A Shadow in Chaos Book II Discord's Reign Memories of the Past

Chapters

Where Does A Story Begin?
A Princess and Draconequus
A Strange New World
Chaos in the Night
Hostile Takeover
Betrayal
The Search for a King

Where Does A Story Begin?

In the magical land of Equestria, and in the glorious Sun Kingdom a young mare sat on a soft pillow telling her three daughters a story. Her name was Enchanting Quill. She had the palest yellow coat with bright green eyes, her mane was curled up in small locks and her cutie mark was a quill writing in an open book. She was well known for her story telling, and she was just finishing a lovely story about a mare with beautiful golden hair trapped in a tower waiting for her Prince to rescue her. Her daughters, Misty, Passion, and Thriller listened in awe.

"And when the tear fell from her eye, it healed the young colt. And the two of them returned to the kingdom where they were married and lived together in happiness and love. The End.."

"Wow..." The fillies cooed in unison.

"That story was so romantic!" Passion sighed.

"It certainly had a bit of mystery and wonder about it." Misty added.

"Yeah, and the way the stallion had to escape the guards and had to climb up the tower was so full of action and suspense!" Thriller said as she laughed.

The three fillies were all Earth Ponies and they all had their cutie marks, Passion had a bright pink coat with gentle purple eyes, she was a very sweet and gentle filly. Misty had a dusty blue coat that looked a bit like actual mist, she had bright teal eyes with a pale lavender mane. The last one, Thriller, had a light brown goat and emerald eyes. She could sometimes be a bit of a troublemaker, but she was so playful and honest. For their cutie marks, Passion's was a hear made out of cotton candy surrounded by roses. Misty's was a magnifying glass surrounded by magic and mist raindrops. And Thrillers cutie mark was a tornado with game pieces swirling around inside. Enchanting Quill was so proud to have such three sweet, adorable fillies for her daughters. They meant so much to her and she loved to tell them all her stories.

"Tell us another one Mother!" Misty pleaded. "One with mystery..."

"And a beautiful Princess.." Passion responded.

"And a horrifying monster too! Rawr!!" Thriller called out like a lion.

Her sisters and mother laughed. "Alright." Enchanted Quill said. "How about the Legend of the Chaos King?"

"Ohhh..." The triplets responded. "Yes! Yes! Tell us Mother, please!"

"Well, the story takes place when our beloved Queen Twilight Sparkle was only a Princess, and her mother and aunt Queen Luna and Celestia held the responsibility of raising the Sun and Moon and maintaining Harmony in the land. The young Princess was engaged to a hansdome young stallion named Prince Sombra who ruled over the Crystal Kingdom. But deep in the Everfree Forest where terrifying wild beasts like the Cockatrice, Hydra, Timberwolf, and Dragons roam the evil Chaos King was watching. With teeth like knives and sharp, pointy claws and eyes that glowed in the dark he grew very jealous of the Princess's love and yearned for somepony he could call his own. He lived a powerful, demon he had brainwashed and corrupted. The demon looked like a pony a mare in fact, but had the power of insanity and evil in it's veins."

"What happened next?" Thriller asked in a worried tone.

"Together they captured the Princess and killed one of the Queens. It was Queen Celestia. Everypony was heartbroken, and the first effects of the Chaos Kings power began to take hold one Equestria. But luckily Queen Luna joined with Prince Sombra and the two went to confront the hideous King. They both fought the King and his demon, and they would have won too had it not been for having the demons power being put inside the Chaos King making him twice as powerful and twice as hideous."

The three fillies began to shiver and cuddled.

"This doesn't sound like a nice story." Passion remarked.

"Don't worry dear it gets better," Enchanting Quill continued. "The Chaos King began taking over the land and destruction and chaos spread across the land. He had won... Or so we thought... As strangely as the chaos ensued it quickly left and the Princess returned. Nopony knows why or what happened to the Chaos King and his demon. But life in Equestria remained peaceful ever since..."

Misty sighed. "Mother you are an amazing storyteller!"

"Thank you Misty," Enchanting Quill replied.

"Mother about the story, is it really true?" Thriller asked.

"Yeah, does the Chaos King really exist? And is Queen Twilight Sparkle really the daughter of Queen Celestia?" Passion added.

"It may be true, there is an old rhyme that tells about the Chaos King. Would you like to hear it?"

The fillies nodded excitedly.

Enchanting Quill cleared her throat and began,

"The legend of the Chaos Kings reign,

is said to bring chaos, evil, and pain.

With an evil demon by his side,

they soon changed the orderly tide.

Equestria was soon plunged into the dark,

and without our beloved Princess the monsters left their demonic mark.

But with our hope, love, and life,

we might be able to push back his tormenting strife..

Enchanting Quill looked out the window to see the Sun Kingdoms castle standing tall and fair. For in that castle the beloved Queen Twilight Sparkle and King Sombra and their young daughter Star Shadow were hard at work running the whole kingdom...

"You see my darlings... There cannot be a story without a beginning..."

"Mother," Thriller called. "If the Chaos King is real, and he tried to take us away, would you rescue us?"

Enchanting Quill smiled. "Oh, don't you worry about that. I'd find you and tell the Chaos King to let you all go. Because I'm the mother and I can put him in a time out!"

The three fillies and their mother all shared a large hug as they looked up at the castle While Passion looked into the Everfree Forest, was the Chaos King real? Was he out there, waiting so seek his revenge? But her mother also said that he was lonley and wanted somepony he could call his own; did he feel alone and forgotten. The question stirred through her head, but for now she held onto her mother tightly and smiled.

A Princess and Draconequus

Queen Twilight Sparkle rushed through the halls, passing some of her pony friends who smiled as they saw their Alicorn friend go swiftly by.

"Oh!" Twilight said in worry. "Where could Star Shadow possibly be? Sombra hasn't seen her either! Come on, think Twilight think!"

The Queen thought about where the young Unicorn could possibly be, and then it hit her. Twilight quickly trotted down the hall and opened the door to the library. And just and she had predicted, there was Star Shadow, sitting next to Sombra looking through a familiar book.

"There you are Star Shadow! I have been looking all over for you!" She huffed. Then she turned to Sombra, "And you! Why didnt you tell me you knew where she was!"

King Sombra smiled warmly. "Oh Twilight dearest, you really must lighten up! Star Shadow was having a little 'Daddy' time. Weren't you sweetheart?" He said to the little filly standing next to him.

"Yes Daddy." Star Shadow said.

She was the daughter of King Sombra and Queen Twilight, it didn't need a genius to figure that out. She had the darkest purple coat you could ever imagine, with a wavy violet mane and thin black stripes. Her sweet purple eyes gleamed just like her mothers. She loved to read and perform magic like her mother, but she also liked specific types of Dark Magic like her father. It wasn't really Dark Magic, it was just ancient spells that needed ancient relics and power to use. At a young age, the filly had been a bit of trouble for the two royals to handle, but as she grew older her magic became more developed and she quickly became very smart. By the age of eight she was almost as smart and as powerful as a fully grown Unicorn. Indeed she was very special.

"Well, I suppose that's fine. But why were you showing her this?" Twilight asked pointing to the book Sombra had gotten her as a wedding gift.

"Our little Princess can't know a little history about how I met the most beautiful mare in the world?" Sombra replied.

Twilight blushed. "Your too sweet.."

Sombra leaned towards her and gave her a gentle kiss. "And your too beautiful.."

Star Shadow sighed. "Aww.." She cooed.

Twilight smiled and whispered under her breath, "Your not the only one who once thought that..."

"Ah ha!" Came the shout of a familiar Draconequus.

He jumped out of a small pile of bushes and looked around. Nopony was there, he glanced towards a small stream and noticed some oddly colored rocks. One of them was slightly pointed and was a dark blue color. He smirked and slithered towards the little trail of water. He ran his talons over the rocks and when he reached the dark blue one he pulled it out of the water, revealing it to be a horn belonging to a dark blue Alicorn.

"Found you!" Discord said as he beamed with pride.

"What, not realistic enough?" The Alicorn said as she squeezed out the water in her ethereal mane.

"No, but stones usually aren't so tall and pointed."

"Ugh, curse the length of this horn." She said while squeezing the water out of her ethereal mane.

"Better luck next time Moonlight darling!" Discord responded. "Now, have you seen her anywhere?"

"No, but remember she did master that camouflage spell you taught her last week." Moonlight said while shaking herself to get the water off causing her mane to frizz and her coat to become poofy and fluffy. "Ah! I love it when my hair and coat are like this!"

"Oh yes, they certainly go well with the cotton candy clouds!" Discord said as he burst into laughter.

Moonlight pushed him to the ground gently as his body flailed on the soft grass as he laughed.

"Oh! I'm killing myself!" Discord laughed. "You're too much fun!"

The Alicorn rolled her eyes as she smiled.

"Disarray! Disarray sweetie you won! Where are you?" Moonlight called.

Suddenly a creature popped out of nowhere and tackled the pony. "Did I really win! Did I? Did I?"

"Yes," Moonlight said. "You did." Slowly she got off the ground.

"Why is Daddy laughing like that?" She said pointing to Discord who was still laughing madly.

"Oh because Daddy's silly, and he likes to play by his own rules."

"Mom? What happened to your mane? And your coat, it's so..."

But Moonlight put her hoof over her mouth. "Don't make it worse......"

Discord just barely stopped laughing and put his claw over his chest. "Don't make me laugh that hard again!"

"You make it sound like that's an option." Moonlight Chaos responded as she helped him get off the ground. "Looks like Midnight won again..."

Midnight Chaos, or Disarray as Discord had nicknamed her, was the daughter of Moonlight Chaos and Discord. She was born a Draconequus like Discord which made Moonlight almost cry tears of joy. While she had Discord's body shape, she took Moonlights color scheme. Disarray had the hind legs of a dragon and the front legs of a pony. She was able to stand on her hind legs but she usually remained on all fours she had a long snake tail like Discord but it was a pale lavender color with a deep white tuff of fur at the end. Her slender body was the same color as Moonlights and she had two wings on her back, a bat wing, like Discord and and Alicorn wing that matched her body color. Her face and neck were a pale sky blue similar to Discord's goat antler. Her mane was in many curls and long waves, she took Discord's black hair with a few dark blue stripes from Moonlight. On top of her head was an Alicorn horn, it was tall for someone of her age but Moonlight and Discord had the same thing happen to them..

Discord slowly got off the ground and sighed. "That was too funny......."

"And I thought I had problems....." Moonlight mumbled under her breath.

"Oh trust me, you do, A LOT of them too." Discord replied with a smirk.

"I do, huh?" Moonlight Chaos asked. "Then I suppose you wouldn't want to be sleeping in the same room as me since I'm so 'troubled'. You can sleep with Disarray tonight. You wouldn't want me to disturb you ALL NIGHT LONG."

And with that she quickly walked off.

"Wait," Discord said. "Your joking right?"

"Perhaps, you'll have to see if the doors are locked tonight..." Moonlight said with a devious grin. "Chaos King....."

Discord turned to his daughter with a nervous look. "She IS joking right?"

Disarray shrugged. "Maybe...."

Discord laughed nervously. "Right, of course she's joking. Moonlight would never do something like that. She knows I make the rules around here..."

"But Daddy," Disarray interrupted. "You said we don't live by rules."

"Oh shush Midnight Chaos. Now if you'll excuse me I have to spy on your mother."

And with that the Lord of Chaos vanished from sight. Then he quickly reappeared.

"Oh, you won't tell her about the whole 'spying' thing right?"

"I promise Daddy." Disarray said with a smile.

"I knew I could trust you!" Discord replied as he once again vanished.

Star Shadow went outside to play with her friends, after reading with her mother she wanted to play. The entire kingdom was filled with young fillies and colts to play with. Right now she was playing hoof ball with her filly friends in the fields. Thriller, Misty, and Passion were there too.

"Come on Sweet Cream!" Thriller called to a purple filly with a pink and white mane. "Over here!"

Sweet Cream kicked the ball with her hoof towards Thriller. At last, the ball was hers! She glanced towards Star Shadow and motioned towards her.

"Star Shadow! Get the goal!" Sweet Cream called.

The little filly stole the ball and raced towards the goal and kicked it into the net. Star Shadow smiled as all her friends cheered her on.

"Nice shot Star Shadow!" Misty cheered.

"You did it!" A filly named Snowy yelled.

All the fillies turned towards the colts they had played against. "Nice try boys!" They playfully teased.

"We'll get you next time!" A colt named Speeding Dust shouted back. "But great game!"

"Yeah," Passion added. "Star Shadow your so good at everything! I guess it must come easy to you being a princess and all."

"I suppose..." Star Shadow said.

Just then the large clock tower in the center of the kingdom began to chime. It was noon and the sun was high in the sky.

"Oh, Mom's gonna want us home for lunch!" Thriller said. "Bye guys, see you later!"

"Come on Thriller!" Passion turned to her sister. "I race you home!"

"Don't forget about me!" Misty called.The triplets raced off towards home.

"Hey Star Shadow," Sweet Cream turned to her friend. "After lunch do you want to come to my house? My family is going to be making treats and we're going to play games. Besides Mom and Dad still miss from the last time you came over."

"Sure Sweet Cream, thanks for the invitation!" Star Shadow said with happiness in her voice.

Meanwhile Speeding Dust turned towards the colts. "Come on guys, we better go. We can get the girls tomorrow!"

All the colts nodded in agreement as the walked off together as one group. A few of the fillies joined them to see their brothers or friends.

Star Shadow couldn't believe how her parents kept such great harmony in the Sun Kingdom. Her friends got along together too. The young Princess smiled and turned around to see her Daddy waiting for her. She ran towards him and the two began their walk back to the castle.

"Did you have a nice game?" Sombra asked.

"Oh yes Daddy it was so much fun!" Star Shadow replied. "I love playing with my friends!"

"Well, that's nice, and you can always play after you eat. Lets get home... I'm sure your mother has lunch made already. She'll want to here about the game."

"Okay Daddy." Star Shadow said. She loved living with friends and family that loved her just as much as she loved them. "Oh by the way, Sweet Cream was wondering if I could visit after lunch, may I?"

"It's alright with me, I'll tell your mother where your going. Alright?" Sombra answered.

"Thank you Daddy!" Star Shadow replied as she hugged her Daddy.

As they were walking home she turned to look back and glared at the Everfree Forest, and she could have swore she saw pairs of eyes staring at her. But the creatures never came out of the forest unless something more dangerous was after them. But that hadn't happened since.... the Chaos King.....

A Strange New World

Disarray was racing with a few Timberwolves, she knew all of the creatures of the Everfree Forest and most all of them were nice to her and her family. The young Draconequus came to a stop as the tired pack of young Timberwolves began panting.

"Sorry, boys." Disarray said. "Maybe by next year you'll be twice as big and twice as fast. I suppose you probably want to take a break now..."

The exhausted Timberwolves nodded in agreement and they all laid down on the grass trying to catch their breath. Out of all the creatures in the Everfree Forest, the Timberwolves were Disarray's favorite. Discord liked the Hydra's while Moonlight enjoyed the Cockatrice's. Disarray once remembered when her mother told her that they used to have every kind of creature that you could ever imagine. The Draconequus laid down next to the Timberwolves and began to give them belly rubs. She noticed that they all enjoyed it when she was around. Then, suddenly she heard a branch snap nearby. The young Timberwolves howled and then they quickly ran off.

"What was that?" Disarray asked herself. She wasn't afraid, and she wanted to find out what the sound was. So slowly she crawled through the bushes.

Star Shadow went outside after she finished her lunch to read. She still had a little time before she went to visit Sweet Cream, so she decided she would finish the last chapter of one of her favorite books. It was the Legend of the Chaos King. Her mother had told her a small bit of what happened but it was never enough. The Chaos King's story had become so popular among all of Equestria. The young Princess rested on the grass and began to read.

"The Chaos King had taken over the land, it seemed like Equestria was doomed. Queen Luna and Prince Sombra fought hard but they were greatly outmatched. Just when things seemed to get-"

But before she could finish she heard a growling sound coming from the Everfree Forest. The Princess put the book down and approached the forest. Just as she was almost near the trees she stepped on a twig causing it to snap. Star Shadow bit her lip. Had the creature heard her? Nothing happened, so slowly she stepped towards the trees and peered into the bushes.

Disarray saw the place where the Everfree Forest ended and then she gasped. Standing right in front of her, staring at her, was a pony. It looked like her mother but it was different. It had a horn like her but her body wasn't mixed up like her daddy. The pony stared at her with wide eyes and looked scared. Quickly as soon as they saw each other they screamed and ran away. Disarray dashed into the forest.

"Mommy, Daddy!" She called.

Star Shadow ran into the castle and found her mother she wrapped her hooves around the Alicorn and panted.

"Star Shadow! What's the matter?" Twilight asked. She had never seen her daughter so shaken up. Sombra walked towards her and put a hoof on his daughter.

"I was going outside to read," Star Shadow explained. "And then I heard a sound coming from the Everfree Forest. I went to go see what it was and then I saw the strangest and most terrifying creature ever!"

"Star Shadow, you know you shouldn't go near the forest it's dangerous! Now, what did it look like?" Sombra asked.

"It looked like a girl, it had a long body and had a Unicorn horn. The creature had a long purple snake tail, a bat wing, and a Pegasus wing! It had hooves but I also saw Dragon legs too! And the weirdest part was it had glowing red eyes..."

Twilight Sparkle gasped. "Discord....has a daughter?" She whispered to herself. The description fit Discord almost exactly except for the hooves, Unicorn horn, and Dragon legs.

"Twilight dear, is something wrong?" Sombra asked.

"Star Shadow, I think it's time I told you the truth."

"What?"

"The truth about the Chaos King and his demon...."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Disarray screamed.

As soon as she saw Discord she quickly wrapped her hooves around him.

"What's wrong? Were the Timberwolves not playing fair again?" Discord asked.

"No Daddy, something worse..."

Discord put lion paw and eagle claw around her and held her gently.

"Come here you little troublemaker, you can tell me everything." He said warmly.

"Well," Disarray started. "I was playing with the Timberwolves when I heard a noise coming from the bushes. I decided to go figure out what is was and-"

"Oh!" Discord interrupted. "This is a guessing game isn't it? Let me guess you saw a six legged Manticore with green fur, and a dolphin tail that was guarding a really ugly tree that had the ability to sing while drinking chocolate milk!"

"No Daddy, that's not it. But can we look for one of those tomorrow?"

"Of course we can! Was it a dragon with three horns and had scales made out of honey and he could transform himself into any type of food you could possibly imagine?"

"Um Daddy, why are you mentioning food so much?" Disarray asked curiously.

"Sorry sweetheart, Daddy's a little hungry. Now what were you saying?" Discord replied.

"I saw a pony in the bushes!" Disarray blurted out.

When Discord heard that his ears perked up. "Did you now? What did it look like?"

"The pony looked kind of like Mom only more 'normal'..."

Discord and Disarray shivered at that. After the young Draconequus continued.

"It was a girl I think, and she had a really dark purple coat, her mane was black with purple stripes and she had a Unicorn horn, when she saw me I screamed and ran."

Discord was now surprised. "So, the little Princess and the Prince Shadow have a daughter now?" He whispered under his breath.

"Moonlight!" He called as he put Disarray down.

Suddenly the Alicorn appeared a few feet away from him. Her tail and mane had paper clips attached and she had deflated balloons on her back, to which Discord raised an eyebrow at.

"Oops! Sorry Discord, just give me one moment..."

The Alicorn began to shake herself and the paper clips flew off into the forest and the balloons disappeared. Then she walked towards him.

"Do you need anything?" She asked.

"Yes two things," He started. "First I need a large stick of cotton candy. I'm starving."

Moonlight Chaos used her magic to create a large paper stick with a big wad of cotton candy on top.

"Finally!" Discord said in relief. He took the candy and the stick and shoved both down his mouth in one big bite and swallowed quickly.

"Anything else?" Moonlight asked.

"Yes, today your daughter found another pony. A normal one too..."

"Ugh," Moonlight shivered. "Normal....."

"I know..." Discord replied. "Apparently little Princess Twilight and Prince Shadow have a daughter now."

For a moment Moonlight was quiet. Then she burst out laughing and tumbled onto the grass.

"Oh! That's too rich! I'll bet they've probably told her 'The Story' by now! 'The Demon, the chaos!' OH THE HORROR! Ahahahaha!"

"Sometimes I wonder why I married you in the first place you silly little thing." Discord mumbled

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Daddy, what story? What demon?" Disarray asked.

"Well, you see sweetheart..." Moonlight started. "Daddy and I weren't always so..... 'separate' from the 'normal' part of Equestria."

"What do you mean Mommy?"

"Well, the story started out like this....."

"When Daddy was younger, the entire land of Equestria was ruled over by him. I was by his side of course, but everypony and all the power was in his claw. After almost two hundred years of reigning chaos and disorder two powerful Alicorns like me named Celestia and Luna joined with the ponies of Equestria and forced us to go into hiding where we stayed in the old castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest....."

"We had no idea the Sun Kingdom was under attack. The Chaos King had been watching me, his name was Discord. His name described the exact creature he was, causing strife between ponies, with a heart cold as stone, and incredibly monstrous. He didn't live with a demon like the story says. Instead he lived with another Alicorn, who was as powerful as a demon and incredibly wicked. Her name was Moonlight Chaos, like I mentioned, she had once been Discord's second in command when he ruled and even after she carried out every order given. Discord had become a bit lonely during his time in the Everfree Forest so he wanted somepony to 'rule' with him......"

"He chose a young Princess named Twilight Sparkle who was already engaged to a handsome young stallion named Prince Sombra. But he was determined to get to her. So using my magic I cast a dark gloomy spell over the Sun Kingdom rendering the two Queens and the Princess's magic useless. His next step was to get rid of Queen Celestia...."

"Discord used Moonlight into tricking my mother and she killed her. She was gone.... Then at night, when we were least expecting it - after they gathered information about all our plans - they somehow brought me to his lair.... He tried using magic and sheer force into binding myself with him, but he never had the opportunity to do so..."

"As time went on, I began to posses, well.... 'romantic' feelings for your father. But he didn't seem to notice until Queen Luna and Prince Sombra found out about where we where hiding so they fought against Daddy and me, eventually Luna took me by surprise, and threatened to drain all of my magic. Daddy refused to give in and I transferred all my power into him making him once again the most powerful being in the world....."

"Discord began taking over Equestria, he asked if I liked my new home but despite being under his spell, I didn't feel like this was my real home. So he told me he had something in store for me and once again he began to plan with Moonlight Chaos.... And as strangely as he started his takeover he stopped and brought me back home..."

"After I brought the Princess home Daddy told me he finally accepted my feelings for him. We left Equestria after that and a while later.."

"Daddy and I both..."

"Had you......"

"They made up an old story about it. Calling your Daddy the Chaos King, and me an evil Demon. And now we live here waiting for another chance to take back Equestria, AND GET REVENGE AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Moonlight, you know we don't have the power to do that yet....." Discord interrupted. "As long as Princess Prissy and Prince Black Diamond rule, along with Queen Lulu they'll do exactly what they did last time..."

"Oh, yeah..... right...." Moonlight said sadly as her ears began to lower. "But I still remember the old rhyme they made up..."

"The legend of the Chaos Kings reign,

is said to bring chaos, evil, and pain.

With an evil demon by his side,

they soon changed the orderly tide.

Equestria was soon plunged into the dark,

and without our beloved Princess the monsters left their demonic mark.

But with our hope, love, and life,

we might be able to push back his tormenting strife..."

"Ahh," Discord sighed. "Your so adorable when you rhyme......."

"You say that about everything I do....." Moonlight said with a smug grin on her face.

"That's because it's always true!"

"Wow..." Star Shadow said. "So you and Daddy actually met the Chaos King?"

"Yes, we did....." Twilight said with a sigh.

Memories of the evil Draconequus flooded her head. At times he hadn't been so bad, after all he only wanted somepony to be near him.....

Just then the clock began to chime again. It was now one o' clock in the afternoon.

"Oh! I gotta go meet up with Sweet Cream! Bye Mom, bye Daddy! I'll be back before Luna raises the moon!" Star Shadow said with a cheerful wave.

"Bye Star Shadow, be safe!" Twilight called out. She nuzzled up against Sombra's coat afterwards. "Oh Sombra, what if Discord really is still out there, even though he brought me back to you, what if he tries to make another attack?"

"I'm sure he won't, but even if he does, we'll be together......" Sombra replied.

Twilight smiled. And King Sombra trotted out of the room. He raced down a hallway and into a secret part of the castle. It was where he hid all of his Dark Magic spell books. Twilight knew about it of course, if any of these books fell into the wrong hooves it would mean disaster. The King flipped through all of the books until he came upon a particular spell that interested him. It looked ancient, but powerful.... His horn began to glow a pale blue as he cast the spell. Dark magic surrounded him and it flew into his body.

"Arrgh!" The King yelled.

His eyes began to turn red, with faint purple wisps of magic flowing off. His coat was now almost black and his mane was dark as night. He grinned and said to himself,

"Don't worry Twilight, I'll protect you. I'll keep you and Star Shadow safe. Forever......."

Chaos in the Night

As former Queen Luna stepped onto the Sun Kingdoms royal balcony, she sighed. It seemed like just yesterday her worst fears were becoming reality. Chaos ensued the land, all of the ponies of Equestria cowering in fear and unhappiness, and her beloved niece had been taken away. But now that was all in the past. The land was at peace once again. She had decided to remain in the Sun Kingdom which had now become the head of Equestria, though she still kept watch over the Moon Kingdom, Crystal Kingdom; and she even once tried to look over at the Chaos Kingdom. She hadn't gotten far, but she could tell that Discord was still out there. Lurking in the Everfree....

"We mustn't worry, calmness and steadiness is the key."

Slowly she began to use her Unicorn magic to raise the moon over the whole land, one by one she brought the glimmering, twinkling stars into the shimmering night sky. A cool summer breeze flowed through Luna's mane and tickled her nose. But she wasn't Luna any more, now she was once again Nightmare Moon. It happened every time she raised the moon into the sky, the Night's magic gave her it's power and allowed her to protect Night's treasures. She walked inside to find Twilight looking around the castle for something.

"Dearest Twilight," Nightmare Moon began. "What is troubling thou?"

"Oh! Lu- I mean Nightmare Moon, have you seen Sombra? He wasn't at dinner when Star Shadow came home."

"No, I'm afraid we haven't. And where is Star Shadow? We wish to speak with her."

"In her bedroom, you know Nightmare Moon you don't have to speak like that all the time. Ponies haven't spoken like that in one thousand years!"

"Oh but where is the fun in that Twilight Sparkle. I can speak however I wish to......"

"What?" Twilight said in surprise. She had never heard Luna or Nightmare Moon call herself 'I'.

Nightmare Moon winked at her. "Now I shall be seeing Star Shadow now. Afterwards WE shall assist you in finding Sombra."

Twilight giggled. "Thank you."

Nightmare Moon walked regally out of the hallway into Star Shadow's bedroom. The young filly was with Spike who looked a bit taller then he had looked when Twilight was just a Princess. His voice had deepened a bit too.

"Spike? Do you think you could walk with me in the garden tomorrow?" Star Shadow asked.

"Of course Star Shadow. I'd be honored, but you need to go to sleep." Spike answered.

"Not yet she doesn't!" Nightmare Moon said loudly.

Spike jumped. "Oh, Nightmare Moon. Um.... I'll just go help Twilight now....."

"Yes, that would be a wise option." Nightmare Moon replied.

Spike slowly walked passed Nightmare Moon and shut the bedroom door. Star Shadow laughed.

"Your so funny Luna!"

"Star Shadow, what is the name we told you to call us when the moon is in the sky and we take this nightly form?"

"Oh, Nightmare Moon. Sorry."

Nightmare Moon smiled gently. "It's alright little filly. Our name may be 'Nightmare' but that doesn't mean we will hurt you. Our bark is worse then our bite after all."

Star Shadow's smile began to return. Nightmare Moon turned towards the large bookcase up against the wall.

"Star Shadow?"

"Yes, Nightmare Moon?"

"I'll tell you what, if you get one of your books I'll read one to you before you go to sleep...."

"Really!" Star Shadow squealed.

The Princess rushed over to the bookcase and pulled out a hardcover book made with expensive paper that had gold-like lining. The pages were thick and the cover was purple with small glitter streaks flowing across. Nightmare Moon knew the story all too well.

"The Legend of the Chaos King huh?"

"Mom and Daddy told me that they really knew him! Did you know him too?" Star Shadow asked.

Nightmare Moon hesitated for a moment. "Yes.... I did...."

"Besides, it's my favorite story to read."

The black Alicorn chuckled. "Very well....."

"Daddy, are you sure you don't want to stay in my room? Mommy seemed a little crazy around you.." Disarray asked.

"I'm sure sweetheart, besides I think I owe her a bit of an apology. Don't you?" Discord responded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"That's a good girl." Discord whispered. "Now get some sleep. We still have to find that six legged Manticore with green fur and a dolphin tail tomorrow."

Disarray smiled as Discord gently kissed her on her forehead. The little Draconequus closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly. Discord quietly flew out of the room and shut the upside down door. He walked towards his bedroom and tried to open the door, but found it locked as he had expected. Moonlight had shown him a very sarcastic attitude ever since he laughed at her earlier. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Moonlight? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by laughing at you, truthfully I thought you looked so adorable I couldn't help but laugh. I promise I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. Please let me in.... Let me make it up to you?"

Suddenly the door opened and Discord was grabbed and dragged into the room. He found Moonlight hugging him tightly.

"Apology accepted!" She said warmly.

Discord sighed in relief. "I feel so much better now..."

"Did you really think I looked adorable when my coat looked like a cotton candy cloud?"

"Of course! You looked so fluffy and huggable! And you now how CRAZY I am when your mane is like that..." Discord replied. "In fact..."

Moonlight looked up at the ceiling to see a large pail floating above her head. It tipped over and splashed water all over her soaking her mane and coat.

"Oooh! Well at least the water wasn't cold!" She said.

Discord chuckled as she shook herself, water droplets from her coat splashed everywhere. Then her coat was fuzzy and fluffy once more.

"I guess your right," Moonlight giggled. "I do look like a cotton candy cloud!"

Discord now had a huge grin on his face. He grabbed the Alicorn and ran his talons through her soft coat.

"So fluffy....." He sighed.

"Discord is this necessary?" Moonlight asked; though enjoying the attention.

"Yes, this is necessary. And this is only part one...." Discord answered.

"Part one? Of what?"

Discord responded by kissing her. "I think you know what I'm talking about my pretty, cozy, adorable little Chaos Queen."

Moonlight Chaos snuggled up against Discord and sighed. He had promised to make her feel better and he would. And she knew when this happened he wasn't letting her out of his grasp until he decided it was her bedtime. This brought back so many memories from when Discord was ruling Equestria. But that didn't matter right now. She was glad she hadn't shut him out, and she wouldn't have been able too. At some point she would have dragged him back into the bed. She wouldn't leave him out again, not this time...

Nightmare Moon had finally joined Queen Twilight to help her search for Sombra. This was very unlike him, he was never absent for anything; yet he had missed dinner and the rising of the moon! First Twilight and Nightmare Moon had asked all the guards and servants in the castle. Twilight had even visited one of Sombra's closest friends that had also once lived in the Crystal Kingdom. Her name was Trixie, a pale blue Unicorn with a foggy blue mane. While she was more talented then most other Unicorns in Equestria sometimes she could be a bit too overconfident and arrogant. But she was learning in time. Her cottage was close to the castle and she made a living as a magician performing for ponies across all of Equestria.

"Trixie, are you here? It's me Twilight Sparkle!" The Queen called.

The blue Unicorn quickly answered the door. "Oh, good evening Twilight Sparkle. What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if you had seen Sombra? Your one of his closest friends and you always know where he's going. Did he stop by to see you by any chance?"

"No, Trixie hasn't seen Sombra since Star Shadow's last birthday party. Trixie has to visit the Moon Kindgom tomorrow for another magic show but Trixie will keep her eyes peeled."

"Oh thank you Trixie." Twilight said.

"Oh and Twilight?" Trixie called.

"Yes Trixie?"

"I'm sure he isn't too far. You and I know he wouldn't leave like that! Perhaps he'll be there tomorrow and he'll tell you where he went. I'm certain you'll find him, or I'm not the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Twilight shook her head. "Sure thing Trixie, thanks for your help."

"Any time Twilight Sparkle." Trixie responded waving her hoof.

When Twilight got back to the castle she had a discouraged look on her face. Nightmare Moon stared at her.

"Trixie doesn't know where Sombra is either. Where could he be?!"

Nightmare Moon shook her head. "Come Twilight, get some rest. We are sure he couldn't be in any danger, he is strong and brave."

"I know.... I'm just nervous." Twilight responded. Slowly she trotted towards her room.

Spike walked towards Nightmare Moon. "Twilight really misses him doesn't she?"

"Of course Spike! Twilight loves him. Just like we know you love Twilight the way she loves you." Nightmare Moon said sternly.

"Right, well I'm going to bed. Goodnight Nightmare Moon!" He said as he happily walked off.

"Goodnight Spike." Nightmare Moon responded. "Sombra, please come out of hiding. Twilight misses you dearly..."

"Well, my dear, am I forgiven?" Discord asked as he gently ran his talons against Moonlight's wings.

The only answer he received was Moonlight Chaos' sighs and moans to which he gladly took as a yes. While he was mesmerizing the Alicorn in his clutches he tried to think of what would really put her treatment over the edge. Then it hit him, there was one thing he remembered that Moonlight always used to sleep with when he was still in power. Discord snapped his talons and a familiar tapestry appeared. Discord removed his paw from her wings, and when the Alicorn saw it she gasped.

"Oh, Discord! This is the tapestry you made for me! I can't believe you kept it! It looks the same way it did when you first gave it to me!"

Though it had been made to be a piece of decoration Moonlight used it as a blanket, it had reminded her of the world she grew up in. After all Discord had taken over Equestria when she was only a filly.

The memory was stuck in Discord's head. He could never forget that day he had it made for her while his reign over Equestria was known for the past fifty years.

"Where are you taking me Discord? I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on the guards like you told me." Moonlight questioned.

"Oh it can wait, your too good at your job for anything to happen. I think we can let it slide this once." Discord answered, covering Moonlight's eyes with his paw.

"But-"

"Are you trying to disobey a direct order from me? You may be second in command but I can still throw you the dungeons for treason. I am the ruler of Equestria and all it's inhabitants, including you..." Discord said suspiciously.

"No My Lord, I'm sorry..." Moonlight replied.

"That's what I like to see from you, obedience. That's a trait that will get you far in MY kingdom dearest."

Discord led her into a dark room where he took his paw off her eyes. Moonlight's eyes were still shut when Discord turned a dim light on giving them just enough light to see.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now."

The Alicorn did as she was told and when she saw what was in front of her she gasped. Hanging on the wall was a tapestry that could easily cover both Discord and Moonlight Chaos. It had the image of of Discord on the upper left corner and and image of Moonlight on the bottom right. On Discord's side bright images of chaos in the sun could be shown, things like cotton candy clouds, upside down buildings and random sigh a of insanity could be shown. On Moonlight's side a gleaming moon was shown along with blue and bubbly soap road trails and the ground looked like a multi-colored chess board in purples, blues, blacks, and grays.

"Discord, this is.... beautiful; how on Earth did you have this made?" Moonlight asked in awe.

"I had it specially made by the finest seamstresses in Equestria. It took almost half a year to make and to make sure the detail was just right, but I wanted to have something a little different this time. You know? Something that didn't just focus on me this time, something with a little more mystery I suppose. Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, it's incredible. IT'S CHAOTIC! I love it Discord!"

"That's good to hear, then perhaps you also wouldn't mind have it hung in your bedroom? I'm certain the maids won't mind admiring some new architecture..." Discord wondered.

"Oh, you don't have to do that Discord. I'm not worth all this trouble, my only purpose is make you happy. I am here to please."

"Well putting it in your bedroom would make me happy." Discord said.

Moonlight laughed. "Thank you My Lord."

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine..."

The two shared a smile and as they turned around one of them began to blush.

"I can see your face you know, it certainly matches my eyes." Discord remarked.

"Oh let it go Discord! I'm just happy..." Moonlight mumbled.

"Whatever you say Moonlight, whatever you say..."

"So you held on to it for all those years?" Moonlight asked.

"Yeah, it's one of the only things that I managed to save after the whole castle was destroyed."

"What were some of the other things you managed to save?"

"Me, the tapestry, and you...."

"Oh Discord...." Moonlight sighed.

"It's alright, it's not anything else in there was all THAT important." Discord replied.

There was a moment of silence between the two, then Discord shook his head.

"Well, I think that's enough 'treatment' for one night. You should probably get some sleep. Disarray and I have to find a six legged Manticore with green fur and a dolphin tail tomorrow."

"Oh my, sounds like quite an adventure! You want me to dust all the furniture and make a big meal for tomorrow?"

"Oh Moonlight, sometimes I wonder how you put up with all the work I gave you because you work WAY too hard sometimes. Get into the randomness! Have a little fun, you should come with us tomorrow!"

"I'M NOT RANDOM ENOUGH?" Moonlight said in a sassy tone. "Discord, ealier today I was trying to see how I could paint a fence using only water balloons, tried to eat an entire stick of cotton candy with my horn in one bite and used paper clips to build an exact copy of what your old throne used to look like!"

"Well that would explain why you were covered in the paper clips and balloons. What about the whole 'eating cotton candy with your horn' thing?"

"Oh, well my horn had a small headache for a while but you know all is wrong with the world." Moonlight answered.

"True; I didn't even know horns COULD get headaches! How does it feel?" Discord asked.

"Strange, like the inside of your head tickles and hurts at the same time..."

"I'll have to try it sometime... Oh! And before you get into bed..."

Discord dumped another pail of water on Moonlight, causing her to shake and shiver.

"Discord! That was cold!" She complained as her mane started to frizz.

"It was supposed to be."

"Huh? What do you mean-"

But before she could finish Discord scooped her up and carried her over to the bed along with the tapestry. Once Moonlight was on the bed he put the tapestry on top of her and snuggled against her body.

"Now I can keep you warm ALL night..." Discord purred. "And your really cozy and fluffy now too."

"Only you could do this to somepony and actually get away with it."

"Ah yes but with you, I get away with EVERYTHING...."

"Yeah, and Discord? I'm sorry I was angry at you earlier, what you said was true, and silly."

"When all the truth does..." Discord started.

"Is make your hart ache..."

"Sometimes a lie, is easier to take..."

Hostile Takeover

Sombra hungrily flipped through the books in the Library of Dark Magic. Until finally he found one that made his red eyes burn brightly and the aura surrounding his eyes flared.

"Perfect..." The King groaned.

"In the times of evil, where places to hide are needed most,

Let the shadows of crystals grow around every corner of our land and post.

A fortress of crystals is tall, strong and dark;

But it will aid us so surely and will leave us it's mark.

Let the reign of chaos finally come to a halt,

And protect us all from the ones who are truly at fault!"

The dark magic swirled from his horn as a black shadow covered the Sun Kingdom. Where the Everfree Forest started tall black crystal towers grew and a strong protection spell flew over the land. The kingdom began to change, the houses and cottages were now made of deep black crystal, and the streets were now a pale grey. The lanterns and lights turned into torches and were lit with blazing fire. King Sombra's smile began to grow as he saw the land change through the window.

"Good or evil, let's see you try to get through THIS protection spell, Discord. I won't let you take Twilight away from me again, especially not my sweet Star Shadow. If I ever see you in the Sun Kingdom, your little demon, brainwashed or not will pay for all your mistakes and won't be able to protect you. This time, she might just lose more then just her magic...."

After that King Sombra swept out of the window in a shadow form and slithered across the kingdom.

"Don't worry Star Shadow, Daddy's coming for you. And he won't let any monsters get you... I promise."

Twilight Sparkle tossed and turned, but she couldn't find peace in her sleep. Her eyes eventually came to rest on a dark and sinister looking pony. He had red eyes with purple auras surrounding them, dark armor was placed on his body and his bright blood-red horn glowed vibrantly. He was also wearing a cape that Twilight knew only one pony in the Sun Kingdom besides Trixie would wear.....

"Sombra?"

"Hello Twilight dear," Sombra said with a smile. "I hear you've been looking for me...."

"What happened to you? Where did you go?" Twilight questioned. All her thoughts seemed to spill out at once.

"I was in the Library of Dark Magic. I found a spell that can finally keep all evils away. No one will be able to hurt you again."

"No Sombra, you haven't been keeping the evils away, your keeping them in." Twilight said as she stared into the eyes of the stallion that had once been her husband.

"Oh Twilight you can't possibly be referring to me, can you? You know I love you more then anything."

"No, Sombra loves me, I've been told these kinds of lies before. Your not Sombra, your a monster!"

King Sombra growled in furry. "It's HIM isn't it! It was all HIS fault, HE took you away from me. Ever since our wedding and since that filthy legend was spread you only seem to care about HIM! HE killed your mother! HE almost scarred Equestria! HE'S the monster, not me!" Then he sighed. "But that won't matter anymore, because the spell I've cast will keep all his magic out! Neither HE or his pathetic little demon.... can get to you now. And they certainly can't touch Star Shadow.... As a matter of fact I'm taking her to me tonight, she'll be able to see Daddy again. Won't that be nice!"

"If you hurt Star Shadow!" Twilight yelled.

"Oh relax Twilight darling; I won't do anything with her. Yet....."

The sinister King laughed viciously as Twilight ran. Once again, another monster was yet again trying to pursue her.

Discord pointed towards the distance, and Twilight saw something she never would have expected to see in her entire life. There were her friends, only they weren't. Every single one of them now looked gray, some of them had evil smiles on their faces, and some of them looked angry and aggressive. Twilight felt tears beginning to form.

"You monster! What did you do to them this time?"

Discord looked hurt. "Monster? Now that's a bit harsh....... Hmmm, you seem to like learning so my dear, prepare for a quick lesson...."

Out of nowhere a floating blackboard appeared with writing on it, and Discord was looking through a dictionary.

"The exact, and technical definition of the word: monster, is an imaginary being of something horribly ugly or vicious; something evil."

The words appeared on the blackboard boldly for the Princess to read. Then everything disappeared, Discord smirked.

"And I can tell you, for one thing, I am not imaginary, and I am not vicious unless threatened."

"But you are a cruel, evil creature....." The Princess replied. "Stop wasting my time and give me my friends back!"

She remembered when she had called Discord the same thing. And he had told her what the true meaning of the word monster then. While Twilight knew he was incredibly powerful and had tried to take over Equestria, could she really consider someone who had once loved her a 'monster'? She stopped and let the darkness swallow her. Quickly she bolted upright and gasped.

"Ah!" She screamed taking in a big gulp of air.

Her fur was matted and sticky, and her mane was completely tangled up. Her eyes were wet because she had been crying, her mind was spinning in circles. Then she remembered Sombra's warning.

"Star Shadow!" The Queen called out as she dashed out of her bedroom.

She knocked the door open and saw that Star Shadow was gone! Twilight searched underneath the bed, inside the closet and opened the window to see if the little filly was outside. The Queen gasped, the Sun Kingdom had changed dramatically. Everything was dark and extremely somber. Twilight looked out towards the Everfree Forest. In the distance she could have sworn she saw lights flickering. And that's when it hit her.

"Discord....."

The Queen knew there was a very small chance she would be able to find the Draconequus, knowing how random he could be. But she had to try, besides she knew that if she could see the lights and if it was a sign of magic, Discord might be able to get in! She needed help, she was desperate and she wanted to see her old 'friend', no matter how annoying and different he might be now. Twilight ran back into her bedroom and tipped Spike's bed over.

"Ah! Twilight!" Spike said in a cranky tone. "What's wrong?"

"No time to explain Spike, Star Shadow gone! Sombra turned evil! Need friends! Send letters! Be back, have to find Discord! Bye!"

Then with that Twilight rushed out the door. Leaving a very confused Spike.

"Wait! What? Letters? Friends?" Spike thought. But then he grabbed five pieces of parchment and a quill and began to write. But then he paused.

"Star Shadow's gone.....?"

Twilight approached the forest. She could hear growls and creepy wails from the strange creatures of the Everfree. Somehow she had managed to get past Sombra's protection shield, but that didn't matter. Slowly she took a deep breath and walked into the forest.

"It's alright Twilight, there is nothing to be afraid of. If he can live here without a problem why can't you?"

Then she heard a twig snap which made the Queen jump. She looked down to see a small branch underneath her hoof.

"Whew!" She sighed wiping beads of sweat form her brow.

Slowly she continued in. She could hear the sounds of owls, and the cries of Timberwolves. It made the Queen shiver but she shrugged it off. Twilight remembered Star Shadow said she had seen the creature that looked like Discord at the beginning of the forest, which means if Discord was in here, he couldn't be too far. If Discord DID have a daughter he would never let her go into the world of order, 'normal' was a rule he did not follow. But that also meant he could be ANYWHERE! Just as she came to a very crowded part of the forest she saw something that made her gasp. She could see a red light in the distance, it glowed for a few moment then faded away. Then another light flickered, it was pale blue. The light seemed to be moving. Twilight galloped towards the light, hoping she could find the source before it vanished.

Discord's ears perked up. He had extremely good hearing and he could have swore he heard something snap about a mile away. It wasn't any creature of the Everfree Forest that's for sure. He knew they were much more quiet, besides he had memorized every single sound that went on in the night. He turned to Moonlight who was sill asleep and gently shook her.

"Moonlight! Get up!" He whispered. But the Alicorn didn't move.

Discord considered using a noise maker to get her up, considering how she was such a heavy sleeper. But he didn't want to make to much noise, and he especially didn't want to wake up Disarray. So he moved his claw to her face and shined a bright light that glowed red in her eyes. That did the trick.

"Discord!" Moonlight moaned. "What was that for! It's too bright!"

"Sorry darling, I had to wake you up somehow!"

"What do you want?" She said in a slightly sweeter tone.

"Something's in the forest."

"Discord, something's always in the forest!" Moonlight hissed. "Please let me go back to sleep..."

But Discord pushed her off the bed and Moonlight landed on the floor with a quiet thud. He could hear her moan and sigh. But she still didn't get up.

"Moonlight! Get up!" Discord said in stern voice. "I was nice to you this entire evening, show a little gratitude and get your flank off the floor!'

"No..." Moonlight said, she was acting like a child. "I don't want to."

"You will get up, or I will make you!" The Draconequus hissed.

"Go ahead then, I'd like to see you do it without waking Midnight up!"

Discord growled. Normally he would just laugh at Moonlight for acting like this, but he was really tired and he wasn't going to let some intruder think that they could mess with him. Then he had an idea, and idea that Moonlight wouldn't be able to resist. He flew towards her and bent down on his knees. He gently touched her.

"Moonlight Chaos, I order you to get up and help me right this very moment, and you will not go to sleep unless I say so...."

"I-"

Discord covered her mouth. "If you don't obey me I will gladly make you ORGANIZE this entire place then make you disorganize it again until I am satisfied. And also you won't be able to touch me without my permission."

As soon as Moonlight heard that she bolted upright. She didn't want to have to ORGANIZE everything, she didn't want to have to ask permission to do things like hug or kiss Discord. And she certainly wasn't going to disobey an order.

"Not that! Anything but that! Okay! I'm getting up! I'm getting up!"

Discord chuckled. "Works every time."

"So what is it you heard exactly?" Moonlight asked in an annoyed tone.

"Something normal!"

"Oh great! Why now?" Moonlight complained.

"I don't know but I am going to find out!"

"What about me then?"

"You my dear, are going to get ready for any 'guests' I might bring home!" Discord answered.

"That's it! YOU WOKE ME UP JUST TO-"

But Moonlight was cut off by Discord giving her a gently peck on the cheek. And also by the fact he had put a pacifier in her mouth.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. But don't act like such a baby." Discord whispered. "I know your tired, and I understand you don't want to deal with this. If you can behave for me just for a little longer I'll let you sleep in late tomorrow. But please don't yell, let's just deal with this and I promise no more interruptions. Okay?"

Moonlight nodded. She spit the pacifier out and made it disappear. "I'm sorry too. I'll get everything ready. And I understand if you want me to organize the house tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it, your having enough problems already."

Moonlight sighed. "Yeah, I guess your right."

And with that Discord disappeared and Moonlight illuminated the room with her horn and trotted outside of the room.

"The things I let him do to me...." She mumbled.

Twilight could see the light begin to flicker and die out.

"No, no! Don't go out yet!"

Then suddenly the light died. Twilight stopped. She had nowhere else to go, and now she was lost. Suddenly she heard another branch snap and this time it wasn't her. A growling noise could be heard. Twilight could feel her heart rate speeding up and her mouth was dry. She wanted to run but fear kept her in place. The Queen closed her eyes and prepared for something to jump out and tear her apart from limb to limb. Then something did jump out, it pinned her to the ground. Twilight screamed. But nothing happened.

"Well, well, look who it is. Long time no see, little Princess....."

Twilight only knew of one who called her that. She opened her eyes and saw a familiar face grinning at her deviously.

"Discord?"

"The one and only...." He said as he stood up and bowed. "So, what brings you to the 'crazy' side of town?"

Twilight jumped up and gently hugged him. "I missed you."

"Oh, so now that I'm married you want me. Can't seem to make up your mind can you little Princess."

Twilight let go quickly and blushed. "No that's not it! I came here because I need your help. Sombra's turned evil and he's-"

"Oh, so Prince Shadow left you huh? That's sounds very unlike him..." Discord pondered.

"No! He didn't leave me!" Twilight said. He was more complicated then she remembered. "He's turned evil and kidnapped my daughter Star Shadow. Your the only one I know of who's strong enough to defeat him. Please help me..."

Discord's body coiled around Twilight's. "Oh, poor, sweet Princess. Did he hurt you? No matter, come with me and you can tell me everything."

With a flash Discord was in the air. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

"To my place, Moonlight should have some tea made by now. Oh, and try not to be too loud."

"Moonlight?" Twilight wondered.

"You don't remember her? She's the 'demon' in your story. Like she was a few minutes ago.... The one who killed your mother? She was second in command during my reign? She's now my wife? Ring any bells?"

Twilight could hear a little bell ringing in her ear. "Oh yes, I remember now. And what was that about not being too loud?"

"My daughter, Disarray. She's still sleeping, unlike Moonlight she is not a very heavy sleeper."

"So you DO have a daughter!" Twilight said with joy.

"Yes, does that mean anything to you?"

"Well, Star Shadow told me she saw her near the edge of the forest earlier today."

"Funny," Discord replied. "Disarray said the same thing..... Well, come on! Let's not waste any time!"

Twilight Sparkle giggled and followed Discord in through the forest.

"Alright Spike! Ah, got yer message about Twilight! So what the hay is goin' on?" Applejack asked. An orange Earth Pony.

All five of Twilight's friends were here. They had all gotten the message including Nightmare Moon, but she still needed to patrol the night.

"Is Twilight alright? Oh Spikey, I hope you weren't too worried!" Rarity cried.

"Aw, nah! I was fine, I'm a Dragon. And Dragon's aren't afraid of anything!"

"So then what happened? Where is Twilight anyway?" Rainbow Dash a blue Pegasus questioned.

"She's going to see somepony, I don't remember who though. Sombra apparently took Star Shadow and he's taking over the whole kingdom!"

"Well, that would explain the new look!" A pink Earth Pony named Pinkie Pie said. "Everything's so crystal-like and dark!"

"You mean, Sombra is the reason everything looks so scary?" Fluttershy a pale yellow Pegasus trembled. "O-oh m-m-my...."

"Don't worry Fluttershy." Applejack said calmly. "We'll be able to help Twilight! Right girls?"

Everypony else nodded.

"Yeah," Spike replied nervously. "I hope.."

Betrayal

When Twilight saw the ginormous mansion that she imagined was Discord's him she gasped. It wasn't a mansion, more like a castle. The soft pitter-patter of chocolate rain could be heard from around the corner. Howls from Timberwolves were echoing in the distance, and the soft grass felt like cotton. When they approached the upside down door Twilight felt nervous, what was inside was probably going to blow her mind. Discord opened the doors and began walking upside down on the ceiling! But the giant hall looked like it was upside down too!

"Well, are you coming in?" Discord asked.

"I don't know how to walk upside down Discord..." Twilight answered.

"You don't need to know how, just tip your body a little."

Twilight slowly put her hoof against the wall and found herself instantly sticking to it. Then she stepped towards the ceiling. She was now upside down! But now everything looked right side up!

"See, told you it wasn't hard." Discord snickered.

Twilight was guided down a large hall until they came into a room that was right side up, but the same couldn't be said for the furniture. There was floating tables and chairs, storming cotton candy clouds rushed through the room made Twilight's mane twist up.

"Woah! They're fast!" Twilight remarked.

"Yup, Fluffy and Boomer are the fastest in the whole house. But they can be a little troublesome at times you know?"

"Wait, you NAMED the clouds?"

"What? You don't?" Discord replied when Fluffy and Boomer came zooming by towards Discord.

"Unbelievable..." Twilight whispered.

Discord began to pet the two clouds. "Have you two been having any fun today? I heard earlier this morning you scared Harry the Bear, is that so?"

The clouds shook in a way to say yes. Twilight now knew why they were called Fluffy and Boomer. Fluffy was a very big and thick cotton candy cloud giving him a very soft appearance, while Boomer was long and skinny and apparently rained more the Fluffy did. Discord then showed the two clouds what looked like two large glasses of chocolate milk.

"Well, I think you two deserve a treat then." Discord said as he placed the drinks down.

The two clouds stopped raining for a moment and placed themselves up against the straw. Strangely the liquid began to disappear. As if they actually were DRINKING it. When the glasses were empty you could hear Fluffy give out a small belch and the two clouds spun around Discord and raced away.

"Well that should keep them happy for a while."

"Discord, where exactly are we going to talk?" Twilight interrupted.

"Oh! Right, in here...." Discord pushed a sideways door open and flew into the room.

There was a giant table that was supported by a giant weed looking plant. It had little thorns sprouting out of it and some points had tiny black flowers beginning to bloom. There were three chairs, the biggest one looked like it beloved to Discord. You could tell because of the giant antlers sticking out from the top. The second one was smaller and was decorated in blues, purples, and blacks. Two bat wings stuck out from the side and flared out widely. The smallest one was what looked like a giant drawing. The background was black and there were little swirls and designs that were enought to give Twilight a headache, but it looked like it had been done by a child. The chair was supported by two of the large black weeds growing in the floor.

"You can take Moonlight's seat, the Plundervines probably won't trust you." Discord told her.

So Twilight walked towards the blue seat and sat down. It was extremely comfortable surprisingly. Discord sat down in his seat.

"Moonlight!" He called.

Suddenly a wind of blue burst in through the hallway firs. If cam upside down but the it reversed itself so Twilight Sparkle could see it was a pony. Yes this was definitely the pony who worked for Discord. She looked a little tired though.

"Yes.... Discord?" She asked.

"Look who I found in the forest..." Discord said pointing to Twilight.

As soon as Moonlight saw Twilight she hid behind Discord's seat and mumbling could be heard. Twilight didn't know what the two were whispering but she decided to keep her mouth shut. Eventually she heard Moonlight sigh.

"Boomer! Fluffy!" She called.

The two cotton candy clouds burst in through the door and followed Moonlight out another one. When the door was shut Discord sighed.

"Sorry you had to see that, she's not having the best of night's."

"Oh, what happened?" Twilight asked. But then she stopped. "No wait, you don't have to tell me, it's not my business."

"But I think you'll enjoy it..." Discord stated. "Basically I woke her up after spending almost half the night with her. Now Moonlight being Moonlight hates getting up early, so of course she started acting like a child and told me she wasn't going to get up. Eventually I threatened her and she finally moved her lazy flank and now she's a little angry at me. And all because I heard you...."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Twilight apologized.

"Don't be, she can never stay angry at me for any longer then half an hour which should be ending in about fifteen minutes! You'll see.... Only if she's REALLY angry will she not talk to me for an hour and a half, but that rarely ever happens."

"Don't you think your working her a bit too hard? I mean if she's already in a bad mood why push her anger farther?"

"Because she want's too! And besides I've already threatened her, she can't go to sleep until I tell her too."

"Isn't that a bit cruel? I mean, to your own wife?"

You fail to forget little Princess that she's put up with me for years... She knows how to obey orders, besides if I do push her too hard she stops me, trust me she's tougher then you think."

"I know she is..." Twilight said thinking about her mother who was killed because of the blue Alicorn. She clutched the necklace that allowed her to see her mother but only for a few moments and a time. "And by the way Discord, I'm not a Princess anymore. I'm a Queen, like my mother and aunt were."

"Oh yes that's right. Well I'm still going to call you 'Princess' because it reminds me of who you were when I first laid my eyes on you.

That statement caused Twilight's face to burn with embarrassment and fear. Suddenly Moonlight came back out and had a large crystal tea kettle place on the table near Twilight. Then she placed a glass of chocolate milk at Discord's side.

"Thank you Moonlight!" Discord said cheerfully.

"I still don't see why she has to sit in MY spot..." The Alicorn mumbled.

"Oh my! Are you becoming jealous?" Discord asked with a playful smirk on his face.

That made the Alicorn growl loudly. "Argh! I give up!" Then she stormed out of the room.

Discord then snapped his talons, Twilight waited for something to happen but nothing did until she heard another growl.

"Disthcord!" A muffled voice yelled. It sound like something was in Moonlight's mouth.

"I told you to stop acting like a baby!" Discord hollered back as he chuckled.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"Oh you'll see in a minute..." Discord said softly. "Go upstairs Moonlight! I'll call you down in a minute!"

Twilight heard stomping, a loud flash then flapping wings. Then it was quiet.

Discord snapped his talons and Twilight saw what looked like a pacifier in his talons.

"I have got to save this for later..." He said to himself as the childish object disappeared.

"Wait, did you put that in her mouth?!" Twilight asked in shock. "A...a pacifier!"

"Mmhm," Discord said. "It may not look like it, but I found out a while ago it calms her down. Just like paper clips and Cockatrice's do, but this is the easiest and quickest solution. Like I said she's not having the best night. Especially because your here, I think she's getting jealous."

"Jealous!"

"Yeah, of all the attention your getting. Because Moonlight's the only one besides Disarray that lives here she usually receives my undivided attention. Especially because we both haven't had the best past with you and your family...." Discord explained with a sigh.

"I suppose. But do your really have to treat her that way?"

"Need so remind you of the way I once treated you? I may be playing nice right now little Princess but I am NOT a friendly soul."

The Queen bit her lip in anxiety. Discord could clearly see she wasn't comfortable around him, even after all the years that went by. He pushed one of the tea cups towards her.

"Now, let's get you some tea my dear. And tell me exactly what happened...."

Moonlight could not believe the way Discord was treating her right now! He was taking advantage of all the things she did for him, he had forced her out of bed, and now to serve the prissy little Princess who had ruined everything! Maybe she should have kept Twilight around, maybe Discord should have married her instead. At least she would still be second in command with the Discord she remembered! And why was she doing this? Why was she torturing herself by not going to sleep or ignoring the ignorant Draconequus? Because she was keeping the promise of never disobeying an order. And now she was being humiliated and forced to suck on pacifiers like a little foal because it amused him! All because Sombra was trying to prevent Discord and herself from getting into the kingdom. Yes, she knew what was happening. All of it...

"Why?" Moonlight whispered. "We hadn't attacked since he wanted the Princess. We stayed in the Everfree and did nothing to disturb the kingdom...."

Had she made a mistake, had she been serving the wrong master? Was she in love with someone fate hadn't chose? Anger began to stir up inside Moonlight Chaos. But she took a deep breath and turned towards the window where a faint view of the Sun Kingdom could be seen.

"Sombra, tell me; will you accept me if I come?"

"Of course my dear, Twilight has betrayed me. And Discord has betrayed you, let us show them what it feels like to live with all this pain. Perhaps you are right, perhaps they were meant to be together after all. And I promise you I will never take you for granted, why be by his side when you can be one with me? I promise...

Moonlight's coat turned a pitch black, her red eyes and yellow scelras changed to match Sombra's purple auras flowed off the tips and her mane turned a deep purple.

"Tell me Moonlight Chaos, has he ever laughed at you, called you names, and used you to get what wants?"

"Yes, he has." Moonlight answered. He basically described everything that had happened to her in one day. "Does Twilight ever find you monstrous, terrifying, and doesn't accept you because of it?"

"Yes.... She has....but not for much longer. You know where to find me..."

"I'm coming, My Lord."

"I will be looking forward to your arrival, my Moonlight Shadow."

Just then Moonlight heard Discord calling her.

"Moonlight!"

The Alicorn made herself look like her normal self and growled.

"Go to him, then leave quickly. Find me before the sun rises, now go...."

Discord watched as Moonlight appeared with a frown still on her face.

"What?" She asked in annoyed tone.

"It seems a little something has come up, and I'm going to be gone for a few days. You can take care of Disarray for just a few days right? Or am I going to have to have her watch you because your not letting go of the foal attitude?" Discord said with a smirk.

Moonlight started to grind her teeth, but she stayed calm.

"No, I'm perfectly sure I can watch her for a few days. Why? Do you not trust me? Am I just that same little pony you met when we were younger? A crybaby? A weak, little filly who still needs to sleep with a nightlight on?!"

"Oh, come now you know I didn't mean you were acting THAT young. Your just a bit tired, and very VERY cranky. Just like all little ponies are when they have too much fun and excitement. Speaking of, you can go to bed now. I'm leaving now..."

"Oh so you ARE my father! NOT my husband! Why don't you take Disarray with you since I'm too immature to do it myself!"

"You know what? That's actually not a bad idea! Oh think of all the trouble she could make!" Discord said with a grin.

Moonlight stomped her hoof but she was stopped as Discord snapped his talons and sent her back into their room. Once again the pacifier was in her mouth, Moonlight spit the foalish item out and changed into her new form once again. She dashed out of the window after she heard the door lock shut.

Discord and Twilight were now back outside. Twilight breathed in some of the fresh air.

"Ah, so quiet and peaceful."

"You know I almost forgot how adorable you were when nopony was around." Discord purred.

Twilight's face burned again. "I was just enjoying the fresh air! You know once we finish this, you should go apologize to her. She looked very mad, and she certainly didn't sound like she was going to cool off anytime soon."

"Oh no! She knows I didn't really mean what I said, well most of it anyways..."

"Discord!"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh, your no fun. At least Moonlight let's me joke around."

"Discord I know part of this is my fault, but I think you really hurt her. Someday you'll wake up and she won't be there when you want her, or need her if you continue to joke about her like that!"

"Pffft! Yeah, like that'll happen! I do it with other ponies all the time!" Discord answered.

"I'm not saying I'm okay with this but that's because they don't care about you the way she does! So it doesn't seem like a problem, but who else has been as respectful and loyal towards you as much as she has?"

"Nopony, I guess." Discord answered with a sigh.

As the two walked through the forest, Discord considered what Twilight had said. Maybe she was right, Moonlight did look upset, she did sound hurt. And all because he had gotten her out of her bed just so he could take advantage of all the things she did. He had been sweet to her all evening and now he was treating her like a little filly. Talking to her like she could only understand small words, putting a pacifier in her mouth! The more he thought about it the more guilty he felt. How did Twilight know so much about feelings like that? Once again Discord stared at her with hopeful eyes maybe he could help her, and show her he really wasn't the way he seemed. The one that Moonlight had loved.

"Oh, we're here!" Twilight said.

Twilight walked past the large crystal columns with the protection shield. Discord tried to follow but something stopped him. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked.

"The shield tickled me!" Discord said with a sigh. "I can get through that! Easy as cotton candy pie! Which reminds me I'll have to ask Moonlight to try and make some."

"Discord! What was I just talking about?"

The Draconequus sighed. "Right, right..."

Slowly he began to pull apart a small section of the shield. He climbed through and the shield closed up. But little did he know that by doing that he had made the shield stronger. Now he wouldn't be able to get out. Twilight guided him towards the castle. Luckily everypony was asleep so no one could notice Discord walking through the center of the Sun Kingdom.

"Hmmph, I liked it better when the roofs were made out of chocolate." He said staring at the new decor.

Twilight finally got inside the castle and showed him a room where he could sleep. It had a second bed for Disarray to sleep in.

"I promise when tomorrow comes nopony will panic about you or your daughter being here." Twilight whispered.

Discord smiled and when Twilight closed the door, he snapped his talons and Disarray appeared in the second bed, sound asleep. Surprisingly Moonlight's yelling hadn't woken her up. Discord gently stroked her mane.

"Maybe you are more like Moonlight...."

He stared out of the nearby window and saw the Everfree Forest. He sighed and turned towards the room. He was lonely, he was homesick. He missed Moonlight, but he would never admit it to himself. He crawled into the empty bed next to his sleeping daughter and shut his eyes slowly. Who was he supposed to be, the good guy or the bad guy?

The Search for a King

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.