The Lost

by Lux

Backlash

Chapter 13 – Backlash

“So you exiled Twist from the castle and from Equestria,” Twilight said trying to keep the events in her mind in their proper order, “Did he go quietly?”

“Surprisingly, yes,” Luna replied, as she thought about the events, “Of course, Twist was upset that not only was his love rejected a second time, he now had to leave the place he called home. It was the right choice, though, as anypony else would be crying out for his death. His exile, we hoped, would punish him enough while showing him some mercy. We also hoped that his exile would be enough to convince him to abandon his pursuit of my sister.”

“And let me guess,” Twilight said, “Things didn’t go as planned.”

“No, they did not,” Princess Celestia said, “Then, Twist left and we heard nothing about him. It was as if he vanished into the wind. As the weeks passed, we attended to other matters of our royal duties, yet we still thought about him, wondering if he was all right. We were also wondering about the spell that he had cast on himself, the Desired Image Spell. Now, as you know, most spells do not last forever. Their time is finite and easily can be broken. Furthermore, every spell has its consequence, not only for the caster but the target. There is one final thing that you probably know from my teachings and your research -- that the more powerful the spell, the more powerful and the greater the possibility of a backlash. What was soon discovered was that the Desired Image Spell had a flaw, where if after the spell was completed, the one whose form was copied rejected the caster’s love, the caster would change back. Not even Starswirl the Bearded knew what would happen, and he dared not try the effects of the backlash out on anypony, much less attempt the spell. I’m sure you could guess what the backlash was of the Desired Image Spell.”

“You mean that the spell caused him to look like that,” Twilight answered with a shock.

“Yes Twilight,” Luna said, “The spell apparently when it backlashed gave the caster the traits of the creatures in the surrounding area whose blood was used in its casting . That is why Discord looks like an amalgam of creature types. I would also guess that the transformation into his current form was not quick. It probably took a long time as his form shifted from the handsome Alicorn shape to that monstrous figure. He probably didn’t have time to even enjoy being an Alicorn and the attention it gave him.”

“The backlash didn’t affect just his body,” Luna continued, “It also affected his mind. Twist was already unstable due to his rampant sense of entitlement, and the rejection of his love. That is why he didn’t do anything when leaving; he was too much in shock. When his body began to change, he then lost all sanity. In his mind, he equated the cause for ruining his body and his life to my sister and me. But Twist did not stop there. He saw us as the embodiment of order, the thing that prevented him from doing whatever he chose to do, and what led to his exile. So, instead of loving us, he chose instead to hate us and everything that we stood for. And that was when he attacked.”

“At first, the occurrences were seemingly random,” Celestia said, “There were one or two incidents on the border of Equestria which had no pattern or reason. It was mainly things being changed into something different, cases which sounded more like pranking than of a serious nature. In hindsight, I believe that this was Twist testing his powers. You see, when he became an Alicorn, he received only a fraction of ones’ power. Even when the spell backfired, that power was still there, and with Twist’s ability to warp reality, you can see the trouble that was coming.”

“It was then that a shift occurred where the seemingly random attacks became more concentrated and focused, weaving their way from the edge of Equestria closer to Ponytopia. The events were more numerous as well, as Twist sowed his chaos with every town he traveled to. Of course, we did not know it was him. My sister and I believed it to be an army responsible for such chaos. I think we somehow did not want to believe that Twist had gone this far.”

“The reports from Equestria were disturbing. We heard whole towns corrupted into some sick mockery, businesses ruined, and townsfolk left in panic. They all claimed that there was some kind of monster who walked the streets doing this. My sister had our share of monsters we had to fight and defeat, but up until that point none compared to what was traveling towards Ponytopia.
The worst was that Twist had the ability to corrupt ponies, bringing out the worst in them and completely inverting their personalities. Those who were caring, became spiteful, the happy depressed, the strong weak. When you mentioned what had happened to you and your friends, I was not surprised as I’ve seen it happen before. That is why I sent your past Friendship Reports to you, to help you remember who you are so that you could help your friends.”

Twilight Sparkle had always wondered how Princess Celestia knew that she and her friends were in trouble. At the time it seemed it was unimportant, as her main goal was to help return her friends to normal and defeat Discord. Yet as the time passed after that event, she wondered about those letters being sent. At first she thought it was a safeguard for Twilight to have those letters sent and that the fact she received them when she needed it the most was mere coincidence. But it seemed that Celestia had this planned out, knowing that her friends may be affected by Discord’s machinations.

“So, Discord corrupted the towns and the citizens. Did he do anything to you two or Ponytopia?”

“Yes Twilight,” Luna said, “When the reports of something attacking the towns of Equestria and heading towards Ponytopia came to us, we understandably took great measures. We sent many guards out in the direction of the threat to stop it at all cost. Yet with every wave, Twist merely tossed them aside like they were toys, or corrupted them so they could not fight. Even with such overwhelming odds against him at times, Discord just laughed and defeated them swiftly and mercilessly. We were unprepared to handle such a threat, as Equestria was fairly peaceful, and as such our army was small. Many scholars would write about this time as the Discord War or the War Between Order and Chaos, but I disagree. It wasn’t a war, it was a massacre.”

Finally, we could not deny the truth any longer. Twist had become this creature of chaos bent on revenge. In his mind there was one goal, to destroy harmony and order at its core in Ponytopia. Then, as the dust had settled from the skirmishes in the other towns, he came to Ponytopia unopposed and ready to face us.”

Comments

[Jeweled Pen]

This is getting pretty good, looking forward to the conclusion. Can't wait.