[Canterlot Castle - Luna's Bedchamber]

“This is dire news sister. Even we remember when the roads and fields were made safe through thine efforts. What, if not Discord could cause such a calamity we wonder?” Luna said from her comfortable position, lying across her bed while scrunching her face up in a cute scowl.

Celestia sighed deeply from her seat at a small dining table and took a sip of her tea. “I know not. Even Discord seemed disturbed by that ripple, despite his acting otherwise. They must be related though, I don’t believe in this being coincidence. Perhaps I should ask Twilight to look through the archives for a clue as to what might be causing this,” she finished with a wistful smile. “Even now, she chafes under the weight of being a Princess and her duties are still rather light these days. At the very least she and her friends will need to be told the details of what is happening. I did think that Discord would have been back-“

The solar princess was interrupted by the appearance of said chaotic jester in the middle of the room, heralded by AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’. He was sporting a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses along with his ever present grin. The music faded as he began to speak. “How are my favorite alicrons today? Still keeping the little ponies swaddled in packing peanuts and free of dust?” Discord seemed to pick up on the mood in the room rather quickly and lost his smile while removing his shades. “Oh my; the two of you seem quite distraught over something. What did I miss? Did Blueblood finally come out of the closet as a serial killer or worse, perhaps a telemarketer?”

Luna looked like she wanted to glare at the Draconequus but his antics did lighten the mood a little and she could only manage a look of disapproval, bordering on a snicker. Celestia however was wearing a mix of worry and impatience on her snout. “Yes, as you’ve surmised Discord, things have taken a grim turn. Before I get into that however, I’d like to hear what you found,” Celestia said with some authority. It seemed she didn’t want to push too hard but her usual leeway with the chaos lord was noticeably lacking.

Discord gave a tired sigh and with a snap of his paw, he was looking like his unusual self but his expression was more serious than expected. “Before I begin, I think it would be prudent for you to summon the Inculpable Six. I can’t say when or where, but at some point they may be pivotal to help stem the tide that is coming to crash down upon all the beings of Equus big and small. This is a tale I would rather tell only once.” With that, Discord rolled his wrist and was suddenly holding an object. He began filling what appeared to be an old pipe, seemingly carved from a single piece of a black wood, with a dried leaf of some sort and sat down on an exquisite lounge chair he pulled from behind his back. With another snap he lit both his pipe and the fireplace in Luna’s bedchamber and stared into the hearth flames while puffing on his pipe, as if lost in thought.

The sisters were understandably confounded at this side of Discord. Luna was just short of gaping at him while Celestia was struggling with whether she should comply with his demand or be offended at his brazenness. In the end, Celestia deduced that it would be far faster to simply call the girls to Canterlot and humor him; especially if he was being serious for a change. “Very well,” she began, “but I expect this to be something worthy of our time or I will be very cross with you.”

Discord gave a snort, coupled with a ring of smoke escaping his nostrils, and didn’t even spare her a glance. “Time dear Tia, is the one thing we don’t have to waste. I suggest you impress upon them the need for speed. Terrible things are probably already underway as we speak. I will wait patiently for them to arrive and then it will be ‘Story Time with papa Discord’.” Discord seemed to come to a sudden conclusion and began rubbing his chin while holding his pipe off to the side. “I’m sure Sparkles can handle getting her friends here with little problem. However, the pink princess and her shining knight should be present as well. I think I can assist with their travel arrangements…”

Before either of the princesses could comment, the avatar rolled his wrist in a complex series of movements and then snapped his paw once more. With a flash of light, two more beings joined the bedroom but the shock of their arrival stunned everyone present; even Discord.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was standing as still as a statue with her eyes wide open, one hoof holding a bright red lollipop in mid-trip to her mouth. Her mane was tied up in a rather childish ponytail, similar to how she once styled it during her foalsitting days and she was wearing what one could only describe as a high school uniform, complete with pleated skirt and long socks. Looking equally poleaxed was Shining Armor, who was currently sitting on his rump in a young-colt’s play outfit, complete with propeller cap and colorful schoolbag. It seemed that their ‘game’ was interrupted by the surprise teleportation and their brains had simply shut down in response.

After a few heartbeats of everyone starting at each other in astonished silence, Discord and Luna both turned their heads slowly to look at one another, stared for a moment and without warning they proceeded to break into gut-wrenching gales of laughter, even rolling onto their backs to kick the air with their legs. Celestia managed to facehoof with bright pink spots still visible on her cheeks. “It’s…good to see you again niece,” Celestia said with her eyes closed and her hoof still covering her face. “I apologize for the sudden…um, call. How about the two of you…freshen up in the bathroom before I go into details…”

Seeming to snap out of their paralyzed states, the two rulers of the Crystal Empire bolted into Luna’s bathroom and slammed with door behind them, echoes of laughter trailing after the whole way.

After a few moments to calm themselves down, Luna and Discord resumed being as ‘serious as possible’ while Celestia lost her blush and sent off a letter to Twilight Sparkle before she continued to sip her tea regally. Once Princess Cadence and Shining Armor exited the bathroom (both blushing like mad and with the distinct odor of freshly burned evidence) the champion of disharmony did something none of them expected; he gave them an out.

“I’m terribly sorry you two. I know that joke was in bad taste, but the atmosphere was getting far too tense for me and I wanted to brighten up the mood before we turn to more dire matters. I do so hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for dressing you in such provocative clothing,” Discord lamented with consummate acting skill. Of course, not a single entity in that room believed that he was responsible for what had been seen, but his effort did not go unnoticed and the rulers of the Crystal Kingdom latched onto it like drowning ponies at sea.

Cadence cleared her throat and nervously chuckled, “Yes, w-well you certainly did get us q-quite brilliantly…with such a joke. Please, refrain from such…surprising…actions in the future.” Shining Armor could do nothing else but weakly chuckle while scanning the room for a hole to hide in.

Luna politely coughed into a hoof and said, “Yes. We’re sure thou art wondering why thou…*ahem* you have been called under such circumstances. I can assure you, that it relates to the edict you have no doubt been made aware of earlier this eve; it concerns the attacks on all those outside the safety of cities and villages.”

“Indeed, my sister cuts straight to the heart of the matter. Discord tells us he has more information concerning this and another…disturbance I did not mention in my letter to you previously dear niece. A ripple of chaos felt earlier today and investigated by the very same Harbinger of Nonsense. We deemed it critical that you be here for the following discussion. The Elements of Harmony should be along shortly and then we may begin in earnest,” Celestia added with a few disapproving glances at Discord.

The Avatar of Chaos turned back to the fireplace and grunted. “None of you will want to hear what I have to say, but all I can do is tell you the truth and hope you have the ears and the heart to hear it.” The ponies in the room were rather taken aback at his forward attitude and somber tone.

Shining Armor took this chance to move the conversation even further away from his previous embarrassment. “Should we be mobilizing the guard for defense or even calling the ponies to arms for war?”

“War? Not quite. At least, not a war we can win with simple force of arms. However, mobilizing an army and having them post in all the ground-based villages and towns in Equestria would be prudent. The monsters will eventually try to move in and without magical shields or wards to prevent their entry… Perhaps sending word to any allies you have would be neighborly? I think they too will need to prepare for the worst,” Discord said with no mirth.

At the sudden knock at the chamber door, Discord ceased talking and puffed again on his pipe while his tail flicked with obvious nervous energy. “Enter,” Luna called and the door opened to reveal the newest princess of the realm; Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, Pri- I mean, Celestia. The guards said you were…” Twilight drifted off when she saw all the powerful ponies gathered in Luna’s room along with disharmony’s champion. She half turned behind her with a nervous look and said, “Come girls, this seems even more serious than I first thought,” and proceeded to enter the room to allow the rest of her fellow Elements to file in behind her.

After simple exchanges of greetings were passed between all the ponies, Discord loudly clapped his mismatched limbs together to gain their attention. “I hate to break-up the love-fest, but the hour grows late and we have things to discuss.” All the ponies were now looking at the Draconequus with a mixture of irritation and curiosity. Fluttershy approached him slowly and placed a hoof on his leg with a shy but comforting smile while Rainbow Dash seemed like she wanted to fly over and give Discord a piece of her mind. Discord grinned at the yellow pegasus and then turned his chair to face the room rather than the hearth. “Let’s start at the beginning. Celestia, what do you actually remember about the supposed Time of Chaos?”

The great white alicorn frowned at the question with narrowed eyes. “You of all creatures know very well that we were forced to bring the Elements of Harmony against you to end your insane rule of the lands that caused misery to all our little ponies. A rule, I may remind you, that cost many of said ponies their very lives. Do not think we have forgotten about your crimes.”

“You see? Right there, may be the biggest misconception about yours truly that’s been touted as fact for millennia. Tell me Tia; do I seem like the kind of being that takes lives for entertainment? Have you ever actually witnessed me kill anything, for any reason? Of course you haven’t; because those deaths cannot be lain at my feet. I am no murderer.”

The sisters were too upset to immediately respond to this claim. Fluttershy decided to speak up in her usual voice, which is to say, nearly inaudible. “Oh um, I t-think that Discord… Um, that he wouldn’t k-k-kill anything, even b-by accident. He’s m-mischievous certainly…b-but, he’s no k-killer.” Having finished her thoughts she hid behind Discord’s chair with a squeak when it dawned on her that she was the center of attention by the end of her speech.

Pinkie Pie decided to add her two bits as well. “Yeah! Dissy used to be a big-ole meanie-pants but he’s no pony-eating monster who hurts things for fun!”

“Far as I can tell ya’ll, he ain’t lyin’,” Applejack added quietly and then tipped her hat forward.

“Villain, you would dare to claim-“Celestia began but was cut off by a fierce glare from Discord.

“I dare? I dare to tell the truth if you dare to hear it! Did you even think that perhaps I was not the only one of my kind in existence? Did it ever occur to you to even ask? Of course not! You had your ‘monster’ all wrapped up in stone! There was no need for you to look any further, which is just what my so-called ‘siblings’ wanted!” Discord was looming over the room of ponies with smoke beginning to roll off of his body, it now being much larger than usual and not a single one of them was without a shiver of fear at the raw anger the chaotic being was radiating, bathing the room in a sanguine glow.

The solar princess was not sure how to respond to his accusations. Had she jumped to conclusions all those centuries ago? Had there been others working behind the scenes without her knowledge? She had never considered herself flawless, but this was… “What…what siblings are you talking about?” Her voice seemed deathly quiet after the shouting that had just taken place.

Discord seemed to gather himself with no small effort and sat down, peering over his steepled digits. “The two responsible for the loss of life were ‘Warfare’ and ‘Evolution’. They are not draconequui like me, but they are hybrid creatures made of different parts. Warfare is a Monoceros and Evolution a Tarasque.” He paused a moment to shoot a look around the room, demanding that questions be saved for later. Princess Twilight was sweating from the effort of remaining silent.

“Those two had their own agenda during the ‘Time of Chaos’ but since I was the outspoken one and was seeking attention while carelessly spreading chaos, they worked behind the scenes; doing terrible things to all the races of Equus. Death is not chaos; the misery it leaves behind is often discordant but not at all what I’m about as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Had I been paying attention… no matter, I couldn’t have faced off against them; this world would not have survived a direct battle between Aspects. Once I was ‘captured’, they ceased their plans and decided to bide their time, waiting for when the danger of Harmony had passed.” He trailed off at the end for a moment, perhaps lost in memories.

Just when it seemed Twilight was going to explode from not asking questions, Discord continued. “Warfare left Equus altogether. It seems he found a little blue planet quite similar to ours, but the dominant life form turned out to be an apex predator; far more in tune with war than your little ponies to be sure.” To his captive audience, Discord seemed almost smug for some unknown reason. “He’s been happily mucking about there for thousands of years now and the species ruling that planet is among the deadliest I’ve encountered in the many universes I’ve visited.”

Discord sighed in regret. “Evolution never lost his interest in seeing the creatures of Equus run his gauntlet and emerge on the other side shaped and molded into his ideal form. He spent the last few thousand years away from Equus, breeding monsters whose only purpose is to kill and break things.” Fluttershy began to silently weep at the thought of creatures being bred only for suffering and Pinkie Pie threw a foreleg over her shoulder for comfort, her own mane beginning to lose its usual curl.

Discord gently patted the head of the butter-colored pony absently. “You see, while he may be obsessed with forward progress, his weakness has always been games and challenges. He considers Life a test with only winners or losers and nothing excites him more than pitting sapient creatures against each other in games of skill and power, leaving the victor standing above the defeated changed in some way. In this game, he’s taken the position as the Black King and we make up the ranks of the White Army.”

“This brute sees the death and suffering of others as a game?” Rarity’s outrage was almost palpable.

Discord smirked at the unicorn. “Oh yes, but that weakness gives us a chance. If we can turn his obsession against him, he may show himself and then be stopped for good.”

Rainbow Dash was expectedly the first to jump at the challenge. “So what’er we waiting for? Let’s go bust him up!” Her aerial boxing moves inspiring less fear than smiles.

Princess Cadence stepped up with her own question. “How do we play a game we don’t know the rules to? What are we to do?” Her distraught tone caused Shining Armor to nuzzle her for support.

Discord raised a paw for silence. The Equestrian diarchy were silently mulling over all the information they had, the rulers of the snowy north were comforting each other, and the six friends from Ponyville were gathered together with determined looks. “Naturally, I’ve already taken the first step. If it hadn’t been for my own brush with friendship, I may have avoided getting involved in this mess altogether, but I can’t do that now. I actually have something to lose. Unfortunately, Evolution set the rule that any help I enlisted could not be native to our world.” This statement caused several ponies to gasp in understanding, while the rest were unsure what exactly Discord was trying to say.

The Draconequus continued his story after a brief pause. “So, some time ago I split off a fragment of my power and sent it looking through the various worlds beyond the mirror to find an edge, something he wouldn’t suspect as dangerous. I needed someone or something that could become a weapon for Equus but still embody the virtues Celestia is so fond of. It would need to be clever, strong, and stouthearted. What we needed was a hero, and I found him in quite the ironic place.” With a snap of his paw, there was a three-dimensional hologram of Nathaniel floating in the middle of the room and rotating slowly, his stance upright and his shoulders squared while he gazed intently at the horizon.

“You see, he’s a human straight from the planet that Warfare spent so much time shaping. If either of them knew I was pitting their efforts against one another, they would have a conniption fit,” Discord said, giggling by the time he finished speaking.

Rainbow Dash flittered around the projection once and gave a dismissive grunt. “He doesn’t look all that tough to me.”

Discord grinned like a Cheshire Cat. “That’s the point featherbrain, if he looked dangerous then Evolution would redouble his efforts to kill him, wouldn’t he?”

Celestia seemed to break from her trance. “You brought something that lives and breathes war to Equestria?” Her tone was more surprised than accusatory.

“Do you know what that boy was before I found him?” Discord asked in a dangerously polite tone. “He was a simple college student. He lived a sedentary lifestyle playing games and attending school. From my observations he seemed listless, because there was something missing from his life. So, I asked him what his wish was and do you know what he said? ‘I want the power to be the hero I’ve always dreamed of’ he told me.”

Luna smiled at the supposedly warlike creature having such an innocent desire and wanted a chance to peek into his dreams one night to get her own measure of the young man.

Discord paused a moment to let his words sink in. “Since then, that boy has braved a sunken city under the ocean and full of raving murderers to reach dozens of kidnapped children; those are young humans for you ponies, foals if you will. Even though it would have been far easier to sacrifice their lives in exchange for extra power to escape that nightmare place, he instead rescued every one of them and ended up giving his own life to see them reach freedom. After that, he used the bonds of Friendship to save the lives of his friends and neighbors by diving into a terrible place where demons roamed and eventually stopped a serial killer, saving a whole town that wasn’t even his own.”

“He’s done all that and more, playing the hero multiple times. When I told him that we would be coming to Equus to save an alien race of ponies that had nothing to do with him he didn’t even hesitate or try to talk his way out of it. He just asked what the plan was and decided to put his life on the line again: for all of you and the rest of this world. A world he figures may reject him for being different and he still is willing to fight for you. Would you dare judge him Celestia?” Discord finished, anger beginning to seep back into in his tone.

“Well shoot. Any critter that’d risk his life fer perfect strangers cain’t be all bad. Especially since them strangers include ma family and friends,” Applejack said with a smile.

Rarity beamed. “Yes, he may look a bit…different…but he certainly has the heart of gentlestallion to save all those youth at great personal cost. Maybe I could even adjust his wardrobe…as a gift of course!”

Pinkie Pie was bouncing around the room with undisguised zeal. “Oh boy! A ‘Welcome to the Planet Party’ will be sooooo epic! Cakes, music, punch, games, dancing and ooooh, maybe fireworks!”

The Solar Princess had the good grace to look ashamed. “I suppose I was quick to jump to an unfair judgment, and I apologize. Where is this champion now and why aren’t we helping him?” She looked genuinely worried about the boy.

Discord shook his head in disappointment. “We cannot give him too much aid directly or Progress, as he calls himself, will consider that ‘cheating’ and punish us or more likely him. I’ve set him on a path that will build his strength and I’ve given him the basic necessities to begin but I dare not do much more at this time. For now we’ll have to trust in his ingenuity and willpower until I can return to his side as ‘advisor’. For now, I wanted you all to know the stakes at risk and prepare for the worst.”

The spirit of disharmony looked around the room and made sure all were paying attention. “Evolution will slowly begin to release stronger monsters into the wild over the course of another two weeks or so and they will become powerful and bold enough to attack cities and villages. This is where the guard will be vital in saving lives. With enough support, the army should be able to buy enough time to either construct magical barriers to permanently keep the cities safe or evacuate them to the nearest place that has such measures functional.” Shining Armor nodded and began writing a letter to the guard commanders in Canterlot while the Princess of Friendship took notes on researching wards and shields for the towns of Equestria.

Discord turned to the Ponyville mares. “Fluttershy and Applejack, for your safety and the safety of those you care about, you should move your friends and family into town because you will soon find yourselves overrun by beasts. Before you say it, I understand you have your reasons for staying but believe me when I say that they aren’t worth your lives, are they?”

Applejack seemed particularly upset but when the Draconequus assured her the monsters weren’t interested in smashing her farmhouse, she relented grudgingly. Fluttershy was reassured by Twilight that there were plenty of empty rooms in the palace for her animal friends and she seemed to relax a bit.

“I’ve done enough talking for now. I’m sure you’re about to burst at the seams with unasked questions Sparkles, but I think we all have enough on our plates as it is, so we’ll have to have that discussion later,” Discord said while holding a dinner plate full of wooden blocks that spelled ‘enough’. “Evolution may be the ‘Game Master’, but I for one plan to win this particular game. What about you ponies?”

The cheer the ponies mustered seemed to lift the oppressive mood surrounding the room and reinforced the determination in their hearts. Equestria would not go down quietly or without a fight.

Author's Note

Level 1 Student

Updates
Faction: Gained the support of the Equestrian Royalty and the Elements of Harmony

Come then, and let us pass a leisure hour in storytelling, and our story shall be the education of our heroes.
- Plato

Stand or fall I know there shall be peace in the valley and it's all an affair of my life with the heroes and villains.
- Beach Boys