The Day of Discord

by GJT_Productions

Between Hope and Despair

Canterlot SuperMax Prison. Supposedly, these retrofitted former mine shafts were the place Princess Celestia confined the worst of Equestrian society. That facade, however, had worn rather thin after the revelation of the truth of "Nightmare Moon", and the draconequus called Discord would completely demolish it.

The old mine shafts were really occupied by the petty criminal riff-raff ubiquitous in any large city, and their guards were former E.U.P. Guard membership that had either fallen out of political favor or were "discharged for criminal behavior" and quietly transferred to this assignment instead. The necessity of keeping the true nature of the place a tight secret meant that sadistic and dictatorial patterns were allowed to run unchecked, which would promote later resentment against Princess Celestia and had previously funneled potential recruits into the Agents of Chaos when they were still an active organization.

Such an arrangement was no match for the loose draconequus Discord though, who could - and did - teleport wherever he wanted throughout the complex at will. First, he appeared in a few different random places in the shafts in order to confuse and agitate the prison staff, then warped himself into what passed for the security center in the prison.

Discord had to stifle a chuckle when he saw the room - really, a sleepy old stallion watching a small blurry TV which cycled through several different feeds supposedly from security cameras. After Discord put the old stallion out with a strong puff of sleeping gas, he grabbed a yellowed, ticking clock off the wall nearby and pressed down on the moving second hand, which caused the tip to break off and the clock to stop.

True to the point of Discord causing things to not make sense, this also stopped time for the entire prison complex and everything in it! By manipulating the hands on the clock he was holding, Discord was able to control the flow of time in the prison, and by taking advantage of this temporal trickery the prison guards fell one-by-one, some fatally according to Discord's ever-undecipherable whims, leaving the prison without a single civilian to oppose Discord's takeover. From the outside world, it appeared that all the guards fell either injured or dead by an unseen force almost simultaneously.

Finally, while keeping the local "bubble" of time stopped, Discord made the lock on each and every cell vanish with a "snap" of his eagle-claw "fingers". He let time flow forward again, which caused the unlocked cell doors to swing open, and while the prisoners were trying to figure out what exactly was going on, Discord broadcast a message over the prison system's PA: "The hour of chaos has come. Assemble in the mess hall, and I will lead you to glory."

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Besides the local petty criminals, there were a few "harder" inmates, as well as some other ponies that were suspected to be members of or sympathizers with the Agents of Chaos, all of which were awaiting trial at the time. The harder criminals and ex-Agents of Chaos members quickly joined forces, finishing the job Discord had started with the civilian guards and then shepherding the remaining inmates into the mess hall where Discord was waiting for them.

"Welcome one, welcome all!" Discord exclaimed as ragged groups of former inmates, some bloodied and battered from finishing off the remaining guards, began filtering into the mess hall. The draconequus had dressed himself in all the trappings of regal finery, although the glitter was suppressed by the darkness inside the former mine workings.

Most of the former prisoners observed Discord with caution and skepticism. A few, mostly the former Agents of Chaos and their sympathizers, began bowing and prostrating before him, which pleased the draconequus greatly. Yet others took one look at the chaos god and cowered in fear, searching for opportunity to get out at earliest possible convenience without risking upsetting him.

"Ah, so it seems like that some of you still remember who I am after all, those alicorns didn't wash your brains clean of my memory like with everypony else." Discord exclaimed with a devious, cat-like smile.

He pauses for a moment for dramatic effect, allowing a few more ponies to join the ranks bowing before him, before tossing out his offer: "I am in need of volunteers to spread my chaos outside the walls of Canterlot. If you volunteer now, you will be richly rewarded once I establish my reign over Equestria again!"

There was no shortage of offers and pleadings that echoed in response to the offer, which pleased Discord even more. Shortly thereafter, he began calling out the names of different places in Equestria, and after each name he points to a different pony and makes them disappear with a snap and teleporting flash of light. These ponies are dispersed to the mentioned places, sometimes ignited on fire or hideously deformed upon arrival, naturally triggering panic in the area around where they ended up.

After being satisfied with teleporting away some of the former prisoners to start spreading chaos outside Canterlot, Discord makes one final snap, warping himself and the remaining small group of "pledges" appear at the very summit of Canterlot's mountain! Once overcoming the light and temperature shock, the unicorns and earth ponies are naturally petrified into staying in place, and the draconequus quickly grabs onto the pegasi members of the group to keep them from flying away.

"Chill out, will you? I've given you your freedom, and I need good ice cubes for my chaos drink..." Discord comments among the shivering ponies, snapping "fingers" one more time. A flash appears inside the mouths of each pony in the group, and they soon realize to their horror that they can no longer speak to Discord or each other, which will spell certain death for each of them!

Discord waits just long enough for the pegasi to be left as shivering huddled masses too weak to try to fly away, and then disappears with a flash. He was now done with Canterlot, and would begin spreading chaos elsewhere in Equestria himself...