One by One

by DreamWings

Five.

The sky fell dark over the royal Canterlot gardens, gaining only a bit of light from the constant flash of lightning that rumbled above. It was a breath-taking sight to see, if you could see. The statues stared silently up at the changing weather in awe. They could not hear, nor could they watch this spectacle, but they could feel in their stone hooves what was happening. They could feel the power rushing from the sky and into the floor. The ground trembled slightly under their legs and vibrations rushed into their bodies. It felt good. The statues enjoyed this sort of night; it meant that they had something to do besides just staring blankly up at nothing.

Only one statue was not having any fun during that night, and that was the figure of the mismatched creature, commonly known as a draconequous. His true name was Discord, and many ponies hated and loathed that name for what he had done to the land when he had been in control. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong, he had only wanted to bring a bit more fun into the world, but still they ignored and shunned his sight. ‘Despicable ponies; they don’t care about anything I’ve done for them.’

They had all enjoyed the chaos when he had been supplying it, but as soon as their precious Princess had said ‘No’ to it they turned on him and locked him back inside his stone casement. The left him for another, which is totally unfair. Discord grunted at the memories of that dreadful time. Those ‘Elements of harmony’ that had caused him so much trouble and had eventually made sure that nopony could have any fun anymore. They preferred to be boring and make sure that everything made ‘sense’ in their world, but there was no fun in making sense; everything would be much better if nopony could ever understand what was going to happen next.

Discord hated to think about it, and he hated the feeling of the storm up above. If he’d been in charge again he wouldn’t have scheduled any storms; they were much too dark and ominous. Instead the sky would shoot down rainbows and Equestria would have sweets and, of course, chocolate milk for all. He had a great affection for chocolate milk; it could be used to do anything. Most ponies would be surprised to find that it had a use as a highly combustible fuel… At least when he used it.

Everypony had left him and it was so unfair. He didn’t like being alone. It was so… lonely. Despite the fact that most ponies counted him as evil, he actually just liked to spend time with other creatures; to play games and eat food together. It’s just that sometimes he went a bit far with this. He regretted nothing in his decisions; he had been right no matter what the other ponies could say. Hadn’t they enjoyed all that was going on? He mumbled to himself, cursing all of his enemies under his breath.

A shadow moved through the darkness and ran up to the large stone statue in the centre. With one swift push the statue fell to the floor and cracked open, a trail of light coming from the inside. Discord shot out of the top, laughing in utter delight. Somepony had rescued him; he was free, free to play his games again… And the first players would be the prissy elements, you could be sure of that.

The shadow stepped backwards slightly, nervous as to what the chaos God’s next move would be. Discord barely even noticed his companion, he was much too happy by being free once again. Plans of all sorts collected in his mind, he could do this, and he would do this. Everything would be perfect. Well, perfect for him anyway. Nopony could leave him behind again. He chuckled to himself again, sweeping his arms around the area, eyes closed. Everything was going to be beautiful.
A burst of magic flew from his fingers, shooting one of the statues nearby. The marble guard stared around at what was going on, blinking ferociously with wonder. He had never been able to see before. What was going on here? The guard swivelled his head around to look at the extremely happy creature in front of him. He blinked again, still trying to get used to having vision. He was alive… He couldn’t believe he was alive. His heart beat in his chest, his nose smelt all of the beautiful scents around him, and his eyes… His eyes could see the storm; the pretty, pretty storm.

Discord couldn’t stop laughing. He was so happy it was ridiculous. Surely it was impossible for one pony to feel so much joy. His eyes remained shut as he chortled. This was great. He could finally get his revenge. A large clank fell by his foot. He peered down at the floor beneath him. What was that sound?

‘What?’ Discord said picking up the glass jar by his foot. He shook it, peering at the contents inside. ‘Chocolate milk?’
A large blast shot over the gardens and flew straight into the air. A fire of rainbows burned over the swaying grasses, destroying the remnants of the many scattered pieces that used to be the powerful villain. The guard watched in horror, terror flooding his mind. He had to get out of here… He had to leave before he was found and locked in his old stone casement. He worked his hooves, somewhat uncontrollably, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him through the trees. The shadow from the other side smirked and sidled through the bushes from where they had come. It had all one off perfectly.

Behind them could be heard the sounds of all the palace workers hastily moving around trying to put out the spreading blaze, before it reached the palace itself. The Princess of the Night collected buckets of water to pour onto the flickering flames from above. They needed to put the fire out… Now! The guards worked busily throughout the night, trying to make sure they got rid of every last bit.

Meanwhile an orange pony sneaked through the large gates at the far left and headed back down the road to the station. It had all gone wrong. Everything had not gone to plan. But that was not going to stop her. She smiled and slid into the gutters of the large city.

Five.

Comments

[Lambda462]

Oh. My suspicions have shifted.