• Published 6th Oct 2021
  • 13,850 Views, 260 Comments

An Heir's Frailty - Codex92



Discord decides to retire early, so he finds himself a replacement to help spread his chaos.

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A Dream of Chaos (Part 1)

I had no idea what time it was, but whenever I wake up, I’m used to an alarm ringing in my ear to tell me to get up and start the day. When I opened my eyes, however, they shot wide open. Instead of sleeping on Rainbow’s couch after the fun eve of Nightmare Night, I was sleeping on solid ground, but surrounded by a void of sorts. Thankfully, it wasn’t as dark as a black hole. It was more like a kaleidoscope of dark purple and blue, physically warping and shifting in the background like it was alive. I swear this looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

As I pressed my hands against the “ground”, I looked down, confused as my mismatched body parts were now normal human hands. I turned my hands around, staring at my palms, then got to my knees and looked down at myself. Sure enough, I was human again, wearing what I could recall back home before Discord whisked me away: a blue sweat jacket with a red shirt underneath, blue sweatpants, and as I stood up, white and black sneakers with normal white socks on my feet. Moving my hands to my face, it definitely was human as I know how my own face looked, and then felt my head, feeling my short brown afro.

“I love this realm.” To my left, I saw Discord, in person, walk up beside me, his arms behind his back as he glanced around what I realized was his chaos dimension.

“Discord?” I uttered. I looked around the empty void, even up and down, unsure which direction really was what in this wide, vast, open space. “Wait…Am I dreaming? Or…is this real?”

“It’s very real,” Discord assured. “My home dimension of imagination and chaos, where anything and everything can be crafted by just a thought. And, a physical way for me to have personal chats with my heir so you don’t feel like you’re going crazy talking to yourself in a reflection.”

“Aren’t I already crazy enough?” I questioned in annoyance.

“No. Not even close, Charlie boy.” He looked down at me, seeming disappointed. “What you did during Nightmare Night was gold, but everything else…you have not even begun to realize just how much power you wield. And to call you my heir, you need to unleash more of that chaos to prove your worth to me.”

“What? But…you just picked me at random!” I exclaimed, confused. “You made me your heir to take over for you, but that doesn’t mean I have to spread YOUR chaos all over Equestria to your liking! You might be able to spot and create your own loopholes in your deals, but so can I!”

“I give you all this potential, and you squander it by helping those ponies,” Discord said with an annoyed huff. What does he even want me to do? After forcing me to wake up in his place as a draconequus, I was about to become his replacement AS a statue in the castle gardens back in Canterlot. He gives me a new life that would have ended so soon if it weren’t for Fluttershy, and he thinks I should listen to him after the fact? “I am upset that you would try to play the hero instead of the chaotic overlord, but still, all these ideas in your head, and you don’t unleash it. Are you really that scared of causing damage?”

“I’m afraid of living an eternity as a flock of pigeons’ outhouse mere seconds after ending up in your shoes!” I pointed out. “I’d rather not ‘squander’ my potential by suffering a punishment I never deserved!” I don’t even know if Discord was hearing me out or not, but hopefully something got through to him. Instead, he turned to his left and began walking off. “H-Hey! Get back here!”

I chased after him until he came to a stop. He snapped his fingers, creating a lifelike, still image of Ponyville through the endless void. We were at a familiar restaurant I’ve seen a few times in the show, where the girls were all sitting, frozen in time as they all had a conversation with themselves while ponies in the background were just a blur. I guess he just wanted me to focus on the Mane Six for some weird lesson.

“Equestria isn’t as perfect of a world as you, or even they might think,” he said. “Neither are they as the bearers of the Elements.” The land zoomed in on the table as it began to spin, slowing to stop on the girls in the order they sat: Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. “The reclusive bookworm, the stubborn, hardworking farmer, the egotistical daredevil, the prissy fashionista, the wild and wacky party planner, and the timid animal caretaker. The ponies of the land all strive to keep Equestria in perfect balance, but you can’t have perfection with a little bit of chaos thrown into the mix.”

“Well, my world’s not all that perfect either,” I mentioned. “Not everyone lives in the lap of luxury or lives forever. People get hurt or die, they do horrible things to get them thrown in prison or be given a death penalty, and even with those trying to do some good in the world, it’s undermined by those who don’t give a damn. Maybe that’s why some of us want to create a perfect world to prevent the bad from tainting our innocence.”

Discord chuckled at my thoughts on what my world was like compared to Equestria’s. “Which is why I thought a human would be the perfect heir to take my place as I retire,” he said. “You are right that innocence needs to be spared, but even with a foal being as innocent as they appear, you never know just what they’re really thinking in their minds when a dark thought pops up.” He then pointed to me, mostly emphasizing how I appeared to everyone as a young draconequus. “You can never always judge a book by its cover.”

“And I’m getting them to believe that I’m not as bad as you,” I retorted with a smirk.

“...Not everypony.” Ponyville disappeared, and behind me, I saw the interior of Canterlot Castle’s throne room being formed. Upon their thrones were both Celestia and Luna, though Discord wanted me to focus on Celestia more. I wilted at her presence, still slightly intimidated by her since she still doesn’t seem to trust me. “Yes. Dear old, cake-loving ‘Tia. A majestic and motherly ruler with words of wisdom and a voice as soothing as a soft song. She cares greatly about her little ponies…except her own little sister a thousand years ago, and not even an innocent mini me who was visibly frightened out of his wits upon his arrival.”

I know Celestia wasn’t that heartless. She made a mistake letting the fame of being Equestria’s princess of the sun deter her own sister’s misery and desire to be praised for her duties as well. I would say it was some sort of sibling argument, but it escalated with Luna turning into Nightmare Moon, and I know Celestia regretted not helping her sister in her time of need until it was too late. And after everything Discord had done, spreading chaos throughout the kingdom and causing so much misery to her subjects, she sought the Elements of Harmony to put an end to his reign and bring peace back to the land. Seeing me in Discord’s place after Discord was turned to stone again, or so they all thought, she believed I was him and thought it was all a scheme to lower everyone’s guards and begin spreading chaos once again.

“...I’ll earn her trust one day,” I said, but with uncertainty.

“Wishful thinking,” Discord stated, sensing my doubt. The throne room disappeared, leaving us now in the middle of a grassy field. I looked back at Discord, and I didn’t like the way he was grinning at me. “But small talk isn’t all that I wanted to do with you today. In order to know if you do really have what it takes to be my heir, we need to work on you using your chaotic powers more.”

“I’ve been practicing on my own just fine,” I said. “And I’ve been doing it away from Fluttershy’s cottage and her animal friends.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve watched all that,” Discord said in annoyance, rolling his eyes and waving his hand, dismissing my claim. “But you haven’t been fully UNLEASHING your chaos properly.”

“I’m not losing my mind and acting like every Looney Toon character at once again!” I exclaimed.

“I wasn’t suggesting you do that yet until I know you’re ready to handle the insanity,” Discord assured, though I wasn’t sure if I should feel relaxed with what he’s got planned for me. “For now, why don’t you begin training here. Right now.”

“Huh?” Discord teleported away from the field, sitting in an outdoor lounge chair with a bag of uncooked popcorn and a massive cup of soda with a long, overly winding curly straw. Before I could ask what he meant, popping several yards from me were what looked like stallions in armor, but their bodies were shrouded in a void-like aura similar to the chaos dimension. I could hear the metal they wore clanking, along with the spears in the same aura pointing at me. “Whoa, whoa! Wait! What are you doing!?”

“Training!” Discord answered. “There’s gonna be a time when you won’t be trusted, so it’s best to get to practicing defending yourself from the royal guard hunting you down!”

“Are you crazy!?” I asked. Discord just chuckled, taking a slurp from his nth extra large beverage, where I can hear the liquid zipping around the insane amount of loops before his slurping sounds were heard. “Oh, right. Stupid question. You’re always crazy!”

“Less talky, more chaos-y!” I wanted to show him a bit of chaos, but the chaos illusion stallions began to charge at me.

“Oh, crap baskets!” I made a run for it, but I don’t think my two legs were able to outrun anything on four, even if they’re magical constructs.

“Ugh! No! Don’t run away! Fight back!” I heard Discord shout, stuff his kernels in his mouth, and continued “encouraging” me. “Come on! You’re more powerful than those useless guards! All they do is stand around and patrol! Twilight has more battle experience than all of them combined! Even more than her own brother!”

I tried to ignore the annoying draconequus and just kept fleeing. If this were a real scenario, no way in Tartarus would I try to fight back! That’s going to give them more of a reason to use more lethal force! I could hear their hoofsteps quickly catching up with me, and I was running out of land to flee on. I suddenly yelled out in pain as I felt one of the spears lunge at me, hitting my arm. I stumbled and hit the ground as I grabbed my injured arm, but I didn’t feel a stab wound or any blood seeping out. Simulated or not, that still hurt like a-

I wheezed when a hoof suddenly slammed down on my back, pressing my chest hard into the ground. Thinking I was going to become a human shish kabob, I managed to snap my fingers, creating a steel dome around my body, trapping the guard’s hoof still connected to my back. I heard the sound of a metal spear tip clang and snap off the metal surface, saving me from getting impaled. Flipping over on my back, I shoved the dome, sending it and the trapped guard flying high into the abyss above us. Hearing the other guards moving closer to attack, I used my telekinesis to grab their armor, then fling them into each other, knocking them both out as they faded away.

Groaning, I sat up, rubbing my “injured” arm. “Son of a…That really hurt,” I grumbled. I looked at my arm, which was completely unharmed, though it really stung like I actually did get stabbed by a sharp spear tip. Getting back to my feet, I looked at Discord, only to see more chao illusions of pony guards appearing and surrounding me. “Great. More.”

“Of course there would be more! You can’t practice on just a few foes!” Discord called out. “No running this time!”

“Giving me no choice here,” I grumbled.

I wasn’t that physical, at least in combat, preferring to see the action on a monitor while playing a fighting game. I knew I had magic at my disposal, but getting attacked, running for my life, and trying to cast any spell I can think of to defend myself is a tough deal of multitasking when my brain’s running faster than my legs! The chaos guards were coming closer, inching forward with their weapons drawn. I’d rather deal with hypnotized ponies trying to pull my limbs apart from Twilight’s “Want it, Need it” spell again.

Thinking quickly, I snapped my fingers, sending a pillar of the earth rising beneath my feet, and when I was high enough, I stomped my foot down, cracking it into four symmetrical pieces that fell down on the guards. They couldn’t escape in time as they got squished, but I didn’t make them too heavy to kill them, just enough to keep them pinned. I floated back to the ground, quickly swimming the breaststroke to shift my direction away from the struggling construct dummies squirming their way out. As soon as I landed, I was blasted by a magic spell in the back. I staggered forward and looked behind me, gaping in shock when I saw a chaotic construct of Celestia swooping down, her horn glowing and ready to blast me again.

I ducked the next laser beam, hearing it explode as it hit the ground mere inches away from where I stood. I quickly rolled as she came charging toward me, narrowly avoiding getting run through by her horn. Scrambling back to my feet, I turned around just as the chaotic alicorn construct banked to the right, turning herself around for another attempt. Clenching my fist, I shot it up, launching several pillars of earth up in the alicorn’s path, making her swerve around the maze I was constantly creating to keep her as distant from me as possible. If Discord wanted me to harm Celestia, even if it was a fake, I’m not going to turn into a monster and kill anyone, especially if I became a wanted chaotic fugitive.

I also forgot she had magic. Getting fed up trying to fly around the pillars, the chaos construct launched a powerful beam, shattering every pillar in her way. I hit the deck before I got hit as well, glancing up to find her speeding off toward me once again. Keeping myself low to the ground, I snapped my fingers, feeling myself flipping over and hid beneath the surface of the ground. I could see everything above me as silhouettes, even the scrambling guards managing to pull themselves out of their own mess. Celestia slowed to a halt, looking around to search for me, leaving her wide open as she faced away from where I lay.

Taking inspiration from a move I’ve seen in Naruto, I shot my hands up, grabbed both of Chaos Celestia’s hind legs, then dragged her down into the earth with me. With her head the only part of her still sticking out, I shot myself out of the ground, watching her neck struggle as ninety percent of her body was buried.

Feeling cocky, I made a ninja hand sign. “Earth style: Headhunter Jutsu,” I recited. Sadly, my confidence became my hubris when the construct’s horn began glowing. She teleported herself back to the surface, shaking off the dirt on her ethereal body. “...Oh, right. Teleportation…Should have buried her ass up instead.”

Stunned at my lack of forethought, I was too slow to react as the alicorn ran at me, running her horn straight through my abdomen. I gagged as I was lifted up, knowing how Krillin felt in Dragonball Z when Frieza in his second form impaled him on his horn, and she added insult to injury by swinging her head and causing even more pain! She tossed me off, sending me flying toward Discord as I crumpled to the ground. I clutched my abdomen, but like the spear wound, I felt no deep puncture wound and no blood, just an intense wave of pain. I shut my eyes as the alicorn was about to finish the job, but I heard a finger-snapping sound echo throughout the chaos dimension. When I opened my eyes, the enemy pony constructs disappeared, and the ground beneath me faded away.

“As hilarious as that all looked, that was still embarrassing to witness you standing there as Celestia impaled you,” Discord said. Suddenly, my body lurched upright, and I was back on my feet, though my abdomen still hurt as I held where I got “impaled”. “I would have split in half, create a duplicate, and run off together while giggling before merging back together, or maybe ‘lift’ my legs, stretch them out, and create an arch for her to run through. Although, I wouldn’t recommend that with a long horn like that. Rise a bit too low, you’re gonna be feeling that for a week.”

“Oh, excuse me for not getting into a confrontation and trying to be creative while fighting for my life,” I grumbled. “I’m not a fighter, you know.”

“You didn’t have much trouble trying with Nightmare Rarity before,” Discord mentioned.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, and learning how to use your magic is like trying to play baseball in a lava pool!” I exclaimed. “And she was clearly stronger than me! Maybe if you taught me this before I woke up in Equestria, I wouldn’t have any issue with someone flinging me around like a ragdoll.”

“And ruin the fun of learning on your own?” Discord asked. As much as I wanted to complain about his philosophy, he did seem to have a point. While practicing for those pranks, I was having fun transforming and coming up with spooky ideas. Despite having to learn on my own for some of these unnatural powers, I was still miffed that I was basically thrown to the wolves the moment I woke up in Equestria. “Oh, don’t give me that sour face. I know you’ve been enjoying yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah, and don’t let the power get to your head. Blah, blah, blah,” I grumbled.

The ground beneath us disappeared, leaving us floating in the empty chaos void once more. “Answer me this, Charles: what makes a perfect world?”

That question seemed a bit random. Then again, chaos is random, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. I don’t know if Discord was asking me some sort of trick question, but I thought I would at least give my opinion on what a perfect world would be.

“Uhh…There’s quite a lot to mention,” I said. “No world hunger, for one. No war, deadly weapons, or even murder. No diseases or viruses. Maybe no currency to avoid poverty and-”

Discord quickly placed a clawed digit against my lips. “Wrong,” he said.

Confused, he took his finger away as I stared at the calm, sly grin on his face. “What? How was that supposed to be wrong? You asked me what I thought would make a perfect world, and I’m giving my opinions.”

“Whatever nonsense you spouted was more of a utopia, and we all know how well those kinds of civilizations last.” Ok, he’s definitely not helping by not making any sense. “Perfect civilizations that build themselves into a utopia prosper for a little while, but that perfection is always ruined in an instant the moment one key element rears its head. Can you guess what that is, Charlie boy?”

I was afraid to answer, because I know exactly what he wants me to say. “...Rebellion?” I answered. Discord frowned at me, wondering if I was taking his lecture seriously. Then again, Discord and seriousness do not go hand and foot. “Anarchy? A nuclear fallout?”

“Are you pulling my leg?” Discord questioned.

“Well, how will I know if I tell you the right answer when anything I say regardless would always be wrong?” I asked back.

Sighing, Discord rolled his eyes. “It’s chaos, Charles. What makes a perfect world is chaos.”

“There. Was it so hard to just give me a straight answer?” I asked.

“Don’t push it, kid,” Discord warned. I just shrugged in response. He wants to give me a hard time with his cryptic riddles and puzzles, I’ll do it right back with my dumb and clueless answers. He sneered at me for a moment before clearing his throat. “Anyways, regarding the truth of the matter, one world cannot have perfection without a bit of chaos thrown in the mix. If a world is too perfect, chaos comes to correct it when anyone wants it to or not.”

“My world isn’t perfect,” I stated.

“I know. That’s the beauty of it,” Discord said with glee. “You humans can come up with the craziest things, from all the insane religions about some fake god or gods over pointless beliefs to the things your minds can come up with, whether it’s fictional or made into a reality. If anyone could fill my shoes and be my heir, it would be one of you.”

“And…you picked me?” I questioned, still wondering why I was specifically chosen by the chaotic deity from a cartoon show. “You could have picked my sister, my parents, or any of my neighbors. Was I really just a random draw out of a hat?”

“Well, I didn’t want to pick someone who was too destructive with a power no mortal can possess without letting it control them,” Discord said. “I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase before, but it applies to a lot of abilities granted upon someone: With great power comes great responsibility.”

I gave Discord a blank stare. “...Responsibility? Chaos?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It makes no sense, but as the Lord of Chaos, there is actually quite a lot of responsibility when it comes to unleashing this power,” he explained. “One prime example was when I told you to unleash your chaos to thwart Nightmare Rarity, and you saw just what insane antics you could pull off.” Yeah, thank you for reminding me I warped into a literal cartoon character with untimely references, and the fact I gave Luna a huge, wet, cartoonish kiss that would have shamed other Looney Toon characters’ who did that to their silly bullying victims. “There was a reason why you turned into a young draconequus. Too much chaos of that magnitude will exhaust you, thus limiting how long you can unleash your power. That’s part of the reason why I want you to spread chaos.”

“So…I can have more control over it?” I asked. I guess that explained why I passed out and couldn’t remember what happened. Maybe Discord was smarter than he seemed, and this one was a lot more cunning than the one I thought I knew in the show. I’d like him to be less condescending and force me to learn stuff the hard way or when it’s convenient for me at the moment, but it’d be like asking an elephant you invite to your home to shrink down to the size of a mouse so it doesn’t destroy the house. Despite the helpful bit of advice, I didn’t want to be an inconvenience or a nuisance to anyone else if they saw me practicing with chaos magic. “...What would happen if I didn’t practice? Would I lose control and it goes wild on its own? But worse?”

“Chaos will do what it wants, so you may lose control of it a little bit,” Discord reassured me, though I highly doubt that nonchalant response was anything but. “You just need to keep firm and show chaos that YOU are the boss, and YOU call the shots.” His grin quickly turned into a frown, and he sighed heavily, his change in demeanor surprisingly concerning me. “...But, sometimes, you can get too much of a taste for it. Though your mind may remain sane, knowing just how much power you can unleash on your surroundings can cause devastation. That’s where Harmony tries to balance out the overwhelming growth of chaos to keep the world ‘perfect’.”

Was he talking about that other draconequus from those dreams? Whoever she was, her magic would have harmed a lot more ponies if she wasn’t stopped. I kind of wanted to press Discord on who this…creature was and if he really knew her, but I could see from the look on his face that he despised seeing chaos used in a way to cause bodily harm of that nature. Maybe this Discord is more of a neutral chaotic villain if he has some restraints.

Keeping the warning in mind, I looked around the empty void. “So, you mentioned you liked this place,” I said, hoping to divert the topic to avoid seeing an angry, disappointed draconequus seething with contempt. “You really make a home in such an empty…dimension.”

Suddenly floating in front of my face was a distorted, wavy key on a half-finished keychain. “Actually, this is YOUR chaos dimension,” Discord said. I looked back at him, seeing he was no longer moody, draping an arm over my shoulder. “You would not want to see my realm. It’s got quite a lot more to it than you might think. Whatever you think up, it becomes a reality in this place.”

“Really? This place is…mine?” I asked. “But…what about all the-?”

“Other living beings can create whatever they wish as well,” he interrupted. “Just as long as they aren’t left alone when you are gone. If their imagination is equal to or greater than your own, there may be catastrophic results and a new Lord of Chaos could be born.”

“Ah. So, don’t leave someone like Pinkie alone in this place. Gotcha.” I looked back at the odd key, which must be the “key” to this chaos dimension that Discord’s giving to me like he was my dad giving me the keys to my very own car. Although, a car might not pale in comparison to all this chaos magic making anything I think of a reality. I reached out and grabbed the key, which immediately evaporated in my grasp. It didn’t feel like a gag as I felt some kind of connection with it. “Huh. So, I’m able to freely come here whenever I want now?”

“Yup! It’s all yours, ‘son’!” It felt really awkward hearing Discord calling me his son. I may be his heir, but there’s no way I’d want to be related to him even if I didn’t have my real dad around. “Now you have a place for practicing now, so you don’t have to be afraid of getting in trouble with Princess Solar Gluteus Maximus, and you can renovate this realm as you see fit. Have fun!”

Discord teleported away, back to where he’s supposedly retiring, leaving me all alone in this realm. My realm. A world where I can let my imagination run wild and do and create anything I want without any repercussions. Now, I just have one thought in my mind.

“Where do I start?”