Chapters Discord Rules
Chapter 1
…Celestia Drools
“Alright girls! Let’s show him what friendship can do!” Twilight shouted, confident that her plan would work. The six mares were lifted up into the air by the power of the Elements of Harmony.
Suddenly, all of them felt a grinding pain emanate from their respective Elements. The gems shattered, releasing a massive influx of energy, knocking all of them out.
“Uuh… where am I?” six voices spoke at the same time, the high-pitched one just a bit faster than the rest. Twilight tried to push herself up with a hoof, and rub her forehead with the other, but instead, both hooves rose up to meet her face.
“Ow!” the six voices said again, “What’s going on?” It seemed that something must have happened to her and her friends to make them disoriented.
There was a strange pair of appendages on her back, and she couldn’t turn her head around to see them. “Wh-what the heck!?” the voices chimed out in unison. Twilight tried to bring her hoof to her mouth, again meeting in failure. She hadn’t tried to say that, but her mouth had moved on its own.
“Girls, where are you?” Twilight shouted. Her friends had to be somewhere close by, judging by how loud they were.
Twilight decided to check herself over, if she could. Looking down at her hooves, she could see that they weren’t just the lavender that she thought they were. Examining them closely, she could see streaks of blue, orange, white, pink, and yellow.
“Where did these come from?” the voices murmured. All of a sudden Twilight realized what was going on. The lack of full motor control, the multitude of voices, the mixture of colors, they all added up. But there was only one way this could be possible. Twilight loudly thought Hello? into her mind, hoping to get some sort of response.
Hello? Twilight? Hey! Twi, what’s goin’ on? four other voices echoed through her mind. Twilight could feel the presence of another, completely silent. She recognized the voices that spoke, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, respectively.It was entirely reasonable to assume that the silent one was Rainbow Dash.
I don’t know girls, but it seems like we’re in the same body, Twilight thought back, I don’t know what the implications could be, but I don’t think any of us can fully control our limbs. We’ll need to work together. Got that, Rainbow Dash?
No response.
Rainbow Dash!? Are you alright!? Speak to me! Twilight mentally shouted, panicking about her friend.
Huh!? Oh, sorry, I just… got a little distracted, is all Rainbow replied, imagining her own body rubbing her neck with her hoof.
Suddenly, the six minds in one body all attuned to one thought at the same time. DISCORD!!!
All six of them tried to get up in different ways, causing them to collapse to the ground. They tried again, meeting the same result.
Girls! We can’t all do this at once! Twilight scolded, projecting her emotions over the mental barriers, We need to work together! She felt all the tension in their body go out, as they sensed what she was going to do.
Twilight looked over them, examining their body, analyzing the optimum working pattern. The first thing she noticed was the odd coloring. They were a mixture of several different colors. The next thing she noticed was that they were an alicorn, and much bigger than Celestia. All right, I’ll take the horn, Rarity can take the voice, Rainbow’ll take the wings, Fluttershy can take the front hooves, Applejack can take the back hooves, and Pinkie can have the legs.
All right! I get the legs! a rather pink voice thought.
Amusement passed over the mental borders. Even in her thoughts, Pinkie still managed to project massive amounts of color into a conversation.
Speaking of thoughts… Twilight… well… thought, we need to find Discord!
Pinkie sprung their legs and jumped into the air, landing perfectly on their hooves. Alrighty-then! Let’s go! she ‘yelled’ as she sprinted off, before suddenly being lifted into the air when their wings started flapping.
Forgot about these, didja? Rainbow’s voice practically oozed smugness.
They flew up to where they had been fighting Discord.
He was sitting on his throne, watching all the chaos around him. He looked over and saw the ponies, recognizing the colors. “What!? How… how are you still alive?” Discord shouted.
“We don’t know, but we’re going to take you down, Discord!” Twilight shouted, forgetting that she had given Rarity the mouth.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that, hmm? Your precious Elements are sitting over there, where they can’t do anything at all.” Discord smirked, pointing at a puddle of molten gold and shattered gems.
“No! The Elements! How did you do this!?” Twilight and her friends called out at the same time, “This isn’t possible! They can’t be broken unless we are!”
“Well, maybe your Elements thought that you were, being like that and all.” Discord said, pulling a banana out of a nearby cloud and drinking the root beer out of it.
The six mares, in unison, looked over themself. They were practically the epitome of chaos, and the Elements probably wouldn’t work with them like that.
“But… but we’re supposed ta be the Elements, aren’t we?” a southern accent emerged from their mouth.
“Yes, yes you are. But, I don’t think that the Elements can be represented by you, anymore, can they? Sure, you still have that trait that allows you to have each Element, but you aren’t very harmonic anymore, now are you?” Discord said, sounding like he was explaining something to a six-year-old, “You can’t represent Harmony because you are Chaos , pure and simple.”
“We ain’t nothin’ like you!” Applejack shouted out of their mouth.
Discord smirked again. “Oh, I never said you were. As a matter of fact, being like me would be impossible if you were an agent of chaos. Which you are, by the way.”
“Now what in the hay is that supposed ta mean?”
“Oh, it just means that chaos never does the same thing twice. If it did, it would be much more boring than it is.” Discord snapped his fingers and pulled a balloon out of his nose, blowing into it to deflate it, “Just look at this. The first time I did it, you were surprised. If I were to do it again, you wouldn’t be surprised by it, meaning that this entire thing would be so much more boring!”
He looked over at them, looking them over. “Now Twilight, I bet you are just dying to know how my magic works, aren’t you?”
She bit their lip and looked everywhere but at Discord, “N-no. I can handle myself. I don’t need to know how your magic works.”
He leaned over and grabbed them by the chin, turning them to look at his face, “Now, now, don’t lie to yourself. You can lie to me , but don’t lie to yourself. You know you want to…” he trailed off as he spun ball of pure magic in between his fingers.
“No. I-I don’t w‒”
He glared at her. “I said don’t lie to me. I hate it when ponies lie to me, even when they know I can tell they’re lying.”
“Wait… you said I could lie to you…”
“Did I? You must have been mistaken. I said no such thing.” He dared her with his eyes to contradict him.
“Anyway, since you won’t admit anything, you have no further use for me. Begone.” He snapped his fingers, “Oh, and goodnight… ”
They fell asleep, darkness taking their vision. The last thing they had seen was Discord’s face.
Author's Note
Here we go, people! Discord Rules, the first story that I've written that I actually wrote an outline for! Now, I must say, the ending may surprise you, and I guarantee there will be some people who won't like it. Who knows, I may change it later on.
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.
Discord Rules
Chapter 3
Nympha and Prattle
“Ugh. Wh-wh-agh!” Twilight yelled as she came to her senses. It was morning, the day after the strange pony had told them about the Crown of Harmony. After speaking with him, they had all agreed that it was best to get some sleep.
Now, you may be wondering why Twilight yelled. This was because there was a strange creature before her. She had never seen its like before.
It had eight limbs, four eyes, and two heads. Its heads were of a unicorn mare and a changeling. It had one pony eye, one lizard eye, one fish eye, and one changeling eye. It had an ant leg, a spider leg, a dog leg, a pony leg, a changeling leg, and three fly wings.
It was the most bizarre and horrifying thing Twilight had ever seen. Then it took a step toward her. She took a step back.
Then it spoke.
“We... apologize... for... scaring... you... We... did... not... expect... ponykind... to... come... here...” the changeling head said slowly, buzzing as it did so.
“Yes, we did not expect anypony to even remember this place existed. Are you hurt? Perhaps affected by this vile demon... Discord, was it?” the unicorn head spoke, anxiously as she searched all over them for a sign of injury.
“Yes, we were.” all six of them replied at once, surprising the two-headed… thing with all their voices.
“Oh, perhaps you were like me and dear Clarity, sorry, Nympha, here? We were fused into one, as well as a few other animals. Were you conscious during the process? No? Well, it is excruciating. Imagine‒” their shared black hoof clamped over her mouth.
“We… apologize... for... Prattle... here... Our… fusion... only... made... her... worse... than... she... used... to... be...” the changeling, apparently named Nympha, explained, still rather slow.
“Why do you speak like that? And why did Prattle call you Clarity?” Twilight stole the mouth again, leaving Rarity’s thoughts to sulk in silence. Twilight just couldn’t help herself. She needed to know more.
“I… speak… like… this… because… I… can… not… breathe… properly… We… have… one… pair… of… lungs… They… are… Prattle’s… I… am… fine… for… the… most… part… it’s… just… incon…venient...” Nympha the head stated, “Prattle… called… me… Clarity… because… I… was… disguised… as… a… unicorn… named… Clarity… and… I… fed… off… of… her… but… she… didn’t… mind… when… she… found… out… She… helped… keep… me… in… disguise… Then… Discord… came... along… and… fused… us…” After listening carefully, Twilight could detect a quiet breath in between each word. The she shook her head.
“So, why are you here again? You said something about this place not being somewhere you expected other ponies to go, I think.” Twilight asked. Rarity’s thoughts were still sulking in their mental corner, while Rainbow’s thoughts mentally laughed at her.
“We were just on our way to Twister, and we decided to camp here for the night. Have you heard of Twister? It’s this peaceful little town that things like us built. It’s a haven for mutants, like us. Oh! We could go there together!” Prattle, well prattled.
All of a sudden, Pinkie took hold of their mouth. “Silly Prattle, we aren’t going to get to Twister until after Stonebreaker Castle, but before the Shattered Jungle!” Her reveal of their plans was quickly registered and all of them forced Pinkie to shut up.
“What!? Y-y-you’re going t-t-to St-stonebreaker C-castle?” Prattle stuttered, “That place is dangerous! I’ve heard there are all kinds of monsters there! We were planning on going around the Venture Mountains!”
Twilight and the rest shook their collective head, “We can’t do that. We are on a time-sensitive mission, and we cannot be delayed!” She held their head high, feeling proud.
“And… what… mission… would… that… be…?” Nympha gasped. Twilight felt that Nympha wasn’t entirely comfortable with her… condition, no matter what she might say.
They thought for a second. “Well, after Discord won, he fused us together, and left us out here. Then this strange pony woke us up, and he told us that we must find this crown, and when we do we’ll become like Celestia and Luna. We must do it was fast as possible!”
“That… pony… doesn’t… seem… very… trustworthy… does… he…?” Nympha asked, “He… might… have… lied… to… you…”
“We can’t risk that he might be telling the truth! We have to finish this mission, for the sake of Equestria!” Twilight shouted.
“Have… it… your… way… We… are… going… somewhere… safe…” Nympha nudged Prattle, trying to get her to turn around, “We… wish… you… luck… on… your… journey…” All this time, Prattle was staring at the ground, downcast that she couldn’t help her new friends. Both were obviously certain that the alicorn would fail.
Watching the mutant disappear into the distance, the small group decided to keep moving. They headed directly to the mountains, right toward the center.
Celestia, Luna, and Discord were sitting at a table. In front of them lay several tea cups, each filled to the brim with the strongest alcohol they could find.
“Your turn, Celestia.” Discord murmured, feeling a little woozy from all the alcohol. So far, they had each consumed enough to kill three full-grown elephants.
Celestia grinned and grabbed another teacup, draining it in seconds. “Your turn, Luna.” she said, as a pink burbling pillow floated over and refilled her cup.
Luna grimaced. She did not drink nearly as much as her fellows, and so was not used to this much alcohol. She was feeling much more than just woozy, and she hadn’t even had her next drink!
Luna reached over and drained the cup, a bit slower than the others. Discord smirked, “Getting to be too much for you, Luna? You should quit now, while you’re still sober enough to think!”
“No, Discord. I will not quit. I have… uh… merely wished to savor the taste! Yes, I wish to savor it!.” Luna grinned nervously. The brew tasted nasty, so she wasn’t sure they would believe her.
Luckily, they seemed just buzzed enough to believe it. “Well, that’s nice. I’m sure the pillow is happy that you like its work.” The aforementioned pillow burbled in happiness.
“Yes. Enjoyed. Of course. Anyways, Discord, it is your turn. Unless you were stalling with this conversation?” Luna accused, trying to push the heat onto him.
“Of course, Luna.” Discord smirked again. He grabbed his cup, tipped it sideways, and drank it through a straw sticking out of a wall. He set it down and wiped his lips off.
Luna groaned. It was going to be a long night. Also, for some reason, she felt like there was something they were forgetting. Something… something important.
Author's Note
Well, this chapter was put off a lot. I should stop doing that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!
Discord Rules
Chapter 4
Suspicion
Look, a town! Pinkie Pie’s voice shouted inside their collective mind.
Twilight had noticed at the same time. A small town, about half the size of Ponyville. She shuddered. She still had to get used to the idea of what Discord had transformed Ponyville into. It’s very dimensions warped minds and drove ponies hysterical. It was a miracle they had gotten away from… that place unscathed.
This place seems to be inhabited , Twilight noted, seeing movement among the buildings. Pinkie quickly hopped them over to the town without a second thought. As they moved toward the town, Twilight noticed that the place was filled with only ponies, for some reason. There were no other species, and there were no mutants.
When they reached the outskirts of the town, ponies began to notice them. They soon had attracted a large crowd, most of which were too afraid to approach. They must be think we are one of Discord’s monsters, Twilight concluded, after a second of thought. Even over only the two-day journey the alicorn had set out on, they had already fought off several vicious mutated… things . It was near impossible to even tell what they were before Discord had taken over.
Pinkie walked them over to the large crowd, while, at Twilight’s urging, staying an acceptable distance from the villagers. Twilight cleared their throat, causing several of the townspeople to tense in fear, then said, “There is no need to fear. W‒er, I do not wish to harm you.” Her declaration, and the absolute surety in her voice made some of the townspeople nearby sigh in relief, and relax, before realizing what was going on and tensing up again.
Overhead, a flock of purple floppy forks flew through the liquid spoon cloud, raining kitchen utensils on the townspeople, who paid them no mind. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut apart, which a nearby house decided to demonstrate by cutting some tension out of the air with its chimney, then eating it. The glares of the townsfolk burnt holes into the rainbow colored grass floating above the alicorn, which proceeded to consume itself with a vengeance.
A lone figure stepped out of the crowd, apparently a respected person, as the other villagers parted quite quickly for him. He called over from a fair distance away, “What are you? You seem to be one of the monster’s creations, but never before has one demonstrated the ability to speak any known language,” he examined the alicorn from his position, “and you seem to be friendly, at least.” He looked into their eyes, and saw that they had fragmented pupils, which the alicorn had only noticed recently, when a traveller had pointed them out to them. The stallion seemed vaguely perturbed by them.
Twilight blinked, then spoke, “I do not know what I am. I cannot remember anything from before Discord’s reign‒,” several townsfolk gasped in shock, apparently frightened by Discord’s name, “‒but I do not believe that I have any reason to hurt you. I also think that the reason you have not seen any intelligent creations of Discord is because they have all moved on to the town known to them as ‘Twister’. It is apparently a haven for us.”
The stallion appeared to think for a moment, then turned and asked, “Why have you not gone there? You said it is a haven, yet here you are. Is there something wrong?” He stared suspiciously at the alicorn, before adding, “Also, before I forget, what is your name? If you have one, that is.”
Twilight panicked, then conversed quickly with her friends’ thoughts. They agreed on the simplest story, the truth, or, at least, part of it. Twilight looked back up at the stallion, who was staring curiously, then said, “I am on a mission that I believe may end Discord’s reign of chaos. For reasons I cannot disclose, I must be the one to carry out this mission, and I cannot tell any of you what it is. And my name?” Twilight closed her eyes, then looked back up, “Is Harmonia.”
“Reasons you cannot disclose, eh?” the stallion glared at the newly dubbed ‘Harmonia’, “Hm… I suppose if you don’t stay long we can let you stay. And, how long do you plan on sitting here? I can’t imagine it being very comfortable.” He chuckled as Twilight started, not realizing that she had been sitting in the same position for their entire conversation.
“Thank you, and I only plan on staying the night, if I am not somehow trapped here overnight!” She raised her voice at the end of the sentence, turning to glare at a group of aggressive-looking ponies holding what looked like restraints behind their backs. This time, it was Twilight’s turn to chuckle at the bewildered look on the stallion’s face. “That reminds me, what was your name?”
The stallion glared at ‘Harmonia’, making her back up with the force of his stare, “I don’t think it should matter to you. You are only staying here for the night. You. Shouldn’t. Care. You got that?” Twilight nodded frantically, wondering why he was suddenly so hostile. Perhaps he didn’t like his name? Or maybe he still suspected that she wasn’t being honest? Or… was it both?
Nevertheless, afterward, the stallion calmed down a great deal. He led Harmonia to a small, seemingly poorly-off inn, which made sense, as there probably weren’t many visitors from out of town. The innkeeper looked up from her work, saw the potential customers, and ignored any danger they might have posed to her, “You want to stay in this inn? I-I-I can get you whatever you want! Whatever you want! We don’t get much business ‘round here, so I’ll always be free!”
Twilight, more than a little perturbed by the mare’s excitedness, and a starting to get a little worried about her friends, whom she hadn’t heard from in a while, decided to get this conversation out of the way as soon as possible. “Uhh… yes! I would like to rent a room in this… lovely inn for one night!” She grinned nervously, hoping the conversation would end quickly. Twilight noticed that the stallion had disappeared on her, leaving her here alone.
“Only one night?” The mare seemed to droop a bit, before perking back up, “Well, one night’s better than nothin’! I’ll show you to your room right away!” She grabbed Harmonia around the neck and practically dragged her to the room. “Here it is! Sleep tight!” Giving another grin, the innkeeper disappeared back down the steps.
Finally, I’m alone. All right… is anyone here? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie? Applejack!? Rarity!? Fluttershy!? Where did you all go!? Am I all alone in here? Twilight, panic-stricken, began to sob. There was no reply.
Author's Note
So sorry this chapter took so long! I had real life to do (I know, what a waste of time, right?), anime to watch, and annoying ideas to put down. I also had a really bad case of writer's block (my first so far, blegh), and really needed some inspiration. I finally found it when General Mumble released his new album Monsters x Magic . For some reason, it really inspired me. Anyway, yes, I did have to leave you on yet another tense moment, as peaceful endings are just boring. :3
Discord Rules
Chapter 5
Stonebreaker Castle
Rainbow Dash!!? Pinkie!? Applejack!? Rarity!? Fluttershy!? Where you all have gone!? Twilight called once more. She waited a few seconds, waited for someone, anyone to respond. She was about to mentally shout again, when she heard a small noise echo throughout her head, causing her to freeze in absolute, paralyzing fear.
Temporarily shaking off her fear, Twilight decided to call out once more. Hey, guys! You better respond, or else I’ll… I’ll… Twilight slowed, wondering what she would really do. And while she was at it, why she had been so afraid before. Before she could contemplate further, she heard a weak stream of thoughts bounce off her mind.
T… Twi? Is… is that you? Applejack’s voice entered Twilight’s mind. The relief that Twilight felt from discovering that at least one of her friends was still all right was strong enough to ease all the panic she had been feeling earlier.
Applejack! Are you okay? What happened to the others? Where were you? Why didn’t you respond to me earlier? Is there someone else here with us? Were you the one who made that scary noise earlier? Twilight’s questions seemed to visibly detract from Applejack’s thought strength. Applejack’s voice grew weaker, and it distorted. It almost sounded like five voices at once .
Sorry, but I can’t answer most of those. All I know is that you’re becoming the dominant personality, Applejack replied. Her voice, or maybe it would be voices, was becoming increasingly more dissonant, each separate tone becoming each of Twilight’s friends voices.
Wait, do you mean… you’re going to fade away? Is that what’s happening!? Twilight’s mind began to shift into overdrive, processing all the available information, and trying to create a way to fix this. Her friends’ voices got even weaker.
Twilight… if you keep on like this, you’ll kill us , Rainbow Dash’s voice rasped. The shock alone of hearing her arrogant friend sounding so pitiful caused almost all of Twilight’s mind to shut down, leaving only the bare minimum.
You’ll… you’ll die if I think too much? Twilight was in shock. It was just too much. There was no way her brilliant mind could be such a detriment. That… that can’t be true. It just can’t. I can’t accept it!
She’s right, darling, Rarity whispered, You’re thinking much more than we are, and doing much more in general. Our mind has decided that the five of us are unecessarily taking up resources. It’s going to get rid of us if we don’t start doing something.
Okay… I’ll… I’ll take a step back! You five can take the body! I’ll just be the mind! It’ll work perfectly! Twilight shouted, her mind crazed with the possiblity she might lose her friends.
T-twilight… you sound… scary… Fluttershy’s already soft voice was now almost imperceptable. She didn’t sound like she was holding together under the stress very well.
Twilight began to calm down. She needed to think calmly, rationally. She definitely couldn’t afford to lose herself, not at a time like this. Okay, I’’ll be the one who plans everything out… Rarity, you can be our voice. Everypony else, you get the same jobs as before. Is everyone okay with that?
All five of her friends agreed with her, not that they had the strength to disagree in the first place. Twilight then sat back, and let her friends take over for her.
The next morning, after saying goodbye to the townsfolk, who were noticeably more friendly when they noticed that nothing bad had happened overnight, Harmonia set off in the direction of the Venture Mountains. The rocky range seemed much closer than yesterday, only a couple hours away instead of days. The villagers attributed the phenomenon to Discord, saying that the mountain range had been moving back and forth since he had taken over.
After a few hours of travel, Harmonia arrived at the base of the first mountain. It was much taller than had been suggested from a distance. Near to the alicorn was a pass between this mountain and the next, with crumbling walls all over the slope.
Harmonia clambered through the ruins, heading toward the biggest, and surprisingly intact, structure in the entire pass. Stonebreaker Castle. Legend has it that the guardian of the Castle was the original King of Equestria, the one who crossed over the World’s Ocean from the ancient homeland of the ponies.
King Stonebreaker. The name alone chills the air around Harmonia. Or perhaps that is merely Discord trying to freeze clouds in midair. The old king was a cruel stallion, and he merely petrified his opponents, then crushed them, earning him his name. It is said that he was finally defeated when the Princesses, his daughters, petrified him, and, using the Elements of Harmony, sealed his soul into the castle he ruled from.
Stonebreaker Castle certainly had the feel of an ancient king’s soul. It was a decaying fortress, falling apart at the seams, yet unyielding to the forces of time as well. Harmonia reached the entrance of the castle, where all of Equestria’s heroes had passed through at one time or another, for more reasons than anyone could count.
Passing through the threshold, Harmonia shivered. The castle walls were literally screaming the word “Haunted!” at her. After Harmonia glared at them intensely, the walls shut up. She continued her walk through the entrance.
Beyond the entrance, everything seemed completely untouched. There were no spiderwebs, no dust, and most surprising of all, no sign of Discord’s mischief. It all looked the way it must have the day the Princesses defeated their father, and imprisoned him here.
What do you think, Twilight? Is there some kind of enchantment over the entire place? Pinkie asked, acting surprisingly solemn, perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation.
I think that this place needs a good cleaning. What kind of king would live in a place this dirty? Twilight asked, before realizing what she just said, Wait, am I turning into Rarity or something? Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just, I don’t normally act like that.
I think all our minds are influencing each other, Fluttershy stated loudly, surprising everyone, Before, I could never do something like this. Now? I feel like it’s nothing. The only explanation for such a fast transition would be if somehow you all were influencing my thoughts.
An interesting observation, Fluttershy. You seem to be showing traits from Rainbow Dash and myself most strongly, though. I wonder why that is? Twilight thought, Pinkie also seems to be less, well, Pinkie, and Dash wasn’t boasting at the walls when they were yelling at us. It seems that you’re probably right, Fluttershy.
Somehow, during their conversation, they had ended up in front of the throne room. Harmonia couldn’t even remember walking during the dialogue. Opening the large doors, the alicorn strutted regally toward the throne. Upon it was a strange unicorn statue.
The statue was strangely shaped, with higher shoulders and a broader skull than modern-day ponies. It had a very long horn, and it was wearing a finely carved set of royal-looking clothes, with a massive, detailed crown upon its head.
Upon closer inspection, the statue seemed to be made out of an unknown mineral, with microscopic detail preserved in it. The statue seemed to have the same level of detail all over, as well. It must have been the petrified King Stonebreaker.
Harmonia backed away from it, and navigated around the back of the throne, searching for a way through to the other side of the fortress. Before she got very far, she heard a cracking sound, and the entire throne room shook. Moving to see what had happened, she spotted the empty space where King Stonebreaker had been, and the small pile of dust lying on his throne.
Harmonia turns around and looks around the room. There was no one there. A small noise echoed behind her. Spinning, she saw… absolutely nothing. There was nothing there. Sighing in relief, Harmonia turned back to the search for the escape route, and began fumbling around the back of the throne. This was going to be a long search.
Author's Note
Well, this chapter got a bit more shadowy. The Mane Six are doomed to mingle their minds together, eventually becoming one... or are they? The only way to find out is to continue reading.
Discord Rules
Chapter 6
King Stonebreaker
“Whee!” Luna cried as she slid across the pink ice. Discord had poured liquid nitrogen all over the throne room, which had then frozen completely smooth, creating a surprisingly pink ice skating rink. Celestia slid by her, the two of them only centimeters apart, before slamming into a wall that had suddenly sprung out of the ground. Luna began laughing, only to crash into a similar wall.
Discord, who had been checking the blue, ticking watch he had drawn on his arm with a pink shard of ice, began walking toward the sisters, while rotating in the air. Reaching Luna’s collapsed form, Discord grabbed a lever sticking out of his stomach and flipped it, causing Luna to rise up into the air, giggling. Walking over to Celestia, he pushed a button on her head that launched her up into the air, before settling back down at the same height as Luna, and they were set back down, on their hooves.
“Now, I think you two need to know this. You know your little ponies, the… what’s it called… the Helements of Armory? Something like that. Anyway, something’s happened to them. They tried to use their helements on moi, attempted to petrify this beautiful face in order to preserve it for all eternity. Unfortunately, it backfired and fused them together! They are now one big, ball of chaos, ripe for manipulation. And what’s more, they’re just about to meet your old father, King Stonebreaker!” he grinned as he relayed the awful news to them
Celestia and Luna took the news in silence, not responding at all. Minutes passed, and they still didn’t move. Discord was beginning to think that he had killed them with shock, when Celestia said, “That is how it is meant to be.”
“I’m sorry? Did you just say that this was how it is meant to be!? ” Discord shouted in surprise. How could something done by him , the agent of chaos, have been predictable!?
A voice startlingly similar to his own came out of the shadows, “Yes, yes she did. And the reason why is because of me.” A mirror image of Discord slithered out of the shadows and stood upright, facing him. “I am Discord the Puppetmaster. I am the True Chaos, the one that worms into your heart and eats away at your soul. And I am not you.”
Harmonia was checking the throne room once again. It was the third time she had searched it, yet she still could not find anything. The throne room was as empty as the first time she had searched it. Harmonia was beginning to think that she had been deceived, that there was no secret passage through Stonebreaker Castle, when she heard a loud cracking behind her. Remembering the disappearance of King Stonebreaker, she was on the lookout for him. What she saw was not what she expected.
King Stonebreaker was still petrified, yet he was moving swiftly toward them. He was walking faster than any pony could move. His eyes were filled with hatred, paralyzing Harmonia, and he reached the alicorn quickly. His massive hoof slammed into their stomach and threw them across the room.
Individual thoughts were silenced as Harmonia began moving as if she were one creature, as if she were not six beings in one body. Magic flew from her horn, causing explosions where they struck. She flew directly at the stone king with magic streaming from her horn, and kicked him at near-sonic speeds, then flew away, nursing a sore hoof. Her eyes focused and expanded, her vision going red, as Fluttershy’s Stare activated inside them, aimed directly at the animated statue.
He emerged from the magical smoke, completely unharmed, and ignored the Stare, instead charging directly at Harmonia. She stopped Staring just in time, and jumped out of his path, causing him to slam into the wall. As he was stuck, dazed, Harmonia ran up to him and bucked him through the wall, causing pain to shoot through her hooves.
King Stonebreaker emerged from the rubble, again, completely unharmed. He stalked up to them and bucked Harmonia right in the face, throwing her across the room again, and through a wall. She lied there, dazed, waiting for the king to come through the smoke. He did, and he lifted up a hoof to crush them where they lay.
All of a sudden, all the creatures that Harmonia had ever known filled her mind, and she knew that all of them were hoping that she could bring an end to all the chaos. That she could survive. Rage filled every corner of Harmonia’s mind, removing the limits she had unconsciously kept upon her abilities, subconsciously fearing what she could do.
As the king’s hoof descended, Harmonia lashed out at it. As she struck, the entire statue shuddered, and the king was thrown across the room. No longer registering pain, Harmonia climbed out of the rubble and walked over to King Stonebreaker.
His hoof had been shattered, and the rest of his body was riddled with cracks, although they were slowly disappearing. The king rose back up and attempted to strike Harmonia again, which she blocked. She then lashed out, hitting him directly in the chest, shattering it.
King Stonebreaker stumbled backward, clutching at the gaping hole in his chest. Harmonia struck again, this time in his face, then followed it up with a massive blast of magic. His entire body crumbled and the magic kept going, shattering part of the wall behind the throne, revealing the secret passage.
With the destruction of the object of her rage, Harmonia calmed down, her multiple personalities separating once again.
What… what was that? Fluttershy’s thoughts asked, what happened to us?
None of them knew. Instead of waiting in the possibly unstable castle, Harmonia ventured through the secret passage, which widened into a long tunnel. Along the tunnel walls were paintings, ones of conflict. Every painting seemed to have the same figure in them, a mismatched creature that resembled Discord.
The very first painting was old, older than anything that Harmonia had ever seen. It was painted in very precise strokes, with infinitesimally small details all across it. It had a civilization of some sort of bipedal, hairless ape, with the Discord-like creature wreaking destruction upon it. The creature seemed to be Discord, only its body parts were different animals. A spider’s left arm, a gorilla’s right, a zebra’s hind legs, nine fox tails, the head of one of the hairless apes, four insect wings, and short, stubby horns sticking out of its head.
Moving on to the next painting, Harmonia noticed that it was less precise than the first, but no less detailed. It depicted a city of some sort of lizard-like bipedal creature. Again, a Discord-like creature was attacking it, only this time, it had the lizards’ head, one wing that seemed to be made out of light, one that was made of steel, yet resembled a dragon’s. It had no legs, and instead had a single limb that ended in a wheel. It’s arms were metal, one ending in a two-fingered claw, the other in a cylinder.
Again and again, the paintings showed civilizations being destroyed by a creature that was made up of many creatures from the same time. As the paintings kept going, the amount of civilizations per painting was slowly growing, and they seemed to be following a pattern of there being a group of technology focused ones, then a group of magically focused ones, then technologically, then magically, and so on. The level of technological or magical advancement seemed to be slowly decreasing, as well.
Hundreds, no, thousands of paintings lined the walls, showing a historical record going back more than billions of years. If each civilization had developed in the same amount of time Equestrian civilization had, and they no doubt had taken longer , due to their advancement, then this cave must be older than their planet is suspected to be.
After a while, the paintings seemed less and less detailed, eventually deteriorating into what looked like cave paintings. Harmonia began to sprint down the long cave. After a certain point, the paintings just… stopped. there were no more.
Harmonia looked at the very last painting. It was unfinished, and it depicted six ponies using the Elements of Harmony against Discord, then fusing, then fighting King Stonebreaker. The accuracy of the painting surprised her. She had expected it to be another cave painting, and only storing one frame of time. But it was just as detailed as the first few, and painted in multiple scenes.
The fur on the back of her neck stood up, and she turned around, but there was no one. The entire passage was empty. There was no one who could have drawn the paintings, and especially not captured such detail in the battle with King Stonebreaker, not after only a few minutes.
Harmonia sprinted toward the exit of the tunnel, the creepy feeling of being watched following her. However, there was no where to watch from . The entire tunnel was straight and lit, with no dark areas. There were no holes in the walls, and there were no alcoves to hide in. Continuing her mad dash, Harmonia reached the end of the tunnel, and heard a loud roar behind her. King Stonebreaker had survived, and he was angry.
With his occasional “encouragements” from behind, the alicorn managed to make it out of the mountain range and onto the low plain that stretched out before them. Taking one last glance behind them, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Harmonia sprinted out onto the plain.
King Stonebreaker watched the alicorn go, angry that he could not pursue them. He retreated to his throne, and waited for his master, the one who had freed him from his stone prison, to return. The king knew that his master would be displeased that the alicorn had seen the past-paintings. Whatever his punishment would be, he would need to wait here to find out.
If he didn’t, it would draw his master’s attention to his daughters, and he didn’t want that. Despite his cruelty to other ponies, and despite their betrayal, he loved them more than himself. They were the only thing keeping him in this world.
He settle back in his throne, wondering when his master would return. However long, he would wait, and wait, and wait, until the end of the world, if need be. He would wait until the sun died and the earth burned if it would save his daughters. He would wait.
He would wait.
Author's Note
Whew! This chapter was fun to write. As you can probably tell. Anyway, sorry this one was late, I was grounded for a bit, blah, blah, blah, stuff. Anyway, that doesn't matter now.
Discord Rules
Chapter 7
Twister!
Several days passed, and Harmonia grew tired of the endless plains before her. The grasslands were certainly varied, and if one grew used to the strange colors, they would never be bored. However, after weeks of travel, the chaos became boring to Harmonia. It was as if… as if it were natural for them.
Crossing over a large, undulating hill, Harmonia spotted a single oasis of stability. It was a town, albeit one with strangely shaped buildings, but a town nonetheless. There were several pony-shaped silhouettes wandering throughout the town, and Harmonia’s eyes were drawn to them. There was something… off about the outlines. As if… as if they weren’t even really ponies.
Despite these ominous-sounding thoughts, Harmonia continued to approach the town. One figure seemed to notice her, and it waved. She waved back.
A few other figures gathered around the first. It wasn’t nearly as large as the last town’s mob, not even close. As Harmonia got closer, their shapes became more defined, and Harmonia stopped in surprise.
One of them was a bluish mare with a fifth leg, two horns, and a single wing. Another was made up of three colors, purple, red, and green, was androgynous, and had a mane made out of fire. The last one was a black and red alicorn stallion, with a glowing, rainbow cutie mark that seemed to be an explosion and a mane and wings made up of what seemed to be steel. He stood slightly apart from the others.
The pony with the wrong amount of limbs approached Harmonia first. She spoke, “How are you? We welcome you to Twister, home to the mutants and rejects of pony, changeling, and gryphon societies. I am Vestigial Limb, and I’m the doctor here. I see to new arrivals, make sure that their mutation isn’t causing any problems. Would you like me to examine you?”
Harmonia simply stared, not comprehending for a moment. After a second, she registered what Vestigial had said, and replied with a negative.
“No? Well, I hope that’s because you don’t have any problems, and not because you are too shy! Remember, I’m friendly, and these extra limbs aren’t going to hurt you at all! Anyway, this is Various Chlorides, whose name I’m not too sure about,” she gestured to the androgynous pony with the burning mane, “and Author’s Downfall!” she pointed at the other alicorn. She then leaned in to whisper into Harmonia’s ear, “He says that he isn’t a writer, but I know better than to be fooled by that. Names never lie!”
Various Chlorides simply stared emotionlessly in Harmonia’s general direction, not giving away if they have even noticed her. Author’s Downfall glared at Vestigial, apparently able to hear a whisper from a larger distance than most ponies.
“And so that’s introductions! Now, why don’t you tell us about yourself? You can start with your name, previous appearance, relationship to Discord, new powers, old powers, family, friends, previous address, previous identity, previous occupation, and previous knowledge of history!” Vestigial listed all of that without taking a breath. She then pulled out a clipboard, and pencil and began scribbling things down.
“Uh… our, er, my name is Harmonia. I previously used to be six ponies, but we were fused together by Discord. Um… as far as I can tell, we, uh, I have the same abilities as other alicorns, like Celestia and Luna. Uh…” Harmonia began before being quickly cut off by Vestigial.
“No, no, no! Why!? Why is this happening!? You can’t be a creation of Discord! You simply can’t! You aren’t chaotic enough!” She cried.
Harmonia just sighed and said, “If he is chaos, then why would everything he does be absolutely chaotic? His biggest trait is his unpredictability, meaning that if there are standards for his chaos, then he would be betraying himself. Meaning, chaos has no standards, and therefore, you cannot judge me based on standards that you imposed on a system that you have no understanding of.” As soon as she realized what she said, Harmonia clamped a hoof over her mouth. What had she just said?
Vestigial and Author simply gaped at her, Author too surprised to keep himself looking irritated. Various didn’t react at all, making Harmonia wonder if he was even paying attention.
Vestigial pulled herself together quickly, turning to Various and saying, “Well, that was unexpected. But, is she authorized access?”
Various’s expression didn’t alter, but he said, “Authorization for entering location designated: “Twister” granted,” he turned to Harmonia, his movements slightly jerky, “You are now permitted inside the town. However, you will be observed for the next three days, or until you leave. You will be observed by Author’s Downfall. Please comply, or we will use force.”
Vestigial awkwardly grinned at Harmonia, “Well, these days everything is dangerous. We can’t just trust you right off the bat, you understand. We need to make sure you’re safe to let into town.”
Author’s Downfall finally pulled himself together and nodded once. He folded his metallic wings around himself, before disappearing in a flash of light, and reappearing on a nearby rooftop. He then closed his eyes, and turned invisible.
Harmonia had wry grin, “You know, I wasn’t even going to go inside the town, right? I was just passing by, when you stopped me. Look, I was even heading straight past the town,” she pointed in the direction that she had been heading in. It passed by the town without entering it. It didn’t even come close to the town. “I’m really heading for something much, much farther ahead.”
Vestigial just stopped in shock. Her head turned toward Harmonia, “Y-you didn’t want to go in? Then… what? How? Since when does a mutant not want to stay here!?” She just clapped her hooves over her eyes and laid on the ground.
“Well, I’ll be off, then!” Harmonia cheerfully cried, before walking away with a smirk on her face. Then she slapped herself. She was causing chaos. That was the opposite of what she was supposed to be doing.
But, if chaos really is the enemy, then why does it feel so right?
“Oh, come on!”
Ahead of Harmonia lay the Shattered Jungle. Above it, stone clouds zoomed around, knocking everything out of the sky. She had been planning on flying over most of the jungle, but her plans were apparently canceled.
She looked around. The jungle really was as big as the old pony had made it out to be. It stretched from horizon to horizon, with no apparent end in sight. The plants that stood near the edge of the treeline seemed to be normal plants, but as you went farther in, they became weirder and weirder.
So, Harmonia needed to pass through a massive jungle, with some sort of ancient guardian inside, and somehow make it to the other side without dying. Oh, and she needed to do it as fast as possible, so as to minimize damage to the rest of the world.
Well, just another day in the life of a newborn alicorn, now isn’t it?
“Hmm… she is entering the jungle. Just as I planned,” Discord the Puppetmaster, otherwise known as the True Chaos, muttered under his breath. He looked down at the vines running through the jungle. They varied through the entire spectrum of colors, and came in every thickness. However, there was one constant. A thick, purplish vine that wrapped around trees and large, sleeping animals.
The True Chaos put one claw on the vine. It began to wrap itself around him. He quickly quelled its desire to devour him, and focused on the vine.
The vine unwrapped itself from several nearby trees and animals, shrinking into the jungle. The True Chaos admired his handiwork for a moment, before disappearing and leaving the jungle entirely.
Author's Note
Well, sorry this one took so long. But you know, Christmas and all that crap. Anyway, the True Chaos is doing something that is totally evil and everything.
So, yeah. I just realized that the plot of this story (and its possible sequel) are both written in a way that could be rewritten quite easily as a video game, with bosses and stuff.
So, did you guys get what you wanted for Christmas?
Author's Note
Sorry for the really, really, really, really late chapter, but I have had stuff to do. Like, really, really important stuff that shouldn't be explained to people over the Internet. Good news, though, I have completed the entirety of Discord Rules. So, as long as I remember the story, I will post the last few chapters once a week.
The Jungle
Discord Rules
Chapter 8
The Jungle
“What is with this place?” Harmonia asked, after stepping on a vine that squealed at her for the twelfth time.
That vine wasn’t the only weird kind. There were some that breathed fire at her, some that died the instant she touched them, some that wrapped around her, and some that just disappeared.
“Didn’t that guy say that Discord couldn’t influence this place?” she wondered aloud, “Is this really how this place is normally?”
Several creatures wandered around in the distance, and Harmonia decided not to approach them. The plants were bad enough.
“Speaking of plants…” Harmonia muttered. Before her was a massive clearing, filled with a tangled mess of a purplish vine, with a single massive bud in the center. The vine hadn’t been anywhere else in the forest, but it was overgrown in this one spot.
“This seems suspicious,” Harmonia said to herself. In the instant she said that, the bud in the center opened up, and she felt her hooves leave the ground.
She looked around, and saw that she wasn’t being held up by anything. Instead, she was being sucked in. She immediately began flapping in the opposite direction. Vines began to reach for her, and she shot bolts of magic at them, ripping them to pieces.
The vines began to regenerate, and continued reaching for Harmonia. She performed a series of complex evasive maneuvers and flew directly at the plant’s center. Vines piled up further and further, blocking any path directly to it. Harmonia had to settle for ripping her way through a wall of vines that regenerated at almost the same rate at which they were destroyed.
Vines grabbed her back legs, and pulled her out of range of the main body. She continued firing indiscriminately, hoping to hit something vital. More vines wrapped around her, eventually cocooning her in an ever-growing mass of plant matter.
Small cracks in the cocoon allowed Harmonia to see out. She saw the vines extending out of the small clearing and ripping up trees, smashing animals, and generally killing everything it could. Nothing could put up much of a resistance to it.
Anger sparked in Harmonia’s mind. These were the creatures she was here to protect . They weren’t allowed to die. She released a burst of pure magic, decimating the shell of vines around her and allowing her to escape.
The plant began to reach for her again, intent on capturing her alive while killing everything else. This, more than anything else, angered her. Why should she be the one to watch everything die? What made her so special, that she needed to be tortured like that?
Her anger burned hot in her chest, then moved through her head and into her horn. A white and black flame burst out of the tip of her horn, destroying most of the plant, while leaving the other flora and fauna unharmed.
Immediately, the vines grew back and began attacking again. Harmonia fought back, but even her anger could not sustain her long enough to prevent the vines from eventually grabbing onto her and imprisoning her. She eventually ran out of energy to power her magic, and collapsed, exhausted.
The vines shifted, and one side of the cocoon opened. It revealed a large, eye-shaped object, that pulsed in all colors of the rainbow. The core of the plant glared directly at her.
Harmonia summoned up all of her energy to slowly shift herself closer to the core. It stared at her, clearly believing that she could no longer fight. She would use that to her advantage.
Once she was close to the core, Harmonia raised her head. The core glared directly into her eyes, a bit of confusion in it, wondering what she was trying to accomplish. She lowered her head… and rammed her horn straight through the core, destroying it instantly.
The vines around her turned grey and crumbled, allowing her to fall lightly to the ground. All around her, the plant was dying, and the jungle was being liberated. Plants and animals rose up out of the ashes left behind when the plant died, and continued with their business.
Harmonia was not so fortunate. Instead, she collapsed and was instantly asleep.
“You’re the True Chaos ? That isn’t even funny,” Discord said, “I am chaos incarnate. There’s no one else.”
“”You thought you were chaos incarnate,” said the True Chaos, “In reality, all you are is one of my pawns.” His voice was such that anything that heard it couldn’t help but want to believe everything he said. Even Discord.
“No! That isn't true!” Discord said.
“Believe it or not, it is true. You two know,” said the True Chaos, nodding toward the two Princesses.
Luna and Celestia looked at each other, then nodded. Celestia stepped forward, “After our becoming alicorns, chaos seemed to become a more aggressive force, as if it was becoming more desperate. I suppose that was him, ” she nodded at Discord, “doing whatever he wanted.”
The True Chaos nodded, “Yes, yes, it was. You see, everything must be balanced, or everything will fall apart. And I don’t want everything to fall apart, so I did my best to balance everything. However, when you two came along, you began to push toward order. I couldn't allow that to happen, so I cut off a piece of myself to balance against you two. The stupid piece, I might add.” He glared directly at Discord, who glared right back.
“You two were supposed to help me keep balance. However, you could not see the benefit in chaos, and you rejected that position to create order,” he continued.
Luna looked visibly pained at this, as if she regretted making that decision. Celestia however, stepped even farther forward, and said, “Of course! Chaos is evil! It does nothing but cause harm to living things!”
The True Chaos simply sighed, “Chaos is life. Without chaos nothing could live. It is order that death belongs to.” Celestia stepped back in shock. “In fact, what you saw Discord here create during his time in Equestria was simply another kind of order, albeit a strange one. The chaos was during the change to his order, not the actual presence of his order.”
“Wh-how can you call what he does order!? Order is when things make sense!” Celestia cried.
“For once, I have to agree with Celestia here. I am not an orderly being! I am a chaotic one! I am the Spirit of Chaos!” Discord said.
“It was order because things repeated. The repetition was not obvious, but if you looked close enough, you could see it. The repetition was the changes. It changed in a regular manner. If Discord was an actual ‘spirit of chaos’ , he would be more subtle. To live is to cause chaos,” the True Chaos turned to Discord, “And you’re just preventing that.”
“B-but I–”
“No buts! I have waited long enough, and now a new candidate for my place has appeared. I will take over your role to cause as much chaos as possible, and the new candidate will prevent either order or chaos gaining too much on the other.”
Celestia looked as if she realized something. “And who w-would that candidate be?” She looked like she was afraid of what the answer might be.
The True Chaos glanced at her and grinned, “You know who. I shouldn’t need to answer that.”
Celestia asked, “Just as a confirmation, who is it?”
The True Chaos’s grin grew even wider. “Why, it’s your student and her friends, of course.”
Author's Note
Sorry for the short chapter, but there wasn't enough storytelling to make it bigger. But, if you actually care, don't worry, because I'll be making a sequel in the future.
Harmonia Proelio
Discord Rules
Chapter 10
Harmonia Proelio
After the dust cleared, and their eyes adjusted to the intense light, the four gods looked up at what had knocked them over.
It was a massive alicorn, white body, with a black mane, eyes, and tail. Her cutie mark was that of a solid grey orb.
“Wh-who are you?” asked Celestia, dreading the answer she knew was coming.
“My name is Harmonia Proelio,” said the new goddess, “I was created from a fusion of six ponies. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Rarity Belle, and Fluttershy.”
“And what is your function?” asked the True Chaos, looking confident.
“As a goddess, I rule over the opposites of friendship and battle. I am the true upholder of balance between order and chaos,” said Harmonia Proelio, “and I begin my function now.”
Her horn glowed a dark grey, and the area around them dissolved, leaving them standing in the Canterlot throne room. Outside, everything changed back to its normal state. Discord began to disintegrate.
His pained howls lasted mere seconds before he was permanently silenced.
Celestia looked shocked, “Y-you k-kil–”
Harmonia cut her off. “He did not belong. He was unecessary. And so, he was removed.” Her gaze travelled to Celestia. “Death is orderly. This is what you wanted, is it not?”
“N-no…” Celestia whimpered, reduced to something less than a worm under Harmonia’s glare. She knew that Harmonia cared less about her than she cared about the worm.
“Harmony will be upheld, and everything will be in balance. At all costs.” Harmonia’s expression had not changed once since her arrival.
The True Chaos’s smirk had changed to a nervous grin. It was clear that not everything was going according to plan.
Harmonia turned to him, “You, you are chaos. You will be removed from the presence of order, in order to preserve balance.” Her horn glowed, and the True Chaos disappeared. She turned toward Celestia and Luna. “You two are too well-established to be moved without causing chaos. I will leave you be.” She stalked out of the room and flew off.
Years passed, and Harmonia would appear time to time, either to stop fights or start them. However, whenever a powerful evil force appeared, Harmonia would always stop it right away. During those times, Celestia would always try to convince her former subject(s?) that they should join forces.
Every time, she was refused.
One day, Harmonia disappeared. Rumors abounded that she had left for somewhere else, to attempt to balance the entire planet, one country at a time.
Celestia waits for her return to this day.
Discord Rules
Chapter 8
Pine Tree Tower
“That’s it!” Harmonia shouted. Her voice was full of relief. It was justified, as the end of her long, tiring journey was in sight. A lone pine tree stood on the horizon, with a large rock beside it, a little shorter than the tree.
After walking for a while, Harmonia realized that the rock was actually a massive mountain. The ‘tree’ beside it was actually thousands of feet taller. The few clouds in the sky barely reached the tree’s middle. The millions of ‘leaves’ on the tree were, as the old pony had said, individual rooms.
After several days of walking, Harmonia finally reached the base of the tree. It towered above her, reaching far, far into the sky. Each room was balanced precariously on branches less than half their width. She hoped they wouldn’t fall while she was in them.
Harmonia walked into the tower’s base. Inside was a lift and a staircase. Harmonia stepped on the lift and inspected the massive number of buttons. There were thousands. She just looked and looked until she found one labeled “Harmonic Objects Floor”. She pushed it and the lift roared up the hollow center of the tree.
It stopped quickly, letting her out on a floor labeled “Dark Objects Floor A1a”. She stepped out into the massive labyrinth of rooms and branches. The first thing she saw was a pedestal in a room labeled “The Alicorn Amulet”. On the pedestal was the amulet itself. A short description was written on a plaque on the pedestal.
Harmonia felt an immense temptation to take the amulet. After all she was an alicorn. Sure, that old guy had told her not to, but why should she care? She was an alicorn, a god, in essence. Why should she listen to some old geezer–No. We’ve seen what that amulet can do, haven’t we? We can’t take it. Not after he warned us.
But that’s the Alicorn Amulet! It’s ours by right! And just imagine, all that power… Harmonia began to salivate, then shook herself. Her minds needed to agree on one thing, and one thing soon.
After a short debate, the minds in favor of continuing on without the amulet argued the other side into submission. Harmonia turned and reentered the lift, which took off again without any prompting.
It stopped again on “Dark Objects Floor D7z”. Harmonia took one look outside, saw a crown labeled “The Shadow Crown”, and got back on the lift, which kept going up.
On “Protective Objects Floor F9x6H5”, and Harmonia exited the lift one more time. Outside the lift were many rooms with various suits of armor, weapons, rings, crowns, and other, unidentifiable objects. Each was labeled with an description of its enchantment: complete protection, fire protection, poison immunity, the ability to breathe underwater, and so on and so forth.
Most of the objects had negative effects too, the most common being “drives the user insane after repeated use”. Harmonia entered the lift for, hopefully, the final time.
After another short ride up into the heights of the tree, the lift stopped on “Harmonic Objects Floor”. It seemed that Harmonic Objects were in short supply.
And indeed they were. Half of the rooms on the floor were empty, and the rest appeared damaged or aged. None appeared to contain anything with any great amount of power.
Eventually, Harmonia arrived at a single preserved room on the floor. She immediately knew what it was. She entered the room, and saw, at the other end, her goal. What she had gone on her long journey for.
It was the Crown of Harmony. Under the Crown was a secondary plaque, which said, “If you be pure of heart and broken of mind, then take this crown, and begin your rule most kind.” The essence was that it was perfect for Harmonia.
After some trepidation at putting an incredibly powerful and ancient artifact on her head, she lifted it with telekinesis, and put it on her head. An extremely bright light poured out of her eyes and everything went black.
“No…” Celestia whispered, “You can’t have…”
“I’m afraid I have, my dear Celestia,” said the True Chaos, smirking.
“No! She wouldn’t… they wouldn’t…” Celestia trailed off.
“I believe they already have. You see, Celestia, time is shortened here. It is much, much shorter. As in, days pass on the outside for every minute,” the True Chaos revealed, “So, in the time of this conversation, your student traveled for more than a month, and made it to the Pine Tree Tower.”
“N-n…” Celestia fell to the floor in despair. Luna looked like she was going to follow.
Discord stepped forward, “I will not–”
The True Chaos rounded on him, “You will not what? Allow this? I’m in charge here, and that’s how it’s going to remain. I am immensely more powerful than all three of you! I can feel it! Balance is already restoring itself, chaos and order are equalizing!”
“B-but I–”
“I already told you! No buts! No excuses! I am the most powerful here, and that will remain the way things are until my succesor arrives. Then even I’ll have to do what she says. And I know she’ll do her best to restore harmony.”
“Wh-what? A-are you switching to our side?” Luna asked, almost fearful, “Harmony is an orderly thing, isn’t it?”
The True Chaos merely smirked at her, “Actually, dear Luna, harmony is a balance between chaos and order. It is the state I’ve always tried to reach for, and it is so often confused with order.”
“But harmony is order! That is how our parents taught us!” Celestia seemed to have regained her ability to speak.
“No, just think about it. Laughter is chaos. The requirements for being a bearer for the Element of Laughter are chaotic. Honesty causes chaos. Loyalty can cause chaos in whoever bears it. Generosity can create conflict between how much the bearer needs and how much they can give away. Kindness means being kind to everyone, even if that causes even more conflict. And I shouldn’t need to explain Magic,” the True Chaos explained, “Your student should be enough of an example.”
“Twilight is–” Celestia began.
“Here,” interrupted Luna.
Celestia turned to her sister and began to ask “Wh–” when a massive light impacted the ground right next to her and knocked everyone over.
Author's Note
So yeah. Much earlier than I usually post these. Oh well.
