The Discord of Another
Note: This story takes place during Season 2 Episode 2 and deviates at a key moment. If you haven’t read my first story “Behind the Scenes” I suggest you do. It’s fairly short and will give some background on my two OC characters.
Princess Celestia paced back and forth in her throne room worrying about the Elements of Harmony. She knew they were capable of great feats but this was Discord they were facing. She saw how he had twisted the Elements and had hoped her actions would be enough to break Discords hold on them.
“Your majesty, I do not wish to interrupt but there is a matter of importance that needs your attention.”
Celestia had been so caught up in her thoughts she failed to notice the guardspony come in. “More important than the return of Discord or the corruption of the Elements of Harmony? There can be no such matter greater than the fate of all Equestria.”
“Agreed princess, the only reason I approach you is because there are two ponies here from Ponyville who claim to have an artifact powerful enough to defeat Discord.”
The princess knew of few artifacts with such power but they did exist. Lost or hidden in one manner or another they were in some form unaccounted for. The problem occurred that most would cause irreversible damage to Equestria while dealing with Discord. Celestia decided that regardless of whether they used the artifact or not it was safer here in the palace locked away and guarded. “I will allow them an audience with me. Show them in.”
As the guardspony left, Celestia sat on her throne in preparation for the ponies. After a couple of minutes two guardponies entered escorting a brown pegasus with a saddlebag and a blue unicorn between them.
“I am told you claim to have an artifact of great power. One with the capability of vanquishing Discord.”
The brown pony pulled a black bag with a tie string from his saddlebag. “That is right Princess. I found it in the ruins of your old castle in the Everfree Forest.”
“Nonsense, I myself made sure that all items of importance were moved here to Canterlot when we relocated. All save the Elements of Harmony that is which could only be moved by their chosen bearers.”
“Well this one wasn’t there when you relocated. In fact it wasn’t in the castle at all until about a year ago.” Renaissance opened the black bag to reveal what appeared to be shards of metal. “The armor worn by Nightmare Moon.”
“That is a dangerous item you have there. Are you suggesting we reforge it so myself or my sister might don it and do battle with Discord?”
Muse stepped forward. “Not quite. Renaissance will wear the armor, without magical powers he would be easier to subdue if things go wrong.”
“That may be true but what is to stop Discord from taking advantage of this countermeasure?”
Renaissance pulled a small tied up piece of cloth out of his saddle bag held it in one hoof and careful untied it. As the cloth opened up small dust like shards shone brilliantly in the light provided by the torches on the wall. “This is trace amounts of the Elements of Harmony. These shards were created when Nightmare Moon smashed the Elements a year ago. If we forge these into the armor Discord’s magic shouldn’t affect the wearer.”
The princess pondered what the pegasus suggested. It was true no form of magic could destroy or alter the elements and as long as anypony was in contact with one and only the most complex and time consuming magic could affect them. The kind of magic not useable in battle.
“Princess.” One of the guardsponies chimed in.
“Yes?”
“What makes this pegasus the best choice to fight Discord? Surely a trained fighter or master swordspony would be better in this battle.”
“It’s because of my special talent that makes me best suited for this encounter. I’m a Jack of all ponies. No matter what I try I’m good at it. This means whatever situation Discord puts before me in battle I’ll have the best chance of adapting to it.”
Celestia got up from her throne, looked out the window and gazed over Equestria. The chaos was spreading and things were getting worse. If her prized student and her friends were defeated Celestia feared there wouldn’t be a distraction big enough to conceal a plan from Discord’s gaze. Against her better judgment but with the fate of all Equestria in mind the Princess came to her decision. “Guards see them to the royal foundry and give them access to any materials they may need.”
*
Renaissance worked on the armor for what seemed like days. It was unfortunately impossible to keep track of time thanks to Discord. There was no rhyme or reason to the way the sun and moon were acting and as for the clocks, every clock in Equestria was either flying around or melting making them unreadable. Muse used her magic to keep the fires as hot as possible. The armor was very strong and only the hottest flames had any chance of melting it. As each piece of the armor neared completion the surface was reheated so the shards of the Elements of Harmony could be added.
Once done Renaissance and Muse headed back towards Ponyville. Donning the armor too early may have alerted Discord to a new foe before the proper moment arrived. Power was good and all but surprise would add another element to the strike and that could make all the difference.
*
Just outside of Ponyville the final preparations were being made as Renaissance and Muse unpacked the armor. He was sweating and his heart was racing. He had faith in his plan but it’s not every day you stand up to the Spirit of Chaos.
“Ready Jackie?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” With that he kissed Muse and began to suit up for the battle.
As he stepped into the hoof guards he felt a surge of energy flow through him that only intensified as the chest plate and torso armor were added. When he put the final piece the helmet on, the power exploded through his body. There was a boom which was like an explosion followed by an implosion.
“Renaissance!?! Are you ok?” Worried Muse tried to clear the dust cloud that had formed around her lover.
“I think so.” Renaissance flapped his wings down once and the dust cloud dissipated in an instant.
“Woah.” Muse looked on in awe, before her was indeed Renaissance but his stature had changed. If there had been a horn on his head anypony could have easily mistaken him for one of royal linage.
Renaissance looked around. He felt connected to the world in a way he never thought possible, and currently he hated it. The chaos all around made the earth itself scream at him. Was this what the damage felt like for Celestia and Luna he wondered? He shook these thoughts from his head. There would be time for questions later. Renaissance spread his massive wings and flew towards Ponyville and the center of all the chaos, Discord. The power he could feel flowing through him helped ease his worries. He steadied his mind for the upcoming battle.
“Ah, what a beautiful thing chaos is. I’ll have to remember to thank Celestia with a gift basket or something. After all the best chaos is made from order and she kept things so orderly it’s just perfect for me to have fun with.” Discord doubled over with laughter.
“Hey Discord, I heard you liked jokes!”
Discord turned his head to look at the direction the voice came in just as a hoof made contact with his jaw. “How do you like this punch line?”
Discord went reeling into a nearby building which turned to a pile of feathers at his mere touch. “Careful now I have only one canine and I like it just were it is.” In a flash Discord disappeared and reappeared behind Renaissance. “Well lookie there is that armor of the moon? Didn’t think I’d see that masterpiece again. Say you know where the armor always looked the best? THE MOON!” Discord snapped his claw and laughed as he expected the strange pony to be on the surface of the moon. He stopped laughing as the pony in front of him did not vanish. “What’s this? You should be on the surface of the moon by now.”
“Sorry to disappoint you but I have no plans of leaving until you are defeated.” Renaissance bucked his hind legs as hard as he could and hit Discord right in the gut.
*That’s right he’s a pushover we can take him no problem*
What? Who was that? Renaissance didn’t like this voice that sounded so much like his. Discord snapped his claw and a pile of sandbags fell on Renaissance knocking him out cold. “Well I’d say the curtain has fallen on this act but it looks like somepony dropped the sandbags instead.” Discord laughed.
Now’s our chance, While he’s out cold. A gold mist wormed its way out from under the sandbags and reformed as Renaissance atop the pile. As he took shape Discord could clearly see that no longer was this a simple pegasus before him but a mighty alicorn. “Act one may be over but act two is just starting.”
“Pegasus or alicorn makes no difference to me. I am the spirit of chaos and disharmony; you have no chance of defeating me.”
Renaissance heard over the gloating several ponies making their way to the two of them. Looking over he spied the Elements of Harmony and he came up with a plan. “No reason for us to waste energy on you when we can get some pawns to do it for us.” He aimed his horn at Discord and used a forget spell on him. “Don’t want you to ruin the surprise. Now it’s time for an intermission.” Renaissance flew up high and watched as the events unfolded below him. Knowing anyway this would turn out one party would be defeated and the other would be winded, perfect for finishing the job.
Shaking himself out of the sudden stupor he had fallen into Discord took his place on his throne and laughed as a line of buffalos in tutus danced past him while pies fell from the sky. He reached out a claw to a nearby cotton candy cloud and conjured a glass to catch the chocolate milk falling from it. “Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing.”
Discord was about to take a drink when a voice interrupted him. “Not as wonderful as friendship!” Twilight Sparkle said proudly.
“This again?” Discord said with a sly grin. He downed the glass and threw the chocolate milk over his shoulder where it promptly exploded on contact with the ground.
With determination in her eyes Applejack said. “That’s right! You couldn’t break apart our friendship for long.”
“Oh, Applejack. Don’t lie to me.” Discord levitated Applejack over to him by her element. ” I’m the one who made you a liar.” He then pulled the other four in with magic leaving Twilight Sparkle alone on the ground. “Will you ever learn?” Discord asked.
Twilight teleported right to her friends and cast a protection bubble around them breaking Discord’s magical hold. She floated herself and her friends down to the ground. “I’ll tell you what we’ve learned, Discord. We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy but there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for.”
Renaissance chuckled to himself from the cloud he was perched on. This was laughably entertaining.
“Ugh, gag. Fine. Go ahead. Try and use your little Elements frienemies. Just make it quick. I’m missing some excellent chaos here.”
“All right, ladies! Let’s show him what friendship can do!” Twilight Sparkle said as she faced down Discord.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Pinkie Pie took one last drink from a cotton candy cloud before jumping to her friends’ side, ready to unleash the power of the Elements on Discord.
As the six readied themselves for the power of the Elements to flow through them their necklaces began to glow as did Twilight’s eyes.
Discord yawned in anticipation.
As the power built up a couple of stray shots whizzed past Discord’s head. “What’s this?”
In disbelief Discord could only manage a single word. “No.”
A rainbow of harmony hit Discord. “Nooo!” Discord cried but to no avail a moment later he was stone and Equestria returned to its normal peaceful state.
“Well done. We say you six sure know how to put on a show.” Renaissance drifted down on an air current landing near the six. “My, but isn’t that just an exquisite looking statue.” Renaissance trotted next to Discord and began to whisper something into his ear. “You know what we think would look good on the moon Discord?” An evil smile grew on his face. “You.” His horn glowed and a second later Discord was gone.
The six looked at the alicorn standing before them. Who was this pony and where did they come from? Applejack was first to spy his cutie mark. She recognized it instantly as a pony with the same cutie mark had helped on the farm on more than one occasion. “Renaissance? Is that you hay seed?”
“Renaissance was our name though we suppose we’ll be needing a new one given our new form and all.” Gold flames engulfed Renaissance and as they subsided the being before them was a sight to behold. The armor had changed where it was once a deep blue it was now stunning silver. His skin was white as snow; his mane was red and flowed like the princesses but burned like fire. As he opened his eyes they were now gold. The ponies all gasped as a sight they had never seen before took place. The cutie mark on his flank dissolved and was replaced by a new one, a white shield with a red X pattern on it. “You can call us Inquisition.”
Rarity stepped forward. “Dear, we can help you. I mean just look at that outfit it is so last decade. Now how about you take that dreadful armor off and we can still end this day with a wonderful time at the spa.”
Inquisition laughed sinisterly. “What makes you think we need your help? We’re an all-powerful alicorn now.” He grinned evilly as thoughts of how to deal with the six interlopers. “Tell us unicorn, you go to the spa to have all your earthly problems just melt away. We can melt all your problems away though the experience may not be as enjoyable.”
Rainbow Dash rushed to Rarity’s side. “Enough chit chat if you’re not going down willingly then we’ll just take you down by force.”
“As if you could.”
Twilight looked at this new foe and with eyes more determined than ever before and said “We defeated Discord, what makes you think we can’t beat you?”
“Ah Discord, he did like to have fun didn’t he? We think he had the right idea just the wrong execution. Let’s see if we can’t improve upon his plans.” Inquisition began to laugh slightly as he lowered his head. His eyes began to glow the most eerily beautiful gold color and his horn followed in suit. A moment later there was a great flash of light and as it faded the four in the back looked at the two now earth ponies in front of them.
“My wings! Again? Aw man this is totally not cool.”
“My precious horn is missing again as well.” Rarity looked angrily at Inquisition. “Really your outfit wasn’t passé enough even your ideas are just the same old tricks from someone else repertoire.”
“We assure you our tricks may be based on another’s but they are ours own.”
“Renaissance please you can stop this!” Muse yelled as she galloped toward the group of ponies.
As Inquisition looked at Muse, his eyes reverted back to their normal color for just an instant. The only word he could hear for that moment was “Muse”. “Well, looks like we haven’t fully gotten control of this body quite yet.” A gold mist started to envelope him as he finished talking. “Besides what fun is there in ending a game that just started.” The mist swirled off and with that he was gone.
Rainbow Dash exhaled. “Well guess we better get going if we want to catch this schmuck.” Rainbow Dash turned to look at the group and her face filled with a mixture of horror and surprise. “Twilight you’re… You’re…”
“Yes Rainbow I know we’re all earth ponies now.”
“YOU’RE A PEGASUS!”
“What?!?” Looking on her back she saw two purple wings.
The group looked around in bewilderment at Inquisition’s “own” trick. This six had been changed. Besides the already noticed earth ponies in front of them Applejack and Fluttershy were now unicorns while Twilight and Pinkie Pie had become pegasus ponies. They all were shocked by what happened to them. A gasp was heard from Fluttershy right before she fainted. Pinkie was the first to speak as she bounced off one object to the next using the wings on her back. “Well one thing’s for sure. He was right when he said this would be fun.”
Well there’s chapter one of my new story. It came together a lot faster than I thought it would. I’d like to thank my friend Hrama for giving me the push I needed to write this story. He really liked my last one and that helped me a lot. In life I’m a lot like Fluttershy not willing to take many chances for fear of bad consequences. So thanks, it meant a lot to me to have someone’s support and tell me my work wasn’t garbage.