Realms of Discord

by Chilly Quill

Chapter 6

A nerve cracked in Nigma's head as Wild Mint walked up to him with a smug look on his face. “I see that my sister has already delivered the news then. I wanted to tell you earlier, but I felt that this would be much more amusing.”

Summer Sun giggled. “That’s Wild Mint for you. Even as a little colt he wanted to cause as much mischief as he could. It's something of an annoyance to everypony that meets him. Of course you wouldn't get that from me. I've always been a good filly.”

Wild Mint frowned. “I seem to remember a certain filly that kept yanking on my mane every time I passed by.”

“It's not my fault that you kept sneaking up on me!”

“You yanked my mane even when I was in front of you though!”

Nigma rolled his eyes as the two siblings continued to fight. It was amusing to a certain degree, but he wanted to meet all the guests and get them out as soon as possible. He glanced over at Discord's painting and saw another unfamiliar unicorn. His deep blue coat had been stained with tattoos of sorts and his lighter blue tail and mane had been streaked with red. His cutie mark wasn't any more normal, being a jack with all four suits on it.

The stallion stared intently at the painting, making Nigma sweat. He walked up to the pony without being noticed and coughed. “It certainly is a lovely painting, isn't it?” Nigma said calmly. “I got it from my parents before I left and have kept it with me since.”

The pony grunted. “It certainly resembles Discord. Even the aura about it seems chaotic.” Nigma was about to drag the pony out of the house before he turned over and offered his hoof. “The Name is Innate Enigma. I'm guessing that you're Nigma?”

“Indeed I am!” Nigma took Innate's hoof, shaking it with renewed enthusiasm. “Chilly Quill has told me quite a lot about you!”

“Oh has he now? Well I'm afraid that he hasn't said much about you. Though I'll admit that I haven't given him the time to do so.” Innate paused, staring at Nigma's hoof. “That’s odd.”

Nigma frowned. “Is something the matter?”

Innate pulled his hoof away. “You have the same feeling about you that the painting does. That doesn't bode well.” He turned back to the painting, this time poking at the frame. “You said that you got this from your parents. Do you happen to know where they got it from?”

Nigma glanced around. “Why do you ask? You don't think that it's cursed or haunted, do you?”

Innate spun around and grabbed Nigma, a grim look on his face. “That's exactly what I think, Nigma.”

Nobody but Nigma could tell at the moment, but the painting had begun to sweat with Innate's words. Acting Quickly, Nigma took the blue pony's hooves and dragged him away. “I'm sure it's just my parent's aura clinging to the painting. You said I seem familiar to the painting, so maybe it's just my attachment to it.”

Innate frowned for a moment, but then nodded. “I suppose that could be true. I do know of a few artifacts I've picked up that have signatures of a family line. If it's all the same with you, I'd like to examine the painting further.”

Nigma flinched, but otherwise didn't display any hesitance. “I'd rather it stay hanging for now. Chilly just fixed the painting, so it's best to leave it be for now.” Nigma sat innate down by a table, offering him a seat. “If you want, you could stop by when we open up the tea shop and examine it closer.”

Innate nodded, glancing back at the picture. “I'd like that very much. I'd also like to try Wild Mint's tea. I've heard from Chilly Quill that it is quite invigorating.”

Nigma glanced towards the left in time to see Rose Wind walk up to him. “You know what,” She said, sitting next to Nigma, “I've heard the same thing. I doubt there's a pony in Ponyville that doesn't know about that stallion's herbal brews.”

Innate gazed at the pegasus, raising an eyebrow. “And who would you be, miss? I'm familiar with everypony else except for you.”

The mare blushed, looking away from Innate. “I suppose I am the odd mare out in this party, but I was invited here. I thought I'd stop by and give Nigma here a housewarming gift!”

Nigma watched as Rose Wind pulled out a cloth from underneath her wing. She opened the cloth and Nigma found a simple kitchen knife with his name scrawled masterfully into the blade. “I would have gotten yourself something a little more home-like, but all I knew was that you two were getting a tea shop together. I thought this would come in handy.”

Innates eyes shot open when he saw the blade. Nigma simply stared at the knife in shock. “This is so very thoughtful!” He squealed. “I've never been given a housewarming gift before!”

He reached out for the knife with his magic, bringing it close to his hoof before Innate smacked it away with his hoof. “Don't touch that knife!” He shouted. Nigma ignored him, though and continued to bring the knife up to his hoof. The closer it got, the more Innate tried to force it away. Finally, Innate slipped and Nigma caught the knife in his hoof.

“I don't see why you were worried about this.” Nigma said flat. “There's nothing wrong with the knife.”

Rose Wind's ears drooped and she backed away. “It's not the knife he's worried about. It's the ghost trapped in the knife.”

The blade began to crack in Nigma's hoof, light pouring out of the fissures. Without warning the blade shattered and metal shards went flying around the room. In Nigma's hoof now sat an orb-like phantom, screeching and howling as it's eyes shot around the room. It caught sight of the picture and darted after it. “The lord is here!” It screamed. “The Lord of Chaos is here!”

Innate stood up, holding a hoof to his forehead where blood was now flowing out. “What is it talking about? You said there wasn't anything wrong with the painting.”

Nigma panicked as he saw the ghost tear away at the canvas, making the trapped draconequus scream in pain. He ran over to Chilly Quill and shouted at him. “You have to drop the spell. He's getting hurt in there!”

Chilly's eyes glanced at the crowd in the house, many of them wounded by the metal shards. “What about the others? They'll see him!”

“I don't care. You have to let Discord out!”

Chilly didn't argue further and shot a beam at the painting just as the ghost was about to tear a chunk of the canvas out. The painting melted away on contact with the magic and flowed over to Nigma. It solidified into a bloodied Discord, his chest and eagle claw scarred up where the ghost had clawed at.

Discord glared at the ponies around him, a terrifying aura of energy surrounding him. “It seems that shock was enough to drop the spell one of you held on me. My power is back and I will have my revenge.”

A scratching sound distracted Discord. He turned around to find the ghost still scratching at the wall where his picture stood. “This little pest has no place in here.” The draconequus growled. Before the ghost could turn around a jar flew at him, trapping him inside the pottery. Both the pottery and the ghost simply imploded, green fluid and dust flying around the room.

Nigma dropped the knife hilt as Discord brushed his claw, the wounds closing up instantly. “I haven't seen you do something like that in a long time.”

Discord shrugged, wiping down his chest. “This world doesn't frown upon murder quite as much. I wouldn't suggest you make it a habit though.” His eyes shot over to Rose Wind, who had made her way over to the exit during the mayhem. With a snap of his fingers the pegasus appeared before them, bound by the legs and wings almost painfully. “I'd make an exception for this one, considering what she has just done.”

“I concur.” Innate said, standing next to Discord as though he were a pony. “This mare has obviously desecrated a grave and stolen a ghost from peaceful sleep. She even tortured and manipulated the soul until it was a mindless beast!”

“Not to mention that she’s been locking up any chaotic or otherwise dangerous magic with a spell she dropped on the house.” Discord hissed. “She locked away my powers!”

“I didn't do it!” Rose Wind pleaded. “I was just given the knife and told what to do to lock up magic so that the ghost could do its work! I didn't even know that Lord Discord was here!”

Nigma raised his hoof, silencing the three. “Am I the only one who finds it strange that nopony cares about the draconequus in my house?”

The room was quiet before Wild Mint spoke up. “I think we all agree the ghost is the focus right now. I'm sure we'll ask about it later.”

Nigma shrugged and turned back to Rose Wind. “But why would you bring a tainted knife into this house? Nopony has done anything to earn your hatred. In fact, you probably don't even know anypony here except for me!”

Rose Wind shrank back against a wall as a crowd gathered around her. “You don't understand!” She screamed. “They were going to kill me if I didn't do this! They've kept me on a leash ever since they rescued me from that wretched Canterlot prison!”

Wild Mint walked closer to Rose, but fell back when she hissed at him. “Exactly why would you be sent to prison in Canterlot? Their prisons are reserved for murderers and grand thieves.”

Chilly Quill stepped up, a twinkle in his eye. “I think I might have the answer.” He walked up close to Rose, dodging her hooves as she tried to buck him away. Once he got close enough, he swiped at her with his horn as he lit it up with an intense glow. Her form practically melted away, leaving nothing but a changeling standing in front of him. Chilly smiled as he turned back to the group. “Canterlot Prison is famous for it's high congestion of changeling prisoners. More than half of their inmates at any given time would be changelings, though not many know about it.”

“I was the only one to make it out of the prison in three hundred years.” The changeling hissed. “I was too weak to change form and nopony would harbor something like me. That's when they found me and took me in. They offered me solace in exchange for total servitude; if they told me to murder, I could only ask who I should kill.”

Discord growled. “You seem to be avoiding a key issue, my dear. You have yet to tell us just who is your puppet master.”

The changeling simply shrank further into the corner, shivering and whimpering as she glanced at the lights in the room. A few moments later every light winked out with a flash of magic and the window shades flew shut, locking the room in complete darkness. Two sinister voices cackled in the dark as the unicorns in the room did their best to provide light. “Why would she bother saying who her masters are when we’ve already made our entrance?” One of the voices mused.

Nigma, Innate and Chilly Quill finally shot out enough orbs of light to make the entire room visible again. Standing in front of the crowd were two hooded ponies, both of black coats. “Allow us to introduce ourselves.” The pony on the left hissed. “I am High Master Shadow and this is Lord Grief. We are representatives of the Brotherhood of Chaos.” Both ponies took a bow as dark tendrils leaked out of their cloaks. “It is our honor to be your executioners.”