“Ah don’t know, Twi.”
The orange farmpony pushed her Stetson back and sighed.
“Our counts’re comin’ up off, but there ain’t any sign of varmints. If there were, I’d have called Fluttershy instead o’ you.”
The lavender unicorn hummed.
“Applebloom and the girls know better-or at the very least, she’d tell you so you or Big McIntosh know and can adjust your numbers…it seems like the only answer is that somepony is stealing apples.”
Applejack shook her head.
“Cain’t be... There ain’t any signs of forced entry, and besides…Ponyville ain’t that big. If’n somepony were in such a situation that they’d feel the need to filch apples…somepony would’ve found out by now and the town would’ve done somethin’ ta help them.”
“I don’t know then, AJ. I really don’t.”
As the two mares walked away, they failed to notice the pair of eyes watching them, waiting…
A shadowed figure crept through the orchard, silent as the grave, approaching its goal. The sound of a dog growling caused the figure to freeze.
“Hold it right thar, pal!”
A yellow filly stood fearlessly between the figure and the storage bins.
“Sis! Come here, quick!”
In the farmhouse, lights went on.
“Applebloom? Do you have any bucking idea what time it is? Get back inside an’ go back to sleep!”
“Applejack! I was lettin’ Winona out an’ we caught the thief red-hooved!”
The last syllable had barely left the filly’s mouth when her sister and older brother were outside, McIntosh coming out of the barn, where Cheerilee stood in the doorway.
“Bloom, git inside and stay there, now.”
The tone in her brother’s voice brooked no protests. Applebloom got. In a hurry.
“Cheerilee, you go inside too. Make sure Bloom an’ Granny stay put.”
The schoolteacher nodded, before giving the stallion a brief nuzzle.
“Be careful,” she whispered. McIntosh nodded, not taking his eyes off the figure.
“Now…” Applejack said, lighting a lantern, “let’s see who…who the buck are you?”
The thief was a filly, barely older than the Crusaders-maybe a year at most-, emaciated, her ribs showing through her dark pink coat, her white-and-purple mane raggedy. Her Cutie Mark was of a screw and baseball, and a propeller beanie seemed to be permanently affixed to her cranium. It was her eyes however, her eyes that threw the two adults for a loop long enough for the filly to make a break for it. Her eyes…had no pupils, instead possessing spirals, one clockwise, and the other anti-clockwise.
“Hey, wait…!”
The filly was fast, despite her obvious starvation, able to effortlessly anticipate and dodge the Border Collie and two adults. Applejack cursed as the filly slipped into the growth bordering the Everfree.
“Big Mac. You and Winona stay here in case she doubles back. Ah’ll get the girls, and we’ll follow her.”
McIntosh nodded.
“Eeyup.”
Applejack sighed.
“Ah just hope we can catch up to her afore she gets herself hurt…”
Scant minutes later, six mares were moving rapidly in single-file. To everypony’s surprise (or perhaps not…), Fluttershy was in the lead, her knowledge of animal care somehow giving her skill in tracking (nopony questioned it. In a town where Pinkie Pie lived, this was nothing). Twilight was right behind her, horn glowing to provide light. Rarity, likewise glowing, brought up the rear.
“She’s close,” Fluttershy said softly. “The poor thing is so panicked she’s not even trying to hide her trail.”
“The trail ends at that cave,” Twilight noted. “It’s big enough for a pony, but too small for any predators…I’ll bet anything that she’s hiding there.”
The six where aghast in awe as they entered the cave.
“That poor dear…she must have been hiding here for months,” Rarity murmured.
Indeed, the small cave was filled with the detritus and debris one would associate with prolonged habitation.
“Well, she’s not here,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Looks like she gave us the slip.”
“No.”
Everypony gave Pinkie odd looks as she stepped forward, ears cocked.
“My Pinkie Sense is tingling… She’s here. Watching us.”
“Tingling? I thought they were twitches,” Twilight whispered, suspicious.
Pinkie answered distractedly as she began scanning the cave.
“Normally…yes. But if somepony is hiding from me…or trying to avoid me…those twitches turn into a pins-and-needles tingling in the back of my skull. The stronger the sensation…the closer the pony.”
Rainbow Dash leaned over to Applejack.
“In hindsight…this explains oh so much,” she muttered. Applejack could only nod.
“The cave doesn’t go any deeper…she’s not left…right…that leaves…above!”
Almost as one, the six mares looked up to see the filly, clinging to a stalactite. Realizing she’d been spotted, the filly dropped, landing on Twilight’s and Rarity’s horns, stunning them, before running off once more, bodily shoving Rainbow Dash into one of the walls as she passed.
“Twi, you okay?”
Twilight shook off the cobwebs.
“Yeah. Let’s go, girls. We can’t lose her now.”
The filly screeched to a stop as a sheer cliff face appeared inches from her nose. Panting heavily, she looked around wildly, searching for a way out. There was none. The cliff enclosed three sides of the clearing, too steep to climb. She was trapped.
She spun as the six mares entered the clearing, fanning out to cut off any avenue of escape and slowly approaching.
“It’s okay, little one,” Fluttershy called gently. “We’re not going to hurt you. Come with us, and we’ll get you cleaned up, give you something to eat…”
The filly shook her head frantically as she scrabbled back, as if trying to fuse with the cliff.
“Whoah, easy, kid,” Dash said. “We’re not going to…”
An unearthly howl cut her off mid-sentence.
Rarity looked at her friends.
“What was that?”
“They have the Mark…!”
“The Curse is upon them…”
“They must be…cleansed…”
Twilight’s eyes went wide as burning crimson eyes winked into view around them.
“Oh buck…she was telling the truth…” she breathed.
“Who was? Twi, d’ya know what these things are?”
Twilight looked at Applejack, who took a step back at the sheer, panicked terror in her friend’s eyes.
“Do you remember two months ago…when Applebloom tagged along when I went to visit Zecora…and we got separated coming back? What she was babbling about afterwards?”
Applejack blanched.
“Sunny Town?”
Twilight nodded.
“Sunny Town.”
“Not to be rude, but…care to fill us in, dear?”
Twilight gulped.
“Coming back, Applebloom and I discovered that trees had fallen across the path. While I was clearing them, Applebloom says she saw a filly, roughly her age, in the foliage. She followed the filly…and found an entire settlement in the Everfree, called ‘Sunny Town’. What struck her as odd was that the inhabitants were all fully grown, but none had Cutie Marks. Didn’t even know what she was talking about when asked. Eventually, Applebloom found out why. She…she discovered the bones of a filly in a fireplace. The adults had…murdered the filly when she earned her Cutie Mark. From the number of bones described, they must have been doing so for a very long time.”
Horrified gasps punctuated her story.
“As…punishment, I guess, or judgment…the ponies had been cursed to become Nightmares-undead, zombie-like abominations. They weren’t even aware of it, instead living the same day on an endless loop.”
“It was only thanks to the filly Applebloom followed-the ghost of the murdered filly, Ruby, and one of the Nightmares, Mitta, the only one who knew of the curse and who was wracked with guilt over her role in Ruby’s death-that Applebloom managed to escape. Afterwards, I did some digging. Sunny Town was an actual village that disappeared without a trace around the same time Discord was defeated…leaving the empty plain where Ponyville stands now.”
“Mitta…That traitor has been dealt with.”
The six mares formed a defensive half-moon around the filly as five beings that could only be described as “equine abomination” came out of the forest. They were tall-about the same height as Luna or Cadance. Their flesh was charred black, hanging off their ebony bones in strips and tatters, glowing with a crimson inner flame. Their muzzles were filled with fangs in place of teeth, and their eyes were blazing crimson voids, without any visible iris, pupil, or sclera.
The tallest-the one Applebloom had said was the leader, Grey Hoof-took a single step forward.
“You bear the Curse. You must be cleansed.”
Rainbow Dash glared.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. All we want is to leave.”
Grey Hoof pointed at her Cutie Mark.
“Those. Those Marks are a sign you are under a curse, one that shall bring the wrath of The Divine upon the world. If we let you leave, we damn the world to destruction.”
“These aren’t a curse! They appear when a pony finds out what his or her unique talent is-what their role in life is to be!”
Another Nightmare spat.
“Blasphemy! To say you are unique is to declare yourself superior to others! It is not the place of mere mortals to possess ‘special talents’! Mortal ponies exist only to serve The Divine! Our role is to toil, and labor, and suffer on behalf of our neighbors!”
“Great,” Twilight mumbled. “Religious zealots.”
Without another word, she fired off an attack spell.
Grey Hoof shrugged it off as if it were a splash of water.
In Canterlot, a statue began to crack.
“Protect the filly!” Twilight shouted. “Whatever you do, don’t stop fighting! Girls, it’s been an honor.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, and then looked at the moon.
“Nos morituri te salutant, Luna, princeps dea!”
Fluttershy bowed her head and flared her wings, The Stare instinctively activating.
Twilight grinned and gave an intonation of her own, Rarity glancing at her and nodding.
“Ar gyfer Celestia! Ar gyfer gogoniant!”
Applejack and Pinkie looked at each other before speaking in unison, completing the invocations.
“Dansa með okkur, Death, við erum tilbúin!”
With these blessings, the battle was joined.
The statue began shaking as the cracks spread, saffron light issuing forth.
Twilight grunted as she released another spell. As before, it barely did any damage.
Rainbow Dash spat a curse as one of the Nightmares knocked away a lightning bolt.
“Twi, we’re not making any headway here…”
“I know! Talk later, concentrate now.”
One of the Nightmares broke through the line…and stopped cold.
“Grey Hoof…this one…she’s…”
Grey Hoof knocked the Harmony Bearers aside and came over to investigate.
“Yes, you’re right, Three-Leaf. She is…I see. Kill her first.”
“Why?”
Twilight collapsed as she attempted to rise once more, and failed.
‘This isn’t good…I can’t move.’
“What could this filly have done to warrant such hatred from you?”
The Nightmares sneered.
“You don’t know? You can’t tell?”
“Enough.”
Grey Hoof raised one hoof.
“It ends now.”
The filly squeezed her eyes closed and screamed a single word, the first sound the ponies had ever heard her make.
“DADDY!”
The statue exploded.
Grey Hoof grinned.
“Nothing can help…”
He was cut off as a sound shook the very forest, a sound combining the roar of a lion, bellow of a dragon, scream of an eagle, and whinny of a pony.
A blinding burst of light filled the clearing, blowing the Nightmares back and making the six feel revitalized, their wounds mending, a feeling of peace and calm descending over them.
The flare faded…and their blood ran cold as a horrifyingly familiar form became visible.
Discord rose to his full height…and kept rising, his body growing and shifting. His torso and neck shortened and thickened; his tail, limbs, and wings becoming larger and longer, giving him an overall more proportionate look.
Roneo grinned.
“You came. Now you will pay for…”
He was cut off as Discord vanished-not teleported, simply disappeared-only to reappear with his eagle talon curled into a fist that was buried in Roneo’s cheek. Roneo flew backwards, crashing into a tree.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened.
‘Fast…’
Discord spoke, his voice filled with rage.
“Leave the little ponies out of this. If you want revenge…here I am.”
Grey Hoof snarled.
“You call yourself a spirit, yet you refuse to yield to the authority of The Divine. You are no god,” he spat this last word as a curse, “you are a demon. As servants of The Divine, we will…”
He was cut off as Discord roared again, the shockwaves sending them skidding back several feet.
“You talk too much,” the Spirit of Chaos snarled. He cocked one paw in a ‘bring-it’ gesture.
“Time to see if the dead…can die.”
“You first.”
Grey Hoof stomped one hoof, the ground cracking and shattering as the skeletal, zombified remains of their various victims were ripped from whatever uneasy rest they had been condemned to, and summoned to the aid of their killers. Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, Griffons, Diamond Dogs, even Changelings, called forth as mindless cannon fodder.
What followed filled the mares with absolute terror.
This was not the Discord they had faced.
This was not the “mischievous spirit” Celestia had told them about.
This was not a trickster.
This was pure, raw devastation. Sheer power.
Wrath incarnate.
A vengeful god protecting his child.
Discord didn’t crack any jokes. He didn’t mock, didn’t fool around.
Every move brought destruction. Every twitch, destroying the Bone Walkers and releasing glowing orbs that had to be souls. He didn’t snap his fingers; every thought was instantly transformed into reality.
A Unicorn shot off rapid-fire spells. Discord caused them to rebound back at their source with a glance.
A pair of Griffons screamed their defiance as they charged. Discord snatched them out of the air and slammed them head-first into the ground.
A massive Diamond Dog swiped at him; Discord flowed around it like water and cleft it in twain with his claws.
An Earth Pony charged forward, leaping into the air and twisting around to deliver a flying kick. Bolts of lightning, larger than anything ponies could produce, shot from the clear sky to reduce the undead to ashes.
Within moments, the Bone Walkers were gone. Discord’s expression finally morphed out of a snarl into a cruel grin.
“My turn.”
He warped again, reappearing before one of the Nightmares, who stumbled back.
He raised a paw, Starlet struggling wildly as she was levitated into the air.
“Please…no… I’m sorry, please…mercy…”
“Mercy?” Discord growled. “DO I LOOK LIKE A SPIRIT OF MERCY TO YOU?”
“Starlet!”
Roneo charged forward, only to be knocked back with the flick of a tail.
“Wait your turn, colt.”
Starlet’s begging changed into an endless scream as her body began to twist and warp in on itself. The blood-chilling cries abruptly cut off as she imploded.
Grey Hoof took a step back.
“What…?”
Discord’s grin turned feral.
“Have you so soon forgotten? It was I whom judged you, fool. Do you truly think I can’t negate what I did?”
He took a step forward.
“I am the first to admit I have many faults. The throne suits me ill. But I was Equestria’s ruler. Even if it weakened me enough for dear, dear Tia and Woona to seal me away, dealing with you was my job.”
As he spoke, wind began to swirl around him, lightning flashed, and his eyes began to glow, his voice deepening and growing louder.
“You deny my divinity, and you may be right. I am Chaos itself, and Chaos…is beyond the realm of mere ‘gods’. It is change and progress. It is what makes every ‘today’ different from the ‘yesterdays’ and ‘tomorrows’. It is what allows innovation and permits life to adapt to ever-changing circumstances. It is anything that cannot be quantified, predicted, or scientifically measured. Love. Friendship. The weather, before the Ponies irreparably damaged the world’s ability to govern itself. The turbulence of flowing liquids. It is the primordial Void from which all things were formed, and the entropy that, inevitably, will consume all. The world…the universe…exists because I allow it to.”
Twilight gulped.
When Discord continued, his voice was normal once more, but quiet. Calm. Cold as ice.
That scared the Harmony Bearers more than anything else that night.
“Grey Hoof. Roneo. Gladstone. Three Leaf.”
The Nightmares were lifted into the air as the Lord of Chaos spoke.
“You have been judged once, for atrocities against your race. If you had merely repented of your crimes, your torments would have ended.”
A great chasm ripped open the ground beneath the remaining undead, ebony flames licking forth.
Twilight and the others took a step back as an unearthly heat washed over them, somehow leaving them shivering as if doused in ice.
“Yet you refused. You slew countless others in the centuries since, compounding your transgressions. The pits of Tartarus…are too merciful for you. No, you shall be condemned to a realm of eternal tortures, the likes of which would turn the stomach of Grogar himself. And oh, how you shall long for the light of dawn…”
“Who are you to judge?” Grey Hoof growled. “There is just as much blood on your soul! More! What gives you the right to condemn?”
“I am what I am, and that’s all that I am. Tell me, Grey Hoof, do you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair. It does not discriminate, does not distinguish between rich or poor, wicked or righteous, mare, stallion, or foal. In the end, it affects all equally. I bear the ponies of Equestria no more malice than they bear malice for the insects they tread under hoof every day. Their lives are literally beneath my notice. I have seen the birth of suns and the death of galaxies. The workings of my mind are as far beyond yours as yours is beyond that of a clam. And yet…even eldritch abominations from the icy, infinite depths of space love their children.”
His face grew solemn.
“And now…atone for your sins in Hell!”
Chains shot out of the Abyss, wrapping the Nightmares like a mummy’s bandages.
The four abominations screamed as they were dragged into the Pit, their pleas echoing through the forest as tendrils of pure darkness grabbed them, dragging them into the chasm, which slammed closed as if it had never existed.
Twilight and the others took a reflexive step back as Discord turned to them.
‘Without the Elements, we don’t stand a chance,’ Twilight thought fearfully. ‘And after this, I’m not certain we would even WITH them.’
Discord regarded them silently for a long time, face unreadable, having assumed his regular form. Eventually, he turned to the filly, who smiled sheepishly and began backing up.
“Screwball. Come here.”
“Eh, hehehe…hi, Daddy…”
“Come. Here.”
The filly’s head drooped, and she trudged forward to stand before him.
“Screwball. What did I tell you about interacting with ponies?”
“You…You said…”
“Well?” Discord pressed, arms crossed over his chest.
“You said…not to.”
Discord nodded; his expression still inscrutable.
“And do you remember why?”
“Because… Because they wouldn’t understand. Because they hate, fear, and despise what they don’t identify with. Because if they found out who I am, who my daddy is, they wouldn’t rest until they had hurt me.”
Pinkie began to speak up, but Discord held up a paw, indicating silence. His gaze never left his daughter.
“So why, then, did you deliberately disobey me? You stole food, which drew their suspicions. Every time you snuck into town, you risked exposure. You needlessly put yourself in danger. Why?”
“Be…Because…”
“Screwball, look at me. Why did you go against my fairly simple and extremely explicit instructions?”
“Because…I…” she stammered, still unable to meet her father’s eyes.
“Screwball, look at me.”
“BECAUSE I WAS DESPERATE!” she finally shrieked. Discord recoiled as if struck. “When…when they took you away from me…I…I lost my powers! I couldn’t create food; I couldn’t make myself more comfortable… I was…scared, and all alone, and…”
Discord’s expression softened.
“Oh, Screwball…”
He opened his arms and dropped to his knees, the filly racing forward and almost tackling him in her desperation to be held once more, burying her face in the feathers and fur covering his chest. The events of the night caught up to her as she began sobbing brokenly.
He stroked her mane and held her close.
“I’m so sorry, Screwball. I’m so sorry,” he murmured over and over, eyes closed.
“I missed you, Daddy.”
“I love you, my little abomination. And I promise…I won’t let them take me from you again.”
As he said this, his eyes opened to give the Six a look that spoke fairly eloquently.
“No.”
Her friends gave her looks as Twilight spoke.
“He won’t be. I promise you.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Discord said.
“Um, yes?”
“Tit for tat.”
“Say what?”
“You six sealed me away. You six risked your lives to protect my daughter. Tit for tat.”
Any further discussion was abruptly put to a halt as a voice from on high boomed.
“DISCORD!”
Celestia and Luna slammed down into the clearing, their hooves creating craters.
The Element Bearers found their Elements materializing around their necks, as Shining Armor and Cadance rushed into the clearing, a full contingent of both branches of the Guard on their heels.
“Hi, big brother! Hi, Cadance!” Twilight chirped happily.
“Twily! You’re alright!” Shining exclaimed in relief.
“Put the filly down, Discord,” Celestia snarled.
“We never thought you would stoop so low as to take a hostage,” Luna added, scowling.
“Princess…she’s not a hostage.”
Celestia didn’t react. Shining, however, did.
“Say again, Twily?”
The filly answered for her.
“You leave my Daddy alone, you mean old bi-!”
Discord flicked her ear.
“Ow…”
“Screwball. You don’t talk like that,” her father admonished.
“But…”
He set her down.
“Go on over to Miss Fluttershy, darlin'. It’ll be okay. I promise.”
Screwball nodded, scampering over to the butter-furred rosette, who folded her under a wing, murmuring consolingly.
“…Meet Screwball,” Applejack said, deadpan. “Th’ Daughter of Discord.”
“Sister…” Luna started, only to be cut off.
“Twilight, use the Elements, now!”
Twilight hesitated, torn.
“Twilight, hurry!”
“…I’m sorry, Princess.”
Celestia rounded on her.
“Why? We can’t afford to hesitate! Discord…”
“…Saved our lives, Princess.”
Cadance was taken aback.
“He…what…?”
“Even if he hadn’t…I saw that filly in Ponyville, shortly before we sealed him. She had to watch as we turned her father into a statue. She doesn’t have any pony magic. Her powers seem to be like her father’s, only much smaller in scale. She can create food for herself, and she can alter her environment to make herself more comfortable. Except…she lost those powers when separated from her father. She’s spent the past nine months alone, having to filch food just to survive and sleeping in a cave.”
Twilight shook her head slowly.
“I’m sorry, Princess. You…you’re a second mother to me. I will follow any instructions you give. I would die for you, if need be. But…I can’t take this filly’s father from her. Not again. Even if it’s Discord. Not without betraying everything you’ve taught me-everything I’ve learned since coming here.”
Celestia rose to her full height.
“And the rest of you? You agree?”
“It only takes a moment to see, Princess. In spite of everything he’s done, Discord…he’s a good father,” Rainbow replied. “Twilight is right. We owe him our lives, and I can’t seal him away again. Not after seeing the two of them together.”
The others nodded their assent.
Celestia raised her head to stare into the sky.
“So be it.”
The Six blinked.
“Princess…?”
Celestia looked at them.
“I would hear the events that brought you to this decision, my faithful student.”
Twilight bowed her head…and began.
Celestia looked back and forth between Discord and Twilight, her face a mask of shock.
“You…Luna and I, we…”
Her eyebrow twitched.
“WHAT?”
Discord chuckled.
“Surprised? The Tree and I are two halves of a whole, Tia. The Elements and I are equals. They can’t do anything beyond a stalemate unless I’m weak, or taken by surprise.”
His eyes hardened.
“And after being petrified twice, they won’t take me by surprise again. Would you like to know why our power is equal?”
Luna nodded.
“Please. Enlighten us.”
“Because, Woona, as I explained before you arrived…Chaos is a necessity. Unrestrained Harmony is just as dangerous as unchecked Chaos. My magic-my existence-is what permits life to progress. Without me, the Elements would cause life to stagnate. Harmony would become Order. Each being, identical in every way. Breathing in an identical, set pattern. Nothing to make them, or each day, different or unique. Yesterday identical to today identical to tomorrow. Oceans would shrink, as they evaporated. Fields and forests would wither and die, until the entire world wastes away, as if from a cancer. On the other hand, without the Elements, my power would rip the world apart. Hence, why I don’t simply destroy them.”
He grinned.
“So the Elements seal me away when my influence begins to upset the delicate balance of the world, and the seal breaks when my power is needed to restore the balance.”
Twilight blinked.
“Okay then…”
Celestia seemed pensive. Finally, she spoke.
“And if we seal you away again?”
“Screwball is almost immortal. She can’t die of old age. But it appears something went wrong when I crafted her. She can’t exist without my magic. Seal me away, and no matter how much care she receives, she’ll be dead in under a decade. Seal me away, and you condemn an innocent to death. A filly, whose only crime was being my daughter, dead because of you.”
“Discord. We cannot allow you free reign of Equestria. And yet…if your story is true…if you really did save my student and her friends…if this filly is your daughter…”
She bowed her head.
“Your sentence: your daughter will be enrolled in Ponyville’s school. You two will remain with Twilight or one of her friends. The Bearers will be your parole officers. If we call you, you answer. Immediately. Once you prove yourself…”
Discord nodded…and surprised everypony by bowing.
“I yield to your judgement, old friend.”
Celestia was taken aback.
“Eh?”
“Everything I did was to get you two on the throne. I said it before-I’m no ruler. You two are.”
“Well…that was easy.”
Discord looked at his daughter.
“Let’s go home, my little abomination.”
The filly grinned.
“Okay daddy.”
Author's Note
I finally built up enough courage to write one of the FiM stories that’s been percolating in my membrane. I don’t really consider myself a “brony”, per se, since I don’t really watch the show (aside from very select episodes, though I do read the synopsis after an episode airs), consider it average in terms of overall quality (very good for a show of its target audience; however, I just consider Bleach, Naruto, Avatar, Power Rangers, etc to be much better quality shows-don’t even get me started on how much more superior the old Hanna-Barberra shows were to almost everything that currently passes for animation!) and feel deep, deep shame at my enjoyment of it. Shame that refuses to leave me no matter what I do, or how much I try. I just…can’t…stop…! Pony fandom obsesses me. I can’t quit it. I remember watching G1 & G2 when there was nothing else on and being genuinely terrified of Tirac/Tirek (either is correct, apparently) and Grogar-while finding the Decepticons and Kobra(is that the right spelling? I remember it’s the spelling for the DC cult, but…) to be…pretty pathetic in terms of villainy, actually. And this story in one of several ideas I can’t get rid of.
Takes place prior to "Keep Calm & Flutter On.”In fact, it likely takes place a couple weeks after the wedding-I haven’t quite decided yet… As such, this replaces that episode. Not that I really disliked the episode-I found it paced right, considering that they ONLY HAD ONE EPISODE TO TELL THE STORY. Now, if it were a two-parter (say, the season finale, with Magical Mystery Cure as the prior episode, or Ep 1 of S4-the first 3-parter of the series)? That would have been better, but for what it was, I thought they pulled it off well.
AN:
I wanted to give an idea of how I imagine Discord could be, if he stopped holding back and actually became serious. He’s pictured as being virtually omnipotent. Like many fans, I’m fairly sure that he lost twice because HE NEVER MEANT TO WIN IN THE FIRST PLACE, or at least not in any serious way. He underestimated the Princesses because he had no idea what the Elements WERE. He didn’t think the Mane Six were ANY threat AT ALL, especially after his mind manipulations. If he HAD-they would have been DEAD looong before they arrived in Canterlot, or once they entered the maze at least.
Translations
Nos morituri te salutant, Luna, princeps dea!-Latin, “We who are about to die salute you, Luna, Divine Princess.”
Ar gyfer Celestia! Ar gyfer gogoniant!-Welsh, “For Celestia! For Glory!”
Dansa með okkur, Death, við erum tilbúin-Icelandic, “Dance with us, Death-we are ready.”
The invocations are ancient customs from the Discordian War, spoken before battle-since very, very few members of Celestia and Luna’s freedom fighter army expected to come back alive. Since the pre-Equestrian Pegasi seemed very Roman, I customized the salute the gladiators gave to Caesar. I chose Welsh for the Unicorns because, to me, its vocalization seems very mystical, like the incantation of a spell. I chose Icelandic for Earth Ponies because I have this mental picture of ancient Earth Pony soldiers being very much like Vikings, and Norwegian, Swedish, and the like didn’t “sound” like what I would expect runes would “sound” like if spoken.
(Update: It turns out Icelandic hasn’t really changed at all from its Old Norse roots. I chose well.)
I based the Nightmares’ opinion of Cutie Marks on the beliefs of the Fellowship of Order/Imperial Order, from Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” series. The Order believed thus:
The Fellowship was dedicated to doing the work that they saw as being the Creator's will. They believed that those born with a need are to be served by those with the ability to help.
It was seen as a grave evil by the Fellowship for a person to live their life for themselves and not give themselves over to others entirely. Under the Fellowship, hard work was done to benefit the whole and very little was given back to the person doing the hard work.
They were willing to commit any number of horrors in the name of their twisted fun-house mockery of altruism, utterly ignoring and violating the very first principle of the altruism they claimed to be spreading: empathy.
They allowed their troops to murder, rape and steal from innocent people, saying that it was the duty of all to bend to the will of others in need. People were brainwashed with the promise of a better world after death and that their current life was worthless.
Anyone who spoke out against these thoughts were quickly put to death, being accused of treason against the Creator.
I see Sunny Town the same way. In the absolute insanity of Discord’s reign, they became religious extremists. In an era where life had no value, they embraced the worthlessness of their life.
To see the Discord I imagine when I think of him getting serious, it’s called “game’s over my little ponies” by virus-91. The address is http://www.deviantart.com/art/Game-s-Over-My-Little-Ponies-259651702.
