Kingdom Come

by Redback Spino


The Star Opened the Abyss, and Smoke Poured Out of It.

“Prince Blueblood! This is unexpected!”

Summer Mane did not even notice as her spectacles dropped from her snout as she stared in surprise at the stallion who just walked in. Of all the ponies to visit the Canterlot Library, the royal archivist thought to herself, I never thought I’d see the day when that blonde blowhard Blueblood would come to visit!

Prince Blueblood nodded slightly to the middle-aged mare, gazing around at the many chambers and hallways of the Canterlot Library. The last time he had been here he was no more than seven years old. In the fifteen years since his last visit, the old place had not changed a bit.

“Well, don’t get used to it. I’m just here to pick some books up and then I’ll be on my way. Tell me, which way is it to the Starswirl the Bearded wing?”

Summer raised an eyebrow as she put her glasses back on her snout. “The Starswirl the Bearded wing? What’s your interest in those kinds of books, may I ask?”

“None of your business!” The stallion responded with a glare.

“Not the way I see it,” she replied. “Being the Royal Archivist for this library, when somepony wants access to a restricted section it becomes my business.”

A restricted section, eh? Sounds promising, Blueblood thought to himself. He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Well, if you must know, I’m doing a little private study of my own. I’ve heard that that this particular wing has some rather interesting documents hidden away inside.”

Summer Mane was sceptical, however. “And I trust that this is all purely academic study, correct?”

“But of course.”

Still not quite convinced, the old librarian pointed down a hallway on the left. “Straight down there, third door on the right. Here’s a key.” Her horn glowed, and behind her a single key on a hook began to glow, and levitated to Blueblood, who took it in his own magical grip. “And the documents in there are reference only!”

With a silent nod, the prince headed down the hallway, Summer Mane watching from behind her desk.

“Huh, I never pictured him to have a red magical aura…”


Locking the bars behind him, Blueblood glanced out into the corridors. Certain that he was alone, he tapped a forehoof on the red jewel in the centre of the Alicorn Amulet, which sat hidden under his starched shirt-front and bowtie. “Okay, we’re here. So what are we looking for?”

The ruby glowed as the voice replied, “Eons ago, I hid some of my most prized research on magic in this wing of the archives. With any luck they should still be in here.”

“Well whatever they are, can we please hurry up? This dusty air is going to wreak havoc on my mane!” Blueblood muttered as he began searching.

“Very well. Hold still a moment, please.” The ruby pendant began to glow brighter, a similar red glow surrounding a pencil and blank sheet of parchment tat sat on a nearby desk. The pencil rose up on its point, and began sketching out a crude pentagram shape, point facing downwards, with a small circle at each point, and a larger circle in the centre. “I need you to find any documents that have this symbol on them. Don’t bother with the bound books, just look among the scrolls and loose sheets.”

Blueblood gaped at the dozens of shelves, filled to overflowing with papers, scrolls and tomes. “But that could take hours! Isn’t there an easier way?”

The voice replied, “Remember, with me around your neck, your magical power is near limitless. Did you never learn something as simple as a seeking spell?”

The unicorn sniffed. “With my royal duties, how would I ever find the time for something to trivial?”

The ruby glowed faintly as the voice muttered something that may have been “Insufferable little…”, before continuing. “I guess it’s up to me then. Do me a favour and look at that symbol for me, would you?”

Blueblood shrugged, and stared intently at the five-pointed glyph. The Amulet began to glow bright again, and for a few seconds nothing happened. Then, a dozen small globes of red light emerged from the centre of the ruby, and fly out throughout the room, hovering through the air before coming to a stop in front of various shelves and scrolls.

“There they are! Still hidden well away,” the voice said. “Fetch them for me, Blueblood.”

“You seem to be able to do these things yourself, why don’t you do it?” he said, tapping the ruby.

“Because if we are to work together, we need to share the workload. I’ve done my part for now, so get searching!” the Amulet replied.

Blueblood groaned, but begrudgingly went to work. He went to each glowing red light, which floated above certain scrolls and sheets of paper, and pulled the document out and put it on the table in the middle of the room. When he had extracted it, the globe of light hovering over it extinguished itself and vanished.

About fifteen minutes later, a heap of twelve scrolls lay on the table, each of them bearing the mysterious symbol somewhere upon it. “That seems to be all of them. So anyways, exactly what is it we’re looking to study here?” Blueblood asked.

“Tell me, Prince Blueblood, what do you know about the Elements of Harmony?”

The prince raised an eyebrow, unsure where this was going. “Well, only what the Princesses tell me. That they’re some sort of ancient magical artefacts, each worn by a designated bearer. And when they’re all together, they can harness the inherent Harmony within each bearer or something like that. Why?”

The Amulet paused before answering. “Well, at one point back when I was alive, I too had studied the so-called Magic of Friendship, and its power. But in doing so, I discovered a far greater power.”

Blueblood suddenly came to attention. More powerful than the Elements of Harmony? Was such a thing possible?!

“While it is true that feelings of love and friendship can be used to tap into extremely powerful magic,” the voice continued, “it is but one end of the Emotional Spectrum, from which we unicorns draw our power. In the centre of the Spectrum is the simple Willpower that can be used to manifest desired outcomes in the form of basic unicorn magic. Further to one end are the magicks of Friendship and Love, which are harnessed by those with particularly strong ties to them.”

“Like the Elements of Harmony,” Blueblood interjected. “They can harness the different aspects of Friendship as a power source. And as for Love, I’ve seen that magic in action before as well,” he added, thinking back to the royal wedding that had occurred not long ago.

“Correct, you catch on pretty quickly,” the voice said, earning a proud smirk from Blueblood. “But the other end of the spectrum is where my greater studies lay. In the harnessing of the magic of Dissonance, the antithesis of Harmony.”

“Dissonance? I can’t say I’ve heard of that magic before…”

“You wouldn’t have. When they overthrew me, the Princesses in their ‘infinite wisdom’ attempted to destroy all my writings on the subject. All that remains are these scrolls that lie before us now.”

The unicorn frowned as he opened up one of the scrolls and skimmed through it. “… Are you sure these are the right scrolls? This one is nothing but gibberish, it’s like whoever wrote these was just writing random sentences!”
The ruby flickered as the voice actually chuckled. “A most effective method of encoding my research. The spell we need is in these scrolls, you just need the key to crack the code.”

“Yes, and what, pray tell, is the key then?” Blueblood asked impatiently.

“It’s quite simple if I do say so myself: the only things you need bother yourself about are the first, third and fifth words of every other sentence. The rest is just filler.”

Blueblood rolled his eyes. This is gonna take a while.


And so Prince Blueblood set to writing. Carefully reading through each of the scrolls, jotting down each of the specific words as indicated by the voice’s code. Slowly, word by word, he found that a coherent essay was beginning to form. It seemed to detail the individual Elements of Dissonance, which could each be tapped into by someone especially in tune with said Element. Each Element was an antithesis to one of the Elements of Harmony, acting as a counterbalance to its magic. It did not take him long at all to figure out that not only was he a bearer of such an Element, but that it was the antithesis of the Element of Generosity: The Element of Greed.

The more he thought about it, the more Blueblood found that, as horrible as it may sound, he really was greedy. And why shouldn’t I be?! I’m royal, handsome, and a unicorn no less! Why shouldn’t I have access to the finer things in life? I was born into it, destined to live in luxury! It’s my right! So why not indulge myself?

The more he thought about it, the more the Element of Greed seemed to suit him. And the more he liked the sound of it.


“There… Done!”

Blueblood dropped the pencil on the table with a small clattering sound. His head flopped forwards to join it, resting his chin on the cold wooden surface. The twelve scrolls lay opened and read beside him, and before him laid a small collection of sheets, each covered with hastily-scrawled text, detailing the natures of Dissonance, the Elements, and how to summon them.

“Very good, Blueblood,” the voice said from within the pendant. “Now, we can put our plan into motion, and soon enough the other Bearers will join us.”

“But… who are the others?” he asked.

The voice replied, “I don’t know. That’s what this ritual does: it will create the other Elements, and summon their bearers to us. But who these Bearers are is a mystery to me.”

Blueblood stood up, stretching his aching limbs. As his joints crackled and popped, he lifted up the sheets of writing, folded them up, and slipped them into a small pocket on his shirt-front. “So, the next step is performing this ritual, then?”

“Indeed,” the voice said. “And when they are gathered, we begin the next phase of my plan.”

“And when that’s done, you’ll keep your side of the bargain? You’ll grant me that power and glory that you promised me?” The unicorn asked, his voice high with excitement.

“More power than you could dream of. The Princesses will kneel at our… I mean, at your hooves.”

Blueblood rubbed his hooves together gleefully. “Then let’s not waste any more time! What’s the first step?”
He scanned over one of the sheets of paper listing the tools and ingredients to fuel the ritual. Two ingots of iron… A silver dagger… One clear cut diamond for each Element... “First stop, the jewellers.”


That afternoon, any of the ponies wandering through the streets of Canterlot would have come across a rather unusual sight. For Prince Blueblood was seen out and about, not only without an escort of guards, but actually shopping! It was a rare sight indeed to see royalty actually shopping for themselves! And his rather unusual purchases only added to the mystery. Six diamonds from a jeweller, a dagger with a silver blade and two ingots of iron from a blacksmith, a bag of table-salt from the market, and various other odd materials. But nopony dared question the noble prince or his purchases, just letting him go about his rather bizarre business. And in typical Blueblood fashion, the young prince did not shy from the odd glances he got from the public. Rather, he relished in it.

Finally, Blueblood had collected all his items that, according to the papers, he would require for the ritual. Most of what the papers described, he did not understand much himself. On the agendas of an important young royal like himself, learning the ways of magic were not exactly top priority. He knew the basics of spells and magic, but he had never gone out of his way to learn the ways of magic.

And rituals were the most alien of all for him. Most spells performed by unicorns could be accomplished just by learning the spell and casting it with one’s horn. But when it came to more complex and dangerous spells, certain rituals and procedures were involved. Many required certain ingredients to contain the magic, or the use of certain items, or incantations and ritual circles. However, with advances in the research and development of unicorn magic in recent years, the use of rituals was a practice on its way to becoming obsolete.

So it is easy to imagine Blueblood’s confusion as he followed the instructions on the papers. In a sheltered grove of trees just outside the walls of Canterlot, he set up the ritual. Using the silver dagger, he traced a circle in the dirt, the same symbol that marked each of the hidden scrolls, the pentagram and six circles. At each point of the pentagram, he would dig a shallow hole with the dagger, and bury one of the diamonds, after pouring a mix of salt and wine into each hole. The two iron ingots were placed on the left and right of the middle circle.

With all the ingredients in place, Blueblood stood in the central circle of the ritual. It was just coming to sunset, the time that the ritual was supposed to take place. “Are you ready?” the voice asked from within the Amulet.

The unicorn took a deep breath. Now or never, then. He nodded.

“Then begin to focus your mind. Dwell upon every lie you’ve ever told, and every betrayal of trust. Remember every time you have sought only your own gain above others. Remember every moment of cruelty and suffering. Remember every moment when your heart ached so much that all you wanted to do was die, just so you would not feel so heartbroken again.”

Blueblood focused. Heeding the voice’s words, he dug through his memories, seeking out anything that would conjure up such emotions. In his mind he saw flickers, distant and more recent memories. He remembered the first time he had ever told a lie. It was a simple thing, he had broken a valued vase and when his parents found out, he blamed one of the servants. The price of the vase was docked from the servant’s pay, and he got away scott-free.

He remembered the first mare to ever reject his advances. In his school he had somewhat of a reputation as a heartthrob. A simple suggestive waggle of his eyebrows and a winning smile, and the fillies were swooning and fawning over him. So used to this attention was he, that when a filly said no to a date, he had felt crushed, cheated, rejected.

He remembered when a schoolfriend of his had entrusted him with a rather embarrassing secret, and at an opportune time, he had let slip this secret to his other friends. The guilt he felt was horrendous, and even the memory of it made him feel uncomfortable.

He remembered every indulgent purchase, every courtesan, every extravagant present he had ever bought himself. And why not? He could afford it.

He remembered every time he had lashed out at others, simply because he did not get his way. Every servant who got his order wrong, every pony who spoke ill of him. Every pony who did not give him the respect he deserved.

He found that, the more he dwelt upon these memories, the less they haunted his mind. Indeed, as each memory reared its ugly head, he found himself feeling oddly stronger. At the base of his horn, he felt something odd, like a swelling, growing feeling, as if some unseen balloon was being inflated with each new memory.

He liked it.

“Now, as you feel the Dissonance flow through you, ready to be released, speak the incantation.” The voice said, bringing him back to reality. Clearing his throat, he levitated the sheet before him, reading the strange words loud and clear:

“From one mind to many,
From many to one.
By the power of these words,
The spell is begun.
Elements gather to me this day,
To form the jewels of Dissonance’s way.
In the jewel of the Alicorn, plant the seed,
Of the powers of one whose nature is Greed.
In the jewel of the fearsome venomous snake,
Let the venom of Deception awake.
In the jewel of the vulture, dull and blue,
Shall the sounds of Despair ring clear and true.
In the jewel of the fox, may the power never stray,
To the one who has the will to Betray.
And between all the rest and the jewel of the spider,
May the mark of Cruelty be the divider.
Fill these jewels with thine ancient power,
In this most right and ready hour…”

The energy was swelling to bursting point within his horn. He could hold it back no longer. Forcing his eyes open, he felt the energy flow forth in torrents from the tip of his horn, black and thick like smoke. The energy flowed through the entire ritual circle, tracing the lines of power and flowing into the earth where each jewel had been buried. Slowly, inch by inch, each jewel rose out of the ground, hovering at eye level, each changing from a clear diamond, to jewels of many dark colours. Earthy brown, dark orange, navy blue, murky yellow, four of the jewels arose, the fifth remaining buried in the far end of the circle.

Blueblood watched in amazement as the iron ingots beside him dissolved into powder, which flowed and floated around him in wisps and clouds. These clouds split up, tendrils of iron dust surrounding each jewel, and then being absorbed into them.

Maintaining his focus, Blueblood strained and gritted his teeth to control the flow of magic. As e said the final words of the incantation, he could hear the voice of the Amulet chanting along with him:

“When the Bearers are gathered on this hallowed ground,
Shall the final Element of Dissonance be found!
Now go forth to your bearers, fly and be free,
As I have willed it, so shall it be!”

And with that final word, a flash of light consumed the grove, blinding the prince for a moment. The buzz of the magic in the air dissipated, and the blinding light dimmed.

Blueblood looked around. The grove of trees was silent and still once more. Around him the ritual circle had vanished, as had the floating gemstones. Over the spot of the fifth stone, the only diamond that had not risen out of the ground, there now sprouted before his eyes a sprig of hemlock, its tiny white flowers glinting slightly in the sunset.

“And now,” the Amulet said, “We wait.”


Far south of Equestria’s borders, beyond the Macintoh Hills and the Appleoosan mountains, beyond the Badlands and the Forest of Leota, there sat a castle, built from black stone, offset only by the eerie glow of the green ooze that coated it in places, like some eldritch cement.

Down in the lowermost depths of the castle basements, a young changeling drone pulled the door to the upper floors aja ever so slightly and chanced a peek outside.

He was met by an enormous pair of glass blue eyes, a gormless stitched-on grin and a mess of bubblegum-pink hair.

“Hiya there! I’ll let you out when you answer me this question: What word rhymes with orange? While you think about it, let me sing you a song…”

The changeling swiftly slammed the door shut before the animated pony costume could begin her ‘Song that Never Ends’, and stomped back downstairs to the cellars with a grumble.

“I told you, that thing’s not going anywhere!” called a deep, feminine voice from the other side of the cellar. Sprawled out on a tattered, chintzy couch, thin green hair pulled over her eyes, was Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.

Raising her head gloomily, she looked around at the Changelings who sat around in the cellars of the Changeling Castle. Most were lying around sleeping, conserving what little energy they had left, a few meandered through the corridors of the cellars, desperate for something to do. An armoured changeling soldier strolled past, idly draining the love from one of the few remaining luvcats, before tossing its limp lifeless husk into a bin.

Needless to say, ever since that incident with the Secretariat Comet, and those blasted ponies had stolen their prey from them, wrecked their throne-room and trapped them in the bowels of their own castle, spirits in the Chrysalis Hive were at an all-time low.

Since then, Chrysalis did whatever she could to stave off madness born of boredom. Chatted with her changelings, explored the depths of the castle, slept, even broke out some of the old games and toys she and her parents used to play when they were around. But most of her time was spent brooding and plotting her revenge. Revenge against Twilight Sparkle.

Precious little Twilight. So very powerful, so very obnoxious. Twice now, she’s interfered with my plans, she said in her head. Twice now, she’s ruined everything. First the Wedding, then the Comet… Just you wait, Twilight Sparkle. Once myself and my beloved changelings can find a way out of this blasted dungeon…

But her inner monologue was interrupted as the dungeon was suddenly bathed in a bright yellow light. The changelings present scuttled into cover and watched, as the light coalesced into a single point, forming the shape of a large yellow jewel, about the size of an apple, carved in the shape of a snake’s head.

The jewel floated through the air towards Chrysalis, who scurried backwards, eyes wide with fear. But as she backed into the wall, the jewel came to a stop, mere inches from the Changeling Queen’s face. Breaking the startled silence, a deep voice spoke out.

“Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Hive. Your ability to deceive and fool your enemies by changing your form and image is beyond compare.”

Without warning, a flash of yellow light burst from the jewel, trapping Chrysalis in a strange bubble of the yellow energy. With one final bemused look at her changelings, she, the stone and the bubble of energy vanished, with the voice’s words still echoing through the basements.

“The Elements of Dissonance require your skills.”

Bearer of the Element of Deception: Found.