Chapters Time…
For an immortal being like the Lord of Chaos, time is but a mere plaything. Seconds flow into minutes, minutes then flow into hours, etc. However, one who thrives on causing chaos and disharmony can use it to their advantage. Discord may have saw himself as reformed, just like his friends did, but that did not mean that he had completely given up on his old trickster ways.
“I wonder what kind of prank I should pull...” He thought to himself in his own dimension, which really was not as bad as everypony made it out to be, who would not want to turn down bubble gum ice cream? Then again, a side effect was making you as light as Helium. “Perhaps swap Rainbow's and Pinkie’s species? Nah, that would really mess up the weather patrol and I don't need Fluttershy mad with me. Or perhaps I should make Shining Armor a mare in heat? No no no… not even I would want to go through the trouble them poor mares go through with that. ”
Thinking of the kind, butterball colored mare made him have an epiphany, for she was the sole and ONLY reason that he attempted to keep himself in check. Chaos was a master of irony, because since he befriended the Element of Kindness, she had been making his life chaotic. Every prank he thought about pulling he now thought of how she would react, and choosing to avoid her infamous Stare made his life easier. More than once he thought about turning her into a draconequus to show her his way of thoughts, but each time he couldn’t bring himself to it.
However, before he could think of another minor prank idea he froze. A cold icy chill that originated in his tail quickly spread through his whole body, making him feel like he had a nasty case of the flu, but he knew what it actually was. It was in these moments that he regretted being the Lord of Chaos, even moreso since he had actually started caring for his former enemies-turned-friends.
Everypony, and every being for that matter, knows that the universe is run on three simple rules:
Where there is Law and Order, there is Lawlessness and Chaos.
Order and Chaos are opposing equals, coexist, and there cannot be one without the other. The same is applied for Harmony and Disharmony, there are no exceptions.
There must be Taco Tuesdays, if a place does not have it, then may Faust have mercy on their souls.
So despite Discord being a “good guy”, the fundamental universal laws ensured that he was not “fully” converted to the ways of Harmony. Normally when one of his old instincts hit, the prank was rather minor and completely harmless (unless you count that time he accidentally used permanent coat dye on Rarity, that was a hassle to fix), but once in awhile a major urge hit him to the point he normally did something he would later regret.
“Oh no… not one of these again! ” Discord was mentally panicking as the surge intensified, trying everything he could think of to avoid succumbing to those dark and evil thoughts that plagued him. As was the way of things, and despite putting up a good fight, he eventually caved into the warm and fuzzy feeling that pure chaos gave him.
“Oh this time shall be my grandest scheme yet!” The chaos-driven draconequus pulled a simple pocket mirror from out of noone-knows-whereville, then his paw started glowing. Using dark, ancient magics that not even Starswirl the Bearded could wrap his mind around, Discord viewed into the distant past looking for one thing in particular.
Unraveling the flow of space-time was an easy task for the Chaos Lord, and he loved to do it just to see what kind of timeline would be born. In a twist of irony, the current Equestria was born from the last time he attempted this, so he was more cautious with his approach ever since. Making the years in the mirror go by like dust in the wind, he paused it when he saw what he seeked.
———————————
“Screw Loose!” King Gale said summoning the bard, who was always at the ready for her king’s call. “Play me a tune if you would be so kind.”
The smaller griffin bowed as she pulled out her lute. “Of course my king, anything in particular?”
“Hmm…” Gale scratched his chin as he pondered. “How about something different for a change, have you practiced anything in private?”
“Actually I have,” Screw Loose said as she pulled away on the strings, doing random chords as a way to tune and warm up. “although I must warn you… it is kinda dark due to the fact I came up with this while thinking about how those devilish heathens defeated us.”
King Gale flinched just at the mention of his personal mortal enemies, their brutish tactics of crashing down a fiery death still plagued his dreams. “That is noted… but please play it anyway Screw Loose…”
And play she did. it started out as a fast tempo that no griffin had heard before, her wings strumming at such a rate that the poor king had no idea how Screw Loose’s feathers did not ignite. Then Screw Loose started the words…
On a hot summer’s eve,
When the flames came crashing down,
Everything suddenly seemed off, as if the natural balance of the universe had just been knocked on its rear. The very atmosphere stirred and became heavier, more unsettling, and gave the premise of an impending doom. The sun outside had been dimmed as thick, angry clouds manifested themselves from seemingly nowhere. As Screw Loose continued to play the sensation only grew stronger, and as she hit the halfway point of her song a near-deafening explosion rocked the castle and surrounding landscape.
Getting to the window as quick as he could, King Gale looked out to see what had caused the booming, and what he saw caused the once-fearless leader’s blood to run cold. Off in the distance, a peak known to everygriff as the Misty Mountain had blown its top off. Rivers of molten distruction flowed down the sides of the mountain igniting everything in its path as a think blanket of ash and the stench of sulfur filled the air.
And Screw Loose continued to play.
As she played deeper into the song, a low rumble was heard, growing in intensity as the bard hit the next riff. The palace shook asunder, the southwestern part of the castle crumbling into dust, luckily no griffin was in that wing but there was still the issue of the tsunami of lava that was heading for the village. Acting quickly, he gathered what guards he could and had them lead a full scale evacuation to ensure his subjects’ safety.
“Did we do something to make the Great Talon angry?... ” King Gale thought to himself as he tried to find the cause of the sudden apocalypse. Then it hit him, everything was fine until Screw Loose started playing her song. Since she had no magic, which was a concept he only had heard of from a band of passing ponies called unicorns, he knew it was the song itself. Instinct kicked in, and since he knew Screw Loose was wrapped up in the song and showed no sign of stopping, he did the only logical thing. In a swift motion, he grabbed the lute and crushed it in his talons, which seemed to snap the young female out of the trace.
“Ugh…” Screw Loose grunted as she put a wing up to her forehead due to an onset headache. “what happened? Also, why is my lute smashed into bits? I was going to play that song for you.”
Gale blinked. Not only was his bard dealing with memory loss but the impending doom had ceased, the Equesquake had stopped and the volcano was once again sleeping peacefully. “Nevermind that, do you have the sheet music and words written down somewhere Screw Loose? If you do then I want to see them please.”
Obeying her king, the young bard swiftly departed to gather the sheets, leaving her alone to her thoughts. “I wonder why he wants them… I hope that he doesn't execute me for what I have written, or even worse EXILE ME! M-maybe I am overreacting and he just wants to look over them to make sure that it is good enough to play… hopefully... ”
Despite her best efforts, pure panic set in as she made her way back towards the throne room. The graceful king, her king, looked down upon her with worry and concern in his eyes. The look was gentle but stern, and even with the comforting air he presented himself with Screw Loose was still terrified, trembling to the point she shook a few of her feathers loose.
“Are these the sheets you composed for your… piece?” Gale asked, his voice calm and as comforting as he could get it to be.
“Yes my king,” Screw Loose said as she threw herself at his talons. “I am begging for mercy. You may give me any punishment that you deem fit, I just beg that you do not exile me to the farthest reaches of our territory.”
“Now why would I do a thing like that?” King Gale asked baffled, a hint of hurt seeping into his tone. “You have done nothing to warrant such repercussions to that extent. It seems that this song is evil, because not only do you have no memory of playing the potion you did, it was bringing about the apocalypse.”
“I-it… what…” Screw Loose asked, her eyes now the size of dinner plates as she quivered in fear.
Gale nodded. “Fire from the sky, brimstone, equesquake… everything mentioned in the ancient texts was coming to pass as you played. Since it seems that this song put you in a sort of trance, I am not going to directly punish you. However, I am going to take this and have it put somewhere nogriff can get to. As far as your lute goes, go have a new one made, I will personally pay for it.”
Screw Loose tightly hugged Gale before taking off to go get her new lute. After she had left, King Gale turned to his two personal guards and handed the leader the music sheets.
“Commander Glyson, I need you and Grif to go and bury this. In the storage room there should be a few empty chests normally used by me for hosting diplomatic relations. Take one and put this inside it, lock it, then one of you take the key and toss it into the bog that is in the depths of the forest. I want the one who takes the chest to go put it in the deepest chamber of the far off mountains to the southwest. By being separated, and in difficult locations, it ensures the world never has to deal with this ever again.”
Both guards bowed, but Grif raised a wing. “May I ask a question my lord?”
“You may,” Gale said nodding. “what is on your mind?”
Grif bowed in recognition. “Thank you my lord. The question is have is simple but it also carries a lot of weight, how are you going to explain what just took place to your subjects?”
King Gale’s mind crashed and rebooted several times, for he was actually stumped. It took several minutes for him to formulate a plan that would be satisfactory enough to suit the populous. “I got a solution, it was a dormant strategy from our war with the dragons that finally went off. Considering the war is over and we have not seen the dragons since, there is no need to panic and instead focus on rebuilding.”
Nodding, both guards took off to go do the tasks their king had given them while Gale went to see about preparing his public address. It was also at this moment that Discord paused the screen on his mirror, a devilish smile on his face that had his snaggletooth on full display.
—————————
“That is it!” Discord crackled cross his plane. “That will be how I finally end them once and for all! Since there is no pony record of those events, and since most griffon texts from that time are incomplete or destroyed they will not know what hit them.”
The draconequus then snapped his lion paw and teleported into the depths of the chest’s home. It was dark and gloomy, just as he liked it, and the whole crevice was coated in spider webs. Using is chaos magic, he scanned the walls for any sort of booby trap and what he found surprised him.
“Not a single trap to be found… ” Discord thought as he continued to look around. “Gale was awfully sure of himself that no being would dare come here. Then again, he never crossed paths with me, but his son sure was fun to mess with. ”
Discord smiled at the fond memories of him “playing games” with Gale’s son, King Geros, and how must he enjoyed the griffin’s descent into pure madness. So caught up was he in reminiscing, he failed to notice his surroundings, which led to him to bumping into a solid object. When he saw what it was a mischievous gleam shone in his eyes.
There, on the stone construct he bumped into, was the object that he had been searching for. The chest that held the song of the apocalypse stared back at him like a leprechaun eyeing its gold. Age had not done the chest any favors, however, for the wood was badly decayed from the humidity. In addition, the once lavish precious metals were now tarnished beyond recognition, lost to the toll of time.
All it took was him lightly touching the ancient artifact for it to crumble, revealing its treasured contents. The pages had miraculously aged quite well, for they were yellowed but not yet brittle and were able to be easily handled. Scooping them up and summoning his guitar, he plucked the first few bars to get warmed up and get the proper tuning.
As he played, he could feel the strong pulses of chaos magic radiate out with every chord, and as tempting as it was for him to continue he stopped just a few lines in. Grinning, he teleported himself to Canterlot Castle and right into the throne room, where the Royal Sisters were enjoying a bit of small talk but they stopped when they saw the sudden intruder.
“Oh hello there Discord,” Luna said with a small smile. She had been the most skeptical, or stubborn as viewed by some, that Discord was reformed but she finally accepted it after he helped defeat Chrysalis. It was a choice that she regretted not making earlier, especially with all of the pranks the two of them pulled on Celestia. “how may we help you today?”
“Oh nothing too big Lulu,” Discord replied with a soft chuckle, but its tone caused a chill to run up both alicorns’ spines. It was clear that he was up to something, nothing good, but they couldn’t figure out what.“I am just in the mood for a bit of… fun.”
Both sisters gulped, Luna from reading the archives and Celestia from first hoof experience. It had been centuries since Discord had used that particular phrasing, and last time it did not turn out well. 450 years ago, Discord had approached Celestia with that very same line…
What resulted was a bad hangover, a legal marriage, and eleven months later Cadance being born. To make the whole mess worse, the marriage agreement was airtight, to the point that divorce would mean Celestia losing her throne and title as Princess and exiled to the Badlands.
She got lucky with turning him into stone, because when he had betrayed her the first time, it invoked a special clause to the marriage agreement. That clause stated if he did anything that would threaten her well being, she could levy punishment that fit the crime.
Due to the circumstances surrounding the whole situation, it was deemed best by those involved that only Celestia and Discord would know, and the full details of the events that took place be kept in the most secured area of the archives. The only reason Luna found out was when Celestia gave her permission to catch up on everything that had happened during her banishment, and made her triple swear Pinkie Promise not to say anything to Cadance about the discovery of the classified document.
With it being a Pinkie Promise, Pinkie instantly knew of the subject, but she herself made the same promise to not say a word. However, that is when things got a little freaky to the point even Discord had backed off. According to Pinkie, Equestria was ruled by strange beings she called the “keyboard ponies”, and in the end all events were dictated by them. Before the sisters could get an explanation the party mare had left, leaving them to decide she was plain crazy.
“So… what kind of “fun” do you have in mind Discord?” Celestia asked when she quit thinking about the past and turned her attention back to the floating creature in front of her, who had made himself shaped like a triangle for some reason. “Give my sister the same “game” that you gave me those centuries ago?”
“Not at all my dear Celly,” Discord said, his tone soft as he looked into his wife’s eyes and put a paw under her muzzle, his gentle touch making the Solar Diarch hum. “I recently came across a song from time long forgotten and I want to play it for the two of you.”
Both sisters looked at each other, then at Discord, then back to each other in a silent conversation. They looked at each other in steadfast silence, but their eyes told the tale. Both were torn between caution and curiosity, but as was universal pull, the latter beat the former and both sisters nodded in agreement.
i is “I like that kind of fun,” Luna said with a wary smile, keeping her guard up but also giving Discord a short leash. “How about me and Tia grab our instruments and we can all take turns playing?”
“Sounds like a wonderful idea Luna,” Discord replied with a grin as he summoned recording equipment. “you both summon your instruments and I will patiently wait for you to get in tune.”
Less than a second later both alicorns had their instruments, Celestia her flute and Luna her trumpet, and spends the next few minutes getting warmed up. As always, they put up a soundproofing spell around the room to ensure that any “noise” created when they got competitive did not disturb the other members of the castle staff.
Celestia started on her flute, the light and soothing melody echoing through the room, making Discord feel as if he was floating on a cloud in a gentle breeze. That state of mind was flipped, however, when Luna began playing on her trumpet.
The harsh, bellowing notes coming from the endpiece told the tale of two warrior brothers in the heat of battle, one good and one evil and engaged in a fight to the death. Short, quick notes told the tale of the good brother, his motives being pure and innocent. The good brother wanted to redeem the other, to once again make his family whole and restore honor to the fallen house.
Longer, deeper notes told the story of the evil one, who became corrupted and bitter due to feeling disrespected. Every few metres, Luna switch back and forth between the two paces, signaling the parts where they were trading blows. Luna had wrote this piece herself shortly after her return, and it was very close to her due to it being a tale of her own redemption.
As always, Celestia got impatient when she felt that Luna had played long enough, leading to her flute cutting into the battle like a final weapon being unleashed to aide the hero. Back and forth the two sisters went, both of them playing harder and harder until they hit the climax of the battle.
Discord, who had been watching with amusement, chose to start strumming. Instead of playing his desired song, which he decided would follow, he stunned to the beat the sisters were providing him. Both were surprised, by themselves they sounded horrible but with Discord’s guitar providing a bridge it sounded quite good. They played until their lungs couldn’t take no more, and stopped to take a breather.
“Wow,” Celestia said as she sipped on her Camomile tea, with was her favorite brew. “that actually sounded pleasant for once. I think perhaps we need to set more time aside for the three of us to play more.”
“Indeed it did.” Luna, who was drinking coffee that was strong enough to appear as a bottomless void, nodded in agreement while turning to face their guest. “Seems all it took was something to fill in the gap between our two tones to make it seamlessly flow together into a true composition. I am glad that I took your offer Discord, this was quite enjoyable.”
Discord, to his credit, was playing his ruse quite well. He had them right were he wanted them, and although apart of him protested betraying his wife again, it was quickly bridled and silenced into submission.Snapping his talon, a tuxedo and top hat appeared on him, and he gave a small bow after removing the hat from his head and placing it over his chest.
“The pleasure was all mine my fair princesses,” Discord said as the tux and hat went away, sent back to his ethereal plane and neatly folded and pressed into his closet. He then cracked his fingers before placing them in the starting position for his master plan. “and I enjoyed it just as much as you both did. That little ballad has loosened me up, and now I am ready to play the song I originally wanted to do, that is if you both still feel like listening that is. I can understand if you don’t, for playing such glorious must have wore you both out.”
“Nonsense!” Celestia proclaimed with a small chuckle, for the first time in eons seeing Discord not as the mismatched being he appeared, but as the husband he was to her. “How about you play as me and Lulu relax to your tunes? I am sure that whatever piece it was will surprise us.”
“Oh I am sure it will Celly, after all it was me who got you to like music based on the guitar.” Discord smirked at the blush that formed on Celestia’s muzzle, but chose to continue. “Besides, I know how much you love things from the past you had no idea existed.”
“That is true,” Celestia said with a smile, surprised that Discord remembered that little fact not many knew. “you may play when you are ready.”
Giving a small nod, Discord began to rapidly strum, and as he did the room seemed to darken. Fire seemed to dance around him as he got to the middle of the introductory riff, but that is not what alarmed the sisters the most. Taking a look outside, they noticed the sun had gone dark, the moon had moved on its own accord and was perfectly outlining the Celestial disk.
The townsponies’ screams echoed through the castle and surrounding landscape, the different pitches blending into a wonderful melody for Discord’s ears as he stopped strumming right before the first verse was to be sung.
“So,” Discord asked with a sly grin as he looked at what he had caused. “did you enjoy the introduction?”
“Did I enjoy it…” It was clearly evident that Celestia was trying to contain her rage as she spoke, to the point Luna was more focused on keeping her sister under control than to beat up the draconequus. “it certainly was, um, different. I would have enjoyed it more if you didn’t cause MY PONIES TO PANIC! ”
The Royal Canterlot Voice made Luna flinch, but Discord seemed unfazed by it. “No need to yell Celly, I’m floating right before you. Also, I am glad you liked it because now I am going to spread this wonderful song all over Equestria.Ta-ta for now.”
With that Discord vanished, but before he did he looked into Celestia’s eyes. Her heat-filled glare melted when she saw the brief look of regret in the chaos being’s eyes. It was quick enough that she thought she imagined it, but deep down she knew that this was not just a battle for the safety of her ponies.
No, it was much more than that, and way more personal. She knew everypony’s lives hung in the balance, she knew her’s and Luna’s did as well. However, there was something else she knew, she knew she was fighting for Discord’s life… the life of her husband...
Author's Note
I am on Patreon, you can see what I have to offer here
This story was inspired by Door Belle (who gave me permission to write this), thanks to a comment she made in Damaged’s Discord server about “Through the Fire and Flames” (the song that Screw Loose is parodying) being a real song in Equestria that brings about the apocalypse... enjoy
Damaged’s Discord server cane be found here: https://discord.gg/Un74ceq WARNING : you must be 18 years or older to join theserver, and if you do prepare for NSFW, mangos, bats, and lots of discussion
It was just sunrise the next day, and already things had gotten off to a bad start. Instead of the cheerful glow Celestia’s sun normally produced, the Solar Princess was horrified to see that it was a very ugly plaid and filled her citizens with a sense of dread when she rose it into place.
The Lord of Chaos himself had not been seen since leaving the castle, but reports had started to flood in from Appleloosa of his trademark cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain, and Rockville citizens were complaining that their rocks were now of the popular editable variety sold in the Crystal Empire tourist shops. With each new report that came in over the course of the night prior, Luna made sure to leave it on Celestia’s desk so she could see them.
“I have failed. ” Celestia thought to herself as she started to go through the reports, becoming more depressed with each she read. “I failed to protect my little ponies from Discord’s blend of ‘fun’, failed to keep him from reverting to his old state, and worse of all I have failed as a wife. Perhaps things would be better if I- ”
“Princess Celestia?” Twilight’s concerned tone snapped Celestia out of her pit of depression, for now, and had her focus on the lavender alicorn before her. “Me and my friends are here to see if there is anything we can do to end Discord’s run of terror.”
“I am afraid that it seems Discord has won this time.” Celestia said with a sigh, her mood starting to turn gloomy once more. “Last time you girls had the Elements of Harmony, something that you no longer have. Chances are the Rainbow Beam might not do the job either, I haven’t seen him this bad since the first time I imprisoned him in stone with the aforementioned Elements.”
“But we have beat villain after villain, we have never lost a fight we had the chance to win!” Rainbow exclaimed, only to have Pinkie give her a small glare, which the prismatic pegasus took note of. “Why are you giving me that look Pinks?”
“Really Dashie?” Pinkie’s tone made the others, even Celestia, gulp and Rainbow back up in fear. “Chrysalis beat us TWICE , Starlight convinced us into giving up our Cutie Marks, and Tirek had us beat until Twilight did that Super Saiyan level fight and Discord pulled a double Benedict Arnold.”
“Benedict who and Super what?” Rainbow asked confused, only to shrink away when Pinkie took a step towards her.
“That is not important right now you silly filly,” Pinkie said returning to her original spot, her glare backing off a bit. “but my point is that we are not goddesses. When separated we are just average ponies, even you Dashie, and can be beat. Each of us will eventually move on and be reincarnated as a different version of ourselves, it is the circle of life afterall.”
“So what do ya suggest sugarcube?” Applejack asked once everypony’s temper cooled. “We somehow manage to kill Discord?”
“NOOO! ” Celestia shouted at full Canterlot Voice volume, easily putting another being’s -who was on another place in the Universal Plane- shout of denial to shame. However, the outburst made the six mares give Celestia a questioning look, making her realize her mistake as she cleared her throat. “That is a very bad idea Applejack, because without Chaos then Order reigns supreme.”
“What is so bad about that darling?” Rarity asked raising her hoof like a filly in school. “I’m sure all of us wouldn’t mind having a nice long break from battling both monsters and minor inconveniences.”
Celestia mentally vomited at that idea, but there was no way in Tartarus she was going to admit that Discord was her husband, especially to a mare who was a well-known gossip mouth. “Except it would be a permanent break Rarity. Think of this scenario: everypony doing the same thing all day, every day, with nothing new or exciting to give them purpose. No longer filled with a sense of adventure. everypony would begin to question their own purpose and we will all fade away like a good memory gone too soon.”
“We would cease to exist then…” Twilight said in a scholarly tone, earning a nod from her former mentor. “Now for the matter at hoof, I say we try and use the Rainbow Beam to at least reduce his chaos level to make it manageable. If that fails, then we regroup at my castle and try to form a new plan.”
The others nodded in agreement before Twilight teleported them away, leaving Celestia alone one more. Before she could dive head first into her pit of sadness, however, one of her maids came in carrying a tray with two kettles of tea and a slice of red velvet cake in her magic.
“Tea and cake your Highness?” The maid, Heart Bearer, asked as she trotted over and put the tray on Celestia’s desk, pouring both of them a cup. “You look awfully stressed, is there anything you want to talk about?”
“Not at this moment, what’s on my mind is something I have to work out on my own.” Celestia said before sipping her tea, her eyes widening at the explosive flavor that made her taste buds tingle and eased her throat as her mind felt like it was put into a warm embrace. “This tea is delicious Heart, how did you make such a wonderful blend? It is unlike anything I have ever had before.”
“Well I started with a basic blend of jasmine tea and honey, then added lavender and cinnamon to sooth and give a bit of a kick.” Heart replied sipping her own tea then looked up at Celestia with a smile. “Then to top it off, I finished it with a healthy dose of love infused into it.”
“You’re a changeling?” Celestia asked downing a second, then third, cup of tea. She waited for Heart to nod before continuing, humming at how she was currently feeling. “A fine changeling you are then. I would hate for Chrysalis to get her hooves on you, if she made tea like this then I would consider negotiating with her. So how did you get such tasty love?”
“The love is how you feel towards your husband,” Heart said with a grin as green fire surrounded her, revealing that she was actually Queen Chrysalis. “and I appreciate your compliment by the way. As for negotiating, how about you-“
Without saying a word Celestia removed her crown and tossed it at Chrysalis. The changeling was surprised as she caught the crown in her magic, and could feel the coronal aura that pulsed from it. “You can’t be serious Celestia… No anger? No monologue? No fight? Just giving up the crown just like that seems awfully out of character for you.”
“I am in no mood to fight Chrysalis,” Celestia’s tone was cold, devoid of all emotion. “I have lost the will to rule, I am nothing but a failure. ”
“Celestia this is not like you,” Chrysalis said putting the crown back on the desk, actually looking and sounding concerned. “on any other day you would have me ensnared in your magic and would be threatening me. Hay, you would have even called upon your sister and guards by now, but yet you stand here in self loathing. I have to question why, considering Discord’s current state is not your fault.”
“That is where you are wrong Chrysalis,” Celestia said standing up and looking at her nemesis with dull eyes, void of her will of fire. “there must be something I could have done differently. Spend more time with him, take a vacation, but now my ponies have to suffer for my wrong doing. In a way, I guess this is karma, because now I know how you felt when you had to pick up the pieces after your second failed take over.”
Chrysalis said nothing, instead forcing the depressed alicorn to sit, refilling her cup of tea. “He is the Lord of Chaos Celly, you knew what you were getting into when you married him. Even with Fluttershy’s efforts to help him control it, chaos is a vital part of reality. It can only be contained for so long before it rears its ugly head.”
“That part is true,” Celestia said once again taking comfort in her own cup of love. “I guess I grew slack over the years then. He was imprisoned for so long, then with Fluttershy’s coaching I fooled myself into believing he truly was reformed.”
Chrysalis sat beside Celestia, and given their height differences she was still eye level with the seated diarch. “If that was the case Celly then we would have another problem on our hooves, everypony would. You know Chaos is in flux, for everyone it leaves it finds another host to corrupt and take hold. I have known you since we were foals, and yet I have never seen you in this condition, even after banishing Luna.”
“Times were simpler then too Chryssy,” Celestia said making the changeling queen’s eyes widen in shock at her old nickname. “Me, Lulu, you, Amore, and Sombra all had the same classes and were the best of friends. I was the popular one, Lulu and Sombra were the athletes, Amore helped others with personal problems, and you were seen as the dork.”
“I was the top of the class with grades.” Chrysalis said in rebuttal, a flash of her horn later and she was holding a pair of faded red-rimmed glasses in her hooves. “yet whenever our classmates needed help with their homework they asked you.”
“Now look at our respective states,” Celestia said leaning over on Chrysalis’ wither. “I guess Destiny split us apart for a reason. Despite me being the most popular, I always envied your smarts. I never asked you for help because, like a fool, I chose to keep up my social status instead of looking out for my friends. I guess time changes a pony, for better or worse.”
“You are wrong about that,” Chrysalis said in a slightly stern tone. “time changes for nobeing, but everybeing changes with time. Time is a constant variable, and always flows at the same rate, unless you are one of the few who can travel it.”
Celestia lightly chuckled, feeling a bit better from her conversation with her friend-turned-enemy. “I know of three that fit that description, and a fourth that not even that laws of physics can control, for now anyway. You know, perhaps there is still a bit of good left in you Chrysalis, and to be honest I’m growing tired of fighting.”
“Please don’t flatter yourself, once Discord gets back under control I will go back to scheming against you.” Chrysalis said with a smirk, but also had a faint twinkle in her eyes. “Only reason I am not attacking is because Discord affects my children, chaos magic makes them a bit on edge and nervous, so we really are in the same boat in terms that none of us are safe. That being said, as his wife why aren’t you out there trying to reason with him?”
“I am not a fighter Chrysalis,” Celestia said with a small sigh. “you of all beings know that first hoof. You beat me, the Princess of the Sun, in combat on more than one occasion. Lulu is a better fighter than me, Twilight is better than me, even Shining Armor is a better in a fight. Your fighting ability, tactics, and smarts are things that I could only wish to match.”
“Is this really what you have been reduced to?” Chrysalis said suddenly, making Celestia look at her confused. “What happened to the filly and young mare I used to know? You used to be so full of hope and determination, where are those things now?”
“Those things died when I banished my sister to the moon.” Celestia said on the verge of tears, her sadness having enough effect that Chrysalis made her right wing that of an alicorn and wrapped it around the weeping mare. “The pain was my own, the punishment her’s, but to this day I see just how wrong I was to do it. Ruling by myself, I had to mature very fast to ensure that I could maintain the throne, so I had to quit with my old habits.”
“Similar to when I took over the hive.” Chrysalis said with a nod of shared circumstance. “I had to do what was best to keep my children healthy, and it was only then that I realized just how much every other species hates changelings, so I changed to fit the role.”
Celestia turned her attention to the window, seeing Discord’s newest trick, sapphire and maroon clouds raining down cats and dogs that made her shake her head. “Aren’t we all just victims of circumstance then? All five of us had to give up a lot in order to move on to our roles, but Amore was the one who paid the price the most.”
“I attended the funeral,” Chrysalis said holding back a few tears. “I was still getting used to my heightened emotions as a new queen, and sadness and grief overtook me for a few weeks afterwards.”
“Me and Lulu attended as well,” Celestia said grabbing a long-forgotten photo of her and her friends at their graduation party. “needless to say that was not a very good day. It also earmarked the first of many warning signs I ignored of Lulu becoming corrupted, but I downplayed it as her own way of grieving.”
“I think we really need to take a step back,” Chrysalis said as she casually dusted off a shelf of memories from their school days, each picture making her smile from a time when she didn’t have responsibilities. “the past doesn’t define our future, but current events do.”
“Which is why I plan on going through with what I said earlier about negotiations.” Celestia said with a smile as Chrysalis spun in place with a look of shock. “That is, of course, if you are willing to listen.”
Chrysalis didn’t know what to think, flipping through several emotions before narrowing her eyes. “If you think for once second that I will go through the same process Thorax and most of my drones when through, then you are a fool Celestia!”
“Oh trust me, I wasn’t going to suggest it.” Celestia said in a calm, soothing tone that made Chrysalis back off her posture. “However, what I am offering you and your remaining drones is full pardon and amnesty, and can freely feed on the love that I have for my husband and my ponies have for me and Lulu. In exchange, I require that each of you remain in disguise, a full list of your drones with their aliases, and you remain being my maid Heart Bearer.”
“You kidding me right?” Chrysalis asked tilting her head a little. “All forgiven, and acted like nothing happened at all with the invasions and bitterness, just like that?”
“Friends look out for friends Chryssy,” Celestia said as she got a quill and paper ready. “and you have been away from your friends for far too long. Notice, I am not asking for you to fully reform, I am just asking for a suitable compromise that benefits all parties involved.”
Chrysalis fell into deep thought, pondering all her available options and weighing each against the offer. A few minutes later, she cleared her throat after coming to a conclusion. “I, Queen Chrysalis of the Badlands Hive, hereby accept the terms and conditions that have been put forth during negotiations.”
Both rulers looked at each other for a long minute, showing no emotion on their faces in a battle of who would give first. However, they both got into a giggle fit at the shenanigan, feeling like they did when they were young as they smiled. Once Celestia summoned a chess set, they settled down into the stratigic war of board game superiority, with Chrysalis taking an early lead before Celestia came back to tie as the door opened.
“Tia I have midday news to-“ Luna stopped mid-sentence, her voice caught in her throat, as she saw who Celestia was with. Flaring up her magic, she pinned Chrysalis to the wall as her horn shone a vibrant navy blue.
“Thou has but one chance to save your life fiend.” Luna said as she lined her horn up at Chrysalis’ throat, making the changeling whimper. “I guess you use the next minute wisely, so what is your plan to try and take over this time?”
“I have no quarrel Luna,” Chrysalis said as she gulped from the deadly projectile parked at her jugular, Luna’s grip somehow managing to mute her transformation magic. “nor do I currently have any plans to take over, in fact a negotiation has been made.”
Luna gave a sinister chuckle, her magic flaring brighter and starting to hurt Chrysalis by compressing pressure against her chitin. “Ha! You honestly expect me to believe that malarkey?! It is clear that you have brainwashed my sister into not finishing you, but unfortunately for you I have no such issue doing that task.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes, hoping her death would be quick and painless. Instead, Luna let go as a resounding *SLAP* echoed through the castle, city, and for miles into the surrounding countryside. Peeking, Chrysalis saw that Luna had been slapped clear across the room, with Celestia standing at full height and looking rather cross.
“Sister…” Celestia’s tone was deathly soft, clearly showing her effort to restrain the anger that was making Chrysalis feel as if she was melting from the inside out. “Have you forgotten how well we got along with her when we were fillies? Me and you have forgiven each other for our past actions, do you think it is not fair to at least offer her the opportunity?”
“I suppose thou hast a point dear Tia,” Luna said after a few minutes, Celestia’s rage evaporating. “though, it will take some time for her to clear my doubts.”
“Oh you have reason to worry,” Chrysalis said with a mock laugh, putting Luna on edge when she saw the mischievous look in the changeling’s eyes. “after all, our prank wars were legendary and I plan to resume our yearly quibble for the pranking crown.”
“Fat chance you will beat me bug,” Luna said with a lighthearted grin. “I happen to still have a few tricks up my hooves that will allow me to win the pranking crown.”
“We will need to set some rules in place,” Celestia said thoughtfully, the others nodding in agreement. “nothing illegal or fatal for starters, and no banishments allowed. We will work out the rest of the details later, but let’s get back to the point over a game of Serpents and Slides. Going back to earlier, you had news to report Lulu?”
“Yes I did,” Luna said as the three sat down in the middle of the room, Luna setting the game up. “Captain Sentry and Commander Spitfire found Discord in the Everfree Forest planting large quantities of poison joke, they were on their way to tell Twilight when I headed here.”
“Poison joke huh?” Chrysalis said rubbing the bottom of her muzzle, thinking about both the plant and the game as she waited for her turn. “I will see about my remaining drones eating that stuff like it was candy, we are immune to it’s effects due to our complex DNA and magical signature.”
“That will piss off Discord,” Celestia said with a giggle, rolling a 5 on the die to hit the first serpent, shooting her into the lead. “he doesn’t like unforeseen situations, and that will count as one. That should buy the girls enough time to rainbow up, and if everything goes as planned then the problem will be taken care of and my husband will be fine for a few centuries or so.”
“You mentioned him not liking unforeseen situations, I bet he already planned on them trying to use that power.” Luna said before swearing to Faust about her rotten luck on the game. “Knowing Twilight, they already have a backup plan, otherwise they are sleeping pigeons.”
“Ducks Lulu…” Chrysalis said putting a hoof to her forehead. “The term is sitting ducks.”
Luna looked at Chrysalis as if she had grown horns. “Since when did they change the term to that of a floating waterfowl? Pigeons provided a more challenging sport when trying to catch them.”
“Since they went extinct due to a massive flood shortly after the first time I had to deal with the supertide.” Celestia said looking away, a deep pain forming in her eyes. “It wiped out their natural resting/breeding grounds, they didn’t last the ensuing winter and I still regret it. Enough of this negativity, how about we resume talking about our school days?”
“Sounds good,” Chrysalis said as she rolled, scowling at the fact she was one space short of winning when she hit the longest slide, taking her back to the beginning. “I’m just glad Professor Starswirl isn’t around, I’m sure I made an enemy for life when I accidentally mixed the wrong potions and made beard remover instead of an enhancer.”
Celestia and Luna shared a wordless exchange, hoping their teacher wouldn’t hunt their friend down, Chrysalis evidently not hearing about his return. The staredown held firm until Luna lost by blinking first, meaning she would have to be the bearer of bad news. “Um Chrysalis, you are mistaken about that fact. Our teacher returned several months ago and is in his old laboratory in the western tower as we speak.”
“What?!” Chrysalis paled, her chitin changing from a finely polished black to an ash grey as she whimpered in fear. “Pl-please don’t tell him I am here, I don’t have a death note to cash in right now and personally like living.”
“Wow, I never thought I would see the day where you would be begging us for mercy.” Luna said with a smirk, earning a glare from the other two mares. “Only way I would tell him is if you totally buck up and get on my bad side, otherwise I won’t do it.”
“Just stay disguised around him and you should be fine,” Celestia said with a shrug as Luna won the first round, each of them resetting to start another game. “although I am curious as to why none of my guard busted the door down when you first revealed yourself Chryssy.”
“Bubble of silence spell.” Chrysalis said with a grin as she took a large lead, one that she did not lose as she won on her fourth turn. “My original plan was for me to reveal myself, catch you off guard, we have a big fight, then I kick your flank and proclaim victory.”
“So you were plotting!” Luna said triumphantly before getting thrunked by Celestia a second time, this one landing on the opposite cheek as the first. “Sorry…”
Celestia had a scowl that impressed Chrysalis on her muzzle, no longer taking any more slander. “Next time I’m kicking you out of the room and putting a complex locking spell on it that only myself, and possibly Twilight, could break it. Are we clear Luna?”
“Yes we’re clear.” Luna said in defeat. “You may continue your explanation Chrysalis.”
“As i was saying...” Chrysalis said mildly annoyed at the interruption. “However Celestia, your mood overwhelmed me and got me feeling sympathetic, and now we are here. Besides, us and Starswirl are the only ones in the castle, the guards are doing patrols to ensure every citizen stays inside while Discord is on his rampage.”
“Let’s just hope the girls are having good luck.” Luna said as she got up and stretched after the seventh game. “Now that I think about my fillyhood memories, remember that time Professor Plum Pudding caught Sombra and Amore passing notes in the library with an invisible candlestick?”
At the Castle of Friendship, the six mares who had decided to go face-to-face with Discord sat in their thrones, each nursing their wounds thanks to help from Starlight and Spike while Trixie left to get more bandages.
“What exactly did Discord do to cause do many wounds?” Starlight asked as she started to sanitize a nasty gash on the right side of Twilight’s horn that just missed hitting the appendage.
“We were blindsided,” Twilight said hissing in pain from the sanitation rag. “we had everything planned so perfect but it hit us where it hurts. Before leaving here we rainbowed up, and when we got to him we had the mysterious aide of some changelings who were giving him a fi by eating his poison joket. Since he was distracted, we decided to hit him while his guard was down, but he was already prepared for us.”
“How was he prepared?” Spike asked as he brought over some warm wraps for Twilight’s, Rainbow’s, and Fluttershy’s wings to ease their soreness. “Last time I checked, he only had one pair of eyes so he couldn’t see you if his back was turned.”
“He already had the trap baited,” Twilight replied with a content sigh, her wings dropping as they relaxed. “and we fell right into it. The moment we unleashed the beam, a magic mirror made of pure chaos energy manifested and reflected it back at us at double speed, we didn’t have a chance…”
“Yeah, now all of us are beat up pretty badly.” Pinkie said in a tone more like her sister Maud than her normal cheery voice. “It is going to take a few days for us to bounce back from this, and I feel sorry for Twilight because she is going to have to send Celestia a letter saying that we failed.”
A heavy silence fell in the room, all eyes turning to the lavender alicorn. Twilight was feeling smaller than a breezie, and as defenseless as a love starved changeling, with her gaze directed at the cutie map. The map itself, thanks to Starlight at Twilight’s instructions, now showed the areas where chaos was reigning supreme.
“I am not going to send that letter just yet,” Twilight said leaning back, her spine popping back into place. “we need to formulate our backup plan first. Remember, I told her this morning that is what we were going to do. So do any of you girls, or you Spike, have a plan that does not involve death?”
“Why not bind him with a magic rope?” Spike asked sitting down by Starlight, wiping his brow of a little sweat that had formed from all the running around. “Try and cut him off from his chaos magic like obsidian and nullstone block normal magic.”
“Nah, won’t work sugarcube.” Applejack said with a small huff. “From wha’ I’ve heard, Chaos magic is unpredictable and doesn’t do well when something hits it that it don’t like. Our beam was a good example of that, now look at how we are.”
“What about an anti magic bubble?” Starlight asked thoughtfully. “That would isolate him, I know of nothing that can break that. Luckily, I found the spell in a centuries old book I was reading on hypothetical alchemy. With your permission Twilight, I want to try it out, otherwise nothing good will come from this meeting.”
A thousand lightbulbs went off at once in Twilight’s head, making her grin at her student. “Starlight you’re a genius! Look at what we tried and everything we are suggesting, all of it is to counter the chaos magic Discord is using. Our failure was the key that we overlooked, instead of Harmonic magic, we need to fight Chaos with Chaos!”
“Did you hit your head too hard on that rock you landed on from the beam?” Rainbow asked raising an eyebrow. “Look Twilight, we all we respect you as our de facto leader and all, but I think that none of us want to turn evil. What if we lose sight of the goal and end up hurting the rest of us instead?”
“No, nothing like that Rainbow, you should know better than that.” Twilight said with a scowl, looking like she wanted to give the pegasus a thumping for that idea. “There are three forces of chaos girls, just as there are three forces of harmonic. The magic Discord is using is chaotically bad, so we just need something chaotically good to counter with.”
Rainbow made an ‘o’ with her muzzle, finally getting where Twilight was going. “That would bypass his defenses, considering we would be using chaos magic ourselves to fight with.”
“Umm, girls?” Fluttershy said as a whisper while an argument broke out, none of them had the same idea and they each thought that their idea was best. This continued for several minutes until Fluttershy finally got fed up. “GIRLS! ”
The others froze in place, not expecting the outburst considering Fluttershy rarely raised her voice. The most startled was Starlight, with her jumping backwards and hiding under the map table and quivering. Seeing that she had their undivided attention, Fluttershy eeped and hid behind her mane.
“Sorry about that,” Fluttershy said in a low whisper. “but this is not the time for bickering. There is one thing that we have left, one skill of mine that I had hoped that I would have to use again.”
“What skill is that?” Starlight asked from her hiding spot, Fluttershy jumping to near the top of her DO NOT TICK OFF list. “Can you control animals or something along those lines? If so, summon the fiercest animals you can think of and you might have a chance.”
“No,” Fluttershy said with an amused, light-hearted chuckle as a steeled look showed itself in her eyes. “and whoever told you that is either a good liar or a glamorous gossip. Twilight, get that scroll ready, it is time to believe in the power of music.”
Author's Note
This chapter wa-
***TRANSMISSION INTERUPTED***
REBOOTING
A cloaked figure stands alone in a dark room, it’s figure only outlined by candlelight in the background.
Greetings... I sincerely apologize for interrupting, but I feel that the time has come for me to introduce myself. I go by many names in many different places, but you may call me the Chaos Bearer, the original Chaos Being. I am well aware of the practitioner known as Discord’s current condition, and in the next chapter I will grant the Council of Friendship a form of chaos magic that works with their Harmony frequencies. In the notes I have at my availability, I see the author wishes to thank his editor Penalt for helping keep him in line. That is all for now, good day.
***SIGNAL LOST, TRANSMISSION TERMINATED***
“Come on girls, this time must be the right tune!”
Fluttershy's remark was met with deaf ears, each of her friends being exhausted from non-stop playing trying to find a counter song to Discord's own magic frequency. So far, none seemed to work, a fact that was visible by the chaotic landscape outside the castle.
Rivers had turned red, nopony being brave enough to test what liquid now flowed between the banks. The gentle rolling hills on the outskirts of town were now melt-proof mounds of rocky road ice cream, which fillies and colts enjoyed until an unfortunate accident to Scootaloo revealed
“Fluttershy,” Rarity said, using her magic to gently levitate a cup of hot tea. “I don't want to sound rude, but we have been trying for four days to find something that will make your plan work. We’re exhausted, perhaps it is time we formulate a different tactic.”
“Fine,” Fluttershy said, disappointment in her tone as she sighed. “But can we give it one last try? If this doesn't work then we will try something else.”
”I don't think that would be a problem,” A deep male voice said, the room suddenly being invited by a fine red mist that made the mares jump to their hooves in a defensive position. ”And you may all relax, I am actually here to help you on your little endeavor.”
“We won't fall for that trick Discord,” Twilight said, fury in her tone as she got ready to fire a spell. “Here to finish the job? Killing us won't solve your problems, Friendship and Harmony will always exist!”
”That statement was both true and false, but that is not important at the moment,” The voice said again, the mist starting to condense into a solid, bipedal shape that was blurry at the edges. ”I suppose introductions are in order as well. I am Chaos Bearer, the original Being of Chaos, and I am here to give you the means to beat Discord.”
“Why can’t you just beat him yourself?” Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow into an arch. “If you know about his condition then you know how to stop it.”
”Wrong type of magic frequency, just because I know how to use every type doesn't mean I am the master of all of them” Chaos Bearer said, making a seat of popcorn materialize out of thin air before sitting in it. ”However, mine combined with your own Harmonic frequency should do the trick. Unless you want me to rid him of chaos entirely, but one of you will have to take his place.”
The group went quiet as they contemplated the offer. On one hoof, Discord would be free of the corrupted magic, but on the other hoof one of them would have to succumb to it. It was a fine, double edged sword that was both tempting and dangerous.
“I’ll make that sacrifice…” Fluttershy said, a firmness in her tone that appeared from seemingly nowhere.
“Fluttershy please reconsider,” Twilight said, fighting back tears as she put a hoof on her friend's wither, “Can you at least give making a song one last chance like you wanted us to do? You held the Element of Kindness, would you really want to lose that part of yourself?”
“You just proved my point,” Fluttershy said, in the same resolute tone as before. “My Element was Kindness , and I will forever hold that virtue close to my heart. It was my personal goal to show Discord the ways for Friendship, and for awhile I succeeded. However, I owe it to Princess Celestia, Equestria, and Discord to ensure that goal is squared.”
”Is this your final decision?” Chaos Bearer asked, in all his time never coming across an individual so willing to give everything up just to ensure everyone's well being, earning his respect. ”There will be no going back once I do it. In addition, I can't promise that it will be completely painless, because chances are it will be very painful.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Do it, but don't go and strip Discord’s magic afterwards, I want us to beat him personally.”
Chaos Bearer then called upon his full power, which was Discord’s own raised to the power of pi, and soon it materialized into a visible form. The chaos magic ebbed and flowed around the room, going between each of the ponies before absorbing into Fluttershy like a sponge.
Her body quivered as the foreign magic seeped into her core, her normal pegasus magic getting consumed and replaced. The moment it finished, it pulsed outward through her body, making her grit her teeth as her spine audibly started to stretch.
Spinal discs materialized along her elongated spine, as if she had always had them, just as her wings started to molt. Feathers gently fell to the floor as the skin membrane on her wings thinned and became gossamer in nature, soon looking like a pair of pale pink monarch butterfly wings identical to the ones on her cutie mark.
An ear-cringing cracking soon filled the room, Fluttershy having to bite her lip as her forehooves split apart, the right forehoof becoming a bear claw and the left a talon of a mighty Peregrine falcon. Her hindhooves soon followed suit, the left swelling and morphing into a rabbit paw, but the right hardly changed besides looking more deer-like with an unshorn fetlock.
Pain turned into pleasure, a fierce blush forming on Fluttershy’s cheeks as her teats started to crawl their way up her torso and settling on her chest and swelling. She knew from biology books, and a very embarrassing encounter with a female yeti who wanted to call her “Georgette”, that her teats were now mammalian breasts and by the feel of their weight they were full of milk. The fur that covered her breasts lightened, becoming the same pink as her mane, but also floofed up to cover any detail of them including her nipples.
Her dock vibtated and pulsed, Fluttershy unable to contain a small moan that had been building in her since the changes first started to occur. The hairs of her tail fell away as her dock lengthened, her reproductive entrance shifting to her front to make room for her growing tail. As for her new tail itself, it resembled a dragon's, but with a small tuft of pink fur sprouting at the end of it.
A sensation that felt like air being forced into her bones made her new appendages clinch, her whole body becoming more flexible as her nose felt like it had be dumped in a keg of black pepper. Her teeth started to change as her muzzle started to push out, a snaggletooth emerging when a powerful headache hit signaling that her skull was changing shape. Soon, it looked like a combination of a pony and dragon’s, but two bee antenna emerged between her ears to signal the end of the transformation.
“How do you feel Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, the who group looking at the new chaos wielder with mixed concern and nervousness.
“Ok,” Fluttershy said, as she had a mirror summoned to look at herself. She was surprised to see her cutie mark had remained despite the changes, but becoming a little larger in size. “Actually, better than ok, I think I know a tune we can combat Discord with. Rarity, I need you to trust me and hold still for a moment.”
Rarity didn't get the chance to respond, and with a snap of Fluttershy's talon, sheet music appeared in front of her. After a quick glance over the notes, the unicorn began to play, and the result was instantaneous. Rarity’s tail was engulfed in chaos flames,its length cut in half and turning into a tri-colored spike of purple, yellow and green with a studded bracelet holding it in place.
The fire spread and warped around her torso, briefly making Rarity scared until she realized the fire was not burning her at all as an open faced purple rocker jacket appeared. Just as it did, the fire lurched and wrapped around her left forehoof, leaving an identical bracket to the one on her tail before climbing up her head.
She could feel her mane restyling, part of it by her left ear burning away, while the rest became the same coloring as her tail and becoming multilayered. The fire wasn't done, however, and soon leapt to her guitar.
“Woah,” Rarity remarked, looking into the same mirror Fluttershy had summoned to look at her own changes just moments ago. “I thought I would never use this look again, plus get an upgrade on my guitar as well.”
“Figured you would like it,” Fluttershy said, wrapping around her friends and giving them a hug, noticing that Chaos Bearer had left without a word. “Now, here is what I need the rest of you to do…”
Discord awoke from his sleep well rested, and the sight of his chaos brought a smile to his face. Several trees nearby were growing apples and oranges from its branches, flowers growing with sunny side up eggs for petals, and a convenient bush that was growing edible teacups made his breakfast easy to obtain.
”Oh such a marvelous day!” Discord thought, biting into a teacup. I can make this world into something out of my chaotically pure imagination. Perhaps I should-”
He was cut off by a cold crawling sensation covering his body, the morning dew increasing in thickness until it was fog and cutting visibility to just a few hundred meters as a figure approached him through the fog.
“Your time is up Discord,” The figure, whome Discord recognized as Rarity, said as she got close enough for him to see her. “You got one chance to surrender.”
“Ha!” Discord laughed, literally shaking his butt off before reattaching it. “I beat you even with your friends helping, you think a simple restyle will help you beat me by yourself?”
“I never said I was alone darling,” Rarity said, a grin forming that actually gave Discord pause as she got ready on her guitar. “Nor did I say I was going to be the one to defeat you.”
The moment she struck the first few notes Discord paled. Chaos magic poured on every note, the magic carrying the notes further than they would have on their own and made Discord stagger. The tempo sped up, and a flash of purple magic revealed both Twilight and Pinkie standing on one of the party mare’s largest speakers that provided the notes with a deeper bass.
The longer into the intro Rarity got, the more nervous Discord became, briefly considering to retreat and formulate a new plan until he found himself tied to a large tree stump. Applejack, using the distraction to her advantage, had snuck up behind the draconequus and lassoed him in place and making sure he was looking behind Rarity as she finished her intro. Right before she did, however, a sight that burned away all of Discord's ego appeared in the mist.
A pair of beautiful, vibrant turquoise eyes that gave off chaos like a fiery supernova.
To Discord's absolute shock, the new form that Fluttershy now wore felt intimidating, and the stare that he was immune to for so long now had him firmly in his clutches. All efforts to avoid looking into those eyes were stopped cold once Fluttershy began to sing.
”You’ve awoken my stare, this is not a game.
I can make you think anything I want, even forget your name.
You're a very special case, special indeed,
so I'm going give you just what you need..."
Fluttershy then unleashed her newfound power behind her Stare, getting in Discord's face and planting her eyes against his. The male draconequus screamed and thrashed, trying his hardest to resist the pull Fluttershy was having on his own magic, but it was pointless. The excess magic flowed through his pupils into her’s, his urge slowly retreating the longer he was locked in place as if his very will was starting to truly become afraid of his first friend.
Friend… The suppressed part of his consciousness started to stir once more, the bonds that had been in place snapping the more his magic flux returned to normal levels like a magma chamber after a volcanic eruption. His senses poured back to him in quick succession, and only when did his mind become clear did he actually realize how Fluttershy now looked.
“Fl-Fluttershy?!” Discord asked, still trembling like a newborn foal under Fluttershy's most deadly weapon. “Why are you are draconequus like me?”
“Seems like he is back to 'normal’ for now.” Fluttershy said, putting extra emphasis on 'normal’ as Applejack loosened the lasso’s grip. “As for your answer, Chaos Bearer made me like this after I asked him to in order to stop you.”
“Chaos Bearer paid you a visit!?” Discord said, a look of shock forming on his now-pale face as he slightly shrunk away. “That alone is more chaotic than I want to even deal with, glad you stopped me and not him. I mean, even I am scared of what I can truly do, but the things he can do make me look like a figurative one trick pony. Why would you give up Harmony to chose Chaos?”
“That is the thing Discord…” Fluttershy's tone was level, her expression flat as she snapped her claw. The world around the two draconequi then turned into monochrome, the lighter shades clinging to Fluttershy and the darker ones around Discord. “Harmony never left me, even after my transformation, and now provides a key role. Both of us are chaotic neutral, with you leaning towards evil and me good due to our respective paths. Look around Discord, everything including good and evil are just simple shades of grey, so we are the same but also different. Harmony will guide me for saving Equestria with my friends, and Chaos will guide me to help keep you in check, for I now represent the 'grey area’ in the balance and must keep it in check.”
Fluttershy channeled the chaos magic she had took from Discord and focused it on her antenne, both bulbs glowing in the all to familiar pattern of red and yellow before releasing it as a pulse. The pulse spread like a Rainboom, spreading far away from where the group was standing, and undoing every bit of chaos Discord had caused before it had subsided.
“There,” Fluttershy said, a small smile on her face. “Everything is back to the way it was before the urge hit you. If at any point you feel like it will happen again, come to me and I will siphon off the excess.”
“Thank you so much Fluttershy,” Discord said, giving Fluttershy a hug. “I will be forever grateful for what you have done, now if you all will excuse me I have someone else to apologize to.”
Princess Celestia was a mess.
A few hours had passed since all the chaos was mysteriously fixed, and both Luna and Chrysalis had departed to get some sleep, but her heart was still heavy. With her afternoon court done, she had retired to her bedchamber with orders not to be bothered unless it was top priority like Tirek somehow escaping again or a diplomat making an unscheduled visit. A gentle breeze blew in through the window as the late afternoon sun casted her bedchamber into shadow, and she knew that she would have to head to the balcony soon to lower her solar body. Yes, she could do it from her room, but even with how bad she felt there was no way she was going to break the daily tradition she had made with Luna. Just as she was about to doze off, she heard the ruffling of feathers and a quick glance revealed Philomena resting above the door.
“Hey Philomena,” Celestia said with a small coo, earning a content chirp out of her pet. “Is it that time of the year again for your rebirth? I apologize for not having your room already made, but with Discord's latest rampage I have let minor details slip.”
Philomena chirped in an off putting manor, brushing off the minor inconvenience, but Celestia froze. Discord had given her the Phoenix on their first anniversary, and she knew exactly when the bird was speaking to her, as well as what Philomena was saying. The word that was chirped rattled her to the core. “Evermore.”
“Evermore?” Celestia said, her voice quivering as she sat up. “Just like my marriage to Discord? Philomena, you know that both me and him are ageless, and I would give up my crown to ensure he survived a fatal accident, but sometimes I feel he wouldn't do the same for me.”
A squawk and a chirp. “Love, evermore.”
“Philomena please,” Celestia said, no begged , her favorite possession as she got up and moved over to where the Phoenix was roosting while preening its’ wings. “I am not in the mood for such foolishness! I love Discord, I really do, and it pains me with every fibre of my being that we are on opposite sides of fate. Yet you sit there and preen yourself above my bedchamber door, while mocking me by saying 'evermore’.”
“My my, my dear Tia, I haven't seen you snap at her like that since she accidentally burned your tail off.” A voice behind Celestia said, the alicorn jumping in place before turning to face Discord as Philomena landed on his shoulder. “I am sorry if I put you on edge the last few days, but thankfully it is literally out of my system and I think we never have to worry about that happening again.”
“How can you be certain of that?” Celestia asked, nuzzling under Discord's chin. “It has been a long time since you had an outburst that severe, and it will certainly happen in the future.”
“You can personally thank Fluttershy, she had Chaos Bearer turn her into a draconequus in order to match my power.” Discord then leaned down and picked up his wife bridal style before setting her on the bed, petting her mane as he was explaining. “Although, unlike myself, her chaos magic is in tune with Harmony as well so she won't snap like me. After I came to my senses she explained to me why she did it, she felt as if she owed it to all of Equestria and everypony to do it. Now here is a dilemma I didn't mention to her that I realized, two of the four Harmony Guardians are now ageless, has Destiny altered the other four to have their own paths to achieve it?”
“I owe that mare a thank you, as well as explaining why you mean so much to me.” Celestia said, levitating over a box from her closet. Using the skeleton key she kept hidden in between her bed and wall, she lifted out a flawless diamond ring and slid it down her horn until it reached the base. “I think it is time the truth comes out dear, times and circumstances have changed, and I think our little ponies are ready for it. It will take some getting use to my Prince, but everypony will eventually come to accept it as the norm, just like Twilight getting used to Fizzlepop Berry twist being her Captain of the Friendship Guard. As far as your question goes, who knows? Twilight's ascension was a huge curveball and now Fluttershy is a draconequus… guess we will find out together my love.”
“We knew this moment was a long time coming love,” Discord said, manifesting his own wedding band around one of his fingers. “Although neither of us knew it would be during this generation of ponies. At least now we both know that I have a somewhat clear path for the future, helping ponies instead of being against them, with you by my side.”
“You talk a sweet game D,” Celestia said, fluffing up her feathers and batting her eyelashes as she smirked. “Question is, can you back it up?”
“You challenging me, Discord the Lord of Chaos?!” Discord said, a poorly done imitation of scowl on his face, his eyes shining with mischief. “You want the D, I’ll show you what the D is capable of.”
Celestia giggled and pulled him in close, completely oblivious to a faint blue glow shutting the door. Luna was stunned, after her and Chrysalis had left Celestia alone, the changeling had told her about how rich the love was between the couple. Since their affair had happened after Luna was banished to the moon, the Princess of the Night thought Chrysalis was just pulling her hoof, and even wagered a bet on the matter.
“Let me guess,” Chrysalis, who was undisguised and brushing her mane in front of the vanity mirror, said as Philomena decided to leave the lovebirds alone and come in through Luna’s window. “I was correct, you should have thought twice before betting a changeling on matters of love.”
“You were correct Chryssy,” Luna said summoning a bag of bits and putting it in front of the changeling. “And I was foolish to question you, but you have to understand that this is my sister we are talking about. So much happened while I was gone that I don't know, won't know, or want to know… but at the same time I can't help but feel caught off guard a bit. He beat both me and Tia when we were younger, and we both carried a grudge, so I'm surprised she ended up falling for him.”
“Isn't it pony nature to forgive those who wronged you?” Chrysalis asked, standing up and moving over to where Luna was standing. “Look at Starlight, Tempest, and Trixie, they each threatened to bring the very fabric of Equestria down, yet look at them now. I guess after the events that transpired you can add me to that list, but I want you to promise me something Lulu, promise me that you will set the time aside to get to know your brother in law better.”
“You know, I just might do that,” Lulu said, after thinking it over for a few minutes. Although I am not going to Pinkie Promise, that Earth Pony shouldn't know until Tia makes the announcement, but knowing her she would throw the mother of all parties when she is told.”
“I have been to several of her parties, in disguise of course, because her cupcakes are made with the pure love she has for her craft.” Chrysalis said, salivating at the thought of a rich dark chocolate pastry. “I will look forward to that part when it does take place, I just might gorge myself on chocolate.”
“I don't blame you, but we are getting off topic,” Luna said, snapping Chrysalis out of her mini daydream. “It will take time for Discord, and yourself, to gain my trust but I am sure it will come in time.”
“Celly practically hoofed me the keys to the kingdom by ensuring that my children will no longer starve,” Chrysalis said, a small smile appearing at the corner of her muzzle. “No way am I going to look that gift pony in the mouth.”
“But I thought-”
“It is just a figure of speech nowadays Lulu,” Chrysalis said, clarifying before the Princess of the Night became confused. “It means to be grateful when a mighty gift is given to you and nothing is asked in return.”
“I see…” Luna said, finally letting the meaning sink in. “Just like when Tia forgave me after I was cured from the Nightmare?”
“Precisely,” Chysalis said, turning and shaking her head at the fact the sun was wobbling just a tiny bit, unnoticeable to the untrained eye. “Now Discord can actually enjoy his relationship, he seemed bursting to the brim with happiness and love when he first teleported, and I could feel it all the way in here. May their love be bountiful, plentiful-”
Philomena squawked once, nodding in approval and making Chrysalis giggle before adding to her remark. “and quoth the Phoenix… evermore.”
Author's Note
All done and tied up with a nice fancy bow. This went longer than I intended to, but still worked itself out along the way. I had several ideas in mind for Fluttershy's counter song, including "Thunderstruck", but I eventually settled on "Welcome to the Jungle".
I've given my editor Penalt some time off in order for him to regroup after accidently putting him though editor hell with an earlier update of another story, so this was done solo. Although, he did come up with me ending the story with that closing line, so thanks to him for that.
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