//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - Discord Returns // Story: Never Truly Retired // by DemonRykuKyuubi //------------------------------// The group sat in horror at the sight in front of them. Well... everypony did, anyway. Ra'zaan showed no emotion at all, Nadene looked at the strange creature with curiosity, and Sheogorath, for some reason, had a great big grin on his face. Before them, an ancient enemy of the princess stood, free of his stone prison once again. "...Discord..." Celestia growled a look of disgust and anger embedded onto her face. "Aww, what's wrong, 'Tia? Not happy to see me? Well, I guess it hasn't been quite as long as last time, eh?" The Draconequus grinned and flew around the large group, keeping just out of reach. Rainbow Dash's frown contorted into a furious scowl and she flared her wings. "Why you...!" She lifted up off the ground and made a b-line straight for the Chaotic Spirit. "I'll buck the hay out of you!" Discord expected this, however, and easily dodged to the right of her attack. "Ah, it seems the Elements of Harmony are here as well, hmm? You girls haven't changed in the slightest! You're still just as boring as you were before." Rainbow made a U-turn and attempted another swift attack, but a soft yellow glow caught her and she stopped in her tracks as The Princess's magic took effect. "Rainbow Dash, that won't do you any good, and you know it." "Haha! Giving up already, Princess? That's a surprise! I thought for sure you'd put up more of a fight against this creature than that!" Sheogorath said as walked and stood next to Celestia, facing Discord. "I mean, he hasn't even done anything crazy yet! If he's is as powerful as you say he is, I'd have already covered this place in ---" "---Chocolate rain? A delightful idea!" Discord said, cutting Sheogorath off. He then created several pink, fluffy-looking clouds and flung them high into the air, where they started pouring chocolate milk from them. "...I was going to say flaming furry creatures, but that works too!" Sheogorath said as he grabbed one of the clouds that had stayed low and drank some of the milk. Pinkie had the same idea and was doing the same thing behind the group of unamused ponies and humanoids. Celestia face-hoofed before speaking. "...Anyway... No, I'm not giving up, Daedra. But a direct attack like that would have had no effect whatsoever." Sheogorath smiled, satisfied with his drink. Suddenly, his crazed, happy expression changed into a look of sheer anger as his face contorted into a scornful glare. "You little shiny pony, need to mind your own business!” He quickly turned to Discord, the look of rage never leaving his face. “And YOU!” He yelled, his voice hitting an octave a bit higher than intended. “You stupid chaotic amalgamation! You have no power! I can’t believe I even released you! I thought you would have entertained me for at least a moment! But NO~! You decide to betray ME!?” Steam was literally rising from Sheogorath’s ears as he continued ranting. Discord stared blindly, obviously just as taken aback as the others in the room at Sheogorath’s betrayal and constant tirade. Ra’zaan and Nadene were surprised as well, but then, they’d expected this for Sheogorath. Celestia took a step towards the demented, rambling Daedra, carefully eying him as he approached. “So... You’re not helping Discord?” Sheogorath stopped the steam fading as he slowly turned to the Princess of the sun. “Helping?” He said in a small voice. “Helping THAT?” He stared, his face unreadable as Discord began slowly backing away from the Daedric god. Sheogorath suddenly burst out into laughter, the ground literally shaking under the force of it. “OH why did I even THINK he would be more entertaining then you!” he guffawed at Celestia’s expense, who immediately began scowling in response to his laughter. “Oh, my dear princess. Whatever made you think I wanted to HELP him!?” His laughter continued as Celestia began fidgeting, looking like a small child in comparison to the man not ten feet from her. His laughing suddenly ceased and he looked Celestia dead in the eyes, her body seemed to lock up as his smile faded back into a scowl. “I never intended to help any... CREATURE in your dimension. Not you, Not him. Not even myself!” He began laughing again; his emotions seemed in constant turmoil as the princess began backing away. Discord had moved far enough away to begin lifting off the ground, but soon found the Prince of Madness’s eyes locked onto the Spirit of Chaos. “And where, my little beastie, do you think YOU are off to? Hmm? I wasn’t done YET!” He yelled, waving his hand and causing a series of flowers to leap from nearby bushes, chaining together and surrounding Discord. He looked at them in confusion as they circled him, then they snapped shut around him, binding him and causing his body to drop to the ground. His wings slammed against his back as he landed with a wicked ‘crunch’ “You see little Dissy?! You do NOT RUN FROM ME!” Sheogorath began prancing over to the fallen spirit as he struggled valiantly. “Celestia! Please, get me away from this thing!” Discord pleaded as he thrashed, the daisy-chain becoming tighter around his body as Sheogorath reached his side. “Oh, my newfound pet. We are going to have so much fun.” He grew a sadistic smile before grabbing the end of Discord’s tail and laughing, the air filled with a resounding crack and a blinding flash, causing the party to cover their eyes in an effort to protect them from harm. When the air cleared Ra’zaan and his gang peered over the now empty gardens. The only evidence of there having been an altercation with the Prince of Madness was a wooden sign where Discord used to stand, reading “TTYL.” Nadene stared a moment and only managed to let one word slip from her lips. “Huh?” Ra’zaan stared for a moment as well before letting loose a grand, bellowing laugh and falling to the ground. Celestia, on the other hand, had a very uncharacteristic sign of worry on her face. “Twilight... This is serious... you and the girls come with me; we’re going to get the Elements of Harmony. Ra’zaan, Nadene, and Captain Pride. The three of you must try to track down this... Sheogorath creature... before he wreaks any more havoc in our land. Go!” The Princess said as she escorted the Element Bearers into the castle. Ra’zaan sat up, calming after his laughing fit. “Ah, well. Come on, Nadene. Let’s go get suited up for this. I think we’ll need our equipment for once.” He stated, getting to his feet. “Do you really think that’s a good idea? The Princess said to find this creature before he messes with anything else!” Iron said, clearly unsure whether this was a good idea or not. Nadene looked from Ra’zaan to Iron and back again, thinking. Suddenly, her dark face lit up as an idea crossed her mind. “Actually, heading back to Ponyville might be a good idea, Iron. Think about it like this. Sheogorath came to this world through Ponyville, so would it be a stretch to say he’d return to a somewhat familiar place?” “I... I guess that makes sense... Alright, let’s go...” Iron said, with a hint of hesitation. With that, the three of them took off out of the gardens and headed in the direction of Ponyville. (~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~) The hut Halius called home was small, but cozy. After he’d returned, all of his combat magic had been set aside to make room for more alchemical purposes, such as the ingredients Nadene had picked up earlier in the day. The aged high elf was now going through his stock, seeing what he needed and what he didn’t. Hmm... Ten snow berry sprigs*... a few fire salts*... need to renew the nightshades, they’ve wilted a bit... one nirnroot... hmm, I wonder what that lavender unicorn... Twilight, I believe... is going to use that for... His thoughts suddenly wandered as he attempted to figure out what a nirnroot could do for a pony when most alchemists on Nirn didn’t even knew how to use them. Well, I suppose the plant does have magical properties... with the amplified amounts of magic flowing through their world, I guess it’s plausible they could find a use for it... A knock came to the door. Halius shook the idea from his mind and went to open it. “Well, it’s about time, old man! We’ve come by four times in the last week, looking for you!” A short Breton man said with a mix of irritation and glee. The Nord woman behind him smacked him in the back of the head, making him fall forward. “Quiet, you. Hello, Halius. How’ve you been?” Halius couldn’t help but smile. Kynan was on the floor grumbling, and Ysura was also here. It was just like old times. “Good, good. Nice to see the two of you. What brings you two here?” “The Imperial guard are after Kynan again after he gave one of them a broken... well, pretty much everything, because the guard tried to search his behind. Kynan didn’t even have anything up his anus, but he refused to have it searched.” Ysura glared daggers at the Breton. “Yeah, well he had it coming!” Kynan yelled, getting to his feet. “Damn guards are too persistent!” The High Elf shook his head and turned back to his stock, marking things off as he went. “So, you need a place to stay until then, hmm? Alright, but not too long. I don’t need any unnecessary attention here.” The alchemist finished his list and turned back to his guests. “By the way, if you’d been here this morning, you’d have gotten to see Nadene again.” “She was here?!” Both guests blurted in unison. “Yep. She came and collected some healing herbs and some other things and chatted with me for a few minutes. Apparently, she and Ra’zaan are doing well. I’m not sure what it was, but there was a... presence of sorts... coming from the direction she left in before she was gone.” Halius had a serious look on his face. Kynan leaned back against the door frame and smiled. “Glad to hear she’s doing well, at least. The cat too.” “You said you felt a presence? Evil or otherwise?” Ysura asked. “I honestly couldn’t tell you. It felt neutral, if anything of that sort exists. I’m sure whatever it was is gone now, but whether that’s a good sign or not, I’m not sure either.” Halius sighed. “Well, find a place to sleep. I’ll prepare the cellar for if the guards come looking for you.” The two mages nodded and went into the shack, feeling safer than they had in a long time. (~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~) Ra’zaan, Nadene and Iron all reached Ponyville within an hour thanks to the train. As they stepped off, they noticed something about the town. Something they hadn’t expected or hoped for. As they looked around, there was... nothing changed. Nothing had been tampered with or manipulated, like what Discord or Sheogorath would have done if they’d been there. Ra’zaan thought about the reasoning behind their trip to Ponyville, and why they thought the chaotic spirits would be there. Wait... we came here because it was a logical thing to do... when we’re dealing with the most unpredictable creatures in Equestria AND Nirn... Are we stupid? “So, we’re here because it would make sense that someone - or somepony - would come back to the first place they’d been in this world, right?” Ra’zaan asked. Both his friends nodded. “And we’re dealing with two of the most chaotic beings in both our worlds, right? Again both of them nodded, and then they understood what he was saying. “Well... damn. We really didn’t think that through...” Nadene said with an embarrassed blush forming on her cheeks. Iron simply frowned and waited for the two humanoids to decide what was next. Ra’zaan was the first to speak up. “I guess since we are already here, we might as well get our equipment. Then we can figure out what to do from there.” Nadene looked from Iron to the other ponies on the train station. “Perhaps it would be best if you get all the ponies into their homes, Iron.” She said solemnly as the two bipeds began walking home. Iron nodded and began calling to the ponies around them with an authoritative voice, effectively herding the ponies back towards Ponyville. Meanwhile, Nadene and Ra’zaan were already on their way. They walked in silence for the most part, but as they neared their home, Nadene broke it. “What do you think will happen if we don’t stop him soon, Ra’zaan?” She asked hesitantly. Ra’zaan peered up at the fading sun and sighed before answering. “I... I’m not sure, Nadene. On Nirn, his powers were limited. Here, it seems he has complete control of his powers... well, as much control as a mad god can have, at any rate.” Nadene frowned. “Then we’d better find a way to fix this soon.” The two reached the house Celestia had given them in Ponyville, and they split off to collect their equipment. Ra’zaan was quickest to retrieve his, having kept it near his bed. Even after so much time in Ponyville, the basics never escaped him. He had always been prepared for a battle, even if he never expected it to happen. Deep down, fighting was in the Khajiit’s blood, and he’d never completely retire from being a fighter at heart. He adorned his steel armor minus a helm, his black bow and steel arrows, his Blades katana, his vial pouch and his glass dagger. Nadene appeared again soon afterwards, wearing her mage’s cloak and wielding her ebony dagger. “Well, took you long enough, girl! You barely had anything to put on! What took so long?” Ra’zaan asked with a smirk. Nadene smiled. “I had Rarity make me something special in case we needed to fight again. I don’t think she knew what it was for, but she did a fine job making it based on my description!” The Dark Elf then pulled her robe up and exposed a solid black, snugly fit assassin’s outfit, similar to the ones the Dark Brotherhood used back on Nirn. “THAT’S what took so long, Khajiit.” She smiled again. Ra’zaan looked at the outfit and tilted head. “I guess you were the stealthiest of the mages in your group. I’m sure that’ll come in handy for something. Come on; let’s go see how Iron is handling the civilian round up.” The two silently acknowledged each other’s abilities with a nod before heading back out into Ponyville. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as everypony fears it will be. TO BE CONTINUED Fire salts/snow berries*: Ingredients found in the land of Tamriel or Skyrim.