*BLAM*
Everything goes into slow motion, then stops. I can see the bullet about halfway to Twilight’s head, and I can see its path through the air, cutting the very fabric of the wind. I glance around, only able to move my eyes. A beam is shooting from Pinkie’s Party cannon, a kunai is coming right at Rain from Rarity, Twilight is in the middle of raising her wand, and a black ball of something is spinning its way out of Fluttershy’s launcher. Applejack is halfway out of the hole I knocked her through, trapped mid-shout. None of them will make it in time to stop the bullet already out of Rain.
“Oh, nonono. This isn’t right.” Discord appears to my left, the real Discord, multicolored misshapen body parts and all. He walks around Twilight. “You aren’t supposed to actually kill anyone, other than my creations.”
“No, this is the way it must be. We must make an example of these weaklings.” A second Discord appears to my right, but it’s the Grimm Discord, all black, mismatched Grimm parts.
“But how can we feed off of the chaos if there isn’t a person to feed off of?”
“It matters not. As the Grimmfather, I did not feed off of such paltry forces as chaos. I fed off of the fear of the people as my Grimm swarmed over their weak walls and slaughtered their kin!”
The real Discord shrinks a little. He looks to me pleadingly. I can only look, mouth frozen mid-sneer. “Now I know why I left Remnant.”
“What? We never left willingly. The Angels forced us out!”
“No, I didn’t. I left when they gave the people the weapons to fight off our creations. I saw what happened, the destruction of the cities, the killings, and it hurt me. This was not how I was as Chaos. I cared for my people, even though they never thought so. I kept them safe from the harms of the world, and only exposed them to a small part in order to remain fed.”
“No! The Angels forced us out when we overthrew their people! They gave them the weapons to destroy us again! We stood strong as Chaos! We never backed down!”
A third being appears, this one unknown to me. He is tall, mysterious, and handsome. He is clean-shaven, and his clothes look like they’re made of smoke. My eyes waver. I may not have seen him before, but the Princesses described him well enough. I am looking at the original form: Lord Chaos. He speaks in a deep, hypnotic voice.
“You both lie. Neither of you are anything like me. Discord, my final incarnation. You are weak, and thrive off of the forces of chaos but you expend more energy than you take. You will never be strong.
“The Grimmfather, arguably my most powerful form, other than myself. Pure rage, you feed off of the pain and anguish of others, and will do anything to attain your sustenance. However, your single-mindedness makes you weak to anything other than your plan. The Angels, Celestia and Luna, forced you out of Remnant because you would not take into account the potency of the weapons they gave their children.”
Both Discord and the Grimmfather start arguing, trying to appease their original, but he cuts them off.
“Enough! I suppose I should thank you two; your inner turmoil, and both aspects of myself in one body, has given me enough power to wake. Now, I will be taking the rest of my power back.”
A rushing force stirs up, and both Discord and the Grimmfather shrink to almost nothingness. Chaos picks them up, and places them within his shadows. Then he turns to me.
“And now for you. Rainbow Dash, is it? Personally selected by the Angels themselves.” He looks up. “Ah, there they are. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.” He motions, and my head moves upwards. Sure enough, Celestia and Luna, in human form, can only watch helplessly as I end Twilight’s life. He forces my head to follow him.
“You know, I was within Discord through all those centuries, locked away, with the Angels holding the keys. I could only watch as his sanity left him, reducing him to the cretin you knew. Then, when he was released, I thought this could be my chance to escape! But, he had lost his other half. The half the Grimmfather returned to him. He had lost the rage, the malice of being beaten hundreds of times. Then, you ‘reformed’ him. Pah! As if you could reform the base aspect of chaos. Oh, let’s get rid of that, now.” He takes the bullet out of the air and eats it.
“On the other foot, Grimmfather was the rage of my failures brought forth, without the want to cause mayhem. He could only destroy. I am still unsure how I was able to subdue him when I left Remnant, but it worked too well, as I explained.
“I am going to let your friend live for now, because I want to see the looks on all your faces when I utterly destroy the Angels, rip off their wings, and feed off of the last of their energy. Then, I will turn you six into my ultimate Agents, powered not only by my own strength, but by these Elements of Harmony.” He fondles my Element, then drops it. He then picks me up, and sets me down about a foot behind where I was. “There. That should stop any permanent harm. Oh, that laser isn’t pointing at you, is it?” a mirror appears in front of Pinkie’s cannon, tilted to redirect the laser into the air harmlessly.
He looks me in the eyes. “I wish for you to deliver a message to the Angels. Tell them I have returned, and if they value their lives and the lives of their subjects, they will cease this fruitless endeavor. If they do not face me upon the steps of this Academy, I will spare Equis my wrath. I will return to Origin, and reclaim my position over the people there. If they still wish to face me, just tell them what I will do to you six. As one of Discord’s friends likes to say, Allons-y!” he dissipates in a flash of smoke, and time returns to normal.
Several things happen at once. Pinkie’s beam shoots into the air, shattering the mirror. The kunai impacts the ground, turning the small area into an ice block. The ball of black lands on the ice, and skids off, falling on its furry rump. It is just out of range as a pillar of pure white strikes where I stood. I collapse to the ground, unable to feel my legs.
Everyone is shouting at one time; the Princesses swoop down, and Twilight almost faints when she sees Celestia. Pinkie is shouting something about “She doesn’t have any black stuff anymore!” Fluttershy is running for the small animal she launched at me. Rarity is trying to dissuade the Princesses from reducing me to a smoldering pile of ash. I just have the mother of all headaches.
Eventually, the shouting stops. I feel a hand on my shoulder; I look up, and Twilight is looking down at me, not with concern, but compassion.
“Did you mean it?”
I blink. “W-what?”
“Did you mean to shoot me?”
“No, no of course not. I would never try to hurt any of my friends. The Grimmfather took control of me.” At his name, all that Chaos said comes rushing back to me. I sit up; the others are arrayed around me. I look the Princesses dead in the eyes.
“We have to leave.”
Cries of outrage rise from the others, but I quiet them down. “Chaos has returned.”
Luna looks at me in shock. “How? We sealed him away, deep within Discord’s mind!”
“He was released when Discord and the Grimmfather came to a disagreement on the Father controlling me to kill Twi. Something about the inner turmoil, I think. He’s released, and he absorbed Discord and the Grimmfather. He also said to give you a message.”
Celestia looks concerned. “And what was the message?”
“Leave, and he spares Equis. He will return to Origin, and start over. If you fight him…” I break into tears. “If you fight him, he’ll turn us into his Agents and take over the entire multiverse!” The others start arguing; it seems like Applejack and Rarity are all for fighting anyways, while Fluttershy and Pinkie want to go home immediately. Twilight can only look between me and the Princesses in shock. Eventually, she speaks.
“What do we do?”
“I… I am not sure, Twilight,” Celestia says softly, “I am not sure.”