Children of Chaos

by Mike the Red

Back Home Again, Maybe

The out-processing went quite smoothly. I was given airfare to San Diego and a fresh set of clothes. I was given cab fare to my home, or what I thought was my home. I stepped out of the cab after paying the fare and tipping the cabbie and stared at the castle. "How the hell am I supposed to get in there?" I thought to myself. "One thing to be in there, another to be on the outside looking in." In my human form, it looked impenetrable. If I had been in Twilight's body, I could simply teleport into it.

"Hey, Discord, how the hell am I supposed to get into my house?" I shouted at the sky. I heard a faint chuckling. I turned to look at my castle, just taking it in. I couldn't believe how high it was and how the rocky base of the cliff melded into the castle. The spires seemed to stand higher than some of the tallest skyscrapers I had ever seen, the castle maintaining its imposing width as well as its dizzying height. It appeared to have been constructed with gigantic marble blocks which gave way to granite, then to quartz near the top. I still couldn't believe Discord had actually done this for me.

"I will do you this one final favor and take you into your house. As far as anything else goes, don't bother asking. Unless, of course, you want to provide me with another child!" he laughed. He teleported me into my house, the trip just as jarring as the earlier times I teleported with him. I clenched my eyes shut upon the sight of countless numbers of dead bodies and what looked like millions of bones belonging to myriad creatures, most numerous were skulls of various sizes and shapes. I was glad that this would be the final time I'd be teleporting in Discord's presence. After depositing me in the Great Hall, he disappeared.

I wandered along the corridor to my Throne Room, and noticed a subtle change -- instead of Twilight's cutie mark, Celestia's was on the door. I did not appreciate her decision to make herself a little too much at home. I opened the doors to see Princess Celestia sitting on my throne. I glowered at her.

"What are you doing on MY throne?" I asked indignantly.

"Who are you?" she asked, maintaining her calm demeanor, smiling demurely at me.

"Does the name Michael Walker ring a bell?" I asked sternly.

"Oh, that's right -- you were in Trixie's body last time you visited Ponyville. Time before that, you were in Twilight's body. You were the one who nearly destroyed your planet!" she chuckled. "And to top THAT off, you had not just one but TWO offspring by Discord!" she laughed heartily at the irony.

"Are you trying to make me angry? Because if you are, you're doing a pretty good job of it there."

"You gave me the offer to make myself at home. So I am," she grinned.

"I know I extended that offer to you, but I didn't think you'd take it this far," I said, showing my exasperation.

"Be that as it may, I have a favor to ask of you. Please summon Discord for me, since you seem to be so easily able to do so."

"He's gonna be real angry if I do that -- I fear for my safety -- and why do you want me to summon him? Isn't he more powerful than you?"

"All will be revealed in good time, Michael -- and as for your safety, you have nothing to fear. I shall protect you. I am playing a hunch, and if I think it's correct, you might be in for a bit of a shock."

"Very well then. *ahem* DISCORD!! I need your help! It's an EMERGENCY!!" I shouted almost as loud as I could. I heard his tell-tale zipper sound coming from about five feet behind me. Seems he likes to do that...

"MICHAEL!! I TOLD YOU! NO MORE FA -- oh, no. Celestia? What are YOU doing here? I think I'd better be go --"

"You're not going anywhere, Discord -- or should I say, Trollestia?" Celestia had enveloped what appeared to be Discord in a bright red aura. I noticed this immediately.

"Princess! Are you wearing the amulet Discord gave me?" I asked.

"Not Discord, Michael, Trollestia. She has been posing as Discord the entire time you've known him. Go take her horn, NOW."

"Wait, wait! Let me explain!" Trollestia started. I calmly walked over to her and broke her horn off at the base. "NOO-ooohhh!" she whined.

"So YOU'RE the one who bucked my life up? How did you get me pregnant?"

"With a basting brush and donated sperm from a Royal Guard Unicorn," she grinned.

"So my foals are true unicorns then?"

"Yes."

"Why did you do this to me? Princess Celestia, who is she? Is she your evil side?"

"She is not truly evil, per se, but this particular episode has been one of the worst she's ever pulled."

"I just wanted a couple of foals I could raise as my own," Trollestia whined.

"You put me through hell, you know that, don't you?" I glared at her. "Because of YOU, I ruined Twilight's good name and reputation! You took my foals out of my hooves shortly after I had given birth to them! You made me want to jump off a bridge! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"It was the only way to convince you to do it for me," she said, almost grinning.

"Where are my foals?"

"I'm not telling you where they are," she chuckled.

"Princess Celestia, can you persuade her to divulge their location?"

"Trollestia, I highly recommend you allow us to recover the foals in question, lest you wish grievous injury to be visited upon you."

"Princess, may I borrow a feather from you?" I asked.

"What are you going to do with it, Michael?"

"Tickle torture," I replied flatly. "I will make her tell me where they are."

Her eyes went wide with fear. "Look, look, no need to resort to that. I'll tell you where they are." She then told Celestia the location, and within the blink of an eye, they were teleported into the throne room.

"Why do they not look like normal unicorns?" I asked.

"They have been ensorcelled with a glamour spell," Celestia stated.

"What, you mean, like an illusion?" I asked.

Celestia responded by casting a spell to remove the glamour, and I got my first look at what EJ and Stephanie truly looked like -- EJ was a young colt, solid grey with black mane and tail, his hooves were a faint purple. Stephanie was a medium purple filly, still very young, her mane and tail were a silvery white. Their horns had not been affected by the glamour spell. I should have suspected from the initial appearance that they were true unicorns.

"What else has been affected by illusions cast by Trollestia?" I asked.

"This castle, for one. This is a very elaborate glamour, but still a glamour nonetheless."

"You ruined my plan, Michael! I HATE YOU!" she screamed at me.

"What plan was that? And what does my home REALLY look like?"

"You'll be very disappointed by your domicile's true appearance, but here goes," Celestia stated with a little sadness. The house suddenly became very small, the throne room reduced to my former main living area. What appeared to be a glass wall was nothing but an exposed area with no protection -- the view was magnificent, but then Celestia told me that THAT was a glamour as well! What revealed itself was an abandoned industrial park nowhere near the ocean. To top that off, it turns out the my home actually WAS a prison at one point!

"Now as for that plan she hatched -- she wanted you to take back this amulet (she lifted her golden collar to reveal the alicorn amulet) and transform yourself into a unicorn and battle me -- most likely, considering your abilities augmented by this amulet and your misdirected rage at me would have resulted in you defeating me and sending me back to Equestria. She then would have revealed herself and destroyed you, leaving this world unprotected.

"It took awhile for me to piece the puzzle together -- your letters to me proved to be very important pieces in this puzzle. The reason I could not allow you to stay in my realm when you showed up both times is that your world was in danger in your absence. With Trollestia being rendered powerless now, she will be transferred to my dungeon, where she will spend a very long time contemplating her actions."

"What about those gold coins?" I asked.

"They're imitation -- fakes, as you would call them."

"I thought you said the amulet has a corrupting influence," I offered.

"It does, but I am strong enough to resist that influence. You might also be strong enough to resist that corruption, but I can't allow for that risk."

"I still can't believe Trollestia has been posing as Discord all this time -- how long has she been doing that?"

"About five years, I believe. This was probably her most outrageous prank ever."

"It's a prank that cost nearly five billion human lives," I stated angrily. "I can't believe I fell for it."

"You were weak, Michael. You had been without the use of magic for nearly a year. You needed help and you were willing to take it from whomever offered it. Don't be too hard on yourself because you wanted to live," Celestia said softly.

"How am I supposed to raise my foals if I don't have any experience doing so?"

"Do you wish to remain on this planet? Would you be interested in living in Ponyville?" Celestia smiled.

"Princess, I have no ties binding me to this world. My wife was murdered nearly three and a half years ago, and my families think I'm no longer alive either. I would be honored to spend the rest of my days in Ponyville, and would appreciate as much help in raising EJ and Stephanie as possible. Would you be able to transform me into a unicorn so I can feel more a part of your society?"

"Of course, Michael. You will be welcomed in Ponyville, and as for a transformation, just give me your request and I shall see to it. We shall leave at once." Princess Celestia teleported us to Ponyville, then took Trollestia to the dungeon, then shortly returned to transform me into a unicorn. I chose to be a female, since I had become so accustomed to Twilight's body. My new form was a bit taller, but not much taller than Twilight. My coat color became a deep purple, and my mane and tail a pale blue, similarly styled to Trixie's mane and tail. I didn't have a cutie mark, but commented on my love for numbers, especially the number 17. Maybe talking about it caused it to happen, but not long after mentioning this to Princess Celestia, that number attached itself to my flanks as my new cutie mark.

Comments

[The_Foreman]

*stokes where beard used to be*
hmmm... not what i had thought... or maybe it IS...idk...im just gonna keep reading...