The Castle of Friendship
12/31/3
11:49 P.M.
Hidden away in a windowless room, Twilight put the finishing touches on her secret project. Malen had been summoning her less and less frequently. It seemed likely that he was growing wary of how powerful she had become and sought to limit her access to the holocron. No matter. She was already stronger than him. She gave her project a quick test, and smiled. It worked perfectly. Malen would be in for a big surprise. Sitting back on her haunches, she indulged in a little fantasy. She imagined the look of shock on his face when she revealed it to him; his desperation as he tried futilely to resist her might; his horror shifting into resignation as he collapsed at her hooves, waiting for the final blow to fall. It wasn’t just hopeful dreaming – deep inside, she knew it would happen. She could feel it, somehow.
No, not “somehow.” It was the Dark Side. It was granting her a vision. She was the fabled Sith’ari spoken of in the holocron. There could be no other. Her control over the Force was without match, and only growing. She felt almost as strong now as she had when she was channeling the energies of all four alicorns. To think, she had once considered Celestia and Luna almost incomprehensibly powerful! They were nothing. After the humans were annihilated, she would show those two fools exactly what true power was like. They were well-meaning fools, but fools nonetheless. She wouldn’t kill them, of course, or even hurt them any more than was absolutely necessary to get the point across – she was no monster, after all. But they still needed to be taught a lesson. They would come to thank her, in due time. And then she would use the humans’ own technology to pursue them to the stars. She would chase them all the way to Coruscant, slay their pathetic Emperor, and take his place. The humans considered themselves so high and mighty. But their time was over. The age of ponies was upon the galaxy. She, Empress Twilight Sparkle, would rule over it, and once the Royal Sisters taught her the secret to their immortality, she would ensure that it never came to an end.
A knock on the room’s door shook her from her reverie. She hastily hid her creation amongst a pile of rubbish on her workbench. “Come in,” she called.
Spike stuck his head in, looking nervous, not to mention tired. All of Equestria was staying up late to welcome in the new year. “Hey, Twilight? Applejack’s here, and she brought her human friends. She said they have something important to talk to you about.”
A deep scowl crossed her face. How Applejack could possibly consider any humans her ‘friends’ was beyond Twilight’s comprehension. There was nothing redeemable about any of them. The very best cared about nopony but themselves, and the worst were downright sadistic. Even an Earth pony should’ve realized that associating with those foul creatures was beneath her.
A dark thought slithered its way into her mind. Was Applejack planning treason? She could hardly believe she was even entertaining the idea. The apple farmer may have been simple-minded, but she was also completely trustworthy. Perhaps it was just to spite Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had been the second-most vocal advocate of driving the humans out of Equestria by force, right after Luna. Twilight felt a rage come over her. How dare Applejack jeopardize everything I’ve worked so hard for over her petty rivalry! She would have to be dealt with, in due time. Such disloyalty couldn’t be allowed to go unpunished. For now, though – perhaps some useful information could be wrung out these monsters. “Send them in, Spike.”
“Okay…” His voice was drawn out and worried. “Twilight, if you don’t mind me saying this – you look awful. Get some more sleep, would you? For me? Please?”
She smiled. She just couldn’t stay angry around the baby dragon, no matter how hard she tried, and no matter how badly or frequently he bucked up in the worst way possible. There was something about his foalish subservience and eagerness to please that always brought a warm glow to her heart. If he was simply more competent in his service, he would be a perfect example of how all ponies should treat the Princesses. “Oh, alright, Spike. For you.”
He got a sheepish grin on his face, and she chuckled as he left to get the visitors.
Right. The visitors. The humans. The thought quickly brought back her foul mood. Applejack led them in a few moments later. They glanced around nervously, as if they could still see the bodies and the scorch marks on the walls that the guards had worked so diligently to remove, still smell the blood and smoke. Good. They should be scared. “This had better be important, Applejack. I mean, what were you thinking, bringing humans here?!”
“Now that was just plain rude, Twi! Bren and his friends ain’t like most of the other humans. They’re nice, they’re hard-working, and near as I can tell, they’re honest. And they want to help us.”
Twilight gave them a critical stare. “Is that right?”
Malo nodded. “We can’t do much – we ain’t captains and majors. But we have the codes for the front door, we can teach you how our gear works, and we’ll pass on anything we do learn. For example – did you know that a droid company’s been sent to guard the Temple of Discord?”
“‘Temple of Discord’?” Twilight repeated with a frown. “I’ve never heard of it.”
He looked just as confused as she was. “Really? I… I’m pretty sure that’s what he said… Yeah, yeah! I know that’s it! ‘Temple of Discord’! That’s what he said!”
“That’s what who said?”
“Captain Orramas. We been talkin’ a lot recently. There ain’t many other guys in the Seven-Thirty-Fourth who actually like you ponies. Most of ’em would just as soon shoot you as look at you, ’specially after you killed all those stormies. Not to say we liked the bucketheads – clones are freaks – but you scare ’em now. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be facin’ you on the field.”
Captain Orramas. Fluttershy’s “friend.” He seems to be popping up a lot. “And you’re sure he’s reliable?”
Malo let out a rippling belly laugh. “’Course he karkin’ is! He’s Intelligence! He knows everything!”
That certainly peaked her interest. “What do you mean, ‘he’s Intelligence’? I thought he was a diplomat!”
“He is! DiploServ is part of Intel. I don’t think a DiploServ guy usually would be given all the clearance he’s got, but he’s the most blue-blooded guy on the planet. Human, that is. Not sayin’ he’s more noble than you Princesses, of course.”
“Of course,” Twilight murmured to herself. She knew what “Intelligence” usually meant. “Do you really expect me to take the word of a spy?”
“Is that aimed at me, or Cap?”
“Either! Both!”
“Cap ain’t no spy. Hell, DiploServ are some of the most trustworthy guys in the whole damned Empire. They do exactly what their title says: diplomacy. The other branches do all that cloak-and-dagger stuff. For me, well… I guess you’ll just have to trust your friend.”
But how could she do that? Applejack was associating with humans. Her morals were clearly failing her. She was probably a willing part of whatever insidious scheme they were cooking up. Sure, she represented the Element of Honesty, but Discord had proven that her friends could be turned against their Elements. She still didn’t know how much of that was Discord’s magic and how much was her friends’ own free will, but even without his corruption, she knew Applejack could still lie. She was terrible at it, but she still could. Nopony was fully above suspicion.
Twilight sighed. She had to believe her friends weren’t abandoning her. She had to. It was foolish, but if she stopped trusting in the Magic of Friendship, she was no better than the humans. “Fine. Tell me where this temple is, and I’ll check it out.”
“It’s built into the northern face of Mount Saint Haylens. Be careful. The forces there may be droids, but they’re still nothin’ to sneeze at. Purge troopers, XR-85 tanks, dwarf spiders, even some ZQs. Plus, I’m sure you know Haylens is a volcano. Apparently, there’ve been some rumblings, which is why Command brought in droids for the job.”
“I’ll be care-”
“Ooh! A temple in my honor?” The draconequus peeked in the door. “I’m flattered! Wait here a bit, Twilight. I think I deserve the right to be the one to check it out first.”
“Discord, wait!”
“Ta-ta!”
Discord disappeared back around the corner, and when Twilight ran out into the hall, he was gone.
Mount Saint Haylens
11:57 P.M.
Discord glanced at the sparking head of a purge trooper in his hand. “To be, or not to be. That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them.” He threw the head over his shoulder onto the huge pile of scrap metal behind him. “Bah. Wrong scene.”
He turned his attention to the cave entrance in front of him. Two limestone pillars held up a flat, square canopy of the same material. The pillars had once been carved to look like him, but most of the fine detailing had been weathered away. Moss and grass sprouted out of the cracks between the blocks that composed the canopy. Two thick, heavily rusted and pitted iron doors engraved with various scenes of chaos lay on the ground in front of the mouth of a tunnel. Discord couldn’t tell whether they had been forcibly pulled off, or if their equally-decrepit hinges and simply given out under the weight.
He didn’t recall ever having any followers who could have built a temple for him, and it certainly hadn’t existed before his imprisonment one thousand years ago. Of course, being trapped in stone severely limited one’s cognitive abilities. It may have simply been constructed after his defeat. After all, if that pathetic wanna-be villain Ahuizotl had a cult, then surely the Lord of Chaos deserved one.
He flew through the tunnel, examining the walls as he went. Tool marks were still evident here and there. Clearly, the interior hadn’t been subjected to the rigors of nature nearly as much as the outside structure, so the doors must have come off fairly recently. Only about one hundred feet down the tunnel, he was confronted by another door. This one was a huge disk made of stone. Around it, six busts of his head were mounted on the wall. As he approached it, their eyes lit up a deep red.
“Acolyte,” one spoke in a voice that sounded nothing like him. Instead of his constant chortle, the head had a deep, echoing boom. “To pass into the antechamber and petition for the blessing of Chaos, you must prove your adherence to its ideals. We shall speak, and you shall answer. When all the truth does is make your heart ache…”
Discord glared at it. “I don’t want to waste my time finishing my own old rhymes.” He snapped his talons, and the stone rolled out of the way.
Location: Everfree Imperial Garrison
Local Time: 23:59
Aerin glanced over the ISB agent’s shoulder at the vidscreen, which displayed the image from a holocam hidden inside the “temple.” All the pieces had fallen into place perfectly. The whole operation was a shining display of the very best of Imperial military efficiency. A pity the details would probably be classified for decades to come. It would make excellent material for a cross-service activities training manual or a propaganda piece. Intelligence had come up with the perfect plan and the perfect unwitting executioners, the Exploration Corps had found the perfect location, the Engineering Corps had created the perfect fake temple, and…
Discord appeared in the image, and Gavrisom spoke a single word. “Go.”
The agent pushed a button. The screen turned to static as Discord, the temple, and half the mountain disappeared.
Aerin turned to another screen showing security footage from the top of the sensor tower. A few moments later, the mushroom cloud rose high enough to come into view, even from all these kilometers away.
… and the Department of Munitions Resource Development had brought them the perfect bomb.
He raised his glass of Alderaanian brandy. “I’m pleased to present the Galactic Empire’s contribution to tonight’s fireworks display. Happy Equestrian New Year, everyone. Now, let’s all go get piss drunk.”
Mount Saint Haylens
1/1/4
3:07 A.M.
“Discord?! Discord!!”
Twilight and her friends scoured the edge of the crater, getting as close as they dared to the lava bursting out of the volcano. The heat blackened their fur and seared their skin, they coughed on the cloud of ash that choked the sky, and they were all starting to feel a bit queasy, presumably from noxious gases released in the eruption. They had been searching desperately since they had made it to what remained of the mountain just over two hours ago, to no avail.
“Discord!” Twilight called again, but her attempts were starting to become half-hearted. As powerful as Discord was, even he couldn’t match the shear violence of such a large volcanic eruption. She felt very little desire to stay in this horrific environment to engage in a hopeless search for somepony she didn’t even like.
A human emerged from the smoke beside her. He was dressed in a peculiar silver version of the familiar stormtrooper armor, and he was making a rapid chittering sound. “Your Majesty,” he said, the chittering not stopping while he spoke. “We must get you out of here. This place isn’t safe for you.”
Twilight grimaced. She was starting to get a headache. As much as she suspected he was trying to trick her somehow, he was clearly telling the truth. An erupting volcano was no place for ponies. “Girls!” she called. “We’ve got to go!”
“But… but we haven’t found Discord!” Fluttershy whimpered.
“And we’re not going to,” Twilight responded firmly. “Either he’s fine and he’ll show up whenever he wants, or he’s… dead. Either way, we’re not going to help him by staying here and killing ourselves.”
“No! We’ve got to –!” Fluttershy’s protest was cut off by a violent coughing fit. At the end of it, she threw up. “Oh… Oh, dear. I… I guess you’re right.”
The other Element-Bearers, all in similar condition, quickly assented. As they made their way down the mountain, Twilight glared at the human. She couldn’t help but feel that they were somehow responsible.