Chaos.
I could feel it. The world was turmoil and confusion – wars, rebellions, murder, starvation… Occasionally ponies ate carrots from the ground; sometimes the ground swallowed ponies down from the earth. Anger boiled. Cruelty reigned. There were no heroes, no saviors. Everypony for itself – every creature for itself, really.
It was a long time coming, really. Too long. I had always existed, of course – chaos was as old as order. There is no joy without strife, no peace without war, no rest without struggle. But I existed merely as a force of nature. I was an omniscient thing lurking in every creature’s mind, just waiting for my moment to twist them to my own design. Despite my gentle pushes to bloodshed, I wasn’t a creature who exclusively craved death and brutal cruelty. Simple things gave me joy as well – an older brother tripping a younger sister, a splash of mud in the face, waking to a snail on the tip of your nose or spiders in your mane, ponies howling at the moon while dogs pawed at the dust like nervous steeds.
I always craved more, but for that I needed more than my simple parlor tricks. I needed more than pranks and cheap laughs; though they were my joy, they were not strong enough to give me what I truly wanted. For that, I would have to turn to the stronger emotions of chaos. And the idea came to me one day; in the plane of existence only occupied by Harmony and I, a single object appeared: a buck’s antler. Four points. Beautiful, really. And it inspired a fantastic idea! I kept a hold of it, plotting. It would take countless ages to fulfill, but the Hoofulean effort would well worth it. For at the end…
I knew what I needed to do and how to do it.
The seeds of true discord would be planted.
The dragons were proud and mighty, but not infallible. I knew their weaknesses, their desires, their mania. And it was so simple to twist their minds to my will. A few whispered ideas here and there. Rumors began to spread, becoming more and more embellished as they went. The dragons erupted into war over a legendary treasure horde. Many fell for their greed, dying during the hunt for gold and glory. One gave me his tail, another his leg.
Self-titled earth ponies, so named for their responsibility to the earth, tended to crops and animals. They grew trees, grass, bushes, foodstuffs, raised rabbits and chickens, herded cattle and goats. What little order they could eke out of the world they cherished. They kept to themselves and, aside from the required tithes to the other tribes of ponies and the creatures they raised and tended to, shunned the outside world. They tended the earth. They alone knew the ways to grow the crops that kept other tribes alive. Anything beyond their control was to be shunned.
A forest had sprung up at the edge of one of their largest villages. A forest like no other – a forest where the trees began to grow of their own accord and their usual influence held little sway. Any seeds they planted within its borders failed to grow, and any plants they brought back from its soil died. Vines twisted through the undergrowth. Mighty magic was brewing. Something was taking their land away from them and giving it control of itself. Giving it freedom.
The idea was horrifying to the earth ponies and sent them into fits of confusion and terror.
A wayward goat, after escaping its pen, fled into the forest. From him, I was granted a second leg.
Now, the pegasi lived in their own little world of disorder. They controlled the weather , moved the clouds, granted rain to the earth ponies for their crops. They lived in the sky and, save for collecting their tithe from the earth ponies, kept to themselves. Birds never bothered them, but the pegasi were fierce, proud, and warlike. They were not a tribe to be messed with. And the griffons soon did just that – seeking to take control of earth and sky, the beasts launched surprise attacks on the strongholds of pegasi the world over. The earth suffered for it; a long winter was followed by a spring of floods as weather tending fell to the wayside in favor of war.
Ah, thank you. The wing of a pegasus. The front leg of a griffon.
The forest grew stronger. Trees soared into the sky, thick clusters of bushes choked the ground, and a small stream began to carve its way through the earth. An eagle landed on a branch, seeking rest after a long flight – and, well, needless to say I took a talon for an arm.
This was very hard work, but very fulfilling. I was still an idea. I had to focus some of my attention on something entirely new to me – the physical aspect of my future. I had claimed legs, arms, and a tail; I could create myself a body. I envisioned it. Long, slender, snakelike – the better to curl, coil, twist, and spring with. The creatures who had given me the prelude of physical form had perished in chaos and strife; I had to bring these different parts together to create a new, beautiful whole.
While I was immensely powerful, I could not create physical chaos. I could sway minds, send creatures to war, inspire cruelty and malice, but I could not give them the swords, the sticks, the clouds. I could not truly warp reality. For that, I needed a body. With all of my power so concentrated in physical form, I could fulfill my power’s potential and really show these ponies a beautiful world of chaos!
I could get no further for a long time. In a plane of existence only immortals could find, I began to take form. Slowly. The first dragon’s red tail, the second’s green leg, the goat’s leg. A long, serpentine body – just as I had imagined. The blue pegasus wing. Arm of griffon and talon of eagle – well, their talon would be my arm. What was the physical form of chaos without a little chaos of its own, after all? What fun if I couldn’t use a foot for a claw?
But I was far from complete, and indeed the most important aspects remained. Namely, I needed a face handsome enough to call my own – or at least a good enough to use as a palate. And I had an idea.
In the time I had been focused on my own problems, a unicorn had come to the lands. This beast was massive; a true horse, as grey as steel and as cold as ice. His magic was unmatched, and he took control of the unicorn tribe with little problem. He was preparing to march on all the lands, to control all of the tribes –all of the beasts. He wanted his name to be spoken for generations in hushed, venerable tones, as the Lord of all the land.
He wouldn’t quite make it, though. He was too close to taking my job – I would have no single distributer of misery! That honor belonged to me, and me alone!
His subjects hated him. His enemies feared him. He was strong. He was mighty. He was ruthless.
And he fell just as easily as the others had.
The coup was bloody and brutal. The ensuring civil unrest lasted years. It was long enough for me to take this handsome fellow’s face and make it my own. Oh, sure, I kept the coat color and the short black mane – but I needed to evoke myself when I faced my subjects.
Not that old horse lord - old what's his name.
As I gathered my physical body about me, I waited to add my crowning piece. I was not yet ready to appear on earth and reveal myself to my subjects. Civilizations had come and gone since I had started this task; surely another one or two more would be worth the wait. In the first years I was blind; much of my influence was taken out of earth as I focused now on controlling, strengthening, and finishing this new body of mine. It wasn’t complete – aside from eyes, I was missing another wing. And I needed something to match my antler…
As I lost focus, Harmony took over. Slowly, the world changed. In this time, the tribes of ponies began to soften toward each other. Many creatures began to find peace, not only within themselves but with others. The war between the pegasi and griffons ended. The remaining dragons had ceased their short, brutal brawls over massive – sometimes imaginary – hordes. Slowly but surely, a sense of unity began to take over – established villages and towns sprung up, and though each creature kept to themselves, trade routes were opened. Tithes were still collected, but the pony tribes did more to help each other. From safe distances, perhaps, but togetherness nonetheless.
It was sickening.
And it was about to end.
The forest at the edge of that little earth pony village had grown massive. Thick foliage choked out the sun. Thick thorny vines twisted in many areas, preventing any creature from venturing in too far – or escaping. Creatures had developed – strange, vicious, wild beasts who answered to no one. Wolves made from timber stalked the shadows. Manticores populated the deepest woods. Large serpents inhabited a now mighty river. Here, the trees grew themselves. The beasts ate what they willed – even flesh. Any cloud pushed by a pegasus would stop moving as soon as it passed the borders and go on its own way. If the forest could block out the sun that he pegasi rose in the morning, it would.
It would forever be free of pony influence. It was chaotic to them. It was confusing. It was the birthplace of something so wicked, so mighty, so different, that no force in the world could truly contain it – except, perhaps, for the creature it had given birth too.
In generations to come, it would be known as the Everfree Forest. It's honor as the birthplace of Discord would be lost to all save those who remembered it.
At the heart of Everfree, in a cave that no creature would dare tread, in a depth unfathomable to any mind, a lion’s paw touched stone. The smooth, cold surface sent a jolt down my spine. Never before had I touched anything. I had always been a force, an influence, a shadow in the mind. Claws unsheathed and scraped through the stone, and a line of daisies popped up in the furrows they left. I had tasted life. I had felt solid ground. I felt the cold. I could go out into the world and twist it to my liking finally – I could make reality my own, and nothing could stop me.
The time of Harmony was done. The era of Discord would begin.
A small creature, lost and afraid, had ventured too deep into my woods. This was a strange creature to me; a young filly, coat as pure as moonlight, mane and tail as pink as petunias, purple eyes wide and afraid. No, I recognized the shape of a baby pony – it was the fact that this one had two tiny wings and a horn that was new to me.
The young filly froze next to a large tree with many thick branches, pressing into a tangle of roots and giving a low cry of alarm. She had gone this far to prove her courage, but her courage had failed. She cried out a single name – “Luna” – before burying her face in her hooves and weeping. I could end her fear here and now; I could release her from her torment forever. But I sensed something – this tiny thing, this foolish explorer, was immortal. A young race of immortals, brought forth by Harmony, to one day rule the lands in peace and harmony.
It was enough to make me gag.
The leaves above the young filly rustled; she squealed with fear and bolted forward a few hoofsteps. Only far enough to trip over a black vine that popped up from the grass just enough before falling face-first into the grass. She scrambled to her hooves and cowered against another tree, staring at the leaves.
And then she froze with terror, and I know she had seen me.
I lowered myself from the tree. My white-tufted dragon tail twisted around the trunk while my hind legs set firmly on two large branches, the claws of a green dragon’s leg sinking into one while the goat’s hoof planted itself near a knot. My long brown body stretched to fill the space between us so that my golden lion paw and eagle talon – gifts from griffons – could grip the ground mere feet from her. The old unicorn’s neck and head – grey coat, short black mane – extended, until my single fanged, bearded face was mere inches from hers. My prized possession – the buck’s antler that had started this whole process – had been joined by a ram’s horn. I flared my two wings, the blue pegasus and the black bat. I met her eyes, and in that moment I could see the eons before us, the battles and clashes.
I smirked. She cowered further, tearful but silent.
And then I spoke to her.
“Are you afraid?”
The tiny head bobbed, but she couldn’t look away.
“Do you know who I am?”
She shook her head. I hissed and dropped the entirety of my body to the forest floor, rearing back and roaring with laughter. I spread my arms and howled my mirth to the sky, which crashed with lightning and began to pour yellow raindrops. Sunflowers sprouted from the ground and pushed the filly off of the grass. Her trance broken, she launched herself off of the massive blooms and scrambled through them. Her small hooves slipped in ground turned to mud as she ran heedlessly through the forest. My voice boomed after her, echoing from every direction. Any creature she passed turned to stare at her with dead eyes and repeat my words, chasing her with my message.
“I was given life by all of you. The dragons, the ponies, the griffons, bats, goats – all of you! Your strife – your chaos – your wars – they gave me the strength I needed to take form. You have not known true chaos. You have not known the truth of my power. Where once I could only play with your little minds, now I will play with your little realities – and not even Harmony can stop me! I am Discord, and you will learn to fear me as you never have before!”
The filly burst from the borders of my forest, screaming that one name again. My laughter chased her down the path leading to the village. Slowly, I followed in her hoofsteps and approached the edge of my forest. Vines curled away from my feet; creatures sank deeper into the shadows. When I could see through the thick trunks, I gazed upon the village for the first time. It was bathed in golden sunlight, and a clear blue sky backed it. Rolling green fields and proper orchards stretched as far as the eye could see. All was quiet and peaceful; the little filly’s fears already brushed off as an over reactive imagination. Ponies went about their business, shopping and cooking and farming; laughter and squeals of delight reached my ears.
It was truly a beautiful day.
For Discord.
Author's Note
This is my submission to the Equestria Daily's Writers Training Ground. The prompt for Week 5 was to have Discord as the main character. I've never written him before, so this turned out a little darker than I had intended. As always, comments/critiques welcomed. Thanks for reading, if you did.
