If Chaos prevails...

by The Marshmallow

6 - The choice - Test

The following hour was quite intense, for all the parties involved. About forty ponies were brought one by one in front of the ruler of the land, subject to its peculiar interrogation. Its style was different almost every time. Sometimes they were just questions, more or less bizarre in nature, sometimes he pulled some kind of prank to observe the reaction, or simply did whatever came to his mind. Some only stood in front of him for about 20 or 30 seconds (as they appeared boring from the get-go), some lasted a bit more than 1 minute. Those who lasted 2 minutes or more, instead, had a really good shot to be put between the 'maybes'.

"Shining Armor..." Discord was scratching his head. He was almost 2 minutes in! a good sign. Right? "You seem a nice pony and everything..." Maybe not "And it's not you, its' me!" More melodramatic than necessary. But it was Discord, after all, "I... guess I am not that much into stallions..."

The unicorn had prepared for a long week, trying to learn from Celestia herself what the lord of chaos could like. He crafted his persona fairly well, and his acting was good. And yet it was all in vain "But... Starry Eyes from Cloudsdale passed!"

The draconeequs turned his head toward the group of the maybes, that he sent to his left. Lyra Heartstring from Canterlot and Sweetie Drops from Ponyville were chatting amicably, while a dancer from Las Pegasus and Starry Eyes himself were observing the selection with interest. Discord winked at him, before going back to Shining Armor "I just said 'not that much'" He shrugged his shoulders with a kind of indifferent smile, before snapping his claws "Well, time to go!" And so another candidate vanished, while Pinkie was still waving him goodbye.

"Do you need a pause, Super-Duper Majesty?" the pink pony thought that it would be healthy both for him and for all the candidates. Seeing about 40 ponies vanish before their eyes was not necessarily a pleasant show. And for Discord... there was little to say. he had been interacting with an abominable number of mares and stallions. Having the chance to relax, even if only for 10 minutes or so, could help to clear his head a bit.

"No, not yet... You know what the say. 43 is a Charm!" And without giving a chance to reply, started observing the crowd "Ponyville delegation is not bad. Who's from There?" A few hooves raised, and he teleported to himself the one he liked the most. A pretty white pony elegantly dressed, with an elegantly styled mane.

"Rarity, from the Ponyville delegation!" The Pink pony gave her a large smile, which was gladly returned. She was among the favourites for sure, in her opinion.

"Thank you, Pinkie!" And then, smiling, he went to give her a good look. From where to start? "You put quite some efforts in that mane, didn't you?"

"Why yes, thank you!" A slight blush appeared on her muzzle, and a smile went with it.

"You didn't have much time to style it, though...?" Discord's tone seemed simply curious, inquisitive. But Pinkie knew him enough to be sure he had something in mind, and slowly raised an eyebrow, observing the exchange cautiously.

"Oh, it wasn't that difficult to make!" The mare was still cheery and all, acting how she prepared for a long time. She didn't know why Shining Armor didn't make the cut, but she was making absolutely sure not to make any mistake.

"How long did it take, actually?" Discord was feigning a very perplexed look and started caressing his small beard as if immersed in thought.

"Oh, just 20 or 25 minutes I guess? I'm not as high maintenance as some ponies think!" Everything in the answer was perfect. The tone, the gestures, even a small giggle at the end.

"No, I don't buy it" Discord shook his head, and didn't look impressed. The abrupt answer gave way to something even worse, though "Are you sure it's not a wig?"

"W-what?" her eyes widened. She tried for a moment to keep her smile, but a vein was becoming visible on her forehead. "I think I misheard..."

Pinkie gave his master a worried look, but he went on unfazed "I said... Are you sure it's not a wig?"

"How dare you..." The king, the lord of chaos, the enemy oh her princess, the stallion he had to get close to... Every facet of him became meaningless to her. Now he was being simply too rude, and that was everything that mattered "Talk about my beautiful mane like this?" The small pony was looking at the huge draconeequs with an ice cold stare. Even Pinkie felt somehow intimidated. "And..."

Discord, on the other hand, just moved his paw around a little bit, and the whole mane just... detached from Rarity's head and got lifted about one meter above her head while from the crowd came a collective gasp. He then floated it closer to himself and farther from rarity, as if he wanted to give him a better look. "I knew it!" he erupted, laughing briefly

The pony was not amused. Her eyes went wide in shock for a short moment, when she thought of the embarrassment she was feeling. But although appearances were very important for her, now something more relevant was at stake. Her very body. "Give it back..." It was no more than a weak whisper, pronounced while her eyes pointed not at the ground.

"Uhm... Nope", Discord said teasingly, with a playful grin.

"I said..." Her head snapped up, her eyes pointed those of the draconeequs. There was a menacing flame in them, a fury that Discord hadn't seen in a long time. It kind of reminded him of the passion that Celestia had when trying to fight him a thousand years prior. "Give it back!" It was a roar, unfit for such a small pony. And even his leap was surprisingly quick and athletic, both considering her body and the not very practical dress she was wearing. And she seemed to be aiming to Discord neck, while everyone in the room held his breath.

4 guards were in the room, but they were all too far away to be of any help. Only Pinkie was close enough, and she was prepared to jump in defence of her master. More than that, her very instinct was suggesting her the incredibly risky act; her body was quick to lower his center of gravity, her legs quick to bend. But as quick as she was, Discord was simply faster. Without even needing to move, Rarity was already stopped dead in her tracks. Perfectly still in front of discord, which looked at her way too amused.

Amused? She wasn't. Although she couldn't move, it was quite clear by the way her muscles twitched that she was trying to free herself somehow. Some short flashes of her horn also showed that even her magic was being stopped by the Draconeequs. What he couldn't (or at least wouldn't) change was her face, a perfect image of fury. And yet, Discord seemed unfazed by it. He was just having a hearty laugh, which resounded clearly in the silence of the room, echoing toward the faraway walls.

After a few seconds, he decided to stop. He wiped a tear away from his right eye with his paw, while Rarity stare was becoming (if possible) more threatening by the moment. "Here, take this back" In a moment the mane was again in her natural place, and Rarity started to calm down a bit. But her stare was still quite deadly. "I'm sorry, I was just pulling your hoof"

"What?" Both Pinkie and rarity pronounced the same word at the same moment, also showing how discord magic clutch on rarity was being let go a bit. For Pinkie, she was simply surprised to see him say sorry unprompted. For Rarity, she was having a hard time understanding what was happening.

"Everypony, it wasn't a wig. It was just my 'magic'!" This was the simple phrase that really managed to calm Rarity, which was shortly thereafter put back on the ground. "Rarity, I remember you." Although he was still cracking up a bit, he was also trying to stay serious for a few moments "I think I've seen you two times at the Great Discordant Gala. You are Fancy Pants' friend, right?"

"Well... Yes...?" She blinked, twice, perplexed. Why was he bringing him up? Also, she actually went to the gala three times, but just him remembering her was still quite noteworthy.

"He is possibly the only weekly meeting that doesn't make me want to bang my head on the wall before, during or after." the rich pony was quite well inserted in the high society, so much that was a regular representative for the category in front of the Draconeequs. And he was great at that. he didn't force himself to be funny like some did more or less successfully, but was both reasonable and pleasant. A charming man indeed, and a great reference to have for the mare. The king lowered his head, bringing it just in front of Rarity, with an ambiguous smile. "I just wanted to see your reaction to that"

Rarity blushed, both for the short distance from Discord and the expression he was making. He seemed interested in her, more than he was in the previous 'maybes'. All according to the plan, right? Her previous performance was quite different from what she had imagined and made her a bit embarrassed of herself, but it still worked. "A-and how w-was my reaction?"

Discord smile became even larger for a moment. "Totally worth it!" And in a moment she was teleported right beside Lyra and Sweetie Drops. Well, she passed the first selection. That was more than enough for now. It was time to calm down again and sort her thought a bit.

"And now-" Discord was going to select someone else, but he had to change his plan. He couldn't even end his phrase. Rarity, too, would have to wait a bit more to clear her head.

The main door of the room, on the opposite side from Discord's throne, was quickly slammed open, startling everyone. A blue pony with a light blueish mane, a purple vest with stars and a large matching hat rushed in, closing the large door behind her with her magic. "Anf anf...." Every single eye in the room was on her. When she noticed that, she quickly talked with a loud voice "The great and powerful Trixie never hides, she just needs to rest!" She was still panting a bit, a clear sign she had been running for a while. Still, she now started looking around her, trying to understand were she was. As she noticed the crowd of mares and stallions (and especially Discord on the other side of the crowd) she could only exclaim "Oh, how lucky!"

Author's Note:

I am more satisfied with this chapter than I have been with most others! Still, trying to write credible dialogue while trying to keep a reasonable pace is hard
By the way... What is Trixie doing here? You'll see!

With love,
The Marshmallow