//------------------------------// // Deception // Story: Anomalous // by benxlabs //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Deception “Very well. I accept your proposition.” The dark blue pegasus sighed. He supposed he had no other choice. If he declined the offer, the innocent citizens of this town would die on the spot. If he accepted, he would simply be fueling the fire. However, he would also have bought himself some time to think of a plan. Discord coughed. “If you’re quite done daydreaming, then get a move on.” He started. “Hmm? Oh! Yes! Absolutely!” Discord grinned smugly. “That’s more like it.” He made his way towards the palace, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible. He was able to enter the throne room without much difficulty. Now how would he convince the Princess to open the vault for him? Then he remembered. What had Discord said? Oh right! He had said he had "accidentally" disconnected the ponies from their Elements of Harmony. Now that they were no longer fitting vessels for harmony, perhaps they could now evolve into the Elements of Disharmony? He grinned as the seeds of a plan began to sprout in his mind. A voice startled him out of his stupor. “Greetings. Why have you returned so soon? Have you defeated Discord already? Where are the others?” The questions seemed to have no end. After the torrent of unanswerable questions finally stopped, he was finally able to get a word into the conversation. “Big trouble Princess! We need to hurry! The ponies you sent to stop Discord are in trouble! I need the Elements of Harmony to stop Discord! Quickly!” The Princess looked shocked. An awkward silence hung in the air for several moments. The Princess broke the silence after a few more moments. “I can sense a disharmony among them. Did Discord...” She trailed off, concern in her eyes. He looked at her straight in the eye. “Yes.” Celestia paled. “I shall open the vault right away!” She galloped away, leaving him to ponder about what he was doing. Should he really obey Discord’s orders? Doing so might as well destroy all of Equestria. But did he really care? Should he really care? Before he could answer this question, a flash of light yielded the return of Princess Celestia. Gasping for breath, she forced out a few words between deep breaths. “Go. Bring these to my student and her friends. They need your help. Hurry!” He needed no more encouragement. But just as he was about to leave, he noticed something. “The fabled ‘Elements of Harmony’ are pieces of jewelry?!” The Princess gave him an irritable glance. “Of course they’re pieces of jewelry! They’re not for men to wear, you know!” He suddenly felt very tired. What was this, a matriarchy? Why am I even doing this? Sighing, he turned around and galloped toward his damsels in distress. Halfway back to the Everfree Forest, however, he stopped. Twilight Sparkle had said that the Elements of Harmony were the key to defeating Discord in the past. But what had Discord said about the Elements of Disharmony? He said I was filled with delicious chaos. Ew. That sounds disgusting, but maybe somehow I can use that make these pieces of jewelry into something actually useful? He sat down, or tried to sit down. It was more like controlled trip and headbutting a tree at the same time. He let out an exasperated sigh. He still hadn’t gotten used to this body. He placed his head in his hooves, and began to think. A few moments later, he jumped up into the air triumphantly. Unfortunately, there was a rather thick branch right above him. “Owww!” The branch bounced off his head and thwacked him several more times before finally relenting to the force of friction. “Perfect. Just perfect. My life is just getting better and better.” He grumbled, his voice layered deeply with sarcasm. But at least he had a plan. That was the most important thing. He approached the forest. Before he could enter though, the chillingly familiar voice of a certain Draconoquus stopped him cold. “My, my, my...you’re very so late...” He turned around slowly, heart thumping. As he suspected, the vile creature had somehow managed to sneak behind him. Again. He replied to the threat calmly and without fear. “Of course I was late. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get those necklaces from the Queen? Took quite a bit of convincing.” Discord just shrugged. “Well? Hand them over already!” Discord was getting impatient. He felt his muscles tensing. Then he relaxed. No point getting all worked up. He reached into his pack, digging for the Elements of Harmony. As he grabbed each of the six pieces, he felt the mysterious necklace that Celestia had given him. He steeled himself for what was to come. Celestia had said to save it for a life or death situation. This probably qualified. As he glanced up, he saw that Discord was extending a long, slithering arm towards the Elements of Harmony. He jumped back without thinking, surprised that such a flamboyant character could consistently manage to move so stealthily. "What are you getting all jumpy for, my friend?" Although Discord smiled, his words were poisoned honey. Do or die. He grabbed the necklace around his neck, not caring if he ripped the chain. Pulling it off, he grabbed the small roll of paper fastened in place of a jewel. As it parted from the necklace, the roll of paper seemed to magically enlarge. To his surprise, he was now holding an entire scroll in his hands. As he slowly unrolled it, he saw that inside were strange glowing runes, each one pulsating with ancient and powerful magic. Discord's eyes widened as he saw him open the scroll. "NO!" Discord screamed and lunged at him, chaotic magic shooting out of his hands towards him. He felt his body writhe in pain as the black lightning hit him. But he did not scream. He stared Discord straight in the eyes as the magic in the scroll began pulsating. He felt the Elements of Harmony rising up, out of his hands, forming a hovering circle around him. The glyphs peeled off the paper, filling in the frame created by the Elements of Harmony, surrounding him in a barrier of words. They spun around, faster and faster, until he was enveloped in a cocoon of light. Discord's twisted appendages desperately smashed at the shell, but he could not penetrate it. He felt himself losing consciousness, but he managed to squeeze out one last sentence as the lord of chaos unleashed a final burst of magic. "Looks like it's game over for you, Discord." His eyes snapped open. He felt as if he had been slapped all over. He got up, his body grudgingly relenting. Where was he? Scanning his surroundings, he found himself in an ancient castle. Many of the walls were riddled with cracks, and cobwebs covered every corner. Why in the world would Celestia send him here? But then a thought occured to him. Discord had attempted to reach for him as the scroll's magic had reached its peak. Perhaps he had not managed to break the magic, but he had managed to corrupt it. He shuddered, terrified of the implications of that thought. How was it possible that he was still alive then? And, say, where was he anyway? Looking around more thoroughly, he noticed that he was in a cavernous room of the castle. Their was a doorway just ahead. But as he looked out the skylight above him, the first thing he noticed was that it was no longer day. In fact, he didn't even know what time it was. Instead of a normal sky, it was pink. PINK! Everything seemed different. After he got over the shock of a pink sky, he noticed was that the clouds had become pink and cottony, nearly identical to cotton candy, and were raining...chocolate milk. Okay. The sky is pink, and the clouds have turned into cotton candy, and are raining chocolate milk. Perfectly normal right? No. What in the world is going on? He wanted answers, now. Complaining about the weather wasn't going to get him those answers. He stopped, confused. Since when had he been so decisive? Back in his world, he hadn't even had the nerve to tell a teacher he was being bullied. Upon closer examination, he discovered that he was actually standing in the middle of some kind of ceremonial altar. There were six pillars surrounding him, each about half his height but about two feet wide. There were circular indentations in the top of each pillar. As he examined each pillar, he found that inside each was nestled one of the Elements of Harmony. As his gaze roamed, he found that in the center of the pillars, where he had awoken, there was a hole, about the size of a fist, in the ground. He put his eye to it, but to his dismay, it seemed to be endless. His curiosity aroused, he did what, in retrospect, was a very stupid thing to do in an ancient castle. He stuck his arm inside the hole. At first, he felt nothing but empty space, but then that nothingness was replaced with searing pain. It felt as if his arm was being simultaneously punctured in every possible direction by hundreds of knives. Screaming, he tried to pull his arm out of the hole, but he found that he could not. He felt a liquid dripping from his arm. A liquid he knew to be his own blood. A burst of crimson light momentarily distracted him from the pain that he felt. It felt like his mind was no longer his own. Just like when Celestia had gone through his memories, he now felt something other than his own consciousness in his mind. And yet, this entity was not as gentle as she was. It ripped through his mind, carelessly tearing through his memories. It pressed itself into every crack in his mind, every nook and cranny. As the entity dug further, he felt something awaken within him. Something he never knew he had. It was a Pandora's Box. Once it was opened, it flooded him with a strange sensation. He no longer felt the pain. He no longer felt the other being. All he felt was raw, overpowering, unpredictable chaos. His eyes glistened with a mad light, and he saw that his arm had been free from the hole after all. Perhaps the old him would have been dumbfounded, but the new him knew exactly what to do. Grinning with frightening intensity, he stepped back. As a low rumble sent a vibration throughout the room, a seventh pillar rose up where the hole had been. The pillar housed a helmet, spartan in design. It was not made with any material that he knew of, but he did not care. The midnight black material gave off no light or reflection, despite the smooth surface. He placed it onto his head with a precision that came naturally. Immediately, a black lightning shot from the other pillars, each one striking him. And yet he felt no pain. Instead, he only felt more raw power flowing into him. The Elements of Harmony rose from each pillar, floating upwards. More streaks of black lightning struck each Element, creating a blinding flash. When the light cleared, the Elements of Harmony were no more. Instead, they had become the remaining assets to his armor. Two greaves, two shin plates, a chestplate, and a locket. Each piece magically fit onto him, guided by the strange lightning. His mouth broke into a savage smile as he contemplated his new look. Truly, he was now the lord of Disharmony. But this land was too small for two kings of chaos. Yes. One of them would have to go. And he knew exactly which one that was. It was obvious. It was so frighteningly obvious, he let out a giggle. He found that giggle so amusing, it turned into a laugh. And with the inane weather roaring outside as an accompaniment, his psychotic laughter resounded through every hall of the castle. Not only had the weather changed, but the citizens were acting strange as well. An old lady was tap-dancing, while a large red stallion seemed to think he was a dog. He did not care how these inferior creatures decided to wittle away their pathetic lives. Discord was the false king. Discord was the miscreant towards which his wrath was directed. His powerful wings left a trail of black energy as he streaked through the sky. He arrived at Canterlot without so much as breaking a sweat. Once he smashed his way into the castle, he quickly realized the guards were under Discord’s influence. They were all wearing party hats and pajamas. However, they didn't seem to recognize him for who he was. The moment they saw him, they attacked with party cannons and chinese yo-yo’s. This obstacle was irrelevant. They couldn't hurt him even if they wanted to. But now was a good chance to exercise his new found power. “At ease, gentlemen.” With a flash of black light, the attacking guards were reduced to ashes. He grinned. This was too fun. Along the way to the throne room, he encountered many more guards. The more the merrier. They were simply scratching posts for his new powers. Finally, he turned a corner into the ever familiar royal throne room. As he suspected, Discord lay basking on the royal throne like a fat cat. “I see that you have taken a liking to this lifestyle, Discord.” Discord sat up hurriedly, surprise clearly evident upon his face. But he quickly readopted his haughty figure, smoothly asking: "Oh, how inconsiderate of me to make you come all the way here in this weather! But never mind me, how are you on this fine day?" He simply laughed. The sound was colder than ice. Discord frowned. "Well? Have your manners flown out the window along with your sanity?" He felt mirth rising up in him once again. "My sanity? MY sanity? You think I am insane? Ha! All geniuses were considered insane in their time. Only later did history prove their worth." Discord laughed too. "You, me, we're one of kind. I think this is going to be pretty fun. What do you want to play? Darts?" With that, Discord snapped his fingers. Many deadly arrows whizzed past his head. One came dangerously close to his head, whistling past his helmet. But in a matrix-esque move of amazing acrobatic prowess, he twisted his body to dodge the arrows. Landing on his hooves, he recovered quickly. With his own strength augmented by the sins of Disharmony, he flew at Discord and delivered a solid blow to his jaw, black sparks flying. Discord's eyes widened, clearly surprised that he would use a direct physical attack. The lord of chaos was pushed backwards against his throne. Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, he turned the floor to soap with another snap of his fingers. "On second thought, I don't wanna play darts. Why don't we go ice skating or something?" The Elements of Disharmony would not help him here. The soapy ground was more dangerous than ice, threatening to destroy his footing at any moment. But Discord was not affected. Sliding around as if it was the natural thing to do, he demonstrated his ability to handle the situation. Now he was angry. How dare he use such a...stupid method to fight. And yet, it was infuriatingly effective. He let his wrath handle the situation, burning away the soap beneath his feet. With footing no longer a problem, he launched into the air with his wings and dove straight for Discord. Unable to dodge, Discord took the blow head-on. Discord was winded by the blow, and unable to do much but try and slide away. He moaned and complained about how his opponent was cheating, all the while summoning obstacles to slow him down. But these obstacles were nothing more than second-rate constructions, easily dispatched with sufficient strength. Now completely panicked, Discord started running. But he tripped on an obstacle he himself created and fell to the ground. He looked back in terror, only able to whimper as he saw the approaching reaper of vengeance slowly advancing toward him. “The great and powerful Discord, reduced to a nervous wreck. Who would have thought?” He chuckled again. “After I deal with you, no one will be even remotely powerful enough to stop me. I guess you were right about some things, Discord. The Elements of Harmony are weak and pathetic. I was able to unlock their true power, all thanks to you. And now, when I kill you, I’ll be the most powerful being in this world!” He laughed. "You should feel lucky. You shall be the first to witness the true power of Disharmony. The Disharmony that you once sought. Watch, and tremble!" Total victory was just moments away. This world was his. How sweet it was to feel that success was just waiting for him to claim. He raised his hoof, gathering his magic for one final strike. “Hold on! Don't do it!” Rainbow Dash's voice ran out loud and clear, cutting through the air like a blade.