//------------------------------//
// The Tale of Eris 
// Story: Breaking Free 
// by Nrdygrl 
//------------------------------//

                                                                    Chapter Two 
“The Tale of Eris” 


Orion cleared his throat to begin telling the story to Celestia and Luna. The two young alicorns listened intently at their father’s words. They whistled in their ears like the whistling wind. 
“Back before you two were born…and you very well know the story about the Sages finding Equestria. Well, after the three races of ponies came together, they encountered many creatures, such as dragons already living there in the mountains. Well, these dragons came down from the mountains to help serve the Sages in any way they could. Now, at this time, your mother and I were recently married. My parents, the moon goddess, a unicorn named Selena and a mortal pegasus named Star Gazer betrothed me to your mother.”
“And my parents, the sun goddess, a pegasus named Elianna and a mortal unicorn named Fire Light, betrothed me to your father,” said Solina smiling at Orion. “It turned out that your father and I were perfect for one another. We decided after we were married, it would benefit the land of Equestria greatly if we came down to earth to live among the mortals. Though we are demigods, we practiced our magic when we lived in the Heavens with our parents. We gained immortality when we reached the state of Forevermore, or the state of having gained the full potential of good magic. This state allows us to live forever and have almost all the same powers as the gods. Of course, being demigods we didn’t mind staying on the earth with the mortals. The Sages were happy to have us rule as king and queen over Equestria. Thus, we give the subjects day and night.” 
“What happened next was something we really didn’t expect,” Orion continued. “There were some dragons that ended up turning rogue on us. Eris was their leader. She wanted nothing more than to rule Equestria and give the dragons the land. This, of course wasn’t fair, because the Sages found Equestria first. They attacked us and the grand castle we had built. They were no match for us, however. We defeated them and the rebel dragons were banished. Eris escaped this, abandoning her own army. She disappeared for a while, waiting for the right opportunity to strike again….” 
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Eris watched the sand trickle down through the thin neck of the hourglass. The grains bounced off the glass and fell delicately down to the bottom. 
I will have my revenge, she thought to herself. No one…not even Chaos himself could stop me from achieving my ultimate goals. She gazed out to the horizon, vividly remembering a certain day from the past when she almost felt true defeat. This was the day she almost died. This was the day she knew how strongly she hated the equines. This was the day that changed everything…. 
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The thick, black smoke filled her lungs, and she breathed it in deeply anyway. She dragged her limp body across the forest floor. She knew she had failed, and it never hurt this much. However, she took pleasure in the pain, knowing this meant her determination was still alive. The sky had turned dark from the smoke. It billowed into the air and danced above her like a dark spirit. She collapsed onto the ground and chuckled slightly. The pain made her strong....until now. With one hand, she reached to touch her wound. Her clawed hand turned red with the blood. Eris smiled when she saw the red liquid dripping from her hand. She put her hand in her mouth, licking the sour liquid off with a crazed look in her eyes. She had not lost. She could not comprehend losing. The word "defeat" was not in her vocabulary. She was set back...by those foolish equines. She would return. There were so many opportunities for her to strike again, anyway. 
"We've already burned everything they loved to the ground..." she said to herself, chuckling slightly. “They are weak now. So...I must wait for my strength to come back to me. Then...then...they will fall into the flames at last. The alicorns will perish and Equestria will belong to the dragons. I will rule. I will break away from the cursed chains of Order and Harmony. All that is tranquil will die with them into the flames of all that is...."
"CHAOTIC...." a low voice whispered for her. Eris looked up in surprise. An unsteady wind stroked her face. The smoke above her swirled around and around. The leaves on the trees flew into the twisting funnel of smoke and the color of the grass and trees vanished. The ground before her began to crack. Looking up, Eris saw a pair of red eyes staring out at her from the twister. She looked on in shock and curiosity. The twister stopped spinning and a black figure stood tall before her. He was similar to a dragon, but had many arms of all kinds of creatures. She could clearly see he had not two, but four red eyes and a smile that even sent shivers climbing up her spine. 
"Have you not called upon me, Eris, dragoness of the snowy mountains?" The figure asked her. He didn't move his mouth when he talked. His voice echoed in her mind. 
"I do not recall," Eris replied, pulling herself up onto her haunches to get a better look at the creature. 
"Oh, but you have," the creature responded. Suddenly, Eris realized he was no longer in front of her, but behind her. She turned her head and glared at him. 
"How did you do that?" she asked. The black figure only gave her a toothy grinned. Eris sighed and looked down at the ground. "Who are you and what do you want from me?" 
"The better question, my dear," said the creature, now in front of her again, "is...'what do YOU want from ME?' Have you not called my name when you wanted to see the glory of my power? Have you not tried to summon it to destroy your enemies? Have you not longed for me to come now...when you are so weak? Eris...your patience has paid off." The purple dragoness's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. She gasped a little in disbelief.
"Chaos?" she whispered. There he was....Chaos...the god himself...the one who was always thought of as a silent, unseen deity that rebelled against the god Order. He caused everything unnatural and evil to occur. 
"You are correct, my dear," Chaos replied. "You know me....as I know you." 
"How do you know me?" Eris asked. 
"Even before you and your followers rebelled against the equines....I was the wildfire that burned everything to the ground. I was the famine that starved the equines and brought death to this place. I was the water that flooded this earth, sabotaged their homes, and poisoned their lungs. I was the wind and the cold and the heat. I was always ahead of you who rebel against the way things are. Order and the other gods never understood me. In fact, mortals hate me. But....you...you, Eris....you have always wanted my power. You have found such things attractive. You have thought of me in such a way that I have never known before. You have never hated me. This is what made me interested in you, my dear. I have watched you, Eris. And...I must say, I have never looked upon a creature with your beauty ever before. I find YOU most definitely attractive." Eris smiled at him.
"I thank you, Chaos," she said chuckling. "I am flattered. Someone had never taken such an interest in me. I must be honest...I have noticed you. Your work is something to behold. They say everyone has a connection to Order...but I have never felt as if I did. I always felt different...like I was a misfit in this place. I believe we should take control of this land. We deserve it. I have always admired you for being a rebel as I. We are kindred spirits, you and I."
"Indeed," Chaos murmured. "Perhaps you have a connection to me, instead?"
"I believe I do," Eris replied. "Perhaps it is destiny."
"Perhaps," Chaos replied. "Eris...my lovely, dark rose....I wish you could become my wife. Would you like this...to be the wife of a god? The wife of Chaos?"
"Oh, my dear," said Eris chuckling. "You have no sense of time, do you? I have only just met you."
"Time..." murmured Chaos. "I apologize, my dear. Time is irrelevant to me now. You must understand, too....gods fall in love quicker than a mortal does. My dear, Eris, I have fallen." 
"But...you do not know me," Eris replied. 
"Oh...but I do," Chaos replied. "I do know you. You are like me. Eris...as I said....I have watched you from afar. I do know you...better than anyone, I imagine. I love you, my Eris." Eris nodded. She was silent for a moment. She was in deep thought. Then, a smile crept onto her face. 
"I think I feel the same way," she said at last. "Though this is our first official meeting...I have always admired you. Yes...I have always loved you. However, should this be a proper proposal, should I not have something like...a ring...?" 
"But...not a ring..." said Chaos, smiling. 
"You do know me," said Eris.
"Tradition and order are certainly not to your liking," Chaos replied smiling. He reached into his smoky lower body and pulled out a black rose. "You are my dark rose...unlike the others, my Eris. I want to be with you forever. Marry me." Eris accepted the black rose and tucked it behind her ear. 
"Yes, Chaos," she said, a smirk returning to her purple face. "I will marry you. Perhaps happiness will follow me at last. However...I require something of you." 
"What is it, my dear?" Chaos asked. He reached out with a clawed hand and stroked her scaly cheek. Eris felt chills when he caressed her. "I will do anything for you."
"Anything?" she asked. 
"Anything."
"I am but a mortal dragon. If you wish for me to be with you forever...." she looked deep into his four bright red eyes with her green ones. "Make me a goddess." Chaos floated backwards in surprise by this request. "I understand this is a tall order, my dear Chaos...but...you said you'd do anything. In exchange for my heart...for my commitment...I ask this of you. It is the only wish I have." 
"You must understand..." said Chaos slowly. "If I do this...you will never be the same. You will live forever...you will know all and hate all as I do. Your powers will be the same as mine. Your heart will be as black as mine. And you will look like no other creature that exists. You will become deformed...mixed up....and disharmony will riddle your soul. I ask you, Eris...is this truly what you wish?"
"Yes," Eris replied without hesitation. Chaos nodded. He breathed deeply and rose up higher into the air. Wind started to fly around him in a circle. Dark smoke clouded around him, blotting out his facial features and his arms. Bolts of lightning surged inside this cloud. The dark power charged forward at Eris and hit her directly in the heart. She gasped and shrieked as a world of pain enveloped her. She threw her head back and screamed. The dark magic penetrated her heart and entered her very soul. She could feel it charge through her veins into the rest of her body. As soon as that pain subsided, the real transformation began. It was the most painful feeling Eris could've experienced. She collapsed onto the ground, for her back legs seemed to shrink and sink into her underside. Her bones cracked and snapped into place to form new legs. She gained six of them...each bent like an insect's. Eris clutched at the ground, tears rolling down her face. She gritted her teeth, as the pain of her arms changing was a lot worse. SNAP! SNAP! CRACK! CRACK! She wailed and shut her eyes tight. Next her wings started changing. The pain was so intense, she almost passed out. She lay limp on the ground, whimpering quietly and breathing hard. Chaos stood by the whole time without any emotion. Then, he cleared his throat.
"You will now be called a draconequus. And if we have children someday...they will too be the same creature. They will symbolize me."  
At long last, Eris started to chuckle. She sat up and smiled. The pain was gone....and all that was left was sheer power. She looked down at her new features and admired them. She took a deep breath.
"At last..." she said chuckling. "I will conquer and destroy. I will rule Equestria....forever." Just then, when she spoke the word "forever," it made her notice something strange. Her side was not healed. She was still bleeding. Eris's eyes grew wide. She looked fiercely up at Chaos and growled at him. "I am NOT a goddess..." she screamed. "AM I?! You made me a demigoddess, didn't you?! But that is NOT what I wanted!"
"Of course not," replied Chaos smiling. "But I did not go back on my word. I made you a goddess in all manner of speaking. You didn't say 'deity'. Oh...dear...you thought you were playing me for a love-struck fool, didn't you?" Chaos laughed. "I am NOT an idiot. I know you do not love me, Eris. You love my power. And that is why you wanted to be a goddess. And if you were a deity, you would kill me...wouldn't you? Then...you would have twice the power. That was your plan."
"You tricked me!" Eris growled. Her whole body shook with rage. 
"It would seem so indeed..." said Chaos laughing. "I outsmarted you in your own game. But now...you must hold up your end of the bargain and marry me." Eris pounded the ground with her new panther paw. She frantically searched her mind for a possible loophole in this. She soon found there was none. Unless....
"Very well..." she replied nodding. "....it would seem I have been outsmarted. You are very cleaver indeed, Chaos. I should hope our future child will be such a trickster as you." 
"Come, my dear," said Chaos gently. "I wish only for your happiness and companionship. But your newfound power will not exceed mine."
"We shall see," Eris replied walking along into the forest with him. "We shall see...."
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“You are still a fool…” Eris whispered as she continued to stare at the hourglass before her. 
“Who is this fool?” asked a small voice behind her. She smiled and turned her head. 
“Your father is a fool…” Eris scoffed. “I always knew I would outsmart him eventually. And you…I am lucky to have such a wonderful son as you, my Discord.” Discord smiled a little and then looked down at the ground. 
“I always thought father was quite cleaver,” he replied. “Though…he does scare me…” 
“Hm! Not so much as he would make you believe, young one,” said Eris rolling her eyes. “You should not let things give you fear. That is great weakness.” 
“I do not understand what is happening,” said Discord lowering his eyebrows at her. “Why won’t you tell me?!” 
“Don’t worry…” said Eris smirking and turning back to look at the horizon again. “You will soon enough.” 
“Now, eventually,” said Solina, flying a little lower. “The opportunity came. For it turned out that Eris married the god Chaos and he granted her the status of a demigoddess. She had magnificent power. She returned and brought a great storm of chaos and disharmony on the land. We almost couldn’t defeat her. However, the Sages found a power within themselves that defeated Eris. She wouldn’t give up the fight at first, but this great power the Sages found brought harmony to the land again and Eris was forced to surrender. We captured her and fought amongst ourselves about what her punishment should be. As you can imagine, she begged us to spare her life. We had compassion on her and decided to simply banish her from the land. A magic contract was developed that prevented her from using her powers here ever again, even if she somehow managed to return.” 
“Now, it appears she tricked us,” Orion said sighing. “She found a loophole, somehow. We have to find out how she returned, what she wants from us, and what we can do to reason with her.” 
“Indeed,” Solina replied. “Fighting will do us no good. She is stronger now, and she knows this. We are so sorry you two had to become involved in all this. We understand you probably don’t understand, but have tried to tell you this tale as well as possible in hopes you can.” Celestia and Luna nodded. Celestia ran all the words her parents spoke over in her head as they neared the mountains. Looking down, she could see Eris standing on the mountain top waiting for them. Fear crept its way into her heart as she wondered what would become of them now. She could only hope that everything would be fine and Eris would leave them alone. She silently wondered if perhaps Eris was not as evil as she appeared. Perhaps she was simply misunderstood. The young princess could only ponder these things in her warm, compassionate heart.                

TO BE CONTINUED…