If Chaos prevails...

by The Marshmallow

21 - Celebrations - For centuries to come

The Princess of Love could do nothing but look at the newly appeared mare with a mix of awe and terror. In her eyes, she was the living image of an alicorn of old. As tall as two ponies, as powerful as many, and with a magically flowing mane reminding of the night sky. In each of her words, even as she was provoking Discord, there was a dignity and a sense of threat that she could only dream of. And the way she was manipulating the magic around her horn in the form of black bubbles? She had never felt such dense, powerful and yet stable unicorn magic. Nor she had ever felt such a dark one. Goes without saying that she had no idea what to expect as Nightmare Moon did finally cast her spell, and all the magic that surrounded her horn did instantly vanish.

Cadence's whole body tensed immediately, and all her sense went in a state of alert as a bad feeling grew inside of her. Her magical perception, even though far superior to that of most other ponies, could not sense anything at all... and something of that magnitude could certainly not have vanished silently. She looked around, quickly, trying to make sense of what was happening, and only then she finally realized: the magic had not at all vanished. It was around them, it was everywhere, and it was simply fragmented in particles small enough to elude her magical sense and which only now were taking form again. Black clumps, as a dark as night, started to emerge from the ground and the buildings around them, seemingly feeding off the very darkness that enveloped the streets. Then they 'woke up', opening their glowing yellow eyes and mouths, and giving Cadence and Discord a sorrowful look they threw themselves at them. The desperate, wailing figures were fast and dangerous and were coming at them from every direction. Cadence realized she was late. She should have cast a barrier far sooner, and although instinctively she sent as much energy as she could to her horn, it was clear she would not make it in time. She quickly closed her eyes, terrified, anticipating the bite of those angry ghosts, ready to face the worst. And yet nothing happened to her.

She opened her eyes just moments afterwards, finding herself on a nearby roof, clearly saved by Discord own magic. Not at all a bad positioning, as she was simultaneously at a fairly safe distance and yet a first-row spectator to a breathtaking battle. Discord was flying in the air with extraordinary speed and agility, and yet just narrowly avoiding the ghost-like clumps of dark magic swirling around (and aiming at) him. At the same time, the Princess of the night was mercilessly casting bolts of dark magic quickly aimed at the Draconeequs, some of which he avoided and some of which he managed to dispel. Never had Cadence seen her uncle at a disadvantage, and never she thought she would have... and yet, such as the frightening scene presenting itself to her disbelieving eyes.

In the meantime, the black Alicorn seemed to grow more and more confident every spell she cast, slowly shifting her focus from being ready to react to any threat to just increasing the efficiency of her attacks. Her apparent advantage warranted no less. And yet, when she least expected it, a large hole opened right beneath her. It was a mouth, characterized by white teeth, pink-coloured lips and a tongue that just like a tentacle tried to capture the mare to then devour her. She managed to react quickly still, hitting the tongue with one of her back hoofs and then taking flight, soon getting completely out of reach. Emboldened by her dodge, she smiled again: "You think that's enough to stop me?"

He didn't. As Nightmare moon had to slightly relent with her attacks for a few moments, Discord had the chance to prepare a few more spells. Pink clouds appeared right above her head, and rain of chocolate-flavoured milk started to pour from it in hundreds of litres. Despite her promptly moving away avoiding to be reached by even just one drop of it, it quickly started to take the shape of an enormous griffon talon, trying to follow and capture the mare. A spell was enough, though, to have both the liquid and the cloud turn to ice, falling to the ground and shattering moments later. In the meantime, Discord was still dealing with the dark creatures the mare had previously summoned. Disgraceful, Nightmare Moon thought, for the ruler of the land to be unable to deal with those little things. "You have lost your edge, Discord." Disgraceful, especially since she could do so much worse if so she chose. And so she chose. "The nightmares I have concocted in the past thousand years shall put an end to this"

As her horn lit up, her mane -now more and more gaseous- started to expand around her, forming blue coloured clouds with twinkling stars on them. All the magic that did previously protect her body now flowing into it, focused on creating a stable passage between the world they lived in and that of dreams and nightmares. A black-coloured amorphous creature now vaguely shaped as a gigantic unicorn started to emerge from it, and Cadence could sense how reality itself seemed to be bending around that unholy manifestation of pure magical energy. The power he was emanating was unlike anything she had ever felt, and she feared for his uncle should he face it. But she needed to know he could, so she quickly turned her eyes upon Discord hoping to see a Confidence, comforting expression. She didn't. Cadence and Nightmare Moon noticed in the same moment that he had simply vanished from his previous position and that the nightmares had no target to pursue.

Nightmare Moon was the first to notice what happened a moment later, as she felt two gentle taps on her left shoulder, and she turned immediately towards that direction, her horn ready to light again against her disrespectful foe. As she did, Discord's Paw reached her snout, pressing on it and producing an unnatural and comedic squeaky sound "Boop."

As a blind rage grew inside her, she tried to accelerate the appearance of her devilish creature and to cast a few more bolts against the impudent Draconequus. She failed to make any magic flow into her horn, though, and both her mane and the creature she was summoning started to recede against her will. Failing to understand what was going on, she gave a quick look to her enemy's face, and terror started to invade her mind. Despite her previous comment, his eyes were colder than even her night. His half-smile was that of a tyrant as herself witnessing her worst enemy's execution. her instinct prompted her to fly away as fast as she could, but once again she failed. With a look to her wings, she noticed they were becoming grey and rigid as if made of stone. The same destiny had already befallen her horn and a large part of her muzzle, which ended up paralyzed in an expression of fear that, she thought, was to be for centuries to come. She couldn't curse him one last time, she couldn't curse her weakness or her fatal moment of distraction, she couldn't even cry. She could just wait, incapable of reacting in any way, to be shattered falling to the ground, now that her wings and her pegasus magic were no longer sustaining her weight. All under the glassy, immovable, cruel gaze of the Draconeequs.

Ironic, she thought, for the princess of the Night not to realize who the real creature of nightmares was.

For what it was worth, now she knew.

Author's Note:

I've just come back home after a few months abroad, and now I am visiting some relatives. Goes without saying that the last 10 days have been a bit hectic.

About the chapter... Initially, it was supposed to include both the battle and the ensuing events (which will come soon, it's almost done!), also to keep the illusion the battle could be longer. The fact the chapter was becoming overall too lengthy, as I was starting to add more and more details to the various scenes, made me rethink that.

Overall, I think this is a reasonable cliffhanger. Dividing this chapter from the following makes both a little bit more impactful. Or at least, I hope this to be the case!

With Love,
The Marshmallow

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Petrification. Discord was far past all sense of restraint if he resorted to that.

[The Marshmallow]

9776761

Who better than Discord can testify how leaving someone to suffer for years, unable to move or speak, is not a nice thing to do? In a more stable state of mind, he would certainly have avoided such an extreme solution, thinking especially of how he still feels about what he did to Celestia... in the hurry and rage he was, though, it probably seemed a clean, quick and effective way to deal with her enemy. Not to mention, possibly, a certain sense of retribution, thinking of how she chose for him the same destiny when they had last met...

P.S. I'm always impressed by how quick some of you are at reading and then commenting on my story. Thank you!

[Venerable Ro]

9776785

And now Discord has a bargaining chip of his own, the one thing that Celestia wants most in this or any other world. Her dear sister's safe return.

[fanreader999999]

Perfect.

[duckmagee]

never make the lord of chaos becomes serous or it to your eternal doom

[The Marshmallow]

9776800

The meeting between Discord and Celestia is a scene I've envisioned no less than two months ago, and hasn't changed much in my mind. I can't wait to finally write it down, although it might still be a while!

9776808
Thank you!

9776853
She has definitely chosen the worst time to challenge him, that's for sure! Still, that's not the only reason she lost...
That's going to be one of the two main themes of this story, and I am going to explore the idea more in a spin-off I'm planning to release after the end of 'Celebrations'

[Vaguely Demented]

So did she actually shatter? Or was she just realizing she is about to?

[Theresa]

9776913
She also forgot all about him despite putting him in stone the first time.