Chapters Discordopho- OH QUEEN, HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!
Author's Note
Okay, two thingslIkE tHiS It means it's what the changelings are hearing him say, not what he's really saying.
He's Coming...
Twig bashed through the door with all his might, completely knocking it off its hinges. The changeling continued his spirit until he hit a brick wall, which he recovered quickly due to his thick head, but because of it, he opened the door that he had run into and ran through it, smashing his face into the wall again, thinking he hadn't entered the room yet.
Once he pulled his head out, and finally figured out he was in his apartment, he shook his head and looked around in a panic, checking every corner of his small room, trying to find things that were deemed important to him, which was everything.
Twig turned to the first, and only, thing that he cared about; the comics. The very work of literature that provided him entertainment for the couple of months he and his brothers lived here. He scooped up the stacks that laid in a bundle next to his bed and set them on his mattress.
“Trouble.” He yelled, scratching his ear and moving over to another side of his room where his desk was. “Bad.” He took hold of drawer handle and yanked hard enough for the whole thing to come out, causing everything in it to fall on the floor. “Pain!”
Twig grabbed the assortment of miscellaneous items he had found through his trash and threw it on the bed. He then grabbed another drawer from his desk and pulled it out, revealing many worn out socks, Twig took the whitest one and made his way to the bed; but not before falling on his face from tripping over his own hooves.
Twig quickly recovered and scratched his ear stem again, making him panic even more. “Gotta hurry!” He leapt onto the bed and shoved everything into the sock. Twig was thankful that the elastic was strong enough to hold all his items as the sock grew almost to his size. With the bag now on his back, he leapt off the couch and landed on his face again.
“Gotta find...Other brothers!” With a sock in hoof, he ran to the bathroom and looked at the mirror, putting on a quick disguise before running out the wide open doorway, praying to the queen that he wasn’t too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, what’s this thing called again?”
Carl rolled his blue eyes and continued holding the toothbrush with his hole filled hoof. “It’s a toothbrush, something you use to clean your teeth.”
Stan inspecting the foreign object, still having no idea what it was. “Why would I need to clean my teeth?” Stan looked at the bathroom mirror and opened his mouth, seeing that all his teeth and his pair of fangs were intact. “They look fine to me.”
“It’s what ponies do, Stan. They clean almost everywhere on their body.”
“Why? It’s just gonna get dirty again?”
Carl set the brush down, knowing it was gonna be hard teaching his brother about pony society and how they do things around here. “Listen, Stan, we’ve been here for, like...what? four months now?”
“I dunno. How long ago was it that the sun and moon were in the sky at the same time and the hatchling ea...uh, Celestia and her sister went missing?”
Carl blinked. “uh...a week or so ago?” Carl didn’t really have an answer, for all he knew, that happened less than that, maybe even a day ago. “It was hard to tell time when that happened.”
Stan nodded in agreement. “At least that student of her’s found them in one piece.”
“I’m still surprised the queen didn’t want to take over, you’d think it would be a great opportunity.” Carl pointed out.
Stan shrugged. “Eh, she probably knew they would find her sooner or later, besides, who would want to rule over those ponies.”
“Come on, Stan. Don’t be so hard on them.”
Stan walked out of the bathroom and onto the couch, a loud squeak came from the springs as he turned to face Carl. “I don’t see why I have to learn about them when they don’t even learn about us.”
“They are learning about us.” Carl knew that was only half truth. “J-Just not a whole lot of them do.” Stan rolled the bright parts of his eyes and turned away from Carl on the couch. “B-But some of them are, and sooner or later, everyone will understand how we’re not just a bunch of-”
“Love suckin’ monsters that treat ponies like food?” Stan quoted. “Because that’s what I got told on the street a while ago.”
“T-that pony was...probably in a bad mood.” Carl reassured.
“So bad that he yelled it out in the streets while a group of others followed him with signs in their hooves?” Stan could still remember the chant. “‘Stomp the bugs, they eat your love!’” he mocked. “That’s not even that good of a statement anyway.”
“T-they were probably just...joking around...heh…”
Stan shook his head. “Sure they were...honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a riot outside sooner or later.” He pointed at his door. “You really need to fix that door soon, because I’d rather not have some psycho pony smash through it and-”
*SMASH*
“TROUBLE! BAD! PAIN!”
Stan jumped off the couch and into a fighting stance while Carl rolled behind the couch once the door fell off it’s hinges and an oversized changeling fell to the floor with a oversized sock on his back.
“Alright, pony! You brought this on yourse- Twig?” Stan sat down. “What the cave are you-”
“Panic!” Twig yelled, getting up on all fours and facing both his brothers. “S-Something bad’s coming guys!” He scratched his ear again, making his brothers flinch.
“U-Uh...Twig…” Carl come out from behind his couch and walked up to Twig. “W-Why are you itching your ear?”
“Because it won't stop being itchy!” Twig then scratched his ear stem with his back leg like a dog.
Stan looked at the sock that had now split it’s entire contents on the floor while Carl talked to Twig. “S-So, what?...t-that just means a storm coming, right Stan?”
Stan nodded, knowing that Twig gets these kind of senses in weird ways. “It’s either a storm or a breach in the cave, or both...”
“But my mouth tastes fine, Stan!” Twig continued scratching. “And my ear has never been this itchy, something bad is coming…Something big! Something Horrible! Something that’s gonna wipe out all of changeling kind!”
“Twig!” Stan yelled. “Will you chill out!”
“B-But’s it’s so itchy!” Twig reached up to his ear to start another round of scratches, but Stan did that for him.
“Listen...Twig.” Stan started, hoping to calm the bug down. “It’s just a storm, I know you hate them, but they’re just-”
“No...This is the most chaotic storm of all!” Twig then paused and smiled. “A-And a little bit higher please…”
Stan sighed and scratched to the higher part of his ear stem. “What’s so bad about a storm of chao…” Stan stopped mid sentence, realizing what Twig meant. “W-Wait...what do you mean by chaos? Storms aren’t that chaotic.”
Carl started quivering. “I-I think he means someone causing the storm…”
“Yeah, someone’s gonna...gonna...” Twig hung his tongue out and thumped the floor with his back leg. “N-Now go lower, Stan…”
Stan didn’t go lower and stopped. “Twig! What do you mean by chaos? Cause there’s only one guy I know who can cause it”
Twig frowned at how Stan stopped scratching, but his ear seemed to calm down. “Carl’s right, I do mean someone’s gonna cause it…and I know exactly who.” He shifted his eyes back and forth before whispering. “El Discordtalantilo…”
Stan and Carl’s blood ran cold when he said that name. “T-T-Talantilo?...” Carl squeaked. “Y-You mean...t-the same Talantilo that...that-”
“That killed off so many of us?” Stan finished. “The same one me and you saw cary that innocent pony when we first got here? T-The same one that almost killed me when I saw him a second time when I was sober.”
Twig fished through his sock and pulled out a comic, on the cover, it read: The Curse of The Evil Tilo! With a picture of a snarling monster with a snakelike body, sharp teeth, limbs of different creatures, eyes bright red, and claws covered in a red liquid as it stood on top a hill of bodies. “It’s just as predicted in this…” He whispered.
“W-We need to panic!” Carl yelled. “W-we gotta find a place to hide, a-and tell all the brothers and run like a-”
“NO!” Stan stomped the ground. “No. We’re not gonna let another monster get in our heads, we are gonna get him before he gets us!”
Carl looked at Stan like he was going crazy. “A-Are you insane! We were lucky to live after we even saw that beast! W-What makes you think we can take him?”
“We’re not doing it alone, we need to get the other changelings and pla-”
“Strength in numbers won’t help!” Carl yelled.
“If it takes six ponies to stone him, I’m sure it’ll take over a hundred to end him.” Stan pointed out.
“B-But they had those elements stuff to help them deal with it, w-why can’t we just ask them for help?”
Stan stomped his hoof. “I’m not getting help from a pony, Carl! Because I doubt they’ll help us!”
“B-but…” Carl really wanted to say he was wrong, but he knew he had a point. “T-Th-then what are we gonna do?”
Stan turned to Twig. “Twig, how long do we have until he starts slaughtering all of us?”
Twig stopped reading his comic and looked up at Stan. “Um…” He twitched his ear to check. “Bout an hour...m-maybe two.”
“Then we better hurry.” Stan held his head high, knowing if he can get over one fear, he can get over another. “Come on!”
Carl gulped as he and his brothers made their way outside. “I-I can only imagine what horrible, awful, evil, terrible, menacing, diabolical, horrid things he’s doing right now to prepare for his dark arrival!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t do that, there’s just soup. ”
Discord’s jaw dropped; unable to understand how those words can be used in a sentence together like that. “What do you mean there’s just soup?”
“I mean there’s just soup.”
“Did you check everything?”
“Yes, and there’s still soup.”
“Why is there just soup?”
“Because we only sell soup.”
“Why do you only sell soup!”
The pony in front of Discord was getting very impatient at this point, first this creature caused chaos throughout the land, and now he was annoying him at his work. “Listen, ya mutant goat, this is a soup stand, so we only. Sell. Soup. What makes you think we sell anything else?”
Discord crossed his arms. “How can a stand just sell soup? You should be branching out your company so you can get more bits rolling in.”
“Why do I always get the freaks.” The pony was starting to get annoyed, this was the only customer he knew that wanted something other than soup from him. “Does it look like I’m part of a company?”
Discord shrugged. “Maybe. You ponies might have a huge business behind these stands.” He looked over at the other stands on the street, seeing the many ponies walking around and buying various things from them.
“Look, I doubt you’ll find what you need here. Why not try someplace else.”
Discord sighed, knowing this would be the most challenging thing in his life: Finding a gift for a friend. “Listen, all I’m looking for is-”
“If it ain’t soup then we don’t have it!”
Discord slammed his paw and claw on the stand. “Just listen to me! A while ago, I made some mistakes, well, actually, I made a lot of them. So, I’ve decided to come here and find something to make up for it.”
“What kind of mistakes? Cause last I heard from ya, you almost destroyed the whole world by-”
“I know what I did, pony!” Discord covered his eyes with his claw. “And I’d rather not hear it again, it’s already bad enough to remember.”
The pony rolled his eyes. “Like you care what you did.”
“Hey! I do care!”
“If you cared, then why don’t ya just make up for it in a way that’s better than buying a gift for someone.”
"Isn’t that the best way to do it?”
The pony facehoofed. “If I were you, I’d be punishing myself for what you did.”
Discord was baffled by that. “Who the heck punishes themselves for what they, themselves, did? That’s up to someone else.”
The pony slumped on the table. “Just go away, ya ain’t buyin’ anything, and a doubt soup’s gonna help in making all of us forgive you.”
“Alright, Fine, I’ll go somewhere else that actually has what I need.” He stormed off, leaving the pony to himself.
“First the princess tells us to forgive bugs, and now he’s tellin’ me to forgive him...I doubt he’ll make up for what all of em’ did, at least the changelings had a reason…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And what reason would that be?”
Twig continued reading. “He doesn’t need a reason! He’ll go after every single one of us without mercy and rip out our limbs while cackling in evil laughter!”
“Twig!” Stan yelled. “Would ya stop reading out of that book?”
Twig frowned. “But this is useful, Stan. It even says that if we don’t stop him soon, he’ll make a deal with an even more horrid creature to rid the world of creatures!”
Stan was getting more concerned with the comic than the situation at this point. “Twig, comics aren’t real, so I doubt Talantilo will team up with...with…” Stan looked over the pages. “What kind of creature is that?”
Twig’s jaw dropped. “You don’t know? It’s horns are huge, it’s arms are buff, it’s legs are tall, and it’s beard is gorgeous! He’s the monstrous...Tireking Terror!”
“Tireking what?” Carl looked at the pages. “Who’s that?”
“A creature whose only purpose is to drain the life out of everyone he meets, growing and expanding with every life he takes.”
“So...he does what ponies think we do?” Stan said. “I mean, minus the growing part.”
Twig flipped through more pages. “Says here that he was even powerful enough to defeat Talantilo!”
Carl cocked his head, “Something stronger than that monster?”
“Nice rhymes.” Twig said.
“Wait a sec…” Stan snatched the comic out of Twigs hooves and looked closer at pages 31 and 32, depicting a full 2 page view of Discordtalantilo fighting Tireking Terror. “That red guy looks...familiar...I mean, minus the gigantic form.”
Twig leaned a little too much on Stan’s shoulder as he looked closer at his comic. “Oh yeah. Isn’t he that one guy who tried to kills us a while ago?”
Stan pushed Twig away. “Personal space, Twig, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy. He was such a weirdo, tryin’ to eat changeling magic when we taste as bad as the carapace on our backs.”
Carl started remembering as well. “Wait, did he eat our magic, or just absorb it?”
Stan didn’t have an answer. “I dunno, all I can remember is him trying to get Henry, only to puke up some weird green substance seconds later, and then getting his flank kicked by the queen...that was pretty fun to see.”
Twig turned another page in his comic. “Good thing Henry stopped having those grey eyes once he ate something, he was really out of is, wasn’t he?”
Carl sighed. “Why couldn’t we face this guy instead? At least we have an upper hoof if we fought him.”
“I doubt he’ll ever come back, Carl.” Stan decided to get back on topic. “Listen, all we need to do is warn all the other bugs about this, then we can prepare for him.”
Twig continued looking through the book. “Wh-What makes you think all of us can take him? He’s been known to kill hundreds of creatures with a single blast. How can we handle something like that?”
Carl came in between the two of them. “I have to agree with Twig here, Stan. How are we gonna get a whole swarm to confront that beast?”
Stan knew this plan was almost hopeless, but it was the only one they had. “I dunno Carl...b-but I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
“We need help from the ponies.” Twig said, making both his brothers stare at him in silence. “What?”
“Help? From ponies?” Stan looked over all the ponies on the street, most of them looking away from the three of them and at the shop stands. “I said this before, Twig. What makes you think they’ll help us?”
Twig read the pages. “Because, in page 23, it says ‘as the small group of creatures realized how bad the situation was, they knew they needed help from the most unlikely of sources.’” Twig looked back at them. “And what’s more unlikely than ponies?”
Stan glared at him. “Twig, I don’t care if there’s a hundred of him, we are not getting together with the ponies.”
Twig frowned. “But Stan.”
“No, Twig! In fact, I’d rather face him one on one then get help from ponies!”
“Ah, some MeAt SnAcKs !”
The trio of Changelings froze. “D-Did you hear that?” Twig said, scratching his ear again.
“N-Nope!” Carl lied. “D-Didn’t hear a demonic voice...nope, na-uh. H-How about we just keep walking and forget we heard-”
“Hey! bugs! BeHiNd YoU! ”
Stan gulped, his visions going wild as he saw a giant shadow loom over the three of them. Carl held onto Twig as he saw the shadow as well. Twig only dug his face in his comic book, hoping he didn’t see it, but the images in the comic weren’t helping. They only wanted to delay the inevitable and hope this was some demented nightmare.
Meanwhile, Discord waited for a response from the changelings, only to see them shaking. “Uh...ahem, changelings, the crossing flags don’t raise any higher. Can you please turn around, I need to ask you something.”
After what felt like an eternity, the three changelings slowly turned around to face him, their minds going spastic as they stared at his menacing eyes, his sharp teeth with a protruding fang, his sharp claws, and wicked smile that made them go silent.
“Hello My PrEy! ” He said. “Nice to see you here, do you think you can help me here, the other MeAt SaCkS aren’t really that helpful.” Discord waited for a response, but the changelings only stared at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws.
Discord sighed, knowing these weren’t the first changelings that looked at him like this. “Yes, I know, It’s me DiScOrDaLaNtIlO, but listen...would you three happen to know where I can find A nIcE qUiEt PlAcE tO tEaR yOu LiMb FrOm LiMb!? Cause I’m kinda in a hurry here and I need to-”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
The changelings screamed at the top of their lungs and ran away from Discord at ludicrous speed. Twig was the only one putting his hooves into it while Stan and Carl used their wings. “Run away! Run away!” Twig shouted. “He’s gonna rip us all to shreds and eat our limbs for lunch!”
“H-He’s gonna what!?” One pony yelled out.
Twig came to a screeching halt in front of the pony and grabbed her. “He’s gonna kill us and dissect our internal organs!”
“H-He is!?” A nearby soup vender yelled.
Discord started noticing the crowds of ponies that were now looking at him in shock. “Wha- No I’m n-”
“HE IS!” Twig yelled out. “He’s preparing his claws to rip us apart and put us on a silver platter!”
“I-I don’t wanna be on a silver platter!” One filly shouted.
“Then run!” Twig shouted. “Run for your lives!”
Within seconds, panic fell throughout the crowd and every pony either ran through alleyways, shutdown shops, hid in buildings, or run to another street. Discord was the only one standing in the middle, only staring in confusion. “What the hays going on?” Discord thought “A panic parade?”
Silence filled the street moments later, leaving Discord to question the princess’s decision on making peace with changelings. “It’s always the bugs.” He walked over to the nearest vender, ignoring the fact that everyone had ran away in fear, and saw that it was now closed. “Um...Hello! Would anyone like to explain why you’ve all closed six hours early?” Discord looked around the now empty street, seeing most of the shops were closed or empty as well.
“Well, no matter!” Discord yelled out, hoping someone was hearing him. “There’s tons of other places. I’m sure I can find what I need elsewhere.” He looked over to where the bugs had ran off to. “Still don’t get what's with those changelings...Looking at me and acting like I’m some kind of monster...I’m not a mon-” Discord then looked over himself. “Well...to a point, at least, but I’m definitely not that kind of evil. That’s not fun. That’s just gross.”
Discordopho- OH QUEEN, HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!
Stan, Carl, and Twig panted their lungs out as they sat deep inside an alleyway. All three of them glad to know they escaped that monster. “W-Why...wha...why do...doe...does the...this place...huff...have so mah...many...al..ey..wayz..hugh!” Carl fell to the ground after finishing that sentence.
“Da...don’t...hugh...question it!” Stan yelled. “J-Just...just be tha...thankful that...t-there was...huff...one...nearby...whew…”
“W..what are we...hugh...g-gonna do now?” Twig asked.
Stan’s lungs were still trying to get over the jog as he finally got up on his hooves. “Twah...Twig, I’m...I’m trying to think hah...here.”
“I say we run.” Carl suggested. “You saw him, there’s no way we can take him, even with all our brothers, we just need to move to a new city, and start a new life as regular bugs who are just looking for-”
“Wait!” Twig yelled. “I know! We need to get help! From everyone and everything!”
Carl facehoofed while Stan tapped his chin. “Twig, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say...today!”
Twig frowned. “B-But Caaaaaaaaaaarl…”
“Don’t ‘Carl’ Me, Twig! You’re not helping this situation.”
“But Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarl!”
“Twig!” Carl yelled. “We are running away and that’s final! Got it!”
“NO!” Carl and Twig looked up to see Stan hovering overhead. “We are NOT gonna let this happen!” Stan continued. “We are going to destroy this menace before he destroys us!”
Carl flew up to him while Twig noticed the comic book in the hole of his hoof. “Even if we warn our siblings; how are we gonna take out a monster like him!? He’s too strong for us!”
“Guys…” Stan started. “If we’re gonna stop him, then we need to split up and-”
“Split up! SPLIT UP!” Carl grabbed Stan by the shoulders and shook him. “Stan! That’s breaking rule number one of, ‘not getting killed quickly.’ He’ll hunt us down and pick us off one by one!” He stopped shaking and went eye to eye with him. “What makes you think this’ll be a good idea!?”
“Because...be...because.” Stan was trying his hardest to say these next three words. “Twig was right.”
“I was?” Twig was shocked to hear that.
“We do need help, help from more than the brothers and sisters! We need to round up as many ponies as possible as well. Then we might just have a fighting chance.” Before Carl could object, Stan pointed at Twig. “Twig, you’re the strongest, so go back to where Talantilo was and find the ponies that hid.”
Normally, Twig would say no or just cry on the spot, but knowing this would be one of the bravest things he would do in his life, he saluted with the comic still in the hole of his hoof. “Leave it to Twig!” With that, he turned around and ran out of the alley.
Carl tapped Stan’s shoulder, still scared stiff by all this. “A-Are you sure they’ll help us, Stan?”
Stan really wanted to say yes, but he really head no idea. “I hope they can, but right now, I need to go to my brothers and sisters.”
“W-What about me?” Carl asked.
“Carl, you’re more familiar with ponies, you go out and find more, I’m sure if you tell them what we’re up against, they’ll help.”
“What about the other changelings, how do you know they’ll help?”
Stan sighed. “I know they might not want to, but I’m sure some of them will come with us to face him.”
“W-What about Twig?” Carl
Stan glanced outside, thankful to know that light was still shining. “Let's just pray to the queen that he’ll be okay…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The small group of ponies slammed the door shut once all of them were inside the darkened jewelry store, every single one of them shaking and quivering in fear after what went down moments ago.
“W-What just happened out there?” One colt asked.
A mare held him close and said, “I-I dunno, sweety, but it was really scary…”
“Alright!” A brown stallion yelled. “Listen, everypony, we just gotta stay calm and wait for all of this to blow over, because, sooner or later, some of the important ponies are gonna fix this problem while we stay in the background.”
One pony stepped out of the group. “A-Are you sure we should do that?” He asked. “B-Because the background isn’t really that-”
The brown stallion pointed outside. “You wanna go outside and face whatever’s happening out there?”
He then stepped back in, moving to the far back.“N-No…”
“Exactly, now, like I said, we need to wait for someone else to deal with whatever's out there, stay calm and wait.”
“W-Why wait?” One mare yelled. “W-Whatever’s out there is gonna come for us! I-I can see it now, a-any moment, something’s gonna come bursting through this-”
*SLAM*
“PONIES!”
All of them yelped as a large changeling bursted through the back door and fell on the floor. Luckily, it stayed on it’s hinges this time and slammed shut once the changeling stood back up.
“W-What the hay is that!?” One of them asked.
Before the changeling could say anything, one green pony stood up. “Wait a sec, that’s one of the bugs that yelled and screamed out there.” The pony crossed his arms. “What’s your deal, huh? You trying to scare us? Cause you did a pretty good job!”
“Who are you, anyway?” One mare asked.
The bug got on all fours and saluted. “My names Twig! And it’s not me you should be scared of, but...him.”
“Who the hay are you talking about, bug?”
“I’m talking about…This thing!” Twig took the comic out of his hooves and held the frontpage up to them. Every pony screamed in horror at the picture.
“W-What in Celestia’s mane is that!?” One asked.
Twig lit up his horn, casting a small shadow over his face. “He is the dreaded Discordtalantilo! He has awoken from his slumber and risen from the underworld!” Twig dimmed down his horn and looked at his book for a few seconds before turning back to the ponies and casting a shadow on his face again. “And now he’ll hunt us down for sunday supper!”
One pony gulped. “H-He’ll what?”
Twig looked through the pages. “He’s come here to kill us all! To cause destruction to all the world! A-And any minute now, he’s gonna come for us!” Twig then buried his face in the comic book again, looking to see what else can happen.
“H-He is!?” The ponies looked around in fear. “B-But he’s not evil anymore. The elements reformed him and made him good a-and I certainly don’t remember him looking like that.”
Twig turned away from the pages and back at the ponies, completely horrified. “Oh no…” Twig stepped back. “H-He has you all under his control now?”
“He does!?” Another pony shrieked in terror. “H-How can you tell?”
Twig went eye to eye with the terrified pony. “He looks you right in your eyes and puts you under his trance...your eyes swirl with different colors and your body will fall under his control.” He turned to the book, then back to them “and before you know it! You’re walking right into his maw with no resistance to stop his teeth from snapping shut as you-”
“STOP!” One pony finally broke and fell to the floor, covering her face with her hooves. “S-Stop talking about it....I-I don’t wanna hear anymore!”
Twig continued looking at their eyes. “Well, even though you have a lot of colors in those eyes of yours, I don’t think you’re under his trance.” Twig held up the comic so he could see it and the ponies. He looked at page 19 which showed a horrendous illustration of a pony getting torn to shreds while it’s eyes swirled in a spectrum of colors. “Hmmm, nope. Your eyes are pretty normal.”
“S-So, w-what are we gonna do now?” One pony whimpered. “I-I remember someone telling me he was able to change reality with a flick of his tail, h-how would we stop something like him if he’s evil now?”
Twig put on the most serious face he could. “If we’re really gonna stop him, we need to work together!”
“Work together? With a changeling?” One stallion sneered. “We may be at peace with you bugs, but some of us would rather have you gone then stay here.”
One pony punched him in the arm. “Now’s not the time! He’s trying to help us.”
“With an attitude like that,” Twig said. “He’ll come for you first.”
“M-Me?” The stallion felt a cold shiver run up his spine. “W-Why me?”
“Because, he…” He flipped through the pages again. “He always goes after the strongest one’s first!” Twig then went crosseyed and gasp. “W-Wait! That means he’s gonna come for me! And with a hunger like his, we’ll be but mere appetizers!”
“That means he’ll eat the children last!” One mare shrieked while holding her child closer. “M-My colt will be the strawberry swirl parfait!”
The ponies were getting more terrified by the second, but, through all the panicking, one of them had the guts to stand over the others and say, “That bug’s right! We can’t let this happen! Background ponies or not, we have to stand up to him and stop whatever he’s planning.”
One pony raised their hoof. “But didn’t you say that we should just stay here and wait for someone who’s more important to come and save us?”
“Who do you think that guy is?” The pony pointed at Twig, who had his tongue sticking out the left side of his mouth as he continued turning pages. “He looks kinda...weird.”
The one standing shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe he’s the important one?”
The ponies looked at him again, seeing that he was now looking at a fly that was buzzing around the room with fascination. The lead pony sighed. “Well...he’s all we got in this sto-”
“So, what do you ponies say?” Twig stopped staring at the fly and extended his hooves for a shake. “We put aside our differences and face the foe, or end up becoming another one of his…” He checked the book again. “His delicious meals?”
The group of ponies looked at one another, knowing fighting him alone would be suicide and joining against a creature that almost destroyed their town was insane, but they knew this was the only way if they were to survive. The stallion who made the rude remark earlier sighed and walked up to him. “Very well, changeling…” He grabbed his hooves and shook it. “We’re with you.”
Twig smiled and shook his hoof even harder. “We won’t let you down!” He let go and pointed at a window while the stallion continued shaking the hoof that was no longer there. “Now, we should get moving before he makes his...uh.” Twig looked at page 26 which showed a picture of Talantilo slithering across a dirt road while several ponies hid behind rocks. “His rounds.”
“I-Is it just gonna be us fighting him?” One mare asked.
Twig shook his head. “Nope, I got two other brothers who are rounding up everyone they can find to help, I’m sure Carl is having an easier time getting ponies than me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Get out of my bar!”
Carl was doubting this plan more and more every second he stood in this place. He gulped and looked at all the ponies that decided to hide here, almost all of them giving him glares.“Listen, ponies. I know times are hard and you still don’t trust us...even if it’s been a few months…a-and we’re still trying to make up for what we...uh...they did.”
“That, and the fact that you let a bunch of bugs in MY bar even though the plaque says otherwise.” The bartender leaned his head over to said plaque.
Carl didn’t even bother reading it. “Listen, Mike-”
“I told ya not to call me that!” Mike yelled, remembering this bug and his friend ruining his night a while ago. “I hope that friend of yours had the biggest hangover in Equestria after what happened that night.”
Carl stomped his hoof. “Mike! Everypony! Just please listen to me. Y-You all saw what was out there, right?”
One pony started answering. “All I saw was a group of changelings screaming and sayin’ something about a monster coming in and tryin’ to destroy us, and, according to protocol, all of us need to stay somewhere safe and out of the foreground until someone more important deals with it.”
“W-Who made up that stupid rule?” Carl asked, receiving shrugs from all of them. “Ponies, if you really want to wait here for Talantilo to come in and kill us, then that just proves my brothers point.”
“Point?” Mike said. “Point about what? And who the hay’s Talantilo?”
Carl knew this would be hard to explain. “First, the point they’re proving is that you guys can’t deal with the simplest of problems when it comes to things like this, saying that you’re all weak about fighting monsters.”
“W-We’re not weak!” One pony yelled. “Just smart when it comes to things like this, I mean, how stupid is it to face whatever creature is out there?”
Another pony had to ask. “What is out there, anyways?”
Carl started getting frustrated. “I already told you. We’re up against Discordtalantilo.”
Mike raised an eye. “And I told you! He’s name is Discord. That guy’s been reformed, and I doubt he’s gonna come back and cause chaos again.”
“Reformed?” Carl knew that wasn’t true, that was impossible to be true. A creature like him can’t join the good side, he was too evil. “D-didn’t you see what he looked like out there!? He’s far from reformed! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ripping ponies or changelings to shreds when we see him.”
“Whoa, wait, what?” Mike put his hooves on the table. “H-He’s not like that now...i-is he?”
Carl slowly nodded. “Oh yes, he is.”
“A-Are you saying he’s evil again!?” One mare shreked. “T-That means he’s really gonna do it! He’s gonna destroy Equestria! I-I heard he has fire breath that can incinerate anything!”
“Actually…” Carl said. “That would be a dragon who does that...now...Discordtalantilo…” Carl shivered. “Oh...he’s much worse.” He stepped closer to the now scared ponies, making them step back. “He’ll make a stew out of your organs!”
“W-What?!”
“He’ll munch the meat right off your bones!”
“No!”
“Rip your limbs apart with a snap of his claws!”
“H-How!?”
“Bite your face clean off your face!”
“Huh?”
“Squeeze the JELLY from your eyes and put it on toast!”
“AAAAAH!” One of the ponies fainted at that last sentence.
Carl was about to go further, but he was starting to make himself scared. “A-And...well, i-it’s best not to think about what he’ll do…”
The group of ponies continued quivering in fear. “S-So, what do we do?” One asked, holding the now unconscious pony close. “J-Just...l-let it happen and...and have him kill us?”
“No.” Carl interrupted. “We are not gonna let that monster get us!” He gulped, secretly hoping that wouldn’t happen. “W-We are gonna get others and retaliate!”
“H-How do we retaliate against a monster like him!?” Mike yelled. “If he’s really not reformed anymore and is gonna kill us all, how will we defeat him? He’s way too strong”
“Strong enough to corrupt those elements, that’s for sure.” One pony pointed out.
Carl stood tall. “We defeat him by joining forces.”
“Fighting along side a bug like you?” Mike scoffed. “Listen, bug brain, some of us prefer to be in the background then try and fight.”
“You’d rather die in the background than face him head on?” Carl thought that was insane. “Are you guys really not wanting to be noticed?”
Most ponies looked away. Even Mike didn’t want to make eye contact. “Carl, look, we just ain’t that strong, we ain’t that important, and we sure as hay ain’t about to go out there to face him ourselves.”
“But we won’t be alone.” Carl pointed out. “I got two other brothers who are rounding up as many ponies and changelings as we can to face him, because, believe it or not, it’s better to face a problem now instead of waiting for someone else to fix it.”
Mike sighed. “Okay, I get it, we need to work together to face him...no need to say a sappy speech about it.”
Carl smiled. “So, you’ll help?”
Some ponies were looking at Mike, since he was the center of attention at this point. Mike just planted his forehead on the table and groaned. “Fine, we’ll help, but if this is some stupid prank-”
Carl shook his head. “No prank and, I assure you, we won’t be alone. Even that ‘drunk changeling’ is out there getting some other brothers, I’m sure he’ll have a full swarm here by the time we get there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Stan, are you sure this is real and not another one of your horrendous illusions?”
Stan glared at the siblings in front of the room, all of them either annoyed or worried after what he told them. “This isn’t an illusion! It’s real! I saw him roam around the street with my own blue eyes.”
“Sure you did…” One of them said sarcastically.
Stan stomped the ground. “I’m being serious, Shawn! You really think I’d come to you guys if I wasn’t serious?”
Shawn chuckled and stood up from his bed. “Stan, even if there was a beast coming after us, why would you come to hospitalized changelings for help? We’re not all in shape, you know.”
Stan couldn’t argue with that, this wing of the hospital was the last place he’d come to, seeing as how it housed more injured and bedridden changelings than ponies. “I-I know this isn’t the best place, b-but you guys are all I got for help.”
Another changeling snickered. “Oh yeah, we’ll help, right after I start feeling my legs, I’ll get up and help you with your monster problem.”
Shawn managed to get on all fours and make his way to Stan. “Listen, Stan, in the condition we’re in, I doubt we’ll be that much use. So, how about you go back to your own little fantasy land and let us rest, okay?”
Stan dropped his jaw. “You’re all just gonna sit here and do nothing about it!”
Shawn and the others still didn’t believe his story. “Yeah, we’ll just stay here and wait for your make believe monster to show up and get us.” Shawn then turned around and made his way back to bed.”
“Come on, Stan, there’s gotta be something to make these insects listen…” Stan’s eyes lit up, hoping this next trick would work. “Well, I guess those ponies were right then.”
Shawn stopped. “Right? Right about what?”
Stan crossed his arms and smiled smugly. “That changelings are nothing but weak insects that can’t even help themselves.”
“W-We are not useless insects!” One changeling screamed before coughing.
“Yeah! W-We can take on anything.”
Stan raised his hoof in the air. “Then can ya take him on? Or will the ponies just stand by and laugh at how the changelings failed?”
Shawn finally turned back to him. “Like HAY they will!”
Stan pointed to the doors. “Then come on! He’ll be here soon, and the last thing we want is for him to catch us off guard.”
Shawn was still doubting this. He and many of his siblings have heard of the story, but actually believing it was true? “Stan, are you sure this is real?”
“Real as the reality he’s gonna destroy.”
Shawn turned to the others, some of them still getting over what happened at the wedding, mentally and physically. Bandages on their body’s, rags on their backs, even Shawn still had half an ear stem and a sore leg. “We’re not that strong, Stan…” Shawn admitted.
“But some of you are, I’m sure there are some that can walk on all fours, right?”
Some changelings checked to see if their legs worked, roughly eight out of the fifty that were there could, but, even then, it was hard for them to stand. “My legs are...kinda working.” One said, almost tripping on his own hooves.
Stan sighed, knowing it was either this or nothing. “Well, those who can, meet me outside so we can meet up with the others.”
“Others?” Shawn tilted his head. “What others?”
“Oh...uh, t-two more changelings...and some other help.”
Shawn smiled. “So we already have other brothers? Good, hopefully the ponies can just stay in the background while we deal with this.”
“Uhh...actually-”
“And hopefully they aren’t with us when we try and fight him, that’d just make us look weak when ponies are helping.”
“W-Well, actually-”
Shawn looked right at him. “Stan, we’re fighting Talantilo with just changelings, right, cause if ponies are involved, you can forget it.”
Stan gulped, seeing some of the changelings were giving him looks that were making him question this plan of getting help from them. “Uh...y-yes?”
Stan then saw the front doors slam in his face after he was pushed out of the room. “Come on, guys! It’s just a few of them, we’d still look tough...guys?” After a few minutes of silence, Stan gave up and started walking outside. “Fine! Be that way, but if Talantilo maims all of you, don’t blame me!” He kicked the front hospital doors open and made his way back to his brothers, his head looking at the ground.
“Well, so much for that...I guess it’s just gonna be the three of us facing him, because there’s no way those two bugs are gonna get help from ponies.”
Discordopho- OH QUEEN, HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!
“Y-You got how many ponies?”
Grinning smugly, Carl answered, “Fifty five. Is that impressive or what?”
Twig wagged his tail. “How many did you get, Stan?”
Stan growled to himself, very jealous at how his brothers managed to get help while he couldn’t. “The siblings were too...uh...afraid to join in our job to-”
“They didn’t want to work with ponies, didn’t they?” Carl guessed, knowing his brothers can be a pain when they want to.
Stan sighed. “Yup...they don’t wanna help, bunch of ungrateful-”
“Wait!” The three changelings turned around, seeing a small crowd of ponies waiting for them while they sat in Mike’s bar. “Where’s the other bugs?” One called out.
Stan, Carl, and Twig looked at each other before smiling nervously. “Um...t-they decided not to uh...uh…” Stan tapped his chin, trying his hardest to word this out. “Um...t-they didn’t want to be brave!”
“Brave?” One mare said. “Are you saying the changelings aren’t gonna help us?”
Carl shrugged. “Guess not, seems like you proved us right, didn’t you ponies.”
“Right?” A stalling said with a tilt of his head. “Right about what?”
Stan stepped forward. “Right about you guys having the bravery, courage, and determination to take this guy down, more than us even.”
The ponies looked at one another, shrugging in agreement. “I guess you’re right.” One stallion said. “I mean, usually we stay in the background and watch more important ponies take action, but maybe it’s our time to shine!”
“Yeah!” A few ponies shouted. “Now’s our turn to play hero.”
“Now’s our chance to show we’re more than random mares and stallion.”
“Now’s our time to fight!”
One pony had to ask. “So...uh, where is he?”
Realizing this, the trio of changelings looked at each other. “Um...uh..." Stan started fidgeting, thinking that he should've thought this part of the plan through. "W-well, last we saw him, he was walking around the street by the vendors.”
The ponies turned to the others, hoping they had answers. A mare raised her hoof. “Um, I think I heard him saying that he was trying to find more vendors in town.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go!” Stan ran up to the door and kicked it open. “Come on! We have an Equestria to save!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So...if I can understand this correctly; you don’t have any soup either?”
The flower mare rubbed her temples, having to answer this question several times. “Listen, Discord, was it? We have a great selection of flowers for sale, but soup? What in the HAY makes you think we have that?”
Discord looked around, seeing that there wasn’t many other vendors in this side of town. “Listen, pony, I’ve had a rough day today, and I’m just trying to find-”
“And I’ve had a rough time explaining a customer that he should try looking to the east side of Canterlot for what he’s trying to find, but noooo , he doesn’t listen to me.”
Knowing exactly who she was talking about, Discord decided to explain. “But that side of town is closed, apparently that place just ran away screaming and closed their shops six hours early.”
The pony didn’t buy it. “Suuure they did, and I actually survive on minimum wage.” She ended sarcastically.
“All I’m trying to do is find something to help a friend, isn’t that what you ponies do on a regular basis anyway.”
“Last I checked, you aren’t much of a friend to ponies.”
Discord’s jaw dropped. “I-I am too!”
“Maybe you should trying doing what the changelings do." The mare continued. "learning a lesson from them might help.”
Discord turned away. “Yeah, well, those bugs decided to just run away and scream than help me.”
The mare thought that was just some excuse. “Really? You expect me to believe a monster scared of other monsters that are just as bad at being evil?”
“Hey! They did far worse things than I did!”
The mare slumped on the counter. “Will you just leave already, I’d rather not talk about what you did to us, my colt is still scared about you, ya know.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Oh please, who could be scared of a creature like me?”
“THERE HE IS!”
Discord and the mare turned toward the street, seeing a changeling pointing at them. “H-He’s over there trying to take control of a helpless mare!”
Discord groaned. “Not this again.” He snapped a megaphone into his claws and turned it on. “Hey, bug! Can you leave me alone, you’re not helping.”
“Take control?” The mare turned back to Discord. “What’s he talking about?”
Discord dropped the megaphone and put his paw and claw to his hip. “You think I know?”
“PONY!” Another changeling called out. “Run while you still can! He’s gonna kill us all!”
The mare couldn’t take it anymore, just put her hooves up and said, “Nope, I’m out, not havin’ any of this anymore.” He grabbed the handle on the roof of the vendor, ready to close shop early.
“H-Hey!” Discord put his paw on the counter. “you can’t just-”
*SLAM*
Discord cried out in pain as the metal grate that locked ponies out of the shop his his fingers, making him pull them out and cradle them in hopes to make the pain go away. “Tah..That dirty little-"
“TAAALAAANIIILOOO!”
Discord looked up, seeing that a crowd had now formed in the center of the street, all the ponies were looking at him in anger, fear, or confusion. “Oh for goodness sake…” Discord face-clawed and said. “My names Discord.”
“Shu...S-Shut it!” One changeling yelled .”Ya-You know wha...w-what you’re..y-you’re…” The bug voice dropped lower and lower with every word until he stopped entirely, one of his brothers nudged him.
“Uh, Stan, you okay?”
Stan pushed him away. “I-I’m fine, Carl...j-just trying to...y-ya know, figure out what to say.”
“How about you just leave me alone, LiTtLe BuG!” Discord said, getting really sick of how these bugs were acting.
“W-We’re not gonna stop until you’ve...stopped...doing, stuff…” Stan gulped, still completely terrified by just seeing him.
“Listen, bug, even if you wanted to face me, what makes you think A mOnStEr LiKe Me can be taken down?”
“U-Uh...u-uhh…” Stan turned to the ponies, hoping they would have his back ,but some of them were having the same amount of doubt. “I-I believe...t-that…” Stan took a deep breath. “I-I believe that we can take on a monster like you!” He turned around and faced the other ponies around the area. “We are not gonna let this guy take us down! We have to do this! For the good of Equestria…” He faced him. “We must strike him down!”
Discord took a step back, seeing that some of the ponies were starting to get out of their shops and joining into the crowd. “P-Ponies, come on now. I-I’m not a monster...I-I mean, sure I almost took over Equestria, but it’s not like that’s a bad thing.”
“Y-Your reign of terror ends now, Talantilo!” Stan shouted, fear still in his voice.
“For the last time...My names Dis-”
“SPONGE STAMPED!” An oversized changeling raised his hoof in the air, which had his comic in one of the holes. “Aim for his horn” He shouted, turning to one of the last few pages to see an entire army of creatures pulling off his horns with magic made ropes. “They’re the source of his power!”
Discord found that ridiculous. “W-What? You ponies can’t be se-”
“GET HIM!”
Before he could finish, the crowd of ponies started charging at him, Discord didn’t have time to react as a pegasus dive bombed him and tackled him to the ground.
“Rip his horns off!” They yelled as all of them dogpiled on him, finding bravery that they never thought they would’ve had.
Stan and Carl looked at each other and smiled, seeing that this plan was going great. “Looks like we got em’ now, there’s no way he can-”
Within seconds, Discord teleported away from the ponies and was now a few yards away from the changelings “THAT’S IT!” Discord stomped the floor and pointed at Stan. “You!”
Stan’s heart skipped a beat. “M-M-Me?”
Discord didn’t answer. He just glared at him and lit up his claw, surrounding his arm and Stan with a yellow aura. Realizing this, Stan screamed in horror and held onto Carl, only for Discord to yank him out of their grip and pull him closer. “STAN! NO!” Carl was about to run at him, but Twig held him back.
“It’s too late, Carl.” Twig whispered, turning to page 42, showing a picture of Talantilo holding the hero of the comic with his glowing claws to Carl. “He has him in his magic grip. h-h-he’s a gonner.”
“O-Oh no...oh no. ohnoohnoohnoohnoOHNOOH NOHONO!”Was all Stan could think of as he was lifted in the air, his wings flapping helplessly to get away and his arms trying to run on ground that wasn’t there.
Stan flailed around aimlessly as Discord pulled him closer and closer. “I-I...I can’t look!” Carl shielded his eyes while Twig buried his face in the comic book, only to scream as he saw an illustration of Talantilo ripping appart several creatures with his teeth, one of them being a changeling.
The crowd of ponies did the same; shielding their eyes or looking at the act in shock. Even Mike watched in horror as the bug that ruined his night all those months ago was about to be chewed to bits. “A-Ah jeez, Stan…” He whispered, looking away and trying his hardest not to feel bad.
As for Discord, he was getting sick of this, but he knew this was the only way to end it. Once the changeling was closed enough, he spun him around so his face was facing his. Discord was expressionless while Stan hyperventilated. “Changeling, we need to talk. About this little stunt you pulled, about this plan of yours, and about trying to DeFeAt Me!? ThE mAsTeR oF cHaOs!?”
Stan wanted to run, he wanted to cry, he wanted to surrender on the spot as Discord’s shadow casted right over him, but deep down, he knew he couldn’t give up, he couldn’t surender, not when the entire land of Equestria was counting on him to take down this beast. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for what he had to do.
Discord just shook his head, still thinking this was some stupid trick the entire town decided to pull on him. “So, changeling, for the LAST TIME My names not-”
Stan opened his eyes, a flash of red coming out. “FOR THE HIVE!” He screamed as he flew right at his face, forcing Discord to stagger and almost lose his balance.
“STAN!” Carl and Twig yelled as Stan started wrapping his hooves around his horns. His brothers and the entire crowd could only watch in horror
“YRRGH! Y-You!” Stan put his back legs on the back of his neck and pulled, clenching his eyes and teeth harder than ever before. “Y-You are NOT g-gonna drrgh, do this again!”
Discord tried grabbing him, but with every tug, he tensed up. “Grrrh! Get off me you WoRtHlEsS iNsEcT!”
Stan didn’t listen, he just kept pulling and pulling, not stopping for anything. “T-This is...grrrhh..T-This is the LAAAAst time yRRRAAH! You hurt anyOONE!” putting all his strength into it, Stan pulled as hard as he could. “YOU ARE NOT GONNA KILL-”
*pop pop*
“Me?”
Discord fell to the floor while Stan fell into the crowd, some of them managed to catch him before he hit the hard pavement. “S-Stan?” Carl and Twig ran up to him, getting his brother back on all fours. “D-Did you just…”
Stan looked at his hooves, seeing that both of them were holding the horns of Discord in the holes. He chuckled and held up his right one. “Heh...g-guess this hole has saved me more than once, huh?”
Twig poked Stan and pointed at Discord, seeing him groaning on the ground and holding his head. “What the hay is wrong with creatures today?” He turned to the crowd, seeing that one changeling was holding a pair of things that belonged to him. “H-Hey! Give me back my horns!”
Stan wasn’t scared by him anymore, he stood up and held them in the air. “Then come over here and get them!”
Discord just rolled his eyes and snapped his claw at him. He paused for a few seconds before doing it again, and again, and again. “W-What the heck is going on? Why isn’t it-”
“He’s defenceless!” Twig yelled. “His powers are ours now! Take him down!”
Discord realized this wasn’t a prank, this was something far worse: a riot. So, he stood up and did the only logical thing he could do at a time like this: run. “I-I gotta get the princess, t-these ponies are crazy!”
Stan pointed the horns at him. “Don’t let him get away!”
“Especially the bugs…”
Discordopho- OH QUEEN, HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!
“So, how well do you think your children are doing?”
“I’d say they’re doing quite well, but, I admit, some are still trying to adjust to this life, and some can’t even get out of bed with the injuries they have, but I’m sure they will accept it, after all, I did.”
Celestia sipped from her cup of tea and smiled. “And I am grateful that you did. It gives me the reassurance that, if we can make peace with you, we can makes peace with anyone.”
Chrysalis raised her cup to her, then pulled it back and sipped from it. “I’m still surprised that you trusted me with watching over this place, not many creatures would give us that responsibility.”
Celestia knew what she was talking about, after all, this meeting between the two of them in the dinning area was in honor of what she did. “I have to thank you again, Chrysalis. When those vines showed up and took me and my sister, I thought for sure you would-”
Knowing where this was going, Chrysalis set down her tea and said, “Celestia, I’ve learned from my mistakes, even if I wanted to take over, your student probably would’ve saved the day, again.” She chuckled, as did the princess.
The princess looked down at her tea. “I honestly can’t imagine what I’d do without her.”
“I’m still surprised they found you and Nightmare Mo- er, y-your sister when they...um...” Chrysalis stopped, seeing the shocked face Celestia was giving her. “S-Sorry, Tia. F-Force of habit.”
Celestia shook her head. “I don’t see how it still is one, you’ve met my sister and know that her name’s-”
“Luna, I know...but the stories my children tell to each other sometimes get’s in my head as well, I’m sure you're familiar dealing with something like that.”
Celestia nodded, knowing that one of the queen’s children had the same problem. “Yes, I understand.” She took a sip and decided to change the topic, remembering something else she wanted to talk to her about. “Chrysalis, I have to ask you something that’s been bothering me.
The queen raised an eye. “You’ve asked so many. How could you possibly have more? I’ve told you about the hive, how feeding works, how I can keep track of all my children, how I-”
“Why were we the one’s you targeted?
Chrysalis didn’t understand the question and answered with a, “Hmm?”
Celestia poured another cup. “What I mean is that there are other creatures out there besides ponies.” Celestia clarified. “Why not go for them?”
Chrysalis shrugged. “Well, we’ve tried living off the many monsters in the forest, but I’m afraid it wasn’t enough.”
Celestia found that hard to believe. “So, you're friends with them?”
Chrysalis smiled. “Why yes, my children are friends with many creatures. the diamond dogs, for example, are very nice to them. They always throw the craziest raves when they visit.”
“Raves?” Celestia questioned.
The queen nodded. “Yes, raves.” She took a sip and continued. “They may be a bit loud and obnoxious, but it does keep the children happy, even though it’s hard understanding what those dogs are saying half the time...Tienen una extraña forma de hablar.”
“Excuse me?”
Chrysalis chuckled. “It’s how they talk. That’s the first step of being at peace, Celestia; learning their ways.” She took another sip. “Are you at peace with any creatures, princess?”
“Of course, just not ones that are...well, roughly ten times our size.”
Chrysalis had to laugh at that, knowing that it took more than size to not like a creature. “That’s good to hear, but you have to know that most creatures like you as well, just...in a different way.”
Celestia didn’t understand. “Can you explain?”
Chrysalis looked away, slightly embarrassed to tell her this. “You ponies are rather...special.”
“What’s so special about us? Is it our magic? Our way of living? The society we’ve built?”
Chrysalis couldn’t hold back her smile. “Well, when I talked with the many leaders of the beasts in the forest, they told me about how you ponies are considered, well...a delicacy.”
“A-A what?” Celestia almost dropped her cup after hearing that.
Chrysalis nodded. “That’s what they told us; that you ponies are the tastiest things out there. You’re more delicious than any type of food they find in the woods, or any food you ponies make.” She took a sip while Celestia continued being baffled by all of this.
“H-How would they know how our food tastes if-”
“Because that’s what the ponies they caught gave them in hopes that they wouldn’t swallow them whole...which they ended up doing anyways after they stopped sobbing their eyes out and begging for freedom.” Chrysalis realized her cup was empty and lifted it toward her. “May I have another cup?”
Celestia’s jaw stayed dropped.. “T-they...They a-a-ate-”
“Ponies?” Chrysalis said. “Well, how else would they know you taste the best if they haven’t tried you? Some usually eat the same pony a couple times or have them stay captive for constant flavor eating...I’m sure some ponies might like that, yes?”
Celestia finally lost her grip on the cup of tea as it fell to the floor. “I...I-I-I…I...”
Chrysalis raised an eye. “Are you alright, Princess?” She asked as she poured herself a cup with her magic. “You act like this is surprising for you to hear.”
“O-Of course it’s surprising to hear! A-And I doubt any pony would want to live like that.”
Chrysalis took another sip from her cup. “You wouldn’t believe how wrong you are, Princess.”
Celestia was about to go further, but then realized Chrysalis was in the same group. “H-Have you ever...ever…”
Chrysalis chuckled. “Celestia, we eat love. Even if we tried pony, we would end up hacking it up for some other creature to eat...That reminds me.” She stood up and set her tea down. “Where’s the nearest restroom? I need to puke this tea out of my body before it contaminates my digestive system.”
Celestia blinked and pointed out the door. “Um...t-that way, down the hall...a-and to the left...wait, why did you drink tea if it’s bad for you?”
Chrysalis smiled and made her way out. “Just because we like the taste of love, doesn’t mean we like the taste of other things, princess.”
Celestia then noticed the cup on the floor. She sighed and brought it back to the table, cleaning the mess on the floor with a spell “Quite the most...interesting of topics...I can only begin to imagine how many creatures have tried...us.” Celestia tapped her chin. “Hmmm, now what other creature could-”
*SLAM*
“PRINCESS!”
Celestia jumped as a draconequus bursted through the double dining hall doors, completely riddled in patches of dust and bruises. “Discord?”
Discord fell to the floor. His body could barely hold itself up after running such a distance. “Princess,” He yelled, putting both his claws together and looking up at her innocently. “y-you have to help me!”
“Help you?” Celestia raised an eye. “Can I at least know what I’m helping with.” She then noticed Discord’s missing accessories. “And...where did your horns go?”
“T-They took them!” Discord yelled. “Y-You’re subjects...a-and her subjects took my horns!”
“Who’s subjects? And how and why did they take them?”
Discord continued panting. “I-I don’t know, some of them ganged up on me and tore them off my head!”
“Did it hurt?”
Discord had to be honest. “No, but it’s really humiliating!”
Celestia was still confused. “But why would they take them off?”
“T-They thought taking them would take away my magic!”
“Did it work?”
Discord shifted his eyes back and forth. “U-Um...no...b-but they won’t give them back.”
Celestia was very surprised to hear this, it wasn’t every day random ponies decided to go against the god of chaos. “I find it very hard to believe regular, everyday subjects fought you. I can understand other ponies, such as my student and her friends, but not random ponies.”
“That’s what I thought too!” Discord started pacing. “A-And to top it off, a small group of changelings were part of it...I-I’m beginning to think they were leading them.”
“A group of changelings?” Celestia was more confused by the second.
Discord nodded furiously. “Yeah! Y-You have to tell that queen about this, because if I see her, I’m gonna be-”
“I hope there’s still more tea.”
Discord and Celestia turned to the door as it swung open. Celestia gained, internally fearing as to what would soon go down. “Ah, Chrysalis, glad to see you’re back.”
“You…” Discord pointed straight at Chrysalis. “What kind of children did you raise?”
Unlike her children, Chrysalis wasn’t phased by Discord at all. “I raised them right, and who are you to say how I raised them...in fact, what are you? Can’t say I’ve ever seen a creature as hideous as you.”
Discord was about to make a comeback, but Celestia could already tell where this was going. “I’m guessing you haven’t met Discord?” Celestia asked, standing up from the table.
“Discord?” Chrysalis rubbed her chin. “I’ve heard your student talk about him when I asked her about other villains she’s faced...but I swear I’ve heard his name before that...”
“Probably from your insane children!” Discord was on the verge of losing it. “They’ve been calling me a monster and running away from me all day! And now they have half the town trying to kill me!”
Celestia was both astonished and impressed. “Half the town? Of regular every day ponies?”
“Exactly!” Discord sat down from all of this. “Tia, I can understand ponies running into a panic, but changelings? Monsters that caused just about as much chaos as me? Why would they do this? I thought they were good!”
Celestia bit her lip. “Well, Discord, I have to say that I can understand ponies running away from...well, someone as yourself, but changelings? That is rather strange?”
“The worst part is that they’re not even pronouncing my name right, it sounds like some cross between diamond dog talk and pony talk, calling me some ‘Talantilo’ like I’m some urban legend they’ve made up.”
Hearing this, Chrysalis finally knew who he really was, to her children, at least. “Ah, now I remember.” Chrysalis laughed. “You must be El Discordtalantilo? The mutant monster that roams the world looking for little changelings to munch on?”
“W-Wha...y-you sound just like you kids!”
Celestia put the pieces together. “So, you do know what’s going on then?”
Chrysalis continued smiling at this. “Let's just say that my children have quite the imagination when it comes to creatures like you, Discord.”
“Enough imagination to take my horns off!” Discord pointed at his head, wishing his horns were there.
“Don’t blame me. I never encouraged them to tell stories, I only watched.”
“B-But you could’ve stopped them! Which I know you’ll do now that they’ve done this to me.”
“What makes you think I’ll-”
Celestia cleared her throat, knowing she would have to take action as well. “I’ll start having the ponies calm down, as for you two. I suggest you talk this out between yourselves.”
“You’re leaving me with him?”
“You’re leaving me with her?”
Celestia simply walked toward the door. “I’m sure you’ll figure this out, in the meantime, I shall talk to the ponies.”
Once the door’s shut, both of the reformed villains glared at one another. “You caused this, Chrysie! And I expect you to fix it!”
“I didn’t cause anything.” Chrysalis pointed at him. “You on the other hoof have caused a lot of mess over the past thousand years. This situations seems more like a wakeup call than a problem.”
“I-I haven’t done anything!” Discord paused for a few seconds to think about that statement. “W-Well, not anything that deserves this!”
Chrysalis eyed him. “Discord, I’ve been blasted clear across Equestria, had most of my children perish, gone through a lot of paperwork for this treaty, had myself be humiliated in front of all my children during that surrender speech, and I STILL think I haven’t done enough to make up for what I’ve done.” She stepped closer to him. “and you think you’ve done enough to pay for what you did?”
Discord laughed at this. “Really? You feel like you haven’t done enough? What are you gonna do next, give yourself nightmares for the next few years to punish yourself?”
“I’m not that insane, Dissy.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’re not.” He said sarcastically while pulling out a chair and sitting down, crossing his right leg over his other. “Listen, bug queen, we were all insane villains. We all did it for the fun and enjoyment out of it, not for reasons, but because we can, and because we can, we needed to.”
Chrysalis thought that was the most insane excuse for the actions they’ve caused. “I had a reason to do it!”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Taking over the world isn’t really a reason. I call it an excuse in my book”
“I did it for my children.”
Discord leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes. “Pfffff, like you actually care about your ch-”
Chrysalis used her magic to pull his face down to her level. “Finish that sentence, I dare you.”
Discord managed to get out of her grip, thankful to know she wasn’t as powerful as before. “Don’t be so touchy, Chrysie, I’m just pointing out that I’m not the only evil one in this room. We were all evenly evil.”
“‘Evenly?’” Chrysi dropped her jaw. “To you, I’m a saint!”
Discord started naming off her sins. “Oh, really? Explain to me how brainwashing Twilight’s brother, ponynaping a princess, throwing Twilight in with her, almost destroying Canterlot, and singing a song about it is you being a saint?”
Chrysalis decided to do the same. “Probably because I didn’t brainwash all of Twilight’s friends. Granted, I did manipulate them into thinking I was good, but at least I didn’t force them to be bad.” She crossed her arms.
“Manipulation is just as bad.”
Chrysalis pointed at him. “You’ve done worse! You even cheated in your own game!”
“WHAT!?” Discord was utterly offended. “I didn’t cheat in my-”
“‘No flying and no magic.’” Chrysalis quoted. “I think that’s what you said during that game you gave Twilight and her friends.”
“What’s that have to do with anything!”
“You still had your wings, and you still used magic, don’t you think that’s...you know, breaking your rules.”
“B-But that was only for-”
“And you even knew it was a waste of time to begin with, that’s just downright cruel.”
“OH! Like sucking the magic out of a pony isn’t any worse!”
Chrysalis was getting sick of how others thought that was how they get food. “I don’t suck magic, Discord, I eat love, not like that hideous red monster who dared to hurt one of MY CHILDREN!”
“Wha..who?”
"And at least I’m trying to make up for it by helping ponies.” Chrysalis continued. “I’m guessing you haven’t even done anything to make up for what you did.”
“I-I’ve helped ponies before.”
“Name one.”
“I’ve helped Twi-”
“Besides the friends you’ve made, because I’ve done my best to ensure my children treat ponies, who I don’t even know, with respect, regardless of what the ponies think of me or them.”
Discord found that hard to believe. “You sure are doing a good job at it with how they’re treating me!” He said sarcastically. “Face it, Chryssie, you were just as bad.”
With her mind full of rage, Chrysalis decided to bring up another argument. “Discord, do you even remember what happened a week ago?”
Discord couldn’t hold in his laugh. “Oh, yes, I remember all that happened, that was very exciting, to say the least.”
Chrysalis glared at him. “For you, yes, for Twilight, it was a nightmare. I’m shocked you didn’t do anything to help them.”
“Why would I need to help them? I’m sure Twilight took it well.”
Chrysalis pointed at the doors. “Celestia’s student came running here, worried sick about Celestia and Nightma- Luna missing and had to be forced to have someone, who she still doesn’t even trust, look after the place while she looks for them. And to top it off, she finds out it was you and your seeds that caused it in the first place, I wouldn’t be surprised if you betrayed them over some stupid-””
“ALRIGHT! I get it!” Discord screamed, hearing this before. “Sparkle was having a hard time and I haven’t done anything to make up for it! Who cares!”
“The children seem to care, the ponies as well, and I’m sure Twilight might have the same feelings. Admit it, Dissy, you’ve done so many horrible things in your life. I’ll say it now, if I were to come to power, I’d turn you to stone myself."
Discord was getting tired of arguing about who was less evil, he just wanted his horns back. “Listen, Chrysie, I’d love to talk about who’s more evil than who, but can you just fix this mess so I can-”
“I’m not fixing anything.” Chrysalis said. “In fact, I think only you can stop my children from being scared of you.”
“How am I supposed to do that? They run off before I even get to them!”
Chrysalis knew exactly where most of her children were still being held. “Then go to ones that won't run. I’m sure there are plenty that are still bed ridden in the hospital thanks to our...my actions…” Chrysalis’s ears flopped after she finished that sentence.
“Fine! If that’s what it takes, then I’ll do it!” Discord didn’t notice her tone of sadness and started making his way to the doors. “If this makes things worse, I swear to Eris.”
“Who?”
Discord grabbed the handle and yelled out, “No one!” He then slammed the door and stormed off, leaving Chrysalis to herself to think about this situation.
“Hmmm, now what changelings could be responsible for telling those stories in the first place?” It only took Chrysalis seconds to know who caused her children to fear him before all of this.
“Time to pay those twins a visit.”
