If Chaos prevails...

by The Marshmallow

9 - The choice - Aftermath

It took some time for the big news to sink in the minds of those present. The first reaction for most was simply disbelief, it seemed impossible that the yellow pony that previously seemed so close to being rejected would really become Discord's bride. Right afterwards, some started to feel somehow cheated. Some among the 'Maybes' had a hard time accepting to be supplanted so suddenly, while some other ponies in the crowd felt like they weren't even given a chance. Some, on the contrary, were quite glad of this development, as not everypony was there of his own volition. But be it fear or acceptance, nopony dared to say anything.

Nopony except Trixie, that is "That's not fa-"

"She doesn't want this!" Even the magician shut up immediately at the sudden outburst, which left the whole room speechless. Or better, more speechless. "Let her go!"

Discord was not amused. In less then a second his face went from happy to utterly annoyed. "I don't remember asking anypony opinion..." His voice was now a bit deeper than it previously was, similar to a growl, and his gaze was now scrutinizing the crowd gravely. "Who was it?"

Quickly, Trixie hid behind Rarity... Or at least tried as the monumental hat was difficult not to notice. Rarity gave her nothing but a disapproving stare, before turning to watch discord and then the crowd itself. The magician behaviour was, everything considered, not that strange. discord certainly seemed to be goofy and approachable today, but everypony had been told legends regarding him. His power, his rage. and especially the cruel and unusual punishments which -although rare today- were once a staple of his reign, and the topic of many gruesome tales told to foals to have them behave. It went without saying that nopony dared to say a word. Even pointing at the actual culprit was somehow out of question. They were like small animals in front of a predator, completely frozen.

"It was me!" The only pony brave -or maybe foolish- enough to do anything was none other than Rainbow Dash. With just two steps she stepped away from the crowd, revealing herself to Discord. It was clear that she was not as fearless as her action suggested, as her legs were visibly shaking. Her gaze, now focused on the lord of chaos, was filled with primal fear, too. But she couldn't just abandon her friend, could she? "And I'm not taking that back!"

Before anypony could do or say anything else, without a sound, rainbow dash vanished from his previous position to immediately reappear in front of the throne. Even for the most magically skilled unicorns in the crowd, teleporting something that far away so quickly was an unthinkable -almost scary- feat. "I see" The Lord of Chaos spoke now in a serious, dry, almost matter-of-fact way. He turned toward Pinkie, which had a slightly worried expression on her face "Where do these two ponies come from?"

"Cloudsdale...?" It's not that she was unsure of the place, she had memorized her list almost perfectly at this point. And it was certainly difficult to forget what happened that morning in Cloudsdale delegation's room. What she didn't know is what Discord would have done with that information,

"Pony." Not even Pinkie Pie said anything this time. Discord was now looking straight at Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be shrinking in front of him. Actually, it was the Lord of Chaos that was slowly and barely noticeably becoming larger, to better instil terror in the mare "Can you elaborate on what you said? How does she not want this?"

Speaking to an angry king with the power to banish her to the frozen north on a whim is neither pleasant nor easy. especially if he doesn't need an order to do so, but just a snap of his claws. "T-the mayor thought t-there weren't enough candidates..." Still, even scared as she was, the pegasus was talking fairly well. After all, the destiny of her best friend was in stake "T-then made the ponies vote for s-someone else to send." She swallowed. The gaze of the Draconequus was getting more intense by the second. Her mouth was feeling dry, her knees week. But she had to go on "T-they chose five p-ponies like that. I tried to t-take her place, b-but they refused."

"Do you realize that it is a serious accusation?" Being serious wasn't actually Discord's field of expertise. But even when he made some comically oversized glasses appear on his face and some parchment with many doodles on it in his paws, nobody laughed. "In my proclamation, I especially said coming was voluntary, didn't I?" He did, that was a matter of fact. Yet, no one took that part literally. The word "voluntary" itself clashes quite strongly with an absolute, sometimes tyrannical, monarchy. "I do not really know what to do with a town that can't follow my orders..." Now he looked pensive, caressing his beard. Like he was considering his options "Oh, I know!" A whole chandelier suddenly appeared above his head, emanating a strong light, as if his idea was especially brilliant. "I might take climate making in my own paws. At that point, Equestria won't really need that town either. Then getting rid of it will be a breeze" A devious smile on his face "A very strong one, actually!"

While Discord was detailing his brilliant Idea, many faces in the crowd from simply afraid or scared became horrified. The ponies from Cloudsdale couldn't even conceive that their entire town could be blown away by their ruler. And when similar feeling arose from ponies in other delegations, they weren't just feelings of empathy. if sending ponies against their will was a crime, few cities were innocent.

"I'm not saying they don't kind of deserve it..." Although the rainbow-maned pony still felt more than some resentment toward his own town over the decision of sending Fluttershy, now he started to feel a bit of guilt for bringing this up at all. "But it seems a bit much..." Well, she certainly didn't think she would now be here defending her hometown. If this could be called a defence at all.

Still, there was a pony that wasn't horrified, or terrified, or anything of the sort. Not one of the guards, which had now lost their usual composure and were exchanging worried looks, and not even Trixie, which although a bit more egotistical than most found the idea of destroying a town at the very least distasteful. It was the only pony that knew Discord well enough to be sure he wouldn't do something like that over such an insignificant slight. She just looked over his super duper majesty with a sad face. Why did he have to manipulate ponies like that, where more than a few ponies would really have liked to be his spouse? And now things would be settled in such an unsatisfying way in, she hypothesized, three, two, one...

"It was my own decision." Fluttershy spoke for the first time since she had been chosen. Her tone was quite conceited, but also surprisingly audible. "I... I wanted this!" If anypony had doubt before, now it was painfully clear that it was, in fact, not her decision. At all. the few words the yellow pony pronounced were simply too forced and her very expression betrayed her own lie.

"Flutters..." Just a whisper from Rainbow Dash, as tears started forming in her eyes. She was too kind, too ready to sacrifice herself for others. Even if others didn't deserve it. Even when Dash would still have desperately searched some other way out. But, apparently, now there was nothing she could do.

"Splendid!" Discord threw away glasses and parchment, just to have them vanish in thin air before touching the ground. His voice was now jovial and cheerful, completely different from just before. "If there is no other objection..." With a meaningful look he scrutinized the crowd, looking for dissent. Unsurprisingly, he found none. "It's settled then! A round of clopping for my bride to be"

At first timidly, a few hooves started to hit the floor producing some sound, and then the whole crowd followed soon. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie instead did not move. The three of them looked at the crowd almost in disbelief, each deep in its own sense of defeat. One felt trapped in an unwanted marriage, one felt powerless for not being able to defend her friend, and for the last one it was just the confirmation that Discord would never be hers

---

Two guards were now escorting the crowd out of the throne room, back to the rooms they were given so they could retrieve their belongings. Discord offered them the chance to be teleported home, later, as for him that would have been simple. Only Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the maybes were told to stay a bit longer. For the earlier, the reason was obvious. For the latter, Discord wanted to personally say goodbye to them. And for Rainbow... Nopony really knew. But it seemed reasonable that the poor mare would have faced some terrible punishment,

"I'd like to meet you again, but my wife might get jealous!" With a smile and some playful banter, the Lord of Chaos was saying his goodbyes to Starry eyes. "But we might still keep in contact" And now Discord got closer to the pony, giving him a wink and a way too loud whisper, that basically everypony could easily hear.

Starry was as a matter of fact flattered by this kind of attention, although a bit perplexed. It was not easy for him to reconcile the very two different natures of his king: playful and funny one moment, terrifying the next."Sure thing, your super duper Majesty" And yet, he still was one of the ponies that went there of their own will, and still found something captivating in him.

"Wait..." Discord turned his head toward Pinkie Pie, while Starry Eyes walked away to give Trixie the chance to come next and to say goodbye. "Weren't there two more ponies?" he just noticed, but he was sure as picky as he could be- to have selected more than 4 ponies before settling on Fluttershy

"Lyra from Canterlot and Sweetie Drops from Ponyville?" It was basically a rhetorical question. "They snuck out together with the crowd earlier, although I don't think they went to their rooms" She had noticed, she had observed how the two behaved and didn't want to stop them "They didn't look heartbroken by your rejection" Pinkie giggled slightly, for a few moments, and her eyes were slightly shining at the thought.

Discord raised a brow at this. They did technically disobey, and yet... "Good for them" That was... Weird. Romantic, maybe. Weird, certainly. But he didn't disapprove weird, after all. "Give them some time, but then make sure to find them and escort them out"

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie just smiled, there was nothing else to say about this. But even if she wanted to say something, it would not have been easy. Someone else had already taken the chance to talk.

"If things don't work out you can always come back to the Great and Powerful Trixie" The magician spoke with renewed composure, boastful as usual. Although for a while Discord had terrified her too, she was certainly the least likely pony to admit it, and also the one that most easily seemed to have gotten over that. There was a level of resilience in her that was somehow admirable "As long as I don't find somepony more interesting, that is, so you better be quick!" A seductive wink accompanied her words.

that was an unbelievably inappropriate remark, although she barely realized it. Rarity, which was just behind her in the queue, shuddered just hearing it. But Discord... He just let that go as if it was nothing "I'll keep that in mind" Among the reasons Discord was not an especially desirable ruler blatant favouritism had certainly a special place. If a pony was deemed amusing, he was given an unthinkable leeway compared to a boring or annoying one. "By the way..." Discord now gave the mare an indecipherable little smile, clearly suggesting he had something in mind "I don't want to meddle too much with Pinkie's duties..." Now the pink pony looked at him with renewed curiosity. "But I'd like to know... How many assistants do you have for the show during the celebrations?"

As a matter of fact, Trixie mostly worked alone. Managing to appear on that stage was by itself a miracle, a result achieving by relentless, con-level self-promotion. But now that she was there, she had realized that the scale was larger compared to anything she had ever done. "I hired four assistants for the occasion!" Luckily, the pay was monumental too. More than enough to set the stage, the props and hire some people. And she would still spare enough not to have to work for months. "The great and powerful Trixie promises you'll never have seen anything like my show!"

"Do you think you might need one more assistant...?" The Lord of Chaos was smiling, his expression and tone of voice were sending clear hints to the magician.

"No, I should be fine." She shrugged her shoulder, oblivious as usual.

"Well, I think you need one more assistant!" he raised his voice slightly, stressing strongly the I. His voice didn't suggest anger or anything else, he was just dropping all the subtlety.

"Oh..." Trixie appeared pensive for a while. It still took a few more moments before it fully hit her "OH!" She was quite surprised by the offer but was certainly not displeased. "If your super duper majesty so wishes..." A large smile was now on her face. her self-confidence to an unprecedented high "The great and powerful Trixie will accept you as her assistant!" After all, being a King must be pretty boring. And she knew very well nothing could beat the feeling of being on stage, admired by the masses. Maybe she had even been inconsiderate by not making the offer herself, earlier?

"No, it's not for me" A little bit of disappointment in Trixie face, while Discord still looked quite amused. His right arm extended towards Pinkie Pie. And it had to extend quite a lot, as the pink pony was some two meters from the throne. The advisor was caught in a one-arm hug, now extremely close to her king "But for her!"

"Really?" Pinkie's eyes were now shining. She loved the idea! And was twice as happy since Discord knew her so well, and cared for her.

"Really!" Discord was smiling, happily, still holding the pink pony in his friendly embrace. "If Trixie is okay with this" His eyes went now on the magician. His overall demeanour and expression seemed friendly and cheerful, but there was something in his eyes that made the Magician shiver.

"I don't see a problem with it" She tried to brush it off with as much nonchalance as she could, trying to still look relaxed.

"Splendid!" The Draconeequs released Pinkie, giving now a warm smile to Trixie "I look forward to it!" With a gesture, finally, he suggested to her that she could go. There was more pony to greet, after all.

"Some Congratulations are in order, darling" Rarity approached the throne with a steady, confident pace. She gave a calm smile to the Lord of Chaos. "I'm glad you found the pony you were searching for, although it wasn't me..." She felt like the actress in some kind of drama, a role she happily basked in. Even without obvious sadness in her voice, she was able to hint at some displeasure. A subtle, exceptional performance, if she said so.

"I'm... Sorry...?" Even Discord was uncertain on how to proceed. He certainly didn't dislike the mare, and didn't want to upset her.

"Don't be!" With a sudden rise in tone, the level of drama was kicked up a notch. "The heart wants what it wants, doesn't it!" She had taken that from some cheap romance novel she had read a few days earlier. It seemed it would work "And I still want to give you my full support" Now the thin veil of sadness was gone, leaving a warm and amicable tone. "As a stylist, I just have to ask you to let me design your dresses for the event" This was the whole point. And it was not just a chance to have her art showcased in front of thousands of ponies, but also a way to stay close to Discord and obtain more information. A perfect situation, wasn't it?

"Mmmh..." After everything she had said, Discord would have felt kind of bad at rejecting her offer. But he actually already had a few ideas "Actually, I was thinking of making them myself!" With more than a bit of pride, Discord simply snapped his claws. An orange, extravagant suit appeared on his body, underneath which there was a green shirt with weird, irregular fantasies. His tie, blue and yellow, was clearly meant to pull together the whole outfit but failed spectacularly to do so. And even the wedding dress that he made appear on a now blushing Fluttershy was fairly weird. Although it was mostly white and still resembled a wedding dress, there were some flamboyant jade and golden decorations that made it look fairly kitsch. Not to mention that neither dress did fit perfectly their body. "What do you think?" Again, he was by far too proud of his work.

Rarity was not impressed "It could be worse..." She was trying to be diplomatic but had a hard time containing herself in front of those fashion crimes. "But you could really use the help of a professional", she blurted drily.

"She has a point there", Pinkie suggested with a whisper.

And at this point Discord had to surrender "Fine!" The two outfits vanished instantly, and Fluttershy previous green dress reappeared. "can you really make them in a week, though?" He raised a brow. With his powers, it was easy to have a full dress appear in a matter of instants. But a normal dressmaker would certainly need a lot more.

"Don't you worry about that. I shall be back in two days with a few ideas and a cost estimate" She needed time to go to Ponyville, report what she had seen and bring a few more supplies to her boutique in Canterlot. She didn't usually work there, but that would be the most convenient place to stay to prepare for the event.

"I see. I'll leave it to you then." That was all, wasn't it? he couldn't think of anything else to say to the former candidates, and therefore he just needed to give an order "Guards?" Only two were still in the room, and immediately reacted to the order getting closer to their ruler "Bring them to their rooms, too, and have them prepare to leave"

And without any complaint, everypony just started trotting toward the exit. Rarity especially. She picked up a slightly quicker pace compared to others, so to reach Trixie. once she had done that, she just kept her pace. "Now that you have one more assistant, and an important one at that..." a small, devious smile on her face. Persuasion was kind of her thing, after all, and she knew exactly what to use her skills for "You'll have to do something extra special, darling! And you might require some very special machines, wouldn't you? And I know just the mare that could help you with that!"

Trixie looked at her with a bit of suspicion at first, but she knew very well she actually had to do something more special than usual to satisfy Discord. "Go on..."

---

Only four ponies were now in the room. Or better, three ponies and a draconeequs. Her bride to be and her royal assistant were the first two, and a very worried Rainbow Dash was the last one. It finally seemed she would know what her destiny was, and she was after all kind of glad, as the suspense was killing her.

"Pony..." She swallowed; it was finally time. The Draconequus was speaking to her "I didn't like what you said, earlier... " His tone was stern, his look harsh "I had just found such a cute pony, with a bit of a temper and such a sexy stare..." Sexy was not the word Pinkie would have used. To her, that seemed almost a bit scary. But to everypony its own, right? "And you tried to take her away from me?"

"P-please, be merciful." It was now Fluttershy speaking, pleading for her friend "She just wanted to help." She was on the verge of tears "And I will not..." She swallowed "leave you!"

Discord looked at her for a few moments "Do you take me for a monster?" he asked, feigning surprise. Just as if it was something completely absurd. yet, neither Fluttershy nor Rainbow answered, and just looked away a bit embarrassedly "by the way, I know perfectly what to do with a little, loyal pony like you" Now Rainbow was perplexed. that loyal in the middle, there, didn't seem a bad word. Not at all "My bride to be might need a personal attendant, after all..." The eyes of both ponies widened in disbelief. but there was a bit of happiness in there "And if you care that much about her, you should do a good job, right?"

Fluttershy eyes flooded with tears of joy. Resigned s she was to her destiny, she couldn't believe that the Draconeequs would be that merciful. Not only her best friend would be spared from punishment, but she wouldn't even be separated from her. she couldn't possibly ask for more. "T-thank you!"

Pinkie Pie was now smiling too. It was a relatively small thing, but she still appreciated to see a little kindness from her king. If only he could be like that all the time...

And Rainbow dash? Well, she was left speechless for a while. She would still have wanted to refuse, to fight for Fluttershy freedom... And somehow it felt like accepting the offer would be akin to accepting the marriage too. But else could she do, at this point? "I accept." her eyes now lowered, some grief in her tone.

"Anything else?" Discord eyes were still on her, still demanding something. And as much as she would have liked not to, she had to give in to that contract with the devil.

"T-thank you..."

Author's Note:

This was a longer chapter, but I didn't feel like dividing it in two. It would have felt like leaving the whole Rainbow dash situation hanging.
Also, I felt like I was making Discord to be a bit too nice and approachable in the former chapters. Like... he can be. But there is also another pretty relevant part to him, which I tried to showcase here.

With love,
the Marshamallow

P.S. Next chapter I'm finally going to introduce a pretty important character! Stay tuned!