Beyond the Rainbow

by SpikeTheMic

The Key to Chaos

BEYOND THE RAINBOW

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Chapter One
The Key to Chaos

Darkness.

Pure, unadulterated, unfathomable darkness.

The scholars of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns did not believe such a thing was possible. How could it be possible for light to simply not exist somewhere in the universe? Not even magic could accomplish such a thing.

They were wrong, of course. Princess Celestia knew as much, but some things were better kept secret, for the horror of being so shut off from the world was a worse fate than death.

And death itself was a strictly forbidden punishment in Equestria, as well as an illegal topic to speak of.

Celestia herself was always hesitant to pass such a severe punishment on any being, sentient or not. It actually helped that she didn’t have the power to imprison somepony herself; she required the magic from the Elements of Harmony in order for that to occur. It was a reminder to her that something in this world existed greater than her.

Still, despite her resistance to it, such a fate was deserving of certain creatures. Malevolent beings that could not be at peace with the harmony of life had no place in Equestria. There were very few such creatures in existence however, and even fewer that were sapient. One of those, though, was the draconequus Discord.

Discord was the only creature in existence that had taken Celestia’s throne, and every day for centuries she reminded herself of it.

As long as she ruled, she couldn’t let him escape again. Harmony wove the thread of the universe around her and prevented it from unraveling. If Discord ever had the chance to escape again, it could very well mean the end of all things.

She’d rather suffer a mortal death, than ever let Discord see the light of day again.

---

Following the events of “The Return of Harmony”

After his defeat, the spirit of disharmony vowed revenge under his rocky prison.

Trapped like a caged animal, all he could do was plot, the passage of time blurring together without any point of reference. It had all happened before, and he’d escaped, but he’d been so careless, so foolish.

To think he’d been defeated by six ordinary ponies!

He didn’t allow himself the excuse that they’d been embued with the power of friendship, because honestly, all that did was embarrass him. So he shifted his thoughts back to something more pleasant, like coming up with a plan of escape.

He soon grew restless again, going nowhere with his thoughts. He was practically a god, yet he’d been imprisoned inside mere rock by the sappiest weapon in existence! No matter what he tried, no amount of force or determination could break his barrier. His last excursion had earned him no troubling fillies to free him either, since he now stood miles underneath the Canterlot castle surrounded by thick crystal walls.

“GAH!” he screamed, though no one could hear him. The only sound that could be heard in the forgotten dungeon was the endless sound of raindrops, falling off of crystal stalactites and echoing throughout the abandoned tunnels as they hit the cave floor. Discord calmed himself once again, having let his anger build in ferocity until it exploded.

"I swear on Celestia’s flowing mane, I will send her to rot on her precious sun!" he shouted angrily. Suddenly, the thought of Celestia burning cheered him up slightly. He'd never considered himself the vengeful type, but then again when your dealing with someone like Celestia as your nemesis, it's hard not to let your less... civil side out.

After chuckling at the thought silently for a moment, he resumed the never-ending process of living out possible escape scenarios in his head. Even if he could free himself, how would he manage to return the reign of chaos for eternity? Especially with those blasted Elements of Harmony lying around, that apparently couldn’t be destroyed.

He knew, he’d tried.

He needed something, some trigger that would cause the foundation of his prison to crumble. Only then could he finally destroy the infuriating sun princess.

“Goddess knows she deserves to rot in Tartarus” he grumbled frustratingly. He could feel an itch in his back progressively worsen by the day, which only attributed to his foul mood. Scowling, he tried thinking of something pleasant to improve his spirits.

Hmm… If only I had a twin.

In his mind, a happy vision of overturned buildings and uprooted trees surrounded by pink clouds and chocolate rain played out, while skipping down a lane with his imaginary relative. He sighed, knowing such a thing was impossible.

Wait, “impossible”?

He was the supreme ruler of chaos. He bent the very fabric of the universe simply by snapping his fingers!

Nothing was impossible!

He perked up considerably. There was something to that idea!

The draconequus thought about it carefully, trying to remember something that was in the far reaches of his mind. Something long forgotten that he’d chanced upon in his endless escapades of havoc and destruction. There was something that could free him, he was sure of it.

What was it though? Was it an object of some sort? A power source? A…

Suddenly realization hit him in a flash, and a wide, unseen smile caused the tiniest of cracks in his stone encasing. A dark cackle emanated from his body, dispersing through the fissure into the tunnels below. It echoed menacingly in the darkness, and if there had been any form of life in a five mile radius, the audacity of it could very well have made their heart stop.

His laugh died down as he realized he still could not escape his prison, unlike before. But his smile remained. He knew what to do now. It was only a matter of time.

“Soon” he whispered silently.

“Soon.”

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Comments

[Shylyfly]

A... twin? Of Chaos? Hmmmm...

[Fireseeker]

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