Cutie Mark Confusion

by Sky Blue CMC

Prologue: The Ring and the Crown

Changelings. The least loved creatures on the face of Equus. Loved only by our own Queen. Not even our brothers and sisters. And yet... I, Princess Meteora, successor to my mother, Queen Arachne, and twin sister of Princess Chrysalis, have no love at all... not even my own mother cares about me. All she wants is for me to be the perfect daughter, and that's exactly what I don't want... I'd much rather have my sister Chrysalis take the throne than take it for myself. She doesn't want the power either, but at least she'd have a King by her side.

Prince Nicholas, known to many of his foes as Discord, is a kind-ish fellow... to Chrysalis alone. He's the devil to everyone else... even me... but I believe I can make a deal with him. He loves Chrysalis, so he wants something he thinks I have, and he has something I want: the ability to be loved by her... and feared by all else. Well... no. For me it's the other way around: I want Chrysalis to be afraid of me, and I want everyone else to love me. All I have to do is ask Nick and he'll hook me up with some chaotic spell or something.

Or maybe I could ask Nightmare Moon in my dreams... neither one would be compliant without receiving something in return... and I doubt Nightmare has any desires for anything I have to offer. All she wants is to be freed from the moon, and if nopony frees her, she'll escape with Antasma's help in 383 years... according to The Legend of the Mare in the Moon by Starswirl the Bearded and The Dark Prognosticus by Dimentio, that is.

I wish I could ask the authors of those books for help... I think to myself... But I doubt I could... they're immortal, sure, but they're centuries old and I don't think they give advice to fans... they'd probably be too tired to. Well... I can't say I didn't try. I just killed a bad guy. There was this one pony... his name was Shadow. He was a shadow pony, obviously, and he said that Dragon Lord Flayme had stepped down and appointed his son Torch to be the new Dragon Lord, due to his victory in the Gauntlet of Fire.

But Shadow was lying, Torch wasn't even Flayme's son! He seized power and stole the bloodstone scepter from the rightful victor of the Gauntlet, Ignis. And so... I killed Shadow. I'd have killed Torch too, but he was made invincible by his title as Dragon Lord... and the magic from the scepter from which he seized it. So I had to wait for him to appoint a new Lord... and I knew who it would be ahead of time: his daughter, Ember. Even though Ember's the last one Torch would want succeeding him, she would become the first Dragon Lord to understand friendship... and there would be no competition from then on.

Ember would choose her successor based on a test of friendship, rather than a competition of strength. I have no clue who this next Dragon Lord will be... but I know he or she will be even more knowledgeable of friendship, and thus more friendly, than any prior Dragon Lord. Shadow may have been lying, but he was honest about one thing: Torch would reluctantly choose his best subject for ascension: His own daughter. The one who had just been born last year... she already ages slower even than other dragons, who age slower than most other life forms.

Still... right as Shadow was, I don't regret killing him. I had to warp him back in time to my own era, but I don't regret it... He betrayed Luna and caused her to become Nightmare Moon... and now I have noone to ask for help but this... Discord fellow. I will confront him tonight and propose my offering to him... maybe then he will help me. I just have to tell him a little white lie, and he'll get what he wants... and so will I too, get my wish.

---

Half past three in the morning, and he still hasn't shown up. Nicholas had better have a very good reason for being a whole eighth of a day late... three hours, just wasted... by waiting for a mage who would never come... until suddenly...

A beast materialised out of thin air. He was tallish, about twice as tall as a pony, if not thrice. And he had pale white skin, red eyes with no pupils... and ebony dark hair. That hair colour was the only distinction between him and an albino of his kind... he was what we know of as a human. He was the Prince of Chaos: Nicholas Melodius Gasho... AKA Discord. "Salu, future sister." He said unto me, his voice a bit unlike his usual one... a bit more gruff and loathsome than his usually charming voice. "Hast thou the crown thy mother gaveth thee?"

"Nick, you know I don't take you seriously when I hear you talk like that." I uttered in reply, though disbelieving my own words... not exactly the lie I wanted to tell him. I only took him seriously when he used the Royal Equestrian Tongue. But I wanted to take his words as a joke for the time being... he's most serious and honest when he's joking. "Use your normal tongue... the lizard tongue you were born with."

And so the charm returned to Nick's voice, which spoke softly as he said "What is it that you wanted to receive in return?" He asked as he saw the crown I had procured... nay, swindled... from my mother... right before killing her. "For what alleged possession of mine would you so willingly give up your crown to the sister who despises you?"

"Magic." I reply, my univerbal response seeming to sate his desire for information, at least according to the fading starlight in his crimson irises. "Yours is much stronger than mine." I added. "So I want you to give me a spell that will make me loved by all creatures... except my sister. She needn't hate me, but if she feared me, she would finally liberate me... albeit in the form of banishment from my own kingdom. Is this spell something you are capable of casting?"

"It is." So Nicholas was more useful than I gave him credit for... and I gave him a lot of credit. "This..." He showed me a ruby-encrusted silver ring, which was untarnished by the wear and tear his royal gown suffered over the years. "Was a gift from my father. My brother and sister have the other two rings, which each have a different gem of their own within them: Thorne's ring has a sapphire, and Rose's ring has an emerald. These are the Rings of Chaos, the chaos that which they wield is a construct of three elements: Fire, Ice, and Rage. The gems are named accordingly, except the Emerald of Rage is more commonly referred to as the Nether Emerald." My interest was piqued. I had read about these three gems, and I respected Nicholas even more knowing that he and his siblings were their bearers.

"Thank you." I relinquish my crown, and title as Queen, to Nicholas, who relinquished his ring, and title as Prince, in return. "I hope that you and my sister will always be happy together. She deserves a nice man like you..." but as I spoke, Nicholas transformed into an even less intimidating beast: A creature with a deer antler, a bat wing, a pegasus wing, a goat leg, and a dragon's tail... as well as some various other body parts. Only his irises and tongue remained the same. Even his eyeballs changed colour and nature. This man had become a draconequus... or was he one before?

That wasn't the important thing. With the Ring of Fire, I could finally be loved by my fellow Equus-citizens! I walked away from Discord and fastened the ring to my horn... not having fingers was troublesome, but the ring fit my horn anyway. I transformed into a little pegasus filly... one who wouldn't age a second until after taking the ring back off... but then I realised the ring was invisible. Having no idea where it was, and knowing I no longer had a horn, would be quite troublesome... I guess a fake name would have to be in order.

Looking at my unkempt self in the hive's mirror, which was still as green and disgusting as it was before, being made out of hardened egg-sac juice, I came up with a false identity: Sky Blue. I added "Cloud" as a middle name, due to the white streaks in my mane. My next move would be to go to Cloudsdale and try to blend in... Wish me luck, Nick! I thought to myself as I rest my head and smiled for the first time in my life... on the bed on which I would sleep for the last time in my life.

Author's Note:

Dedicated to a few dear friends of mine... who I never would have met if it weren't for this site.

Comments

[Melody Knight Shadow]

First off: aren't you a male???
Second off: The description confused me.

[Sky Blue CMC]

8090286 I'm male, but my OC Meteora and my other OC Sky are female.

[Sky Blue CMC]

8090286 I updated the description... and btw, it was supposed to confuse you!