Prologue: The Beginning and End
“Are you prepared for this, Celestia?”
The two stood upon the precipice of insanity. There was really no other explanation for it. The castle below them, the grounds around it, even the sky above it could not truly be described. Not because there was anything particularly brilliant or unusual in how it looked, but simply because it was constantly changing. It was impossible to be sure of how anything looked, because the moment you looked away it had changed colour, or shape, or just wasn’t there anymore. Even day and night in the area were victims of constant shifting. Staring at something for long enough would cause a flicker or spark of the chaotic magic that fuelled the constantly changing appearance, but the moment you blinked or lost focus it was gone. Celestia found it was both exhilarating and infuriating.
The two sisters did not change, and could be described in one word: different. The first, Celestia, had bright pink hair that hung to her shoulders, reflecting the light of the sun brilliantly whenever it came out and framing her tanned face in a golden halo. She wore a dress of pure white, lined with gold and embroidered with a solar emblem at her waist. Around her wrists were bands of glistening gold, and hanging from her neck was a collar studded with jewels that shimmered in the light. Her sister stood slightly shorter than her, with incredibly long, flowing hair the colour of the night sky. Points of light glistened magically throughout every lock and twist, and the hair moved softly whether the chaotic weather was still or blowing a gale. Unlike her sister’s seemingly formal attire, she wore a full set of black armour, her breastplate adorned with a crescent moon. A fierce helmet covered the majority of her face, revealing only her sharp blue eyes and pale lips. At her waist she wore a long sword imprinted with the same crescent as her armour. Two sisters, as different as night and day.
Which was kind of the point.
The knight looked over at her counterpart, a look partly concerned, partly annoyed there. “Sister?” She was worried about her sisters state of mind about what they were about to do; what they had to do. Somehow she still couldn’t bring herself to accept the truth of the matter. She still thought she could turn him back into something he’d never been in the first place.
“Yes Luna,” Celestia said, her gaze still fixed on the ever-changing castle in front of them. Luna nodded acknowledgement and began to walk down. “But I talk to him first.” Luna sighed in exasperation.
“Celestia, we went through this already. We can’t risk that he’ll get the upper hand. We have to follow the plan.” Celestia shook her head, unwavering conviction in her eyes.
“Please understand Luna, I have to try. I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t give him at least that.” Luna looked disgruntled for a second, suppressing a desire to shout at her sister. They needed to be in harmony with one another to win the battle that was to come, and bickering here would not be a good start.
“Fine,” she said as she turned back towards the castle. “Do as you will.” Celestia smiled at her younger sister, and quickly outpaced her down the hill, sticking her tongue out as she passed her. Luna sighed again at her sister’s ridiculous antics, even though she knew she was just covering her true feelings. As they approached the main doors, which they had to actually focus on to open without having them move, Luna took one last look up into the higher reaches of the towering battlements, and the sky beyond.
"Discord,"she thought. “One way or another, you’re insanity ends today!”
Inside the castle brought a new kind of chaos. All the scenery still changed at the drop of a hat, but now the girls weren’t alone. Each corridor was now lined with people. They were dressed as anything and everything, doing whatever came into their minds. Although how much of their minds were still their own was questionable, as Celestia could see traces of Discord’s ‘humour’ in their insanity. The way they walked, with a self conscious swagger. The pointless arguments that sprang up over absolutely nothing, and ended just as quickly in fits of uncontrollable laughter. And their eyes…
“This is wrong,” Luna muttered. Celestia had to agree. Although it appeared like these people were doing whatever they wanted, realistically they had become nothing more than slaves to their emotions. They could not choose, not think, only react and laugh. There seemed to be an awful lot of laughter. A combination of deep chuckling and snickering, overtoned with fits of hysteria that sounded very familiar.
“Come on, he’s this way.” They stepped through a large oak door that changed disturbingly to an iron grate after them, into what looked like a throne room. All around it people were dancing, or trying to and failing, and singing a million different harmonies that didn’t harmonize at all. In the centre of the room, the only spot that appeared free of complete chaos, sat a man upon a throne of chocolate. Man may have been stretching the term, since his body did not seem to obey logical laws. His clothes were a fusion of a jester and a knight. His right arm was adorned patchwork of fine materials, its sleeve far too long for his arm, while his left was encased in a close fitting gauntlet tipped at each finger with long, wicked blades. One leg sported a scaled green boot, the other, seemingly much shorter, was raised up on a stiletto Celestia wouldn’t have dared attempt to wear. His high collar was obviously meant to give him a lordly appearance, but the entire attire looked ridiculous. But more unusual than his clothes was his face. He should have looked old, his long face creased and worn, but he seemed to shine with a childish exuberance and joy. His hair, probably black at one point, was now streaked with grey, and it resembled a bird’s nest. A rushed bird’s nest that had barely survived a hurricane. Two vampiric fangs poked out over his lips, and a goatee inhabited his chin like a disgruntled, rain soaked rat.
Celestia really hated that goatee.
He was sitting across the arms of the chair with his eyes closed, a manic grin on his face. His arms waved crazily around, and it took a few moments for Celestia to realize he was conducting the monstrous sounds of the chaotic choirs. He even appeared to be humming along to it.
The sisters approached, and as they did a red carpet flowed out of the ground in front of them. When they were only a few meters away, the carpet stopped and the creature on the throne opened one sickening yellow eye lazily. His hands stopped waving and the voices retreated to a low muttering.
“Well, if it isn’t my two favourite little ‘princesses’,” he drawled. His voice sounded both melodic and rough, with a thick English accent. “I do hate to be rude, but I was right in the middle of a new symphony. So if you don’t mind I’ll have to ask you to leave.” He waved his hand dismissively and the carpet rocketed out from under their feet, throwing them unceremoniously to the floor. Celestia’s let out a surprised yelp and Luna’s armour clattering loudly like a jar of marbles. The creature managed to keep a straight face for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing. “Oh that look’s priceless. You really should see you faces!”
“Now?” Luna growled at her sister.
“Not yet,” Celestia said, her voice still calm. Slowly she rose to her feet. “Discord, please listen to me. This madness has to stop. People are getting hurt.” As she talked, she slowly moved closer to the chocolate throne. Discord made no attempt to stop her, just stared at her with a bemused look. All the voices in the hall had gone silent, staring intently at the centre stage spectacle. “I know you don’t like hurting people. This isn’t you. You like have fun, but not like this.” By this point she had reached the throne, and knelt down so she was looking right into his eyes. “Please, stand down, and go back to the way you were before. I don’t want to lose you.” Then she embraced him, hoping against hope that she’d reached him. Discord stiffened for a second, then softened.
“Oh Celestia,” Discord murmured, and a spark of joy lifted the princesses spirits as she heard his old, kind tone return. Gently, he unclasped her arms from around her neck and looked into her eyes, smiling kindly. “I’ve always wondered at the state of your heart. It allows you to be so kind, so noble, so…” the smile morphed into a look from her nightmares, “…BORING!” With one swift movement he grabbed her hair and rose from her throne. He was much taller than even Celestia, and the white princess was left dangling in his iron grip. Luna moved towards her, but suddenly the crowd of onlookers moved from their frozen state of lunacy and flowed into the centre of the chamber, blocking her path.
“Discord,” Celestia, the tears prickling at her eyes not due to her hair, nearly cried. “Please don’t!”
“And do what, my dear? Return with you to order and predictability?” Discord sneered. “Such a drag, Celestia! No, my dear, never again will I shackle myself to such things. Not for love, not for happiness, not even for you.”
“Now?” Luna roared over the mindless throng. Celestia shuddered and closed her eyes, holding back a stream of conflicting emotions that threatened to engulf her. She’d tried, and she’d failed. It hurt, but now it was time to act. Her body went still, and when she looked back at Discord, her eyes were ablaze like miniature suns.
“Now!” With a snap of her fingers, fire erupted all over her body. Discord pulled back with a snarl, but before he could recover Luna was upon him, his sword flashing with dark magic. The first slash didn’t take his head off by less than a hair, and the assault never ceased. Luna moved with speed and dexterity above human capabilities, each slash smooth and fast, yet aimed to kill. Her majestic hair streamed after her like a living shadow, accompanied by the after image of each lightning cut and stab. But chasing Discord was like fighting the wind. He moved as if he had no bones, swinging his torso around like a spring, dislocating his arms and legs, even his neck to dodge her assault. And as he dodged, his cocky demur never left his lips.
“Oh Luna, your technique is improving,” he drawled casually. As he bent his back to a right angle to prevent his own bifurcation, he conjuring a horrid pink umbrella from the air and met Luna’s next strike tip to tip. “But you’re sooooooo far out of your league here.” And with an effortless flick he was on the attack, poking away at the knight’s defences.
“You will fall this day, Discord! By my hand!”
“Oh do lighten up Luna. No one is ever going to love someone without a sense of humour.” With his next strike, his head popped out over the locked blades and his long, forked tongue snaked out to lick her face. Shivers of disgust ran down the dark royal’s spine as the slimy appendage struck her nose. “Oh, and watch that back foot, you’re off balance.” Disgusted and distracted, it took only a simple push to knock her over. Discord rolled his uneven eyes and leaned on his umbrella. “Oh, and I lied about the sense of humour. No one will love you anyway, foolish girl. I mean seriously, look at yourself. I’ve seen rabid bears less intimidating than you.” He accompanied the words with a mocking snort, and leaned over the umbrella slothfully. “Really, compared to your sister you’re like the black, unwanted little sheep.”
The rib struck home.
“Stop mocking me!” She roared, and pounced forward with her sword raised. Discord caught the sword easily with his umbrella tip, and yawned.
“Bored now.” There was a click, as the umbrella popped open, throwing Luna’s sword out of her hand. Snarling, Luna tore the umbrella aside…
…and felt Discord’s metal claws tear through her face.
Discord looked genuinely disappointed as he wiped his gauntlet clean. “Oh Luna, did you really just fall for something so obvious. Oh hoho how pitiful.” A curious look overtook his disapproval, watching her face. Rather than screaming, bleeding and generally doing what people did when you separated the parts of their face, Luna just stood there, smiling. Dark mist began slowly flowing from the wounds, wrapping around her skin like a blanket. Raising one finger, she pointed behind his head. “You don’t seriously think I’m falling for…” he stopped as he saw all the shadows in the room begin to lengthen. He also realized that his back was rapidly heating up. Slowly, he turned. On the other side of the room Celestia was sweating profusely, partially from exertion, partially from the massive fireball building above her head. Her mouth moved wordlessly , commanding the fires to wrap and grow. “Oh…how did I possibly miss that?” The thought to dodge flashed through his mind, but before he could relay this to his body, his legs were rooted by tendrils of darkness. Fingers of darkness wrapped around his skin, and Luna’s helmet solidified in front of him.
“This is your end.”
“You know, under different circumstances this might be considered sexy. If you weren’t trying to kill me. And you were your sister.”
“There is no escape.”
“Of course, if I was your sister, and I was where she is, this would be a much better show. But I’m sure you’ve already experimented with…”
“For the love of sanity, SHUT HIM UP CELESTIA!” With a monumental effort, Celestia directed the fireball down. There was a flash of light, a wave of heat, and the centre of the room was engulfed in a miniature supernova.
Slowly, the smoke cleared. Celestia, bent over from the exertion of her magic, scanned the room for Discord. Beside her, slithers of darkness formed into her sister who, besides from a few singes on the plume of her helmet, was completely unharmed.
“Did it work?” Luna asked, he body still tense. Celestia continued scanning the hall. The scenery had stopped changing, paused on the picture of a stone castle. All the people had also stopped moving, now collapsed and snoring soundly. And there was no sign of Discord anywhere.
“Yes sister. I think it…”
Clap
Clap
Clap
“Oh very well done, my pretty little ladies,” Discord’s chilling voice echoed around the stone walls. “I’m truly impressed with your progress.” There was a popping noise, and Discord was between them, a pair of comical sunglasses shading his hideous eyes. His clothes were ruined, revealing that his limbs were as mismatched as his clothes had been, but his body seemed unharmed. Casually draping his arms over their shoulders, he continued. “No why don’t both of you just give up,” He raised the sunglasses, revealing his hypnotic gaze. “And give in. Let your worries fall away. It’s just like falling; all it takes is a simple push.” Celestia felt her blood turn cold as his influence began spreading through her body. Her lips twitched up, trying to spread into a manic smile to match his.
“No chance you’re winning this way Discord!” she thought. She allowed the chaos to spread to her arm, which spasmed in protest. A well aimed spasm straight into discord’s sneering mouth. His howl of pain was definitely satisfying, and the retreating infection through her body was just a bonus.
“Get everyone out of here,” she ordered Luna. “It’s my turn to dance here.” Luna nodded, disappearing as a cloud towards to now unconscious crowds.
“OWWWW, owowowowowowowowow!” the great demonic figure was hopping round like a child, holding his damaged mouth. A stream of less than childlike curses followed. “I think you chipped my tooth!” He pulled his hands away, summoning a mirror. It was true, his left fang had been reduced to a stump of its former self, making the other look horribly out of place.
“It matches the rest of you now,” Celestia said cheerily. Discord shot her a deathly glare, then examined it again.
“Well I am still dashing handsome.”
“Oh yes, like a patchwork prince charming.” His glare only intensified her smile.
“I tried playing nice with you two, but it seems you’re going to make me take this seriously. And you know how I hate to be serious. So like the cornered mouse at the mercy of his unsympathetic captors…” there was a pop as Discord flashed behind Celestia, his voice now in her ear. “I’ll play my part, till the cat dies of my rabies.”
“You never were the greatest poet.”
“So says the Queen of monotony.” Both parties smiled, and the world around them exploded into a battlefield of magic. Spears of blinding light struck at Discord, only to change course at the last minute to explode against one another in rainbow fireworks. Monstrously deformed celestial beasts charged at the white princess, facing off against shining knights constructed from the masonry of the floor. Two storms formed above them, one of cloud the other of cotton candy, and struck at one another with bolts of lightning of every colour imaginable. The floor turned to soap, which was instantly frozen. Deadly shards of ice became cupcake bombs, which were transformed into a shower of flowers in turn. Neither players moved, or broke their locked gaze.
“Cotton candy and soap Discord? I thought you were more creative than that?”
“At least mine has a semblance of style. These spells are predictable as always.”
“Then why don’t you defeat me already?”
Discord raised an eyebrow, and they were standing on the ceiling, blatantly defying gravity. Celestia didn’t falter, a new set of explosions tearing apart the shingles below Discord’s feet. Then they were gone again, standing on one of the pictures still hanging in the hall. Hands of ink reached up, only to be turned to stone. Another blink and they were inside the picture, surrounded by oil forests and oil.
“Well this is new,” Celestia muttered.
“All the best for you, my lovely.”
“You’re too kind.” The oil began to run, becoming a murky mess around the combatants, leaving only the area Celestia stood the same. “So this is what you desire? A grey world of nothing.”
“A world that can be shaped into anything, free of rules and restrictions, where everything is anything. Always new, always exciting.” All the ink disappeared, and the two were left in a field of white. “A blank canvas every day. That is what I desire.” Brush strokes danced across the empty world, and in seconds there was a picture of everything Celestia had ever seen, every memory, imagining and dream crashed together like someone had mixed up thousands of jigsaw puzzles and put them together blindfolded. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Beauty does not exist universally.” Celestia said. As her magic began to take part, the portrait began to organize itself, flowing into the picture of a ballroom. “Every eye sees a different side.” The picture changed again, showing a sunset from the vantage point of a pink cloud, like the ones Discord had summoned earlier. “But every eye has the right to see. Every heart deserves its own view. And in your world, there is only one view.” The scene changed again, freezing on a meadow of bright sunflowers. A single tree, like Discord a patchwork of many different species, rose in the distance, under which sat two figures. It wasn’t quite possible to make out exactly who they were, but the painters already knew. “Please remember Discord.”
“I remember,” Discord hissed, never breaking his gaze with Celestia. “All too well!” The meadow was torn apart, revealing an angry mob beneath. They stood around an execution block, faces contorted in hatred. At the block stood a regal figure in golden armour wielding a vicious axe, prepared to strike down a smudged figure kneeling at the block. “Order is exclusion. Order is pain and sacrifice.” With a flicker the painting was gone, and the two stood in the now deserted castle once more. No longer was it ever changing; now it was dreadfully plain masonry, colourless and cold. The light was gone from Discord’s eyes, leaving him looking old, cold and cruel. “I tire of these games Celestia. I will never return.” A point of magic sparked in his hand, growing larger into a sphere of pure ethereal energy. In it Celestia saw the essence of Chaos, imperfect creation and madness, creation and destruction all in a single place. “So long, Celestia.”
“Is it done Luna?” The dark princess materialized at her sister’s side, a confident smile gracing her lips.
“They’re all gone now.”
“Good.”A shudder ran through Discord unbidden, and he felt the presence of the two sisters grow exponentially until it was intoxicating. Their emotions, their conviction and determination threatened to overwhelm him. Then came the magic. More magic than he had ever felt before.
“What’s this?! Where are you getting this power?!” Rainbows began to weave around the two sisters, enveloping everything around them. A worm of fear crept into his mind as his own magic was dismissed with ease, and for the first time he thought to run. But too late; the rainbow light passed him, creating a perimeter that began to enclose over him. Panicking, he looked over towards Celestia and Luna, their radiance making them appear as Goddesses. Pure energy shone from their eyes, removing any sense of their personalities. Six orbs of light surrounded them, the source of this new power. “This isn’t possible!”
“Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, Magic.” The two princesses’ voices boomed in unison. “The elements of Harmony, something you are incapable of understanding Discord. In our darkest hour of despair, we found this power within ourselves; the power of friendship. We could not stand by and let you destroy what we hold dear. For the safety and happiness of the people of Equestria, and for your crimes against all living things, you will be punished!” Even through the shock and pain, Discord still managed a satisfied grin. He still had his own trump card.
“Well it seems I’m beat,” he said wearily. Gracefully, he took a stance of pride, raised like a great statute. “Fire away girls! I’m prepared!”
“You’re conscience is trapped here too.” Discord stiffened, as the words cut to his heart. “Don’t you remember? You brought all of your chaos here to defeat harmony. To defeat us in a blaze of glory. Just as we knew you would.”
“No…” Panic crept into the demon’s voice. He felt for his magic, and sure enough it was all trapped inside the barrier. Impossible, he couldn’t have been outplayed. This was his time, his moment. “NO!!!!!!!” The creature’s body went completely wild as his rage overtook him. One arm uncurled into lashes of razor sharp tentacles, raking the shield as the other extended to impossible lengths to try and crush it, but nothing worked. His body twisted in knots, losing all sense of humanity.
“Be gone Discord. Your tyranny ends now.” Two rainbows, greater than any that had come before, shot from the elements down to engulf Discord. His legs began to turn to stone, causing hysteria through the rest of his body. His eyes locked on the two princesses, glaring down at him with what seemed like utter contempt. As the stone reached his waist, his upper body stretch up to strike the two, but the elements glowed again and a shield of light protected the two. Pure terror gripped Discord as the magic of the elements pulled him back towards his frozen body, and he continued to scramble desperately at the shield.
And for a single instant, Celestia wavered.
Dicord’s hand broke through a point in the shield, managing to touch Celestia’s cheek before the magic cut him off, sucking him completely back into a statue. The rainbow light ended, as the Elements became dormant once more. Their magic gone, the two warriors dropped to the ground, exhausted. It was good minute before either dared break the silence.
“We…we did it.” Luna’s usually static face broke into a crescent wider than the insignia on her armour. “It worked sister, it worked. He’s finally gone!” Celestia smiled wearily for his sister’s benefit, her gut lurching at every word.
“Yes, it’s done. And now the real challenge begins.” She walked over to the ruined windows, looking out over the landscape of her beloved home. “Now we rebuild Equestria.”
“Together, Celestia.”
“Together.” Luna walked towards the door, and Celestia went to follow, but something tugged her gaze back to the statue in the centre of the room. “Go on ahead. I’ll just be a second.” Luna rolled her eyes, but nothing could deter the smile from her lips.
“Take all the time you need Celestia.” Celestia slowly approached the statue, tongue tied. She realized it was ridiculous to be speechless to a statue, but now that it was done she still couldn’t quite figure out what to do.
“Goodbye, old friend,” she managed, reaching up to caress his face one last time. “Maybe you’ll find your way back someday.” Then she noticed his expression. For all the fear and pain in his body language, his face had the same confident smirk and his eyes gleamed with triumph. Why would he…
“kukukukuku.” The throaty chuckle sounded directly into her skull, sending chills down her spine. “Oh Celesita, you were so close too. But your heart was always your weakness. You may have trapped my body, but my mind is free. And now you will be the herald of my Chaos.”
“How could you have…” Her mind flashed back. That touch. With one touch he’d…
“Oh YES Celestia, I’m here to stay. Know this! You can have your precious Harmony, your peaceful kingdom, but nothing else you love will last. Every moment of happiness you create I will destroy. Every idea will fail, every dream be crushed, and every heart I will break. You will be alone forever. I will make certain of that!”
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Sounds like the Hunger Games.
Inspiration?
Interesting enough prologue. Good enough for a like but I'll hold the fave until I see some more chapters. Your action scenes could use a bit more detail vague descriptions of what the fight would be like are much less interesting then actually having the actions in the fight described.
761832
not directly no, but i do see the resemblence.
761950Oh , thanks for replying .I have something off topic to ask yo
u .
761950Oh , thanks for replying .I have something off topic to ask you
u dont worry its not bad.
761965
go for it. Sry, commented then went to bed.
761843
Thanks for feedback, since that's the focus of the story i should definitely work on that
764166Whose you favorite pony?
764353
Twilight or fluttershy. Still can't decide which
764737*cough*TWILIGHT*cough*
Can you please tell me when the next part will be released?
764777
But...but the cuteness
767305
So i have time to write + edit, I'm hoping for a weekly release, although the next few chapters are groundwork rather than any action so ill try to get them finished quicker.
Oh, OK. I'll expect a chapter to be released every week to week and a half. Don't take it the wrong way, but I am really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Also, as being a COMPLETE noob, just HOW to you do a direct address thing like you did to me? (>>codejunkie)
769361Well I'd pick smart Twi over cute Shy.I am just not a person with a sort spot for cuteness I guess.
769457 Click on the reply tab by the comment
Wonderfully written. A few small typos here and there, but nothing too serious.
UNIVERSE! Y U NO MAKE THIS POPULAR!?
This looks promising.