Necessary Evil

by Wing Dancer

Becoming an Evil Superstar

“Dear Students,” begun Nightmare Moon, glaring down on the assembly hall filled to the brim with colts, mares and some other non-pony entities. “It is my pleasure to announce the opening of the casting for the Elite Six – half a dozen of ponies or otherwise that will be the best of the best, representing the virtues our school treasures so dearly – Lies, Brutality, Sadness, Lust, Betrayal and Illusion! I encourage each and every one of you to try your strength, to put your knowledge and abilities to the ultimate test! Can you become true avatars of evil? Of course not! At least, not all of you! There are only six that will make it out, more or less alive, from the casting; those will be the most brilliant, the most cunning and evil of us all!”

A loud cheer from the audience caused a smile on the mare’s face. These were good students – after all, the criteria for being selected and accepted were very harsh, sometimes downright cruel and unfair. But those that were destined to be evil prevailed, and were now tearing their throats out in a will yell of challenge and courage.

A single motion of Nightmare’s hoof was all that it took to silence the assembly hall.

“The auditions for preliminary tests will begin tomorrow. I again urge everyone to try their hoof, hand or any other appendage at it, as this occasion will probably not repeat itself during your lifetimes. Shadow hide you!”

“Shadow hide you!” roared the listeners, again cheering and whistling.

They were good kids, thought the mistress of the night.

* * *

“Can you believe it?” enthusiastically whispered a vampony wearing black robes with an emblem of the school etched at the collar – two winged snakes, one consuming the other’s tail, wrapped around a black gem.

“This is a chance of a lifetime!” replied a brutish looking colt, adjusting his eye patch that bore the same mark.

The whole school was buzzing with all sorts of rumors regarding the upcoming casting – some claimed that they already passed, having bribed the judges, others threatened their colleagues into forfeiting participation… In other words, everypony was excited and doing the best they could think of to increase their chances of winning.

The academy was a very demanding place, compared to a regular Equestrian school institution – cheating was banned, but it was required that each student does it anyway. Those that were caught were sent to the dungeons. Exercises were intense, most of them involving sharp objects, live ammunition and team-play consisting mostly of taking advantage of your crew and hoarding for yourself. Those that failed were sent to the dungeons or tasked with cleaning the school. With their tongues of course. Semester exams were the toughest, though, because just one failure, one slip up, act of compassion or wrong word could get you brainwashed and thrown out of school. In other words, this wasn’t a place for the weak of heart and soul.

Trixie, also known as the Great and Powerful Trixie, was making her way to the next classroom – she was an upperclassmare, nearing the end of her studies in the academy. Due to her status she was allowed to sometimes leave the school to gather field experience and commit deeds worthy of bragging and additional credit. She wasn’t maybe the top student of her year, but was pretty near the top.

“Trixie, Trixie! Reflexes!” yelled a voice from behind.

The mare duck just in time to avoid a spiked ball that flew over her head, knocking over a decorative armor suit.

“Awww, no wonder you’re the Hardball Team Leader! Oh well, maybe next time!” A hyper pony pranced around Trixie, causing the blue mare to sigh.

Lavender Gust wasn’t exactly the most reliable of friends, but for some reason she stuck around Trixie most of the time. Her lame attempts at ‘assassinating’ her always failed, though – she was second in line for the position of Hardball Team Leader, and was very determined to achieve at least that much during her years at the school.

“So, Trix, are you going for the casting? Are you, are you?”

“Maybe. I don’t know yet.” Huffed the mare. Truth be told, she already slipped her application under one of the headmaster’s doors, securing it with a proximity spell – the page would appear only when the person it was meant for came close.

“Oh, I see. Well, then I guess I’ll just hold onto this lil’ ol’ piece of paper until you make up your mind!”

Yes, of course, that was Trixie’s application in her teeth. The mare had no idea who the pony bribed and with what (considering her reputation and beautiful body, there wasn’t a wide variety of things to consider)… But she had to admit she underestimated Lavender.

“Give it back, cur!” shouted the blue mare, bolting after the fleeing pony.

The two ran around the corridors, twisted staircases and over chasms in which lava still boiled – whoever stood in their way was shoved aside or brutally tackled, spat on and discarded. It was a normal sight in this school – notes, cheat sheets, forged documents were all sought after and anyone who had them was relentlessly hunted down and relieved of his or her possessions.

* * *

Lavender Gust was giggling like crazy, struggling against the ropes binding her hooves. Trixie managed to catch up to her and use her magic to tie the mare down. The application didn’t suffer any damage, much to the owner’s relief.

“You are darn fast, Lavender,” commented Trixie, calming her breath down.

“Thank you! I’ve been working out a lot lately. If you know what I mean,” snorted Lavender. With her golden coat, flowing white mane, deep blue eyes and curvy body, she was in the crosshairs of many colts in the school. On top of that, she always smelled divine, her perfumes coming in regular shipments from her awesomely rich parents who were unaware of the school’s true face. They were just happy the hyper-active mare was as far away from them as possible.

“You know Trix, you should show that thing to one of the headmasters soon – we’ve been having fun for so long, there is barely any time left! Aw, shucks, and we are in the most secluded part of the academy, too! You mad?”

Trixie was already far away, giving running all she had in herself, leaving behind the laughing pony. One of her admirers would eventually find her, release her and then probably have some fun with her anyway, so leaving her like that did not break the “No killing allowed” iron rule.

That principle was probably the only, or one of very few that was fair and protected the students. While it was desirable to train in practice torture, fighting or deceit, it was forbidden to lessen the population of evil doers. Evil may be chaotic and seemingly disorganized at times, but it was pointed more or less in the same direction – that is, against do-gooders.

* * *

Trixie groaned, seeing the line that stood before each of the headmaster’s chambers. By definition, line is a neat formation of ponies that waited to take their turn at something. An evil definition of that word, however, included bickering, shoving, throwing and muscling in. To put it in simple words, everyone was piled at the doors, trying to force them or slip their application papers under the door.

It was really late and Trixie wanted to win this audition really badly. She needed that – being at the top was everypony’s dream, and the blue mare really believed it was her destiny to become an Avatar of Evil. A worshipped mare, having all the colts and shiny objects her heart desired so badly.

Getting into the spirit of things, the mare threw herself at the pile, biting and bucking everypony and everyone that tried to stand in her way. Through the gaps in the mass of bodies, she saw the doors open from time to time, allowing entry to a single student – no one left the chambers, though. It was reasonable to expect the worse, but the prize was way too high not to take the risk.

All she needed was a second. The gates to her chance were opening once every few moments, at regular intervals… It was now or never. Trixie closed her eyes and threw a bunch of small balls she always had under her starry cloak – she called them blindyellers, as they exploded into a ball of vibrant light, causing an ear-piercing shriek in the process.

The bombs exploded, instantly deafening the mare. But she still could see.

* * *

The world consisted of blurry images and a very high pitched squeal filling Trixie’s ears. The way towards the open door cleared, as panicked or stunned students leapt away on instincts. It took the mare all of her strength to crawl through the door frame.

She took deep breaths, not hearing the door close behind her. This was obviously the room of Chrysalis – the green decor, some of it being organic matter, was literally swarming with changelings rustling their wings or hissing at each other.

In an emerald throne there sat the Queen herself, the regal air around her causing Trixie to bow down. She was terrified she couldn’t hear anything – if the headmaster was giving her any orders, she would not be able to obey them. Risking punishment, she tried to hold her head a bit higher, trying to spot Chrysalis from the corner of her eyes.

The changeling ruler sat there, motionless, staring at the intruder to her lair. The commotion from just a few seconds ago intrigued her, and it was probably this pony that was responsible. The Queen noticed an application, held tightly in her hooves. So she came for the audition. It was strange she chose Chrysalis – the changeling was well known for her hatred of ponies, so usually only non-equines came to her.

“Well? Get on with it, drone!” growled Chrysalis, lifting herself up.

Trixie shrunk for just a second and then stood up as well. It was wrong to show fear, even to someone as daunting as Chrysalis. Weakness was a punishable offence here, in the school. Those that came out of the academy needed to be strong and masters at what they did in order for the great plan to work.

“Queen Chrysalis, I have come for the audition,” whispered the mare. She still didn’t even hear her own voice, so it was hard to gauge how loud she had to talk to be heard. And shouting at the Queen would hurt in more ways she could imagine.

“That much I can see, pony. Give me that,” hissed the changeling, tearing the application from the blue mare’s hooves.

It was neatly populated with all the required information, including the things that were hidden away on purpose or deceitfully written to cause confusion to the reader. Chrysalis should be impressed, but the bile she felt for the creature in front of her allowed her to remain an arbitrary judge. Paper was just paper – what really mattered was the pony’s heart. She would either be suitable or not – just like Twilight and her friends, there was a chance to find the Elements of Disharmony in nearly anyone and through the most bizarre chain of events.

“Good, good,” groaned the Queen, crushing the paper in her telekinetic grasp and throwing it away. Her minions swiftly intercepted the ball and tore it to shreds, hissing wildly. “So let us get on with this ridiculous audition. Your name is Trixie, yes?”

The mare was slowly regaining her hearing, but it was not enough to understand the question. Luckily, Trixie learned mouth-reading here at school as part of her mandatory Espionage classes just a year ago.

“Yes, headmistress,” mumbled the mare, sweating slightly.

Now that the Queen was but a hoof away from her, there was no hiding it – the changeling was a large, predatory creature that could snap her in half with a simple thought and through the teeth and hooves of her ‘children’ swarming all around.

“Then tell me, Trixie, why do you think you should be given the right, nay, the honor of serving Evil in the most magnificent of ways? What makes you believe that you are suitable for something more than just a snack for my little ones?”

“I-I am one of the best students at the academy!” said the mare, nervously eying the shadows moving about. She hoped with all her self that headmasters had to heed to the iron rule of no killing as well. “If not me, then who else?!”

“One of the best, not the best. There are dozens much more skilled than you, much more resourceful or charismatic. The school has nothing to do with your qualities – it only exposes your weaknesses and attempts to lessen them to the point that they are bearable to look at.”

“W-Well… Where are those dozens now?! Oh, that’s right, they are rolling around blind and deaf at your doorstep!... H-Headmaster,” added Trixie in a small voice. She felt she overdid it. Chrysalis’ stern look told her that much.

“You insolent little rut. You have quite the nerve to use that tone on me. You think I cannot see that you are but moments away from wetting yourself? You think you can fool the Queen of the Changelings, Master of Deceit, Headmaster of Ragnarok Academy? Well, you better think again.”

Suddenly, the Queen smiled – it was a wicked smile, but one that didn’t speak of organs leaving Trixie’s body.

“You might not have fooled me with your false confidence, but you would certainly at least mislead another. I know you can’t hear me and are reading my lips, so I will simply-” and with that, she covered her mouth. There were no other sounds to Trixie other than the still persisting high pitched squeal the blindyellers caused.

“Do you agree with what I said, dear?” Chrysalis put her hoof down, smirking at the mare.

This was a test, part of the audition. Chrysalis was testing her resolve.

“You may have some valid points, headmistress, and I’d be a fool not to heed to your words,” replied Trixie with a bow. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a touch on her shoulder.

“Hmpf. I expected something more than a generic answer such as this. Then again, you are not foolish enough to try and ask me to repeat myself or attempt to please me with a yes or no answer. The question wasn’t even that simple anyway. I see the academy has grinded your useless mush of a head into something more or less useful…”

The Queen retreated to her throne and waved a hoof at Trixie.

“Be gone now. We have wasted enough time as it is.” When the mare turned away, shock and anger pulsing from her, the changeling added: “See you tomorrow on the preliminary tests.”

A green flame engulfed the pony, taking her one floor below, to where the dungeons were. So this is where the students who were auditioned ended up – Trixie caught a glimpse of another mare appearing just above the ground, wrapped up in cotton candy and her mane sticky with chocolate. Seems that headmaster Discord was having a delightful time during the auditions.

The blue mare allowed herself to smile. The sound that irked her for quite some time was almost gone now. And yes, she did hear that last sentence Chrysalis said. Those were the best words of praise Trixie ever received.

Comments

[RainbowShades]

???
not bad

[Moon Shooter]

dat pic.

[GuitarKirby]

Quite a good start. I'm interested to see both the characters that will be the Elements of Disharmony, and how it creates the necessary balance in Equestria.

[the-pieman]

You do realize that the only reason that Discord was so easy to defeat was because he was so weak, right? He was trapped in stone for over ten-thousand YEARS, that HAD to take a toll on his power. Discord was only free for less than twenty-four hours, so his power didn't have time to come back. If he kept himself hidden (whether anyone knew he was free or not) and waited about a full week before striking, I'd say his power levels would have risen to the point where a simple memory spell wouldn't fix the mane six, he didn't expect them to be that strong, so he acted a bit rash. If he knew how strong they were and waited to regain his strength, then he'd have won hands down, no exceptions. Also, he never HAD to give the ponies their wings/horns back, he was being a good sport, he gave them a chance to fight back because he isn't THAT evil.

Not a bad idea for a fic, but I'm just saying that in truth, Discord doesn't need help, he can handle the mane six on his own.

[Wing Dancer]

1002418
I'd like to also point out that he was powerless agaisnt the Elements the first time around -- whatever be the case, be it his personality or the power he wields itself, he is unable to do it by himself
In addition, Alternative Universe tags