Intro:

Following through the ruin and ravaged castle, fires spreading like haphazard decor, where as other areas are melting due to the flowing lava throughout. Where there was any space not engulfed in blaze or molten rock and stone, corpses of defeated royal guards, their blood splattered as careless as the fire, painting in wild strokes across the crumbling and decomposing building; some of these unlucky few were already being devoured by the hungry fury of nature’s most destructive elements. The air was heavy in the stench of brimstone, and burnt bodies and stone, spiced by the wood and other lighter materials that once properly graced the vision of those who happily wondered this castle before all chaos broke across the entire land. Their was an eerie silence, apart from the flames crackling, or rolling flows and crumbling structure. No living soul lingered here, any quickly killed in one horrific way or another, leaving nothing but death to reside in the capitol city.

Deep in the bowls, in one room barely keeping together, a single chair stands against all the destruction. Atop this defiant seat, is one who is secondly known for his defiance, firstly for his role in the world. The Lord of Chaos, Discord. A being of many beings, with the serpent body, patched together with a red scaled tail, brown furred body, and a tan head. A goat and dragon legs, bird and lion arms, bat and pegasus wings, horse mane, mismatched horns, goat ears, and a single fang displaying out of his mouth. His beard is long and white like his differed sized brows. His eyes scan over a book, as he sits before a pyre. The book seemed to cast more light upon the flame, than the other way about, making it hard to see that the book is actually a DVD for the first season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

“My, my, how charming” He said to himself in a deep, dark, and alluring voice, not concerned with all that was happening. “I thought 4chan was full of it, but giving it a chance I can see the draw. Not enough of my though” He closed the plastic case, it clapped like an ancient tome, the draconequus looked up finally taking notice of his audience. “Oh, I didn’t see you there” He spoke stilted, like reading from a prompter, he did not even look focused on anything. “I see you have come to see what I’ve been during these days, since that whole ‘Shatter Storm’… What?” He mustered his best to look shocked. “You do not know of the ‘Shatter Storm’? Well, you are in for a real disappointment”

Discord floated up from his chair, moments before a geyser flared up and consumed the chair. “Equestria is not quiet the place you remember” He was now using the DVD like a marshmallow, roasting over what was his chair moments before. Satisfied by the roast, he placed it with a generic chocolate bar, and gram crackers, eating his s’more. “Like many others before, and likely still to come, we have re-imagined our beloved story in a dark and twisted way. Our author is a huge fan of the show, and loves it,” He leans closer to the read. “A little too much if you ask me, should see his shelf of pony toys” Going back to his original distance, he continues on. “Like many bronies, he is older, and a bit-” Discord points at his head, rotating in a circle as it makes a sound like a rusty gear. “But who doesn’t love a good retelling of a story? Look at all the movies coming out. He wanted to write a big story of tragedy, strife and struggle, wanting to push characters to their limits, but sadly sometimes when you push too far, when you let things get out of control, things break”

With a snap of his fingers, Discord was back into his own realm of chaos. A spinning and endless space of things unimaginable or impossible. Rules flipped, and laws broken. “That place was pretty close to being destroyed, and I have more to tell before we get into the real story.

“So, after listening to too much brony music, inspiration was found in a playlist made from music by Sylphstorm’s pony music. As each song was not necessarily meant to be piece together, the author struggled with forming a story in the same order as the playlist, so with a little help from a certain master of chaos...” He paused, become very annoyed. “Loki?! Of course not!” Taking a moment to compose himself, Discord cleared his throat and held up a finger. “Be warned, for this story is not for the faint of heart, we’re talking some twisted shit… and some language. For those of you who didn’t read or understand the foreword in the (air quote)Chapter 1-6(air quote), here we are again, a bit more clear this time. Each chapter of this story will be more of individualize stories that all connect together, meaning they start and stop in different parts of the whole tale. To help keep track, I will be here at the start and end of the chapters, breaking 4wallchan, and making sense of things. No, they will not all be this long, and the story itself will not be this cartoonish, that is just for here”

Discord picked up a script, and started to read. After several minutes, he stopped. “Oh, right. Funny how we you are in a story, you just assume people can read your thoughts. So this first chapter is set pretty soon after Princess Luna’s return from her imprisonment in the moon, facing the reality of one-thousand years lost to her.

Track 02: Those who’ve Passed Away

The celebrations had passed, as the royal sister of the night has returned and she enjoyed all the love and attention she had sought a thousand years ago. So much had changed in the ages, and the Equestria that was reluctant to enjoy night, was replaced by one that seemed almost sleepless in places. Though the nights were still not as busy as the days, at least in the ways of the comings and goings of ponies in the halls of the castle in Canterlot, Princess Luna enjoyed enough attention that she was able to carry on her task so long abandoned. Princess Celestia could not take this role, and it left so many left unprotected in their sleep for many moons than the Night pony cared to think of. She almost felt overwhelmed by her calling now, given that Equestria before was not so populated as it is today. Although the demand was far greater, Princess Luna still had some time to be left alone to think, and in those silent moments her mind traveled to the past. She was not worried about loneliness once felt or potentially returning, but more of what she had lost due to her recklessness. Well known was the isolation of Princess Luna, lesser known and forgotten by time, was those few friends she did manage to find; if too briefly.

Princess Luna trotted down the dark halls of the Canterlot castle, met by some of the guards stationed, and only a few others besides. Princess Luna was not entirely restored in her form from old, not trapped to the filly-like body from her escape of Nightmare Moon, but her mane hung limply and not at all like her sister’s. She needed some aid in finding her destination, not knowing this castle, despite the history she did have in it. It may as well be an entirely different place than the one she witness being constructed. The cold night air greeted her like a forgotten rival, chilling her to the core, but not halting her in the slightest. To the sky her eyes traveled, a stranger to her now. In it, was the place she was forced to call home, a place she knew now better than the foreign castle, and much more than her original home in Everfree. She stopped moving, bumping into the iron railing that saved her from tumbling into the air.

Everything seemed to rush to her, the realities of all that was now her life. She had gained her sister’s forgiveness, embraced by the ponies, and dove right back into her role, not allowing herself much time to adjust to any of it. Her mind and heart grew heavy, mind assaulted, and as she turned to find some comfort, she only found further reminders of how far removed she was. The castle displayed only her sister, the guards just her ponies that took night duties. This was not a castle of two princesses, it was a glittering jewel of solar dominance. “Where are we?” she began to wonder. “This temple to our sister, the very air serves her. Ponies may now call to we two, embracing us where once they shunned. How can we find comfort here, where not any place has us in mind?” She thought of the room of stain glass, finding herself corrected. “Apart from a place that has our defeat of foes, and our own turn to wickedness in the same breath”

Gazing downward, to the sparkling lights of those still active at the hour, looking like stars in the blue velvet of dark in the spaces between. “They greet us, praise us, and yet we remain unsatisfied by the warmth. How long we dreamed of this time, to know out there ponies are enjoying our creation… how bitter it is to have it ask such a cost, after a great mistake…” She could feel warmth suddenly, but only around her eyes, trickling down her cheeks. “I lost so much time,” She now spoke aloud, catching a near by pair of guards. “I abandoned my ponies, my duties, and all the joy I could have found working toward this future”

“My Princess,” a guard came of the two. “Is all well, can we aid you somehow?” They had been instructed to watch and render aid to Princess Luna by her sister, to keep her from falling victim to the shock of such changes, or reverting.

She considered him for a time, seeking any sign that this single guard or his partner could actually save her. “YOUR PRINCESS SEEKS NOTHING YOU CAN OFFER” She spoke now in the Royal Canterlot Voice, though not as booming as she would outside or to a larger audience, it still caught the guard by surprise.

Leaving him behind, going to the place she had thought of earlier, Princess Luna gazed upon the glass art of key moments in Equestrian history. It was no surprise that she did not know every one, like a factory in the clouds, or one of a fiery mare and what looked like one of Starswirl, the Bearded’s portals into another reality. One of the displays Luna knew all too well, and of all of them, it struck her the hardest. It was simple, but to those who had the fortune to know this story, it said more than any other. A snow-white filly, smiling, with a single snowflake above her. Her eyes were closed, for they saw nothing but black. This pony was as gentle, fragile, and unique as her creation of the art in the snowflakes. Her death was sudden and painful to the young Princess so desperately looking for friendship, and left her wounded. That wound was easily reopened, along with another they came soon after.

Lost in her memories, Luna now recalled the child she had taken in. She leaned against the far wall, away from the glass barely able to stand against the assault of her almost forgotten past. The child had seemed a gift of the Tree of Harmony, to heal her from the loss of Snowdrop. The young stallion was found by the Tree during one of the nights, and had taken to Princess Luna like a mother, and she took to him like a son. He loved all that she was and did, and even was showing gifts in Night Magic. Although he was one of the purest souls Princess Luna had ever known, his talent in magic was leaning toward a much darker cast than anything seen in many years. Necromancy, and he was determined to prove that it was not just a wicked craft, but something to benefit all of pony-kind.

“Why…” Luna whispered, lost in the horrors replaying in her mind. “Why did I not stop him?” Her eyes were held tight, but neither tears nor vision were halted by the attempt.

One night, hoping to prove to her the lengths he had grown, and the good of his special craft, the young pony summoned a demon. Against all warnings, and command, he had learned the spell and followed through. He smiled with the ignorance of one not knowing the sense failure, nor the dangers of the world. He would never know the monstrosity that ripped into his throat, or tore his legs from him. The creatures feasted upon him, as Princess Luna screamed in horror at the sight, the image of his hopeful face, frozen in the joy of befriending a demon and making her proud. Not one of those demons would survive long enough to enjoy the meal they made of the poor pony, as Princess Luna made her first turn towards Nightmare Moon in her savage, and complete destruction of the demons.

Outside of her visions, the princess had collapsed fully, both these beautiful souls who once brought her such joy now linger in her mind as sorrow. “How can such innocence and purity be destroyed by such cruel fate?”

Shifting suddenly, opening her eyes with a focused determination. “What is there to gain in our past, to linger in self pity of others demise? How unfair it was, but it does they no good” She began to lift herself, reforging her pain into an armor to defend her heart against such pointless suffering. “I do them no good to suffer these many years after, they will serve as our driving force to change the future” A new light was shinning her eyes, her mane was again imbued with the same magic as Princess Celestia’s. “Our past will no longer be one of bitterness, but the means to make us better!”

Princess Luna marched out of the stain glass room like a true, and proud ruler. “Equestria needs protection, defenders to work In the shadows. No longer shale ponies suffer loss of loneliness” Giving simple nods to those who greeted her as she moved about the castle, moving like she had been here for the last thousand years. Princess Luna had a purpose, and was moving toward the place that would allow her to view a place far beyond, and long buried in the forgotten history. “We need soldiers, and we know just where first to recruit” She said out loud, now at an open window in a high tower looking far off into the distance at a nestled forest so close to bustling cities yet hidden from the world.

******

The moons pasted by so quickly, and the warmth of summer had gone to become the frost of winter. In that time much had been experienced, as Princess Luna sought out not only her soldiers, but also the culture of those she was set out to save. The world had remained so strange, the ponies no longer accustom to the use of the Royal Voice, and in her reluctant journey to see Nightmare Night, she felt initially validated in her assumption that Equestria had learned to enjoy night but also now feared its Princess. She was already subscribed to the fact that her mistakes would keep ponies at leg length, but it would not matter in her cause. Twilight Sparkle urged her to not withdraw so soon, and when all came clear she knew that the spirit of the celebration was what helped Princess Luna become also celebrated and fully embraced.

Fresh from her revelation in Ponyville, and a number of nightmares averted in her subjects, Princess Luna was now filled with confidence and conviction in her purpose in the modern era. She stood unwavering before the assembled ponies of all kinds, each one finding cause in her call, and willing to give themselves over to the Princess of the Night, as her army.

The winter was full, and cold. Ponies across Equestria readied to celebrate Hearth Warming, and family. Her army was fuller, and blazing in their duty now. Ponies before the ruins of the old castle ready to listen to their Princess, and become a new family.

“My soldiers of the Night,” Princess Luna began, careful to scan across the sea before her, taking in the faces and eyes of each member to find any who may not have constancy, or not one who belongs. “You have trained, and learned a new way of life. We stand at a cross road of history, as this modern age is threatened, at danger of reverting to the world my sister and I had found. Discord brought us great strife, plunging those champions into torment they had never known before. It was unfair to saddle the world on their backs, and they shale no longer be the singular source of hope in Equestria. You gave away your pasts, and anything that you were, to serve a greater good” Her ponies hung on her words, mesmerized like hearing their own words back at them. She spoke, from their hearts. “as this threat remains, and others no less dangerous, we shale rise like the full moon, shining light of clarification in the dark, and guidance for those lost; as many of you once were. We will meet these foes, and challenge their wickedness with wickedness!” As her voice rose, so did the spirit and excitement in her army. Their night-blending dark armor beginning to shutter with their wearer, like chimes moving in rhythmic song.

“Once, I sought to rule this land, keeping an eternal night” She began anew. “Now, I wish to only serve for the betterment of Equestria, by making the night no longer a place to fear, unless you be wicked” She pointed out in vague places as she went on. “You all share this desire, each chosen to join in this cause. Together we shall march into the shadows, and bring about hope to those who cannot do as we do, or protect themselves from our enemies. We will undo the damage of yesterday, bring hope for tonight, and secure a better futurity!” No longer able to hold back, the ponies beyond the princess now stomped their hooves in a drumming sound to add to their chimes. They sang out the calling of their army. Their melody echoed out into the dark, the sound of the start of a war against wickedness. “Now go forth, and rain down terror upon all those who would wrong us!”

Spread throughout the crowd, the soldiers faded into shadow one by one, then in groups growing smaller until they all were gone. As Princess Luna watched on, another figure moved their way to join her on the simple stage. Not much could be seen of the pony, beside her strong red colouring. This new pony was clad much like the army now off to do battle, only far more decorated and singular. She “Rousing, my princess” She said with a grin, in a fashion of one who felt they were the true cause of what they praised another for. Her voice was smooth and dark, like fresh blood. “You have brought the night to a new stage, and now our precious citizens will sleep or wonder it freely without fear”

“This is only the start, commander Redmare” The eager and mysterious pony beside the princess echoed her statement with the same tone as before, and grinning with motive. She was rather obvious, hiding only in the shadow of Princess Luna’s focus in other matters. She was unaware to the desire in the mare, seeing only a pony who shares the drive and passion in a common cause.

Over the coming moons, as Discord’s madness spread, the Lunar Army found more to fight in their war for Equestria. Princess Luna was proud of their achievements, raising some to higher ranks for their duties, yet not all saw the good in this battle in dark allies and moonlit nights. Princess Celestia was with growing concern by this, and attentively made her attempt to speak to her sister; this meeting would do little to change fate.

Unshaken by these doubts, and understanding of her sister’s worries, Luna still responded with hesitation or question of her cause or her knights. “We act against the tides of chaos, breaching our shores of peace like the first waves of the coming flood. We meet the wickedness in kind, doing in the dark what would not be so in the light. You may rule the Day and act only by what is viewed as ‘right’, but more is required. As Always, it is the night that must be the beast to burden that which the day will not cart”

“Listen to yourself!” Pricess Celestia challenged back. “Can you be so foalish to think fire negates fire?” There was more fear in her tone, than condemning. She did not want to see her sister go back down the path by another trail. “To save Equestria by wicked means cannot justify the ends, it will breed only more evil if you trot with evil” She held her sister in a gaze of deep worry and fear, nearly in tears.

“You are a good sister, and a loving princess. You are a good soul, and how easy it is for one to deem others or their acts as evil” Princess Luna looked back at her sister, only with a distance to her gaze. “You do right for Equestria, in an ironic way, as you cast such light that it blinds ponies to things. You make them ignorant, and to a certain degree, you too are blind. Keep doing this, swaddling the little ones in blissful, blinding light of joy and happiness. They shall suckle upon the need for peace from the teats of deception, not wanting to know the harsher truths of life” She took a pause, only a moment long enough to reflect on the goings on in the land. She looked away, only briefly to gaze into those events before returning to her passing stare. “The Spirits of Harmony have drifted from the safety of ignorance. They have faced trails, and dangers. No longer can they be at ease, or even peace” Her mind drifted again, but much further back. Her eyes saw the memories of what drove her to these missions. “I will allow others to be fools, but I will not let them be hurt for it. I will not stand by, and watch another innocent be tore apart by their innocent wants and hopes. I will not allow the unknown to go unchallenged in their wicked desires to prey upon purity”

There was a long moment between them, as Princess Celestia had long forgotten the events that were still as fresh to her sister as if they had just happened. Celestia needed to journey through her own memories to realize what haunted Luna. “Would you act as a demon, to stop monsters?”

“YES!” Luna’s eyes flared, almost in the same way as Nightmare Moon’s, her passion and conviction challenged. “Life is cruel to the innocent, so we must be even crueler to the wicked things that threaten us and those we love! We protect Equestria is ways others will not, but we must”

Princess Celestia struggled with the arguments, knowing that in some ways there was merit and truth to what she was saying. Still, she had to argue. “I am just unsure how wise it is to take such drastic actions, given what has happened before. I am not so much worried in you falling again, as I am in this breeding others who would”

“We know what is it to suffer loss, and it is that which motivates us and keeps us on the proper path” Luna countered.

“All ponies know loss, sister, but not all find it a cause to stop suffering; some find it just the reasoning to spread it further. Yes ponies need protection, it is what we do as Princesses, but to gather the worst of Equestria together and hope rehabilitation through such drastic means, is only asking for trouble. Sure some other way is better for them,” Celestia knew what Luna was attempting, and did not wish to end that cause. “and seek less devious champions to act in more acceptable ways is more in order?”

Princess Luna scoffed at these suggestions, finding them to be precisely what she explained earlier in Celestia’s blindness. “Would you have them doing arts and crafts? Maybe leave them in the streets, to rote away like dropped apples found rotten? It is a cute notion to think healing can come so easy for ponies like us, but we cannot simply pretend to write letters to those we have lost, or try to paint happy faces on the suffering we have endured” Princess Luna was finished in the debate, finding no further point in the round-about ride flashing images of things outside, but spinning on an axis of pointlessness. “I have faced corrupting demons of haunting memories and suffering, lessons I learned in my long imprisonment of mine, an incarceration that was only possible by extreme actions of using the same Elements of Harmony we had also taken against others, and also were the only means to bring me back” Celestia staggered a bit at this, having her own lingering wounds in those choices she had to make. “I know the signs and will remain observant of my soldiers, to prevent them from following in their princess’ hoofsteps” Luna now moved to leave, adding one last part to her long speech. “Keep to the Day, dear sister, I shale tend the Night, as always”

Outro

Discord turned off a radio, shaking his head in disappointment. “Our dear Princess Luna looks to be suffering from an over compensation of her own past. Has she not heard the saying ‘Let your past make you better, not bitter’? It made a lovely shirt, but oh well”

Pulling out a wax cylinder from the radio, and placing it into a CD jewel case, Discord continued. “You might have noticed some hints to the plots on coming chapters, if not, well then it will be a surprise what is to come. I will not spoil anything, but this is a tamer chapter, and little brief. There was a bit of the story with Luna’s little student, and his rather gruesome death, but that is a mere taste to what will follow. Many references are made to other works, by other bronies, but that little pony on her past was Harmony Spirit, the ponisona of the author. Self loathing, a cry for help, or just a plot device? Only therapy can tell”

Author's Note

This is a true full length Track to the Album, and gives a good idea of what to expect.

Track 7 will set in motion the evens to come in the next Track and echo through others much later.

I was going to wait a week to post each Track, but I figured a true one needed to be there for people to see what they are getting into.

-Spoiler?- Background:
For those who care, or not familiar with my other works with him. My Ponysona Harmony Spirit became a plot device to some of my stories. A child who appears one night, brings Princess Luna a brief period of happiness, and then disappears for a thousands years. Without going too into it, he is the reason Magick of Friendship universe exists, as well as another story series I have sitting around to be posted later.

Someone complained about my OC in my own Universe story, so I decided play on some peoples' hate of OCs and kill him off.