Discord Rules

Chapter 2

The Crown of Harmony

“Hey… are you alright? Can you hear me?” a voice echoed out of the shadows. Their eyes quickly started shaking uncontrollably, due to six ponies trying to make them move at once. The girls quickly registered what was going on by piecing together the events from their various memories.

Twilight forced their eyes open, instantly recoiling from the sudden light. Looking around, they could see that they were no longer in Ponyville anymore. There was also nopony around, nopony who could have been trying to wake them up.

After looking over and fully understanding what was going on, Fluttershy was the first to break down. Her thoughts echoed with grief as based in her past, a life of being teased by others. She just couldn’t take any more.

Pinkie seemed a little downtrodden, but still managed to keep herself together, and remain a little cheery. Rainbow was pissed that she had no choice in the matter, Applejack was worried about how her family would recognize her, Rarity was stressed, mostly about how garish their colors were. Twilight, well, Twilight was analyzing the situation for a solution.

The girls comforted Fluttershy as best they could, and, noticing the direction of Twilight’s thoughts, decided to focus on fixing their problem as well. After sitting in one place for fifteen minutes, Rainbow Dash decided she had had enough, and took off flying, distracting all her friends from their near-stupor.

After a time, Rainbow noticed an old pony, just wandering around the countryside, just looking for something. She swooped down and landed next to him.

“I have been searching for you.” he immediately stated.

“What!?” Rainbow shouted. The angry thoughts from her friends were suddenly silenced by this sudden revelation.

“You see, I am quite old‒”

“No doubt about that.” Rainbow interrupted, instantly attracting rude remarks from four of her friends.

“‒and my family has been studying the patterns of the world for generations. We have records dating back thousands of years, all the way back to when writing was first invented‒”

“So? What does this have to do with us?” Rainbow interrupted again.

“‒and there has always been something when Discord breaks free. Every time this happens, something ascends to a higher level, usually by combination and melding. You… you have combined, but you still need to meld. You are not complete.” the old stallion explained, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s interruptions.

“What do you mean, I’m not complete? I’m totally complete! There’s no pony more complete than Rainbow Dash!” the aforementioned mare pulled a pose and scraped the ground with her hoof.

He looked at her like she was stupid, “There are two alicorns currently in this world. Did you not ever stop to wonder how they came to be? They were once three ponies each, and melded to form two extremely powerful ones. You six are destined to be even more powerful, if you succeed. You will become one, and rule over this world as a goddess.”

“If, we succeed? Hah! This is Rainbow Dash, the world’s fastest flier! Nothing can beat me!” she was simultaneously ignoring all her friends and controlling their entire body at once. Apparently, Rainbow had the greatest mental fortitude, or her friends weren’t trying hard enough.

Suddenly, Twilight wrenched the mouth away from Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry about my friend, but she’s really a good pony.”

“I understand. I have dealt with bigger egos than hers before, though not often.” the elderly stallion joked, his eyes crinkling up with laughter.

“Anyways, you must go find the Crown of Harmony, if you wish to defeat Discord. He is more powerful than anything in existence, so the Elements were constructed to defeat him. However, the Crown was made as a way for the Bearers to defeat Discord without the Elements.”

All of them attempted to look at him suspiciously, prevailing. “And just how does the Crown work?”

“The Crown combines your minds, it melds you together, finalizing your fusion. It will grant you the full abilities of being an alicorn, and you will rule Equestria alongside Celestia, Luna, and Cadance.” he explained. “As long as you have a pure heart, the Crown will work. Then, you can defeat Discord at your leisure. Please! You must do this, for the sake of Equestria!”

The girls quickly discussed their options, and settled on a decision. “We will find this crown, and we will stop Discord, no matter the cost!”

Relief showed on his face, and he let go of a breath. “Thank you. Now, you must venture past many obstacles to get to the Crown. First, there is the Stonebreaker Castle, among the Venture Mountains.

“The mountains are steep and filled with dangerous creatures. They are massive, and they go on for miles. Going around would be too long, and going through, too dangerous. The only way past the Venture Mountains is to pass through Stonebreaker Castle.

“Inside the castle is said to be a guardian, though what it is guarding remains a mystery. There is a secret passage through the mountains behind the throne, and you must pass through it to continue on your journey.

“Next is the Shattered Jungle. Do not ask why it is called that, as I do not know. The jungle itself is very dangerous, filled with wild creatures and poisonous plants. It is also said to have a guardian, but again, we cannot know what it guards.

“The jungle is quite large, and encompasses most of Northwestern Equestria. The only way to get past is to go straight through. Now, note that these areas I’m describing have some sort of enchantment on them, something that prevents Discord from changing these areas.

“Finally, you must reach Pine Tree Tower. It is called that because it is shaped like a pine tree, with each leaf being an entire room. The place is quite large. It is here that you will find the Crown of Harmony.

“Along with the Crown, the Tower is home to many powerful magic artifacts, some of which are thousands and thousands of years old. The Tower is the oldest thing in existence. It does not break, it does not erode. Actually, the Tower is infinite. It can hold as many artifacts as it needs to. You must find the Crown amongst the various artifacts, and be sure to not touch anything else!

“Now you know what you need to do. Go, and save Equestria from the vile demon! Go, and become a goddess!” he shouted before coughing. “Go! I will rest now, for my task is complete. You must perform your duties!”

They nodded and ran off, eager to get rid of Discord as quickly as they could.

The stallion started laughing, his wheezes gradually fading to a deeper tone. He began to laugh maniacally, throwing his hooves up in the air. This revealed the puppet strings dangling down from the sky.

If one were to follow the strange twists and turns of the strings, they would find the marionetteer at the end. Naturally, this one was the Spirit of Chaos himself, Discord.

“Hmph. These ponies, always believing anything another pony tells them. Anything but a pony, and they doubt it. I need to remedy that.” he gave another laugh before flushing himself up a toilet.

Author's Note

Ooh! I fixed up the planned ending, so hopefully you'll like it better. Also, plot twist! The antagonist is either helping the protagonists, or he is tricking them. I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourself.

Also, I'm going to be having tons of fun writing the Discorded Areas. My mind is going to go all-out nonsensical, while still making sense, if that makes sense.