Just How Many More Times?

Discord looked at the scorched land under his wing with misery. The reign of Chaos didn’t look exactly like this to him in his imagination. The landscape he observed below wasn’t at all like the giant rabbits chewing giant apples and the clouds consisting of cotton candy, the pleasant fragments of his recent memorable improvisations. Yes, he had always been a naughty boy, but a merry one, and Ranhorn had left him little in the line of merrymaking. And where was dear Fluttershy now? After the second betrayal in one week she wouldn’t forgive him, of that he was certain. Twilight wouldn’t, either… assuming anypony would be left to forgive or not forgive him after Ranhorn had completed his plans. Compared to him, Tirek was but a cute fluffy bunny. Oh, by the way, why had not Ranhorn invited him to join the team? They probably never hit it off because of some row or another that had happened a thousand years before. Or was Ranhorn simply afraid to go near Tartar?

Crysalis didn’t look too optimistic either. She had let herself to be involved in this shady enterprise alone, without her minions – on Ranhorn’s terms – and now she could no longer understand what she had expected to gain from it. She needed Equestria as a source of food for herself and her subjects – a source of love. But there was no room for love among the tears and the gnashing of teeth filling the burnt out towns and villages. Having no other victim on whom to vent her frustration she kicked Sombra hard when they all went down for the night’s rest.

‘Move your flank away! It’s my place!’ she growled at the peacefully snoring unicorn.

‘Grrrrr! ’ Sombra replied, having, as usual, few words to use. He couldn’t understand who had awoken him so inappropriately and couldn’t be bothered to find out. Instead, he slapped Discord, and in five minutes a lovely fight was taking place among Ranhorn’s subordinates.

‘Stop it, you morons!’ roared Ranhorn, and his employees calmed down for a little while, but in an hour it was repeated all over again. This time Discord started it – being a true Spirit of Chaos he rather liked the method Crysalis had invented.

Ranhorn had to tie all three of them to trees. Powerful villains, who had all nearly succeeded in conquering Equestria in their own time, found this treatment humiliating and got sore. In an hour, having forgotten their own quarrels, they were merrily gossiping about their “unfair” boss. Of course, in his presence they wouldn’t have dared to do so, but he had departed somewhere again, alone, very conveniently.

Ranhorn came back in 24 hours, and no longer alone – he brought Ahuizotl with him. Compared to his other aides, this freak, incapable of the simplest magic, looked pathetic and had to keep himself to himself – the others didn’t accept him into their company and often bullied him mercilessly and subjected him to practical jokes. And Ranhorn had no time for disciplining his team: his mind was too preoccupied with the new information received from Ahuizotl about a “purple pony with a horn and with wings”. This alicorn, having appeared out of nowhere – Ahuizotl the redneck wasn’t even acquainted with the term “alicorn” – judging by the later events had easily cracked his, Ranhorn’s, protective spell, and this turn of events wasn’t too promising. This purple pony had to be found urgently.

Crysalis and Sombra had told him a lot of things about Cadance, whom, alas, Ranhorn had missed also, but they both remembered a wingless Twilight, and so they didn’t connect her in their thought with the new alicorn. Besides, the offence was still fresh, and they weren’t too eager to help their boss with his investigations. Discord, whatever he was asked, only grinned. And time was running short, and it was no longer possible to postpone the final battle.