Author's Note

Sorry for the time it took to write this chapter. I had some serious writers block on what do for the final part, so I just hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Thirteen: A Cold Day in Hell Pt.3

(Canterlot) (Canterlot Castle) Equestria PoV Canterlot Assault
The first sign of trouble, was when the royal guard was ordered to evacuate the city and declare martial law on Canterlot. The second sign?

Was when the front gate was blown to pieces.

Just after a few moments Princess Celestia rose the sun above the moon a few ponies on the gate defenses reported that they saw movement. Everypony was on edge, sweat was falling down everypony's necks, and we were all scared for our lives. We're planning to ambush the bastards with a sneak attack from the sewers, so as soon as the Puppetmaster's army of monsters come in closer to the castle they'll strike from behind. We even got an anonymous tip of the names of every single monster under the villain's command.

We managed to evacuate the civilians of Canterlot out of the city, but with the main evacuation we couldn't get the ancient Equestrian artifacts out of the Castle. So we're literally leaving objects of power in the middle of the capital, and the exact strike zone of the League of Injustice.

In the present time Ponies are running around attempting to get in control of the situation. Shining Armor was running straight into the heat of the battle. Unfortunately the ponies were at a severe disadvantage... And I mean a really severe disadvantage. The royal guard's armor are all made of gold, its heavy, hard to maneuver, and very weak. But on the other hoof...

The League of Injustice, their equipment was three times better. Spears being proven useless, gold armor cut clean through as if butter. Captain Shining Armor noticed this too, so they had no choice but to order his soldiers to retreat.

"Everypony fall back to the castle defenses!!!" Shining Armor shouted as loud as possible.

Everypony couldn't wait for him to call that order, and thus guard battalions were running back to the castle as far as possible. Some couldn't make it back however, arrows originating from Draugr's bows found themselves piercing through the golden material of the guard armor, leaving a cold frost residue coating the area of impact.

Soon everypony was perched on the makeshift barricades built in front the castle doors. They wanted to built barricades as a large wall surrounding the castle entirely. But due to the lack of time and the occupied airspace they couldn't build it quick enough. So they simply built a small fence covering the front of the castle. As planned they all pulled out crossbows and longbows to fight against the oncoming storm.

"Draw you weapons and fire only when you see the whites of their eyes!" Bravely shouted Shining Armor.

They all held their fire, waiting for their captain to call the order to fire. They could feel their fear and sins crawling on their backs. They could easily see Draugr, Skeletons, and ice-wraiths slowly approaching and destroying property on the way. If it was for intimidation purposes or by orders nopony would ever know. The exact moment they crossed the singal line and time that the ambush was supposed to have happened passed, Shining Armor was confused.

"Wait what? Hold on they were supposed to attack by now." Shining Armor said with a distressed expression.

"They're getting closer!" Shouted veteran Silver Shield.

Getting desperate Shining Armor pulled out his magical communicator to the ambush team in the underground. He then put in the correct codes to communicate directly to the second device. After a few seconds he was patched in.

"This is Guard one to Guard two where in Tartarus are you dammit?! You're supposed to attack the invading force from behind by now!" Shouted Shining Armor taking quick and brief glances at the large monster filled crowd.

…

…

…

"Sorry Cap, but team two cant come to the phone right now." Said a malicious and wolf like voice.

This must be a werewolf he's talking to if the anonymous tip is right. Shining Armor took a few seconds to realize what has happened, but he for some reason decided to ask anyway.

"What have you done to them?!" Shining Armor shouted in fury.

"Oh you know, me and my dogs like to tear into fresh meat every once in a while.” The werewolf said, and Shining Armor swore he could hear laughter of other monsters in the background.

He could also swear that he saw a black and white blur racing by in the corner of his eye.

Shining's expression went from furious to absolutely livid in just a few moments, and he was about to scream at the werewolf in anger until he heard the even louder footsteps. They were likely just about thirty seconds from reaching their position .

Instead of shouting in anger and ordering the archers to immediately fire, he placed the communicator on a nearby ammunition crate, and took his own crossbow from the weapons rack. Shining Armor then proceeded to slowly walk over to an open spot at the middle of the barricade, and aimed his weapon. Everypony was all lined up perfectly and in order, so Shining Armor said one last thing.

"FOR PONYKIND! OPEN FIRE!" Shining Armor shouted.

When their ears flicked in response to the captain's orders they all pulled the triggers on their crossbows. Unluckily most of them were ineffective, they only managed to take down a few skeletons, but the Draugr and Ice-wraiths seemed completely unaffected from the attack.

Seeing that their plan failed he quickly took the communicator and changed it to a different channel.

"I need all guard units at the front barricades right now!" He shouted desperately.

They kept firing, but every shot seemed to be almost ineffective, and they all seemed to realize this. But they kept shooting as uncertain of victory as they knew, but they would never give up. The first true battle for Canterlot was taking place today, and they could only count every second that passed by.

But when the Puppet Master's army was right in front of the barricade, they felt their hopes drop. They all ran back as Draugr slashed their war axes down upon the fence, and ice wraiths bit down on ponies necks. Soon they all stopped right in front of the barricaded castle gates, the remaining pony forces slowly turned around and saw they were surrounded.

They could only stare at their attackers in fear and despair awaiting their gruesome deaths that are sure to come.

…

The Draugr raise their weapons aiming specifically for the survivors heads.

…

…

Until they got tackled over by a blue figure followed by a trail of smoke. Both sides could only watch in shock at the cloud of black cloud, and when it finally cleared out? There was a Pegasus mare wearing a blue suit with yellow lighting bolt accents, she was also wearing specialized goggles. Hearing loud zoom sounds they looked up and saw the shadows of dozens of trained Pegasus squadrons divebombing towards their enemies.

The Wonderbolts have arrived.

(Canterlot) (Wildflowers Florist Shop) Jack's PoV
"I have to give it to the ponies, they are a determined bunch aren't they?" I said out loud while picking up a few abandoned flowers, luckily the shop owner left a single bouquet behind.

I think I've gathered up enough to fill it, I made sure to grab flowers of all different colors: Roses, lilacs, sunflowers, alliums, balloon flowers, and even a single poison joke I've collected from the Everfree forest. Thankfully I'm wearing gloves so I'm not affected by it's horrible curses, as hilarious as they are.

As a show of good faith I left a couple bits behind to cover the cost of the flowers. The store is completely empty so it's pretty peaceful, but when I stepped outside I completely forgot that peace. There are destroyed buildings and dead bodies of royal guards, and as planned there are no bodies of my minions. The only remains are dust flying around the wind.

The loud shouting and war cries are seriously annoying though. Tapping into the speed force everything slows down to an acceptable pace.

"Much better." I said.

To me I'm just walking through a war crazed Canterlot, but to others I likely look like a hazy blur passing by in a blink of an eye. I see that my troops are smashing that fence the ponies hastily built, I mean... A fence? Really?!

I could also sense that a large mass of Pegasus are flying over to the forces I've sent after the front doors, its the wonderbolts… I have to admit that I didn't factor them in the equation, but it doesn't really matter, I'm going to purposefully get myself caught in the long run.

I continue my walk towards the castle gardens, it's absolutely deserted. Well not completely anyhow, I could hear the quiet voices of the villains the sisters sealed in stone. But considering they're not gods of Chaos they'll likely never get out of their stone cold prison.

I soon approached the statue of Discord, he was strangely quiet...

"My old friend, how have you been feeling lately?" I asked slightly nodding my head.

He remained dead silent.

"I got some flowers for you today, I wasn't sure what kinds you liked so I just got them all to make it as chaotic as possible." I said placing the bouquet of flowers on the base of the statue.

…

This is awkward when he's not responding to my words. He's never been like this in the show, why would he act like this now of all times? I mean, in a few of the comics he was a little down but this is kind of the reality right now. Come to think of it it's still pretty mind blowing that something that was fiction is suddenly my real world.

"Anyways s-"

"Don't do it." Discord said cutting off my sentence.

Wait what?

"W-what do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"This plan of yours, don't go ahead with it." He warned in a scarily serious tone.

The fact that Discord of all people would be so stern is actually kind of terrifying.

"May I ask why?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Look, I see you as a fun colleague of mine, but breaking those insane lunatics out of Tartarus is way too far." Discord warned with what I assume to be a serious face.

"If you do, they will tear Equestria apart from the inside out. I enjoy a good bit of Chaos but not when it threatens all of Equis with annihilation." Discord said with a piercing gaze.

…

Shit ... How the fuck am I supposed to respond to that. I mean I am planning to leave Tirek out of the picture so it doesn't completely fuck the ponies over, but perhaps this is a bad idea after all. When I first explained it to Yassen I could tell that even she wasn't sure of my intentions, but there's no going back now.

"No... No I cant, as you can tell my army has already attacked the city, and we're transitioning into phase two of the plan. Besides, I have faith in the ponies.” I stated while staring at the castle.

He just fell silent at that, and I couldn’t really blame him. I have quite a lot of faith in the ponies, they’ll get back up from a hard strike like this.

“You’re really going to do this aren’t you?” Discord said sighing.

“I am, and I highly doubt anything is going to stop me.” I said with my villainous voice.

I’ve literally spent hours in front of the mirror practicing my villain voice. Though the best evil laugh I’ve found for myself is the maniacal laughing that's dripping with insanity. It's kind of strange that I'm openly admitting I'm insane, but I really don't care about my mental health anymore.

"You've put way too much trust in these ponies, you know that right?" Discord said cheering up a little.

"You could say that, but they did stop you didn't they? I pointed out raising a finger In the air.

The air seemed to finally light up a bit as I finished that thought.

"Ha I guess you do have a point there. But, I hope you understand that when you do this you'll be marked as one of the biggest villains of Equestrian history. Are you really ready to take on that mantel of responsibility?" Discord asked after having a quick laugh.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I replied honestly.

"Well then there's something you may be interested in!" Discord said enthusiastically.

"And what would that be?" I asked curiously.

Well he just bounced back from a somber and disturbing mood to his old chaotic self, I guess that's to be expected.

"So you see, back then Celly and Lulu would often try to... Find my own past weakness. Find out where I came from and who I really was, but if I did I would probably be utterly... Fucked so to say." Discord said. Whenever he spoke a purple light would just spark off his chest. Man it feels weird hearing Discord saying cusswords.

"So you had some kind of method to prevent that?" I asked.

"That I did my good man! I may not look it, but I'm a builder of sorts, I often liked to create different kinds of magic that ponies could only dream of. Even the two sisters couldn't figure out my creations, and normally I wouldn't teach anyone about the ways of my power. But hey! We're friends aren't we?" Discord pointed out with a edge of interest in his voice.

So Discord was actually able to create whole new branches of Chaos magic? It's actually pretty impressive from what I've heard and researched, here's what it's like.

Imagine you're trying to build a rocket to the moon with nothing but a boy scout kit. You have about three minutes to create that rocket and if you don't you'll probably die. That's what it's like.

"The magic I invented is called Story Telling Magic, or at least it's what I called it at the time. I could never seem to find a better name for it. All you have to do is choose a definite fake backstory for yourself and no matter what anypony or anyone you tell will always believe it." Discord explained thoroughly.

"Are you sure it works?" I asked suspiciously.

"Did you know I was hatched out of an egg on a different planet created by a gigantic green duck who had a bill the size of the universe?" Discord said.

"Wait you were?" I asked sincerely, genuinely believing his story.

"HAHAHAHA! Yeah it works!" Discord laughed loudly.

My face blushed in embarrassment at the fact I believed such a absurd story, but honestly he's the god of Chaos so why shouldn't I believe it? I could also swear that my mask glowed a brighter red when my real face took a tinted red.

"Anyhow..." Discord said catching his breath.

"I can give you the knowledge of the magic, but I would like it if you... Returned the favor?" Discord said hinting at his intention.

Well, thank god for the show's timeline.

"Tell you what, I can get you free. But the ponies are going to try and reform you. If you choose to change or not that's your choice and your choice alone." I explained carefully.

"I'll handle that when the time comes, but a deal is a deal right?" Discord said.

When he finished speaking his chest's light turned to a bright green color, and I could tell that I needed to touch it. I step forward and up onto the pedestal of Discord's stoned body, and I reached my hand up to his chest. As soon as I touched the green light I could feel the magic seeping into me, and I was instantly taught how to use story telling magic.

"It was nice to see you again PM, but you should probably get going. You have a breakout to do don't ya?"

Taking his advice I begin to walk back inside the castle, but Discord wanted to say one last thing.

"By the way, poison joke are my favorite. I created those too after all." Discord said,

I'll have to keep that in mind for later. Nodding once and admiring the garden once again I race away from the scene.

Dang, I was planning that meeting to be some Smalltalk about the ample carnage left in our wake, but this is pretty great too. This magic Discord gave me is amazing though, I could even say it's beautiful! The show made magic look so... Simple and barely needed, but when you come from a world where magic doesn't exist? Magic is one of the best things in the world.

I soon found myself at the front door of the Canterlot Archives. There are no guards at the at the door as expected, nor is there any magical traps set in place. These ponies really need to up their defense game. If there's one thing I've learned from the villainy business is to always sustain a healthy paranoia, so I gently open the door with caution.

Now lets find that Amulet.

(Canterlot Castle) (Canterlot Throne Room) Equestrian PoV

Crash!

Crash!

Crash!

The sound of a battering ram crashing against the throne room doors continually rang through Celestia's ears. Every moment seemed to take an eternity to pass by, and she hated every second of it. There's a wall nervous guards in front of her and her sister, and as they waited for whatever was being used as a battering ram to bash through those doors.

"How's the situation outside?" Princess Celestia asked Luna while keeping her eyes trained on the shaking doors.

Crash!

"Not well sister, Shining Armor and the Wonderbolts are doing all they can but they're harshly overwhelmed." Princess Luna explained with seriousness.

Crash!

"Something's not right though. The Puppet Master uses distractions and showy displays to keep us off his objectives, and what could he want now?" Said Celestia with strong curiosity.

Crash!

"I'm not sure, but we may have to escape this peril. I advise we-."

But her thought was cut off as they heard the one sound they were dreading.

Crash!

The doors were then smashed off their hinges falling to the ground, but that's not what caused the dinner plate sized eyes on the guards' and Princesses' faces. In the doorway was some kind of gigantic elemental like being. It was completely made of ice and instead of hooves, it had large glacier like arms that could likely shatter a whole wall in two. It's height is rivaling to the top of the Throne Room doorway.

"Everypony fall back! As the young fillies and colts say these days, we have got this!" Princess Luna shouted.

Princess Celestia just looked at her with a incredulous and entertained expression on her face. They believed they were looking at a Frost Atronach if their memory serves them correctly. They then heard a collection of footsteps running behind the frost atronach was a squadron of draugr.

On que the guards at the scene ran to a extra exit leading to the outside so they may help their fellow guards. Things have just gotten much more complicated. They were all armed with stronger armor and weapons compared to the enemies outside. The Puppet Master likely planned for them to fight against the sisters considering they have a much stronger arsenal viable to them.

"We need to clear out these monsters and find out what the Puppet Master is planning." Princess Luna said getting in a combat pose.

After some careful thinking Princess Celestia's eyes burst wide open at her sudden realization.

"This is the distraction..." Princess Celestia said.

"What?" Princess Luna said looking over to her sister.

"The Puppet Master must have instructed them to take up our attention while he goes for the artifacts in the Archives!" Princess Celestia said with urgency.

Princess Luna saw how much sense her sister's theory made, and had a conflicted expression while glancing back and forth between the monsters and her sister.

"Go, we will handle this sister." Said Princess Luna using the old Equestrian dialect.

Celestia was about to protest but as the atronach and the draugr began to march forward straight towards them. She didn't have a choice.

"I'll come back..." Celestia said flapping her wings and flying off into the hidden door by the large throne.

"Now to deal with thou!" Luna shouted firing a magical bolt against the head of one of the Draugr.

It merely pushed them back a slight bit, and all it did was shake it's head and had an angry face. And thus Princess Luna said the only thing a regal and honest princess like herself could say in that situation.

"Aw fuck."