The Avatar of Chaotic Power

Dragonok released a heavy sigh as he faced yet another day sealed within his obsidian prison.

Out of every possible multiverse he could have visited, it had to be one with sentient ponies… sentient ponies with two goddesses who sealed him into a statue, which eventually became one of the exhibits in the Canterlot Museum of Ancient History.

It wasn’t so bad at first. Despite his immobile state, he still had the ability to think, so he initially decided to spend his time contemplating on numerous issues. However, that pastime eventually became mind-numbingly tedious after the first few centuries. The time spent afterward mostly cycled between dreamless slumber and creating short stories as a means of entertainment to prevent the Corruption’s insanity from tainting his psyche.

Even after a millennia, Dragonok still hoped that someone (or is it somepony in this world?) would release him from his glass-bound incarceration. In its natural state, obsidian could easily shatter with a small amount of force. Luna, however, enchanted that blasted volcanic glass with mystical runes to ensure Dragonok’s chances of breaking free by his own means would be nonexistent.

Dragonok dejectedly sighed as he once again recalled the battle between Luna and Celestia. If she and Celestia had only listened to his warning at the time, he could have saved Luna from the Corruption, whose manipulative influence led to her rebirth into Nightmare Moon. The part that saddened him the most was when Celestia regretfully bound her Corrupted sister onto the moon for a thousand years with the Elements of Harmony, just as she and Luna sealed their world’s incarnation of Chaos, Discord, into stone.

Speaking of Discord, it’s strange how similar, yet so very different, Discord and Dragonok were at the time.

Discord possessed a sort of insanity similar to the Corruption’s as seen when he warped Equestria into what would have been a nightmarish wonderland were it not for the chocolate milk rain, checkerboard grounds, and cotton-candy clouds. If not for Celestia and Luna’s intervention, he probably would have still been lounging about on his throne as he continued to experiment his powers over the fabric of reality with a childlike fascination.

Dragonok, on the other hand, focused on defeating the Corruption by facing its minions throughout the multiverse and defeating them to weaken its ever-expanding influence. It’s true he occasionally absorbed some of them, but the Corruption’s malevolence had already been too deeply ingrained into those particular individuals for them to be cured with True Chaos. At the very least, he could keep them confined within his mindscape as he utilized their knowledge and abilities to devise new methods of defeating the Corruption.

With nothing but his thoughts to accompany him, Dragonok released another sigh within the corridors of his mind when, all of a sudden, someone’s voice echoed through the museum’s halls.

“Come on, class! We’ve got lots to learn!” said the telltale tones of a teacher leading her students on a tour.

Hmm… I sense a great deal of True Chaos emitting from that direction… This should prove most interesting. “Now, class, this is another statue created to resemble a villain from Equestria’s past; much like the statue of Discord at the Canterlot Gardens earlier today. Here we have the avatar of power, Might."

The source of True Chaos emerges closer and closer to me. It’s practically in front of… why are there three of them?

“Why is he called that? And what does power have to do with this here fella, anyway? ” an adorably squeaky voice asked.

Interesting... It seems as if that’s one of the main sources, but where are the others?

“Figures you wouldn’t know, with you being what you are,” a condescendingly smug tone popped out.

“And what the hay is that supposed ta mean?!”

“Now, class, none of that! I don’t want a repeat of what happened the last time we were on a field trip.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the two voices replied in cowed tones.

“So, Miss Cherilee, what kind of creature is that, anyway? It looks really strange,” the voice of another young filly asked.

“I think it looks cool!”

...and then there are three. I think my freedom has arrived sooner than I had hoped. Now I just need a few moments to absorb the excess energy emanating from their bodies in order to break these seals and free myself of this ghastly prison.

“Well, Sweetie Belle, nopony knows for sure what kind of creature this is, but this figure possessed immense power!”

That is true; after all, devouring powerful foes whole into my dimensional prison does help with in acquiring more power as well as keeping Corruption off the streets.

“He hailed from a time before Equestria would soon enter an era of peace and prosperity. Many countries and species warred against each other before he arrived out of nowhere with his gleaming red eyes glowing from behind a pitch-black horned helm that possessed the face of Death. He caused untold destruction wherever he roamed as he searched for new opponents to challenge him. Empires and monsters alike fell into ruin or worse as a common result of his battles.”

If I recall correctly, there was much Corruption back in that time. It had been necessary to rid Equus of its foul miasma. I suppose I never noticed what happened around me as I fought foe after foe. Oh well. At least the world’s a better place now.

“This deadly individual would serve Discord during his reign of terror as he traveled throughout all of Equus. It’s said that Might was so invincible that it took the unification of the ponies, the zebra, the minotaurs, the griffons, and the dragons to stall him until the Princesses sealed him away with powerful magicks.”

Damn Lulu and Celly. You had to rub that bit into the history books, didn’t you? Was it not bad enough for me to be sealed away; I had to be remembered as a lackey serving that foolishly selfish draconequus? What I wouldn’t do to relax from all this stress without being petrified in place.

“Come on, class! We’ve more to see. Make sure not to fall behind!”

Wait, young mortals! Just a few more minutes! That’s all I – wait a sec. Why are those three sources still here? It matters not; just stay there until I gain enough power from those excess surges of raw Chaos to be free!________________________________________

“Wow! It’s pretty scary to think a creature that powerful served Discord, huh.” Apple Bloom said as she stared at the horned knight with fear and awe surging behind her orange eyes.

“Hah! No biggie! Rainbow Dash could take him down in ten seconds flat!” Scootaloo proudly boasted.

“Hey, girls! Look what I found!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “There’s some sort of writing on its pedestal!”

“What does it say?” Apple Bloom curiously asked.

“I’m not sure; it’s hard to read with this writing almost faded away.”

“Well, whacha got there?” Apple Bloom asked as Sweetie painstakingly mouthed out each word she could read despite the ravages of time afflicted on the inscription.

“I got it!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she finally recovered the message. “I think it goes something like this:

When heroes imbued with Change call out my name

In times when Corruption dare to mock

Innocents’ suffering out through agony and pain

Summon me forth through my true name: Dragonok!”

Upon hearing forth his summons as raw Chaos suddenly surged through his veins, Dragonok pushed through the boundaries of ancient glass.

An audible crack rang out throughout the halls and the three fillies turned to see a spider-web of cracks growing throughout the statue’s surface. Within moments, the cracks spread throughout the statue before it exploded to form a massive surge of pitch-black ether with convulsing crimson tendrils. Within moments, the energy compressed into a cocoon before dissipating to reveal the ebon-clad warrior before their very eyes.

“Not again!” the Cutie Mark Crusaders exclaimed.

The three fillies whimpered in fear as they witnessed the creature flex its claws with what seemed to be fascination.

“I HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM MY IMPRISONMENT!” it suddenly roared before jumping down from its throne and crouching down to meet eye-to-eye with the three fillies. “Now that I regained my freedom, I know now what I should do!”

“This is so your fault,” Scootaloo murmured to Sweetie Belle.

“Me?! What did I do?”

Scootaloo replied with a deadpan glare directed towards Sweetie. “Seriously?”

“But first, to reward you with what you all deserve.”

The three fillies gulped in fear as they closed their eyes, waiting for what would be the end of their lives.

What they did not expect was the tender embrace of the biggest hug they ever got as the strange creature scooped them into its arms and held them uncomfortably close to its ebon chest-plate.

“Thank you, young fillies. Your efforts shall not be forgotten,” it said as it held them for what seemed like an eternity.

Before the Cutie Mark Crusaders could even process what just happened due to the amount of huhs spiraling in their minds, the former statue gently placed them onto the granite floor before releasing them from its embrace.

“With that out of my system, TO FREEDOM AND RELAXATION!”

The three fillies’ eyes collectively bulged in confusion as the figure strode off towards the entrance of the museum as it sang “GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING!” while bouncing with each syllable.

Once it vanished into the streets of Canterlot, Apple Bloom turned toward her fellow Crusaders as she said, “Ah’ll pretend that didn’t happened if you fellas forget too.”

“Forget what, Apple Bloom?”

“Exactly.”