Chapter 3

Nopony knew why Discord had chosen to make Ponyville his capital. Aside from its geographical position (it was almost in the middle of Equestria), it was a pretty small and unassuming place. It had no large buildings, like Manehatten. It was not an economic powerhouse, like Las Pegasus. It was not even rich in natural resources, like Appaloosa. By all accounts it was just a small, peaceful country town, but Discord had still insisted on building his castle there.

Explosion Spire, he called it. It was like no castle ever built before. It had a circular base, but quickly blossomed into a dozen different towers, each one spiraling off in a random direction, each one painted an outrageous color. One was shocking pink, another neon orange, and so forth. It also had a nasty habit of glowing in the dark, so those ponies who had been living near it were forced to move just so they could get some sleep.

At this moment, the most powerful kings and tyrants from all over Equestria were arriving for another World Leaders Summit. These summits were typically only called during a national emergency, so it was never a good idea to miss one.

Discord was always the first to arrive. He had been flying over Ponyville, lazily doing the backstroke though the sky, when he angled into a steep dive and barreled through one of the windows of the towers. He made a beeline straight for the large room at the castle's base, which already been arranged with a large table and several chairs. He sat himself in one of the chairs and stretched.

"Chamberlain!" he called. A trembling pony stepped forward. She was dressed in a vibrant clown costume, and her face was painted white with a big red smile.

"Y-yes, my liege?" she said.

"You may bring in the others. Alphabetically, of course, but if you don't know the alphabet, don't worry about it. Neither do I." The clown pony chamberlain bowed and turned, opening up the castle's huge double doors.

"Announcing," she said, "his royal highness, Lord of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra." A male unicorn stepped in. He had a grey coat and a black mane. His eyes were blood red. A long, red mantle was draped over his body, obscuring his cutie mark, if he even had one. He gazed around the room with a look of distaste, and took a seat without saying a word. The chamberlain cleared her throat and continued.

"Announcing, his Lordship, Thrall, King of the Changelings." A Changeling entered. He was huge and bloated, with a black coat and green mane. His eyes were black and glittering. Since there seemed to be no chair big enough to hold him, Discord conjured up a large couch with a snap of his fingers. After he had seated himself, he gestured beside him, and a small changeling filly entered and sat down on his right.

"My daughter, Princess Chrysalis," Thrall rumbled, in a voice that seemed to come from deep inside him. "I brought her with me because I am currently teaching her the affairs of state, for she is my successor." Chrysalis said nothing, her eyes looking determinedly at the floor. Discord nodded at the chamberlain, who continued.

"Announcing, Head of State of the Pegasus Republic, General Thunderbolt." A pegasus walked in. His coat was smoky grey, and his mane bright yellow. On his flank was a cutie mark shaped like a lightning bolt. He was dressed in cold, grey steel armor befitting his rank. He sat down without acknowledging any of the others, even as Lord Thrall glowered at him. Once he was seated, Sombra turned to Discord.

"So what is this all about?" he asked, in a voice even lower and deeper than Thrall's. "You'd better have a very good reason for calling us here on such short notice."

"Me?" asked Discord, looking surprised. "I thought this was Thrall's party!"

"Why would I call a meeting in your capital?" growled Thrall.

"Well, I just figured that you were so desperate to get out of that forsaken wasteland you call a kingdom that-" Discord's explanation was cut off by Thunderbolt.

"If Discord did not call this summit," he said, "then who did?"

"I did," a voice said. They all turned to the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway was a unicorn. He was very old, with a grey body and a long white mane. He also had a white beard that cascaded almost to the floor. He wore a long pointed hat as well as a long blue cloak, both of which were decorated with moons and constellations, and rimmed with small bells which jingled as he walked.

"Representing the Free Unicorns of Equestria," he said with a smile, "Starswirl the Bearded."

Author's Note

The next chapter will be dealing with these characters as well, particularly how they relate to each other, and the general state of affairs in Equestria.