Boncord: The Pre-Sequel

The sun had escaped on the journey over and reemerged in a new day as Prince Rutherford's ship made landfall on the shore of the Dragon Lands. The party disembarked and was immediately drawn to the sight of a large number of hoof prints heading further inland to the south east.

"Ponies go this way!" Prince Rutherford observed.

"It looks like we're headed south." Bon Bon said as she paced off and signaled for Discord to follow.

"Dragon kingdom is north!" Prince Rutherford exclaimed.

"You're right." Bon Bon looked around and pulled off the saddle bag containing the rest of the Elements of Harmony and held it out toward the group. Bright light began to erupted from all around her and when it faded her cutie mark had reappeared.

"Your cutie mark!" Princess Skystar exclaimed as she took the bag from Bon Bon.

"It's not that it's candy or that it's three of them. But that they are together. My special talent is piecing things together- solving mysteries- figuring things out. I guess that's why I'm an agent. I have re-solved the original mystery." Bon Bon explained.

"We're reaching levels of meta here that shouldn't even be possible." Discord pondered as he raked his beard.

"It's up to you now." Bon Bon looked at Princess Skystar and Chrysalis. "Find the rest of the elements and help the rest of the ponies re-discover their special talents and create new magic to replace the magic that Starlight Glimmer has stolen from them." Bon Bon explained.

"Then perhaps it's not too late for our Equestria either- or my magic!" Discord popped with enthusiasm.

"Whatever is down that path will be heavily guarded!" Chrysalis warned as she trotted bravely toward Discord and Bon Bon. "You'll never make it on your own!"

"This is our journey. Seek out the rest of the elements on your way to the dragon kingdom- that is yours." Bon Bon ordered. "Besides- now that we know the elements still contain magic we can't afford to let Starlight Glimmer get her hooves on them again."

"I go to make friends with dragon on behalf of yak!" Prince Rutherford exclaimed. "But yak warriors go with pony to keep pony safe!" Prince Rutherford ordered. A dozen heavily armored yaks broke from the entourage and joined Bon Bon and Discord.

"Be careful." Chrysalis whispered to Bon Bon and Discord before rejoining Prince Rutherford and Princess Skystar.

Bon Bon and Discord quietly followed the hoofsteps and the vegetation grew denser as they moved further inland. They looked back to see their friends were no longer in sight.

"What's that?" Discord strained his eyes against the bright morning sky and pointed out a straight, narrow, white streak of cloud forming high in the sky. A rumble began to sound as it stretched overhead.

"I don't know. But I have a bad feeling about this." Bon Bon sighed.

The two looked forward- down the trail of hoofsteps. They followed it to a rise in the terrain. As they reached the top of the rise a large bunker in the middle of a clearing came into view down on the other side. A small army of armored ponies, sporting arcanium blasters, patrolled the perimeter. Bon Bon signaled for the accompanying yak army to halt.

"We're going to need a plan." Discord urged.

"Plan is yak smash!" One of the yaks shouted and the rest cheered.

"They'll put you down before you smash anything! Don't underestimate those weapons." Discord warned.

"If we draw some of them into the surrounding vegetation they'll lose their advantage." Bon Bon signaled for the yaks to approach along the vegetation.

"Of course! Then we could strip them of their weapons. I suppose you'll have me play the role of the bait." Discord rolled his eyes at the thought.

"Aces in their places. Wait for my signal." Bon Bon replied with a smug grin as she disappeared into the vegetation along with the yak warriors.

Bon Bon gave the signal as a small group of armored ponies approached Discord's position. As Discord emerged from over the rise he could hear the whir of servos with each of their steps and see that parts of them had been replaced with machinery.

"Is this the way to the-" Discord's ruse was interrupted immediately by the sound of blaster fire from the ponies- who began to shoot at him as soon as he entered their sights. "Not ones for conversation I see!" Discord huffed as he sprinted quickly toward the vegetation, zigzagging back and forth to narrowly avoid shots from the blasters.

As the ponies began to follow Discord into the vegetation the yaks wrenched them to the ground and began stomping them. Mechanical parts flew everywhere.

"These ponies are a combination of machine and pony!" Discord explained as he reached over to grab one that had pinned Bon Bon down.

"It doesn't look like there's any pony left in them." Bon Bon said with a sigh as she observed the dead expression on the pony's face. With a surge of strength she threw it to the ground and with a quick stomp it fell dead with the sound of one last mechanical whir. An alarm began to sound from the bunker. "Arm yourselves, fast!" She ordered.

Bon Bon and the yaks each equipped an arcanium blaster from the wreckage of the guards.

"How am I supposed to use this?" Discord pondered as he hoisted a blaster in front of himself.

"You'll figure something out, I'm sure." Bon Bon said as she gave Discord a comforting pat with her hoof. In that moment there was a flash of magic and the blaster had reshaped itself into a rifle-like apparatus- shaped to be perfectly manageable by Discord's appendages.

"I wish I knew how I kept doing this." Discord sighed as he examined his newly customized weapon.

"There it is again!" Bon Bon pointed to the sky as another white streak rumbled toward them; this time at a lower altitude and sporting the identifiable silhouette of a pegasus mare.

"Something gives me the feeling she's not on our side." Discord observed.

"Charge!" Bon Bon ordered with a hoof high in the air.

The yaks peaked out of the woods and began firing a vigorous salvo at the waves of guards that now converged on their position. Shots flung back and forth but the advancing guards fell and could not hit any of the yaks as they popped in and out of the vegetation for cover. As the mare in the sky rumbled closer another white streak began to form from underneath one of its wings.

"What is that?" Discord pondered as he strained his eyes against the bright morning sky. "Wait. Look out!" He hurried Bon Bon out of their concealed position as a rocket streaked past them and exploded into a brilliant ball of fire where they once stood.

"We have to move up!" Bon Bon ordered as she fired at some distant guards, skillfully scoring kill shots.

"Yak covering fire!" One of the yaks shouted as they unleashed a chaotic salvo of shots at the waves of approaching guards. Bon Bon and Discord seized the opportunity and quickly sprinted forward and dived, opportunistically, behind a stack of cargo crates.

"She's coming back!" Discord warned, pointing to the silhouette in the sky as it once again streaked in their direction. As it got close a deafening clatter sounded as a relentless, rapid volley of arcanium blaster shots rained down from the sky- striking several of the yak warriors. Discord carefully aimed and took a shot but the pegasus was too fast.

"We're done for if we can't shoot her down on the next pass!" Bon Bon complained.

"Well here she comes again!" Discord warned as he and Bon Bon fired desperately at the pegasus as she streaked past once more; indiscriminately bombarding the area with blaster shots, hitting the rest of the yak warriors along with most of the guards. Discord and Bon Bon kept firing at her as she flew in a broad arc in preparation for a final approach.

The pegasus swept in lower, revealing more detail of her form; her wings gave off a metallic glint and remained in a fixed position and she rode in front of a gout of flames. She was grey in color. The streams of two more rockets began extending toward Discord and Bon Bon, who looked at each other in terror before embracing each other as the rockets rapidly rumbled towards them.

A black streak swept in front of the rockets as they drew nearer to Bon Bon and Discord; and in a bright halo of light they exploded at a safe distance. As the halo faded they saw Chrysalis; converging rapidly on the aerial attacker. Energy crackled and arced between her horn and her anklet as a bright beam of light fired and blasted one of the mechanical wings off of the pegasus, who swooped down in a streak of black smoke and skidded to a halt and slumped down just outside the door of the bunker.

"Chrysalis! You came for us!" Bon Bon cheered as Chrysalis landed beside them. Bon Bon and Discord gave Chrysalis an excited hug.

"I wasn't about to let my best and only friends wander into their demise." Chrysalis said smugly. "Besides. Princess Skystar is much better suited to diplomacy."

"You also figured out how to use the element." Discord said as he raked his beard.

"We'll ponder this later. Let's find out what sinister secrets hide inside!" Chrysalis urged as she fired another beam of light- vaporizing a guard that charged toward them.

The scene fell eerily silent as the alarm stopped sounding. The remaining guards halted in place as the pegasus labored herself to her hooves and limped into the bunker.

"It almost looks like we're being invited in." Discord pondered as he looked over the sudden stillness.

"Why the red carpet, now?" Chrysalis added.

"Something tells me whatever's inside isn't going to be a tea party." Bon Bon warned as the trio reached the bunker door and swung it open.