The Ballad of Harmony

Dear whoever cares…

This story is a result, a concealment of all my sanity arranged in my mind written on these pages. A unicorns magic holds many of strengths, including the strength to magically hold a quill and to write, yet it pains me to write what I have to say. My mind is locked at a standstill; many shifting conflicts that I cannot ever seem to cease. Mostly from the case of the creature I vowed the entity of my early adulthood in abstracting vengeance upon; but now in my later life I just sound like a rambling fool, somepony alone, his only friend and his only form to talk to, this empty book. My story has been twisted along by many forms of torture and despair, but I believe it will be the easiest to start from the beginning. Not the beginning of my life, of course, that would take some time to fully explain, but the beginning of my broken story…

Act ZERO
The Beginning

It was forty-some years ago, I was just your normal, everyday unicorn colt, I spent my time working for the Ministry of Archmagic, One of most respected magic high arches in all of Equestria. Just for being a member of the Ministry of Archmagic made you a highly respectable unicorn, as of such I was a highly respected young colt at the age of 21. My mind was always unaware of impoverishes around me, and only on the wellbeing of myself. As of such I was, what you would call, “stuck-up and snotty”. I had no friends, except for some unicorns I knew around the Ministry itself.

I lived this kind of life from my age of 21 to about six months later, unknown to the changes that surrounded me. It all changed with one certain incident that rattled the entire land of Equestria down to every last pony. The Harmony that surrounded our land in peace was shattered, a beast of unknown proportions descended from someplace in the sky. I never knew exactly where this beast came from, but I guess it never occurred to me to ask. The beast was strange; all unicorns that surrounded him were in awe. He was unlike anything that I knew, and since I didn’t know what he was, it was in the most sense that nopony else knew what he was, other than the Elder Unicorn Violet star, for he had lived for so long that he knew everything there was to know. The beast uncurled from his position and stretched his arms wide and just yawned. From something that had such a huge introduction into our world, it seemed as if he was just napping. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarg, ahaha!” the first sounds of the beast roared as his hands folded back into his normal position, I had a good look at the beast, a sort of mish-mash of many animal parts, yet one clear thing I saw was one stand out fang that was sticking out of his mouth, “Hmm? What do we have here? Unicorns, no doubt, But why in the world did I want to land here again?” The beast spoke in clear patterns, but it sounded as if he was confused. I turned around and sprinted towards the Ministry, all I knew was that I needed to know what this creature was, and the only one whom I thought would know was our elder Unicorn.

The elder unicorn always said that if we were unable to solve any sort of problems that he would have to be the first to ask. He had lived in this world for over 400 years, or at least that’s what he said, I can give no account for the legitimacy of this, but I know for sure he was old, nearing the end of his time. I galloped into the room which the old unicorn held his studies, upon entering the unicorn look at me strangely, “Elder!” I exclaimed with all my force, “There is a beast that has descended upon our court yard! Like some form of godlike proportions! I haven’t the slightest clue of what creature is! It could be something that has never set foot in Equestria befo-“ the old unicorn silenced me with a simple silence spell. “Do not worry yourself young one”, the old unicorn said “this creature you speak about, most likely has been seen upon the lands of Equestria before, but…” the old unicorn trailed off, almost as if he had a strange feeling about what I was talking about. And feeling my voice coming to me once again I busted out to talk, but I realized the old unicorn was looking for something, so I figured to wait until he found whatever it was he was looking for.

The old unicorn was fussing around looking for a book, or at least that’s what I guessed. “Ah, yes, this is what im looking for, now you said he descended from the sky, god-like, correct?” the old unicorn whispered mystifyingly as he summoned a book from the top shelf, I nodded, “Young one, do you see this book?” he asked, I nodded. “This book…” he continued, trailing off his speech while he read, “it was written 5,000 years ago, upon a time like this, when a great beast descended from the sky like a god, revealing themselves to their people. Now, you said that you had a good look at this beast correct?” the old unicorn asked, I nodded, the beast’s image was flashing in my mind, the mish-mash of assorted animals. “Now, can you inform me… think, did this beast have a sort of mish-mash of many animals?” I thought, and I remembered, and I nodded, “remember, you only have to answer what you know, I don’t want to make any false accusations here. Now, the last thing I need to know is, did he have one, and just only one, long fang?” I remembered the fang clearly, as it was one of the first things that grabbed my attention, I nodded and the old unicorn dropped the book. He slowly walked over to the chair that he rested upon. I was worried for the old elder, I rushed over to his side and asked, “Elder, you have always had the answers to our questions, what could the answer to this question possibly be? Is it so terrible that, you need to rest just to announce it?” the elder shook his head and a small tear dripped down his face.

At that time, I was so full of wonder that I just HAD to know; I rushed over to where he dropped the book and read. “The beast on which I have explained shall be known as “Draconequus”, the beast had been known to show a powerful force of magic, his favorite source of magic being chaos, and his strengths come from his sheer random foresight, a disagreement between two claims, one being structure, and the other, being at random completely, for this I have named the beast “Discord” he took acknowledgement over this name, and said he would use it for the rest of his days. This creature is unstoppable, but he is extremely susceptible to the Elements of Harmony. If you are ever faced in the presence of this beast, you must know the location of the elements, I have stored them within a safe place, they are located amon-“. At that moment the entire roof shattered and broke off. The sanctuary of this place was now destroyed, and the mighty beast descended upon us.

“Now, Now, my little ponies; don’t get too far ahead.” The beast said in a taunting voice. The book that I had held onto was ripped from my grasp and the mighty beast held it and looked. “Clearly we don’t want my fun to be short lived, hmmm?” I was speechless, within a shocked-like position. The old unicorn rose and confronted the beast. “You… You… Beast!” The beast looked at the old unicorn with one brow raised. “oh what is it now you old fool!” the unicorn held his ground and stared down the Draconequus with force. “Discord!” he yelled, “why have you returned?!” the Draconequus giggled at the statement and flew behind him in a simple breeze. “Why you ask?” he said tauntingly, “why do YOU still live? That seems like the better question, why are you here? Why? I can’t seem to even THINK of the reasons.” The Draconequus paused and gasped, “you!” he exclaimed with false amazement, “you wouldn’t have, by any chance, looked into the scroll I left here did you?” The old unicorn paused and looked back. Anger filled his expression. “I will NOT answer myself to the likes of you Discord!” he exclaimed, “I will not.” The Draconequus chuckled, “You really are just the strangest little unicorn out there aren’t you Elder Violet Star? The youngest and the strongest unicorn around, or at least you were many of years ago, old one” Discord lifted the book up and started reading, after a few moments he shut the book and laughed out loud. Discord wailed his body back and forth with laughter, “you REALLY did it didn’t you?!” he exclaimed louder with every beat of laughter. I backed myself up into the corner, trying to shield myself from any imminent threat. Discord whirled around and snapped his fingers; Elder Violet Star was lifted up in front of Discord. The Draconequus immediately ceased his laughter and stared into the eyes of Violet Star. “The greatest unicorn, matching the skill set of even Starswirled the Bearded… so sad that even you fell for temptation. The scroll of eternal life was of my creation, and now, you’ve used it as if it was your own… so sad it is, but im sorry.” Discord lulled his voice down to sheer seriousness as he transfixed his energy around the old unicorn. At a snap of his fingers large amounts of magical energy flew out from Violet Star, the energy swirled in a mystifying pattern, which even I, was mesmerized by. I stood by watching as all the life force flew out of the old pony, my mentor, my friend. Once the light show was over Discord grabbed the crippled body of the once great pony and snapped off the unicorns’ horn, then tossed the body onto the floor like a piece of trash.

My rage at this sight overwhelmed me, Discord must have felt the raw energy that engulfed me as I stood up, because he flew by my side, and with one touch my body seized up and I fell to the floor.

The next memory of mine was of me, slowly opening my eyes. It was a difficult task for what it was, but the thoughts of my only friend, my mentor Violet Star dead, made me want to keep my eyes closed and to exile myself from this world. Yet it felt as if I needed to see what had become of the world since I blacked out. The sight I saw horrified me. The Ministry had been completely reformed. The courtyard in which the Draconequus descended upon was now turned into a miserable blood pool. I stood up and looked around, then a voice, the only voice at which I did not want to hear at that time filled my ears and engulfed my mind. “Finally you awaken… it’s been too long…” I spun around and saw the Draconequus on a throne made out of bones! “Oh how very excited I am to see you little one! I thought my frozen touch spell actually DID kill you… sad case… yet I believe I have a few tasks for you before, disposal.” the Draconequus flew into another fit of laughter as he spoke. “Far too long have I, Discord, Element of Dis-Harmony been held against my will in that hellish prison in the sky! FAR TO LONG HAVE I BEEN PUSHED AROUND BY YOUR KIND! Violet Star wielded power that destroyed me many of years ago; he knew I would return, so he took my spell of eternal life, waiting for me. But NOW IT’S MY TURN!” As Discords rage grew, the ground around the Ministry cracked and burst open, fiery lava flooded the courtyard. The Draconequus paused and coughed into his hand, then turned a smile. “Now, to get down to business, out of all the unicorns that worked here, you are the only one left alive. Consider it my act of “Kindness”, the magical thing here is that you do not lay dead. I’ve spent much time thinking about it, and I feel as if my generosity is echoing in such the form to let you live. Honestly though, I don’t really care.” The Draconequus laughed out loud yet again, “I cast you out of my new lair, so you can watch as I tear this world from the little bit of harmony that is left, into pure CHAOS!” as the Draconequus’ last words left his mouth a molten bridge lifted out of the lava and solidified. I walked down the path that was presented, while walking, the further and further I made it, the more anxious I became. As I neared the edge of the bridge I felt energy halt me. “But… now that I think about it, I do want to chat with you” the Draconequus grabbed ahold of me with his twisted magic and flew me in front of his presence, “Now, the only two things in this world that know exactly how to defeat me is this book, and your dear old Violet Star, whom if I remember correctly, is dead.” Discord wailed with laughter after uttering that last word. The more he spoke, the viler he appeared. “So it comes down to this, you’ve read up to the point in this book that tells you the Elements of Harmony is my only weakness. So, you have an edge to defeat me.” I looked into the beast’s eyes and thought for a second, why would he be telling me this? Why would this creature be informing me on how to defeat him?

After a few moments the Draconequus sighed in disappointment, “do you EVER talk?” he roared, “Talk! Don’t be shy! You must be very angry, or even anxious to speak to me!” I looked down the face of this horrid beast and spoke, “you… you want me to talk to you? Why would I? What would come out of such an act? More violence? More killing? Why would you want me talk to you? Answer all of those questions and then I may yet talk” The Draconequus chuckled at what I had said, twisting his body in all sorts of directions just to face me. I was still being held up by his magic’s, but he still moved to speak around me. “No, foolish little unicorn, no more violence shall happen, no more killing will happen, or at least until time is up.” I thought on what the beast had just said, I was curious to say, at what he meant by ‘time is up’, but curiosity did kill the cat. “What do you mean beast?!” I exclaimed, “by ‘time is up’?!” Discord chuckled yet again, and spun around me three times. “Oh, of course, my proposition that I want to mark upon you… I shall cease my work upon this world for four months, my little pony… you have four months to find the Elements of Harmony and learn how to use them, or I will tear this world apart.” I stared at the Draconequus with a dumfounded look, why was he telling me this? Why is he informing me on how to defeat him and how to stop him? I was confused, but my questions were answered, “Where is the fun in things when you are guaranteed to win little one?” his expression turned serious, “if you can wield the Elements of Harmony and defeat me, you win. If not, I win and will rule this world forever!” at the last word spoken by Discord, a crack of lighting poured from the sky and he began laughing manically. He paused and released me from my magical bounds, and I fell flat on the floor, the beast was laughing, and I found it within myself to start running away. “GO now my little pony! Go and just try to defeat me! SHOW YOUR LOYALTY TO EQUESTRIA! Four months’ time my friend, laugh it up! Four. Months’. Time.”

And this is how the misfortunes of my life began. With one whack across my head I was plunged into a quest that had little chance of success… Why me? Whatever did I do to receive such a burden that only the mightiest of all ponyfolk in the world were able to overcome? I was to ‘save the world’ as the beast had so elegantly put it…

...I just didn't know how to start….