Grievance from Perdition

by Vin Diesels Go-Kart

Prologue: Speak of the Devil

An army of demons stood at attention, ready to move out whenever their master gave the order. The master in question sat on his throne, an obsidian chair made of spines and thorns, as he himself waited for the correct time to send his forces into battle. Behind the king and his legion, the backdrop was dark and foreboding, illuminated only by the occasional spout of magma that shot from the ground.

In front of the king stood a lone figure, completely out of place in the dark and dreary atmosphere that surrounded him. The king's army stood defensively between their master and this visitor. The front-most troops tensed as he spoke.

"I really do like what you've done with the place, Ocraten. It's got a nice warm beach feel to it, without being too sunny and welcoming."

Unlike the mismatched combination of animal parts that stood before him, the demon king was large and bulky. He had a body that looked to be made out of the same material as his throne, with spikes jutting out in various places, and red eyes that pierced through his armored face. His elbows rested on the armrests of the throne, and his claws wrapped around each other in front of his snout. The demon had thick legs with joints that bent backwards, and each of his feet ended in three large talons at the bottom.

"Enough with the petty conversation, Discord. What is your reason for requesting an audience with me?" Ocraten inquired, his voice nearing that of a whisper, yet still maintaining a tone that was both oppressive and threatening.

The draconequus rolled his eyes. "Oh pish posh. Do you have to be such a stick in the mud all the time?" Discord looked around. "Or rock in the lava, as the case may be."

Ocraten's red eyes narrowed. "As you can see..." he started, gesturing to his dark army. "...I'm preparing my forces to do battle with the Northern Dragons, who have decided to go against my will and make contact with the Pyro Mong. I don't have time for your nonsense, spirit."

Discord smiled. "Well it's funny you should mention that, Ocraten. You see, I just made a little arrangement that will ensure you have all the time in the world for all sorts of nonsense."

The king stood up. "Would you like to repeat that, vermin?"

Ignoring the demon's commands, Discord snapped his fingers. A light red throne with cotton candy clouds hovering over it appeared next to the thorn covered one that had already been there.

"That looks nice doesn't it?" he said, squinting. "Although I think your throne will need to be demolished to make room for mine. It's kind of an eye sore."

Ocraten reached behind his back with a clawed hand and drew a black sword that was just as spiky and deadly looking as he and his throne were.

"You must be quite eager to leave this plane of existence, if you choose to speak to me in such a disrespectful manner."

"Oh, well I certainly didn't mean to offend you..." Discord looked around and smirked. "Oh wait, yes I did."

The king of kings pointed his blade at the blasphemer and addressed his army. "Send this fool to the next world!"

At once, Ocraten's army charged at Discord, various weapons drawn and at the ready. However, before any of them could make contact with the spirit, the entire attack force disappeared into dust and blew away with the wind. It happened so quickly that if an observer had looked away for more than a few seconds, they would have missed it. The king looked both angry and confused.

"What trickery is this, spirit?" he hissed, bringing his sword up in a combat-ready pose.

"Oh it was nothing really..." Discord replied, a sly grin spreading across his face.

Ocraten didn't wait for him to finish. In blind rage, he charged at the draconequus himself, bringing his blade down on the disrespectful fool. Much like before though, the blade merely faded into nothingness when the king got close. He now stood without a weapon in front of a still smiling Discord.

"...I just made a little deal with some friends of mine from Tartarus. It's a simple little agreement. They get your soul, and I get to rule the world in your place. Isn't that just the funniest and most wonderful thing ever?"

The demon lord felt his power fading as hundreds of ethereal hands grabbed at him from the ground. They reached inside his body, and started taking the twisted soul that resided within.

"You traitorous rat! You'll never get away with this!"

Discord laughed as he walked up to the helpless tyrant. "I do believe I already have."

The draconequus bent down, so much so that his face almost pressed right up against Ocraten's, and looked quite smug as he did. The dark king struggled to keep his soul inside his own body, the hands becoming too numerous even for him.

"I just want you to know..." Ocraten said, grabbing Discord's throat but unable to squeeze him nearly as hard as he desired. "It may take one hundred years, one thousand years, or perhaps even longer to escape the pits of Tartarus, but when I do get out, I'm going to find you. Then I'm going to take my blade, and when its tip finds your throat, I want you to understand that I'm going to thoroughly enjoy plunging it downward and separating your head from your shoulders."

Discord smirked even more. "And I just want you to know, old friend, that I doubt you'll ever get the chance."

With a wave goodbye, Discord watched as the former king of demons slipped down into the pits of Tartarus, never to be seen again. His body, now an empty husk, fell to the ground with a loud thud. The draconequus snapped his fingers and the body sank into the earth, buried exactly six feet from the surface.

"Time to redecorate!" he declared with glee. "So many changes and so much time to do them. Let's get rid of all this magma and do something with chocolate instead..."

* * *

"And that's how I saved Equestria from the evil, and might I add boring, reign of the dark king, Ocraten!" Discord declared. None of the six ponies he was with cheered like he'd expected them to. "...Hello, is this thing on?" he asked, inspecting the muffin he'd been using as a microphone.

Fluttershy, who was busy fluffing Angel's tail, responded first. "I thought it was a wonderful story, Discord."

They were all gathered in Applejack's orchard for a picnic, and Fluttershy decided to invite her newest friend, the self-proclaimed master of chaos.

"Pfft, if it's even true." Rainbow Dash commented, assuming her usual position up in a tree branch. "Besides, he just replaced one maniacal ruler with another. That's even worse, if you ask me."

"Yeah." Twilight agreed. "Princess Celestia never mentioned a King Ocraten during any of my history lessons."

Discord looked offended. "That's because she and Luna weren't even around until after I'd gotten rid of him." he crossed his arms. "I swear, I get no respect around here."

"I only give respect to folks who deserve it." Applejack said, biting into an apple. She spat it out upon tasting it, and now found that it was completely rotten. The spirit of chaos laughed and bit into the perfectly ripe apple she had once been holding.

"I promise you all, I'm telling the complete and honest truth. In fact, it all happened right where Ponyville is currently sitting. I'd imagine Ocraten's body is still helping the flowers grow in front of town hall."

"So why did you go against this, Ocraten, character in the first place?" Rarity inquired, sipping on some tea.

"Finally, somepony besides Fluttershy who actually cares about my riveting tale!" Discord said happily, turning into the hat Rarity was wearing and flying off her head. He circled around and landed next to the unicorn, turning back into his normal form. "Well you see, Rarity, Ocraten does everything by the book."

"What book?" Twilight asked, slightly interested.

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. A large black book fell from the sky and landed right in the middle of the picnic they were having. Twilight read the title aloud.

"Evildoing for Dummies: What to Do When You Finally Become a Malicious Tryant. By King Ocraten."

She flipped through the first few pages. "I've never read this book before."

"Of course you haven't." Discord laughed, snapping his fingers again. The book flew back up into the sky, disappearing from sight. "I own the only copy."

"Anyway, as I was saying..." he continued. "Ocraten is the most by-the-book demon you'll never meet. He was so boring, always maintaining order and running such a tight ship." Discord turned into a boat with a rope strangling it. "He should have known I would try to make a move for his throne. I guess he wasn't as perceptive as he was uninteresting."

"Did Ocraten like eating cake?" Pinkie asked randomly, diving head first into a chocolate cake herself.

"No, he preferred the souls of his enemies." the draconequus stated flatly.

Pinkie reemerged from the cake, a confused expression on her face. "Can you even eat those?"

Discord chuckled. "Well... not in the traditional way."

The sun began to set below the tree line, letting the ponies know that the day was coming to an end. They all started packing the gear that they'd brought with them.

"Aren't you afraid that this, Ocraten, guy is gonna come back and completely destroy you?" Rainbow Dash asked as she rolled up a blanket.

"Not in the slightest. I won't be seeing him again until the end of eternity. And from what I hear, that isn't coming for a long, long time." Discord smirked, helping Fluttershy pack her things by turning the picnic equipment to life. The umbrella, towel, and basket all grew legs and started walking back over to her cottage.

"Still, have you thought about what you might do if he ever did get out?" Twilight asked, levitating her own towel with magic.

The spirit simply laughed. "You ponies are just the most paranoid bunch. I don't need to think about such things because such things will never be an issue. No one escapes Tartarus, not even a demon king like Ocraten."

Discord continued to laugh in his giddy fashion, while a few miles away, a small but dark cloud formed over the center of Ponyville. It floated low in the sky, hovering right over the town square. Randomly, lightning started striking down to the ground in fixed intervals. For thirty seconds, eighteen bolts hit the same spot, then the cloud zoomed away as quickly as it had come.

The ponies who witnessed the affair simply shook it off as another typical day in Ponyville, and continued their daily errands, ignoring the scorched earth that still sizzled in the square. Meanwhile, exactly six feet beneath the packed dirt and rock, where nopony had ever disturbed the land, even during Ponyville's construction, and where nothing had moved for centuries upon centuries...

Something now stirred.

Comments

[Old Ben Kenobi]

This is good.

[wolf smith]

very good. you did Discord's char. very well keep it up

[RufusTSerenity]

This is a awesome story idea! And for many different reasons.

Firstly, its always great to have Discord be the central character for as change.

Secondly, it finally gives Discord something that he can go toe-to-toe with. Few things can actually challenge a near all-powerful being like Discord. But this Ocraten seems like a good choice.

Thirdly, it will allow Discord to become full friends and allies with the Mane 6 (aside from Fluttershy).

And finally, I've actually had a similar idea floating around in the back of my head, that there's some ancient evil being of absolute order who Discord overthrew that comes back after the Spirit of Chaos becomes a reluctant ally of the Mane 6.

So, in conclusion, I see great things from this story! Keep it coming!

[Doctor Derpin]

This is a very refreshing take on a story with Discord. As far as I've seen, most people use Discord for two things on this site:

1. Comic relief side "character" (I say character in quotes because in many cases he doesn't have one other than to say and do the funny things)
-or-
2. (My biggest pet peeve) An overused and lazy plot device.
That is not to say he should NEVER be used as a plot device. In some instances, yes, it works better than anything else. Unfortunately, all too often, he becomes the almost universal explanation for something that needed to happen when the author couldn't justify or explain its happening.

You, sir, have managed to do neither while maintaining his humorous antics. I am very excited to see where this goes and you have my full support.

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

3623192>>3622236>>3622195>>3622029 Thanks! I'm glad you guys are liking it so far.

[The Cat Lord]

I love it so far....Just make Discord suffer

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

3623995 Haha, well I know one person who's gonna want to!

[Starlight Nova]

If Ocraten was voiced, what would he sound like?

[Starlight Nova]

Have you ever considered submitting this story to Equestria Daily? You can find out how to do so here.

[Starlight Nova]

3622236

And finally, I've actually had a similar idea floating around in the back of my head, that there's some ancient evil being of absolute order who Discord overthrew that comes back after the Spirit of Chaos becomes a reluctant ally of the Mane 6.

Please make that story.