The World Will Burn - Prologue

The Last Chance. The Last Time. Triumph, Or Fail. Live, Or Die. The Choice Is Yours.

When Discord Rises, The World Will Burn.

~~~

A troupe of guards trotted through the statue gardens, going through their normal rounds of the morning. As they passed through the center of the gardens they felt a small disturbance in the air like a sudden push of air pressure towards them. They put it off as nothing, thinking it wasn't felt by anyone else, and they continued the trot. How wrong they were.

Inside his stone prison, Discord worked to free himself from his bonds. Late the night before he was visited by the voice in his head he had come to recognize as someone else, and not the usual voices he would hear. It seemed more powerful, like its own force of nature. And so, it had come to him, and he had listened. It had told him that an opening in his prison's magic was coming, the moment when the spell refreshed itself, and that this was his chance to break free once more. But it warned him. It followed it's message of hope for the spirit of madness, chaos, and discord, with a warning. It had told him that this was his last chance, the last time he would ever get to take back his throne.

And so, he had began his work at making preparations to escape. He knew he had less than three hours left. So he worked hard. Soon he would rise. And soon... The world would burn.

~~~

Far far away, in another land, another place, another time, a tall dark figure sat in it's cursed throne, bound by chains of darkness and blood, combined with the most powerful magic known to ponykind. It was a pure black stallion, and an Alicorn, the son of Princess Celestia. His wings were restrained in their extended position and chains wrapped around his horn, restricting the flow of magic. Chains wrapped around his legs, his hooves, and his head, bringing him down to his knees, lowering his head. In front of his lowered form was a statue of his mother, Princess Celestia. This to show him where his place was, not above his mother's power, but below her hooves.

In this place, time was not only stopped, but there was no time. The large dark castle that used to be his home was suspended in time and space, in it's own bubble. His home, now his eternal prison. Years before, he had staged a revolt against the twin princesses. He told all it was to overthrow the tyranny of the Empire, but really, it was for his own gains. After all, to rule the throne was to rule the land.

But, it was all for naught. The dreaded Elements of Harmony had stopped him. Not the same six that had defeated Nightmare Moon, but their descendants. These, more ruthless in their punishments. After all, they had devised his current position. Years in this position and no food or water, being kept alive by magic, was taking it's toll on him. At first it was fine, he went over the moments over and over again, how he failed, how to win the next time. Then he got bored. That boredom led to madness and rage. That madness and rage had slowly eaten away at his bonds, just enough to open a portal into the past, through the time bubble, and out to the one creature who had enough madness to tune in to his signal. And so in his years of imprisonment he had devised a plan. A plan to use his connection to the spirit of choas and madness to change the course of history and free him from his prison to take the throne of Empire and rule the land of Equestria.

One thought always stood in his mind. The thought that when he got the throne, the world would burn.