Chapters The Final Rise of Discord
The World Will Burn - Prologue
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.
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The Final Rise of Discord
Canterlot's Aftermath - After The Fall Of Paradise
Canterlot lay in ruins at the bottom of the mountain. It was death quiet, except for moans that penetrated the silence every few minutes. In the distance, a filly cried for her mother.
Nearby, the rubble stirred. It blasted outward, and a dirtied, ruffled Princess Luna burst out.
"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!" She yelled, using her Loud Royal Canterlot Voice.
"Calm down, Luna. There's no use yelling about it." Princess Celestia said, picking herself up out of the rubble much more quietly than Luna.
"But the castle, Tia, The city, The People!" Luna replied, distraught.
"Well, yes, there is that. We should see what we can do. Then we can see how this all happened." Celestia said after some quick thinking.
Three hours later, Princess Celestia and Luna had gathered up fifteen survivors. There were minimal casualties, but they only searched a two mile radius. They made sure the small group was taken care of, a few servants had survived and had set up a small shelter.
Princess Celestia, alone with Luna outside the shelter, some 13 feet away, turned to her sister. "What do you remember before Canterlot fell?" She asked.
"All I remember is dropping some decorations and going to help you with the foundations. Next thing I remember is a large blast of magic and we were falling. Then I woke up here." Luna replied, recanting all that she remembered to her older sister.
"Strange... That's about all I can remember, too. I wonder what that blast of magic was. It seemed familiar, but I can't place it." Celestia said, looking off into the sky, trying to remember. As she looked into the sky she spotted something. It was a tiny speck just up the mountain. She continued looking, and the speck got bigger and bigger, until she could see quite clearly what it was.
The speck had slowly evolved on its way towards the Princesses. From far away it was just that, a speck. But as it got closer, details began to show themselves. A long body. Mismatched arms and legs. Horns. And then, when the speck was right over them, a large sharp front tooth.
It was Discord. The explanation for all the problems of the day. Discord, free at last.
When Celestia finally recognized who it was her eyes widened. Discord! Somehow he had got free, and she suspected the she would not have enough time to find out how.
Luna, for one, had not seen Discord for thousands of years, not since the first time they had banished him. So seeing him free again was pretty different from hearing about it.
Discord flew over the two Alicorn's heads and through. In his wake, pink clouds swelled up into the air, and it started raining. Raining Chocolate.
For Discord's second act of madness, he had called upon his oldest gimmick. Cotton Candy Clouds that Rained Chocolate.
In the Time Bubble, even the slightest hint of Chaos gave the dark Alicorn more strength to put strain on his chains. Discord was doing his job, even though his job was not known to him. As far as he knew, he was the one who was making the plans, when in reality, he was mearly a pawn.
It's funny how a Student can outdo his Master. In the case of the dark Alicorn, it was much the same.
When he was younger he was normal. As normal as a pony in his position could be. But as he got older, he had slowly grew deeper and deeper into himself, venturing into the darker parts of the Canterlot Royal Library. In the winter, he would go out to the stone gardens and look at the old statue of Discord. For days he would sit there, looking at him. Soon he could feel the chaos seeping from Discord's stone prison striking chords in his soul, pulling him to follow it's ways.
For years it would go on like this, Sitting and staring quietly at the Statue of Discord in the Winter and practicing "Chaotic" Magic when he was alone in the Summer. For when you have such parents who run kingdoms, such as Celestia, you are bound to be left to your own devices more than you are to be around those you loved.
But those were years passed and one must not dwell to much on those times. Soon the Alicorn would be free, just as soon as Discord did his job, and stopped those pesky Elements of Harmony.
The Alicorn continued to put strain on his chains, and smiled inwardly to himself. Soon he would be free!
The Final Rise of Discord
Discords Release - When The World Trembles
Well here's the first REAL chapter...
~~~
It was time.
~~~
It was three o'clock in Ponyville and the preparations for the Picnic were finished and everypony was arriving at the appointed place.
Two weeks ago this day, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkamena 'Pinkie' Pie, and the Mayor had gotten together to plan an event. Pinkie had gone to Twilight a few hours before with an idea to have some fun during the summer. During the past months it had been quiet and Pinkie had gotten bored. So she had thought up the idea of a giant picnic where everyone in Ponyville was invited. So she went to Twilight and from their they went to the Mayor who had arranged a meeting with them to talk it over. They talked long into the night and after six hours they had agreed on a Time, Place, What kind of food, and What festivities they would have.
Ever since that night they had passed out invitations, bought all the food they would need, and prepared a space for the large group of ponies that were coming.
And today was the day! The ponies were already filling up the picnic area, talking with friends, eating some food, and taking part in the festivities that Pinkie had spent so much time setting up, and it wasn't even four yet!
The picnic was in full swing when it happened.
Twilight was with her friends, when she felt something. A small push of magic against hers. Not five seconds later a tremble rolled through the ground, knocking over tables, ponies, and decorations. It was over as quickly as it began.
The ponies picked themselves and their friends off the ground and looked around, confused. There weren't any earthquakes on schedule. Especially not one like that.
"What was that?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed from the air, having jumped up when the quake hit.
"I'm not sure. There weren't supposed to be any quakes today." Twilight replied, looking around, taking stock of the damage. It didn't look like anyone was hurt.
"Well, maybe it wa-" Another shock rocked through the ground, stronger this time, knocking over the ponies and cutting off Applejacks reply. This quake did not stop like the other, but kept on going, making the ground rock and roll and tremble, knocking down all the decorations, tipping over the table filled with food, and making everypony sick.
~~~
In Canterlot, it was worse.
The tremors had started an hour earlier and they hadn't stopped. Small buildings were beggining to crumble, and the larger buildings swayed back and forth.
Inside the Royal Canterlot Palace, it was utter chaos. Priceless vases were falling, paintings were coming off the holders, and the ponies inside struggled to keep their balance against the tremors.
The alicorn princesses Celestia and her younger sister Luna, were doing their best to keep the castle from going into total chaos. Using their immense magical powers, they steadied the foundations of the castle, while at the same time helping the servants to keep the castle decorations from being destroyed.
"Where are these terrible tremors coming from?!" Luna yelled to her sister, who was busy holding up a group of vases.
"I don't know! Hopefully they will stop soon! I don't think the castle can take much more of this!" Celestia yelled back, struggling to steady the foundations.
"Well, we'll just keeping working against them until they stop!" Luna yelled and focused her attention on helping her sister hold up the castle.
~~~
In the stone gardens Discord worked through his stone prison. Every crack of the stone sent a tremor through the ground. It had started slow, but as the deadline came closer, they had gone faster and faster until finally it was just one long tremor.
As the last of the stone cracked and the magic seals were destroyed an explosion rocked the gardens, the castle, all the way down to Ponyville, Appaloosa, and the Everfree forest.
The shockwave from the explsoion was too much for the castle's foundation and the combined force of Celestia and Luna's power finally cracked.
The foundations broke and the castle and surounding cities fell. Fell down the mountain from which it was constructed and all the way to the ground.
~~~
Discord was released, Canterlot had fell, and soon the World Will Tremble at his Feet.
~~~
In the time bubble so far away, the dark alicorn felt his prison weaken, felt as some of his power returned. He smiled evilly. Soon, just like Discord, he would be free. He would take back control of himself, his powers, and the world.
Soon, The World Will Burn.