The Treaty of Harmonious Chaos
After five years of endless conflict with Discord the Draconequus, the God of Chaos, an accord was made between him and the Princesses of Equestria: He would leave Equestria in peace in exchange for being given sovereignty of all lands south of the Baltimare River, from the Celestial Coast to the eastern MacIntosh Hills. This included the Badlands, the Hayseed Swamps, and the Forbidden Jungle.
From then onward, the Anarchy of Discord was considered a national entity for all intents and purposes. Soon, it became customary for countries to banish the worst of the worst of their criminals to these lands. Creatures that Discord took extra delight in toying with, he admitted.
"Let me go, you son of a sphinx!"
Like right now.
Discord raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the shrunken red dragon squirming in his grip against the licorice bonds that kept him hogtied. He and some cohorts had tried to invade Equestria without the Dragon Lord's permission, but had, by accident, ended up in his Anarchy by their own foolishness. Lord Torch decided to leave them to their fate.
So here they were: Him sitting upon a throne on a small floating island with a spring of hot sauce bubbling out from beneath his throne. Overhead, in the day sky, a cluster of stars danced out a play of a nonsensical story about hydra prince and a rogue she-griffon. Down below was his checkerboard landscape with a thousand and one impossible things going on.
"I'll never understand dragons like you," Discord mused, proceeding to use the reptile and candy like a yo-yo. "You don't even need to eat meat anymore, and last I checked, gems taste better for your lot anyway."
"GAAHHH!" the dragon hurled bean paste once Discord stopped swinging him. "I-It's about domination! Power! You should understand, you're the pinnacle of magical power!" he tried to reason.
"Oh, Spot. Can I call you Spot? I'm calling you Spot," Discord decided without giving Spot a chance to answer. "Destruction and killing isn't power. It's just a way to make yourself feel better about yourself," Discord countered as if he was speaking to a child.
"Grahh! You're just a fool! Without your magic, you're nothing!" Spot roared defiantly.
Discord gave him a flat look, the hot sauce bubbling harder to show its displeasure. "And what are you without your wings?" he countered pointedly, talons bared in challenge.
The fire breather literally squawked in fear. "I-I'm sorry, I take it back! Just don't leave me wingless!" Spot begged frantically. A banished dragon was one thing, but none could live down the disgrace of being a grounded dragon, the skies forever lost to them.
Discord rolled his eyes at the dramatics. "So, any particular reason you thought this was a good season for pony hunting?" Discord inquired with idle interest, wondering where to toss this one in his menagerie of chaos.
"Hm? Um, nothing really, but I heard the griffons had...what do they call it when one country refuses to trade with another?" Spot questioned in confusion.
"Greedy featherpluckers as always," Discord commented with an amused chuckle. "Now, where to-"
*BANG!*
"DISCORD! WE HAVE A SITUATION!"
Discord leaned back in surprise as a concealed hatch on his floating island made itself known, bursting open to reveal a young unicorn stallion, barely an adult, with a mint-green coat and mane. He looked around frantically for the Chaos lord. "Over here, Flipperhoof," Discord called from behind the hatch, eyeing the young pony curiously as it stepped out of the hatch fully and closed it.
"What the smog is that thing?!" Spot cried out in sheer shock as it saw that Flipperhoof had, well, flipper for hooves.
"That is Flipperhoof, and he's being very rude, not using the proper titles," Discord answered with a fake pout.
"No time!" Flipperhoof interrupted before Discord could continue. "We have some ponies at the boarder!"
"And? Celly and Lulu have new prisoners dropped off occasionally, what's got you all flippy?" Discord quipped with a chuckle.
"No, Discord, you're not hearing me. There are some ponies wanting to come IN to Anarchy," Flipperhoof stressed.
"...As in willingly?" Spot chimed in with his own confusion.
"What, in the name of a pastapus, would ponies want to come here for?" Discord questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Umm, to quote them?" Flipperhoof continued uneasily. "Sanctuary."
*SNAP!*
Spot yelped as he found himself suddenly dropped, landing in the green mane of Flipperhoof before he could right himself. "You okay, umm...I'm sorry, what's your name?" Flipperhoof inquired uncertainly.
"....Just call me Spot," the dragon grunted in annoyance, just happy to have his limbs free. "So, who are you?" he asked, working his way through the mane.
"Just another prisoner," the pony answered with a sigh
Peaking out of the pony's hair, Spot found they were on a more peaceful end of Anarchy. That meaning that the random floating objects were only in the double digits in the given area. Just beyond where they stood, the ground abruptly faded from a checkerboard of grey and purple to normal grass. And as Discord flew over to the edge of his territory, he looked down at a group of ponies.
It was a mother, a pegasus mare with three young ponies, two fillies and a colt. They were all shivering behind and under her hooves as she quivered under the gaze of the draconequus, but stood her ground and held his stare. "L-Lord Discord, please, sanctuary. Please, give us leave to enter your lands," she pleaded desperately.
Discord kept an even look on his face as he studied every inch of her body: tan coat and red mane. Many scratches, a fractured but healing wing, and....."Where is your foal?" he asked with a scowl as he eyed her belly and knew she had given birth in the last few days.
The mother winced as pain resurfaced in her eyes before being buried again. "S-stillborn," she answered softly, choking back tears.
Discord nodded slowly. "I'm sorry," he gave in rare sincerity before continuing. "Why are you here? You know what this place is."
"Any land is better than where we come from, Lord of Chaos," she answered pleadingly, surprise washing over her eyes at his lack of understanding. "You don't know, do you?"
"......" Discord stared at her for a moment as his zebra mane began to twitch.
"He's getting very mad," Flipperhoof noted uneasily.
"Why? Is stillborn the pony version of egg smashing?" Spot asked in confusion.
"No, it's...whatever you call it when eggs just don't hatch," Flipperhoof explained.
"Oh, a dud," he said in understanding. "....That's not what he's mad about, is it?"
"What did they do?" Discord questioned her with a hard look in his eyes. Eyes that seemed to be looking right through her very being.
"My lord, there is war. Civil War. The sisters have turned on each other. They fight, pitting all of Equestria against itself for Eternal Day or Eternal Night," the pleading mare declared. "Lord Discord, please! If not me, then please, protect my chi-"
*SKLINK!*
"Holy scales!" Spot yelped as a flaming arrow punctured the mare. Her eyes went wide as she pushed her children forward, just before the arrow burst into fire, consuming her and her screams that ripped through the silence.
"Mama!" The youngest daughter cried out in horror, even as her brother and elder sister tried to hold back amidst their own terrified sobs.
Discord himself just stared in disbelief at where the mare's charred corpse now laid, the scent of burnt flesh heavy in his nostrils. He looked up, eyes steeling themselves as six pegasi descended with ominous thuds. They were armored in bronze and flames danced at the tips of the feathers and manes. One made to charge with an almost animal fury before Discord narrowed his gaze. That alone sent the soldier back in reverse, tumbling and rolling before landing at the hooves of another pony.
But not just any pony.
"Discord, it's been far too long."
The Lord of Chaos and Ruler of Anarchy stared, brow furrowed as he looked upon a mare that was so familiar to him yet a complete stranger all the same. She was as tall as he remembered and her beauty certainly had not waned. But where once her mane was like the solar winds, now was a mane of pure, raging fire. Her kind eyes were replaced with eyes of black and slit yellow. Her golden regalia long replaced with armor of a dark, angry orange. Even her cutie mark was now a blazing sun of flames.
And he would have certainly recalled her having fangs.
"Princess Celestia," Discord greeted with a scowl, raising an eyebrow as the pegasi soldiers growled at him.
No, at the name.
"Down, colts," Not-Celestia instructed with an casual air of power and domination, silencing them. "Daybreaker, please, and I'm a Queen now."
"Dare I even ask what your sister is going by?" Discord asked with a scoff.
"GRRR," Daybreaker's flames intensified, making her guards whimper and back away. And yet, her fire refused to cross the border of Chaos. With a deep breath, she calmed and glared. "I have no sister. Only a traitorous usurper....but if you must know, she's Nightmare Moon now," she explained with a snort.
Discord hummed as he eyed Daybreaker. "Okay, I'll admit it, you have the better name, and mane for that matter," he granted with a shrug before giving his own glare. "Now explain the bonfire you're having on my doorstep," he demanded, the sheer weight of his might making the land tremble.
And Daybreaker, for that matter. "Oh, it has been TOO long," she stated, actually catching him off guard as he blinked. "I so missed our time together, Discord. It is so...rare to find a male that can intimidate me," she purred as her flames took on a more sensual movement about her.
"....Is that flame pony hitting on him?" Spot asked slowly.
"Oh yeah, big time," Flipperhoof answered blandly.
Daybreaker turned to glare at them for a moment. While Spot hid into Flipperhoof's mane, said unicorn just gave the Alicorn a deadpan look, as if she didn't scare him at all.
Ignoring them, she turned her lavish smile back to her one time enemy. "You see, Discord, I've finally realized something," Daybreaker mused with a chuckle. Because nothing she did could ever be a giggle.
"Oh? Do share, DB," Discord encouraged, eyeing her with a touch of curiosity as the young ponies hid behind his legs.
"You Were Right!" She cheered, staring right into his eyes, standing right on the edge where their respective lands met. "All those years wasted, worrying about others, being considerate and gentle. Wasted, when I should have been doing what I desired, imposing my will, ruling how "I" deemed fit!" she declared, eyes bright with madness.
Discord smirked coolly. "Congratulations. That still doesn't answer why you made a cannibalistic barbecue out of that mare," Discord reminded with surprising patience.
"Nothing so dramatic. I've tried pony, and it doesn't mesh with my taste buds," Daybreaker admitted with a chuckle. "No, that was just some Nightmare traitor they've been chasing, to make an example out of her."
"They? Not you?" Discord noted pointedly.
"I can get nothing by you," Daybreaker cooed with a snicker. "I confess, I am here on business and crossed paths with their party. You see, given how wrong I was about your way of doing things, I thought I should apologize."
"...." Discord slowly, slowly blinked at that. "Okay, what? This is the point I think I'm dreaming."
"Sadly, no. It'd be a bit more interesting, I'm sure," Daybreaker joked. "This is real, Discord. And I would like to formally invite you to....play havoc once more."
"...." Discord glanced back at Flipperhoof and Spot, mouthing 'Is she for real?' to them, getting shrugs in response. "Okay, I'll play along. What exactly are you suggesting, Daybreaker?"
"Rule with me," Daybreaker answered boldly. "Chaos and Sun, reigning calamity upon the world until it bows to us. No better match, is there?" she suggested with half lidded eyes before waltzing along the edge of her lands enticingly. "Of course, if you prefer, this can remain a business relationship. And for your help in subduing my rival? I will grant you a new slave to play with. Every. Single. Day," she counter offered with a wide, twisted grin.
"You'd fork over mares just to get me on your side?" Discord asked in surprise, wondering just how far gone she was.
Daybreaker shrugged uncaringly. "If you swing his way-" she paused, nodding to Flipperhoof. "I can make it stallions. Or, of course, I can also work with it if you go...." she paused to glance down at the petrified children with a meaningful smirk. "Their way."
Dead silence claimed the realm at that suggestion, Discord staring down the warped tyrant he had once known as an enemy. "You know something funny?" Discord asked, disturbingly calm as Flipperhoof slowly began to back away with Spot hanging onto his horn in terror. "Ever since I got this place, I've had...arrangements set up with a lot of other places too. Dragon Lord Torch, Queen Novo of the Hippogriffs....whoever the Griffon King is now. Buck, I even had some dealings with Chrysalis when she was passing through," Discord rambled on, stroking his beard.
"Oh? Well, I can only imagine how love-sucking shapeshifters can make tempting offers," Daybreaker mused, eagerly awaiting what she felt would be an obvious answer.
"I decided to play along with this politics thing. I basically get to hold "not causing Chaos" as a bargaining chip over their head if I ever want something besides more prisoners to play with," Discord continued in amusement. "But, you know something really interesting? My Treaty isn't with Equestria, per say. It's with the Diarchy. With PRINCESSES Celestia and Luna," Discord commented as Daybreaker finally frowned at him. He returned it with a glare. "I know no Daybreaker or Nightmare Moon."
Daybreaker growled as Discord raised his lion paw....and placed it on the pony corpse before him as the body began glowing with magic. "I Don't Know Who You Are!" he declared loudly as the light died down, revealing a living pony. She gasped for breath. She looked up at an enraged Daybreaker, shrieking as she crawled backwards.
"Mommy!" her children cried tears of joy, overwhelming their sense of fear
Daybreaker roared, sending a beam of flaming oblivion upon the family. Or, she would have, if Discord's paw hadn't wrapped around her mouth. Within an instant, he had lifted her up and slammed her into the ground. The six flaming pegasi leaped to protect their queen.
It was a horribly one sided affair.
The first was trapped in a green bubble. He thrashed and bucked against his prison, but his attempts became more frantic as he felt the air beginning to eat his flesh and turn his bones to mush.
The second was grabbed by blades of grass, growing and reaching to grab his limbs and pull him down into the earth. Now matter how much of them he burned, more rose up to bring the pony down to his grave.
The third just fell to pieces. Literally, it was as if he ran through a cheese grater, cubes of bloody pegasi chunks falling everywhere.
The fourth was grabbed by the talons of a rok-racoon that sank deep into his flesh. The rodent-bird gave off a beating chirp as it flew away with its new dinner.
The fifth fell down a hole that appeared and vanished, never to be seen again.
The final one......this one died, impaling himself on the needle-like furs that were the tip of Discord's tail.
Discord gazed with a cool smirk down at the tyrant, but his eyes conveyed only rage. "I have no accord with you, Queen Daybreaker, nor will I ever. So run. Run back and be a good sister: Let her know that I am coming for both of you," he vowed as he released her.
In an instant, the Queen of the Sun was gone in a snarling flash of flames.
For a moment, Discord just stood there. Letting the dead soldier slide off his tail, he gazed to the northwest. Towards Canterlot.
"...Still want to kill and burn ponies, Spot?" Flipperhoof asked under his breath.
"...No, no, I think I'm good," Spot answered solemnly as the Lord of Chaos suddenly did an about face and started to walk back.
"T-thank you, Lord Discord! Thank you!" the mother cried, bowing as he drew near her, her children following suit.
Discord paused, both in step and in answer, before nodding with a smile. "If it's not obvious, you'll have your sanctuary, Rose Dusk."
The mother gave tears of joys, standing and felt as if....as if her body had recently given birth. "B-but, um, not to be ungrateful, but where should we stay, exactly?" she asked in concern.
"I'll make you a place. I'll...need to have a talk with you about what's happened in Equestria. But, for now, rest up and feed your kids some chocolate from the lake," he encouraged, snapping his talons to send them away. With that taken care of, Discord let out a long, hard sigh.
"....Not to be all considerate, and I'm still mad about this tiny thing, but....you okay?" Spot asked cautiously.
"Yeah, just....didn't see that one coming," Discord answered, his scowl slowly morphing into a smirk. "Well, I suppose it's time some of you flankholes earn your freedom."
"Seriously?" Flipperhoof asked in surprise.
"I've seen her worst, I'll show her mine," Discord answered, snapping his tail.
Spot suddenly found himself standing next to Flipperhoof in a teenage version of his usual form. "....Okay, better," Spot accepted with a smirk.
"Spot, take this back to the Dragon Lands, straight to Torch," Discord ordered, throwing a sealed letter to the drake.
"Umm, I don't think he'll be happy to see me," Spot pointed out in worry for his hide. And wings. And everything.
"And I won't be happy to see you still here in the next ten seconds," Discord advised.
"You make an excellent argument!" Spot agreed nervously, taking off quickly.
"Those two BOTH went evil. What are the odds?" Discord asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I guess this makes us the heroes now?" Flipperhoof mused with a sardonic smile.
"Everything is relative," Discord mused, cracking his neck. "I suppose I should turn you back into your original form."
"I suppose having my old domain back would be pushing it?" the pony guessed in amusement.
"They might beg you to come back after this," Discord pointed out as he snapped his talons. In an instant, the green pony's coat turned grey, his mane a shadowy blackness, his horn turned crooked and as red as his eyes.
"King Sombra the Liberator has a rather nice ring to it," Sombra agreed with a vicious smile.
Author's Note
Here's my second entry into the Imposing Sovereign II contest!