Havoc

by Slick Dash

Failure and punishment

The town burned fast, after all there wasn't much to burn. A few houses, and a single town hall, halfway through construction. It didn't take much for the Leviathans to tear their way through the flimsy buildings and send their treasonous inhabitants running. This would teach them to harbour the rebels, they would pay for turning their backs on their king.

From the top of the hill he stood, watching the demonic horses cut down the retreating civilians. This wasn't a battle, nothing worth his time, this was merely pest control at best. He spotted a few pegasi making a break for the sky from behind the hall. "Commander!" He ordered, and without hesitation his blue commander rushed down the hill with her personal squad of Leviathans. He watched them reach the group fast, watched the pegasi being dragged to the ground by the commander's magic. He couldn't hear them over the crackling of the flames, but he could see by their faces they were screaming. Good. Fear is good. What is needed to rule!

Havoc surveyed the destroyed town, searching for any survivors from this perfect vantage point. From within a burning house he spotted one, trapped by a collapsed beam. No need to worry about that one. Another was cornered against a burning house by three of the demonic soldiers. Good. This was wrapping up nicely. No hiccups or mistakes!

"RAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!" Havoc turned in time to see something streak across his vision. Something large, orange and purple. It struck him in the chest sending him to the ground. He searched quickly for his minions, and saw they were all down in the town, leaving him and his assailant alone on the top of the hill. He looked out through the narrow slots of his helmet and saw two hateful purple eyes glaring back. Havoc began to laugh.
"Hmhmhmhmm, the great Scootaloo, I was worried you wouldn't show my dear!" came a warped voice from beneath the metal mask. This was the reason they'd come, the rebel's second in command, the pegasus Scootaloo, the hero of the pony armies! He suddenly surged up and threw the female Pegasus off of himself. She cried out in surprise, and by the time she fell to the ground, Havoc was now the one above her.

He locked gazes with her, and though she couldn't see, smiled to himself.
"Well, I'd hate to disappoint!" The pegasus shouted, throwing a foreleg out and striking against the dark helmet. Though it didn't hurt him, it sent his head into a dizzy spell, which the rebel warrior used to unbalance him, and sweep his legs out from under him. Havoc crashed to the floor, grunting loudly, before he could stand he felt somepony touching the back of his helmet. Trying to dislodge it. He spun on the ground so he faced upwards and into the orange ponies eyes.
"Tututut..." He winked, his dazzling blue eyes made the pony pause for a second in surprise, like they all did! "Not on the first date!" Havoc joked, then proceeded to slam his protected head into the bare skull of the fighter.

The contact was loud, and it obviously did damage. The mare backed away crying out in pain, clutching her skull. Havoc slowly got to his hooves, relishing this fight, he enjoyed when one of the scum thought themselves worthy of a duel. It barely happened with the commander by his side all the time. When the mare looked back up, blood was trickling down her face into her eye from the deep cut just above it. "Hmmm, red suites you dear!" He jibed, enraging the mare even more, she rushed towards him, swiping hard. He easily ducked under it, and with exquisite timing, he rammed his foreleg's knee deep into the mare's chest.

With a pained grunt, she fell limp on his leg. He relaxed, and let her drop to the floor. Pathetic! The hero of the rebels, defeated so easily, with no use of his magic or anything! What could he expect, from a mere pony! He walked away, making some space between him and the groaning opponent. He could at least practise a simple fire spell, he needed to keep his magic going a little, at least. He turned to face her once again, his eyes beginning to glow a red hue, his irises changed to a deep red, and heat began to brew within them. All it will take is one shot!

He heard hooves, he glanced away for a moment to see the commander returning, finally realising what had happened up on the hill. With a smirk he returned concentration to his prey, at least he had been able to have a little fun today! His spell was ready to fire, he scanned her body, taking in the sword cutiemark, the short jagged tail and her unkempt spiky mane. Where to fire? So many places would hurt beyond belief, but each was as appealing as the last!

"LORD HAVOC!" The commander shouted, worry in her voice. 'Oh what now!' Havoc thought, annoyed at his fun being spoiled. "BEHIND YOU!" His attitude switched immediately, he turned and fired the spell into the air, the second his attention had been brought to it, he recognised the telltale sounds of the rebel leader. The red flame spurted into life just before his eyes, and streamed into the air, raging and crackling hungrily, determined to take the life of its target. It caught nothing, Havoc swore, and focused, staring through the red flame, trying to spot her.

With a deafening boom, a hole was punched through the wall of flame, and a single pegasus shot out of it like a bullet. "Damn!" Havoc growled, ducking quickly to avoid being struck. Only once she passed well over him did he realise what was happening. "Stop her!" He cried, springing back to his hooves to see the Rainbow mare streaking towards the downed Scootaloo. The Leviathans obeyed, and galloped towards the leader, but were cut down immediately by her as she swung two blades attached to her shins. The dark creatures exploded into plumes of fire and smoke. Leaving nothing to stop the speeding pegasus.

She scooped up the unconscious mare, and streaked off into the distance. "NOOOOO!" Havoc screamed in anger, rushing to the end of the hill watching his prey escape! His warped voice distorting even more in his rage. He slammed his hooves to the ground with such force, the earth beneath them cracked slightly. He glared at the fast vanishing pegasi, how had he failed?! Not only in his mission, but his reputation! He had allowed somepony to live, what good was it to be the most feared general of an entire army, if he allowed himself to slip up and let the most important figures in the rival army live! He felt sick with himself.

"M-my lord?" Asked the commander, slowly making her way towards the furious general. "A-re you alright?"
"Yes! Of course I am, no little worm like her could harm me!" Havoc spat lividly. He turned to his second in command, fury burning deep within his eyes. "Now if you hadn't rushed off to gain some glory for yourself, we would have had her!" The commander's eyes widened, both with surprise and fear, knowing that Havoc's rage could easily mean her end.
"M-my lord... T-the great and powerful Trixie only seeks to obey-"
"ENOUGH!" Havoc shouted to the wispy maned mare, storming past her, headed towards the chariot that would take them back home. "We must return, before his majesty grows tired of waiting."
"B-but..." Stammered Trixie, sweat beading fast across her brow. "...we failed..." Havoc's eyes focused on the distant spires of the capital in the mountains. His heart was heavy with something he only experienced when dealing with the king... fear.
"I know."

.......

The throne room was as dark as ever, it's many boarded up windows only allowed for the faintest gleams of light to emit into the large hall. Havoc's hoof steps echoed ominously around him as he made the long trip towards the throne. Tall, slim and black, it's cushions were pure red, some say dyed by the blood of the king's many enemies. Behind it lay the only bare window, it was stained glass, and depicted six ponies surrounded by magic, attacking a slim and twisted creature.

That very creature stood before it, his eagle hand placed gently on the head of his throne, and his eyes gazing out over the land. Havoc reached his respectful distance, and stood still, awaiting his king's first words.

Silence was rife for what felt like an hour, but Havoc dared not move, now here, he must show the utmost respect, or would be punished like a thousand combatants had before him. Finally, the king spoke, his voice was deep and low, yet it carried across the room as though he shouted it. Such was the power of the Draconequus king. "The town?" He asked, with nothing as much as an acknowledgment of his general's presence, still staring out the window.
"Destroyed my king!" Havoc reported.
"And the girl? 'The hero of Equestria?' He asked, scoffing at the name the ponies had given their hero. He glanced over his shoulder, and in the gloomy light his mismatched red eyes gleamed dreadfully.
"E-e..." Havoc mumbled, freezing in a single moment of fear.
"Yes?" Discord prompted, his bored tone far more terrifying than any scream, yell or shout.
"Escaped... my king."

"Oh..." the chimera exclaimed quietly, genuine surprise in his voice, returning to gaze at the land before the castle. "Very well..." There was silence, Havoc dreaded what may come at the end of it, so he hoped it would never end.
"That will be all General." The king suddenly said coldly. Making the masked stallion gasp with relief. He turned and left the gloomy throne room without a second glance back, breaking into a slight canter as he escaped into the hallway, and retreated to his chambers.

.......

His room was decorated with golden curtains, which the sun shone through and cast the eerie colour over everything making it all look unbelievably more valuable. A queen size bed lay in the centre of the room, as did several desks and wardrobes. Upon one of these desks lay a bust, it was of a pony's head, blank, without a face, it merely resembled the shape of the skull. The ceiling was high, rivalling the size of many of the halls that spanned throughout the castle. It was a room fit for only the highest possible ranked officials.

Havoc reached the door of his room, panting with relief, his body felt light after such fear and adrenaline had gripped him so tightly. He felt the need to celebrate, the fact that he lived another day after such an abysmal failure. He pushed open the large oak door, the hinges creaked slightly as he did, and the noise echoed out across the open room. Unlike the echoes of the throne room downstairs, these noises where familiar to him, they helped him feel at home.

He came in and turned to shut the door, as the wooden panel closed, he heard movement behind him. "You're alive Trixie sees." Came a cold female voice from the direction of the centre of the room. Havoc turned to see the speaker, Commander Trixie, sat at the end of the bed waiting.
"As much as anypony else." Havoc said, his warped voice soft and confident. He walked slowly across the room, headed to the desk with the bust left on it. He reached up with one hoof, and tapped a spot in the back of his helmet, for a moment nothing, then a sudden click, and a whir, and the back of the helmet opened with his magic forcing the back apart. He reached the bust just as his head came free.

Reaching up with his other hoof, he continued to speak. "So what exactly are you-" The helmet came free of his skull, and he pulled it away from his head, as it came away, his voice changed from that deep distorted voice, to a smooth and calm one as the magic of the helmet ebbed away. "-doing here commander?" He stretched his neck after being inside the helmet for so long, shaking his head, letting his highlighted dark blue mane flow out once again.

Trixie watched him for a moment, taking in the firm body, the strong shoulders, the attractive face and shocking blue eyes. "Trixie had to ensure her own protection." She said slowly. Havoc raised an eyebrow,
"Oh really? How is being in my chambers going to do that?"
"Well..." Trixie said slowly, getting up and walking the short distance between them. She reached up and began adjusting the collar of his shirt. "Her lord was so angry before, Trixie feared she would be considered..." She leant in, stroking down his large bulking chest. "Expendable." She whispered, leaning into his ear. Havoc watched her as she stroked his chest, she leant back to look him in the face. There was a pause, and the Havoc threw himself upon her.

They fell against the bed, and Trixie responded with just as much energy as her lord. The two kissed, slowly pushing themselves further onto the large bed instead of just lying on the side. Trixie took the red tie around Havocs neck with her magic, and with a breathless cry, she tugged it off over his head. As the tie moved, it pulled at Havoc's throat pulling him away from Trixie for a moment, but as soon as it was whipped off, he delved his muzzle deep into her neck, kissing and caressing her collarbone as she began to unbutton his jacket.

The older mare let out a little moan of pleasure, savouring the moment she was having with her lord. On the battlefield, they were general and commander, but in here, in this room, on this bed they were equals. Trixie tore off Havoc's jacket, casting it aside, and before starting on the buttons of his pure white shirt, flipped her weight, sending Havoc rolling to one side. She flung herself over him, planting her haunches over his waist. She began to undo his buttons from above, when suddenly the creak of the door hinges echoed out over their passionate cries.

"Oh, Havoc you're...entertaining, I'll come back later." The mare began to leave the room, but was stopped by Havoc's call.
"Mother!" He reached up, taking hold of Trixie and pushing her off of him, to her great annoyance. He pulled himself off of the bed, and re-did his shirt while walking over to his embarrassed looking mother. "Is everything all right mother?" He asked, concerned that there was a reason for her visit.
"No, no it's fine... I just heard that things didn't go well today, I wanted to see if you were ok..." She looked over at the blue mare, still sat on the bed, surrounded by discarded clothes. "And it seems you are..." She continued, a little unhappily when looking at the commander.

"Your majesty." Trixie said robotically, pulling herself off of the bed and bowing to the wife of the king., no genuine respect showed in her cold hateful eyes.
"Please... I've said before, just call me by my name." the queen asked, finally stopping in front of the other mare.
"Very well... Pinkie." She said, repeating the greeting with yet another bow. Pinkie bowed her head in response, her face showing nothing but misery. Her long mane stretched to the ground, just barely missing the floor as her head tilted down. Trixie straightened up, daring a glance at Havoc, before saying something about her duties, and leaving in a rush. The queen wasn't that sad to see her go.

"You know havoc..." the pink mare began, coming over to a chair beside one of the desks and seating daintily on the edge of it. "You should really find a mare your own age..." She looked off towards the door the blue mare had left through, a hint of distain flickering across her usually blank and miserable face.
"Haha, I would mother," Havoc laughed, drawing a chair close to the pink pony. "If there were any within the castle that weren't in the dungeon!" He laughed as he took his seat. His mother seemed to wince at his humour, Havoc grimaced. "Mother I'm sorry I was trying to..."
"Trying to make me laugh I know..." Pinkie said sadly, looking up into Havoc's eyes, identical to her own. She gave a weak smile, which Havoc returned happily. "But I think we both know, my laughing days are long behind me."

Though always sombre and miserable, Havoc enjoyed speaking to his mother, it was the only part of his life that wasn't about war, other than his nights with Trixie. Havoc noticed a new mark on her foreleg, large, swelling and purple. He quickly investigated it. "Mother! What happened?" He took hold gently, stopping as his mother winced, and resumed again far more carefully.
"I-I tripped and fell, dropping your father's drink..." Pinkie said coldly, as though it was nothing.
"Then how did you get this from falling?" He froze, realising. "Again?" He asked, pinkie closed her eyes fighting back tears and biting her lip. She nodded.

Havoc took a hold of his mother, holding her close. He hated when his father took to striking his mother, but of course being the king he could do what he wished. That meant all that could be done was to have the queen bare through the pain. Sometimes she did it easily, other times it proved too much for her. This was one of those times, the times where she began to cry. Havoc felt his mother wailing into his shoulder, and his heart sagged. He wished he could make it better somehow, find a way to make her feel happy again, like in her stories of her youth.

Her wailing echoed out around the large round room, bouncing of the walls, surrounding Havoc in his mothers sorrow. Slowly, through the tears, he heard her say something. "I-I-I wish I never... N-never... I wish I was home! I want t-to be back in Ponyville, with Twilight, and Rainbow and all the others!" Havoc knew those names, they were ponies from the rebellion. In fact he'd even seen the one called 'Rainbow' today, the rebellion's leader, and Twilight, Twilight Sparkle the master strategist, with loyalty to the imprisoned princesses! They had all been together once, friends, allies, and then his mother had turned her back on them for the Discordian army.

He had never mentioned the subject before, but it had been a while since he had last had the chance to, now he was nineteen, he deserved to understand. "M-mother?" He asked, and the pink mare's sobs grew quieter. "Why... did you join father in the first place? Y-you always speak of your friends so caringly, why did you leave them?" Pinkie's sobs continued for a moment, then they slowly ebbed. With a loud sniff, she pulled herself up from her son and looked him in the eye.

"When... your father," She said the last two words with obvious loathing. "Took over, me and my friends... we went into hiding. Tried to think of what we could do. Eventually..." She seemed to say someponies name, but some for some unknown reason she bit her tongue, stopping her from finishing. "Somepony decided we needed to fight, so we started trying to find ponies who would." She seemed to be losing herself in her memories, going deeper and deeper seemed to num her misery, and for the first time he could remember. Havoc saw his mother smile. Her voice seemed to go up a tone, almost happy while reminiscing. "We did pretty good, we got a large group of ponies to come and fight, and we started trying to take back Equestria."

Havoc flinched at the forbidden name, anypony who had said it before, had been carted off for execution, or worse, fed to the Leviathans. But he did not stop his mother. "We started winning some fights, but we lost a lot of ponies." Her ears drooped and her face fell as she remembered the bodies. "Then... I started dreaming..." Pinkie's tone began to return to her usual miserable voice.

"Of him... your father..." her eye twitched slightly. "He... told me things... horrible things... he told me what he'd do to them, my friends if I didn't end them myself... I-I-" tears began to well up again. Had she ever said any of this anypony before him? Havoc wondered. "I... couldn't do it... I had to help them... so... so I left them..." Havoc watched as she accepted what she had done. "I'd rather let them think I was a traitor, than for me to ever hurt them myself!" As her tail came to an almost sarcastic expression crossed her face.

"And for me seeing sense, and coming to the right side, I was gifted with the reward of being the king's play thing!" She sounded as though she hated herself.
"D-do you wish you'd never left?" Havoc asked slowly. There was silence for a moment, then,
"No, I knew I wouldn't have been able to fight him for long. Leaving was the best thing I could do for my friends." She then looked to Havoc, propping his chin up. "Besides, if I hadn't, I'd have never had you!" Havoc smiled at her, glad that he wasn't one of her regrets, but then he had to ask.
"But how, how can you love me, knowing I'm hurting your friends? Knowing I'm part of my father?" It was something he had always wondered, he had never regretted killing ponies, it was his duty and his life, but he hated what the news of his successes did to his mother, she was one of the few ponies he cared for.

"Because silly!" He dared to glance into her large round blue eyes, so like his own. "You're a part of me too!" Havoc smiled, but was interrupted by a knocking on his door. He knew this meant that whoever was on the other side didn't know his face, only a select few came into the room without knocking. He jumped to his helmet ramming it onto his head hastily. His mother called out, knowing the magic of the helmet's voice wouldn't work straight away. "What is it?" She cried, trying to sound an queen of authority. A dark neigh came from the other side of the door, a Leviathan.

"Havoc... needed... by king." whispered a demonic voice, sounding like a thousand souls screaming out for help all at once.
"I'll be right there!" Havoc shouted, the mask taking hold and altering his voice once again, he quickly re-dressed, and with a quick glance to his mother from behind the helmet, Havoc rushed to the throne room. Unsure why he was being summoned once more.

.......

Discord now sat in his throne, lounging across it lazily, inspecting a goblet of gold filled with wine. Havoc arrived, trotting at pace to get to his king quickly, when he came halfway across the hall, the king said drolly. "Door!" Havoc turned, and with his magic, closed the throne room door with an echoing slam. "Good." Discord purred letting the goblet go, it hung in the air perfectly still, and the king twisted into a sitting position on his grand chair.

"So besides your failure, did anything else of interest happen today?" He suddenly seemed more intrigued than he had before. Havoc wasn't sure why. He reached up to take off his helmet, but froze when his king held up a hand. "Keep the mask on please boy." Havoc nodded.
"Yes father." Then straightened, and answered the question asked of him. "Nothing of interest sire, only an appearance by their leader as well as the target." He stopped for a moment then began hesitantly. "If his majesty wishes entertainment, may I suggest he returned to the battlefield someday? You would find that most-"
"Then what point would I have for you?" The draconequus asked coldly, staring straight into his general's eyes. Havoc gulped.
"None sire!"
"Exactly." He twisted again and lounged the opposite way. "Maybe one day I'll return to the fight, but only when the mood takes me." He pulled something invisible from the air, then suddenly, a grape popped into existence in his grasp. He threw it into his mouth and bit hard, the juice squirted out, and a little escaped his mouth.

"Until then, the battlefield belongs to you... and Mrs Trixie..." His eyes glinted as he bobbed his eyebrows up and down at his general. The look made Havoc squirm uncomfortably, usually when his father was this talkative and fun making, somepony was about to die. "You two seem quite close..." The king continued, "Any grandchildren coming my way I should know of?"
"No father!" Havoc winced, stupid slip up, just because the king spoke to him as family, didn't mean he could do the same. Discord arched an eyebrow. "No sire!" the stallion corrected quickly. The chimera shrugged, and slithered off the arm of his throne, he snaked behind it, then stood straight, pacing around it holding its head tenderly.
"Very well, have your fun with the girl. After all I of all people can't stop you, I've had more than my fare share.

The comment made Havoc angry, especially with what his mother had just told him. Did his father know he'd finally been told, or was it a cheap shot at the pony who he called his supposed 'wife?' With his stomach burning slightly, he took a calming breath then asked.
"Like her majesty? Like my mother?" The king stopped pacing, and looked straight at the stallion before him. He gazed at him with no expression at all for a moment, then it burst into joy.
"Why yes! I do believe you're finally getting the hang of this!" The comment made Havoc see red, how dare he! After everything the queen had sacrificed, after every dark thing the king had done, the least he could do was leave her some respect! Yet he still said nothing, trying to calm him down, then the king spoke coldly, almost in a challenging tone

"Angry, boy?"
"No sire!" Havoc said in what he hoped sounded like a normal voice with the distortions of the helmet.
"You could have fooled me..." Slowly, without breaking contact with Havoc's eyes, he pointed to his own. Havoc realised what he meant, he breathed deeply, trying to calm his mind. Soon the red haze passed, and with it, the draconequus like eyes he had obviously formed faded as well.
"Is there anything else my king?" Havoc asked again, calmer than his previous tone.
"No Havoc, that is all." The king said, all traces of hi interest in the stallion gone in the instant of that stupid loss of temper. He turned back to the throne and dropped into it, his tail flicked up and coiled around the suspended goblet, pulling it to his lips for him to sip from.

Havoc turned back and headed down the hall for the second time, opening the doors with his magic as he walked. He reached them and as he left, he began to close them behind him. But just before they closed completely, he stopped them, and gazed back into the hall. The king stared the long way down at him, even so far away the sight of him was terrifying. Using his magic to combat the helmet, Havoc spoke. This time in his own voice, unaltered and un-warped. "Father?" The chimera grunted to show he was listening. "Did you ever love my mother? You speak as though you never did..." The king waited a moment, apparently contemplating the worth of his answer.
"No. I never did. She was only the weakest of my enemies, all the other elements of harmony would have failed as traitors. 'Laughter' was the only one that didn't require some sense of loyalty, meaning if pushed enough, she would crack." Havoc felt cold, unbelieving at the words his father was saying, he knew they didn't get along, but as a child he'd hoped somewhere deep down he loved her.

"I saw an opening, and I took it." The king shouted to his general. "You should remember that, it may save you some day!" And with that Havoc left the throne room, and retired to bed. Discord watched him leave, his lips curling into a dreadful sneer. "Is it me, or did that tone start to sound very doubtful of me?" He asked the seemingly empty throne room.
"Yes your majesty!" agreed a voice from the shadows.
"We can't have that now can we..." Discord purred.
"No my king!"
"You know what to do, he's done well, but he's starting to doubt, so there's no more need of him." From within the shadows came a bright blue hoof, followed by a wispy silvery mane.
"Yes your majesty, Trixie will tend to it."

.......

A restless night, odd dreams of fighting, purple maned pegasi escaping his clutches, crying mothers, and hateful fathers. The entire mix screamed inside his skull, begging to be let loose. Havoc awakes with a cry, his helmet still on his head. He wonders why, then remembers coming back to his room and collapsing with exhaustion.

He reaches up to take it off, then glimpses something out of the corner of his sight. Before he can inspect it, he feels several hooves grab hold of him. He struggles in surprise, yet they don't relent. They pick him up, and carry him, from his bed, from his room, towards the throne room once more. He tries to use his magic, yet something seems to take a hold of his throat whenever he does, stopping the flow of energy.

Soon, he sees the bordered up windows, smells the burning of Leviathans, and hears the tears of a mare nearby. He's thrown unceremoniously to the ground, at the steps of the throne, he looks up to see his father. He stands tall, looking down with nothing but disgust in his eyes. Havoc looks left, and sees Trixie, with the same expression on her face. Havoc looks right, and sees his mother, tears in her eyes as she watches her child manhandled so terribly. "WHAT IS THIS?!" Havoc yells, angry at the treatment he is receiving!
"What is this?" the king repeats coolly. "This is discipline." Havoc realises in an instant this is his father's doing! "Commander Trixie, explain what happened today on your mission." Discord ordered drolly, turning to lounge in his throne once more.

Havoc watched out from behind the mask, staring at Trixie, his lover, the one who only hours ago he had kissed and almost gone further with. Trixie stared back with complete indifference, staring straight back at Havoc she began to report. "When ordered to stop a number of escaping Pegasi from the town, Trixie took the general's guard to act on said orders." Was she going to do what he thought she was. Judging by his mother's growing tears, she was.

"Once the task was dealt with, Trixie returned to protect the general. Upon arrival, Trixie saw him fail to kill the target 'Scootalloo' and even allowed the leader of the enemy forces to slip through his grip and save said target, not only failing in his task, but also failing in his duty to end the life of the enemy commander!" Havoc's head snapped to his father, he tried to stand, to protest, but he felt two burning hot hooves push him back down. He felt his clothes singing away at his shoulders, so he relaxed once again, the hooves retracted... for now. Havoc looked into his father's mismatched eyes, silently begging him not to say what he knew was coming.

"As well as this failure..." Discord said, flopping his lion paw to one side to emphasise yet another thing the general had done wrong. "You also raised your voice, and even threatened the king himself." Havoc's mouth fell open, unseen by anypony else behind the mask, his mouth flapped, unable to speak. "You grew angry, and even gathered hostile magic in the presence of your king." Discord looked to his queen, who stared back. Her mouth opened and shaped the words, 'Please no.' "An offense..." The king continued, never breaking eye contact with the pink mare. "Punishable by exile." Pinkie wept.

Though it sounded better than death, it truly wasn't. In Discordia, the punishment of exile included the erasing of one's memories to ensure no secrets could be leaked to an enemy, and being dumped outside the Everfree forest. The hunting grounds of the Leviathans. With no memory, or warning of where they were, most ponies never survived within a day of exile! Havoc knew there was only one chance of survival. He tried to shuffle forwards, but was pushed down by the creatures once again, he managed to get his hind leg out from under him, allowing for when they finally released him again, he could push himself as far forward as possible!

He came to rest mere inches from the king's feet. He looked up, his father watched a dreadful sneer across his face, he obviously had found the entertainment he had been looking for! "My king!" Havoc cried, his terrified tone masked by the spell of the helmet. "I only spoke out of place as your son! As a general I remain completely faithful, I still swear on my life I will work to destroy any who oppose you! To ensure Discordia rules for a millennia!" He bowed his head low, panting with fear, hoping his own father would understand... would take pity on his only son.

From above, he heard his father take a breath, then speak. "My verdict..." Havoc heard his mother take a breath as well praying for the kindness of the king. "Is guilty," Havoc's heart plummeted, his eyes grew wide in shock. His own father! "I sentence you to exile, may the Leviathans take pity on you and end it quickly." His sentence was punctuated by the horrified scream of Pinkie, who fell to her knees, tears streaming from her eyes. Havoc looked to her, tried to smile at her, tried to comfort her, but with the helmet on, all she could see were his eyes, and he knew his eyes would betray his true feelings, show his fear, his misery, his betrayal by his own father.

He tried to reach out to her, to crawl to her and reassure her with his voice, warped as it may be. As he moved however, the flaming hooves grabbed hold of him, they burned and singed his flesh, the pain was white hot. He cried out in pain, which sounded like an angry yell as it escaped the helmet he wore. Through the veil of pain, he watched somepony, blue and beautiful, move ahead of him, standing between him and his mother. "Shall Trixie do it my king? Or do you wish to do yourself?" Trixie said, mirth in every word she spoke, Havoc heard her as though beyond a sea of suffering. He could still hear his mother's wailing cries.
"PLEASE!!! PLEASE! FORGIVE HIM! PLEEAAASE!" It broke his heart to hear her so sad. The pain faded, not that it wasn't there, just the pain was becoming natural, the same heat in the same spot seemed to become slightly bearable, allowing him to see clearly again. He saw his father glance his way as though distracted by something far more important.

"Oh, no, Go ahead my dear."
"NOOOOOOO!!!!" Pinkie cried again, she rushed forwards towards her son, trieing to save him. She was down on the floor in seconds. The draconequus towering over her, his had held after a swipe at her face. Havoc stared, taking in everything he could in the hope that the more information he held, the easier it would be to fight the mind wipe spell! Trixie leant in, her horn glowing bright blue. His father smiled at him and wiggled his fingers at him in a sarcastic goodbye. His mother lay there, crying and screaming. Her face was the last thing Havoc saw, before it all went black.

.......

The stallion awoke to the sounds of bats screeching above him. He opened his eyes, and saw them, like fluttering black pieces of paper, they spiralled and barrelled through the air haphazardly, entrancing him. They flew between the trees, trees? Was he in some kind of wood? Or forest?

"Where... am... I?" He thought to himself groggily. He tried to move, but his shoulders screamed at him in pain. He glanced down and saw terrible welts and burn marks from beneath the scorched suite he was wearing. A suit? Why was he wearing a suit? He cast his mind backwards, trying to remember anything before waking up. His mind worked hard, but all that came to him was a blank canvas of his mind. What exactly was going on? Why had he awoken in the middle of a forest, wearing a suit, with no memory of anything before?

Gingerly, he rose from the floor, ensuring he didn't agitate his injuries. As he stood, he realised he had a weight on his head. He tried to turn his head, but when he did, the weight moved with it. It was now he realised his peripheral vision was slightly impaired, the corners of his eyes were completely doused in black shadow.

He reached up to his head and found it was encased in something metal. He pulled hard, but it wouldn't come off. Oh no! He was going to suffocate in this thing surely! He panicked, he tugged harder, still it didn't yield. He readjusted his hooves, angling them just at the back of his head, and tugged again. He thought he felt it budge, he tugged again, willing the stubborn thing to come away! "Get..." He grunted, he heard a click. "OFF!" He shouted, suddenly a whirring noise burst into life. The back of the head cage slackened, he relaxed happily, waiting it to loosen completely, it seemed to be on some form of mechanism.

Once loose, the stallion reached up and pulled far more gently, the thing came loose easily. He breathed a sigh of relief as the cold night air blew against his face. Much better, he held the thing in his hooves limply, letting the wind cool his skin after such vigorous exercise pulling the prison off of his skull. Suddenly from behind him came a loud neigh that made the stallion jump out of his wits. The thing from his head fell from his grasp and flew into the gloomy shadows of the trees surrounding him. He reached out trying to grab it, but his hoof came just too short. He cursed, knowing that had been his best bet at remembering what the hell had happened to him.

Annoyed, he turned to discern the source of the noise that had startled him. He opened his mouth to address whatever it was, then froze. Only a few feet away stood two creatures, They looked like horses, but far more terrifying. Their bodies seemed to be made of the thickest shadows and their mane's and tails consisted of deep red fire. They stared at him with milky blank eyes, eyes that terrified the life out of the stallion.

For a moment they only stared, then with no warning the one to the left reared back, neighing loudly. The other tossed it's head back in reply, and the two began to charge towards the terrified and confused stallion. Letting out a bewildered cry, the stallion turned tail and began to run.

The trees were thick and hard to get through, but he surged forward, shear fear and adrenaline urging him on. The pursuing creatures noises were all the motivation he needed.

The branches tugged and tore at his fur, the once grand clothes that hugged his body were nearly nothing more than tattered strips of material now

Comments

[hahatimeforponies]

You might want to add an "Alternate Universe" tag to this, and properly capitalise the chapter titles (i.e. Legends and Leviathans, Failure and Punishment).