> Save our child > by Spider-Mane Noir > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A storm raged as two ponies made their way through the Everfree Forest. One, a stallion, carried an old book. Its binding was falling apart, and its pages were yellowed with age. The other, a mare, carried a small bundle wrapped in blankets. After what felt like hours of searching. the two finally reached their destination: a small clearing in the woods. The trees around it grew in bizarre, twisted shapes and the ground was dry despite the pouring rain and in the center was the remains of a throne. "We found it, Igneous," said the mare, pulling off her hood and revealing a gray earth pony, "the Throne of Chaos." "It looks like the map was right after all, Cloudy," replied her partner, removing his own hood, "maybe this will work after all..." "It has to," Cloudy Quartz's eyes began to water as she unwrapped her cargo, "for her sake." With the blankets removed, she held up a small gray foal, only a few weeks old and fading fast. The filly had been born sick and nopony could identify just what was wrong with her. Igneous and Cloudy had sought out every doctor they could afford, and even some they couldn't but they'd all had the same response: there was nothin they could do. There daughter wouldn't last another month. In desperation they'd turned to... less savory methods. Lost artifacts, forbidden rituals, occult practices. At their search had unearthed an ancient book with a map inside. The tome was in terrible condition, and parts of the text was virtually unreadable, but it provided one last hope. The writings described a ceremony where, if certain symbols were inscribed in a certain place, a mysterious entity would appear and grant a single wish. The map led to a spot deep within the Everfree, where Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz now found themselves. Igneous quickly etched the appropriate symbols into the ground in a circle around the throne. The letter Q, a stylized cobra, two faces: one square and one pointed, and the letters JDL. With that finished, he ran back to his wife's side. Cloudy lay her daughter on the ground inside the circle. She felt her husband put his foreleg over her shoulder and give a gentle squeeze. "Ready?" "Ready." The two of them turned to the throne an shouted over the sound of thunder. "DISCORD! Awaken from your sleep, and grant our wish! Rise, Lord of Chaos!" Time froze. A bolt of lightning stood still as it arced across the sky. The entire clearing glowed with an ever-changing kaleidoscope of light. A ball of lightning formed above the Throne of Chaos. Over the course of a minute it changed its shape, developing limbs, a head, a tail. Finally, there before the astonished ponies floated a monstrous hybrid of creatures cobbled together by the mind of a madman. "Well... this is unexpected," It said pulling out a pocket watch and examining it closely, "I'm not supposed to be woken up until the second season." "D...Discord?" questioned Cloudy. "Indeed, my little pony," Replied Discord, taking off his horns like a hat and bowing, "And thanks to you two, I'm free! Free at last!" Discord threw back his head in maniacal laughter before snapping his fingers... only for nothing to happen. He looked down at his talon confused. "Huh, that's never happened before," he turned to the ponies who'd summoned him, "I assume this is your doing?" Igneous held up his book and pointed a hoof toward one of the pages. "Your power is limited to the inside of the circle. We've summoned you to grant our request." "Such gall! Such impetuousness!" Shouted Discord, crossing his arms and turning his nose up, "Tell me more." Cloudy gestured towards the foal lying before her. "Please. Save our child." "hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." Discord levitated the tiny pony up to eye level seemingly pondering his response, "Sure, why not?" "Really? That's it?" "Of course! I just need to know her name." Discord grinned. "Its Pinkamena," said Cloudy, "Pinkamena Diane Pie." "Very well then," Discord looked at the filly, "Pinkamena! Would you like to have 50 CC's of pure chaos injected directly into your blood stream? You would! Wonderful!" "Wait," Igneous held up a hoof, "what does that mean?" "Oh, its very simple," replied Discord, "Your daughter will become an... agent of chaos, if you will. She'll be perfectly healthy, but never quite, well, normal." "Wait a second!" "Oops! Too Late!" Discord snapped his fingers and the child he held began to glow pink, "You didn't really think it would be that easy did you? I can't just go handing out favors like I'm your friend or something. There's always a cost to these things. Or didn't your precious little book mention that?" The glow intensified until, in the blink of an eye, it stopped. Discord floated Pinkamena down to her mother's waiting hooves. "There, you see? Perfectly healthy. Just a bit more interesting than your average pony." Cloudy looked down at the child now nestled in her arms. Her dull gray coat had changed to a bright, pastel pink, but more importantly, her eyes were finally opening and she was moving. She was finally safe. "Thank you," she whispered. "Don't mention it," replied Discord, "Like seriously, Do Not mention it. I don't want ponies getting the wrong idea about me. One minute you're healing one pony and the next you're helping a team of unlikely heroes save the world from shapeshifting bugs. But lets not tempt fate." As he spoke, Discord's body began to fade away. "Well in any case it looks like our business here is complete. Back to Celestia's garden for me. Phooey..." Igneous and Cloudy turned to leave but were stopped by the sound of Discord's voice. "Oh, one last thing! You two might want to check the side effects of that little ritual you used. So Long!" With that he vanished. "What dost thou..." Igneous began only to stopped when he heard the sound of his own voice. He cleared his throat, "That is, what art thou.." He flipped open the book. The storm was clearing, and in the growing light text that (somehow) neither of them had noticed before was clearly visible. "Please note: The use of this spell will cause anypony who uses it to speak like a pilgrim for a period of time ranging from four years to four-ever -----Discord " This prompted the only response either of them could conceive of. "What?"