Equestria Underground-Book I: Hope Is Magic

As a draconequus, Discord towered over the pony guards and with his slick, serpentine body and sharp claws, he was more than a match for most equine foes even without his powers. However, he was outnumbered and even if he could make it past their armor and steel weapons, he was still in the center of the proverbial hornet’s nest; taking out a few drones still left thousands to contend with. And then there came the issue of their queens, who wielded the power of the sun and moon respectively and could easily wipe the floor with him, especially given that he lacked his chaos magic. We are in a huge pickle, ladies and gentlemen. He peered at Sunset Shimmer out of the corner of his eye and hoped that the oddly attractive unicorn had a plan.

Stepping forward, Sunset cleared her throat. “I am relocating the prisoner while his cell is being fixed as he has attempted to escape with a spork he had saved from one of his meals.” Sunset said with gusto.

No...there’s no way that they’re this stupid!

The guards looked at one another and then lowered their weapons. One of them nodded and stated, “Understood, Captain. Do you require assistance with the prisoner transfer?”

I stand corrected...

“Yes, now somepony get me a muzzle. He keeps telling awful jokes.” Sunset commanded.

“I resent that! My jokes are top of the line, ah-thank you very much.” Discord was offended. Since when wasn’t he funny?

“My point exactly.” she stated flatly

“Roger that, Ma’am.”

It wasn’t long before Discord was chained to an upright gurney with a brown muzzle strapped to his face, the little bars on the front allowing him to breathe. Hey, where have I seen this before?

“Oh and Sunset...do tell me when those lambs stop screaming,” Discord said nasally.

Sunset just rolled her eyes as she used her magic to wheel him down the hall. They were luckily near the Night guard dungeon. Well…..not so much lucky as Sunset had chosen this way to back up her story.

“Quid pro quo, Sunset,” Discord continued, much to his own amusement as he watched one of the unicorn’s eyes twitching slightly. ”Tell me, what does he do by coveting?”

“Coveting what, Discord?” A very familiar and angry sounding voice stated from behind them. “And what, pray tell, are you doing out of your cell?” The two’s collective blood ran cold as Nightmare Moon, the Queen of the Night herself, silently strode forward.

Discord, however, refused to give her that satisfaction. “Moonie! How’ve you been? How come you haven’t been to visit me? Is your backside still dragging you down? No wonder you control the moon cause you’ve got two of those things behind you!”

“Quiet, you foalish immortal.” Nightmare Moon looked at Sunset. “Well, I’m waiting. Why is he out of his cell?”

“He tried breaking out with a spork, Mistress Nightmare Moon.” Sunset said with a salute. “I was relocating him while repairs are being done.”

“What can I say? I’m a rebel!” Discord then wagged his eyebrows at Sunset. “And besides, aren’t bad colts every mare’s fantasy?”

“Yes, that is something he would do. Very well, be on your way then but don’t take too long. The mages are meeting in the dueling arena. Daybreaker thinks that regular burritos should be called night time breakfast burritos. The nerve of my sister.” Nightmare Moon gave them one final once-over before exiting with a dramatic flourish.

Discord shook his head. “Those mares need to get laid.”

“No argument here.” Sunset agreed as she quickly made her way to the exit before releasing Discord from the restraints. "Find your powers and hurry.”

“Why Sunny, I had no idea you cared.” Discord grinned. “You know, I happen to be single.”

“I don’t care right now because if I’m not in that arena soon, they will know I broke you out. We’ve got to hurry.” Sunset pointed out and it was a rather good point.

Discord slowly nodded. “Fine but you better not die. Otherwise, you’ll be late for our date!” He turned and went down on all fours, swiftly making his way down the corridor and twisting past a corner. Oooooh I’m late, I’m late for a very important date! No time to say “Hello!” Goodbye! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late! Discord even checked the clock on the adjacent wall to make sure he would make his date on time. Now then, there’s one very important question I need to ask myself at this critical moment in time: what am I going to wear?!

********************

The Canterlot Battle Arena: where the sands are stained red with blood from the frequent usage the Sisters put in it. The arena was split in two colors, white and blue, each side for the respective rulers.

An orange maned unicorn stallion sighed with relief as Sunset joined the other Solar Mages. Sunburst readjusted his glasses and wiped dust off of his immaculate blue cloak. “Sunset, where’ve you been?! Don’t you know what the penalty for tardiness is? And since when are you late? You’re usually the first one here!”

“I was transferring a dangerous prisoner that takes time. Now come here you," Sunset said as she hugged her brother.

“I was worried something was wrong,” he murmured as he held her tight. “Don’t scare me like that, big sis.”

“I’m sorry for the scare but that’s part of the job sadly. Now let’s get ready for another stupid argument between our leaders.” Sunset gave one last squeeze before letting go.

Sunset whispered, “Is there any other kind of argument between them?“

“Well that time they fought over days off for the guards because 24/7 shifts were not physically possible.” Sunset reminded her brother.

“Touché.”

Above them on a massive raised dais, the Queen of Day rose from her throne. Daybreaker was an ivory white mare with constantly blazing fire streaming from her head and hindquarters in place of a mane and tail. “Solar Mages, assemble!” She bellowed and the ponies in her service stood stiffly at attention. “The time has come once again when my baby sister insults me with her petty insolence. You who have sworn to serve and defend me are called once more to do battle in my name. Do me proud by drowning the arena in the blood of the Lunar Mages! Show Nightmare Moon why the day reigns supreme! Kill in the name of Daybreaker the Eternal Flame! Hail Daybreaker!”

“Hail Daybreaker!” The Solar Mages repeated, thumping their chests and raising their forelegs to the sky. “Hail the Eternal Flame!”

Nightmare Moon gave a similar speech to her mages, only they were chanting, “Hail the Eternal Night!”

Sunburst subtly placed his hoof in Sunset’s and smiled weakly at her. “Good luck.”

“Thank you. Now go take your seat, you bookkeeper.” Sunset and Sunburst hugged quickly before Sunburst went to the stands. “He will never know how lucky he is to not be a mage like me”

Sunburst, meanwhile, gave his sister one more sad glance from up in the stands. “She’ll never know how lucky she is to be a mage.” As much as he loved his sister, he also envied her position. Everypony knows that the guards and mages were the ones that got all the glory and his folks never stopped reminding him how proud they were of Sunset the Solar Mage. But something Sunburst didn’t envy was that he knew Sunset had to kill more than one friend because of fights like these and that was more than enough to stop him from pursuing such a career. Moreover, he knew if it came down to it Sunset would kill him and it broke his heart to know that fact. Quite frankly, he knew he couldn’t take a life.

Dozens of large drums pounded as the opposing sides faced one another from across opposite sides of the arena, their bodies tense and their glares sharp as they waited for the inevitable sign to begin. Sweat dripped down Sunset’s forehead with anticipation, her heart thundering in her chest as she maintained control over her breathing. In...and out...Steady...Steady...

A single feather dropped by a pegasus referee was all that prevented the battle from starting. Neither side even looked at it as it floated down and once it touched the ground, all hell broke loose with offensive and defensive spells firing all at once. Sunset had raised a shield to block a barrage of spells her way as they all knew she was the biggest threat. Unfortunately, all of them had underestimated her allies as they were all quickly blasted, to either unconsciousness if they were lucky, or they died before their bodies hit the ground. Sunset nodded to her allies before turning her shield into a magical saw blade and through it cutting off the poor lunar mages right legs clean off. The magic part of that blade cauterized the wound almost instantly so they wouldn’t die of blood loss.

Khensu, the captain of the Lunar Mages, conjured a massive crackling energy scythe and made quick work of several Solar Mages, slicing and dicing through their ranks with reckless but precise cuts. The unicorn’s eyes fell on Sunset’s and he grinned, purposefully sinking the tip of the blade into a squirming mare and twisting it until she went still. Sunset heard the crackling and she instantly knew who it was without turning to face him. Sunset bucked some sand in the captain’s direction, causing a momentary distraction as she started preparing a fairly powerful spell. Converting his scythe into a saw-edged shield, Khensu dislodged smaller, similar shields and fired them at Sunset in rapid succession, hitting a few Solar Mages before charging at her, hacking at anypony unfortunate enough to get in his way.

Sunset had to wait until the right moment otherwise she would die. Khensu ran at her with reckless abandon. No, it would be more accurate to say he was like a train with no breaks. Sunset, at the last moment, teleported in place just as Khensu ran through and she fired her spell, freezing him solid and with no air to reach his lungs, he would suffocate in the ice before the battle would be over. The ice crackled and stretched, creating fissures in its surface that spread over it like a large web before it shattered. Gasping and hacking, he tumbled to the sand, clawing at the ground and replenishing his lungs with air. He never saw the blade coming as a solar axe took his head before quickly moving onto the next opponent. Sunset didn’t spare him a thought; in battle, there was no times for such luxuries.

Daybreaker watched with rapt interest as Sunset dashed to and fro across the battlefield. She knew that she was skilled; after all, she was the one that recruited her but had no idea of how much of a raw powerhouse the mage was. “Sunburst?”

“Yes, My Liege?”

“Your sister…”

“Sunset?”

“Yes, her. She’s quite powerful.”

The stallion’s eyes tracked Sunset. “Indeed, Your Majesty. T-top of her class.”

“Really?” Daybreaker grinned sadistically as Sunset dispatched two bat-ponies in one blow. “How interesting. Tis a pity for my sister.”

“A pity indeed.” Sunburst agreed, not wanting to feel Daybreaker’s wrath.

Thunder rumbled suddenly, interrupting the battle as every combatant paused to stare up at the mass of swirling purple clouds gathering above them. Sunset dropped her foreleg just as she was about to strike down a unicorn mare and joined everypony else in staring up at the unusual weather. What the hay...?

There was a flash of light and Discord appeared floating in midair, wearing a green military jacket and a pair of headphones as he spoke into a vintage silver dynamic microphone. “Goooooood morning, Eques-tri-a! This is not a test! This is Chaos!”

“DISCORD?!” Daybreaker all but shrieked.

Lounging back, Discord continued, “This is DSCRD, the radio sensation that’s sweeping the nation.” He searched the crowd of befuddled mages below until he spotted Sunset. “And it looks like we’ve got our first caller on the phone.”

Oh please no… Sunset suddenly found herself wrapped in Discord’s tail as the draconequus beamed brightly at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Hello there, sweetheart and welcome to the show! And your name is…?”

Sunset stared at the microphone irritatingly. “Sunset...Shimmer.”

Discord moved Sunset to the crook of his arm which was, maddeningly enough, actually quite warm and snug. “Oooo, Sunset Shimmer. Well Sunset, you are one hot little firebrand!” The sound of something sizzling on a grill came from nowhere as an unseen secondary voice proclaimed, “Now that’s hot!”

The two alicorns rushed up to meet Discord, their petty feud forgotten and their fury directed towards the repowered trickster. Nightmare Moon scowled, “How in the blazes did you escape and get your powers back? Did it involve another spork?”

There was a finger snap and Discord, now dressed in black and white striped prison gear, banged a tin cup against a barred window that lacked a wall. Sunset gasped, discovering that she was wearing a police officer’s cap, a button-up shirt tied up as so that it exposed her stomach and a skirt. Discord placed an arm against his forehead melodramatically.

“Oh it was so dreadful being locked up in the big house, all alone with nopony to talk to! But then…” He snapped his fingers again and Sunset was thankfully back in her mage uniform while he wore nothing. “My little shnookie-wookums freed me with a clever ruse and ensured that my chaos magic was returned to me!” He pinched Sunset’s cheek for emphasis and cuddled her against his chest like a large teddy bear.

If the hatred given off by Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon’s collective glare could’ve killed Sunset, then she would’ve been completely disintegrated and scattered across the four winds. She didn’t know who she hated more in that moment: the Royal Sisters or the chimeric blabbermouth currently crushing her against his admittedly soft and warm body. It’s a toss-up. Sunset decided. Definitely a toss-up right about now.

“Oh did she now?” Daybreaker enquired through gritted teeth.

“Your Majesty, I…-”

“Well, it’s been fun catching up with you two,” Discord interrupted. “Buuuut Sunny and I have a rendezvous that we mustn’t be late for. Ta-ta, ladies!” The two vanished in a sparkly flash, leaving the co-rulers furious beyond all reasonable explanation.

Daybreaker’s orange slitted eyes fell once again on the helpless Sunburst. “Solar Mages! Arrest that stallion and have him brought to General Pinkie Pie’s private quarters! Find out what he knows…”