//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Rise of Magnus // by Duffman18 //------------------------------// “How dare you?!” One of the ponies rose up from the table to gaze at the abominable being that lounged before him. “Our only rulers are the princesses, not some spawn of Tartarus like you!” Discord put a paw on his chest and adopted a hurt expression. “I’m hurt. Really, that was just heartless captain. Don’t you know how cruel words can be?” At this Discord pretended to swoon over the newly made throne as the captain of the guard staring at him only felt himself growing angrier at the creature’s display with every passing second. “Where are the princesses, creature? You wouldn’t come here so blatantly without knowing something.” Discord rose up from the throne, the façade of his earlier display gone and his voice once more upbeat and filled with mischief. “Nowhere, everywhere, and somewhere in-between. But that’s not important right now. What is important is that with them gone, I am the most powerful being in Equestria. And as such, I rule here. But it appears that I need to make sure that I have at least some support from you. So I just have one question for you captain, and I’d just love for you to answer me.” The captain glared at him for a moment but otherwise did nothing. He started as he suddenly felt Discord appear behind him. “How would you like to be free of loyalty?” As he asked the question, Discord touched the captain with a single claw and the captain shuddered as a sense of utter numbness washed over him. For a moment it felt as if he was dead to the world, there was no sensation, no color, and no stimulation. There was only: Discord. Turning around to face Discord and his former peers, who all sat shaking in fear at their conference table, the now grey-coated stallion threw up his hoof in salute. “Captain Broken Chain, reporting for duty your majesty!” Discord clapped his paws together gleefully at the pony’s sudden change in attitude. “And it even comes with a change in color scheme. Honestly, grey suits you far better captain.” Turning towards the other assembled ponies, Discord offered them an ultimatum. “You’ve seen what I can do should I wish it. Will you accept my reign as King of Equestria or won’t you?” The ponies huddled around the conference table turned to each other and began debating hurriedly under their breath, occasionally casting furtive glances at either Discord or the newly-turned Broken Chain. After a few moments, they finally ended their debate. A few of them walked over to Discord and gave brief bows to him before standing aside Broken Chain. The rest stood at the conference table, staring defiantly up at Discord. “So you won’t join the new order?” They shook their heads at him. “We swore to serve the princesses and no other. That is an oath that we will not turn our backs on.” Discord seemed to consider that for a moment, before flashing them a quick smile. “Impressive! I can respect that and, just cause I like you a lot, I’m not even going to punish you for it.” The ponies looked stunned and even those who had joined Discord seemed surprised that the draconequus was not doing more to the loyalists. “You’re . . . you’re not going to do anything to us?” Discord just laughed as he and the turncoats began to leave the throne room. “Of course not . . . that’s what guards are for.” And with that, he snapped his talons together and the guards stationed around the room suddenly snapped to attention, the same grey color that had overtaken Broken Chain covering them as well. Discord and his entourage left the throne room, accompanied by the screams of the unfortunate ponies within as the heavy, wooden doors slammed shut behind them. ---- Celestia lay on her side, incredible pain pulsing through her body. She had no idea how long she been like this, but it felt like an eternity. With a great effort she rose unsteadily to her hooves and began to scan her immediate surroundings. What she saw did nothing to lift her flagging spirits. The ground beneath her hooves was hard, weathered stone. Above her, the sky was filled with a roiling mass of storm clouds which emitted great forks of lightning every few seconds. As for her immediate surroundings, the plain of rock stretched out for miles in all directions with on noticeable features dotting the landscape except for what appeared to be a great mountain of black rock off in the distance. It towered above the landscape, but its summit was what drew Celestia’s attention most. The mountain’s summit shone with an unmatched brilliance that dwarfed even the light of the Equestrian sun. Celestia could not make out the source of the light, but from even her brief observation it was clear that wherever this wasteland was, the only major light source was that of the mountain’s summit. As the alicorn contemplated this latest issue, she heard a gasp coming from her right. Turning her head towards the sound, she was greeted with the sight of her sister curled up on the ground in much the same position she had been only a moment ago. “Luna!” Celestia ran to her sister’s side as quickly as she could, hoping against hope that she was alright. When she reached her, Luna began to stir and looked up at her sister. “Celestia? What happened? Where’s Discord?!” “I don’t know Luna,” she replied, as she helped Luna to stand. “All I know is that he sent us here. . . Not that I know where here is.” “So what do we do know?” asked Luna. “Without an idea of where we are, we can’t just start flying back to Equestria.” “That mountain looks to be the only landmark around for miles. Maybe we can get a better idea of where we are from the summit.” With that the two sisters unfurled their wings and launched themselves into the dark skies above. The two flew through the stormy skies towards the mountain in the distance. But regardless of how fast they flew the mountain drew no closer while they grew more and more exhausted. Eventually, the alicorns could go no further and landed heavily on the ground, both exhausted. “It’s just like back at the forest,” panted Luna. “Do you think this is Discord playing tricks on us again?” Celestia considered this for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s possible I suppose, but Discord is Chaos itself. Somehow I doubt he would do the same thing to us twice in a row. No, whatever this is I don’t think Discord has done any more than send us here.” “So what should we do now? If not Discord, than something here is keeping us from moving forward.” Celestia sighed heavily as she looked once more at the mountain looming in the distance. “I . . . I don’t know Luna.” ---- It was finally beginning. The people of the four tribes and beyond gathered in great numbers at the center of the territory which had been dubbed the Councillands. It had been two weeks since the announcement of the decision to form the Confederation and today was the ceremony which would see the formal appointment of the Confederation’s leader. Between the crowds of people, an aisle had been cleared leading to a large wooden table with five expertly carved seats. At four of these seats were the chieftains of the four most powerful tribes of man. However there was one noticeable difference: The Shadow clan was being led by a chieftain other than Volksson. While the subject of whispered rumors, the reason for this soon became clear. With the sound of horns and drums, the crowd turned as one towards the end of the aisle to see a coterie of heavily armed guards. Each bore blades of the finest iron and leather armor adorned their bodies. There were four guards in total and from the markings on their armor it was clear that they were all of a different tribe. In the midst of these guards stood Volksson Shadow, the man whom many rightly regarded as the architect of the Confederation. He was dressed in fine furs dyed black to match his tribe’s colors with a purple sash around him which bore the mark of the new Confederation: A field divided into four parts with the emblem of each tribe filling the empty spaces. As Volksson approached the raised platform, the seated chieftains stood up to greet him. Volksson continued moving forwards until he stood right in front of them, and then bowed his head in respect to them. Chief Barca stepped forwards to address him. “Volksson of the Shadows. You have been instrumental in the creation of this Confederacy and no man here can doubt your intentions. As a result we have unanimously chosen you as the first leader of this new body. Do you accept this honor?” “I do.” “Do you swear to continue the traditions of our ancestors and honor the laws of the gods?” “I do.” “And do you swear to uphold the honor of this new position, and work for the betterment of the whole of mankind above yourself?” “I do so swear.” Barca smiled as he and the others brought forth a wrought iron circlet from the table behind them. The four of them then took the circlet as one and crowned Volksson with it. “Then rise, a King amongst men, and take your rightful place.” The crowed let a thunderous cheer as Volksson stood tall and took his place at the head of the table. And so the Human Confederation was born, amidst the cheers of a renewed and hopeful people. ---- Captain Golden Shield threw himself out of the way of the enemy spell caster, the magic bolt meant for his head rocketing past him to detonate against a pile of rubble. Throwing back a hurried bolt, he turned his head to take stock of the group of ponies beside him. From what he could tell . . . it didn’t look good. A small group of about 9 ponies were all that was left of his battle group that once numbered over 40. While he had lost contact with the others earlier during the fight, he held no illusions that they would be faring much better. If he concentrated, Golden Shield could hear the sounds of battle echoing across the city, as they had been doing for more than a week now. The Discordian forces had been pushing through on all fronts, but even with their success the Stalliongrad forces were making them bleed for every inch. Discord . . . Golden Shield ground his teeth as he thought of the monster that had shattered the peace of Equestria. It was a few days ago that the creature’s voice had rung out all over Equestria declaring himself the new king and demanding obedience. Needless to say, this had caused no end of problems amongst the citizenry. But despite the fears and questions of the people, there was one thing that was abundantly clear: The princesses had failed. Whatever this thing was, it had the power to broadcast its voice across Equestria and its arrogant boasts put it in direct opposition to the princesses. As days passed one after another and no news came, it became clearer and clearer that no rescue was coming. In an attempt to calm the people down, the mayor had called an open meeting for civic leaders and any concerned citizens to attend to discuss the current crisis . . . “This creature is an abomination and the princesses will stop it!” Others took up the stallion’s argument while on the other side of the hall housing the meeting other ponies were of a very different opinion. “They haven’t stopped it yet and it’s been days. There hasn’t even been any news as to their whereabouts. I say we do what this thing says. If it can stop the princesses what chance do we have?!” “Traitor!” “Fool!” “Heretic!” The insults kept coming as the disputes between civic leaders spilt out onto the streets. Citizens once split on the issue became fiercely divided, even striking out against the ponies they had called neighbors only days ago. Nopony really knew who struck first, but the gathering of citizens devolved into a riot as the two sides tried to rip each other apart. What military forces stationed in Stalliongrad tried to restore order, but quickly found themselves drawn inexorably into the conflict as members of the guard entered the fray on the one side or another. While the fighting eventually petered out as the two sides were dispersed by what few guards were left outside of the conflict or retreated to tend to their wounded, it had left a huge number of bodies in its wake. The riot had consisted of well over 1,000 citizens if not more and the 100 or so guardsponies who had been sent in to restore order. When the smoke cleared and the rioters gone, over 200 civilians lay dead or too wounded to move with 25 dead guards adding to the mix. It had been a bloodbath and while many hoped it would be the end of the fighting, it proved to be only the opening salvo. They struck at night and when they did they were . . . different. Their eyes, their coats, it had all been grayed out and their expressions had been contorted with conflicting emotions of rage, hate, pain, and fear. Fires were set that began to consume large sections of the city, as Discord supporters began laying siege to guard barracks, police stations, and dragging prominent opposition to Discord into the streets. There had been no mercy, no warnings, and no calls for surrender. The fighting had been extremely brutal and it had taken far too much time to establish any defensive points. By the time the last of the Loyalist guard, militia, and volunteers had set up their defenses, more than a quarter of the city had been lost to the Discordian troops. But while the city was falling, there was one blessing: the walls. The massive walls surrounding the city not only prevented more of Discord’s troops from getting through into the city to reinforce his supporters, but they also provided fortified redoubts against the troops already in the city. The first of Discord’s reinforcements had arrived after a few days of fighting, but the forces assigned to the wall were able to drive them back. So far there had been four massive attempts made by the enemy to seize or batter down the walls, but each one had been driven back with heavy casualties. If only the city fighting was going so well . . . ---- The situation was looking grim. A gathering of the cities remaining civic and military leaders gathered around a three-dimensional model of the city made earlier by their unicorns. Red figures converged in a great mass outside the walls with similarly colored figures within the city representing the forces that had declared for Discord. Green figures arrayed on the wall and scattered haphazardly throughout the city represented the fighting forces of Stalliongrad that remained loyal to the princesses. It presented a grim picture indeed. While numerically their forces inside the city outnumbered Discord’s, his forces seemed to fight with a ferocity bordering on insanity. They would push and push with little to no regard for their own safety. Worse, whatever had been done to them seemed to have enhanced and altered their abilities. Unicorns cast spells whose effects were nigh-impossible to predict the outcome of and other ponies would have strength or speed that fluctuated rapidly at random intervals. The chaotic element added to the fighting had cost the Stalliongrad forces time and ponies. “We can’t hold much longer at this rate,” remarked one of the ponies, wincing slightly as he saw another group of green figures swarmed and overwhelmed on the model before him. “We have to,” said the mayor. “Runners we sent out to other cities haven’t reported back in and we can’t just surrender the city.” “And why not?! The princesses be damned, ponies are dying out there. Our friends, our neighbors, our families. If we keep fighting than the only thing we’ll have to show for it is more corpses to bury after Discord’s forces win.” “We still have the wall. And Discord’s troops have yet to breach it from either side. We’ve lasted this long, we’ve proven that we can hold out against him. Eventually the cost of seizing the city will be far worse than leaving us be.” “Don’t be so naïve! Do you honestly think Discord cares about the lives of his troops? He’s been content to let his troops hurl themselves against the walls for this long, I’m sure he’ll be content to let as many troops do the same for as long as it takes.” A messenger dashed into the room, interrupting the arguing stallions. “Sirs!” he said, panting heavily from exertion. “It’s . . . Discord.” Eyes widening, the small group of ponies rushed out of the room and onto a balcony which gave them a clear line of sight to the walls. What they saw chilled the blood in their veins. The messenger had not been wrong. Hovering sedately above the walls was the very creature which had sent Stalliongrad hurtling into brutal in-fighting. The expression on his face was not one of anger, hatred, or even apathy. It was one of utter, complete boredom. “You know,” he began, his voice carrying to every corner of the city. “When this whole battle started I thought to myself: “Excellent! A microcosm of chaos for me to watch and enjoy.” But now?” He shrugged. “The whole thing has lost its appeal. I mean war can be chaos, but really what with this whole status quo nonsense it’s gotten quite boring. So . . . I’m pulling the plug on this whole resistance thing in . . .” He looked at a clock which had sprung into existence on his chest. “Now.” With a snap of his claws, there was a horrible wrenching noise that filled the air and set the ponies’ teeth on edge. The great walls of Stalliongrad suddenly began to convulse, the smooth stone seeming to expand and deflate. Even the ground was altered as the very foundations of the wall and the earth around it became little more than sand, and sucking mud. With one last, great resounding *crack* the walls of Stalliongrad collapsed in on themselves. Seeing the great walls that had protected them for so long, a great cry of despair rose up from the city, matched only by the death cries of the ponies that had been manning the walls. Discord looked down on the city as his troops swarmed over the wreckage of the walls with a single-minded determination, sweeping into the city and cracking down on those ponies that had been defending Stalliongrad. As what had been a somewhat stable, though ultimately doomed, line of defense collapsed into a hundred different pockets of frenetic violence he reclined on a divan and grabbed a clawfull of popcorn from the tub beside him. “Finally,” he murmured. “I thought I was going to go crazy waiting for them to do something interesting.”