The orange pegasus filly swallowed nervously as she took in the massive structure in front of her. The ragged mountain wasn't necessarily the tallest mountain in the land, the peak was barely sprinkled with snow, but it was the most foreboding. To her it resembled an old piece of paper that had been crumpled and thrown to the ground with many impossible overhangs creating menacing shadows and deep treacherous caves giving it a frightening appearance.
Just touch the base of the mountain and then run away. That’s all you need to do.
The filly remembered the dare her friends had given her. The mountain was barely spoken about in her town a few miles away because of its sudden appearance, chaotic structure and dark presence, even the clouds around it swirled around the tip as though the sheer creepiness of the mountain was causing a gravitation pull. Princess Celestia had forbid anyone from going there, promising it would go away after a week, how she knew it would disappear the filly didn’t know. After taking a few deep breaths she straightened up and put on a brave face, she convinced herself she was braver than she actually was and marched towards the mountain.
“People have been speaking of us a lot lately.” The sudden deep voices made all sense of bravery in her disappear, the filly backed up slowly into a gap in a deformed rock to hide. She tried not to yelp in pain as a feather was torn off by the walls of her hiding place but a small whimper escaped her lips, the silence that followed frightened her to the core as the waited for whatever spoke to continue. She let out a breath of relief as it apparently didn’t hear her and continued speaking casually, “One of our kind has been accepted into a community of ponies.”
The young filly poked her head out of her hiding place a little to try and see what it was, she could clearly see a faded red tail that was missing a few scales hanging over the edge of a rock and a two long different horns peeking over the edge but the rest was impossible to see from her angle. Another unseen creature scoffed.
“No they haven’t! They aren’t speaking of us, only him. That... Stupid oaf! They know nothing of a true Draconequus.” Draconequus, she had heard that word before. There was one in Ponyville, her home, he was harmless albeit a bit childish at times. “He’s an insult to our kind! Chaos isn’t supposed to be fun or safe!” His voice had a low growling edge to it.
“Calm yourself Anarchy.” An older voice, deeper voice seemed to calm him as the growling stopped, it was the same voice that had spoken first. The small filly saw the faded red tail disappear as it walked away from the edge, “We simply need to pay, Discord was it?” A murmur of agreement. “Discord a little visit so we can ‘talk’ to him. We need those in the town who like him and think that his actions are normal to realise he is a freak. That he isn’t even close to being a true draconequus.” He paused, she could just hear him sigh. “That despite him being apparently as old as me he is the most childish creature I have ever heard off!”
The unseen group all yelled in agreement, the filly could see most fly into the air as they spoke of their plan to ‘talk’ with him. She and gasped breathlessly at what she saw, they all had such horrible unnatural forms, their bodies were mismatched, heavily muscled and long. Their huge carnivorous teeth seemed to barely fit in their mouths as they joined in an almost tribal cheer.
One of the thicker ones fell to the rock floor with a ground shaking thump, it violently shape shifted as he landed to a redder, warmer stone. The filly yelped in shock as the ground under her hooves morphed in such a sudden way.
Silence.
The eldest turned to look at the young filly, his fur was shaggy and his horns were the definitely the longest giving him a wise and at the same time frightening appearance.
“My my... Look what we have here.” His grin widened as he heard her whimper, his pack of fellow monsters gathered around her too. He let a little growl escape his throat to further enhance her fear. “Sorry for this darling but we can’t have anypony finding out about us...”
Run.
Her legs seemed to gallop before her brain sent them the signal to, running faster than they ever had to escape these horrible creatures. She might only be a small filly but the huge beasts had a disadvantage, both their magic and their huge bodies were inaccurate at chasing the small orange dot as she zipped through cracks in rock and under slabs.
Or at least that’s what she thought.
Later that evening she’d realise they were spirits of chaos, they could off easily trapped her. They weren’t trying to get her.
They were trying to send a message.
After a minute or two they stopped dead in their tracks, watching the little orange pegasus dart away quickly in the direction of her home town.
“That was a bit harsh.” A heavily scarred draconequus said sarcastically as he watched the frightened dot disappear into the horizon.
“We needed to give a fair warning, besides I’m not hungry.” The leader gave a quick glance over his colleague’s battered body before leaping into the air, his large wings easily keeping him up. He scanned his packs mismatched forms and grinned, revealing his large white teeth. “Come join me my brethren in a reawakening of the meaning of ‘draconequus’. Whether you are young or old, male or female I don’t care... Let us show those foals what we are; Spirits of CHAOS!”
Another tribal cheer erupted from his large pack as they revelled in the idea. One by one they jumped into the air and shifted into an array of flying animals, all heading for one location. The location of Discord, the one who was sullying their name, the one who was an insult to their kind.
The one who lived in Ponyville.
“What do you thinks taking her?” The small white filly squeaked, the mountain from here was a long way but it had been around two hours since they had seen their friend. The yellow filly beside her shook her head, her eyes twisted in worry.
“Ah dunno.. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Sweetie Belle...” Apple Bloom swallowed as she began to feel fear at what might off befallen her friend. “I mean... Maybe it is too dangerous like Princess Celestia said!”
Before her friend could answer a small orange flash caught their eye, they turned and saw their friend walking pathetically slowly towards them. Rushing quickly to meet her they noticed something was wrong straight away.
Scootaloo’s mane, coat and feathers were all ruffled and out of place, her eyes were tear streaked and red and she was panting hard and ragged like she had just ran a marathon. Her friends frantically asked her what was wrong, why she’d taken so long and asked what she saw. To all this, Scootaloo could only take one final deep breath to calm her aching lungs and muttered.
“I need to get to town. I need to warn everypony.. The... The Draconequu’s are co-coming... They’re coming for Discord.”
Warning the friendly chaos
The Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way to Ponyville were they hoped to find somepony that would help them, the two fillies who had not been to the mysterious mountain were prodding for more answers from their purple haired friend.
“You said the monsters were looking for Discord... Why?” Apple bloom questioned, tilting her head slightly in confusion. Scootaloo had calmed down a little since Ponyville had come into sight and was beginning to look her old self again, her voice almost sounded normal when she answered her friend.
“They said they hated how he used his magic for fun.” She paused as she thought more of what she heard. “I’m kinda confused at why they said he had been accepted into our town... Maybe they misheard or something.”
Ever since Discords mysterious reappearance everypony was worried this would be the start of another wave of chaos but he hadn’t even attempted to do anything drastic. He claimed he didn’t know how he got loose this time, simply saying that all he remembers is an odd noise and a bright blue light. Princess Celestia was very surprised at this suspicious change of heart but after a long debate, that at one point inadvertently turned into a rap battle thanks to the spirit of chaos, decided if he posed no threat then she had no reason to rally her elements of harmony and entrap him again.
Someponies actually liked having him around but he was far from accepted. His odd calmed down attitude and lack of chaos made him a talking point in all of Equestria.
“Maybe... Do you think they’ll hurt him?” Sweetie belle said with a little squeak, shuddering at the thought. Scootaloo sighed and nodded a little, not trusting herself to speak. The Crusaders were quiet as they entered the town and looked around for someone who could help, preferably one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony since they were the only ponies they knew who could trap a draconequus.
As if on cue they saw the Element of Laughter bound towards them with her normal skip in her step.
“What’s the matter my silly-willy-fillies? Turn that frown upside down!” She stopped skipping and tilted her head until it was upside down, a feat everypony had stopped questioning by now, it was clear to the Crusaders that she didn’t think it through as she was smiling at the time so Pinkies smile was in fact turned upside down. Pinkie returned to her upright position, still beaming.
“Pinkie, Scootaloo saw an awful thing at that there mountain.” Appleboom pointed a hoof to the now reddish mountain in the distance. Pinkie’s smile faded in confusion. Applebloom was about to continue speaking when Pinkie gasped loudly, her legs braced against the ground as a realisation struck her.
“You mean the super-scary-haunted-foreboding FORBIDDEN mountain that Princess Celestia told us to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER go to under ANY circumstances?!” Her pupils were tiny in comparison to her big eyes that were wide with shock as she stared at the three young fillies before her, her face mere inches from theirs. Without any other option than to tell the truth the three nodded in unison. Pinkie eyes narrows and she drew back from the three, making a low accusing noise.
“Oooh... You are in BIG trouble my little fillies. You could off gotten really- Wait.” She stopped herself. “Did you say Scootaloo saw something awful there? What was it?!” Her eyes widened again, this time in curiosity. Scootaloo stepped forward a little and coughed to clear her throat.
“They were like discord, only they looked like actual animals rather than a goofy lord of chaos. They were terrifying... ” At her words Pinkie glanced at the mountain, mentally picturing them.
“Oh my... Lets go see him right now!” Her tone of voice changed to a happy one as she bounced on the spot. “Maybe they’re his cousins!” With that she hopped away in the direction of Discords residence. The Crusaders tried to warn her that they sounded hostile but that only spurred her on more.
“Oh my gosh! Maybe they’re relatives that had a fight and got separated!” A whine of pity “That won’t do, I’ll have to through them a ‘make up’ party and sort their feud out!”
The fillies decided whoever they were nothing could stop her now. No way could they were going to convince Pinkie they were a threat now that she had this idea in her head. Discord needed to know the other draconequus’s wanted to ‘speak’ with him and maybe then Pinkie would put away the streamers for a second to listen.
They arrived at Discord house within a few minutes, it was at the borders of Ponyville floating a good twenty feet off the ground. It was made almost entirely out of clouds shaped to look like a holiday villa, it looked luxurious and comfortable with a huge pool out the front and cloud tennis court in the back. Pinkie bounced until she was almost underneath it.
“Dissy! It’s me, Pinkie!” She bounced on the spot and smiled as she heard his door open.
“Oh Pinkie!” He smiled as he leaned over the edge of his cloud villa to spot the candy floss like pony. They had become fast friends now that he wasn’t an enemy. “What a pleasure to see you, my dear.” With a flash he teleported her and the fillies onto his deck. “What brings you to my home?”
“Scootaloo said she saw some creatures that looked a WHOLE lot like you and that they wanted to come see you and pay you a visit! You didn’t tell me you had relatives Dissy! Well, to be fair you don’t know I have two sisters. Oh! Now you do, yay!” Pinkie bounced like a rabbit on the cloud floor she was standing on, which was specially enchanted to support earth ponies and unicorns. Discord stared at her like the words had gone right through him, still smiling as though nothing had happened.
“I’m sorry, Pinkie, what did you say?” He gave a small chuckle and shook his head as though he hadn’t heard her. Sweetie belle piped up.
“She said that Scootaloo saw a bunch of other dragon-nequees and they wanted to pay you a visit.. And they didn’t sound all that nice.” Sweetie Belle looked down and kicked the ground nervously worried about his lack of reaction. For a few more seconds he said nothing, causing Pinkie to stop bouncing as the silence caught up to her.
Discords grin faded slowly, his face drooping taking on an expression of terror.
“WHAT?!” He finally said, standing up rigidly. “They.. They... They said they didn’t care anymore! They said they’d stay out of Equestria! Oh I KNEW those brutes would come back and pick on me just because I have a sense of humour and they don’t.” He folded his arms huffily and pouted. The fear returned in his eyes and he paced dramatically. “Oh what am I going to do? They’ll want to fight me and I don’t fight! I play games, I manipulate. I’ve never HURT someone since I was a little boy and I threw that rock at that girl who wouldn’t pay attention to me.”
The ponies watched as Discord paced around ranting to himself. Pinkie looked genuinely worried for him so was the first to go and try and calm him down, gently placing a hoof on his side. Discord stopped in his tracks and looked down at the pink pony.
“Hey.. Discord... We’ll just tell Princess Celestia about these mean old bullies and everything will be solved.” She said in the same tone she used to tell the Cake’s twins that their bunny doll wasn’t really lost and that it had been thrown out. Discord rolled his eyes.
“Oh yeah, go running to Celestia and cower behind her saying ‘That’s them!’” His voice went high and pathetic. “‘those are the mean boys who are picking on me! Wa, wa!’” He sniffled and pretended to wipe his eyes. Pinkie pulled her hoof away and sighed. Discord sighed as well and stroked her mane. “I’m a grown up, Pinkie. I can deal with things myself.” He glanced back at Scootaloo. “How many were there?”
Scootaloo shrugged.
“I’m not sure. I remember seeing that old looking guy.” She mentally ticked him off. “And that fat one...”
Old guy and a fat guy, odds were looking in his favour.
“But I have to say there were at least eight.” Scootaloo nodded definitively. Discords eyes widened.
“Eight?! I-I thought you meant two or three! Oh heavens I’m going to die!” He went back to melodramatically pacing back and forth. There was no way to hide it, he needed help.
But he was NOT going to Celestia. He had decided.
He would find help form somepony else.
“Why, exactly, did you think I’d be able to help?” Twilight questioned, snatching a book away from the spirit of chaos. After a small pout he sighed.
“You are great with magic and I was thinking you by my side would really give me an edge.” It was embarrassing asking a mare that was at least two thousand years younger than him to help but he thoroughly remembered how she defeated him in such a powerful manner and knew she’d be a great advantage. The Crusaders and Pinkie were sitting patiently, Pinkie not so much as she was swaying and humming, waiting for Twilight to decide.
“Look Discord, I don’t trust you. Ponies like you don’t just decide to calm down and get their act together. Whatever these draconequus’s want with you is their business, not mine.” Discord groaned at her answer.
“My reason for not causing chaos is that I genuinely want to mend fences with a land I used to call my home.” Even Twilight, who wasn’t the best at reading ponies, could see that wasn’t true or at the very least wasn’t the full answer.
With a childish groan he teleported over to her and lay dramatically on the floor, looking up at her pitifully.
“Twilight... Please! I REALLY don’t want to get my butt kicked by these brutish thugs. You may not trust me but could you really live with yourself knowing you’re mostly at fault for my death? Pinkie!” He sat up and called over to her, breaking her out of her sway. “Tell whoever makes all the tombstones to write on mine, ‘here lies discord’” He moved his hands as though he was actually laying out the text on the marble. “‘beloved trickster, amazing dancer and dead because Twilight couldn’t be bothered to help him.’”
Pinkie saluted and bolted out the door thinking that was an actual order. After a brief pause to adjust once more to the randomness that is Pinkie Twilight sighed.
“Discord... I... I don’t know what to say.” She made the mistake of looking at him, his eyes were big and watery. “I... Ok fine! I’ll help you!” Discord punched the air in victory, triumphantly shouting 'yes' and got ready to do a little dance. “But I’m telling the princess about an attack on one of her towns!”
He paused, looking annoyed.
"Well, it was nice having pride while it lasted."
Twilight noted how he didn't argue any more. Either he was really afraid of these creatures or he wasn't that botheres about having the Princess help.
Either way it was interesting.
Responding to a letter sent by Spike the Princess was there within the hour, bounding towards the draconequus with an angry look on her regal face.
“Discord!” She said once he was in shouting distance, he turned around innocently and pointed to himself questioningly. “What did you do to encourage this attack?” Her voice was accusing and heavy. Celestia stopped short of him, her horn dangerously close to his face.
“I didn’t do anything! They’re just bad sports Celestia.” He gently moved the horn out of his face. Celestia shook her head, annoyed.
“Bad sports? So that’s why after all this time they’ve suddenly decided to attack you? For no reason you break out of the stone seal and not a week later you’re attacked by your own kind! I should off known from the power coursing through that mountain that there were more of you in there.” Her eyes softened as she looked at the mountain in the distance. “I was a fool not to send guards over there.”
Discord put his paw on her shoulder and said in a straight voice.
“Celestia, if you had sent guards over there they would still be coming. Only then they’d have fancy unicorn shaped helmets!” Celestia was about to scold him for saying that but realised he was probably right. "Look I don't need help, I need backup. I'm very wise despite my youthful appearance and can take them. But if they start playing unfairly and pulling cheap tricks I'll need some help!"
"You're the one to talk about cheap tricks!" Twilight interjected, rolling her eyes and going to stand beside her Princess.
"Hey. I was in a bad mood ok? I needed to unwind after a thousand years of nothing." He folded his arms and pouted. Before they Princess could agree to helping him Discords ears perked up, he glanced in a seemingly random direction and the Princess followed suit.
On the horizon she could see faint brown slivers quickly advancing and growing in size
They were coming.
Authors note; Hey there! Next chapter will be a fight scene so if you’re looking for action it’s not far away. It'll easily (if it all goes to plan) be the longest chapter I've ever submitted! Oh and I've decided to take the cutie mark crusaders tag off since they won't be appearing any more and it might be unfair to people looking for a fic that stars them throughout. Thanks for reading!
