The Herd

Chapter 9

“This is all your fault!” Chrysalis screeched. Magic flashed and crackled all around the courtyard of the hedge maze, faster than the changeling queen could track. At least half the spells seemed to be nothing more than flash and bang; distracting, but not actually dangerous. However one of those had turned out to actually contain a hidden spell that had almost laid her out flat on the cobblestones, which now had her questioning just how harmless the rest might be.

“My fault, I think not,” Discord scoffed, waggling the trowel clenched in one hand condescendingly . “I wasn’t the one sloppily throwing magic around in an arcane minefield.” He scooped another glob of cement out of the bucket at his feet, and finished filling the hole his impact had left in the hedge maze.

“If you hadn’t provoked me,” Chrysalis growled, eyes scanning for an opening. Even without the potential dangers hidden in the light-show, escape was looking more and more unlikely. The entire courtyard was now encased in a dome of shimmering energy, rather akin to the barrier that had surrounded Canterlot during her previous trip to the city. Despite being condensed into a much smaller area however, the dome seemed charged with even more power than the city spanning blockade had been. Chrysalis was certain that touching such a force would not end well for anyone foolish enough to do so.

On top of that, the city guard had begun to arrive. It had only taken seconds for the first pegasi to come screaming out of the sky, taking up positions above the courtyard, weapons at the ready. Flashes of light within the maze passages marked unicorn teleportation, and the buzz of magic in the air grew thicker as spells where prepared. It couldn’t be much longer until the ground troops arrived.

“Well, this is going to be some party,” Discord chuckled as he surveyed the gathering force arrayed against them. “I do hope the games will be as fun as they're promising to be.”

“You’re insane,” Chrysalis spat. “We’ll be lucky to get out of this alive.”

“Nonsense,” Discord replied flippantly. “And trust me, I’m a man who knows his nonsense.”

Chrysalis’s respond was cut off by a burst of magic, the aura familiar amongst the multitude of energy surrounding the courtyard. Despite the situation, she felt her lips curl in a mocking smile.

“Why, is that my ex-fiancée I sense?” She crooned, turning her gaze towards the newest arrival. Stern blue eyes met hers from just on the other side of the barrier, a carefully controlled anger burning within. “Aww, you’re still upset about our falling out I see.”

“Chrysalis,” Shining Armor spoke the name as a curse. “To think there actually is a way I could be glad to see you again.” He regarded her coldly. “You are under arrest, surrender immediately…or don’t. I would not be sorry if you didn’t.”

“Why don’t you take down this barrier, and we’ll see who is sorry,” Chrysalis purred.

“If it was in my power to do so, I promise you, I already would have,” Shining Armor replied with a cold calm.

“My my my,” Discord chuckled. “Celestia has gotten paranoid of late, not even trusting her captain of the guard?”

“Trust has nothing to do with it,” a soft voice echoed through the maze. Flames erupted near the inner apex of the dome in a dazzling vortex of fire. “There are simply some things that I must do, personally.”

The fire burnt away, revealing a figure clad in shining golden mail. The individual links of the armor blazed in a thousand pinpricks of rippling light that ran across the metal like liquid flame. She stood upon a roiling thundercloud that crackled and flashed with internal lightning. An elegant but sharply pointed crown rose from her ethereal strands of pastel hair. Wings of a white so pure they seemed to emit their own light spread wide, and Celestia pointed an imperious finger down at the spirit of chaos.

“Discord,” she spoke, her words filling the entire maze despite the softness of her tone. “You go no further this day.”

“Oh very impressive Celestia,” Discord replied with a mocking applause. “I have to congratulate you on the theatrics, and might I add, you look quite fetching in the armor.”

Celestia’s horn blazed, and the very air vibrated with sudden power.

“I hate you,” Chrysalis growled at the still grinning madman.

“You could break a fellow’s heart saying such things Crissy,” Discord said in a wounded tone.

“Shut up and figure something out!” Chrysalis snapped. Energy was pouring out of the surrounding spell-works in a flood of magic. “Can’t you feel that? She must have been storing power here for months! And she’s about to use it all on us!”

“Actually, probably just on me,” Discord corrected without a trace of concern. Above them, Celestia horn glowed with power enough that it drowned out the midday sun. “You only need to be concerned about being burnt to a cinder by the backwash.”

Points of light sprang to life around Celestia, and Chrysalis let out a wordless cry of frustration and fury as she let loose a sickly green blast of power at the princess. The deadly beam barely made it halfway to its target before simply breaking apart like a wave upon rocks, the spell destroyed by nothing more than the sheer magnitude of energy surrounding the high ruler of Equestria.

The lights took forms, ghostly figures in a variety of colors; deep violet, sunny yellow, cheery pink, snowy white, sky blue, and purest orange. Bands of gold encircled the necks of five of the ethereal figures, a golden tiara gleaming upon the sixth. Gems glowed with a sudden solidity within the otherwise spectral apparitions.

“…oh,” Discord said simply, his tone disconcerted. “Well now that’s just plain cheating.”

Power leapt from the conjured Elements into Celestia’s waiting hand. She thrust her arm out towards Discord, and the energy roared out in a wash of rainbow light. Chrysalis flung herself desperately out of the way, pulling a barrier of energy around herself as she did. Her horn thrummed in pain as the immensity of the power washed over her, and she waited for it to tear her to pieces.

Only it didn’t.

There was a thunderous detonation against her arcane senses, and just like that, the power faded away as if it had never been. She dared to open one eye and found herself still whole and within the courtyard, her back pressed against the central dais. Her magical shield had been scattered as easily as vapor before a strong wind, and yet her body seemed whole. In fact, she felt as refreshed and energized as if she had just recently fed upon a particularly potent source of love. It left her feeling almost giddy.

Then she caught sight of Discord, and the sudden high vanished. A fresh statue stood beside one wall of the hedge maze, leaning back in a casually indifferent manner against the cement patchwork.

“Now,” that terrible, soft voice echoed around the courtyard. “To deal with you.”

Chrysalis scrambled to her feet, turning to face Celestia. She sneered with forced bravo. “You want to try me again? Maybe you don’t remember what happened the last time we fought.”

Celestia looked down upon her with unconcerned calm. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

Chrysalis sensed a sudden surge of energy behind her a half second before what felt like frozen bands of steel wound about her throat. She spun, horn charging with power, to find Princess Luna stepping out of a void within the air, strands of the night sky twisting from her fingers into a garrote.

The princess of the night wore scaled armor made of silver and shadows. Twisted spires of purest darkness flowed from her crown, more noticeable for where it obstructed her star filled mane than for itself. The night flowed around her in defiance of the sun above, and half formed images danced in that void; things normally only seen out of the corner of the eye, the nightmares of the imagination.

Chrysalis readied her counter strike, but writhing tendrils whipped free of the noose line to encircle her horn. Her spell crumbled at the freezing touch of Luna’s power like brittle ice, her power sparking off around her in a feeble light show. She reached for her magic again, but it was suddenly like trying to juggle while someone held her wrists, the necessary precision impossible to maintain.

The shimmering cord around her throat tightened, and blackness began swim at the edges of her vision. She dropped onto her hands and knees as a crippling exhaustion stole the strength from her limbs. She couldn’t reach her magic, and it wouldn’t be more than a handful of seconds before her blood starved brain just gave out. Chrysalis wondered if she would wake up again.

Then there was an odd metallic impact in her ears, and Luna’s crown came spinning across the cobblestones to bump against her hand. Chrysalis stared at it in numb minded confusion for a moment, before realizing her vision was clearing and that the crushing pressure at her throat had lifted.

Her eyes tracked upwards groggily to find Discord standing over Luna’s now prone form, a slightly dented bucket of cement swinging from one hand. She blinked at that, her mind certain the sight shouldn’t make any sense. With difficulty, she glanced back over her shoulder.

The fresh Discord statue was gone. Instead there was only Celestia, who was nearly statue stiff herself, frozen in mid-step from climbing down off her now grounded storm cloud. She was staring at Discord with a look of alarmed confusion that made Chrysalis want to laugh, though her throat probably couldn't handle such a vocalization at the moment.

“Impossible,” Celestia whispered.

“Why thank you,” Discord replied with a bow. “I do try.”

“How? You should be sealed away,” Celestia took a cautious step off her cloud, her eyes flicking down to her sister’s unmoving body for a brief instant before returning to the chaos spirit. Her face had hardened into an unreadable mask, but emotions raged within her violet eyes; anger, fear, panic, consideration.

“It’s really the simplest things that always trip you up, isn’t it Celestia?” Discord mused. “All that hard work. How much time did you put into mimicking the effect of the Elements? How much power? And in the end it was all for nothing because you overlooked one tiny little thing.” Green fire flashed, and Discord’s form reverted to that of the changeling body he possessed. “Those weren’t actually the Elements of Harmony Celestia, merely a copy of one specific use of them.”

“And that magic was designed to entrap the spirit of chaos,” Celestia finished with painful understanding. “Not a changeling.”

“Exactly so,” Discord said smugly as he transformed back into himself. “So now that you’ve wasted your best shot…”

Celestia’s hand snapped out, and a bar of blinding white light streaked from her palm. It glowed with an intensity that nearly made it nearly a physical object, and Chrysalis felt her skin prickle with heat from its mere passage.

Discord casually swung his dented bucket up, and caught the beam within the flimsy pail as if it was nothing more than a stream of water. The energy blazed and roiled within the bucket in imitation of the sun itself, but Discord just tucked it under one arm without concern and flashed Celestia his lopsided grin.

“As I was saying,” Discord went on. “Ah ah ah Celestia,” He interrupted himself as the solar princess drew upon her magic again. He held the bucket out, and tipped it slightly over. A few trickles of molten power spilled forth and the energy hissed and smoldered horribly as it consumed a tiny patch of stone where it landed; directly beside Luna’s head.

“Be a good girl now,” Discord prompted, and smirked in smug satisfaction as Celestia reluctantly let her gathered magic dissipate. “That’s better.

“What do you want?” Celestia demanded, her voice crackling with barely restrained emotion.

“What I always wanted my dear,” Discord replied. “Chaos, turmoil, entertainment. I want to see all order torn down. I want to do as I please, when I please, to whom I please. I want to turn the world upside down and see what shakes loose. I want to show people that all the structures and laws and rules and social expectations are nothing more than cheap dreams binding them to lives of bland order and mind dulling regularity.” He considered his surroundings. “However, at this moment I will settle for you taking down the barrier and letting me walk free.”

“Never,” Celestia hissed.

“Are you certain about that?” Discord asked whimsically, swirling the bucket over Luna thoughtfully.

“Don’t listen to him Tia,” Luna slurred painfully.

“Really now?” Discord chuckled. “Miss Nightmare Moon, playing the hero?” He dug a foot under one shoulder and kicked Luna over onto her back. “Are you sure you want to start being selfless at this moment?”

“We play at nothing,” Luna groaned. “But we would gladly lay down our life just to spit in your eye, cur.”

“Ah, well in that case,” Discord seized her by the chin, pulling her head up as he placed the rim of the bucket at her lips. “How about a soothing drink to help get the saliva going?”

“Discord!” Chrysalis called in warning, and the chaos spirit ducked aside just before Shining Armor’s sword would have taken his head. He spun towards the captain of the guard, flinging his deadly bucketful of molten sunshine in a wide arc.

Shining Armor dropped, throwing his body between Princess Luna and the attack even as he called a protective shield of force into existence. Celestia’s stolen power erupted into a roiling inferno as it struck the ground, the conflagration completely covering both Equestrians.

Discord didn’t waste time waiting to see if either would emerge again. The bucket went flying, erupting into a spray of razor edged shards that forced Celestia to fall back. He flashed across the courtyard to Chrysalis’s side, a clawed hand clamping on her wrist. “Please keep all arms and legs inside the ride,” he droned happily, eying the small parting that had been opened in the barrier to allow Shining Armor to creep inside.

“What are you…?” Chrysalis started to say, but her words were lost in a sudden rush as she was dragged along, and the world vanished in a blinding flash of light.

“What do y'all mean, ‘why’?”

Rarity arched one delicate eyebrow, but otherwise barely reacted to the outburst. “I would think what I meant should be perfectly clear.”

“Well maybe y'all thought wrong,” Applejack growled in response.

“Please,” Fluttershy meekly tried to intervene. “There’s no reason to…”

“Or maybe the question was too difficult for you?” Rarity said frostily, talking right over the pegasus.

“Y'all best not be questioning my smarts.”

“I’m sure we can work this out peaceful…” Fluttershy tried again.

“It’s not your ‘smarts’ I’m questioning,“ Rarity said with precision sarcasm. “But rather your rational.”

“Ah dun see much difference there,” Applejack scoffed. “Y'all still implying we ain’t thinkin’ straight.”

“Well then prove me wrong,” Rarity said simply. She settled back in the train bunk, one arm wrapped rather possessively around Spike, who was watching the proceedings with something approaching alarm. “Why do you and Fluttershy want to join us in a herd? Give me a good reason.”

Applejack scowled at the unicorn, muttering under her breath. Her eyes tracked upward in a thoughtful expression, then cast sideways at Fluttershy with a silent “help me” look.

“W-well…” the meek mare said softly. “We were talking,” she made a tiny gesture at AJ and herself. “And well uh, it seems like everyone is kind of getting together right now…”

“Wait, so you know about…” Rarity started, but cut herself off, not wanting to voice a secret until she was certain it was already spoiled.

“Yeah, she knows about Twi and Dash and Pinkie,” Applejack supplied. “Sumthin’ ‘bout standard mammal mating habits?” She finished questioningly, and Fluttershy nodded.

“I noticed some behavioral patterns between them that is fairly typical of mammals that engage in group mating practices, as well as certain physiological reactions whenever they are …” she trailed off at the amazed look Rarity and Spike were giving her. “Uh well anyway, it just seemed very obvious to me.”

“Very astute of you Fluttershy. However that doesn’t really explain why you want to join us,” Rarity said, though rather more gently than she had spoken to Applejack.

“Uh, I guess I was, I think, that is…” Fluttershy ducked her rapidly reddening face until her bangs mostly hid her features.

“Look, y'all gunna need more than just the two of y'all to make a proper herd,” Applejack cut in. “Who ya gunna find better than us?”

“She does have a point there,” Spike offered in a carefully neutral tone. Rarity’s gaze snapped over on him, her eyes sharp. The dragon flinched slightly.

“I’m sorry,” Rarity spoke to Applejack and Fluttershy, though she kept her eyes on the dragon beside her. “But a lack of better options is not really a valid reason to accept someone into a herd.”

“What do y'all want then?” Applejack demanded. “Written references?”

“What I want,” Rarity said firmly, turning her attention back on the cowgirl. “Is a good reason.”

“We’re y'all friends! We like y'all, we care about y'all!”

“And I care about you too Applejack,” Rarity said, some softness coming to her words. “But that is not the same thing as wanting to have you as a lover. Do you really want to share a bed with me again?”

“That…that was different,” Applejack protested. “And we made up afterwards anyway.”

“Yes, and I think it was good for our friendship,” Rarity said. “But you’re not asking to just be my friend. Or did you think we would be passing Spike around like a party favor?”

Said dragon opened his mouth, then seemed to think better of it, and shut it without commenting.

“C-course not,” Applejack flustered. “Ah wasn’t suggestin’ nothin’ like that.” The cowgirl seemed to deflate in on herself a bit.

“Then what?” Rarity asked bluntly. “What would you want out of this?”

“Ah, Ah want…” Applejack said, looking like the words were fighting her to come out. “…shoot, just forget it.” She mumbled finally, turning and storming out of the train car. She slammed the door shut behind her with a loud bang.

Rarity let out a sharp sigh, and sagged against Spike. She glanced up at Fluttershy, her lips pressed tightly together. The pegaus looked back at her nervously for a moment, then turned and slowly followed Applejack without a word.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Spike said carefully.

“It could have,” Rarity agreed in a strained voice. “If she would just stop being so stubbornly prideful…” Her face scrunched up as her eyes glistened. “All she had to do was…was…”

“I know,” Spike said. He really didn’t, but his instincts told him it was the right thing to say, and so far they had a better track record with women then he did. He put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly, and she turned to rest her head against his chest. They just sat there, with nothing but the rhythmic clacking of the wheels on the tracks to fill the silence.

Then everything went dark. Absolutely, utterly pitch black darkness. The sudden void of light was disorienting in its completeness, but Spike felt it when something appeared in the car before him. It was the same nagging sense that had warned him of Rainbow Dash sneaking up on him. The memory tempered his reaction, somewhat. He was already on his feet, imposing himself between the whatever and Rarity, though this time he kept his tail in check.

A heartbeat after it appeared, the void retreated, letting light return, revealing a tall, armored figure standing within the walkway between the bunks. Before he had time to take in the details though, she became aware of Spike looming over her, and lashed out in surprise. Starry tendrils of shadow whipped out at the dragon, who shocked everyone, himself included, by roaring in response.

The sound was a physical force in its own right. It rattled the entire train car, sent lines of cracks racing through the windows, and startled one princess of the night into stunned stillness. Luna only hesitated for an instant, but it was enough for Spike’s tail to streak down under her magical conjurations and take her feet right out from under her. She gave a rather undignified cry as she landed hard on her backside, the impact ruining her concentration. Her spells dissipated like smoke.

“Oh…” Spike groaned in alarm as his thinking mind caught up with events. “Oh horseapples.”

“This,” Luna said in a long suffering kind of tone. “Has been quite the unpleasant day.”

“I am so sorry princess,” Spike babbled. “I didn’t know it was you until, I shouldn’t have, I wasn’t…”

“At ease Spike,” Luna broke in wearily, hauling herself to her feet. “We did arrive unexpected and suddenly. Thou need not apologize for thy reaction.”

“Your majesty,” Rarity said, slipping around Spike to give a proper bow of greeting, which faltered halfway as she caught sight of heavy bandages wound around the princess’s head. “Sun and moon, what happened to you?” She blurted in shock.

“Trouble,” Luna replied simply. “Where are the others?”

On cue, the car door sprung open. Twilight Sparkle headed the onrush, and was nearly trampled for her speedy response when she came to an abrupt halt at finding one half of the royal family before her. She hadn’t been certain what to expect when she’d come to investigate the bone shaking roar that had jolted her out of her daydreams, but this had not been high on the list of likelihoods. Luckily for her, Applejack was second in line, and the sturdily built cowgirl managed to hold back the rest of their friends in the resulting pileup.

“Excellent,” Luna announced, raising her voice to drown out any attempt by the gathering to start asking questions. “We do apologize, but we require that thou return with us to Canterlot, immediately. Discord hast escaped.”

The princess paused for the expected gasps of surprise before once again overriding any inquires with verbal brute force.

“We will discuss matters back in the castle,” she announced, her tone offering no room for comment. “Gather round us, as close as thou can.”

There was little to be done but obey, and in seconds the creeping shadow of Luna’s power flowed to surround them all. The trip was short, but unnerving. It was like being blindfolded and tossed into the deepest depths of the ocean. There was no light, no sense of direction, only a crushing icy pressure as vague, alien sounds drifted somewhere off in the void.

Then they were dropped within the throne room of the palace, the light and warmth of such normal surroundings a pleasant welcome. Less pleasant was the gathering of armed and armored soldiers that lined the walls, or the frantic bustle of scribes and palace servants that buzzed about with an air of nervous energy. Worse still was the sight of Princess Celestia, standing at the center of the half organized swarm, issuing commands and directions even as a trio of doctors applied ointments and bandages to the numerous cuts that crisscrossed her body.

“Princess!” Twilight’s voice cut through the thrum of voices as she shoved her way through the crowd. She came to a sudden halt just a step away from Celestia, her face marred with emotion was she struggled to comprehend what she was seeing.

“Twilight,” Celestia greeted her prized student with her usual calm voice. She made a brief, dismissive motion to the gathered servants, who quickly tucked away their scrolls and quills and bustled on out of the room. The soldiers went with them; the doctors however cast uncertain looks among themselves.

“Your majesty,” the eldest tried to protest, but a stern look from his patient shut him down. The old unicorn clenched his jaws in frustration, but gave a stiff bow of acquiesce, and then ushered his companions out before him.

“Oh princess,” Twilight said, half reaching out to her before pulling her arm back.

“Please, I am alright,” Celestia said soothingly, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. She smiled down at the purple mare, though there was something strained in her eyes. “There is much more to worry about then injuries this minor.”

“Right, right,” Twilight replied, clearly working to pull herself back together. “Princess Luna said Discord managed to escape.”

“Yes,” Celestia nodded. “Queen Chrysalis managed to free his mind from the prison the Elements entrapped him in. His power is much diminished, but the threat he poses to Equestria is hardly lessened for it.”

“Don’t worry princess, we stopped him once, we can stop him again,” Twilight said, some bravado returning to her words. Behind her she heard her friends voice their earnest agreement and support.

“That’s…well spoken Twilight,” Celestia replied with an odd catch in her words. Her gaze swept over to her sister, and Luna nodded solemnly.

“Come,” the princess of the night commanded. “We shall bear thee to the Elements, that you may take them up in preparation.”

Twilight started to turn to follow, but Celestia’s hand upon her shoulder tightened. She gave a little start of surprise, looking back up at her mentor.

“Stay a moment,” Celestia said quietly. “I…I have…to tell you something.”

Twilight felt her stomach clench at the princess’s tone, at the sudden cracks she noticed in the carefully prepared mask Celestia wore. The twinkle had gone out of the solar princess's eyes, replaced by a deep pain.

“Princess?” Twilight asked, tears already coming to her eyes. “What’s happened?”

Just outside the throne room, Spike came to a sudden halt, and Rainbow Dash gave an annoyed grunt as she had to jump aside to avoid running into him.

“Spike, what the hay?” she complained at him.

“Twilight’s not with us,” the dragon said, looking back over his shoulder.

“Our sister has need to speak with Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her tone rather moderate.

“About what?” Dash demanded.

“About a consequence of Discord’s escape,” Luna replied after a moment’s pause. Her eyes fell to the floor, and her voice turned bitter. “Our injuries, mine and my sister's, are the least of those inflicted.”

Before anyone could ask for clarification, a wordless wail pierced the air. It was pain, and grief, and denial made sound. It rose into a feverish pitch of purest anguish before dissolving into painful, racking sobs. The specter of that cry echoed in the minds of everyone gathered as they turned towards the source, as they looked back down the length of the throne room to where Celestia stood, her head bowed as she held her ever faithful student. Held her, and tried to find words of comfort and apology for what her stolen power had wrought.