an uproar of laughter. There were cries of an encore and others just shouting their praises to Ari’s cleverness for coming up with something so funny. What stuck out, though, was everypony calling Discord a shadow trick.

“Wa-What are you peasants laughing at?! My decree is to be taken seriously!” He points to an individual in the crowd. “You there, stop that laughing this instant!”

The laughter returns stronger than before. They plead for Ari to stop because they are laughing too hard.

“Why? Aghh! I don’t understand!! Why?!” the baffled king screams. “I am the chaos king! A harbinger of impending doom!! Yet the ponies mock me! They even laugh at me! Me!! They should fear and grovel at my feet! I’m so humiliated! What am I supposed to do to earn their fear? Am I a failure as a chaos king? Am I a hopeless chaos king? Aggghhh!”

Ari decides to comfort the hopeless chaos king. “You’re not hopeless, Discord.”

Discord gives Ari an icy glare. “I don’t need pity from you, boy. I’m tired, so I will rest awhile…” Discord disappears with a defeated expression. Ari makes his way to the village gate when he is stopped by one of the stallions of the village.

“This is scary! Nothing could be scarier than this. In spots all over the world, Chaos kings have started to pop up!” He blubbers.

Discord reappears with an ice pack on his head. “Bah! Enough with the whimpering! I’m tired and mentally wounded. And now I have to put up with this rubbish from you?! Listen up, the chaos king is the chaos king! A king is a king! Meaning there is only one! Not two or three, but one! Moi!!”

The stallion shakes his head. “No, I’m not making this up! The pudgy pony in the bar said so. The word is that in certain places, copies of the Map o’Chaos Kings are out and about. It tells the location of the chaos kings. It’s just so scary.” The stallion quivers in fear.

“Hogwash!! Map o’Chaos Kings!? Are you kidding?” Discord spits back. “Ari! Find the lunatic spreading these lies! He will pay for his crime against me!”

Ari nods. “Alright, Discord.” Ari makes his way to the bar. Under his breath, he whispers. “How did I get myself into this?” Ari enters the bar and looks around. It is empty, except for two individuals. The stallion that runs the place and a pudgy stallion. Ari walks up to the stallion at the table.

“Stupid troops…packing up and leaving me behind…I’m the ringmaster, for crying out loud!” He sputters, clearly drunk.

“So this is the lowlife who’s spreading that swill. Hey you, I hear you’re the one spreading that tall tale of there being more than one chaos king!” Discord says with authority.

The ringmaster turns around to reveal himself to be the same one from yesterday that turned Ari away from the circus tent. “Wa-what? You’re the kid from the other night. The one with that shadow!”

“Yeah, at the circus.” Ari says.

“Yep, that’s right. I’m the ringmaster. Now that I can get a better look, you really have an interesting shadow you’re carrying with ya there, kid.”

Discord sputters. “In-interesting? Carrying with him? Just you remember, husky one. If a guy like you speaks of rubbish like a Map o’Chaos Kings, I will shut your mouth permanently!”

The ringmaster perks up at the mention of the map. “Oh? You want this Map o’Chaos Kings? Sure, you can have it.” The ringmaster reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it to Ari. “Lately, they say in Madril Neighdril, a fearful chaos king has appeared.” He looks to Discord. “So what are you going to do about it, Shadow chaos king?”

Discord draws back. “Curses!!! You just revealed who I…Who are you, shaggy one!?”

The ringmaster grabs his gut. “I think I’m gonna…barf…too much fun last night. Hic.” The drunk lays his head down on the table and passes out.

“Alright, boy, let’s take a look at that map.” Ari unfolds the paper to reveal several circled locations where chaos kings lie. “One, two…there are more chaos kings than myself? To top it all off, my name isn’t even on this list! Spike! Spike, where are you?!”

Spike appears in front of Ari and Discord and gives a quick bow. “Oh, master. How might I serve you?”

Discord squeezes the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. “Spike, straighten this out, will you? Am I not the one and only lord of chaos? The successor of the great chaos king Gohma? Answer me, Spike! Who else could I be? And all these other chaos kings, who are they?”

Spike studies his master’s temper and decides to quench the growing fires of rage. “Well, master I will tell you. All these other ‘chaos kings’ are imposters—encroachers—chaos kings, only, in name. While you were inside the bottle, Master, they must have stolen your magical power and went about claiming to be ‘chaos kings.’ Yes, that must be it!”

Discord takes Spike’s words to heart and thinks. “Hmm…I see. I knew something was wrong. The villagers called me a…” the shadow shudders at the thought, “…a nice guy! Naturally, if my power was at its peak, they would have wept and groveled before my might. Yes, that must be it!” Discord turns his attention back to the map and studies it. “So it was all the fault of the false chaos kings. They were stealing my magical powers while I was trapped!”

Ari looks over the map. “Yeah, that has to be the case, Discord. These false chaos kings must be the cause of all of this.”

Discord nods in agreement. “Hmm… there is just one thing to do.”

Spike stands and claps his hands together in realization. “Master, that means…of course, of course!”

“Indeed! We are going to take those fake chaos kings down and retrieve all of my magical power. Then the whole world will tremble before me like they should! Ari, let’s do this! Time for an expedition of conquest!” Discord shouts.

Ari pumps his fist into the air but slowly lowers it as a thought crosses his mind. “But there’s this mare, Trixie...”

Discord stares at Ari. “What kind of answer is that!?”

Spike tries to calm Discord. “Take it easy now master. There is this pony, Trixie, who has a bit of a crush on Ari. For a kid as uncool as you, this could be your last shot at romance. I believe that is what you are thinking?”

Ari looks to the young dragon. “Uhh…yes?”

Discord pulls out a tissue and wipes away false tears. “Touching, but you’re stuck with me, kid. Hahahaha! Now let’s head for your house and pack for the journey ahead. Let’s go, Ari. Take good care of the map. Even though I hate it, it should keep us on the right path to find those imposters.” Discord points dramatically. “To your house!”

Spike bows and disappears along with Discord. Ari leaves the bar and heads to the main gate. There, he sees Trixie standing in front of it. Ari feels a blush come over his face as he approaches the beautiful mare. She gives him no greetings and just stares at him. Ari makes a move to say something when Trixie hold up a hand to stop him.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has something to tell you,” she says quietly.

Ari stands in silence. Trixie walks past him and stops a few feet behind him. “Trixie liked you.”

Ari spins around and sees she has her back to him. He is still speechless and approaches her. She turns to look at Ari. “…But…You’re serious, honest, and quiet. The kind that becomes a husband who’d eat cold mashed potatoes without complaining…Or lets me go on rampant impulse shopping sprees without complaining. That’s what Trixie liked about you…” Her eyes fill with tears. “But I can’t be with a person who does tricks with his shadow. You would embarrass me in public. They would mock me and my family by having you in it. Trixie just doesn’t want to be dragged down by your silly tricks. Good-bye!” Trixie dashes off into town leaving Ari in her dust.

Ari’s mother stood outside his door calling to her heart-broken son. “…Ari. Come on, it’s time to get up.” She enters the room and finds Ari all packed up and ready to go. “Everypony is waiting for you downstairs.”

“Okay.” Ari replies.

“Both your dad and Grandpa are preparing something for you. Come down as soon as possible.” She leaves the room. Ari quickly gathers his remaining things before heading downstairs to see his family.

“Ari! Finally the time for you to depart has come.” Father greets his son at the bottom of the stairs.

Ari looks around the room at his gathered family members. “Uh, what’s going on?”

His father throws an arm around his son’s neck. “I’m so proud of you, son. I was surprised when Spike first told us you were going on a journey. A journey to subjugate the fake chaos kings and conquer the world! It sounds so wonderful, son. I couldn’t help but agree.”

Discord pops up. “Hey, Sir Talksalot. The boy seems confused.”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s right. I forgot to tell him. My mistake.” His father laughs it off.

“Let me update you, Ari. There are many false kings around the world claiming to be lords of chaos. You and I are going on a journey to deal with these imposters. And I thought we might as well conquer the world while we are at it. Are you ready? Don’t dally now. Let’s be gone, now!”

Father stops Ari from leaving. “Ari, you need to say goodbye to everyone before you leave.”

Ari walks over to his grandfather. “Ari, that glass tube you found in town is part of an ancient device. They say it holds great power, so while you are out and about, you might as well search for the rest of the pieces. Good luck and come home soon.”

Next was his grandmother. “Oh Ari. Are you heading into town on errands? Come back before dark honey. I don’t want to see my grandchild hurt.”

Next was his mother. “Oh Ari I’m so excited for you. Here, take this.” Ari’s mother hands him an old music box. “It’s very old but it still plays a beautiful tune. You father gave it to me when he proposed. Find your special somepony and give it to her. Just keep pushing, honey, and never let go.”

Next was Pinkie. “Sorry, this all started because of me. Thanks, big brother, you’re the best. I kind of like my pink shadow, it’s cute. Go, Ari, yay!” The bubbly pink mare jumps up and down cheering her brother’s name.

Finally, Spike. He spoke while holding back a flood of tears. “Oh, master. I’m so happy to see this. You’re going to go out and conquer the world, and I get to bear witness. I can say there has never been a happier butler. I, Spike, will be waiting for your call, my master.”

Ari turns his attention back to his father. “Son, an adventure will make you shine and stand above the rest.”

“Yes, your father in his adventuring days was very handsome.” Mother added.

Father blushed. “Stop it, honey…Well, is there anything left?”

Ari looked to his Father and stuck out his hand. “My allowance?”

His father gave him a confused look. “Allowance? Oh yes, your allowance. Well to be honest I spent my bonus the other day.”

“Look at this wooden doll. Isn’t it cute? It was pretty pricey.” Mother said.

“Since you’re going to be an adventurer you can make money on your journey. You can do jobs for people and earn your living that way.” His Father laughed and missed Ari’s gloomy look.

Discord’s patience was running thin by this point. “Ari, your chattering is driving me crazy. We need to leave now!”

Ari turns to leave when his grandfather calls out. “It is time for the youth to leave. Everypony ready? One, two, and three…”

“Good luck!” Every family member shouts. A smile spreads across Ari’s face and he hides the single tear rolling down his cheek. He opens the door and steps out.

Ari’s journey has begun.