Rise of Terror

The Mane Six and Discord were gathered in Canterlot discussing what to do about Discorn. Suddendly, they heard loud music coming from outside. They ran out. A crowd had already gathered looking and pointing at the sky. Discord created binoculars for everyone. There, in the sky, they saw a weird creature. It stood in the air on two long legs. It was completely red. It had two big feet with three claws at the front and one at the back. It also had two arms and two hands each with four red claws as finger similar to Tirek. It also had two enormous bat-shaped wings, a long tail and a normal-sized head with two curved horns on top. There were two fang-like teeths lurking out of the top half of his mouth. It wore sunglasses, a black leather-jacket and black trousers. Also, it played on a red guitare.

„What is that?“, Fluttershy asked.

„I don’t know. What about you, Discord?“, Twilight asked.

But Discord didn’t answer. He was stiff as a plank and pale like marble.

„No. It can’t be…“, he mumbled.

The creature played two more notes before shouting:

„Good morning, Equestria! Guess what?! You’re favorite red-faced reign of doom and destruction, Terror, is back! Did ya miss me?!“

„Did-did he just say TERROR?!“, Rainbow Dash asked shocked.

The others nodded.

„We have to get out of here.“, Discord suddendly said, still shaking with fear.

„What?“, the others asked.

„We have to get out of this reality! Now! Before-“

Suddendly, Terror stood right next to Discord. He put his arm around Discords shoulder and said with a wide smile which revealed his rows of sharp teeth:

„Discord! Good to see you again! How many millennia has it been? Ah, doesn’t matter! By the way, LOVE the goatee. REALLY suits you.“

„Do you know each other?“, Fluttershy asked carefully.

Discord cleared his throat.

„Everyone: Meet Terror, Spirit of Doom and Destruction. And also: My brother.“

Everyone was shocked.

„Your BROTHER?! YOU have a brother?!“, Applejack asked still shocked.

„Indeed I am. And who are you, if I may ask?“, Terror asked in a polite tone of voice.

„These are…“, Discord took a deep breath, „my friends.“

„Your…friends?“

Terror started laughing.

„Wow! YOU made friends? Really? Oh man, that was so unexpected! I’m so proud of you!“, Terror said still laughing.

„Wait…You’re PROUD of me?! I though you’d be livid!“, Discord said confused.

Terror stopped laughing abruptly.

„Livid? Why would I be livid?“, Terror asked confused.

„Because of your imprisonment?“, Discord asked.

„Oh. That.“, Terror said.

But suddendly, he laughed out loud again.

„Hahaha! Don’t worry about that, bro. Sure, you betrayed me and helped seal me into that box. But hey: You are the Spirit of Chaos and DISHARMONY! Betrayl and doing stuff counterproductive to positive relationships is literally part of your very being! Heck, I still have the box you sealed me in!“

He took it out of his leather jacket. It didn’t even have a scratch.

„Why would you carry around your prison in your pocket?!“, Rainbow asked confused.

„Because, while it was my prison, it was also my home for the Creator knows how many millennia. I’ve kinda grown attached to it. And if anyone ever succeeds in sealing me away again, I might as well be sealed into a prison I already know. Also, Discord put so much effort into crafting it. Destroying it would be a real shame.“

He put it back into his jacket.

„Point is: You were simply being you. And how can I be mad at you for being who you are?! I simply can’t. I’m your brother. I will always love and support you.“

Discord was speachless.

„Is he in denial?“, Spike whispered to Twilight.

„Nah. I just understand that with my little bro, not making sense makes the most sense. Though of course that also means that sometimes, making sense actually is making the least amount of sense meaning it makes the most sense.“

Everyone, even Discord, looked at him confused. Terror cleared his throat.

„But enough of that.“

He took a closer look at Twilight.

„Wait a minute…Are you an alicorn? Huh. I thought there were only two left…“

„Terror, could you please not?“, Discord asked annoyed.

„Don’t worry. You have nothing to fear from me, my little ponys. Any friend of Discord is good in my book.“

He turned around to Discord.

“Speaking of friends: Where are CL and Lulu?“

„CL and Lulu?“, Rainbow Dash asked.

Suddendly, a beam hit the ground between the ponys and Terror.

„STEP AWAY FROM THEM!“, someone yelled.

Everyone looked up and saw Celestia and Luna descending from the sky, horns glowing and with a furious expression on their faces.

„CL! Lulu! How long has it-“, Terror started but was cut short as another combined beam hit the ground in front of him.

„Cut the crap, Terror! How did you escape?!“, Luna yelled.

„Beats me. I woke up one morning and while yawning, the box suddendly snapped open. I though you were the ones who let me out.“

„We would NEVER let you out! Not after what you did!“, Celestia yelled.

„Wait, what did he do?“, Rarity asked.

„He is the reason Luna and I were the only alicorns in Equestria for a very long time! Because he killed every other alicorn! Our parents, our uncles, our cousins, our whole family, he erased them and every other alicorn!“, Celestia yelled.

The Mane Six were shocked while Discord looked to the side ashamed.

„Wait…HE erased every other alicorn?! But…He’s such a nice guy!“, Fluttershy said.

„That’s all just an act he puts on! He is a vile villain, a heartless monster, a-“

„Alright, alright, you made your point clear. But I told you before and I will say it again: I’m sorry it had to come this far. But I had no other choice!“, Terror defended himself.

„Lies!“, Celestia yelled.

„Alright. Let’s calm down! There clearly seems to be a friendship problem between you three. So how about we get inside and talk about this, before this gets out of hand?“, Twilight suggested.

„Sound good to me.“, Terror said.

But the royal sisters were less open.

„There is nothing to talk about! Both we and Discord saw him do it!“

„Yes, but to be fair, we’ve never bothered to find out the full story.“, Discord said earning him furious looks from Celestia and Luna.

„Please, Princess Celestia. What do you have to lose?“, Twilight asked.

The two sisters stuck their heads together for a moment.

„Alright, fine.“, Celestia finally said.

Discord teleported the group inside into a small room. Celestia and Luna sat down on one side, Terror on the other and the rest in the middle.

„Now: How about we start from the very beginning? How did you meet?“, Twilight asked.

Celestia began recounting:

„It all began when we were still fillies. Back then we lived in a big castle with the other alicorns as well as Master Star Swirl. Though we were the only children there. One day, as we played outside, Terror and Discord came out of the bushes. Back then, they were still small as well. Both of them could talk and knew their names. But that was about it. They didn’t know how they came to be nor what their purpose was. So we took them to the council of elders who ruled over all alicorns. They ran through a series of tests with them and determined that they were the personifications of the natural forces that are destruction and chaos. They also found out that the two are very powerful. But since they couldn’t really control their powers, the elders gave them special rings which supressed their powers to a minimum so that the two could learn to control it. From then on, for the next few decades, we lived and learned together. In fact, we even became friends. Or rather in Discords case: As close to a friend as you can be with the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.“

„Wait. Didn’t you say you never had a friend before me?“, Fluttershy asked Discord.

„Well, you see, I still felt guilty about betraying my brother. So I actively supressed any memory of my time before I went on a chaotic rampage.“, Discord explained.

„You did what?“, Terror asked shocked.

„Eh-hem.“, Luna interrupted them before continuing.

„Over the decades, it became clear that Terror was way better at magic than any of us. He mastered his magic way quicker than Discord. So one day, the elders sent him away on secret mission. But when he returned, something was different about him. That was around the time the Pillers first formed so Master Star Swirl was away. That night, Terror asked us and Discord whether we wanted to go on a picnic with him the next morning to which we agreed. But the next morning, when we were ready to go, he hold us to go ahead saying the elders wanted something from him. Thinking nothing of it, we complyed. But after some time, Discord said he’d forgotten something so we teleported back. And that’s when we saw Terror unleashing a beam of pure destruction on the castle erasing it and everyone inside from existence! After that, we decided that he had to be punished. So we crafted the box. Then, Discord distracted him allowing us to seal him inside the box making it so only four alicorns could break him free. However, this experience changed us. Our relationship with Discord all but broke down and he soon left without saying anything. The Pillers helped us build the castle we lived in until you-know-what happened. And then, soon after the Pillers banished themself to Limbo, Discord returned, a changed draconequus. And you know the rest.“

„Thank you. Now, Terror: Why did you do it?“, Twilight asked.

Terror sighed.

„Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. So instead, let me show you. Discord: Please take us back in time to the Great Hall. The night I returned.“

„What? Oh! Right. I can do that.“, Discord said.

He snapped with his fingers. Suddendly, they were in a great hall filled with alicorns. But the alicorns didn’t notice them as the group was invisible, transparent and floated in the air.

„This has to be every alicorn in the castle!“, Celestia said.

An elderly alicorn flew into the air and began talking:

„Brothers and sisters! As you all know, we sent Terror to utterly destroy our enemies: The warmongering yaks, the greedy dragons and our biggest enemies, the changelings! We ordered him to kill every single one of them! Today, he returned claiming his mission to be completed. But when he told us, he killed every last yak, dragon and Changeling, we could hear in his voice that he lied to us! He most certainly left survivors! In other words: He betrayed us! We can no longer trust him to do as we say! Sooner or later, he will turn against us!“

The room exploaded in hooves trampling and shouts of agreement.

„But luckily, we made preperations. You see, the rings we crafted which supress the powers of the two brothers can also drain them, no matter where they are! But it takes a ritual to activate that feature. So we will prepare it tomorrow and do it tomorrow night when they are asleep. Once we have the power, we will throw Discord and Terror out and give the survivors Terror left a hint where to find the two depowered creatures. I’m sure, they will handle the rest. With their power in our hooves, we will then destroy the survivors and all other enemies. Now, everyone, close your eyes!“

The alicorns closed their eyes.

„All who are in opposition to this plan may rise now.“

But no one rose up.

„Very good. You can open your eyes again, everyone! The plan has passed!“

The hall erupted in cheers. Discord snapped his fingers again and the group was back in the present in the small room. But they were all in shock. Terror sighed and continued:

„I listend in on them so I learned about their plan. But at first, even though I already had doubts due to the mission they sent me on, I still didn’t want to believe it. I considered them my family for decades after all. I thought all night about another way. But I simply didn’t manage to come up with anything other than to destroy them. Please don’t get me wrong: I didn’t care much whether or not we kept our power. In fact, I expected myself that one day, they would come to the conclusion I’d become too powerful and turn on me. But I didn’t want my brother to go down with me. So I suggested the picnic to get you out of there. Then, I used a beam of pure destruction to destroy the castle and everyone inside. It was the quickest and most painless way possible. It was the best I could do in that situation.“

For a moment, there was silence. Then Celestia took a deep breath and began speaking:

„After all that, I think I can understand you now, Terror. If I was in your situation, I would have propably acted similarly.“

Luna agreed and added:

„But just because we can understand you now, doesn’t mean we can forgive you. You still killed our family. You could have at least told us about all of this before you did it. We don’t hate you with a burning fury anymore. But we would still prefer to never see you again.“

Terror sighed and said:

„I think at this point, that is the best I could hope for. Thank you for your understanding. And again. I’m sorry. May you be able to live the rest of your days in peace. Goodbye.“

With these words, he teleported away.

Terror had made himself a camping place for the night in the Everfree Forest. Suddendly, he heard movement from the bushes behind him.

„Hello?! Anyone back there?! Come out, you don’t need to worry!“

A cloaked figure came out of the bushes.

„Good evening. May I help you?“, Terror asked politely.

„No. But I believe I can help you.“

„What do you mean?“

„I have some information you might be very interested in.“