~Earlier That Afternoon~
Discord paced the floor of the Iron Sight’s tent just beyond the temporary guard barracks within the castle grounds. He was mumbling to himself and rubbing his mismatched arms together. Ruby Star looked up from her map of the city’s layout and cocked an eyebrow.
“Are you okay?” she asked the distraught draconequus.
“No,” grumbled Discord with a stomp of his lizard foot. “I don’t know. I just feel like I’m stuffed full of magic with nowhere to go.”
“So… why don’t you cast a spell?”
Discord spun around and looked at the orange pony he called ‘Red’. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He did a few deep-knee bends and reached down to touch his toes. “Okay, here we go. Gonna cast me a big spell. Any second now. Here we go…”
He stood motionless, and a guilty expression trickled over his features. “I… can’t think of anything to cast.”
Ruby pushed off of the desk in front of her and walked over to him. “Really?” she asked, squinting at him in disbelief. “You can’t think of anything to cast? You’re the God of Chaos, aren’t you? Why not make one of those cotton candy clouds I read about in basic training?”
“Oh!” nodded Discord happily “Yeah, I can do that!” and he leaned out of the tent’s opening and waved a furry paw in the air. Nearby in the otherwise spotless sky, a pony sized pink cloud popped into existence and started to rain chocolate milk.
“Hay! What’s the meaning of this?!” cried General Iron Sights as he was being drenched in a sudden downpour of chocolate 2%.
“Er… Sorry General!” offered Ruby Star as amicably as she could. She turned to her sulking compatriot and shoved a hoof into his ribs. “Spellbound, go get the good General a towel, would you?”
Still upset about not going to Cloudsdale with Princess Twilight, Spellbound crossed his forelegs and pouted. “Why don’t you do it?”
Ruby looked at Spellbound with half-lidded eyes. “Please Spellbound? For me? I’d do it but then I’d get all wet. You wouldn’t want me to end up all covered in chocolate milk would you?”
Spellbound stared at the pretty mare with her fluttery eyelashes. “Yeah. No! I mean, no. No I wouldn’t want that.” He scrambled to his hooves and ran out of the tent, blushing like a bruised tomato.
Ruby watched the stallion run through the crowd of Solar Court, Lunar Court, Royal Guard, and Senatorial Guard forces that had gathered for today’s briefing. There was a barely noticeable uptick to her lips on the left side, and just the slightest hint of blush herself.
“Nice!” declared Discord as he clapped his hands together, ”That felt great. What should I cast next?”
“W-why do you need me to tell you? You’re a big... a big…“
“Draconequus. I’m a draconequus.”
“Right. That. You should just cast whatever magic you want. Er, so long as it doesn’t hurt anypony.”
“You know Red, I’d love to, I really would. But I just draw a big fat blank whenever I want to cast a spell, okay? Let’s not make a big fuss about it.”
“That’s weird,” she said as she poked him with a hoof. “You’re weird.”
“Yes, thank you for your insight, tiny insignificant mortal.” Discord turned away from Ruby Star and returned to pacing the length of the tent. She went back to reviewing her map.
He stopped and rubbed a claw against his goatee. “I wonder if this has anything to that time-walking spell the Princess gave me.”
“Twilight gave you a time spell?”
“No, Celestia did.”
“Who?”
“Princess Celestia? Don’t tell me you don’t know who that is.”
“Who?”
Discord glared at the unicorn. “If you say ‘who’ one more time I’ll… I’ll…”
“What’s the matter, Discord? Can’t think of any spells?”
He walked over to her and stood in fuming silence. She grinned lazily at him. Then he reached down, picked up her map, and began shredding it to pieces in a flurry of claws and fur.
“What are you doing!” she cried as tiny pieces of Canterlot tumbled through the air, falling in her mane and on her face.
A new voice called by the tent’s entrance. “An excellent suggestion, Admiral. Let me grab my map of the city and… we’ll…” The still-chocolate coated General watched an enraged Discord finish shredding his map.
Tears welled up in the hardened veteran’s eyes. “That was Pop-Pop’s map…” The crushed stallion turned and galloped away like a spanked puppy.
Ruby looked up at the shamefaced draconequus. “Well?”
“Well what?” he asked her pointedly.
“Fix it!” she shouted with a stomp of her hoof.
Discord snapped two talons, and the pieces of the map marched itself back together on the desk. Ruby shook her head. “There is something wrong with your magic, isn’t there?”
Discord was about to answer, when Spellbound came falling through the tent’s opening, towels landing everywhere. “Hay guys? It’s time to start the briefing.”
Ruby Star slouched with visible relief. “Finally. It took forever to get everypony to agree to hear your plan.”
“My what?” asked Discord.
Ruby brought both forehooves to her temples, dreading the migraine she knew was coming. She closed her eyes. “Discord, tell me you have a plan.”
He studied the orange mare before answering. “If I don’t, will it cause you physical pain?”
“Yes.”
“Oh good, I was worried that I was going to have to lie to you.”
Ruby Star looked up at him hopefully. “So you do have a plan?”
“Nope, sure don’t.”
She winced as the headache took form. “I hate you.”
Discord and his two ponies walked up to the little wooden stage that was hastily assembled for this very briefing. Really, it was more of a glorified soap box. Like a pallet of soap boxes. Heedless of its structural integrity, Discord hoped up to the stage and addressed his audience.
“Hello, everypony!” He greeted gleefully.
He stood there with his arms stretched out, head back, and eyes closed. He was expecting applause and adoration. What he got was a cough and what he thought was a cricket chirping.
Deflating to a more natural pose, he let out the breath he had been holding and looked into the faces of the guard ponies gathered before him. Plenty of scowls.
“So!” he tried again, “Do they still tell any of my old stories in that basic training field guide of yours, or did they fina—“
“You suck!” shouted an anonymous pony from the back. Nervous laughter rippled through the assembled mass of armor and robes. There must have been close to five hundred of them here.
“Psst. Discord!” came a frantic whisper from behind him. He turned and saw Spellbound trying to get his attention. “You’re losing them out there. Get the General on stage.”
Discord nodded and turned to face the crowd. He brought a fuzzy paw up to his face and set it to his brow. “Has anypony seen General Iron Sights? You are out there, aren't you General? Come on now, how hard can it be to find that old pink stallion?”
“AHEM.”
Discord looked straight down at the first row of ponies standing before the stage. Sure enough, there was a rather flustered looking General Iron Sights, pink fur and all.
“Ah, General, there you all. Come on up, don’t be shy.” Discord bent down and pulled the stern pink pony up on to the stage next to him.
“Hello General, is it true that we’ve never met before?”
“What? What are you talking about? We met earlier today when you ran up shouting about a dragon attack and forbidding the two courts from making an eclipse!”
A mutinous rumbling grumbled under many breaths at the reminder of Discord’s earlier antics.
“Hay,” Discord said as he pointed an accusatory claw at the good General. “Just whose magic show do you think this is, buddy?”
General Iron Sights stared at the insane creature. “This… This isn’t a magic show, you cretin!”
“Are you sure?” Discord asked desperately. “It’s just that I’ve got a lot of magic and… would you like to see a spell? Any spell, go on name it!” he found himself shaking the old stallion by his shoulders, much to the audible dismay of his troops.
Before anypony could stop Discord from further assaulting General Iron Sights, a loud thud shook the ground, and a cloud of dust filled the air at the back of the gathered forces.
There was quite a bit of murmuring, which turned into gasps, which in turn became cries of terror, as a long serpentine neck and two large leather wings began to protrude from the dust-clouded impact sight. It was a dragon.
“Dragon attack! Attack the dragon!” Discord ran about in small circles, frantically waving his arms around in the air.
Spears were flung and magical bolts were cast. All bounced harmlessly off the beast’s green scaly underbelly. It laughed at them, smiling all the while. It was the smile of a predator among prey.
“Stay your attack, brave defenders of Canterlot. The Dragons of Valorhold mean you no harm.” He purred through his meter-long teeth.
A new wave of murmuring fell upon the gathered forces. Grips were loosened, unleashed fireballs dispelled, and armored visors lifted. Was it true? Dare they hope?
“Yes, Ponies of Canterlot. It is true. The Dragons of Valorhold have come to your aid in your moment of need, in honor of our old pacts.” He lifted his massive head into the air and roared into the sky, a fount of flame accompanying his mighty voice.
The green wyrm took note of the crowd as he bellowed. All the tiny creatures beneath him cheered. All save for four. The dragon ceased his light show, and lowered himself to his belly. Slowly, to avoid crushing the rejoicing ponies around him. Then he stretched his head and neck towards the unadorned wooden stage, guardsmares and stallions parting before him. He stopped when his chin rested comfortably against the stage’s wooden edge.
“You do not cheer, small ones,” He said plainly addressing Discord, General Iron Sights, and the two members of the Arcane Guard behind them, hugging each other and cowering before the great wrym. He flashed the quivering pair a wicked leer and they shivered all the more for it.
Discord was ready to answer, but General Iron Sights beat him to it. “Discord claims to have knowledge of the future. He said that the dragons would come. He said you would attack us.”
“Ah. This is Discord,” growled the green dragon as he reared back up to his full height. “The Magicborn has spoken of you.”
The crowd erupted into gasps and excited talk. “The Magicborn?” “Is he coming?” “Just to catch a glimpse of him would be an honor.” “I can’t wait to tell my kids about this!”
“Yes.” The green scaled giant nodded his tremendous head. “As we speak, The Magicborn flies here with a flight of five and fifty of Valorhold’s mightiest knights.”
Discord turned to Iron Sights. “Who’s The Magicborn?” but his question went unanswered. The good general had hopped off the stage and was excitedly talking with a few of his troops. He looked about as giddy as a pink earthpony stallion could look.
Undaunted, the God of Chaos spun on his heels. “Hey guys, who’s ‘The Magicborn’?” He asked with finger quotes.
Spellbound was prancing in place, a wide grin on his face. “Oh wow. The Magicborn’s real?! This is amazing. Legends tell of a great dragon, mighty in body and pure of heart. He created the Dragon Code, the set of laws that dragons follow to live virtuously.”
Discord raised an eyebrow at that. “All dragons?”
Ruby stepped in. “Not all dragons, no. But most dragons. And definitely all the dragons of Valorhold.”
Discord rubbed his chin in thought. When was the last time he dealt with a dragon? It couldn’t have been that long ago, a few millennia at most. He always thought of dragons as scheming treasure hoarders with bad breath and worse tempers. Did they all really go soft?
“And, and!” Spellbound added excitedly, “He’s called the Magicborn because he was hatched by Princess Twilight! Before she was a Princess! Can you imagine a world without Princess Twilight?”
Discord stared at the blue stallion flatly. “Yes.” He spun around on his heels again to stare as menacingly as possible at the living green wall before him.
“So, Spike is coming to Twilight’s aid, eh? He was always desperate to play the hero. Tell me, dragon, did he ever get that growth spurt he wanted?”
Amantharex was shocked. To dare speak the true name of a dragon that casually was to invite death. To do so of The Magicborn was to beg for a slow death. As a Knight of the Code, he fought against the urge to eat the disrespectful creature and end him right here.
But The Magicborn said that he was the great enemy. Discord was to be spared until the very end.
“In a way, yes,”Amantharex said with his most diplomatic smile. And then he turned away from the vile creature and his assembled ponies. He spread his wings and flapped once, creating another cloud of dust and launching himself into the air.
“The Magicborn will roost at your Grand Central Plaza with his flight soon. Come and be received. There will be feasting and we shall make plans to defeat the great enemy.”
He flew in a quick circle around the assembled ponies, before banking off for the Grand Central Plaza to the south. As he flew he offered them the salute of his clan “Code guide you, friends.”
As soon as the beast was out of earshot, Discord clapped once loudly to get everypony’s attention. “Okay folks, we don’t have long! We need full defenses here for the castle. Divert all power to shields!”
Not a single pony moved. In fact most of them ignored him, happily chatting amongst themselves.
“Give it up, Discord,” sighed Iron Sights standing in front of the stage. “I was almost willing to believe you. Almost. But these are Valorhold dragons. For the love of Sparkle, they call themselves knights. Knights, Discord! There’s no threat here.”
Discord slapped himself in the face, trying to get the stupid out. “No! I know what I heard. I know what I saw. If you go there, you’re walking right into a trap.”
“A trap?” the pink stallion scoffed as he turned to his seapony peer. “What do you think, Admiral Snack Bar? Is it a trap?”
The seapony did a small flip in his aquasphere, his brow furrowed in thought. “Hmm,” he bubbled, “You know, I don’t think it is. Let’s go!”
There was a giddy stampede as hundreds of ponies from all branches of the Equestrian military and guard forces rushed for the far gate at the edge of the grounds. Before long, there was just Discord, two impromptu lackeys, and the twelve members of the Senatorial Guard.
Discord waved dismissively at them. “Why are you lot still here? Don’t you want to meet The Magicborn too?”
“Yes,” one pony said plainly from within her red robes.
Discord gave the mare a puzzled look. “So? Why don’t you then?”
“The Secretary General said you were in charge. We obey the will of the Senate.”
“Huh. So you’re just blindly following orders. Doing whatever I say, no matter what. Just like that?”
“Just like that.” The red robed unicorn answered.
“I like it.”
“Well that’s swell and all,” grumbled Ruby Star as she clambered up the steps to the shoddy wooden stage. “But even with the Senatorial Guard, there’s no way in Tartarus we can defend Canterlot from a flight of dragons.”
Ruby let out an “Eep!” as she was suddenly plucked off the ground and brought to eyelevel with the God of Chaos. He looked at her for a moment, before wrapping her up in a big hug.
“That’s it!” he cheered.
“Mnf’s eet?” mumbled the flustered pony, pressed into his prickly chest fur.
“Tartarus,” he beamed.
She used her hindlegs to shove herself out of his grasp and hit the wood floor with a hollow thunk.
“Ow. What about Tartarus?”
“Shining Armor’s in Tartarus,” Discord said.
“Okay… Who’s Shining Armor?” asked Ruby.
There was a gasp of disbelief from behind the two of them. “Ruby Star… you don’t know who Shining Armor is? He’s only the most famous Captain of the Guard in the history of ever, is all. He was strong and smart and brave and he even married a Princess and became a Prince!”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Okay, jeez. Sorry I didn’t know all about your coltcrush, Spellbound.”
Spellbound began to protest loudly and vehemently, but Ruby was already ignoring him. She turned to face Discord, a playful smile still on her lips.
“So, what did he do that got him sent to Tartarus?”
Discord was busy looking through a tome on summoning circles. He pulled down his reading glasses and squinted at the orange unicorn. “Hmm? Oh, he wasn’t sent there. He’s there of his own free will, playing tic-tac-toe for the fate of the world.”
“Wha—“
Her question was cut off by a complex series of hand motions. By the end of them, the trampled grass of the barracks grounds before them began to glow in an ominous circle of runic symbols. Calmly, the Senatorial Guard, exited the field and walked over to stand beside the wooden stage.
As a final motion, Discord brought his mismatched arms together and then yanked them apart with a grunt.
There was a “Whum” sound followed by the unbearable smell of rot and rust. The air shimmered with heat and Ruby Star could feel sweat immediately begin to bead on her forehead. Where once there was grass, there was now a gaping hole above a plateau of bleached bone. A thunderous castrophony of voices assaulted her ears but that didn't make it any easier to believe that she was staring down into the heart of the underworld.
Discord stared into the portal and shouted over the din. “I need a volunteer!”
“Not it!” yelled Ruby Star at the top of her lungs.
“Not i— Noooooooo!” shrieked Spellbound a fraction of a second too late, as he was grabbed by his left foreleg and pulled into the pit along with a madly grinning Discord.
Spellbound’s first thought upon regaining consciousness on top of a pile of bones half-again as tall as the massive dragon he just witnessed earlier this morning, was that it really wasn’t all that bad up here.
Sure it was hot, and you couldn’t take a step without standing on some poor soul’s last remains, but it was a dry heat. Also he much preferred being up here with Discord and the strange white stallion talking to skulls than down in that living sea of demons.
Over and over again, the immeasurable throng shouted, “THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING!” Really, Spellbound could have done with less of that, but beggars, choosers, and all that.
The white stallion was sitting on a stack of femurs, talking with a skull. “So, why were you sent to Tartarus?”
Much to Spellbound’s surprise, the skull answered. “I cheated on my taxes.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” offered the blue maned unicorn.
“Also I burned down an orphanage.”
“Yow.”
“Yeah. It was in the dead of winter, too.”
“Well, uh. Huh. Are you sorry for what you did?”
“About the taxes?” asked the skull. “Yes. Yes I am. That was wrong of me.”
“Okay, that’s a start. What about burning down the orphanage? Are you sorry about that?”
“Not really, no.”
The stallion shrugged and tossed the skull over his shoulder and off the side of the mountain of bones. “And back to the bottom of the pile you go, mister.”
Discord let out a low whistle. “Hey Shining. What happened here?”
Shining Armor fumbled around for another skull in the pile before looking up to address his friend. “Oh hay, Discord. Just a sec.”
He looked back at the new skull in his hooves. “And why were you sent to Tartarus?”
The skull hesitated. “I… I used to mail things without sufficient postage.
“And are you sorry for what you did?” Shining Armor asked.
“You know, I wasn’t at first,” confessed the skull. “But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. And you know what? Yeah. I am. It was wrong of me to abuse the good will of the Equestrian Postal Service. I’m sorry.”
Shining Armor gently patted the top of the skull. “You’re free to go.” He said, as he tossed the skull straight up into the air.
At the apex of its assent, a ghostly apparition of a pegasus rose out of the top of the skull. He looked at his hooves in wonder and flapped his wings happily.
He turned his ethereal head to Shining Armor. “Oh hay, thanks!” and he smiled. Then he disappeared in a burst of prismatic light. Spellbound could swear that, for a brief moment, he could smell fresh flowers and hear the sound of soft laughter.
“THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING!”
And just like that, all the pleasantness was gone.
Discord asked again. “So, what happened here?”
Shining Armor stood up on all four hooves and stretched. “What happened?” he asked numbly. “I won.”
“Wow.” Blinked Discord in disbelief. “Where’s Grymgore?”
“He just… crumbled into dust. I guess he couldn’t stand the idea of a world where he could never again march to war against the living.”
“Bummer.”
“I know right?” Shining Armor said with a sigh. “Now we’re down a seat for Poker Night.”
There was a poignant pause as they considered that sad new fact. Then Discord spoke up again. “If you won, why are you still here? Why not teleport back to Canterlot and see Cadence?”
“THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING!” sang the chorus of demons once more.
“They happened.” Shining Armor pointed a hoof in accusation. ”They made me King of Tartarus.”
“They did what?” Discord had seen a lot in his life, but he’d never been there for the selection of a new King of Tartarus. “Huh. I figured there would have been a lengthy vetting process. Not to mention the campaigning and the voting.”
“Nope, it’s a ‘beat the last guy’ kind of thing.”
“Interesting,” pondered Discord.
“Yeah. Oh and it turns out that part of the job is judging the pony souls that come here. When they’re finally ready to apologize for their evil work, I get to send them along to the Elysian Fields.”
“See I never understood the whole ‘die first and then live forever’ thing mortals are so fond of. Why not cut out the middlemare and just live forever?”
Shining Armor chuckled. “I don’t know, Discord. But I do know that I have to get through all these as quickly as I can. These poor souls have been waiting for centuries to be judged while Grymgore and I were playing tic-tac-toe.”
Spellbound walked up between the two and said “I guess you could say he really let his work pile up.”
Shining Armor frowned at the blue unicorn.
Discord bent down and picked up a bone and bopped Spellbound on the muzzle. “Stop that. Nopony likes puns.”
“Who’s the new kid?” asked Shining Armor.
Spellbound stopped rubbing his face, and snapped to attention. “Sir! Spellbound of the Arcane Guard, sir!”
Shining Armor looked up at Discord. “The Arcane Guard?”
Discord rolled his eyes. “He stands outside of your sister’s bedroom all night long.”
Shining Armor frowned at the blue stallion again, but this time it was much more frownier. “Really.”
“Yes sir!” Saluted Spellbound without thinking.
“You know I—“
“THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Shining Armor’s chin hit the ground with a ruler’s burden. “Just a sec, guys.” He said as he dragged himself over to the edge of the plateau. He stood back up to his full height and cracked his neck from side to side and eyes his minions authoritatively.
The new King of Tartarus bellowed, “Atten-tion!”
The newly won silence was deafening in its own right, the only sound to be heard was a soft rustling that rippled through the horde below as they all snapped to attention. Shining Armor nodded his approval before turning to trot back over to a gob-smacked Discord.
“So. What brings you two to Tartarus anyway?”
“Oh!” exclaimed Discord, dropping his left fist into his open right paw. “Right. Well, we’ve got a bit of a problem in Canterlot, and we need your help.”
Worry fell across Shining Armor’s face. “What kind of problem?”
“Discord!” shouted a familiar voice from above.
The three males turned to look up and saw Ruby Star standing at one edge of the portal in the Caterlot Castle barracks. She stuck her head into the portal and shouted. “Discord, you were right. The dragons lied.”
Discord’s stomach dropped to the bony floor. Funny, he was planning on gloating when it turned out that he was right after all, but there didn’t feel like there was a whole lot to gloat about. Ruby continued. “All the guard ponies and most of the solar and lunar courts went to the Grand Central Plaza and have been corrupted. We’re under attack!”
Shining Armor strode forward, taking up the mantle of Captain of the Guard once again with little more than a nod from Discord. “How many guards are left?” He asked, formulating a plan on the fly.
“Counting me and Spellbound, we’ve got fourteen guards left.”
Suddenly a burst of magic shot across the wide opening of the portal and hit Ruby Star in the side. She toppled to her knees, but returned fire with a grunt.
“Ruby!” shouted Spellbound in genuine fear for his partner’s safety.
Shining Armor turned away, talking to himself. “It takes twenty at least to operate the defensive runes. How are we going to do this.”
He reached the edge of the plateau and looked down at the silent demons standing at attention. He almost forgot they were standing there; they were so good at following his orders.
Shining Armor swung his head back up towards the portal. He could feel the chaotic energies coming off of it. He looked at Discord, who was staring mutely back at him.
Shining Armor pointed at the hole in the sky. “Can you make more of those?”
Spike rumbled as he made landfall at Canterlot’s Grand Central Plaza. His green wings began to shimmer and twist, as he willed them with his transformative magic back into his body, growing in size to his preferred stature. Looking around he wondered at how small everything was. When he was but a hatchling, he remembered many trips across these very cobblestone streets. But that was a long time ago.
“We roost here,” the purple behemoth ordered as he sat down and leaned against a clock tower. He watched as his fastest flyer, Amantharex, landed across from him, nodding to him discretely. The Magicborn spoke again, the clock tower at his back rumbling with each word. “Make ready to receive the Castle’s defenders.”
Of the five and fifty dragons landing and establishing their temporary roost around him, none rebuked him or questioned his commands. But that was to be expected. No dragon would willingly disobey a member of the Circle of Elders.
At just under 500 years, Spike was the youngest member of the Circle of Elders. Indeed the Circle predated Valorhold by at least a millennium, as did its oldest member. Young though he was, his influence was vast, stretching far beyond the Circle of Elders and Valorhold, and spreading to caves and dungeons of dragons all over the world. After all, he was the author of The Dragon Code.
Many creatures believed him to be the ruler of Valorhold. Some of the more jealous or scheming dragons would even call him king in a bid to raise his ire or expose his ‘true ambitions.’ But he had always shunned the title, choosing instead to be a voice among the Circle. He would give council and succor when the needed. Why? Because a friend in need was a friend indeed.
But things changed when a confused gaggle of ponies wandered into Valorhold's territories. Changed for the better. They were brought to the Circle, babbling and mad. But there was something about their words that spoke to Spike’s heart.
He knew the pony tongue, he’d been raised to speak it from birth, unlike the other dragons who, if they choose to learn it, learn it late in life. When those few speakers of order came to his circle this morning, he knew what he must do with his power and influence. It was so clear. Order must prevail over chaos.
He argued within the Circle of Elders for hours, but in the end he convinced them of the plight of ponykind. He told them of the dire consequences that would befall all life, not just the lives of the little ponies, should order fail. In the end he was given a flight. Five and fifty knights. They left for Canterlot immediately. Just like the voice in his head told him to do. He knew he was doing the right thing.
He hoped he was doing the right thing.
“Magicborn!” roared a thick-set red youth.
The Magicborn sat up, coiling his long purple tail around the clock tower behind him for stability. “Yes Thud, what is it?”
Thud rolled his shoulders and stomped through the plaza, stepping on abandoned carts full of goods as he stomped over to the leader of his flight. “You said there would be glorious combat here! I see nothing. This is a peaceful city. How will Thud earn his mate without the challenge of glorious combat?”
Spike blinked several times and shook his head. Something was wrong with him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked around the city as if for the first time. It did look peaceful. “I… do not know. I thought that there would be a great conflict here by now.”
Then he gripped his head and hissed in pain. “Why… My head?”
Confused by the words of his elder, Thud turned and sulked off to sit on an unattended inn at the west end of the plaza. Getting comfortable, the huge but young dragon let out a long sigh, adding “Thud wants a mate.”
The Magicborn sat there gripping his head for some time. The pain faded, and he felt better. The voice in his head told him to relax, and he did. He was probably overthinking things.
Soon he heard the galloping of hooves, and looked to the North. He watched as excited ponies, hundreds of them, in their various garbs denoting some branch of military service, ran into the plaza. As more and more spilled in, dragons found themselves stepping over buildings and out of the plaza proper to give more breathing room to the tiny ponies.
“We, the defenders of Canterlot wish to greet The Magicborn,” stated a proud looking pink pony. The Magicborn was almost certain he was a stallion, but it had been a long time since he’d seen one. Best play it safe.
“Well met, defenders of Canterlot.” He called out with arms spread wide. “I am The Magicborn and I thank you for your hospitality!”
A resounding cheer went up. Spike smiled too, but then it began to change. First to a grimace. Then to a pained frown. And it finished it’s metamorphosis into a guttural roar. He gripped his head again and flailed about, causing the bell in the tower behind him to vibrate mournfully with the shaking of his tail.
Many of the ponies tried to flee. But none escaped. The Magicborn stifled his scream and released his head. The smile on his face returned, but there was a hint of madness to it. Red light burst from his eyes, and it washed over his flight of five and fifty dragons and the hundreds of pony defenders trembling at his feet.
“Excellent.” The Magicborn’s head nodded, but it was not his voice that spoke. This voice belonged to the Beacon of Order. The newly controlled dragon flexed his arms, as a gleeful giggle escaped his lips.
“Oh my.” The Beacon chuckled, “And here I thought Princess Cadence was powerful.” He flexed The Magicborn’s tail, and the base of the clock tower was reduced to splintery rubble. There was a resounding clang when the top of the tower hit the ground behind him. He bent down and pulled the largest bell in Canterlot out of the debris and leisurely tossed it beyond the rim of the city with one hand.
“This will do nicely.” The Beacon said with finality. He turned to the mumbling force before him and pointed a claw towards Canterlot Castle. “Bring Discord to me,” he commanded.
The air was filled with the flapping of ten and one-hundred leathery wings and the ground resounded with the marching of thousands of hooves. Soon he could hear the sound of magic bursts and dragon roars and his twisted smile grew a little bit wider.
But then something caught his attention off to the North, by the castle. Some sort of hole opened in the sky. Then another. Then a third.
Something, or a lot of little somethings, was rushing out of these holes towards the ground. Loud somethings. It seemed that for all the world, the sky suddenly grew three foul smelling waterfalls of gibbering red flesh and rusty metal.
A smug Discord stood between Shining Armor and Spellbound, his hands on his hips. “Three good enough for you, Shining?”
Shining nodded at the three new portals, each 100 yards across, to the world of the living. His demons were running into whichever one was closest to them, heedless of the fall on the other side. In fact they flapped their tiny mangled wings in anticipation.
“KILL EVERYTHING!” They shouted.
“Oh dang,” said Shining Armor, “I knew I forgot something.” He cleared his throat, and the demons that had not yet jumped through to the realm of the living, turned to look at their Sire. “Hey guys? No killing ponies, okay?”
“KILL EVERYTHING BUT ONLY HURT PONIES!”
“No no,” scolded Shining Armor, “leave the ponies alone entirely.”
“KILL AND HURT EVERYTHING BUT PONIES!”
“Sure, that’s fine.” He added, “Have fun.”
“KILL AND HURT EVERYTHING BUT PONIES AND HAVE FUN!”
Discord grinned at his poker buddy. “They are such good listeners.”
“Yeah.” Shining Armor, true to his name, shone proudly.
They watched the demons jump one after another. In such huge numbers there was almost something hypnotic about it.
Shining Armor was the first to break the silence. “Well, let’s get going.”
Discord gave him a puzzled look, and the one-time Prince continued.
“We can’t just stand around in Tartarus while Canterlot Castle’s under attack.”
The draconequus shot his friend a sneer of a grin. “Right you are Shiny. Okay fellas, all aboard for the Canterlot Express!” He reached behind him and pulled out his second favorite conductor’s hat and grabbed a pony under each arm.
Discord broke into a run for the edge of the plateau above the nearest portal. When he reached the edge he jumped into the air, cackling madly, as gravity pulled them towards the portal far beneath them.
Shining Armor laughed along with him. He was finally returning to the land of the living. To his wife in Canterlot. And he’d get to fight dragons! Oh happy day, he hadn’t felt this alive in centuries.
Spellbound screamed like a little filly until he passed out.