Chaos in the Familyby Aurora Hope HealerChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 3Chapter 1It was the middle of the Nightmare War, and Discordian Chaos, or Discord as he was more commonly known as, was doing his best to fight without causing too much havoc for his brother and the three of his sisters that were on the battle field. He currently found himself lost in one of Equestria’s many forests. “Of this is just my luck. Sombra would order me to not use chaos magic… honestly, it’s all I’m good at anymore!” He kicked a rock with his hoof, one of the few pieces on the draqonuess that was still what it had originally been. He sighed. His older brother had assumed that they were supposed to be following his rule since their parents had died. Sombra was always hard hearted. It probably didn’t help that he was able to manipulate crystals. Sombra was a dark furred Unicorn with seriously powerful magic. His younger sisters, Celestia, Astrana, and little Luna, were all dealing with their own parts of the war. They had each gained their cutie marks, but the youngest of the four, and Luna’s twin, didn’t have her cutie mark yet. This caused some issues between her and her eldest brother. Aurora Hope was Luna’s twin sister, and the little light pink pony had no special talent that they knew of. Sombra had insisted that Aurora stay at the palace in the Everfree forest with some of the guards, where she could remain safe since she had no powers that were useful to defending Equestria against the Nightmare army. Aurora had then proceeded to locking herself up in her room crying after practically being told she was useless. “Need a hoof, Lord Discord?” Discord turned in surprise to find a young pegasus that was a light yellow and had a four leaf clover in the middle of a swirling purple and white circle. Her mane was light pink with a single white streak in it. “You seem lost.” “I am. Who are you?” He hadn’t expected to find anyone out in the middle of the forest. “I’m Clover Swirl, but everyone calls me Crazy Clover.” “Why would they call you that?” The mare smirked. “Well it might be because I’m crazy, or it’s because of my special abilities. Anyway, we should return to my camp. My commander sent me out when I told her I sensed a strong amount of Chaos magic.” Discord’s different sized red eyes widened at that. “You can sense my powers?” Clover smirked and blushed. “That’s nothing. You should see what I can do with them, hehe.” Discord used his own abilities to try and sense any powers nearby and found that she had an amazing amount of chaos magic in her as well. “What are you?” “I’m a pegasus that was born on a night when Princess Luna’s moon was red.” Discord blushed. That had been his magic playing around. He had been informed that ponies born on that night would have an unnatural strength in chaotic magic, but that only one pony had been born that night. Since then, he hadn’t pulled that kind of trick again. “Whoops… sorry… my bad… heh.” “Don’t be sorry. Because of you, I have the abilities to track down the Nightmares easier. Chaos Magic is similar to Nightmare Magic.” Author's Note Now, I know that there weren't many who looked at my sister's story, but hopefully you'll take a look at mine? Just saying... Clover actually reminds me of Fluttershy now that I think about it... hmm... Chapter 2It was a large, but humble looking, war camp. There were many ponies running about, most of which had some sort of head gear with a red cross on it. Discord took it to mean that they were medical ponies until he saw a large squadron of them practicing in the field. The unicorns were practicing using medical supplies with their horns, but some of it was being used as weapons as well as for their original purpose. Clover led Discord to one of the medium sized tents. “Wait a moment.” She told the lord of chaos. He nodded. He knew how some commanders and generals got in war. He just hoped that they wouldn’t treat him like Sombra. That unicorn seemed to think that he deserved everything for doing nothing. He noticed that this tent had a large red cross on a black canvas. He wondered if it was the pony’s cutie mark. After a moment, Clover poked her head out and smiled kindly at him with her big turquoise eyes. “Come on in, the commander wants to talk to you, sir.” Her voice was now softer and kinder. “Right.” Discord nodded, somewhat worried. He expected the inside of the tent to be larger on the inside than it had looked on the outside, and to find the general was a snooty noble that had been forced into the job of war. He was surprised to find he was wrong on both parts. Sitting in front of a small map on the ground, while sitting on top of a dirty old sleeping bag, was a young mare that looked barely older than a filly. She had a blonde mane and pink fur, but her horn was as black as a moonless night. She had one eye that was as green as the grass under her map, and the other was as blue as the nearby river. She frowned at the paper, as though she was missing something, or something was wrong with it. She was wearing a dark, black, dirty old, patched up, cloak that covered where her cutie mark would be. Discord’s jaw literally dropped to the floor as he recognized the youngest of his sisters with a terrifyingly serious expression on the usually happy face. He hadn’t seen her in almost ten years, since the war had started. “Discord, pick your jaw up and have a seat. Clover, check around area 2B with five unicorns, ten pegasus, and ten earth ponies. Make sure that they’re fully armed and that at least two of the pegasus are capable of Mach 2 speeds with heavy equipment. I want you to send for help if you need it. You choose the ponies that you think will work for this. You know what’s at stake.” Aurora hadn’t even lifted her head to look at her older brother or her Lt. “Aye, aye, Commander Hope.” Clover saluted before leaving. She gave a flirtatious smirk towards a still shocked Discord as she left. After she left, Discord picked up his jaw and fixed it in place. Discord then took a better look at the tent. There was no magic in it, so he was certain that it was a simple tent and that the only furniture in it was the sleeping bag that Aurora sat on. “Nice place.” He said sarcastically. “Better than a lonely castle where I have to worry about you all dying on me.” “Hey, you know that wasn’t my…” “Choice? I know. You could have stood up for me though, oh master of chaos.” Aurora finally looked up from her map and glared at her brother. “I’m not a filly anymore, and Luna’s the same age, so why does she get accepted among you and I don’t? Is it because I don’t have a meaning? Because I can’t move stuff like the others?” She growled uncharacteristically. “Is it because I don’t have a purpose like you all do?” Discord was shocked. Aurora wasn’t acting at all like she usually did. She was a sweet young filly who liked to sing, draw, help animals and pony alike, and tried to not upset anypony. This pony… she seemed to be the same one, what with the tears in her eyes already begging for forgiveness, but she also seemed to have courage that Aurora hadn’t shown since the war began… ‘No…’ Discord shook his head. ‘… she’s been shy since Sombra started pointing out how different she was… when he started to say mean things to her, she stopped wanting to upset him… but this… this would upset him…’ She wiped her snout with her cloak. Discord used his powers to conjure up a hankie for her. “Thanks… I suppose now that you know I’m out here with everypony, you’re gonna tell Sombra?” Discord shook his head and gave his little sister one of those rare sympathy smiles that looked funny on his face, what with that fang always hanging out. “No… I think he’ll have to find out on his own, just like I did. Mind telling me what you’re up to here?” Aurora grimaced. “What’s it look like? I’m training an army of healers to fight back. We can heal and fight.” “Uh-huh.” Discord smirked. Aurora was always trying to help ponies. “And they call you commander because…?” Aurora blushed. “Oh… um… I didn’t tell them I was Princess Aurora…” “What did you tell them?” “I told them that I was… I told them that I was Hope Healer…” She blushed even harder. “I made my way through the ranks just like any other pony, with my leadership skills and my tactics. I was just the tactician, but the last commander didn’t make it and… the Lt. and some of the others said that I should lead…” “Huh… Well at least now we know Sombra’s wrong about you.” “What do you mean, Discord?” Discord smiled. “I mean, Sombra said you have no natural leadership skills. You’ve successfully proven him wrong. How long have you been in charge anyway?” “Um… almost five years now… I was sort of hoping for this war to be over and done with by now…” Aurora looked down sadly. “Yeah, me too… well… since you’re out here… do you mind if I work in your command?” “Excuse me?” Aurora’s eyes opened wide as she looked at her older brother. She respected him among all of her siblings the most, just because he didn’t belittle her or think she was too young. Luna was the only other family she had that didn’t look down on her, but because of her getting her cutie mark before the war, she had gone off with Astra and Celestia to fight. “You want to work under me?” “That’s right. Is that so hard to believe? You’re obviously a good commander if you’ve stayed alive at that position for five years. Oh, by the way, while we were gone, did you get your cutie mark?” Aurora nodded and showed the strange mark. “I got it when I first became known as Commander Hope Healer. I don’t know what it means though. It’s way too complex.” The mark was indeed a complex one. It was a small half sun over a half moon with a water drop at the bottom of the moon, a small white star above the sun, and just above where the halves met was a small red star like object, possibly a medical cross. "I’ve never seen a cutie mark this complicated before, have you?” “I honestly can’t stay that I have…” Author's Note Oh goody, baby sis got her cutie mark and is leading an army, won't Sombra be proud... no, he wasn't when he found out, but you'll find this out later. Chapter 4When they got back to camp, their commander was bearing her black cloak and was giving enchantments to the earth ponies. “Good, you’re back. Get everyone ready. We’ve got an elite Nightmare wizard coming towards us. I think he sensed the chaos magic.” “I still don’t understand why you won’t let me bring him on a wild goose chase.” “Because they’ve been training their wizards to counteract your magic and capture you. No offense, but you’re sticking with us, and you’re standing next to me. I don’t care what you say and how old you are, you are fighting with us.” The cold stare in the mare’s eyes made the lord of chaos feel a chill in his heart. “Got it?” Discord gulped. “Got it… Commander Hope.” Somehow he felt more afraid of his littlest sister now than he did of the entire Nightmare Army. “Good, now power up some chaos magic, because not all of them will have magic on their side. We need to confuse them as much as possible.” “What did you have in mind?” Now he was interested. He raised an eyebrow comically off his face. Sombra never let him use his special brand of chaos magic in the war. Aurora smirked. “I was thinking about that trick you pulled at my last birthday party. I always loved your chocolate milk rain and cotton candy clouds.” “OOH! I love it! They’ll freak out so much from the weather alone!” “Don’t forget to lower the clouds in like a fog and stick the nightmares together!” Aurora laughed as she motioned for the small army to get into formation. There were a few that would be staying behind at the camp to clean it up and guard those cleaning up, but the majority of the army would be with Commander Hope and Lord Discord. Aurora then took a deep breath and resumed her air of command as Commander Hope Healer. “Alright troops.” She said as she went to the front of the group. Discord was surprised at how serious she had gotten and so quickly. “I’m not going to lie to you, you all know that by now. We’re going into the fray again. I want you all in teams of six. Two of each kind, you know the drill.” The ponies formed into teams of six; two pegasi, two earth ponies, and two unicorns. “Good. Now, keep your magic strong, your swords sharp, and your clouds full of lightening. Lord Discord?” She turned her head towards her brother. “Yes, Commander Hope?” He had a feeling that it was best to address her as such until he was told otherwise. “What do you need?” “Lightning clouds run out fast around here and I want you to use your particular brand of powers and skills to summon up some cotton candy clouds to make the enemy sticky and unable to fight. Then I want you to see if you can lend a hand with some… licorice whips!” Discord’s eyes widened in shock and delight. It was so chaotic and confusing, he could have easily thought of it on his own. “Licorice? Really?” “Yeah! We can have them whip at the nightmares and scare them off! We can also have you mess with their magic before it messes with ours! Think you can do it that fast? They have limited range and their best spells are to trap us into nightmares.” “How have you been fighting that?” Hope blushed. “I… I found one of your elements.” Her voice was in a whisper. “Which one?” “Element of… dreams…” Hope’s voice was near silent as she showed the small jewel that was used as a clasp on her cloak. It was a simple looking jewel much like the elements of harmony were, but the elements of chaos were more dangerous if used incorrectly. Discord’s eyes turned into a slight glare.“We’ll discuss this after the battle, commander. For now,” He snapped his fingers and appeared on Hope Healer’s back with a set of golden armor on. He held a large sword in his claw that was made out of what appeared to be peppermint and his shield had a large swirl on it with Hope’s Healers’ trademark red cross symbol. He was small enough now that he wouldn’t weigh too much for the young alicorn. “What do you think? Too much?” He tightened his grip on his little sister’s reigns while she just laughed like a mad mare. “They’ll never expect it! Hope’s Healers! Let’s ride!” Author's Note Ah, now that was a fun time, hehehe... oh? Right... the elements of Chaos... um... something I made by accident when I found my special talent... there's six of them... just like the elements of harmony... no they don't counteract them... they were actually supposed to work together with them or something I think. Anyway, there's the elements of dreams, which as you've probably guessed, is actually in Princess Luna's hooves. I also made an element of Nightmares, not sure where it went to, see. Sombra got ticked off at me one day and scattered the six of them around the globe quite stupidly too... I also happened to get a hold of the harmony elements, but before he could do the same thing, I placed them into that tree that my sisters found them in... yeah, Luna and Celestia always forgot what I could make... anyway back to my elements of chaos... let's see. . . I named Dreams, Nightmares... oh, right... time. Yes, Time is chaotic, and then there is music, faith... and what was that last one... I made it a long time ago, even for us immortals terms... oh, right, this one was always Aurora's favorite... it was the element of Hope. Hmm... I wonder if Aurora knows where they all are at this point... Chapter 5This continued for a few more years, Hope leading, Discord following along with the entire army that the young alicorn had amassed. She had yet to reveal that she was a princess, and that was how she liked it. Discord didn’t mind answering to his youngest sister, much to his surprise. She used his chaotic abilities like she used anyone else’s special talents. She had done her research into everyone in her army, and she knew each member and his or her abilities. She used them to their fullest potential and they were glad for it. News had come around though that the princess, Astrana Hope, the twin of Celestia, had been captured and was under the enemy’s control. Hope had actually growled at that and had ordered her soldiers to continue onwards as they started searching for the remaining two princesses and prince. She had also ordered them to do as they saw fit, though she would still issue out commands. There were a few in the group by now who had been royal guards at one point or another, and they knew she was a princess, but still followed her wish to be known simply as Hope Healer. They knew that she was torn and was worried her anger would cloud her judgment. Much to everyone’s surprise however, her judgment was still as clear as ever. One night however, Discord and Hope were on a scouting mission. Discord was trying to pass the time by whispering to his younger sister, of whom he was incredibly proud of and impressed with. Sombra had been completely wrong about the young alicorn mare. “… and so I was thinking after this, what will we do? Sombra’s going to throw a fit when he finds out what we’ve been doing…” “Since when did the master of chaos fear the master of crystals? I think he’ll stay out of our manes for a while soon enough.” Hope’s eyes were darting everywhere as she kept an eye out for trouble. She had left her Lt. in charge of the camp at the moment, and knew they were in good hooves. “Since he turned me into this!” He pointed at his disfigurement. At one point, he too had been a normal looking unicorn. “How come you aren’t scared anymore?” Hope thought about it for a minute and then laughed. “I haven’t been able to spend time with any of you since you left the palace all those years ago. For the past five years, you’ve been working under me, of all things. I think that if Sombra is going to give me trouble again, then this time I won’t hold back my powers… you remember don’t you?” “That you asked me to put a power dampener onto your tiara? Yes. I noticed you haven’t worn it in a while.” “Actually, I’m wearing it right now. I have it disguised as my helmet.” She pointed a hoof at her helmet and dispelled the illusion for a moment. It looked like a simple band with a jewel in its center for a minute before she restarted the spell to make it into her helmet. “See?” “Impressive. Even with a power dampener on, you still have an amazing amount of magic at your disposal.” “I don’t want it though.” “But you have it.” Hope said nothing to that as they continued on. A distant sound caught Hope’s ear as her eyes widened. “Problem!” She started running. “Discord, tell the others to get here as soon as possible! Celestia is fighting Astra and Luna’s scared and hurt!” Discord didn’t question how his younger sister knew what was happening to the others. He had quit questioning things like that shortly after joining her army. Discord turned and ran as fast as he could. Hope ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, her cloak getting caught in the thorns and brambles as she ran, tearing it off and revealing her cutie mark. When she made it to the clearing where her sisters were, all that was left of her Hope Healer outfit was her helmet and the clasp of her cloak that was holding the element of chaos known as the element of dreams. She looked in horror as she noticed her sister, Celestia was fighting an alicorn that was similar to her in looks, but was a light purple with large purple eyes and a dark purple mane. The cutie mark on the mysterious alicorn was similar to her sister’s, Astra’s, compass, but the heart in it was broken and the compass was upside down. This was not her sister, and yet, she knew that it was what had become of her. “No…” Her voice was a hushed whisper. She looked around and noticed her twin. “LUNA!” Luna was unconscious and on the ground. Aurora raced over to her twin and used her black horn’s magic to heal her sister. When she was sure her twin would be in no harm, Aurora placed the element of dreams into her sister’s hoof and turned to face the older twins. Luna gasped as she felt something cold touch her hoof. She looked at it weakly and recognized it as an element of chaos, one of six that had supposedly disappeared or been destroyed, thanks to Sombra’s hatred of chaos. “What?” She asked weakly. Aurora risked a glance back at her nocturnal twin. “Aurora?” Though it had been about fifteen years, she recognized the mismatched eyes, the dirty blonde hair, and the most striking thing about the pink alicorn, her black horn! Aurora just shook her head clear of the desire to comfort her twin and turned to the task at hoof. “Tell Discord he’s to follow my Lt. until the end of her time, and he better not forget it.” “What?” Aurora started charging towards where her sisters were flying and fighting above her. She spread her wings out for the first time in years and attempted to fly. She had never flown before, but that didn’t stop her. She needed to stop the fight. “CELESTIA, ASTRANA, STOP!” The two didn’t seem to hear her, but Luna shouted at her twin to come back and stay away. Aurora didn’t care. She had to stop the fight. She flew above Astra’s new form and recognized the traces of nightmare magic that had forced her into such a state. She growled and used her magic to take off her power dampening helmet. She threw it to Celestia as it transformed into her tiara. “Time to switch out, Celestia!” Aurora pulled her wings in and dropped down onto Astra, much to the surprise of the two alicorn sisters. “Sorry Astra, but it’s high time you see a healer!” Her black horn glowed once more and a bright white star enveloped the princess of the stars and the young healer. “Good bye my sisters… we’ll be back when this is fixed…” When the light was gone, much to the horror of Celestia and Luna, so was Aurora and Astra. Author's Note Ah yes, I took a few minutes to take a trip back in time to see this for real, and let me tell you, I was terrified. Something that rarely happens at all to me. (What about with...?) Aurora, you said I could do the commentating and writing! (Fine, hehe.) Thank you.... now onto the story... Chapter 6Discord ran into the clearing with the Hope’s Healers right behind him. The first thing he saw though stopped him in his tracks. Two of his sisters were crying and the other two were missing. Then he saw Sombra come out of the shadows to try and comfort them. It didn’t take Discord long to put together that two and two still equaled fish in his mind. Something had happened and Sombra didn’t even lift a hoof to stop it. He looked to the group that was behind him, the army that believed anything his sister would tell them, simply because she didn’t want to lie to them. The army that Aurora slept on the ground with, fought the nightmares with, and even risked her own life for. The army that trusted and depended on Aurora for leadership and guidance. Discord clenched his claw and paw into fists. “What happened?” He asked as calmly as he could to his sisters. To his surprise, they both ran to him and away from Sombra. He knelt down so that he could comfort them better. He then turned to Lt. Clover Swirl with a sad look in his eyes. “Give me a few minutes to figure out where the commander is. Keep everyone on full alert.” She nodded. It took a few minutes for Discord to calm his sisters down enough to get an answer. Even after getting a clear answer, he couldn’t believe it without seeing it for himself. He took a step away from everyone and used his chaos magic to catch a glimpse of the past to see exactly what had happened. He felt disheartened to find that it was indeed the truth. His baby sister had taken off the power dampener to take Astra who knew where at this point. Sombra was just growling though when he had heard. “Aurora was supposed to stay at the palace. How could this have happened?” “Aurora didn’t want to wake up and hear we were dead. She didn’t want to find herself alone. Aurora went and took on the role of a common soldier, worked her way up the ranks, and made herself useful. She made you wrong. She became a commander, Commander Hope Healer, and all you could say was that she was useless.” Discord was up in the dark unicorn’s face, startling him in the process. “Aurora’s done more than you ever gave her credit for, and if she dies, that’s what I blame you for!” Discord growled as the dark unicorn backed off in shock. None of his siblings went against him usually because he was oldest, but then he had to remember that he was only older than Discord by about five minutes. Lt. Swirl was nearby and took a minute to process all she had been told and all she had just heard. Her commander, the pony they had been following for about fifteen years had in fact said one lie to them. She hadn’t told them she was a princess. Unable to control herself, she started crying with her eyes wide opened. She felt like she had failed by losing a princess, but more than that, she felt like she had failed her Commander by not being there for her when she needed help the most. Author's Note Okay, yes, I was a bit mean to Sombra, but Aurora wouldn't have left the castle and gone off alone if we had taken her with us from the start like we did with Luna! Besides, from the reports I got from Sombra's army, he did less than Aurora, and Aurora is the youngest of us all! How is that even fair? I mean, seriously! Chapter 7Though they were unable to find the last of the royals, or Commander Hope, the rest of the war progressed quickly. The war was finished within the next year and the majority of the armies had been disbanded. The army known as Hope’s Healers was meeting one last time in the middle of the Everfree forest. Discord and Clover Swirl stood at the front of the army with solemn faces. Discord took a deep breath and sighed. His sisters usually were the ones for making speeches, or even his brother, but he felt like, just this once, he needed to do it himself… for his little sister… for his commander. He walked to the front of the army of healers and started his speech. “Hope’s Healers… it has been a great pleasure to share my chaotic powers with you and save our nation. Over the years we have lost many, some who should never have even heard of war, but stood by us anyway. While our Commander is gone, her spirit is still with us. I believe that our commander would want us to continue helping ponies in her place and continue healing others.” Discord then sighed. “I’m not going to lie, everypony. The Nightmares have a great chance of returning. I fear that they will strike when we least expect it. I propose that if any of us catch a whiff of Nightmares, we tell the others. Even just a small hunch could be important. You have all been around me long enough to have a touch of my chaotic magic running through your blood. Use it for this emergency only.” Discord took another staggering breath as he brought himself to the crux of the matter in his mind. “As you may have heard, the princess, Aurora Hope, had disguised herself as our commander, Hope Healer.” This got a series of mutters and whispers from the troops before they silenced themselves. “This was probably the only lie that Aurora has ever told you all. She didn’t want to be treated special because of a title that she never wanted. In all honesty, in the last few centuries that she has lived, I don’t think I’ve seen Aurora happier than when she was being treated like a common soldier by all of you.” He was surprised to find soldiers nodding in agreement with his statement. “I can understand if none of you trust me or Hope again for hiding this from you.” He hung his head in shame while Lt. Swirl stood by his side, awaiting to find the reaction of the ponies she had fought with for almost two decades. The army looked around at each of its members, some even trying to count something. They nodded to each other and one unicorn took the first step forward. “She fought by our side like a true warrior; taking hits along with us, helping us to recover from our wounds, and move on through our losses. I think we are all in agreement, that though ‘Princess’ is a proper title and one of honor, Commander Hope Healer shall be an even greater one in our minds and our hearts, Lord Discord.” Discord looked up in shock. The unicorn then started the chant that Hope had said before going into almost every battle, “When all hope is lost, we stand. We are Equestria’s last hope at its darkest hours.” The rest of the army then added in their own part that they had started after they had made Hope their commander. “We are Hope’s Healers, we shall heal this nation’s hope! We are Hope!” Discord couldn’t help but conjure up a hankie as he smiled with pride and wiped some tears away. “You guys are the best.” He then conjured up glasses for everyone, filled with apple cider. “TO HOPE!” “TO HOPE!” Author's Note Yes, I know, I know, I'm a touch sappy, but what did you expect from me? My little sister, the only one who knew how to use my chaos for useful things, had gone missing, leaving me with her army! I'm surprised I didn't get us all killed!... then again, I did have Lt. Swirl helping me lead... Chapter 8In the next few months, the army of Hope’s Healers disbanded and went home, all promising to alert the others should they sense any trace of Nightmares, and all promising to pass the history of the healers down to their children and through the generations. A few of the ponies remained at Discord’s side, one of which was Lt. Clover Swirl. Against Sombra’s wishes, Discord had started dating her, but kept it secret from his brother and remaining sisters. Discord had never been happier. Clover had never felt more appreciated, save for when working with Hope. The two of them were soon married with Hope’s Healers, sometimes simply known as The Healers, as witnesses. It was the happiest day that any of the Healers could remember. Now though, Discord felt useless. There was no magic in the world that could help his wife. She had just gone through one of the most painful things in the world; giving birth. He felt even worse though when he had been told that his wife had died after naming the baby filly. It was a strangely chaotic looking filly, but still remained pony enough to pass as normal. She was named Screwball. Screwball had purple and white swirled hair, purple and pink swirled eyes, and a pink coat. Though both her parents had wings, she had ended up as an earth pony somehow. She looked up at her father and whimpered. Discord didn’t know what to do, but he knew that he couldn’t tell his sisters and brother about his daughter. They’d never understand. Thankfully, the Healers had agreed to help him with her. He stayed away from the castle most of the time anyway, so it didn’t bother his sisters or brother that he wasn’t there for an entire fifteen years for his filly to grow up and get her cutie mark. He had taken her to a baseball game that some of the Healers were playing at. He smiled as the game started and remembered when he used to play it as a young colt. Suddenly, he noticed the baseball doing something crazy. “What the…?” It looked like it was chasing the batter, who happened to have been from one of the other armies; Sombra’s if Discord remembered correctly. One of the Healers on the other team looked up at Discord with confusion. Discord shrugged to indicate that he didn’t do anything. The Healers nodded and acted like it was just a wayward pitch from the unicorn pitcher. To be fair, they switched out pitchers, this time with an earth pony. This time the ball went to every base before going at the batter to be hit. When it was finally hit, it flew up high and then corkscrewed down onto the batter’s head, who had thankfully been wearing a helmet. “Okay, I’ll bite, what in Equestria is going on? Mind you, it’s funny, but it’s not my mag…magic…” He turned his head towards his young filly. She was squinting at the ball as it chased players around and didn’t notice the mark on her rear. “Oh… well that makes sense then…” “What does, daddy?” She asked as she floated up to him to look him in the face. “What makes sense?” “You’ve just gotten your cutie mark, Screwball, and I might add, your chaos magic seems to have settled in nicely.” Discord smiled as the filly looked at her rear to see that her father was right. “I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!!!” It was a simple screw and a baseball, but to the young pony, it was her identity. The players that were from Hope’s army looked up and started laughing as they finally understood what had just happened. “You do indeed, my little abomination, you do indeed.” He hugged the chaotic young filly and smiled. “I’m so proud of you.” Author's Note I know I'm going a bit fast in this chapter... and some of the others, but give me a break, some of this was sad, some was happy... you should have seen that pony's face when Screwy's ball hit him, hahahahaha. I miss those days... Chapter 9As his little girl grew, Discord was able to take care of her on his own better. He also noticed that she stopped aging like a normal pony and started aging like an alicorn or immortal after she had turned sixteen, much to Discord’s relief. He didn’t want to lose his daughter like he had lost his wife. Now the two of them were living in a small house at the edge of the Everfree forest. The outside of it was a nice and simple little cottage, but inside of it was filled with chaos. Furniture was spinning and flying, the walls and floors were all different colored, it was all chaos, just the way Discord and Screwball liked it. Trouble was brewing though, and Discord could sense it. The Healers that were living in the Crystal Empire under the rule of Sombra had reported in that something was going on with him. He was now demanding to be called “King” Sombra. Discord was going to go in person when he had heard that his sisters were going and that they had just forbidden him from going. He relayed the message to the Healers as well as some of his chaos magic to help them survive whatever happened. He was shocked when he had received word that his twin brother no longer existed, and that his kingdom, which had been filled with friends and ponies who had worked with his sister for years, was missing. He knew there would be trouble when he went to talk to his sisters about the event. He noticed something in Luna’s eyes and tried to address it, but his sisters wouldn’t hear of it. They were still in shock from having their older brother banish himself and his entire empire. He sent word to the Healers that they might lose the princess of the moon as well because of this, but not before he himself was lost. He had a feeling just from looking at his younger sisters’ gazes. When he got back home, he found that his daughter had an incredible amount of magic that she couldn’t control. She looked at her father with worry, apologizing over and over again as her chaos magic made all of Equestria covered in it. Discord sighed and decided right then and there to take the blame for his daughter’s magical outburst without letting his sisters know of her. He gave her a little beanie that had a little propeller on it. “This will help you control it. I’m going to send you away for a while though.” “I’m sorry, daddy.” “I know you are, Screwy, but I still have to send you away. Your aunt Celestia and aunt Luna wouldn’t understand all of this. I’ll open the portal again when it’s safe, but I’ll send you to a place where you can be as chaotic as you want.” “Really?” “Really.” He hugged his little filly one last time before sending her into another dimension with a large castle and no residents. He had made this dimension for himself when he was younger, and now it would serve its purpose again. “I love you, my little abomination.” “I love you too, daddy… please, be careful.” “I’ll do what I can.” He let out a sob as he closed his daughter away in the portal. He noticed that it didn’t change what the land looked like at all. He sat on a throne he had made and pretended that everything was a grand joke. He even went so far as to eat some chaos seeds and throw some to the ground as well, knowing that they’d mess with the tree of harmony and his sisters at a later date. He wasn’t surprised when his sisters came to him two days later, demanding that he put a stop to it, as though he hadn’t already tried. He started laughing at the elements of Harmony, knowing full well what they could do to him; he was sure they’d destroy him. He was surprised that they had turned him to stone though. His sisters then brought his statue to their castle. After Luna was transformed into Nightmare Moon, due to the Nightmare magic in her eyes from her battle with Sombra, Celestia had Discord’s statue moved to the new castle in Canterlot. Discord watched as time moved around him and his sister. She always came out to visit him when it was one of their birthdays, but she would always leave after a few minutes, crying and asking what she had done. One day, about two centuries after Discord had turned to stone and everyone was asleep in the kingdom of Equestria, Discord had a visitor. A small portal opened, and the creature that came out of it took one look at him and understood what had happened. She started crying through her swirling eyes and started to blame herself. Discord’s heart broke even more as he saw this through his stone eyes. She also sang one of the most heartbreaking songs that Discord had ever heard; Daddy Discord: Screwball: “So there you are my dad, A statue oh so cold, so dead, I tore their world apart, And you took the blame instead. Now I must carry on, Trying to control chaos for you instead, For you, are my daddy Discord. And I… am a piece of you.” She put a hoof up to Discord’s clawed hand and cried. “I miss you daddy…” Discord used the last amount of his chaotic magic to respond to his darling daughter, the most important thing in his life now. Discord: Please do not cry my dear, Your daddy is still very here, And when I do get out, We can both live happily here, Our joy will be insane, As I make storms of chocolate rain, Cuz I am your daddy, Discord, And you are a piece of me.” Screwball smiled softly and wiped the tears from her eyes. She then floated up onto the back of her father’s statue. Screwball: Remember that one time, You took me to that baseball game, I got my cutie mark! Discord: And things were never quite the same. Both: Your/My wild pitches flew, Driving the ponies all insane! Cuz You/I am my/your daddy, Discord, And I/you are a piece of you/me! Screwball then climbed down and stood at the base of the statue again. She looked up to her dad and said, “I’ll learn how to control it so that this won’t happen again, I promise.” “That’s my girl.” Discord would have smiled if he wasn’t stone. Discord: Oh simple spawn of mine, without you I would be so lost, You have stuck by my side… Screwball: No matter what the tragic cost. Both: My/your crazed imaginative thoughts, Have given you/me a new found strength Cuz I/you are your/my daughter Screwball, And soon, we’ll be a family again… Screwball sighed as she felt her father’s magic go back to sleep. He couldn’t break out of there without getting into bigger trouble with his sister, Celestia, not to mention, risking exposing his daughter. “I love you, Screwball…” With that final phrase, the statue of Discord fell back into silence and the young filly cried at the base of the statue until the sun rose. She then opened a portal back to her new home, hoping that one day her father would wake up and deem the world safe enough to get her. “I love you too, daddy… I’m so sorry…” Author's Note Trust me, I know, very heartbreaking. I really hated that I couldn't even hug her or see her grow up more. She's learned how to control her powers much better since then, but I still worry that Celestia might just try to turn her to stone anyway... maybe I should see if Aurora would help me set up the old castle to house us? We could have as much chaos there as we wanted! Chapter 3Clover and her group made it to the area that Aurora had indicated. As usual, Aurora was right, there was a squad of scout Nightmares. “What should we do, Lt. Swirl?” On missions like this, everyone had respect for Clover and her powers, especially since it was rare for a pegasus to even have magic. “Formation Delta. You know what to do.” She whispered. The others nodded. The pegasi flew into the trees while the earth ponies and unicorns spread out among the forest grounds. It didn’t take long for the Nightmares to be captured after the signal was sent. Clover then used her chaotic powers to conjure up two portals. She looked at the beaten Nightmares. They looked like Princess Astrana, but they had dark green eyes with power leaking from their eyes. “You have four choices and two doors. Choice one is immediate death. Choice two is joining our side and then going home after the war is over. Choice three is the clover shaped door on the left. The fourth is the door on the right.” Her voice held no emotion. “Take your pick.” The majority chose the door on the left, some chose the one on the right; one door led to their homelands, the other led to Tartarus, but none knew which led to which. Two of them chose death. Clover wasn’t surprised, but it still didn’t make her feel any better. The soldiers cleaned up the mess and then organized back into formation. “We’re ready, Lt.” “Alright. Let’s go. The Commander wanted us to catch up to the royal sisters before the month was out. You know how concerned she is for the immortal ones.” “We all are.” The group nodded. Though they would make jokes about her being crazy, in truth, they were as loyal to their Lt. as they were to their Co. The two mares were as good of leaders as they believed that the royals were. Author's Note Had to get this information from the Lt. herself, and no, I can't spell out Lt. fully... I never learned how...
Chapter 1It was the middle of the Nightmare War, and Discordian Chaos, or Discord as he was more commonly known as, was doing his best to fight without causing too much havoc for his brother and the three of his sisters that were on the battle field. He currently found himself lost in one of Equestria’s many forests. “Of this is just my luck. Sombra would order me to not use chaos magic… honestly, it’s all I’m good at anymore!” He kicked a rock with his hoof, one of the few pieces on the draqonuess that was still what it had originally been. He sighed. His older brother had assumed that they were supposed to be following his rule since their parents had died. Sombra was always hard hearted. It probably didn’t help that he was able to manipulate crystals. Sombra was a dark furred Unicorn with seriously powerful magic. His younger sisters, Celestia, Astrana, and little Luna, were all dealing with their own parts of the war. They had each gained their cutie marks, but the youngest of the four, and Luna’s twin, didn’t have her cutie mark yet. This caused some issues between her and her eldest brother. Aurora Hope was Luna’s twin sister, and the little light pink pony had no special talent that they knew of. Sombra had insisted that Aurora stay at the palace in the Everfree forest with some of the guards, where she could remain safe since she had no powers that were useful to defending Equestria against the Nightmare army. Aurora had then proceeded to locking herself up in her room crying after practically being told she was useless. “Need a hoof, Lord Discord?” Discord turned in surprise to find a young pegasus that was a light yellow and had a four leaf clover in the middle of a swirling purple and white circle. Her mane was light pink with a single white streak in it. “You seem lost.” “I am. Who are you?” He hadn’t expected to find anyone out in the middle of the forest. “I’m Clover Swirl, but everyone calls me Crazy Clover.” “Why would they call you that?” The mare smirked. “Well it might be because I’m crazy, or it’s because of my special abilities. Anyway, we should return to my camp. My commander sent me out when I told her I sensed a strong amount of Chaos magic.” Discord’s different sized red eyes widened at that. “You can sense my powers?” Clover smirked and blushed. “That’s nothing. You should see what I can do with them, hehe.” Discord used his own abilities to try and sense any powers nearby and found that she had an amazing amount of chaos magic in her as well. “What are you?” “I’m a pegasus that was born on a night when Princess Luna’s moon was red.” Discord blushed. That had been his magic playing around. He had been informed that ponies born on that night would have an unnatural strength in chaotic magic, but that only one pony had been born that night. Since then, he hadn’t pulled that kind of trick again. “Whoops… sorry… my bad… heh.” “Don’t be sorry. Because of you, I have the abilities to track down the Nightmares easier. Chaos Magic is similar to Nightmare Magic.” Author's Note Now, I know that there weren't many who looked at my sister's story, but hopefully you'll take a look at mine? Just saying... Clover actually reminds me of Fluttershy now that I think about it... hmm...
Chapter 2It was a large, but humble looking, war camp. There were many ponies running about, most of which had some sort of head gear with a red cross on it. Discord took it to mean that they were medical ponies until he saw a large squadron of them practicing in the field. The unicorns were practicing using medical supplies with their horns, but some of it was being used as weapons as well as for their original purpose. Clover led Discord to one of the medium sized tents. “Wait a moment.” She told the lord of chaos. He nodded. He knew how some commanders and generals got in war. He just hoped that they wouldn’t treat him like Sombra. That unicorn seemed to think that he deserved everything for doing nothing. He noticed that this tent had a large red cross on a black canvas. He wondered if it was the pony’s cutie mark. After a moment, Clover poked her head out and smiled kindly at him with her big turquoise eyes. “Come on in, the commander wants to talk to you, sir.” Her voice was now softer and kinder. “Right.” Discord nodded, somewhat worried. He expected the inside of the tent to be larger on the inside than it had looked on the outside, and to find the general was a snooty noble that had been forced into the job of war. He was surprised to find he was wrong on both parts. Sitting in front of a small map on the ground, while sitting on top of a dirty old sleeping bag, was a young mare that looked barely older than a filly. She had a blonde mane and pink fur, but her horn was as black as a moonless night. She had one eye that was as green as the grass under her map, and the other was as blue as the nearby river. She frowned at the paper, as though she was missing something, or something was wrong with it. She was wearing a dark, black, dirty old, patched up, cloak that covered where her cutie mark would be. Discord’s jaw literally dropped to the floor as he recognized the youngest of his sisters with a terrifyingly serious expression on the usually happy face. He hadn’t seen her in almost ten years, since the war had started. “Discord, pick your jaw up and have a seat. Clover, check around area 2B with five unicorns, ten pegasus, and ten earth ponies. Make sure that they’re fully armed and that at least two of the pegasus are capable of Mach 2 speeds with heavy equipment. I want you to send for help if you need it. You choose the ponies that you think will work for this. You know what’s at stake.” Aurora hadn’t even lifted her head to look at her older brother or her Lt. “Aye, aye, Commander Hope.” Clover saluted before leaving. She gave a flirtatious smirk towards a still shocked Discord as she left. After she left, Discord picked up his jaw and fixed it in place. Discord then took a better look at the tent. There was no magic in it, so he was certain that it was a simple tent and that the only furniture in it was the sleeping bag that Aurora sat on. “Nice place.” He said sarcastically. “Better than a lonely castle where I have to worry about you all dying on me.” “Hey, you know that wasn’t my…” “Choice? I know. You could have stood up for me though, oh master of chaos.” Aurora finally looked up from her map and glared at her brother. “I’m not a filly anymore, and Luna’s the same age, so why does she get accepted among you and I don’t? Is it because I don’t have a meaning? Because I can’t move stuff like the others?” She growled uncharacteristically. “Is it because I don’t have a purpose like you all do?” Discord was shocked. Aurora wasn’t acting at all like she usually did. She was a sweet young filly who liked to sing, draw, help animals and pony alike, and tried to not upset anypony. This pony… she seemed to be the same one, what with the tears in her eyes already begging for forgiveness, but she also seemed to have courage that Aurora hadn’t shown since the war began… ‘No…’ Discord shook his head. ‘… she’s been shy since Sombra started pointing out how different she was… when he started to say mean things to her, she stopped wanting to upset him… but this… this would upset him…’ She wiped her snout with her cloak. Discord used his powers to conjure up a hankie for her. “Thanks… I suppose now that you know I’m out here with everypony, you’re gonna tell Sombra?” Discord shook his head and gave his little sister one of those rare sympathy smiles that looked funny on his face, what with that fang always hanging out. “No… I think he’ll have to find out on his own, just like I did. Mind telling me what you’re up to here?” Aurora grimaced. “What’s it look like? I’m training an army of healers to fight back. We can heal and fight.” “Uh-huh.” Discord smirked. Aurora was always trying to help ponies. “And they call you commander because…?” Aurora blushed. “Oh… um… I didn’t tell them I was Princess Aurora…” “What did you tell them?” “I told them that I was… I told them that I was Hope Healer…” She blushed even harder. “I made my way through the ranks just like any other pony, with my leadership skills and my tactics. I was just the tactician, but the last commander didn’t make it and… the Lt. and some of the others said that I should lead…” “Huh… Well at least now we know Sombra’s wrong about you.” “What do you mean, Discord?” Discord smiled. “I mean, Sombra said you have no natural leadership skills. You’ve successfully proven him wrong. How long have you been in charge anyway?” “Um… almost five years now… I was sort of hoping for this war to be over and done with by now…” Aurora looked down sadly. “Yeah, me too… well… since you’re out here… do you mind if I work in your command?” “Excuse me?” Aurora’s eyes opened wide as she looked at her older brother. She respected him among all of her siblings the most, just because he didn’t belittle her or think she was too young. Luna was the only other family she had that didn’t look down on her, but because of her getting her cutie mark before the war, she had gone off with Astra and Celestia to fight. “You want to work under me?” “That’s right. Is that so hard to believe? You’re obviously a good commander if you’ve stayed alive at that position for five years. Oh, by the way, while we were gone, did you get your cutie mark?” Aurora nodded and showed the strange mark. “I got it when I first became known as Commander Hope Healer. I don’t know what it means though. It’s way too complex.” The mark was indeed a complex one. It was a small half sun over a half moon with a water drop at the bottom of the moon, a small white star above the sun, and just above where the halves met was a small red star like object, possibly a medical cross. "I’ve never seen a cutie mark this complicated before, have you?” “I honestly can’t stay that I have…” Author's Note Oh goody, baby sis got her cutie mark and is leading an army, won't Sombra be proud... no, he wasn't when he found out, but you'll find this out later.
Chapter 4When they got back to camp, their commander was bearing her black cloak and was giving enchantments to the earth ponies. “Good, you’re back. Get everyone ready. We’ve got an elite Nightmare wizard coming towards us. I think he sensed the chaos magic.” “I still don’t understand why you won’t let me bring him on a wild goose chase.” “Because they’ve been training their wizards to counteract your magic and capture you. No offense, but you’re sticking with us, and you’re standing next to me. I don’t care what you say and how old you are, you are fighting with us.” The cold stare in the mare’s eyes made the lord of chaos feel a chill in his heart. “Got it?” Discord gulped. “Got it… Commander Hope.” Somehow he felt more afraid of his littlest sister now than he did of the entire Nightmare Army. “Good, now power up some chaos magic, because not all of them will have magic on their side. We need to confuse them as much as possible.” “What did you have in mind?” Now he was interested. He raised an eyebrow comically off his face. Sombra never let him use his special brand of chaos magic in the war. Aurora smirked. “I was thinking about that trick you pulled at my last birthday party. I always loved your chocolate milk rain and cotton candy clouds.” “OOH! I love it! They’ll freak out so much from the weather alone!” “Don’t forget to lower the clouds in like a fog and stick the nightmares together!” Aurora laughed as she motioned for the small army to get into formation. There were a few that would be staying behind at the camp to clean it up and guard those cleaning up, but the majority of the army would be with Commander Hope and Lord Discord. Aurora then took a deep breath and resumed her air of command as Commander Hope Healer. “Alright troops.” She said as she went to the front of the group. Discord was surprised at how serious she had gotten and so quickly. “I’m not going to lie to you, you all know that by now. We’re going into the fray again. I want you all in teams of six. Two of each kind, you know the drill.” The ponies formed into teams of six; two pegasi, two earth ponies, and two unicorns. “Good. Now, keep your magic strong, your swords sharp, and your clouds full of lightening. Lord Discord?” She turned her head towards her brother. “Yes, Commander Hope?” He had a feeling that it was best to address her as such until he was told otherwise. “What do you need?” “Lightning clouds run out fast around here and I want you to use your particular brand of powers and skills to summon up some cotton candy clouds to make the enemy sticky and unable to fight. Then I want you to see if you can lend a hand with some… licorice whips!” Discord’s eyes widened in shock and delight. It was so chaotic and confusing, he could have easily thought of it on his own. “Licorice? Really?” “Yeah! We can have them whip at the nightmares and scare them off! We can also have you mess with their magic before it messes with ours! Think you can do it that fast? They have limited range and their best spells are to trap us into nightmares.” “How have you been fighting that?” Hope blushed. “I… I found one of your elements.” Her voice was in a whisper. “Which one?” “Element of… dreams…” Hope’s voice was near silent as she showed the small jewel that was used as a clasp on her cloak. It was a simple looking jewel much like the elements of harmony were, but the elements of chaos were more dangerous if used incorrectly. Discord’s eyes turned into a slight glare.“We’ll discuss this after the battle, commander. For now,” He snapped his fingers and appeared on Hope Healer’s back with a set of golden armor on. He held a large sword in his claw that was made out of what appeared to be peppermint and his shield had a large swirl on it with Hope’s Healers’ trademark red cross symbol. He was small enough now that he wouldn’t weigh too much for the young alicorn. “What do you think? Too much?” He tightened his grip on his little sister’s reigns while she just laughed like a mad mare. “They’ll never expect it! Hope’s Healers! Let’s ride!” Author's Note Ah, now that was a fun time, hehehe... oh? Right... the elements of Chaos... um... something I made by accident when I found my special talent... there's six of them... just like the elements of harmony... no they don't counteract them... they were actually supposed to work together with them or something I think. Anyway, there's the elements of dreams, which as you've probably guessed, is actually in Princess Luna's hooves. I also made an element of Nightmares, not sure where it went to, see. Sombra got ticked off at me one day and scattered the six of them around the globe quite stupidly too... I also happened to get a hold of the harmony elements, but before he could do the same thing, I placed them into that tree that my sisters found them in... yeah, Luna and Celestia always forgot what I could make... anyway back to my elements of chaos... let's see. . . I named Dreams, Nightmares... oh, right... time. Yes, Time is chaotic, and then there is music, faith... and what was that last one... I made it a long time ago, even for us immortals terms... oh, right, this one was always Aurora's favorite... it was the element of Hope. Hmm... I wonder if Aurora knows where they all are at this point...
Chapter 5This continued for a few more years, Hope leading, Discord following along with the entire army that the young alicorn had amassed. She had yet to reveal that she was a princess, and that was how she liked it. Discord didn’t mind answering to his youngest sister, much to his surprise. She used his chaotic abilities like she used anyone else’s special talents. She had done her research into everyone in her army, and she knew each member and his or her abilities. She used them to their fullest potential and they were glad for it. News had come around though that the princess, Astrana Hope, the twin of Celestia, had been captured and was under the enemy’s control. Hope had actually growled at that and had ordered her soldiers to continue onwards as they started searching for the remaining two princesses and prince. She had also ordered them to do as they saw fit, though she would still issue out commands. There were a few in the group by now who had been royal guards at one point or another, and they knew she was a princess, but still followed her wish to be known simply as Hope Healer. They knew that she was torn and was worried her anger would cloud her judgment. Much to everyone’s surprise however, her judgment was still as clear as ever. One night however, Discord and Hope were on a scouting mission. Discord was trying to pass the time by whispering to his younger sister, of whom he was incredibly proud of and impressed with. Sombra had been completely wrong about the young alicorn mare. “… and so I was thinking after this, what will we do? Sombra’s going to throw a fit when he finds out what we’ve been doing…” “Since when did the master of chaos fear the master of crystals? I think he’ll stay out of our manes for a while soon enough.” Hope’s eyes were darting everywhere as she kept an eye out for trouble. She had left her Lt. in charge of the camp at the moment, and knew they were in good hooves. “Since he turned me into this!” He pointed at his disfigurement. At one point, he too had been a normal looking unicorn. “How come you aren’t scared anymore?” Hope thought about it for a minute and then laughed. “I haven’t been able to spend time with any of you since you left the palace all those years ago. For the past five years, you’ve been working under me, of all things. I think that if Sombra is going to give me trouble again, then this time I won’t hold back my powers… you remember don’t you?” “That you asked me to put a power dampener onto your tiara? Yes. I noticed you haven’t worn it in a while.” “Actually, I’m wearing it right now. I have it disguised as my helmet.” She pointed a hoof at her helmet and dispelled the illusion for a moment. It looked like a simple band with a jewel in its center for a minute before she restarted the spell to make it into her helmet. “See?” “Impressive. Even with a power dampener on, you still have an amazing amount of magic at your disposal.” “I don’t want it though.” “But you have it.” Hope said nothing to that as they continued on. A distant sound caught Hope’s ear as her eyes widened. “Problem!” She started running. “Discord, tell the others to get here as soon as possible! Celestia is fighting Astra and Luna’s scared and hurt!” Discord didn’t question how his younger sister knew what was happening to the others. He had quit questioning things like that shortly after joining her army. Discord turned and ran as fast as he could. Hope ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, her cloak getting caught in the thorns and brambles as she ran, tearing it off and revealing her cutie mark. When she made it to the clearing where her sisters were, all that was left of her Hope Healer outfit was her helmet and the clasp of her cloak that was holding the element of chaos known as the element of dreams. She looked in horror as she noticed her sister, Celestia was fighting an alicorn that was similar to her in looks, but was a light purple with large purple eyes and a dark purple mane. The cutie mark on the mysterious alicorn was similar to her sister’s, Astra’s, compass, but the heart in it was broken and the compass was upside down. This was not her sister, and yet, she knew that it was what had become of her. “No…” Her voice was a hushed whisper. She looked around and noticed her twin. “LUNA!” Luna was unconscious and on the ground. Aurora raced over to her twin and used her black horn’s magic to heal her sister. When she was sure her twin would be in no harm, Aurora placed the element of dreams into her sister’s hoof and turned to face the older twins. Luna gasped as she felt something cold touch her hoof. She looked at it weakly and recognized it as an element of chaos, one of six that had supposedly disappeared or been destroyed, thanks to Sombra’s hatred of chaos. “What?” She asked weakly. Aurora risked a glance back at her nocturnal twin. “Aurora?” Though it had been about fifteen years, she recognized the mismatched eyes, the dirty blonde hair, and the most striking thing about the pink alicorn, her black horn! Aurora just shook her head clear of the desire to comfort her twin and turned to the task at hoof. “Tell Discord he’s to follow my Lt. until the end of her time, and he better not forget it.” “What?” Aurora started charging towards where her sisters were flying and fighting above her. She spread her wings out for the first time in years and attempted to fly. She had never flown before, but that didn’t stop her. She needed to stop the fight. “CELESTIA, ASTRANA, STOP!” The two didn’t seem to hear her, but Luna shouted at her twin to come back and stay away. Aurora didn’t care. She had to stop the fight. She flew above Astra’s new form and recognized the traces of nightmare magic that had forced her into such a state. She growled and used her magic to take off her power dampening helmet. She threw it to Celestia as it transformed into her tiara. “Time to switch out, Celestia!” Aurora pulled her wings in and dropped down onto Astra, much to the surprise of the two alicorn sisters. “Sorry Astra, but it’s high time you see a healer!” Her black horn glowed once more and a bright white star enveloped the princess of the stars and the young healer. “Good bye my sisters… we’ll be back when this is fixed…” When the light was gone, much to the horror of Celestia and Luna, so was Aurora and Astra. Author's Note Ah yes, I took a few minutes to take a trip back in time to see this for real, and let me tell you, I was terrified. Something that rarely happens at all to me. (What about with...?) Aurora, you said I could do the commentating and writing! (Fine, hehe.) Thank you.... now onto the story...
Chapter 6Discord ran into the clearing with the Hope’s Healers right behind him. The first thing he saw though stopped him in his tracks. Two of his sisters were crying and the other two were missing. Then he saw Sombra come out of the shadows to try and comfort them. It didn’t take Discord long to put together that two and two still equaled fish in his mind. Something had happened and Sombra didn’t even lift a hoof to stop it. He looked to the group that was behind him, the army that believed anything his sister would tell them, simply because she didn’t want to lie to them. The army that Aurora slept on the ground with, fought the nightmares with, and even risked her own life for. The army that trusted and depended on Aurora for leadership and guidance. Discord clenched his claw and paw into fists. “What happened?” He asked as calmly as he could to his sisters. To his surprise, they both ran to him and away from Sombra. He knelt down so that he could comfort them better. He then turned to Lt. Clover Swirl with a sad look in his eyes. “Give me a few minutes to figure out where the commander is. Keep everyone on full alert.” She nodded. It took a few minutes for Discord to calm his sisters down enough to get an answer. Even after getting a clear answer, he couldn’t believe it without seeing it for himself. He took a step away from everyone and used his chaos magic to catch a glimpse of the past to see exactly what had happened. He felt disheartened to find that it was indeed the truth. His baby sister had taken off the power dampener to take Astra who knew where at this point. Sombra was just growling though when he had heard. “Aurora was supposed to stay at the palace. How could this have happened?” “Aurora didn’t want to wake up and hear we were dead. She didn’t want to find herself alone. Aurora went and took on the role of a common soldier, worked her way up the ranks, and made herself useful. She made you wrong. She became a commander, Commander Hope Healer, and all you could say was that she was useless.” Discord was up in the dark unicorn’s face, startling him in the process. “Aurora’s done more than you ever gave her credit for, and if she dies, that’s what I blame you for!” Discord growled as the dark unicorn backed off in shock. None of his siblings went against him usually because he was oldest, but then he had to remember that he was only older than Discord by about five minutes. Lt. Swirl was nearby and took a minute to process all she had been told and all she had just heard. Her commander, the pony they had been following for about fifteen years had in fact said one lie to them. She hadn’t told them she was a princess. Unable to control herself, she started crying with her eyes wide opened. She felt like she had failed by losing a princess, but more than that, she felt like she had failed her Commander by not being there for her when she needed help the most. Author's Note Okay, yes, I was a bit mean to Sombra, but Aurora wouldn't have left the castle and gone off alone if we had taken her with us from the start like we did with Luna! Besides, from the reports I got from Sombra's army, he did less than Aurora, and Aurora is the youngest of us all! How is that even fair? I mean, seriously!
Chapter 7Though they were unable to find the last of the royals, or Commander Hope, the rest of the war progressed quickly. The war was finished within the next year and the majority of the armies had been disbanded. The army known as Hope’s Healers was meeting one last time in the middle of the Everfree forest. Discord and Clover Swirl stood at the front of the army with solemn faces. Discord took a deep breath and sighed. His sisters usually were the ones for making speeches, or even his brother, but he felt like, just this once, he needed to do it himself… for his little sister… for his commander. He walked to the front of the army of healers and started his speech. “Hope’s Healers… it has been a great pleasure to share my chaotic powers with you and save our nation. Over the years we have lost many, some who should never have even heard of war, but stood by us anyway. While our Commander is gone, her spirit is still with us. I believe that our commander would want us to continue helping ponies in her place and continue healing others.” Discord then sighed. “I’m not going to lie, everypony. The Nightmares have a great chance of returning. I fear that they will strike when we least expect it. I propose that if any of us catch a whiff of Nightmares, we tell the others. Even just a small hunch could be important. You have all been around me long enough to have a touch of my chaotic magic running through your blood. Use it for this emergency only.” Discord took another staggering breath as he brought himself to the crux of the matter in his mind. “As you may have heard, the princess, Aurora Hope, had disguised herself as our commander, Hope Healer.” This got a series of mutters and whispers from the troops before they silenced themselves. “This was probably the only lie that Aurora has ever told you all. She didn’t want to be treated special because of a title that she never wanted. In all honesty, in the last few centuries that she has lived, I don’t think I’ve seen Aurora happier than when she was being treated like a common soldier by all of you.” He was surprised to find soldiers nodding in agreement with his statement. “I can understand if none of you trust me or Hope again for hiding this from you.” He hung his head in shame while Lt. Swirl stood by his side, awaiting to find the reaction of the ponies she had fought with for almost two decades. The army looked around at each of its members, some even trying to count something. They nodded to each other and one unicorn took the first step forward. “She fought by our side like a true warrior; taking hits along with us, helping us to recover from our wounds, and move on through our losses. I think we are all in agreement, that though ‘Princess’ is a proper title and one of honor, Commander Hope Healer shall be an even greater one in our minds and our hearts, Lord Discord.” Discord looked up in shock. The unicorn then started the chant that Hope had said before going into almost every battle, “When all hope is lost, we stand. We are Equestria’s last hope at its darkest hours.” The rest of the army then added in their own part that they had started after they had made Hope their commander. “We are Hope’s Healers, we shall heal this nation’s hope! We are Hope!” Discord couldn’t help but conjure up a hankie as he smiled with pride and wiped some tears away. “You guys are the best.” He then conjured up glasses for everyone, filled with apple cider. “TO HOPE!” “TO HOPE!” Author's Note Yes, I know, I know, I'm a touch sappy, but what did you expect from me? My little sister, the only one who knew how to use my chaos for useful things, had gone missing, leaving me with her army! I'm surprised I didn't get us all killed!... then again, I did have Lt. Swirl helping me lead...
Chapter 8In the next few months, the army of Hope’s Healers disbanded and went home, all promising to alert the others should they sense any trace of Nightmares, and all promising to pass the history of the healers down to their children and through the generations. A few of the ponies remained at Discord’s side, one of which was Lt. Clover Swirl. Against Sombra’s wishes, Discord had started dating her, but kept it secret from his brother and remaining sisters. Discord had never been happier. Clover had never felt more appreciated, save for when working with Hope. The two of them were soon married with Hope’s Healers, sometimes simply known as The Healers, as witnesses. It was the happiest day that any of the Healers could remember. Now though, Discord felt useless. There was no magic in the world that could help his wife. She had just gone through one of the most painful things in the world; giving birth. He felt even worse though when he had been told that his wife had died after naming the baby filly. It was a strangely chaotic looking filly, but still remained pony enough to pass as normal. She was named Screwball. Screwball had purple and white swirled hair, purple and pink swirled eyes, and a pink coat. Though both her parents had wings, she had ended up as an earth pony somehow. She looked up at her father and whimpered. Discord didn’t know what to do, but he knew that he couldn’t tell his sisters and brother about his daughter. They’d never understand. Thankfully, the Healers had agreed to help him with her. He stayed away from the castle most of the time anyway, so it didn’t bother his sisters or brother that he wasn’t there for an entire fifteen years for his filly to grow up and get her cutie mark. He had taken her to a baseball game that some of the Healers were playing at. He smiled as the game started and remembered when he used to play it as a young colt. Suddenly, he noticed the baseball doing something crazy. “What the…?” It looked like it was chasing the batter, who happened to have been from one of the other armies; Sombra’s if Discord remembered correctly. One of the Healers on the other team looked up at Discord with confusion. Discord shrugged to indicate that he didn’t do anything. The Healers nodded and acted like it was just a wayward pitch from the unicorn pitcher. To be fair, they switched out pitchers, this time with an earth pony. This time the ball went to every base before going at the batter to be hit. When it was finally hit, it flew up high and then corkscrewed down onto the batter’s head, who had thankfully been wearing a helmet. “Okay, I’ll bite, what in Equestria is going on? Mind you, it’s funny, but it’s not my mag…magic…” He turned his head towards his young filly. She was squinting at the ball as it chased players around and didn’t notice the mark on her rear. “Oh… well that makes sense then…” “What does, daddy?” She asked as she floated up to him to look him in the face. “What makes sense?” “You’ve just gotten your cutie mark, Screwball, and I might add, your chaos magic seems to have settled in nicely.” Discord smiled as the filly looked at her rear to see that her father was right. “I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!!!” It was a simple screw and a baseball, but to the young pony, it was her identity. The players that were from Hope’s army looked up and started laughing as they finally understood what had just happened. “You do indeed, my little abomination, you do indeed.” He hugged the chaotic young filly and smiled. “I’m so proud of you.” Author's Note I know I'm going a bit fast in this chapter... and some of the others, but give me a break, some of this was sad, some was happy... you should have seen that pony's face when Screwy's ball hit him, hahahahaha. I miss those days...
Chapter 9As his little girl grew, Discord was able to take care of her on his own better. He also noticed that she stopped aging like a normal pony and started aging like an alicorn or immortal after she had turned sixteen, much to Discord’s relief. He didn’t want to lose his daughter like he had lost his wife. Now the two of them were living in a small house at the edge of the Everfree forest. The outside of it was a nice and simple little cottage, but inside of it was filled with chaos. Furniture was spinning and flying, the walls and floors were all different colored, it was all chaos, just the way Discord and Screwball liked it. Trouble was brewing though, and Discord could sense it. The Healers that were living in the Crystal Empire under the rule of Sombra had reported in that something was going on with him. He was now demanding to be called “King” Sombra. Discord was going to go in person when he had heard that his sisters were going and that they had just forbidden him from going. He relayed the message to the Healers as well as some of his chaos magic to help them survive whatever happened. He was shocked when he had received word that his twin brother no longer existed, and that his kingdom, which had been filled with friends and ponies who had worked with his sister for years, was missing. He knew there would be trouble when he went to talk to his sisters about the event. He noticed something in Luna’s eyes and tried to address it, but his sisters wouldn’t hear of it. They were still in shock from having their older brother banish himself and his entire empire. He sent word to the Healers that they might lose the princess of the moon as well because of this, but not before he himself was lost. He had a feeling just from looking at his younger sisters’ gazes. When he got back home, he found that his daughter had an incredible amount of magic that she couldn’t control. She looked at her father with worry, apologizing over and over again as her chaos magic made all of Equestria covered in it. Discord sighed and decided right then and there to take the blame for his daughter’s magical outburst without letting his sisters know of her. He gave her a little beanie that had a little propeller on it. “This will help you control it. I’m going to send you away for a while though.” “I’m sorry, daddy.” “I know you are, Screwy, but I still have to send you away. Your aunt Celestia and aunt Luna wouldn’t understand all of this. I’ll open the portal again when it’s safe, but I’ll send you to a place where you can be as chaotic as you want.” “Really?” “Really.” He hugged his little filly one last time before sending her into another dimension with a large castle and no residents. He had made this dimension for himself when he was younger, and now it would serve its purpose again. “I love you, my little abomination.” “I love you too, daddy… please, be careful.” “I’ll do what I can.” He let out a sob as he closed his daughter away in the portal. He noticed that it didn’t change what the land looked like at all. He sat on a throne he had made and pretended that everything was a grand joke. He even went so far as to eat some chaos seeds and throw some to the ground as well, knowing that they’d mess with the tree of harmony and his sisters at a later date. He wasn’t surprised when his sisters came to him two days later, demanding that he put a stop to it, as though he hadn’t already tried. He started laughing at the elements of Harmony, knowing full well what they could do to him; he was sure they’d destroy him. He was surprised that they had turned him to stone though. His sisters then brought his statue to their castle. After Luna was transformed into Nightmare Moon, due to the Nightmare magic in her eyes from her battle with Sombra, Celestia had Discord’s statue moved to the new castle in Canterlot. Discord watched as time moved around him and his sister. She always came out to visit him when it was one of their birthdays, but she would always leave after a few minutes, crying and asking what she had done. One day, about two centuries after Discord had turned to stone and everyone was asleep in the kingdom of Equestria, Discord had a visitor. A small portal opened, and the creature that came out of it took one look at him and understood what had happened. She started crying through her swirling eyes and started to blame herself. Discord’s heart broke even more as he saw this through his stone eyes. She also sang one of the most heartbreaking songs that Discord had ever heard; Daddy Discord: Screwball: “So there you are my dad, A statue oh so cold, so dead, I tore their world apart, And you took the blame instead. Now I must carry on, Trying to control chaos for you instead, For you, are my daddy Discord. And I… am a piece of you.” She put a hoof up to Discord’s clawed hand and cried. “I miss you daddy…” Discord used the last amount of his chaotic magic to respond to his darling daughter, the most important thing in his life now. Discord: Please do not cry my dear, Your daddy is still very here, And when I do get out, We can both live happily here, Our joy will be insane, As I make storms of chocolate rain, Cuz I am your daddy, Discord, And you are a piece of me.” Screwball smiled softly and wiped the tears from her eyes. She then floated up onto the back of her father’s statue. Screwball: Remember that one time, You took me to that baseball game, I got my cutie mark! Discord: And things were never quite the same. Both: Your/My wild pitches flew, Driving the ponies all insane! Cuz You/I am my/your daddy, Discord, And I/you are a piece of you/me! Screwball then climbed down and stood at the base of the statue again. She looked up to her dad and said, “I’ll learn how to control it so that this won’t happen again, I promise.” “That’s my girl.” Discord would have smiled if he wasn’t stone. Discord: Oh simple spawn of mine, without you I would be so lost, You have stuck by my side… Screwball: No matter what the tragic cost. Both: My/your crazed imaginative thoughts, Have given you/me a new found strength Cuz I/you are your/my daughter Screwball, And soon, we’ll be a family again… Screwball sighed as she felt her father’s magic go back to sleep. He couldn’t break out of there without getting into bigger trouble with his sister, Celestia, not to mention, risking exposing his daughter. “I love you, Screwball…” With that final phrase, the statue of Discord fell back into silence and the young filly cried at the base of the statue until the sun rose. She then opened a portal back to her new home, hoping that one day her father would wake up and deem the world safe enough to get her. “I love you too, daddy… I’m so sorry…” Author's Note Trust me, I know, very heartbreaking. I really hated that I couldn't even hug her or see her grow up more. She's learned how to control her powers much better since then, but I still worry that Celestia might just try to turn her to stone anyway... maybe I should see if Aurora would help me set up the old castle to house us? We could have as much chaos there as we wanted!
Chapter 3Clover and her group made it to the area that Aurora had indicated. As usual, Aurora was right, there was a squad of scout Nightmares. “What should we do, Lt. Swirl?” On missions like this, everyone had respect for Clover and her powers, especially since it was rare for a pegasus to even have magic. “Formation Delta. You know what to do.” She whispered. The others nodded. The pegasi flew into the trees while the earth ponies and unicorns spread out among the forest grounds. It didn’t take long for the Nightmares to be captured after the signal was sent. Clover then used her chaotic powers to conjure up two portals. She looked at the beaten Nightmares. They looked like Princess Astrana, but they had dark green eyes with power leaking from their eyes. “You have four choices and two doors. Choice one is immediate death. Choice two is joining our side and then going home after the war is over. Choice three is the clover shaped door on the left. The fourth is the door on the right.” Her voice held no emotion. “Take your pick.” The majority chose the door on the left, some chose the one on the right; one door led to their homelands, the other led to Tartarus, but none knew which led to which. Two of them chose death. Clover wasn’t surprised, but it still didn’t make her feel any better. The soldiers cleaned up the mess and then organized back into formation. “We’re ready, Lt.” “Alright. Let’s go. The Commander wanted us to catch up to the royal sisters before the month was out. You know how concerned she is for the immortal ones.” “We all are.” The group nodded. Though they would make jokes about her being crazy, in truth, they were as loyal to their Lt. as they were to their Co. The two mares were as good of leaders as they believed that the royals were. Author's Note Had to get this information from the Lt. herself, and no, I can't spell out Lt. fully... I never learned how...
