Chaos in Equestria Book Two: Tabula Rasa

  Captain Trench was entertaining himself by watching the surreal sight of ponies buying from a fruit stand that was right next to a military barricade. Ray was right. A lot of ponies had stayed behind when the city was evacuated. They were resuming there carefree lives without even minding all the Royal Guards who setting up defenses across the town.

  Ray walked up behind him without him noticing. “A strange sight, wouldn’t you say?” he asked. Trench pretended to ignore him. Ray continued, “Not one of them isn’t aware of the danger. They were all warned. Yet, they choose to act as if it’s a normal day. Even though over half of the ponies in the city have left, the stay.”

  “Why shouldn’t they?” Captain Trench interjected, “What reason do they have to believe that they are in danger?”

  Ray was ready for him to ask that. “Have you seen Princess Celestia raise the sun every single morning of your life?”

  “No, I can’t say I ever have outside of the Summer Sun Celebration...”

  “Then who raised the sun every other day?”

  “Princess Celestia, of course.”

  “And yet, you did not see her do it. Not all true things can be proven, Captain Trench. That’s why faith was invented.”

  Trench watched as the unicorn turned around and walked away, whistling a tune.

  Two Guards were sitting on a bench at the Canterlot Train Station. They had been dong absolutely nothing, just like they were ordered.

  “Third district,” one of them muttered, “Why is it that when Canterlot was divided into seven parts, we got the only one without a single drop of cider, or any thing to do?” He took off his helmet and stated to run his hoof along the feathers. “What are we supposed to do, sit here?”

  The other guard laughed, “Why did I get the one partner in the Royal Guard who can’t complains about not having a job to do?” He sat back. “Just enjoy it.”

  The first guard grunted, “I meant that I’d be a lot happier with something to dr...” A loud, high pitched screeching noise interrupted his thought. He hollered over the noise, “Is that the train?”

  “Sounds like it.”

  “I thought all the civilian trains were redirected to another station!”

  The second guard looked toward the sound. “That is not a civilian train.”

  The train was short, only three carts long. It was painted bright white with the words: Royal Guard Continental Railroad painted on the sides in red.

  Inside the middle cart, Pinkie Pie was telling one of her favorite stories about her helping Applejack harvest apples. Spike, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy pretended to listen to her story, but were really just waiting for her to be done. She had been talking for hours.

  Their prayers were answered as the train came to a grinding halt. The train’s doors slid open. Rainbow Dash hopped out first and landed onto station floor. She was shortly followed by Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie (who was still talking). The four of them started to leave the train station.

  “Oh, um... don’t you think we should ask for directions?” Fluttershy asked Rainbow Dash.

  Rainbow Dash sighed, “Fluttershy, this isn’t the first time we’ve been to Canterlot. I know where I’m going.”

  Pinkie Pie let out an exited gasp, “Oh my gosh, Spike, didn’t you say there was a donut shop near the train station? Can we go there? Can we? Can we? Can we? I just love donuts, especially if they’re really big! And, I hear that the donuts in Canterlot are really, really, really, really, really, r...”

  Rainbow Dash shoved her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “Pinkie,” she said, “we aren’t here for donuts! Do you remember why we’re here?”

  Pinkie nodded her head. “Mmffhhmm”

  Rainbow Dash pulled her hoof out of Pinkie’s mouth. “Well then, let’s stop fooling around and go.” The four of them stopped fooling around and left.

  The guard who had been fooling with his helmet commented, “Well, that was interesting.”

  The train’s door opened again. This time, a very tired looking Royal Guard wobbled out. The other guards studied him for a moment. The exhausted guard plopped onto the ground and moaned. “The pink one,” he began, “all it does is talk! The only time it stops talking is when it eats!” He took in a deep breath. “We’re out of food.”

  Princess Celestia paced nervously in front of Canterlot Castle’s main stairwell. Twilight pretended not to notice that the Princess herself was almost acting as if she were afraid. The Princess stopped pacing and turned to Twilight and her friends. “Discord won’t come alone,” she said, “he will bring help, and it will not be easily to dealt with.”

  “We won’t let you down, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said confidently, “we’ve beaten him before, and we can do it again!”

  Celestia looked up at the ivory ceiling. She remembered the first time she fought Discord. Even with the Elements of Harmony aiding her, Discord was very difficult to deal with. If she failed now, Discord would become as powerful as he once was. She could not allow that to happen. “I fear he may not fall for the same trick a third time,” She stated grimly.

  Applejack turned to the main doors. She heard the faint sound of a group of ponies walking up the castle  courtyard. This was shortly followed by the sound of the tall wooden doors creaking open slowly. The two unicorn guards stationed outside were magically opening the doors for the new guests. Everypony was then watching as the doors opened completely. It was still midday and the bright sun shinned its light through the opened doors. Silhouetted against the sunlight, stood the figures of three mares and one baby dragon.

  Spike spread out his arms and ran toward Twilight. “Twilight!” he cried, “I’m so happy to see you!” He reached his arms around Twilight’s neck and hugged her tightly.

  “Spike! Why are you here?” Twilight asked surprised.

  Spike released his grip. “Why wouldn’t I come, Twilight? I can’t just stay in ponyville while your life is in danger!”

  Twilight put her left forehoof on Spikes head. “Oh Spike,” She said, “it’s just so dangerous.”

  Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Please tell me there’s a plan, Twilight. I hate having to wing it.”

  “Yes,” Celestia replied, “and we need all of you to do it. I need the six of you to get to the Hall of The Elements right away. Discord could be here any minute!”

  Twilight nodded her head. She looked at the other five Element Bearers. Something didn’t feel right. She dismissed the thought as nerve and started to head out the door.

  “WAIT!” Spike yelled, “I want to come with you. I can help too!”

  “No, Spike,” She replied, “you need to stay here. It’s not safe.”

  “But...”

  “No buts!” Twilight commanded, “You need to stay here, and that’s final!”

  As the ponies trotted off to The Hall of The Elements, Spike started to giggle, “She said, ‘no butts!’”

  Rover had Discord's left arm draped over his shoulder. This made him feel quite awkward. They were both standing on top of the cliffside that towered over canterlot. "They are ready for us." Rover commented. The roads to the city were all blockaded with Royal Guards. "There must be eight guards for every one dog we have!"

  Discord scoffed, "I half expected them to set up a barrier. The guards will be easy to deal with."

  Rover looked at the fortified city. "How?"

  "It's quite simple, really. Ignore the guards, attack the city itself.” He stood up tall and faced Rover’s pack. The Dogs were lying down in the sunlight, basking in complete boredom. One dog was licking his paws and whimpering after being bitten by a few angry fire ants. It tuned out that sicking your paw into a random dirt mound to see what was inside was a bad idea.

  Discord rolled his eyes. The lack of intelligence that he had used to manipulate them so easily was now serving only to annoy him. He cleared his throat, not because he needed to, but because he always wanted to do so before giving a speech. "I don't expect you to defeat the entire Royal Guard," He announced to the pack, "nor do I want you to attempt to. I want seven of you to follow Rover and me. The rest of you are to cause as much havoc as possible. I want you to start fires, break glass, steal their homes and burn their valuables! I don't care, as long as it distracts the guards from me!" The dogs looked at each other stupidly. Discord placed his lion paw on his face. "To 'distract' means to keep somepony from paying attention to." The dogs nodded their heads to show they understood. Discord slammed his fist into his eagle claw. "Well, what are you waiting for, a good luck kiss?" he shouted, "Go destroy things!"

  The dogs howled excitedly. They finally had something to occupy their tiny brains. As they darted down the hill on all fours toward Canterlot, Rover's heart filled with greed for the jewels he was promised and the unlimited wealth he craved, but he also felt another sensation, a feeling of regret. He did not like that feeling, so he ignored it.