The End Of The Line

by autobotfan15

Chapter 9: Work Orders

[Canterlot - Late Afternoon]

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The Friendship Express pulled into Canterlot with a hiss of steam. Amongst the passengers to disembark was what could now be considered the only friendly draconequus in existence. Discord stretched his limbs as he got off the train and began his trek to the castle, all the while many species were giving him a wide berth. Discord rolled his eyes. “I know my sins were horrible but you all don’t have to be nasty about it.”

Little did Discord know it wasn’t just his crimes that were the reason for the avoidance. He soon made it to the castle entrance where the guards opened the doors to let him in. He was escorted to the cafeteria where he heard chatter. “Jesus, when is he going to show up?” Jason groaned.

“I know you gave the six mares the offer to reduce their punishment, but did you at least offer Discord that same chance? If you have given back some of his power maybe he could have teleported,” Andrew asked.

“There will be a man on Pluto before I could ever give him that chance,” Jason deadpanned.

Discord entered the room. “Oh? Is someone talking about me? I’m flattered. Hello again, Andrew.”

“Hey, glad you responded. We need your help,” Andrew said. “Apparently your magic has found its way into the hands of more humans that became you and it's affecting one of my best friends as we speak.”

Discord’s friendly smile immediately vanished. “What?”

“Long story short, a human who has the yandere hots for Twilight found some remnants of your magic that weren’t spread throughout the world and is using it for his own nefarious purposes,” Gregory said. “Typical Saturday morning cartoon villain shit.”

“Oh… I see the problem. And you want me to further explain chaos magic to you all?” Discord asked.

“Especially since Stacy seems to be infected with some chaos magic, but hasn’t gone all chaos-y,” Gregory added.

“Chaos-y?” Discord raised an eyebrows in confusion.

“He means she hasn't become a mismatched hybrid like you and the others in Howard’s ranks,” Andrew explained.

“Oh, I see,” Discord said before clearing his throat. “Well, if you must know, there is something I haven't really explained to you about my magic for a few reasons. One of them is that sometimes pieces of chaos remnants can find each other again.”

“And you have not revealed this because?” Princess Luna asked.

“In my defense, Jason hasn’t said how far apart he would spread my magic and also in my defense the world was in shambles at that time.”

“It was meant to spread across the entire world, dumbass,” Jason snapped.

“Ease up, dude,” Gregory said.

“Yes you did spread it but how far apart were two pieces closest together? Chaos magic is like matter, it can’t be created nor destroyed and it behaves like strong magnets.”

Everyone drank in this new information, trying to think it through. Finally, Luna said, “The fact that the magic gathered is impossible. The Gjallarhorn would have prevented it. I believe Jason’s exact wording during the punishment he placed on you was ‘Your punishment will be as follows: you shall forever be stripped of your chaotic magic. You will know what it feels like to be like the rest of us; powerless, average, normal.’ He also explained that in his world, chaos is normal and natural, flowing freely. The thing is, the Gjallarhorn would have taken that into account when stripping you of your powers. It would have made chaos magic just that. Unless there was something else that happened before this punishment. Perhaps you made a backup plan, Discord?”

“Well, ever since the Tirek incident I wanted to place a safeguard but Jason’s punishment has somewhat altered it. There’s more forgotten history about chaos magic that you all never knew and I recently remembered,” Discord stated.

“And it’s shit like this that made me not even offer to rescind his punishment,” Jason said.

Discord turned to Jason. “Well, let me ask you this. Did you know that my power was the remnant of an old holy relic as old as the horn?” he asked, frowning as he did.

“Why would I?” Jason asked. “MLP is a kids show. They wouldn’t talk about holy relics on a show about multicolored ponies made for little girls.”

“And the show never showed my true power origin I take it?” Discord asked.

“Nope, although there are a few fan theories,” Gregory explained before Jason could say anything, “including one being that you were nothing more than a creation of Grogar.”

“Well that's half true,” Discord admitted. “I was actually his apprentice. He gave me my power by transforming the pieces of an ancient holy relic that was salvaged from a great battle into pure energy. The relic was called the sword of Eris.”

“Eris? Why does that sound familiar?” Andrew asked.

“It’s a fan name given to Discord’s Rule63 version,” Gregory explained. “That, and there was a comic character named that. A cousin or something, I forget.”

“That would be Eris, the second you're thinking about,” Discord explained. “Eris was the original goddess of chaos. Legend has it she was more vile than me. It was said she finally met her downfall but I couldn’t remember if it was Gusty or goddess Faust that took her down. Either way, her sword had fallen to the ground where Grogar found it and used his magic to make it into a gift for me.” Discord gave a sad smile. “I guess you can say we were like Celestia and Twilight.”

“Nah, they were heaps better than you two,” Jason said.

“Ease up, Jason,” Gregory cautioned.

“I meant like he was the closest thing I had to both a mentor and a father,” Discord explained. “Now back to the bigger topic. Right after you drained me of my power it would seem the remnants started tracing themselves back together and it somehow manifested into a random object as well. I didn’t expect them to come together so quickly. It would’ve taken decades for them to become a small stone.”

“Again, that’s impossible with the Gjallarhorn,” Luna said, “unless, like I said, you had a backup plan.”

“I didn’t, but it’s possible that Grogar did,” Discord said. “When he and I fled the Neutral Lands, I did have a week where I felt a little bit weaker, but when I felt back to normal I thought nothing of it. Perhaps he siphoned some magic out of me and hid it somewhere.”

“Or maybe a source to where all the remnant pieces go to. Like a more powerful magnet,” Andrew thought.

“Or both,” Gregory said. “Look, regardless of where this chaos magic came from, the fact remains that it’s here. It’s corrupted several humans, given another some unusual guardians, and made a train into a living, breathing individual. We need to be able to defeat it.”

“Gregory, your magic is that of the Windigos,” Discord explained, “which means you could be a match for them.”

“Last time I fought, it was a stalemate,” Gregory said.

“And if we try again, Howard might be prepared,” Andrew said.

“Hmm… you said your friend Stacy hasn’t become a full draconequus?” Discord asked.

“No, but she has a huge garage in her head,” Gregory said.

“Then you shouldn’t have to worry too much about her becoming corrupted. She only gained a unique form of spawn powers. That’s a pretty common trait for my kind,” Discord said.

“Is that why they are so overprotective of her?” Jason asked.

“Those guardians you mentioned may also be pieces of her personality. Like the voices inside your head. They all share your friend's traits, her different emotions, and all her memories and experiences,” Discord said. “But since they are alive and in her head they see her as either a goddess or a mother.”

“I think General or Colonel would be a better term,” Andrew said.

“Point is, how do we combat it?” Luna asked. “Aside from the Elements of Harmony.”

“We could ask them to come, but they’re still somewhat new to their new abilities,” Gregory said.

“Yeah, but do you also think their families would allow it? I’m certain Garble doesn’t want his little sister going into battle yet,” Andrew asked.

“Smolder’s a tough cookie, but I see your point,” Gregory said.

“Look, if Howard said he would launch the missile in twenty four hours we still have until tomorrow at noon to come up with a plan. I say we wait for Stacy. She’s always been the strategic one.”

“Chrysalis said she was evacuating the hive, and we’ve clocked evacuation drills in as little as six hours before,” Jason explained, “so Howard’s threats are really just smoke in the wind.”

“Still, maybe we should wait for Stacy. She’s practically a genius of not only tech but military strategy. Something she got from her dad,” Andrew said.

“Howard thinks he has leverage because he probably forgot changelings can use magical Facetime rocks,” Gregory said.

“Or maybe he just wants to destroy everything Jason owns and holds dear starting with his home.”

“It’s not the hive’s location I hold dear,” Jason said, “it’s the changelings themselves. They treated me with the first semblance of kindness I had here. If the hive’s location is blown up and Howard expects me to throw a fit about it, he’s an even bigger idiot than we all thought.”

“Yeah, but think what if Howard doesn’t stop there? For all we know he could go after Chrysalis next,” Andrew said.

“He’d have to find her,” Jason said. “Changeling evacuation routes are secret and extremely well hidden. Remember the stuff the changeling throne is made out of? There are places that are lined with the same stuff, so Howard and his goons can’t even find them using magic and even if they did, they’d have to use human weaponry against them.”

Andrew just sighed. “Still, whatever happens, Howard is desperate to do many things at this point. He’s hell bent on turning you into either a punching bag or a playtime co-puppet.” Jason gave him a confused look. Andrew looked back at him before realizing what he’d said. “Oh yeah, you've been here since 2023. Remind me to make a list of all the great games you missed out on.”

“Back to the topic at hoof,” Luna said, “we must fortify the defenses of every town in Equestria. I will also send out messages to our neighboring nations about this new threat.”

“Maybe we should check on Stacy. Even when she’s in bed her mind is going through plans like a sergeant,” Andrew said as he got up from the table.

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[Ponyville - That Same Time]

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The scene could be described as ominous as many mismatched monsters worked around strange structures that had rockets. Howard grinned as he looked down from the Golden Oak’s Library balcony, the only building that hadn’t been destroyed by Gregory. “My my what a scene. You there! Paint my name on the side of that one. BIG letters. I want the world to know who's responsible for destroying the changeling hive.”

Twilight, who was simply sitting in a nearby chair, stared at the floor. The books in the library were exact copies of what she’d had, but she hadn’t touched them. When she’d seen the strange storm that had destroyed the replica of Ponyville, she realized that the building she was in was nothing more than a fake. Of course, she knew that already, but it was merely a way to reinforce it in her mind. She didn’t want to be there. She wanted to be back in her new house with Spike, holding him close and maybe sharing some snacks while she read to him some of his comics or a story they’d enjoyed when they were younger. This place was her past, and her new library home was her present.

Nearby was another draconequus, this one looked more like a cross between a minotaur and a centaur. Twilight looked up to him after hearing Howard’s words. “You know he’s insane right?”

“We prefer to call him eccentric,” the hybrid said.

“No, he’s crazy,” Twilight insisted. “Honestly, what do you see in following someone who would use deadly weapons to get revenge?”

“We see the promises he made to us.”

“What promises? To destroy the world?” Twilight asked.

“No, to hunt and destroy the human who put an end to the greatest story of all,” he said.

Twilight frowned. “You don’t know the whole story.”

“We all know the story. Your bits weren’t enough so he sent a storm to destroy and kill some of the ponies we came to love.”

“Jason was corrupted,” Twilight said with a scowl. “He wasn’t in control. Besides, he wouldn’t have been corrupted if the ponies in Ponyville hadn’t beaten and abused him. You know we did that, right? We permanently scarred him and tortured him for three full years.”

“Silence! I won’t hear the words he forced into-”

“Calm down, Robbie. We’re all friends here are we not?” Said Howard as he strolled inside the room.

“No, I will never be a friend to someone who would kill my friend Jason because you refuse to accept that we abused and tortured him,” Twilight snapped. “Besides, he even offered to release us early from our punishments, but we refused. We deserve them.”

However, as Twilight was explaining the offer, Howard raised his claw and the next thing that was happening Robbie’s eyes began to spiral. “Robbie? How about you go and check on the status of the rebuilding of Sugarcube Corner.”

“At once, sir,” Robbie said as he made his way to the exit.

Twilight scowled at Howard. “You can’t hide the truth forever,” she said. “The Gjallarhorn will eventually show everyone in town what really happened here.”

“Oh I know Jason won’t give it up so easily but luckily my team has found other relics. Like this.” Howard said as he snapped to reveal a sword with a broken blade on it.

“What in Equestria…?” Twilight’s eyes went wide in shock and confusion.

“This is another holy relic made long ago,” Howard said. “The blade on this was shorter when I found it, but ever since last night it was growing the more chaos it was exposed to. This is the sword of Eris.”

“Sweet Celestia…get rid of that thing!” she shouted.

“No, this is the perfect tool to rival Jason’s horn and Gregories frozen powers.”

“It’s corrupting you even more than you’ve been corrupted!” Twilight said. “You know the truth and you’re still thinking about revenge! Have you ever thought about what WE want? It’s not this foalish facade around us!”

“I may not know what you want, but I know what was rightfully meant for you and trust me you’ll love it more than you could ever imagine.”

“I love what I have already! I don’t want to be a princess! I want the life I have now!”

Howard moved his head closer to Twilight. His eyes slowly became spirals. “Do you really?”

Twilight closed her eyes and looked away, then kicked out with her hind legs, smashing him between his own legs. “Get away from me, you monster!”

Suddenly Twilight was grabbed by a pair of gorilla-like arms. “Oof. Thanks for grabbing her Bubba. Now you listen to me, my little pony.” Howard once again brought his face to hers. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

Twilight continued to keep her eyes shut, but she did have the strength to spit in his direction. “Let me go! I don’t want the false promises you’re making!”

“Oh but my promises to you are real” Howard said as he placed a finger on Twilight’s horn.

“If the town can be destroyed by Gregory’s magic with ease, then they’re false! Just like you!”

Then, much to her shock, her eyelids were pried and forced open. “I tried my best to replicate your home.”

“This isn’t my home anymore,” she said, looking away from him with a look of pure disgust on her face. “My home is where your goon took me from!”

“Are you really sure?” he asked when suddenly more eyes appeared around them.

“Nnng…you may be able…to hypnotize me,” she said as she felt her consciousness slipping, “but you will…never truly…have me…you mind rapist…” and with that, she went limp and passed out.

“That’ll do Bubba. Release her gently.” Howard said.

Bubba did so and slowly the alicorn slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes however looked different. “Hello, my dear. Had a nice nap?”

“I had a lovely nap,” she said in a monotone voice.

“Lovely to hear. Pretty soon you’ll be the ruler of a nation. Won’t that be nice?”

There was a hint of hesitation, but then in the same monotone, she replied, “Yes.”

“Perfect, and I’ll be there with you,” he said as he kissed her cheek.

However what he didn’t see was Robbie had seen everything through the door. He was holding a small strange horn. The spirals on his eyes were gone and a look of horror was on his face. “Good God… what have we done?” he muttered.

Comments

[Skyblazer9]

I do hope Jason and Gregory can stop Howard and free Twilight before things get even worse.