Pinkie Note: Hi readers, Pinkie Pie here again! I managed to enter as the author said he had to lie down after writing something that showcased how evil Zedd was…or something like that! My Little Pony is Hasbro’s and Power Rangers is Saban’s. Everything you don’t recognise is the author’s own IP…except Discord which comes from Toei up till the point where the wings come out. And this chapter and only this one is rated M for slight gore. Maybe not slight as he looked green, but he’s used to gory stuff anyway.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Submission

Metal clashed with metal as Tricksy watched her Master duel Discord. The humanoid unicorn had chosen the short sword instead of the spear and was faring badly. She knew her master had the advantage as with the large Z on his staff, he was able to counter slashes more easily. Reclining against the shattered foundations of the prison, she lazily looked up at the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, the two warlords had been clashing for roughly three hours non-stop. Luckily the heat had faded as it was rapidly approaching dusk. Yawning behind a hoof, she watched the two fighters with disinterest.

“Join you? Why not join me? I can give you everything!”

Discord’s mind whirled. He didn’t know why this flesh man was immune to his words. Everypony in the past had fallen for him as soon as he opened his mouth and had followed him unquestioningly. He supposed that was why his original Cutie Mark had been an open mouth, but that had changed during his imprisonment. What it looked like now, he had no idea but he was willing to bet it was something to do with blood. Raising his sword up, he cried out in surprise as it was ripped out of his grip by the Z staff. The next thing he felt were chrome tipped fingers grasping his throat.

“Listen to me, you pathetic slug. I freed you from your imprisonment and I can erase you from existence. You will serve me or you will die where you stand!”

Discord would have laughed if he wasn’t being strangled. He struggled to breathe, but the grip of his assailant was too strong. He only had one chance for freedom, but it would require split second timing.

Lord Zedd snarled through his grille and looked down at Discord. Frankly, the relic in his grasp was as dangerous to him as a cold would be to a human. He had to humour any potential warrior of course, but this one was wearing him thin. Suddenly, two wings popped out of Discord’s back. Zedd’s grip faltered for a second, but only one second was all it took for Discord to extricate himself from Zedd’s grasp.

Cursing in the forgotten tongues of his homeworld, Lord Zedd looked up to see the humanoid alicorn laughing. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the shape of the wings. One was the normal birdlike wing, complete with feathers. The other looked like a skeletal dragon wing with a blood-red membrane. He laughed as Discord finally unsheathed his short spear, causing the alicorn to question why. The Dark Lord answered in a sly voice.

“You were harder to defeat with your sword. Now, I can just do…THIS!”

In one fluid movement, Zedd tossed his staff into the air, caught it above the spiked bottom and cleaved it down through the air faster than Discord could move. With an ear ringing clatter, Discord’s spear shattered into three pieces. Recovering from the shock, Discord’s eyes narrowed dangerously and he snorted under his helmet. Flapping both wings, he flew up to a great height and paused to survey the world around him in the quiet time of early evening.

Even from the great height, he could feel the intense heat radiating from the barren land beneath his hooves. Tasting the air currents, he could tell that the Dragon clans were still fighting amongst themselves and that Drakor’s son Dryken was still on the ‘throne’. Dryken was sitting on the throne until the first laid was mature enough to journey into their lands and take that strange artefact the rulers guarded. It was all horse manure anyway and no hatchlings could survive on Draconis without parental guidance. From the distant glow radiating from the north, he knew Equestria was still standing. It would be pristine and ripe for the pillaging and Celestia would be in shock when he reappeared. Her head would look good on his wall or as the centrepiece of his victory banquet.

Sparing a quick glance to the rising moon, his eyes widened in shock as the familiar shape of Nightmare Moon was missing from its cratered surface. What was more disturbing was that the four stars that had orbited the heavenly body had vanished. If he knew his Equestrian History, the missing stars would be causing a lot of trouble in the future. Or rather, what was imprisoned in those stars…

He would worry about that later – after he had disposed of this wannabe tyrant. Flapping his wings a few more times, he reached the apex of his flight and looked down. The red humanoid was still there, waving that oddly familiar staff around. The name had stuck in his mind for some reason as well…something about an evil from another plane coming and destroying all? It sounded like something out of a story or one of Celestia’s prophecies that were about as prophetic as “The sun will rise tomorrow” or “The kitchen will explode as soon as I set hoof in it”

All right…maybe that last one had been his fault. He tucked in his wings and felt the pull of gravity instantaneously. Angling his body down, he quickly gained momentum all in preparation for a single killing blow. Shutting his eyes against the screaming winds, he didn’t see the warlord do something very odd with his staff.

But he felt it.

Unimaginable pain flooded his senses as he crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap. As he struggled to get to his hooves, he noticed two things. One: his helmet was not on his head. In fact, it was laying at the Dark Lord’s feet, complete with a large bulge at the bottom and a strange bloodstain around the hole for his horn. Two: his horn was not on his head. Reaching up to his head with a hand, he felt for where it should have been…only to feel nothing but a ragged hole studded with slivers of fused bone. Blood poured from the gaping wound and it was all Discord could do not to throw up.

“Well, it seems you have lost you magic. With the loss of you horn, you are unworthy of my time. However, you have other skills that are useful to me.”

Discord weakly looked up through the curtain of dripping crimson and weakly tried to save himself. He could see his majestic horn that was gripped unceremoniously in a chrome tipped hand. He was about to pass out when a bright flare of light took the pain away as well as the curtain of blood splattered on his face. Feeling his energy and strength return to him, he slowly climbed to a kneeling position and heard the next words from the figure above him.

“You will serve me as my general and you will command my armies to crush the regime of Celestia.”

Craning his head up, Discord saw his horn being tightly gripped – almost to breaking point – and he cried out in protest. Zedd smacked his head with the remains of his helmet and sneered.

“I will do what I want with my servants, including body parts of my servants. Disagree and I will end your life quickly. Agree and serve me so one day I may return a horn to you.”

The humanoid former alicorn thought quickly. After a mere moment of hesitation, he slowly nodded once and practically spat out the next words.

“I serve you loyally, my Lord. I will do whatever you wish so that, one day, my horn will be returned.”

Lord Zedd laughed uproariously as he magically jerked the winged humanoid to its feet and slowly sliced off the tip of the bloody horn, enjoying the pained look on Discord’s face. Using ancient magic he telekinetically thrust the tip deep into Tricksy’s body, enjoying the pained gasps from the twisted mass of mutating flesh. With the rest of the horn in one fist, he squeezed the appendage tighter – hearing it crack.

“You fool. I merely said I would return a horn to you.”

Discord’s eyes widened as his horn shattered in Zedd’s grip and felt his stomach drop. He watched as the remnants ground against each other quickly to produce a fine-grained dust. He squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Zedd pull one of the tubes from his body and when he opened them again, the powdered horn was no longer within sight.

“I never said it would be your horn.”

TBC…

Author's Note

Ouch. Maybe Discord surrendered a bit too quickly but having one's horn ripped from your skull will make you agree to anything. Of course, he will get his magic back but it's not in this story.

And hey! Foreshadowing of the 'four stars'...but at this point, I seriously hadn't thought much about them other than 'something for future-me to deal with'.