Author's Note
AN/ I don’t own anything related to MLP. All characters used in this story is owned by Lauren Faust and Hasbro. The only thing I own is the idea in this story. Any constructive comments are very much accepted and appreciated.
Prologue
Prologue
“Discord, how long will you be away for this trip?” A butter yellow pegasus asked as she placed food inside a basket. She then slapped at a paw which was about to reach in and grab a sandwich and looked at her companion with a look which promised a scolding if he didn’t stop.
Her companion, was a creature made up of different animal components. One look and everypony would think of one word. Chaos. He was shaking his hand and whined “My dear Fluttershy, I really wouldn't know how long I’d be away this time. Sunbutt and her lackeys certainly did not give me enough detail. All I know is that I’ll be traveling to Saddle Arabia to help (he made a quote and quote gesture) them with certain things. I’d rather be here with you and not be bored to death there.”
To show emphasis, he then snapped his claws and Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at his antics as Discord was now lying in an open coffin surrounded with wilted flowers and a violin was making horrible scratching sounds.
“Well look at it this way. At least you get to travel, and show how good you really are.” Fluttershy said as she finished up packing their basket and looked over to Discord, catching him in the act of gagging. Seeing he was caught he shrugged and gave a wide grin. She only chuckled at this, as she was very much used to it by now. “Have you seen Angel?” She asked.
Discord didn’t answer, instead he snapped his claw and in a flash, Angel was there on the table, disoriented, but surprisingly unharmed. She shuddered at the thought the last time Discord played with Angel which involved Angel being chased by what seemed to be multicolored kobolds wearing rabbit skins.
After making sure the animals are all fed and watered, she then asked Angel to watch over the cottage while she and Discord are away on their picnic.
Discord then picked up the basket and started to walk off and Fluttershy came up to his side and with a small blush, grabbed his free paw with both of her hooves and held on to it.
Risking a glance she raised her eyes towards his face and saw him looking down to her with a warm smile. She had hoped that the rest of her gang would see the good side of Discord and accept him as a friend.
She then beamed at him and then rested her head on his arm as she looked back on the path as they walked/flew. She just wished that everything would stay as it is.
¬
It was cold and dark. Freezing wind blew all over the place. Everywhere, anypony can only see one thing. Ice. Normally nopony would stay out standing in such an unforgiving weather. However, there is one wearing a hooded robe outside, ignoring the cold as it looked down on the ground as if in search for something.
With a sound of success, it found what it was looking for and stood back, letting the hood pull back, revealing the face of Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings.
“King Sombra, I am here to free you and in return I only ask that we join forces so we can defeat those who mocked us.”
She then pulled out an amulet. It was shaped like a fang, black in color, and gave off an eerie green glow. Raising it high, she then started to chant a long forgotten spell. She concentrated hard as the amulet pulsed with power. Then it blasted the ice with a green colored ray.
One can be forgiven for finding it amusing that the ray somehow doesn’t seem to be doing anything except cast a green light. Chrysalis however smiled as the spell was completed. And then, something glowed from underneath the ice. It started out small, growing in size in every second. It was as if something was rising from underneath the ice.
Then, it came out through the ice. It was a ball of green light, and inside was the spirit of King Sombra.
With a flash, his eyes opened and gave out a mighty roar that could be heard miles and miles away. He was finally free.
Author's Note
Here's chapter 2! Please forgive any grammatical errors or spelling errors. I have to admit that English is not my native language and may not be as good as what you guys expect. But I really would appreciate it if anyone would point out the errors so I can fix it up and at the same time learn from said mistake. Ciao!
Discovery
Chapter 2 - Discovery
Travelling was never Discord’s strong suit so he usually teleports from one place to another. However, since he is being escorted by a representative from Saddle Arabia, he had no choice but to sit down and take “crude” modes of transportation. If he had it his way, he’d conjure up a chariot in eye watering shades of orange, fuchsia and poisonous blue with images of himself all over it, followed by cloud after cotton candy cloud , raining chocolate milk as a farewell.
As he settled himself down on his seat, he couldn’t help but frown at his task. He was asked to track down a magical being who seemed to be draining magic from the local ponies. The name Tirek surfaced, but he was assured that he was still in Tartarus. Like that would be of relief. He still shuddered at the memory of his betrayal and how devastated Fluttershy was. He swore he would never betray her, but the wounds from his earlier deed was still fresh in his mind. And they may have not talked about it, he was sure it was also fresh in her mind.
This was the reason he refused to divulge his mission details to her. He can’t help the feeling that something was amiss,
He then looked over at his traveling companion. The stallion was beige in color with a black handle bar mustache which Spike would probably kill for. A cutie mark depicting a sandstorm covered both his flanks and his mane was rather unkempt and black.
He gave an exaggerated yawn and closed his eyes. He absolutely refuses to entertain any pony he is with, regardless if reasons. He couldn’t play a prank even as it would easily reach Celestia, or Sunbutt as he preferred to call her, and through her, to Fluttershy.
Ah... Celestia. The pastel, rainbow maned princess of Equestria who controls the Sun. It was she who decided that this task be given to Discord, even with his track record with Tirek from before. Her reasoning was that He already learned his lesson and that Twilight, and any other princesses are ill-equipped to take care of this menace. His capability of sensing magical imbalances was also another plus. However, he had to point out that this time, he didn’t feel anything at all. This bothered him through and through.
With troubled thoughts he decided to sleep through the rest of the journey. No reason at all that his beauty sleep should be placed on hold at all.
¬
At that moment, in Canterlot. Celestia was seated on her throne with a frown on her face. She really wished she could send someone else aside from Discord. However she felt that they need him to take care of this matter as he is faster with pulling off magic compared to herself and any other Alicorns, and seemingly they need to be quick to avoid having their own magic sucked out of themselves.
It was only out of pure luck that Discord was rather full of himself back on the old days. Putting up quite a show, dragging fights unnecessarily, was his downfall. The Elements, powerful as they are, took quite a while to properly charge up. Discord, on the other hoof, only needed to snap a paw or claw, and reality bends with it. It was a rather scary thought that haunted Celestia. What if Discord took things a lot more seriously back then? Would they have won the battle? Would they have a world to call their own? Would Twilight and her friends even be triumphant if Discord learned of his past mistake?
Their true history. It was something even Starswirl the Bearded refused to write down except within his very personal memoirs as it paints the ponies as villainous and much more contemptuous compared to the Draconequi. It was a certain truth Celestia does not wish to burden any of her subjects with. Not now that every pony seems to be living happily and peacefully.
“Your majesty?”
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by one of the palace guards. She shook her head clear of her previous thoughts and addressed the guard.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Princess Cadence is here to see you, your majesty.”
“Thank you. Please see her in and prepare the parlor and have the kitchen staff prepare some tea and madeleines.”
With a snappy turn, the guard trotted off to the door to allow entry to Cadence. Celestia has earlier invited Cadence to have a short talk with her about Discord and unsurprisingly Cadence said she would come but had reservations about Discord. Not that Celestia can blame her after what Discord did to Shining Armor during the Tirek incident.
The door opened one more time to allow Cadence entry. She was just between Luna’s and Twilight's size, with a tri-colored mane, which lacked magical flowing effect she and Luna has.
Cadence reached the throne and then knelt. “Your Highness...”
Celestia rose and gestured to Cadence to rise as well. “Cadence, we are still Family, so I would like that we not stick to such formalities.” She said in a kind voice as she gave her warmest smile.
They then shared a short fit of giggles, which was then shortly interrupted by a short coughing coming from a butler who came up behind Cadence.
“Your Majesties, the parlor and tea has been prepared. If you may please step this way?” Said the butler, head bowed down and one hoof gesturing towards the door.
They then suddenly gasped as darkness slowly filled the throne room. It was like shadows where converging across the walls towards the ceiling. In a swirl of darkness, two figures appeared between the princesses and the butler. The butler, in a fit of hysteria, galloped off and screamed for the guards.
Celestia narrowed her eyes as she placed herself in front of Cadence and held her wings open.
“Chrysalis...” hissed Celestia as she raised a hoof and her horn gave a glow, preparing to blast the dark changeling queen.
Chrysalis was having a grand time of her life. Getting a drop on Celestia was something she would definitely savor. Getting a drop on Celestia, IN Canterlot with Cadence was definitely a bonus. Deep in her mind, her thoughts were screaming at her to blast Celestia away and do the same with Cadence. Offer no mercy.
However, she herself was surprised that she chose to reveal herself instead. It was very unchangeling like of her. And she was supposed to be the queen?
She felt the amulet pulse and she felt assured that whatever spell Celestia was preparing, would do nothing more than just waste her own energy.
“Celestia, how absolutely spiffing to see you. Can’t say I am glad of your good condition. Maybe you should have a scratch or two, lose an eyeball and maybe go with a more disheveled look.” Chrysalis said with her snout held high and scrunched up, as if she smelled something foul.
“Charmed.” came a bland reply. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh just trying to be a good sport and tell you that in a few days time I and my allies will come in and take all of Equestria, and then I’ll have an afternoon tea on my future throne this Friday.” Chrysalis was flamboyantly answering, which was completely different on how they’ve dealt with her before.
Raising an eyebrow, Celestia retorted back, “Well, I can definitely see you are here, but alone. There’s two of us here, and you are within the confines of this castle. I know not how you got in, but you won’t be getting out.” Celestia’s horn glowed even brighter as she sent a blast of magic towards the changeling queen in front of her.
Celestia can only gape as her magic dissipated just a couple of feet before Chrysalis. Chuckling, Chrysalis tutted at Celestia while wagging a hoof at her. “Come now, no need to be so aggressive. It would only ruin your complexion deary.” Chrysalis turned and started to trot off towards the window. She then turned her head back on them on a very unnatural and creepy way, giving them a wide eyed stare and a grin that was so wrong on all counts and her departing words struck them dumb. “Who says I am alone in this castle of yours, Celestia?” With a jump, she flew off.
Celestia shook off the uneasiness she felt. It was only after Chrysalis left that they noticed that it was much much colder and that there were shouts echoing from the distance within the castle walls. Both Cadence and Celestia strained to hear what the shouts were about and both caught only a few words and the blood drained from their faces.
“Sombra's heading for the dungeons!”
