The Equestria Chronicles: Prelude

by Slippin_Sweetie

The Inconvenient Truth

The Girls had saved the day, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Zecora had returned Twilight to her Castle safely, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were restored to their former glory, and they’d had rectified Starlight Glimmer’s awful deed. However, to say that Twilight and her friends were confident in their victory was far from the truth.

The ponies had returned to Twilight’s Castle, sitting at the round table as they did that morning earlier. That morning felt like a lifetime ago despite the fact, it was only hours ago. It had undoubtedly been a long day. The Girls shared an exhausted look between the girls and Spike.

“Alright…what should we talk about first?” Twilight asked as she slowly poured herself a cup of tea.

“How are we supposed to take a trip across Equestria when Starlight Glimmer is running amuck!?” Shouted Rainbow Dash.

“Frankly, I just don’t think all of us can make the journey; someone has to stay behind to ensure she doesn’t cause any more trouble.” Asserted Applejack.

“After this horrible day, I don’t think I could bare having to see Sweetie Belle like that again.” Feigned Rarity.

“I know, those fillies didn’t deserve the suffering that Starlight put on them. But we can’t just not go; The Cutie Map has dozens of friendship problems. We can’t just ignore people in need; it’s our responsibility.” Pressed Twilight.

“Twilight, I have an Orchard, and now I gotta watch Applebloom tenfold since some crazy pony is sneaking around Ponyville.” Applejack retorted.

“And I have my Boutique and now Sweetie Belle to watch over.” Argued Rarity.

“Yeah! And I need to dedicate myself to my Wonderbolt studies to get into the Wonderbolts!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

Rarity and Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a stern look as they glared at her disapprovingly.

“And uh… y’know, make sure Scootaloo is okay.” She’d awkwardly smile.

“We can’t just ignore everypony else because of one pony.” Twilight huffed.

“Weeeellll, normally you would be right, Twilight, but this pony is extremely adept at magic and is an insane cult leader who turns fillies into emotionless zombies.” Pinkie Pie said as she idly rocked in her throne, despite the throne being made out of extremely heavy Crystal.

“No offense, darling, we mean no disrespect!” Assured Rarity, “But the fact you couldn’t defeat her and were nearly eaten by Timber Wolves makes Starlight a serious threat!”

“Come on, everypony,” Exclaimed Spike, “We can’t just throw in the towel because we’re afraid of Starlight. Twilight is right; we need to prepare for our journey still.”

Fluttershy quietly whispered, “U-um…I have an idea….why don’t we ask Discord to watch over Ponyville so that no pony else can be bothered by Starlight?”

The rest of the girls froze in their thrones as the Mare’s passed awkward glances. Twilight slowly spoke, “Fluttershy, while that’s a great idea on paper, there may be some….complications if we let Discord protect the village.”

“Well, I’m afraid there’s going to be complications.” Echoed Discord as the Draconequus descended from the ceiling and hovered above the table.

“I should’ve known you’d turn up sooner or later.” Sighed Twilight.

“I’m surprised you stuck around this long,” admitted Rainbow Dash.

“Or that you helped us without any tricks.” Relented Applejack.

“Maybe it’s not such a bad idea if Discord watches over Ponyville, I mean, he helped Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash fix the fillies.” Interjected Spike.

“See? My good friend Spike recognizes my talents, as does Fluttershy. Can’t you all see that my intentions were only the purest?” Discord said as he landed next to Twilight, “Besides, my magic is stronger than Starlight’s; surely I can easily fix whatever problems she throws at any Ponyville resident or defeat her in a magical duel if I have to.”

Twilight tapped her hooves against the Cutie Map as she looked to the other Mare’s, all but Fluttershy was as anxious and uneasy about the offer as her.

Discord sighed, “I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, the clock is ticking, and you all need to leave soon.”

“Look, Discord, we appreciate your help, but it’s fairly reasonable that we don’t….” Applejack paused, seeming uneasy to finish her sentence.

“That we don’t leave so soon after this awful incident after all; what’s the worst that could happen?” Rarity rhetorically asked.

Discord paused, tilting his head at the question before erupting in a fit of laughter, “What’s the worse that could happen? My dear friend’s if you think today was a bad day, then you haven’t seen anything yet!”

With a snap of his claws, dark clouds would slowly hang over Equestria’s map: “If Harmony and friendship aren’t brought throughout Equestria, a devastating calamity will consume us all.”

Discord snapped his claw at Yak Yakistan as crystal models of the Yak’s would rise from the table and begin fighting against each other, “War will erupt through the land.” He’d quickly snap his claw again, gesturing his paw toward the Griffinlands. As more Crystal figures rose up, an army of Griffin’s stood side by side neatly in rows.

“Causing devastating effects, famine, disease, and death.” The Draconequus quickly snapped his claw once more as dozens of crystal models of creatures of every kind across Equestria and beyond appeared.

“All these creatures you see here, take them into account, study their faces if you must. But a vast majority of them….” Discord snapped his claw one last time as the figures erupted into several broken crystal pieces, “Will be gone.”

“The inconvenient truth is, whether you like it or not. Is that an exchange of trust is needed, and sacrifices are to be made. Say, of course, you want this loss to happen.”

“Well, of course, we don’t-” Twilight was quickly cut off by Discord.

“So it’s settled then, I will watch over Ponyville, and you all will fulfill your obligations to Equestria, friendship, and whatnot.” Proclaimed Discord.

Still, in shock at Discord’s display, the rest of the girls slowly looked at one another as an uneasy feeling hung in the air.

“Rest assured, I will protect your friends and families here; I just need a teenie, tiny, small thing from you all.” Smiled Discord.

“Yes, Discord?” Cautiously asked Twilight.

“Your blessing; I’m going to need the favor of the Princess of Friendship if I’m going to be trusted by the ponies here.” Discord smiled deviously at Twilight, knowing the amount of pride she’d have to swallow if Twilight was to give Discord her public blessing.

Twilight held her breath for a moment as her lip quivered before finally submitting, “Fine….”

“Wonderful, well I better prepare myself….oh! And all of you should make sure all of your things are in order, bags, goodbyes, and a list of chores for me to do. Ta-ta everypony.” Discord took a bow before disappearing in a spark of magic.

Twilight quickly slumped over as she smashed her face into the Cutie Map, “I really don’t like this.” Mumbled Twilight

“You’re not the only one, sugar cube; this day has been downright awful.” Applejack said as she began fanning herself with her hat.

“At least we all have a few days to prepare before we HAVE to leave; maybe we’ll feel better after we put this day behind us.” Rarity suggested optimistically, putting on her best smile as she scanned the table.

Pinkie Pie tapped her hoof against her chin, “Nope, something isn’t right; I still think Discord is under a mind control spell!”

“Pinkie, for crying out loud, just drop it. Discord isn’t under mind control!” Grumbled Rainbow Dash.

“You don’t know that! Isn’t it strange to everypony that Discord has been nothing but helpful today, with NO strings attached? No tricks or riddles or metaphors, just him being crystal clear?” Pinkie said as she stood up in her throne, “It’s clearly some sort of trick or trap!”

“Maybe Discord changed?” Spike sheepishly suggested.

“I’m all for bettering yourself, but after the ‘incident’ with Tirek, doesn’t anyone think giving Discord this kind of responsibility so soon is a bad idea?” Applejack said as she looked around the table.

“We don’t have a choice; we have to give Discord the responsibility, or Equestria as we know it will be destroyed.” Twilight sighed, “It’s been a long day; let’s just all go home and get some rest.”

“Will you be okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy quietly asked.

“I’ll be okay,” She smiled, “I just need some time to think.”

The rest of the girls slowly nodded as they rose from their thrones and left the room, leaving Twilight and Spike alone with their thoughts.

Comments

[ChubbyNia]

I wonder how Discord's gonna take care of Ponyville
Of course they're worried he'll throw Equestria in chaos
But I'm betting when they get back Ponyville will be completely normal which will leave Twilight shocked, confused,and speechless! I'd like to see that! I hope they catch Starlight

[MatTheBook]

“Look, Discord, we appreciate your help, but it’s fairly reasonable that we don’t….” Applejack paused, seeming uneasy to finish her sentence.

FINISH.THAT.SENTENCE
11331917

[Yoshifan30]

“Weeeellll, normally you would be right, Twilight, but this pony is extremely adept at magic and is an insane cult leader who turns fillies into emotionless zombies.” Pinkie Pie said as she idly rocked in her throne, despite the throne being made out of extremely heavy Crystal.

Well she does have a point when it comes to Starlight she will do anything to make things more difficult and also I'm not too surprised that Pinkie Pie can do that because it's just Pinkie Pie you can't question her

[Yoshifan30]

“Come on, everypony,” Exclaimed Spike, “We can’t just throw in the towel because we’re afraid of Starlight. Twilight is right; we need to prepare for our journey still.”

I think that's what it is she wants to put the fear in paranoia on everybody because she knows how much we care about friends and family here that's usually how villains always do take advantage of our weaknesses our loved one

[Yoshifan30]

“That we don’t leave so soon after this awful incident after all; what’s the worst that could happen?” Rarity rhetorically asked.

Seriously when you say something like that that's basically tempted faith

[Yoshifan30]

Well it looks like everything is okay well almost Pinkie Pie Fluttershy and Spike got Twilight home safely Rainbow Dash Applejack and Rarity got their sisters back to normal after that ordeal but now they have some doubts about leaving home not just because they're responsibility their jobs and everything here but worrying about their loved ones which I'm sure that's probably starlight's plan putting paranoia and fear but spike is right we can't let one pony get to us and Fluttershy still thinks that Discord can still help out which the girls do not think so and Discord did try to admit that what he did was wrong but he really want to make amends to everything that he did yes after what happened back in season 4 finale with Tirek they still don't know to trust him or not right now it's been a long day everybody should get some rest up and hopefully whatever the answer is they had to make a decision