The Alicorn Chronicles: The Fall

by Jack-Pony

Ch II: Tenebrae

Weeks had passed since the graduation of the last class of pegasi and their first flight. Were it not for the events to transpire, this day might’ve been forgotten in the centuries following it, merging into the monotony that was a calm, peaceful existence. After so many years, only the truly important days – those that change one’s life, the ones that define who and what we are, remain. However, so long as I remain, I shall remember this day evermore…

* * *

I was the first to stir beneath the warmth of the new day, waking with the rising sun. Stretching my limbs and shaking off the sleep of the night before was my first task. Over the years, it had come to be an almost religious act; the cracking of my back, the limbering of the wings and stretching out the leg muscles. Oh, such divine relief first thing in the morning! Surveying my perch, I was unsurprised to be surrounded by still sleeping dragons, indeed they were the reason the mountain had such a name. I often slept atop the mountain, especially when there were no previous engagements planned for me, which mercifully was often. There was something oddly right about sleeping on the hard ground, high in the air. As much as pegasi loved sleeping on clouds – and who could blame them, considering the luxurious comfort they provide – for me, there was just something about sleeping upon the highest point of stone and earth. I could see why both dragons and griffins did so.

It was now always this way, I remembered. In ages past, ponies rightly feared dragons. Though that changed as I neared the half-century mark, when I came into my own. Over the decades I physically grew quickly, almost twice as fast as a normal colt. Though because of my stature, the fact that I grew twice as much, to the point where I towered over even the largest of my earthbound kin, it took me longer to reach what would be my young-adulthood.

I was instructed by some of the greatest minds of the age, including Commander Hurricane, Ariscotle, Princess Platinum and of course, my father, Starswirl the Bearded himself. All in all, I grew up a very privileged colt, as the city of Everfree rose up from humble beginnings, into a great and prosperous city.

Throughout my childhood, I was the ‘perfect’ son, taking in everything that I could, about nearly every subject imaginable. However, as the second generation of native ponies matured and discovered their marks, my flank was still bare. Such a thing stung no small amount. Though none of the stallions and mares that moved about around seemed to notice - or at least did not speak of it - I began to fret more and more; anxiety and impatience took root shortly thereafter. What was I good at? What was my special talent? In the years before, I had seen the stallions of Everfree unite to fight back a horde of demons, before creating an eternal prison that would become Tartarus. Formed out of bedrock and flames, it was buried deep into the base of a mountain and protected by spells that were powered by the earth itself! Though I had assisted Starswirl in forming the gates to the prison, knowing the potential I had only made me evermore eager to prove myself, perhaps far more than I should’ve been.

It just so happened that at nearly the same time, an upstart king came to power over the Dragon Horde and their traditional migration route took them directly over Everfree. Now I’d like to say that my first meeting with AuNor was peaceful and civilized, but it was in fact anything but. Citizens and guards alike scattered and fled, while the two of us clashed in the air high above the city. Dozens of dragons watched in rapt fascination, as a single pony managed to fight the most powerful and cunning dragon to a standstill in their traditional single-combat. Truth be told, I was a failure at the combat arts. I had never really felt the need to pay much attention to them. Nevertheless, I stood defiant against the massive - though noble - beast of fire and scale, until he fell from the sky in defeat. It was upon his belly that he conceded, at which point, he offered me his throat – his life. Though I was too naïve to realize it, dragons that lost duels rarely lived and if it were a king, he never lived. Thus it came as a great surprise to them all when I spared his life. However, the biggest surprise came when another claimed him to be weak and sought his throat. Only I defended him, standing between the exhausted red-dragon and his smaller, green-scaled challenger, proclaiming that; “Any who sought to fight he, would have to fight me!” And after the display in the air above them, his challenger backed down and none were willing to take upon that challenge.

Our two peoples, once mortal enemies – they being predators and we prey – were convinced to put aside their differences to live side by side, with no small bit of coercing on my part. Though I will admit that it was not an easy feat, nor did it happen overnight. With the assistance of the young king that would become one of my closest friends, dragons and ponies would come to live, and indeed thrive, under the cooperative spirit. Before long, I was thrust into the position of ruling over all of Equestria as an unenthusiastic god-king. Of all the things I wanted, power was not among them. A mark, a cute alicorn filly, sure...but a crown?

Despite my lack of desire to rule, or perhaps it was because I did not lust for power, Equestria came into a golden age. Everfree’s mighty walls of stone and gold rose from the fertile lands that the earth ponies tended, reaching into the sky where dragons and pegasi flew side by side. All manner of outsiders came into our lands to trade and found themselves in awe of our splendor. Zebra, Griffin, Ibex and scores more lost to the sands of time… Wealth flowed through our halls, and none knew want. Only the darkest, foulest of beasts even thought to terrorize us – the new arrivals to the region – and the few that tried in the intervening years, quickly found themselves in Tartarus. Though they truly were few and far between indeed!

However, as I woke amongst the dragons that day, a strange sensation drew me to the edge of the precipice. It was the oddest thing, a compulsion to look to the east and what I saw sent a shiver up my spine. A foul looking black cloud of fog hung just over the eastern marches, seeming to hide from the light of the day, in the crags of the mountains. Even from the distance I stood apart from it, just the sight of its slowly moving mass made me feel unwell. It was as if a part of me was imprinted with an innate loathing of whatever it was, and I could tell that it was not of the land. It was something foul and retched, beyond that, I knew not what it could be. All I knew for sure, was it was not something I would stand for within my realm!

Before long, the council of the tribes, representing the three tribes of ponydom and the King of Dragons assembled in Solstice Hold, the mighty keep of Everfree. My long-hall was built tall and proud, with spires of stone towering far overhead. Wood was grown into elaborate and questionably organic shapes to decorate the vast hall, hold the blazers and torches for nighttime light, as well as to provide easy points to hang the many flowing banners of red and violet, edged in golden streamers. However, today was not a day to admire the architecture of the mighty keep that had stood for nearly two centuries. No, today was a day of politics, or as well I knew, a day of bickering…

* * *

“…but this is outside our borders, in the far mountains, why not just let it sit there?” The raspy voice of an aging earthbound stallion drew me back into the conversation.

“Lord Ferros, do you honestly believe that this shadow will be content to stew in the mountains? No, we fly! We raise our spears and drive it off!” The ironclad hooves of Wing Commander Thunder Clad resounded like their namesake throughout the hall.

“We have no idea what this being is, or if it even is a creature at all.” Princess Platinum V drew all eyes upon herself with her smooth voice and wise words, as usual, “We have no idea how to react to this dark-cloud whatsoever. What will you do if your aerial wing approaches it and it refuses to simply blow away like an ordinary thunder-cloud?”

“Are you questioning the wings of a Manticore!?” Commander Starfire joined his subordinate with his hooves upon the table before him.

Oh goodness, just like the Windigos… I roughly massaged my temples as they continued. Long ago, I had learned that they were far more manageable if they argued with each other a bit, before I spoke up. The councilors were then less likely to argue with myself and more likely to agree.

“Starfire, you know that’s not what she meant at all…” The mighty voice of Lt. Commander Granite resounded soothingly, his large, grey head rolling slightly to one side with a look of frustration.

I sent the stallion a look of understanding. We were very much alike, neither of us really much cared for the bickering and squabbling of the council, but there was little else that could be had, or done without them. I knew him, and even if I didn’t feel the tingling in his hooves, I would’ve known it was there. All he wanted to do was to go out and buck whatever this thing was square in the face. However, he was no foal. He knew he was dealing with a foe that would not so easily be beat, so he bit his tongue and let the mages and pegasi determine a plan of action. It was a sad fact that the earthbound were largely looked down upon by the other two tribes…unable to fly and with an aptitude for magic that was limited to cantrips in comparison to even the youngest unicorn, it was no real surprise. I did much to remind the others not to discount them and I did it as often as I could. What handicaps the earthbound faced, were more than surpassed with a practical attitude and unmatched determination. Indeed trying to uproot an earthbound stallion upon his land was a practical impossibility even for a Minotaur!

“Honestly, the lot of you!” The irritated voice of Maredred silenced the entire room, “If you were not so overly predictable and so irritatingly clamorous, I might’ve thought I missed something…” The talcy-grey mare looked to me respectfully and bowed her head, “Please forgive my tardiness milord, the night was long and this hour has come so very rudely.”

“’Tis understandable, Arch-Magnus,” I gestured toward the table where the remainder regarded the aging unicorn skeptically, “What light do you have to shed on the subject?”

There was a reserved chuckle from herself, which was then followed by the others. It was no secret that many believed her to be a practitioner of the dark arts, for even what little her raven-black robes revealed of the form beneath, appeared unspoiled by the rigors of time for one of her age. Indeed, the mare was nearly as old as Solstice Hold and almost a third my age, yet for a unicorn, she scarcely looked thirty. She was never openly accused of anything foul, nor did I actually suspect such a thing from her, despite her obvious skill in the arcane. For her part, she took the rumors in stride, allowing others to think of her what they would. Although, even I must admit that her pet blackbird did almost make her a perfect example of the stereotypical black-magic witch that everyone thought her to be. Sitting at the table, she promptly withdrew a pony-sized tome from within her robes and dropped it to the table in front of herself with a thud, once again silencing everyone. Even I had to admit that particular ability of hers, seemingly able to summon books into thin air, appeared eldritch. With a brush of her hoof, she instantly had the page open to the one that she searched for.

“This miasma outwardly appears to share many traits with a particular kind of being written of by your late-father, Starswirl himself…” Maredred looked to me for permission to continue, to which I gave her the subtlest of nods, “I found note of the creature only once in all the manuscripts and even that was a second-hoof account. Starswirl recounted the tale from a land in the far north, our now sister-state in the frozen lands…”

“The Crystal Kingdom, yes. I remember its discovery shortly after the formation of the Gates of Tartarus.” I nodded, before looking to her intently, “What does the City of the North have to do with this miasma creature at our threshold?”

It was her turn to nod. “Well, you see, while in the north, Starswirl recorded an inscription of an ancient relic. The Crystal Heart…”

I interrupted her. “I have seen it, and it is much more than a mere relic. It contains within it perhaps the greatest amount of magic I have ever witnessed.”

“Aside from yourself, of course,” she said flatteringly.

“No, I am sure that whomever made this artifact had magic that far surpassed even my own. Anyways, please, continue…” I prompted her with an outstretched hoof.

She looked ready to contradict me, however, she finally nodded her head. “Of course, as you say.” She pawed at the page briefly, “As I was saying, the account was recorded atop the Crystal Spire at the center of the city, or at least what was left of it. At some point in the structure’s distant past it was the center of a great magical exchange, the likes of which had never been seen before or since. Much of the city appeared to have been damaged in the battle of mages…though who they were, has been lost, as there was no evidence left behind of whom resided there previously.”

I rose from my seat, walking toward her side of the table. “I can remember him ranting about it upon his return, though I honestly remember little of the specifics…” I smiled in fondness of the memory, “I was just glad to have him back.”

“I’m sure,” she said kindly, “However, I did have a conversation with him about the subject prior to his passing.” This drew everyone’s attention, “You see, in what remained of the original spire was a testament of sorts. The final thoughts of one of the city’s defenders, etched into a pane of silver glass. It said; Power from Harmony.”

“You mean, Starswirl translated an ancient language singled-hoofedly?” Thunder Clad exclaimed in surprise.

“No, I mean, this mage had literally inscribed his final thoughts into the crystal material.” Maredred shook her head, “Whomever he was, this mage died fighting back a literal shadow with the power of harmony.”

“Not a very reassuring prospect, if you ask me.” Lord Ferros quipped, drawing the attention onto himself, “I mean, look at the Crystal City. When our grandsires, or for some of you youngsters, your great-grandsires…found this city, it was a ruin. Their foe had reduced its defenders to nothing. I don’t think it would be too much a stretch to assume that they had all died. After all, if some were yet alive, why then was the city a ruin?” He shook his head dismissively, “I don’t like it. My bones tell me that this is all wrong.”

“I think your old bones just don’t want to work.” Starfire said with a chuckle, earning the elder-stallion’s ire.

“Starfire, that was uncalled for. Show some respect for your elders.” I rebuked my friend, sometimes that stallion could go too far…

“I-I’m sorry, Ferros.” Starfire apologized, much to the shock of the old-earthbound pony.

“I…it is alright, I suppose. No harm done.” Ferros looked to me, both appreciative and surprised that anyone could get Starfire to actually apologize – the sky-kings were not known for their manners, but their honor-code.

“Well, to me, it sounds clear. We have the advantage.” I looked around the table with a confident grin, “We know our enemy’s weakness. We know its position and we have each other. Surely, the harmony of the three tribes and the noble dragon kingdom are more than this shadow could’ve imagined. All those in favor of rallying our forces to meet this foe and drive it back over the other side of the mountains?”

“Aye.” Was the resounding reply.

* * *

In no time at all, a great host of unicorns and pegasi and ponies of all shapes, marched up the winding roads, into the Eastern Marches. Above us flew the largest of the elder dragons and the few griffin sell-swords that could be relied upon. We were sure that our unity could defeat any foe and could overcome any obstacle!

Up and up we climbed toward the boundary between Everfree and the Eastlings, where only the heartiest of ponies dared to trot beyond the protection of Everfree and her king. As we grew nearer and nearer to the shadows, the ponies became increasingly discontent and agitated. There was always one more...one more sideways glance, one more mistook gesture, one more accidental nudge. Tribal rivalries centuries old, but usually well checked, quickly boiled over and it was not long after the first racial slurs were exchanged that they came to blows. Such a thing shocked me, I knew of their past, but never before had I seen anything this serious. Pegasi diving upon unicorn, only to be outnumbered by the masses of their earthbound kin. All the dragons and gryphons could do was watch on from above, unable to do anything.

I barked out orders to my subordinates, trying to regain control of my army, but they too were finding it impossible to rein in their ponies - those whom had not joined them in the fray. I then turned to magic, struggling to use all my magic to calm my brethren and relieve them of this madness that had fallen over them, to reassure them that we would defeat this darkness. Only my magic had little effect on the ponies, for as soon as I released them from my grasp, they would almost instantly return to squabbling and fighting. In the end, no matter how I tried, my people fell apart before me and before I knew it, chaos surrounded me in more ways than one.

It was as I stopped, desperately trying to catch my breath and draw on more of my magic, that I did realize a veil of darkness had overtaken us. I could no longer see the beautiful sky, nor feel the warm sun on my flank. All that existed was an oppressive shadow and a terrible cold that leached my will to nothing. The powerful magic that usually coursed through my veins had withdrew, leaving me feeling far weaker than I had ever felt before. Then I heard it, the voice…

A quiet chuckling grew into a rumbling, disembodied laughter that filled the entire valley between the peaks. “Look at them, look at the little things, so full of strife and conflict! So eager to tear out each other’s throats!” He laughed darkly then, a chill running up my spine, “Don’t you like it, young alicorn?”

“Who are you? Show yourself!” I demanded in a booming voice that could shake the very foundations of the earth, daring my foe to reveal himself.

The laughter stopped, only to resume briefly with a morbid sense of amusement. "I'm all around you..." The voice sneered.

At that moment, all the ponies that had been fighting slowly turned toward me, their beautiful hides' had become grey and their eyes empty. Ponies that I knew since foals turned on me with a hate that I had never known. All other feeling was gone from them, save malice. It was as if they had been warped, as the world is warped through a droplet of water. I stood, frozen in confusion and paralyzed with fear. It was as if they knew something about me that I did not.

I spun my head back and forth, desperately seeking the evil that could do such a thing. The evil that would do such a thing. All that greeted me were the cold, empty eyes of ponies not quite there any longer.

“What sort of foul demon are you!?” I cursed.

“Demon?” The voice called out, a dark miasma floating back and forth just at the edge of my sight. Ever present, but not… “Do you not know your nemesis when you see him? Did your mare never warn you of the shadows that linger in the light?”

“My...mare…?” I stammered a dull pit eating itself deep within my gut.

The creature lurched to a stop and for just a moment came into my vision, a glowing orb of yellow making itself known. The laughing resumed then, stoking the coals of my anger. “Don’t tell me, you’re alone?”

I inhaled sharply, a dagger of cold piercing my heart. “Alone… Am I-am I alone?”

“You’re alone, all alone.” He replied menacingly, his voice dripping with malice and saccharine in equal measure, “Let me aid you with that little problem and lead you back to your herd…”

All of a sudden, they lunged at me, hundreds of ponies descending upon me in a wave, kicking and biting. I held them off so long as I could, until finally, they had me by the fetlocks and the wings, and I could barely move at all. The dog-pile just got larger and larger, as more and more piled on…

"Enough!" I bellowed from within the mound of swarming bodies.

My horn's light pierced forth, through the darkness, haphazardly throwing back the possessed ponies into piles about the rocky mountain path. The darkness shuddered momentarily, its plan had failed…or so I thought, until a tightness in my chest drew me to the ground. An ache ran through my heart, as I looked down at the ponies about my hooves. Their already grey coats shifted and dulled further, until they were a pale, ash-grey and their chests ceased to rise. It killed them! It drew the very breath from their lungs and killed them! Without mercy, or remorse, it slaughtered them unceremoniously at my hooves…each and every one of them! I found myself looking into the glazed-over eye of the deceased, young pegasus-colt that had just barely learned to fly. I remembered the pride on his face, but mere weeks before, as he took to the air and shared in the joy of flight with Starfire and I for the first time. I shook my head in despair, how could anyone fight against such unbridled hate?

As my tears flowed, the dark voice shattered the sound of silent sobbing. “Control is an illusion, young alicorn.”

Glancing up, the darkness had congealed into a semi-solid miasma before me. Its form a hideous, bipedal one that seemed to admonish my own existence in every way possible. Glowing predatory eyes screamed of the futility of my struggle, the inevitability of my demise. Its words drew the strength from my limbs and sapped my will to resist. Its mere presence seemed to spell my doom and call for my end. The futility of it all caused me to drop my head down upon the neck of the dead pegasus-colt. But there was something that kept me from succumbing, one emotion. It formed a tight ball in my chest, urging me on, demanding justice against the monster that had killed so many. A flame rekindling the heat in my limbs, beating back the words as lies, rebelling against its calls for my premature extinguishing. Rage.

"No..." I murmured, so quietly that it never heard me, "Never again." I stated with finality, my head rising from its morbid resting place to bore into the shadow creature, “Never again will you harm one of my kin!”

"You-you think you can stop me?" It hesitated, only to laugh even harder, "Priceless! The little colt thinks he can stop me!"

I slowly took to my hooves, rising up one hoof at a time, until I stood defiantly before the shadow being. Already weakened and largely drained of my magic, there was only one thing left to do. One desperate alicorn, with one forlorn hope and no plan to speak of…

"I name you." I said, my voice flat, but behind it was the ringing of pegasus’ magic, "From now henceforth, you are Discord."

"Discord?" It hummed, "I rather like that..."

"But with a name, you become tangible. You gain definition. My foe." I again stated in the same monotone voice, the thread of magic just behind it growing.

"Is that supposed to frighten me? Sounds rather boring..." Discord said dismissively.

My words coursed with a building power, a dark and powerful magic, spellcraft of a kind unknown to any of my kin. It was more than the mere power of a pegasus’ voice. More than the mere intuitive magic of the unicorn. More than the practical, subtle magic of the humble earthbound. There were the subtle threads of each of their magic, but not a one of them could’ve known what it was that I was doing, because even I refused to use such arts. Until now. Now, I felt as if I had no choice.

"Discord, now you pay for your crimes!" I trumpeted staunchly.

With that proclamation, I closed my eyes in concentration. My silver aura danced about the surface of my being, arcing across my obsidian-horn, causing it to glow once more. The darkness shuddered. A power I had drew upon but once before and only in extreme duress, coursed through my veins. This was the magic of my linage, one fueled not by wisdom, nor by intellect, but instinct. It was a knowledge of magic that even the most sagely of unicorn mages could scarcely understand at a theoretical level, even after an entire lifetime of study.

The very same magic that cost Starswirl his life.

"What spell is that? What are you doing!?" Discord shrieked.

Only now, as the spell began to manifest itself, could he sense the power involved. For a brief moment, it frightened me too. As the power grew, sickly purple orbs of living magic, coated in thin membranes of green, churned and popped along the length of my horn. Dark, arcing bolts of energy occasionally breaking loose, slowly joining and replacing my own silver magic. I don’t know who it frightened more, him or myself? However, I brushed the fear aside. At this point, I couldn’t care less what it did to me. I would protect those that yet lived and avenge those he slew, even if it was the last thing I did!

"Defeating you." I declared dryly.

My eyes snapped open then, revealing that they had become bright green from lid-to-lid, faint purple wisps emanating from the corner of each eye, flowing in an ethereal breeze. With a mighty cry of exertion, I dropped my head, bringing my horn to bear. Without remorse or regret, I shot the putrid looking substance of living magic at him, which enveloped his form in a bright, yet contrastingly dark, explosion of purple and black magic.

One day, a pony would ask me what the power of a god felt like and for a moment, as I stood over Discord, I indeed felt like a god. To stand over everything, to lord over existence like a tyrant with his own personal sandbox, to be the big-fish in your own, little pond in the grand clockwork of the universe. “It’s sublime, zen, nirvana…but also despair, mind-numbing terror…”

The shadow being was gone, but Discord yet stood, if hobbled. Stretched out in his new, even more grotesque, serpentine form, his entire body seemed cobbled together from seemingly random parts… He stood on all four of his mismatched legs, one of a lizard and another of a goat, the paw of a lion and the talons of a giant eagle. The long and slender body ended in a dragon’s tail at one end, and a hideously misshapen head at the other, with a deer’s antler and a goat’s horn. Those glowing yellow eyes, now with piercing, misshapen red pupils stared up at me, as he slowly rose upon his two back legs. A look of confusion, pain, surprise, revulsion and contempt was plastered over his face as he glared at me. What had at first seemed to be a move to stand on two limbs, quickly turned into a lurching and convulsing spasm that sent him tumbling back, a slave to gravity. His maw opened wide, revealing a serpent tongue and a mouthful of uneven teeth that did not seem to belong to any one creature, especially that one oversized fang of his. Then my ears splayed back as Discord screamed in world rending agony, and though he was my foe, I couldn’t help but pity him as he writhed on the ground at my hooves like a snake. Perhaps I was soft, or perhaps it was mere empathy, but that wailing gnawed at me and made me feel like a monster. It was a painful reminder that I had done that to him, and a part of me wondered if that made me any better than he?

But sympathize with him or not, I couldn’t just let him escape, not after what he had done. I looked down at the colt beneath my hooves and my reservations disappeared. Discord had to be stopped at any cost. As I looked at the trembling creature of darkness, I felt nothing but the pure motivation of a parent protecting their child. I felt unstoppable! I felt invincible!

I watched as AuNor, no longer blinded by Discord’s wretched shadow, swooped down to alight beside me. His red scales bathed the valley with a faint red glow that bathed me in a familiar feeling of comradery. We regarded each other, both kings in our own right, the two of us, masters of our universe. A subtle nod between us spoke more than words could’ve hoped - relief, confidence, determination… With a mighty roar, the majestic king challenged our foe and it was he that made the first move as Discord struggled to rise to face us, his face painted with a greater rage than our own. The dragon swatted at the smaller being with his massive wing, only to send the serpent rolling across the rough gravel valley. In the process, he struck his wing upon a bolder and snarled in a pain that I couldn’t help but empathize with. I had lived a long and adventurous youth, enough to have broken a wing or two in my time.

As AuNor lunged at Discord with his jaws set to rip him to ribbons, I took to the air. I was not really very proficient at hoof-to-hoof combat and added to that fact, one did not want to be next to a dragon when they fought upon the ground. They had this nasty habit of lashing their tails back and forth and using their wings to stabilize their hulking bodies upon the ground. Also, in the air, I could rain down spells from relative safety, so I assumed, given my doubts that Discord could fly at this venture. And that is just what I did…

However, as new to his form as he was, or perhaps because of it, Discord proved difficult for the dragon to engage. The serpentine beast dodged with a speed far surpassing the dragon’s and even as clumsy as he was, before AuNor could ever hope to clasp his gaping maw upon our foe, he would always have moved out of the way. Even still, it was little more than writhing for his life. There was no counter-attack, no move to gain superior position. Just pure desperation. However, Discord was fighting a predator and no amount of luck would save him from one simple fact; no one’s luck lasts forever, eventually everyone makes a mistake. A fact well known to dragons…

Finally, with a morbid crunch and an equally disturbed grin, AuNor closed his maw around Discord’s midsection. Ignoring the high-pitched squeal of excruciating pain that came from having teeth longer than one’s hoof wide buried deep into their flesh, the dragon whipped his head back and forth like a dog with a rabbit. Discord’s lion’s paw clobbered AuNor upside the head, the blow resounding across the mountainside as it struck armored plate that likely rivaled castle walls in terms of sheer toughness. Even still, such a blow was ignored as the dragon’s prey lacked the mass to even phase him.

The next I knew, I was knocked to the ground, the air taken from beneath my wings. I woozily shook my head and looked up from the opposite side of the mountain where I had smashed into the ground with enough force to actually make a small crater in the gravel. The thrashing, black-blood bleeding form of Discord first drew my attention, as he shrieked in anguish. My mind was slow to process the form immediately next to him, as the warped and twisted, soot caked form burned from within. A hollow pit formed ever so briefly, before I regurgitated the contents of my stomach onto the ground before me.

Looking up, I made to defiantly rise to my hooves, in a desperate bid to charge the murderer of so many I had cared for. Only, before I could, he saw me first. In a skittering, haphazard slithering fashion, propelled more by his oscillation than his scrabbling limbs, he charged me. An enraged cry was cut short at the last moment as his claws closed tightly around my throat. I tried in vain to fire off a shot of magic at him, to ward him off, only for it to go wide as he dodged.

“What did you do to me?” He cried in terror, his pupils narrow as pinpricks, and I mutely screamed as his black-blood burned my hide like a hot iron, “What did you do!?”

I felt my own blood leaking from my neck as his claws dug deep into my flesh. In desperation, I lashed out with both forehooves, one of which being lucky enough to strike him in the side, eliciting another set of screams from both of us as my hoof found purchase in one of his open wounds. This time my whole limb seemed to be on fire, as his blood coated it. However, the pain was short lived as Discord’s narrowed eyes fell upon me with malice. With that, he drew his talons across my throat in one vicious swipe and threw me aside.

Soaring weightlessly through the air, I flopped onto the side of the mountain where one of the piles of pony bodies happened to be. My head limply flopped back, to blankly regard what I knew to be the single dragon corpse, flayed unceremoniously before my sight. My vision began to blur and my limbs became heavy, as I felt my life flowing away in the form of silver tears from my neck. Then, as everything grew dark and cold, and the world faded from sight…even as I felt myself slipping away, I reached out a hoof to my fallen friend in the form of the dragon king. I knew at that moment that I had failed, Discord was unbeaten and now there was no one that could stop him. My hoof fell limp and my head lulled back as my eyes slid closed, my lips silently forming a desperate plea…

“Someone, save my ponies.”

A pure light erupted forth, from every inch of my body. The sky darkened in the presence of a second sun forming on the side of the mountain, drowning out everything in its pure light. I was everywhere and nowhere, there was no beginning and no end. Time had no meaning here, in this state, both infinite and finite. For a moment, what seemed like an eternally long moment, all of existence ceased to be. I became one.

...and the world was rewritten.