The Madgod's Freedom

Chapters

The Madgod's Entrance
Discord's Friend
The Art of Parasprites
Apologies and Ambitions
Tensions Rise
You Can't Spell 'Funeral' Without 'Fun'
A Villain's Power
Bad Ending: Madness's Bliss
True Ending: Chaos's Bliss
The Madgod's Nature: It's All Just a Game

The Madgod's Entrance

“Ah, it was the end of the Third Era. I simply adore eras.  With their little e’s and a’s.  Oh, and those disgusting Greymarches that always accompany them!  Can’t stand those.  At least they come with cheese!  Where was I?

Oh, right, the Third Era.  My good pal Jyggalag was on his way home from nowhere, ready to take my precious Shivering Isles from me!  Then that Champion showed up, and started killing all the Knights of Order!  The bloodshed was delicious!  Delicious and tasty!  But anyway, the Champion stopped all that.

Yes, I don’t think I ever gave him his cheese.  Or plucked out his eyes like I promised!  I hate to be a liar.  Oh well, his loss!  Well, Jyggalag showed up and started fixing my Madness, and that just made me mad!  And then he had the nerve to turn me into him!  Then the Champion killed me.  Now here I am.

He’s the new me, and the old me is still me.  I wonder if he worships me, or if I worship myself.  Do we worship each other?  Oh well, more cheese for me!”

Sheogorath watched as his Champion’s blade pierced through the armor of the being he’d been turned into. Jyggalag’s armor wasn’t near enough to keep the Greymarch functioning. The Madgod silently cheered as he listened to his counterpart’s speech.

“Enough! I am beaten. The Greymarch is ended. For millennia this drama has unfolded, and each time, I have conquered this land, only to be transformed back into that gibbering fool, Sheogorath.”

The Daedric prince in question let out a silenced grunt of indignant laughter.

“It was not always so. Once, I ruled this realm, a world of perfect Order. My dominion expanded across the seas of Oblivion with each passing era. The other princes, fearful of my power, cursed me with Madness, doomed me to live as Sheogorath, a broken soul reigning in a broken land.”

Sheogorath chuckled at his counterpart’s contempt for Madness. Madness was a blessing upon the dull lives of mortals. Just like cheese.

“Once each era, I was allowed my true form, conquering this land anew. And each time I did, the curse was renewed, damning me to exist as Sheogorath. Now, though, you have ended the cycle. You now hold the mantle of Madness, and Jyggalag is free to roam the voids of Oblivion once more.”

The Madgod laughed at the idea of holding the mantle of Madness. One does not simply hold Madness; Madness holds one simply!

“I will take my leave, and you will remain here, mortal. Mortal…? King? God? It seems uncertain. This realm is yours. Perhaps you will grow to your station. Fare thee well, Sheogorath, Prince of Madness.”

With that, the Daedric Prince of Order, along with his subconscious Prince of Madness, vanished from the mortal realm of reality. While Jyggalag returned to the planes of the void of Oblivion, Sheogorath was left without a place to return to. Having just been a piece of Order with a side of Chaos, he was no longer an entity of his own.

In short, he didn’t exist. He was replaced by the Champion he hired to kill him. And the other him likely wouldn’t want him back. And so, being nothing but nothing, the Madgod began his search for a new entity to become. And boy, did he become! The Prince of Cheese—or was it Madness?—he couldn’t tell anymore…continued to journey from one consciousness to another, checking each for a suitable suitor to fit his suit.

Finally, after minutes of searching, hours of looking, and days of liking, he stumbled across a world with a single being almost as chaotic and demented as himself. Of course, when you judge Madness by appearance, you’re oftentimes right, and so the Madgod decided this creature would do the trick, chaos or no.

And wouldn’t you know, when Sheogorath found the perfect body, it was already eating cheese! …And making chaos… But mostly eating cheese!

…

The familiar draconequus whistled a happy tune as he drifted back and forth across the large dining room he’d been instructed to clean. Of course, he wouldn’t have had to clean it if he hadn’t summoned a giant cotton-candy chocolate milk cloud the previous evening to break up an uptight dinner party the local snobs were hosting. But no, he wasn’t technically allowed to use his chaos for fun. And so, under Princess Celestia’s watchful tattle-tales, the fun-loving beast was forced to pretend to actually clean the mess he’d made.

Sure, he could simply snap his claws and the mess would be gone, but it wasn’t often he was alone with the Canterlot guards, and he intended to annoy them as much a possible before being summoned back to the castle. While they constantly nagged him to get to work, pleading that they couldn’t end their shift until they’d supervised his restoration of the dining hall, he nibbled away at a block of disgustingly-smelly cheese.

Each time they would say something, he would snort back, “I’ll clean the room when I finish my snack.”

And then, just when the guards were certain he was finished, the block would restore itself to full. After about the fifth time, the guards gave up, and joined him in his cheese-consuming endeavors. It was finally time for the night guards’ shifts to restart when the draconequus decided to actually do some cleaning, and by that point they had already been summoned back to duty by the guard captain.

With an innocent grin of harmless fun, the beast restored his mess and continued to nibble away at his tasty dairy product. Which, as the guards would soon find out, was not catered to the equine biology.

Finally finishing the block of cheese in full, the chaos-loving thing let out a content sigh, “Ah, it’s good to be free from that prison, and with almost no strings attached…” To accompany his sigh, although there were no witnesses around, he spawned a marionette’s crossbar above his head, thin wires wrapping around his limbs.

Just as he undid the action, a maniacal voice rang out around him. “Ah, I see you love a bit of Madness on your own terms! I like terms, especially when they’re mine!” In the blink of an eye, the Madgod appeared before him like a ghost in a haunted mansion. As you might guess, the two shared a common interest in ghosts, because they never made any sense.

The bipedal being’s sudden appearance from thin air startled Discord, who proceeded to re-spawn his cheese. He decided he would stick around a while if random creatures were going to appear in thin air.

“You could say that, yes. And who might you be, my two-legged friend?” Discord bit a chunk from his chunk and swallowed hastily.

Sheogorath tossed his cane in the air and groaned, “No, no, no! That’s all wrong! That isn’t how you eat cheese! This is how you eat cheese!” A giant wheel of Cyrodiil’s finest cheese burst into existence in the man’s hand, which he immediately shoved into his mouth, chewing in a disgustingly loud manner, crumbs of the dairy getting all over the freshly-cleaned carpet.

Discord chuckled, following in the man’s example, “My, aren’t you a funny little biped?”

“And don’t you forget it, you mismatched animal! Or I’ll have to pluck out your eyes! Or…no…I’ll take away your cheese!” the Madgod shuddered, “That’s the worst punishment of all!”

Swallowing the mountain of processed dairy, the draconequus scoffed, “Oh no, my friend. You can’t begin to understand what ‘punishment’ is until you’ve been trapped in stone for two millennia.”

“Hah!” the Daedric prince scoffed. “Try having your body stolen and kingdom completely leveled at the end of every era! It makes it hard to eat cheese when you aren’t yourself!” At the mention of the dairy product, he spawned another wheel and ate it in similar fashion to the previous.

Discord considered this and chuckled, “You’ve got me there, no doubt. So, what exactly are you supposed to be?” The beast followed in his companion’s footsteps, consuming another wheel of preferred cheese.

“I’m a Daedra! What kind of rock do you live under?! I’m the Ex-Prince of Madness, the Ex-Madgod, the Ex-Cheese Master! You can call me Sheogorath. And if you don’t, I’ll end up skipping rope with your hide!” After swallowing the mess of cheese, he continued, “And what exactly are you? A dragon? Maybe you’re a horse! Ooh, what about a dragon-mounted horse with mudcrab meat!”

The draconequus took a minute to actually examine his conversation partner. The man was obviously demented, both physically and mentally. He had the look of an aged creature, and his eyes shined with years of grotesque insanity. Discord liked him.

“I’m a little bit of everything, actually. Except Daedra, whatever that is. Dragon, pony, lion, eagle, etc.” He casually waved a claw around as if his composition was of no importance.

The demented humanoid sighed, “I hate things that aren’t all themselves! I hate indecision! I hated myself, until I killed me. Now I’m here, talking to another indecisive beast! Why don’t you just fix yourself?” Sheogorath’s staff finally fell to the ground, a ray of red light engulfing Discord.

When the light faded, the draconequus found himself in the form of a full-fledged, albeit small, dragon. He groaned, “To put it simply, the way I am is an embodiment of the power I used to abuse. I hate when things make sense! I prefer complete confusion over simple puzzles any day…” With a snap of his claws, he returned to his normal shape.

Sheogorath flinched and gasped, “By the Nine Divines, you just changed back! I didn’t say you could change back! How dare you? …I like dares…”

“You seem good at what you do, Sheogorath. You like chaos, don’t you?” The beast chuckled, remembering a few of his own amazing chaotic commands.

The Madgod sighed, “Do I certainly? I certainly do! Well, I prefer Madness over chaos, but what can you do. Maybe both, now that I think of it. I guess you and I are pretty close now! I’ve never met something that could mess with my Madness!” He attempted to return Discord to a dragon state, but found the creature’s own magic as powerful as his.

Discord laughed, “I used to be like that as well. However, two-thousand years in isolation helped me decide that freedom is more important than abuse of power.”

“With your kind of power, how’d you get trapped? Did they catch you full of cheese? That’s my weakness! Oh, and the Greymarches, but they’re gone now!” Sheogorath summoned a small throne to sit on as he awaited the chaotic beast’s explanation.

The abomination sighed, “It’s quite a terrible tale, truly.” He summoned his own bed of cotton-candy to lie on, and then continued, “I used to rule this kingdom with my chaos, but some of the citizens didn’t like that. Some magical gems showed up one day, and my ex-lover and her sister used them to seal me away.” With that, Discord summoned more cheese.

The Ex-Prince of Madness sighed, “That’s why I never love people. They betray you. Also, they don’t like cheese. Or Madness. Actually, they don’t like your voice. Or your kingdom. I actually think one of them tried to trim my beard. She died.” He shuttered at the thought of having his facial hair removed.

“Yes. Truly, no one can appreciate good chaos like a master of it. But I promised my dear Celestia I would behave in exchange for my freedom, so I can only use chaos in controlled spurts.” Discord placed a hand dramatically to his forehead, almost as if he were seriously hurt by his self-control.

Sheogorath laughed, “I would never give up Madness for freedom! Especially since they go hand in hand! Or do they go foot in mouth? I can’t remember…” A loud knocking erupted at the dining hall’s door. “With that, our meeting is adjourned. The next time we meet, we’ll have a feast! Cheese wheels, cheese balls, cheese powders! Ooh, I’ll even bake some cheese fondues! Perhaps there will be cabbage…”

As the door slowly opened, Discord did away with the evidence of the Madgod’s presence, just as the Madgod vanished. The stallion that entered the room spoke in a shaky voice, “Discord, Princess Celestia has summoned you to the throne…”

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his claws, vanishing from the room. As the draconequus warped toward the throne room, Sheogorath’s voice echoed, “Tata! I’ll visit again soon! And if I don’t, you can pluck out my eyes, hahaha!”

The beast let out a chuckle, the chaos emanating from the strange creature he’d just met.

Discord's Friend

Discord relaxed atop the cushioned bed in the small chamber he’d been given by Princess Celestia for his stay in Canterlot. The furniture was slightly too soft for his tastes, but he didn’t have the nerve to alter its properties for fear of being snitched on by the princess’s watchful eyes. There was a fine line between what the princess considered ‘abuse of power’ and ‘harmless fun,’ as the draconequus had found out upon his return to the castle.

The little stunt he pulled in ‘poisoning’—as Celestia called it—the two guards assigned to watch him was enough to get him sentenced to his chambers for the remainder of his stay in the bustling capitol city. To the beast’s delight, his stay was only meant to last for another few days, as he would be leaving with the princess’s loyal student and her friends on their trip back to the small town of Ponyville.

So, having nothing of interest to do in his cage of a room, Discord decided to catch a few hours of sleep before he would inevitably be called to Princess Celestia’s side to help in preparing for the large feast she had scheduled for the following evening in honor of whatever achievements the Elements of Harmony had obtained in the last few weeks. Ever since his release from his stone prison and his reformation to the side of good, he’d been requested to use his otherwise amazing powers for trivial and, quite frankly, embarrassing tasks.

Just the other evening, he’d been requested to warm up Prince Blueblood’s bathwater after the snobbish royal had allowed it to cool while conversing with a local musician on terms of front-row seats to a special performance in the local country club. It took six guards, two maids, and a direct order from Celestia’s sister Luna to finally convince Discord to perform the disgusting task for the brat.

Whenever he considered all the fun he could be having with his magic, and compared it to the idiotic chores he continued to be assigned, his head filled with a sense of annoyance enough to impact his very demeanor. You could always tell when he was lost in thought about his distant past.

The draconequus was pulled from his thoughts when a loud knocking roared at his chamber doors. He opened the door as he whispered, “That was faster than expected…”

Rather than a guard in golden armor as he had expected, the bipedal form of his conversational partner from earlier that evening strode into the room with a swagger in his step. As soon as he’d crossed the threshold, the demented humanoid used some of his own magic to slam the doors closed, continuing to approach the abominable beast before him.

“Discord, my friend! How long’s it been? Two, maybe three hours? I really can’t tell anymore… After several thousand years, hours feel like seconds!” Sheogorath snapped his fingers and took a seat in the chair that appeared behind him.

Discord rose to attention and chuckled, “I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, Sheogorath. How did you get past those pests outside without being caught?”

“Hahaha! That was easy as pie! Which is nice, because I love pie! Especially if it’s brain pie!” the Madgod sat back in the chair and relaxed. He continued, “But no, the guards were nothing a quick Mysticism spell couldn’t handle.”

Magic, as always. The draconequus sighed, “Was it necessary to entrance them at all? Couldn’t you simply appear in this room?”

“Of course I could! What do you think I am, a Dremora? No, that would’ve made too much sense. And like you said, there’s no fun in making sense!” Sheogorath took a moment to examine his companion’s room. “This is a lovely little box you’ve got here. Should I be concerned of being shipped to some faraway land?”

After several seconds of thought, the only response the beast could manage was a confused “What?”

The demigod scoffed, “This place is barely fitting for a man of Madness! Where are the chandeliers? The fountains of wine? The bowls of cheese?! The brain pie marinated in skooma?!” He snapped his fingers and watched as the walls of the room shot outward, generating an ear-grating screeching sound as they moved the rest of the castle with them.

Discord gasped, “I’m afraid this is all I have to work with while I’m in this city. And besides, this is all I need.” He snapped his claws and returned the wing of the castle to normal.

“I suppose you’re right. I imagine you have a mansion full of concubines and wine, waiting somewhere in this world for you to go to whenever you feel the need. And if you don’t, you should!” The Madgod let out a somber sigh, the excitement fading from his face temporarily.

The abominable beast replied, “I do not need such pleasantries. Simply being free is enough for me.”

The humanoid laughed, “It isn’t the freedom you enjoy, Discord! I can see it in your cheekbones! And your intestines, if I so choose. But mostly the cheekbones! You have emotion behind that scheming face, and emotions kill scheming faces!” He fell serious in a split second, continuing with, “You have creatures that you…you…care about in this world. That’s not healthy, not for anyone!”

Discord waved a dismissive claw and scoffed, “I have a friend. I have one friend who was determined to help me become good. It’s because of her I’m not a statue right now.” He smiled as if he’d just won an intense debate.

Sheogorath groaned, “You have a friend that required you to give up what you love. Unless she intends on lying with you each night under the red moon and bathing in skooma for your pleasure, you have no reason to sacrifice what makes you what the hell you are!” The Ex-Prince of Madness’s golden eyes emanated with a dark light.

“She believed in me when everypony else gave up. I owe her at least my promise.”

“You never needed a friend before! Those taken by Madness never need friends! Unless those friends can get us cheese or wine, we don’t need them! So why do you start now with the disgusting friendship mentality?!” The Daedra’s voice began to grow angry, as if in desperation.

Discord thought about the question for a few moments before sighing, “Having friends is nice. I’ve never had a friend before Fluttershy. I don’t intend on losing her.”

The Madgod frowned, resuming his original demented posture. “That hurts me, you know! Here I am, about to let you try my homemade brain pie, and you say I’m not your friend! Fine, and I’ll keep the fondue to myself!” On cue, a table topped with multiple different Shivering Isles foods appeared out of thin air.

The draconequus chuckled, “Do you think of me as a friend? We’ve only known one another for a few hours, and I hardly know what species of animal you are.” The two wasted no time in starting their feast on the food spread out before them.

Sheogorath sighed, “I’ve looked all over the place for someone like you. Yes, almost like my Champion, except I don’t need you to kill me. I really should give him his cheese…” he took a bite of a particularly moist piece of pie and continued, “I’ve searched big worlds and small worlds and pink worlds and cheese worlds across the planes of existence, but never once found another soul with an inkling for Madness like me.”

“Until you met me, that is?”

The Ex-Prince of Madness cheered, “Correct! The second I entered this world, I felt your Madness calling me! And now here we are, eating cheese! I only eat cheese with people I don’t want to kill!” With a smile, the Daedra summoned a large head of cabbage into his hand. “Would you like some cabbage? It’s not as tasty as cheese, but I find it has more substance.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Discord essentially dunked the head of cabbage into the large pot of fondue and popped the whole thing in his mouth at once. After taking time to chew and swallow, he asked, “So what’s your story, Sheogorath? You’ve given me blurbs and blips, but you haven’t painted the whole picture.”

“I hate painting…” he groaned. Then he cheered, “There’s not much to say. I was another person, completely sane if you could believe it! My brothers cursed me, and I became this! I hired a Champion to kill me so that the old me wouldn’t come back, and now I’m dead! I walk from world to world, trying to find entertainment, and so far this is the only world with results!”

Discord did a double take and chuckled, “You used to be sane? Talk about a curse…”

“Yes, yes, but I love this me. When I was finally killed by my Champion, I was split from the old me, the old me was restored, and I was left without a home. Now I’m here, talking to you.” After consuming another cheese-dipped cabbage, he continued, “You should know that to everyone else in this world, I don’t exist.”

“Oh, lovely. So if anypony walked in right now, they’d think I was crazy. Well, that’s not much different from usual, I suppose.” Discord let out an indifferent sigh as he continued to consume the dairy. “So you’re telling me you aren’t real to anypony else? I would assume it’s because of my affinity for chaos that I can communicate with you?”

“Bingo! But I can still manipulate the world around everyone, and that’s what makes this so amazing! But it gets lonely, not talking. I used to be a king, mind you! I had subjects that would try to drink skooma with me! I had lovely ladies wandering my halls, in more ways than one!” For a single moment, a glint of humanity flashed across the Madgod’s face. He sighed, “I fear that you will be the only soul I can ever talk to. Until I can find a body to take on as my own, I cannot exist physically.”

The abomination chuckled, “I’m certain somepony in this world wouldn’t mind missing their body. After all, who needs limbs and muscles?”

“It can’t be just any normal body, I’m afraid. It has to be one that can hold my magic of Madness! I once tried to possess a body, and it shattered under my weight! No, I need one capable of extraordinary feats.” The Madgod took an entire cheese ball in hand and munched away.

“Keep looking,” Discord started bluntly, “I’m sure you’ll find one somewhere in this great big reality. In the meantime, you can chat with me whenever you feel the need. Just so long as you bring this delicious fondue!”

“I’ve already found a body to take, if you could believe it.” The Ex-Prince of Madness chuckled slyly.

The draconequus raised an inquisitive eyebrow and asked, “Who did you have in mind?”

“Silly Discord, you need a mind before you can keep others in it!” he began with a maniacal laugh. He continued calmly, “I believe this Celestia you keep talking about is a suitable donor.”

“You can’t do that!” his companion snapped.

Sheogorath burst into laughter, “Ah, there’s that pesky emotion I was talking about! Calm down, will you? I have no intention of possessing a female body! No, I require a body with power and charm.” He dipped a small sweetroll into the fondue before summoning a napkin to place on the table.

The abomination attempted to recover from his sudden outburst by saying, “N-Not that it truly matters. I sometimes think that princess could stand to loosen up a little bit. Then again, there’s no guarantee her body would be enough to hold your insanity…”

Discord hesitated before commenting, “If we’re going to be friends, I need you to answer me one thing.”

“Go ahead, shoot.” The Madgod’s tone was somewhat threatening.

“Your attitude seems to jump around a lot. Should I be concerned?”

The Ex-Prince of Madness laughed, “You simple beast! Madness is made of two parts: Mania and Dementia! Mania is the fun-loving, excited side!” He continued in an angry growl, “Dementia is the threatening, dark side. It’s the side that helps people stop breathing!”

Discord sighed, “That’s duly noted, my friend. Shall we continue our feast?”

A banging erupted from the beast’s chamber doors. Sheogorath laughed, “I suppose it’s time for me to take my leave. Don’t let these useless vermin dictate your powers, Discord. You have them, they’re yours to have! Just like this cheese. Tata!”

With a tap of his staff, both Sheogorath and the evidence of his visit burst into nonexistence, leaving Discord all alone in the small chamber. The only sign left of their whole conversation was the cheese-smothered cabbage in the draconquus’s claw.

The soldier that entered the room was short of breath and had an urgent tone, “Come to the dining hall, quickly! We have an issue that needs to be resolved posthaste!”

Feeling that it was only right to indulge the castle’s residents in their trivial favors, the abomination swallowed his cabbage and cheese and burst through the air through the doorway. It’d been a nice while since he’d actually flown, and decided that such an urgent matter deserved the utmost priority…of comfort…

The Art of Parasprites

Discord hovered gently off of the ground as he watched the chaos within the dining hall carry on. Tiny little balls of color zipped back and forth across the hall, devouring everything they touched. The banners, tablecloths, silverware, plates, candles… Everything the maids had spent days setting up were being removed in the blink of an eye. When he’d first arrived, Discord only noticed two or three little pests. But now, not even five minutes later, there were at least a hundred.

The draconequus couldn’t help but smile at the locust-like creatures’ ability to throw everything into overdrive. Princess Celestia was busy trying to catch the cute pests with her magic, and the efforts inevitably went in vain. Even if she captured one with a magic field, its friends would simply devour the field and spit it back out. No, there was obviously only one way to solve the dilemma.

“As your princess I command you to do something about these creatures!” Celestia finally shouted at the abomination, her voice echoing with desperation.

Discord considered the favor very carefully before chuckling, “I think I’d rather not.”

“Discord!” the princess’s voice flooded with anger.

“Hear me out, my dear. These creatures have been nuisances for thousands of years, and never once have I needed my magic to dispose of them. Therefore, I believe it would be an abuse of my abilities to do so now.” Discord ended with a smug snort.

“But-!”

He tittered, “Ah-ah-ah, dear Celestia. You said yourself that I shouldn’t abuse my powers…”

Out of seemingly nowhere, a yellow Pegasus flew up beside Discord and quietly asked, “Umm, Discord, couldn’t you please do something about the Parasprites?” Fluttershy’s voice radiated with kindness, the very same that had convinced the chaotic beast that he truly valued her friendship.

A blue blur zipped by, leaving a rainbow-colored trail. Rainbow Dash groaned as she flew past, “Don’t waste your breath Fluttershy!” The trail continued to follow the largest group of collective Parasprites.

Discord considered his friend’s polite request, only to respond with a blunt, “I cannot. It is not necessary.”

The dining hall’s doors flew open as a desperate purple unicorn charged in. Stopping just beyond the threshold, Twilight Sparkle cheered, “Don’t worry Princess! Pinkie Pie is almost ready!”

Right on cue, the pink pony slid into the room and asked, panic in her voice, “Doesn’t anypony in this city own a tuba?!” Without waiting for a reply, she darted from the room, a string of instruments trailing behind her.

Just as Twilight followed her friend, a sack of the pests landed with a terrible thud on the table. An orange pony trotted into the room with a smug grin. She drawled, “Purty good work, if I do say so mahself. Got any more rope?”

After a few moments of the Parasprites not ripping from the sack, Princess Celestia cheered, “Good work, Applejack!” To a random guard running past she commanded, “Get the pony more rope! Hurry!”

Just as the guard fled the scene, the sack burst open, at least triple the number of pests she caught flying free from it. Applejack slumped to the ground and sighed, “So much for that.”

Discord admired the Elements’ abilities to suddenly show up just when they were needed. He also admired the fact that only one Element was missing to the mix, and hoped that she would arrive in a moment to make the whole plethora of ignorant ponies complete. Just on cue, as was usually the case, the white unicorn darted into the room, excitement plastered on her face.

Rarity carried a dress she had hoof-crafted in one hoof and a Parasprite in the other. She cheered, “Princess Celestia, I’ve made an amazing discovery!” She wrapped the pest in the fabric and placed it on the ground, staring intently at it. The fashionista giggled, “I found the little bug in my dress, and it couldn’t get out! They can’t eat the fabric!”

A swarm of the creatures landed on the dress, attempting to free their trapped brother. After several attempts at biting it, the dress simply wouldn’t give way. They eventually just picked up the clothing and unraveled it, freeing their brother all the same.

Celestia cheered, a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes, “That’s fantastic, Rarity! Can you fashion a large sack out of the material?”

“Why of course I can, Princess! I’ll get to work right away!” With that, the pony took a bow and attempted to charge from the room. She was met with the resistance of a swarm of the pests, which sent her flying toward the princess’s side.

Not a minute later, another swarm of the cute things burst into the room, carrying a screaming Princess Luna, who struggled to free herself from their collective grasp. Finally, after flying as high as the ceiling would allow, the vermin dropped her over the dining table. Landing gracefully on her hooves, the alicorn attempted to conceal the anger flooding the back of her mind.

One Parasprite giggled as it bit down on the Night Princess’s tale, sending a painful shock up her spine and releasing the bottled-up emotions. Luna’s eyes shined a white color as she roared, “DISCORD, BEAST OF CHAOS, YOU HOLD THE POWER TO STOP THIS MADNESS! WE COMMAND YOU DO SO IMMEDIATELY, OR YOU SHALL FEEL OUR WRATH!” The outburst ended as suddenly as it began, and Luna returned to her normal state.

The explosion of anger both amused and startled Discord. He hadn’t yet seen her angry since his rejuvenation, and it was quite the sight to behold. He chuckled, “Well with that attitude, my dear princess, I won’t be doing a thing.”

Luna hesitated as she added, “…er…please?” Her sheepish grin added an odd sense of beauty to her previously-angry demeanor.

The abomination feigned deep thought for a moment before persisting, “Not a chance.” He fell back lazily on the air and watched as the Parasprites continued their ravenous rampage.

Almost instantly, everything fell silent around the bored draconequus. He looked around to find everything stopped in place. The pests, the ponies, and even the dust particles were all suspended in place. A recently-familiar laugh called to him.

“Nothing like a good bit of Madness, don’t you think?” Sheogorath strode toward the beast with a new cane in hand. This one looked like cheese.

Discord laughed, “Was all this your doing?” His eyes shifted around as he continued in a whisper, “Lovely work my friend!”

“Oh heavens no! I’m not quite this vulgar, you see. No, the pests were brought here naturally. I’ve only been observing as the residents of the castle scramble about in panicked idiocy.” The Madgod waved a hand at the blue Pegasus that appeared to be charging toward them.

“Yes, it is quite amusing to think they can stop these bugs. As much as it pains me to say it, the pink one was the closest to figuring it out.” The draconequus summoned an illusion of Pinkie Pie with her arrangement of instruments.

Sheogorath scoffed, “Was she? What was she going to do, serenade them as they consumed the whole world?”

“Actually, there’s an art to Parasprites that most ponies don’t seem to notice.” Discord waved a claw at the swarm of nuisances in the room.

“And?”

The beast chuckled, “The only thing that goes better with dinner than something to drink is music to listen to…”

“I would agree. Personally I prefer wine.”

“…Agreed. Music is the only medium of stimuli the Parasprites enjoy more than smell or taste. For that reason, they are more attracted to sweet tunes than to sweet food. If you create a bouncing melody, the Parasprites will calm down and follow you to oblivion…”

“I used to love Oblivion. Until I took a Champion to the Greymarch!”

“…Right… At any rate, the pink pony was going to play music to dispose of the pests. It would’ve worked, too. It still might, if you restart time.” Discord explained the one sure way to handle a Parasprite problem, and then developed a sudden urge to eat cheese.

Sheogorath cheered, “It seems these pests aren’t as random as I believed. I suppose if you’re smart enough to put the puzzle together, they aren’t bad.” He hesitated slightly, “I enjoy puzzles! At any rate, thank you for your information! It will come in handy if I ever need to drive someone insane! Tata!”

The second he was gone, the noise burst into the room again as time started to flow. The abomination turned just in time to find Rainbow Dash darting right toward him, seemingly involuntarily. The two collided, and both were sent flying into the back wall of the dining hall. They crumpled to the ground in a dazed heap, Discord on bottom.

Not one to pass up a chance for a joke, he chuckled, “You should really buy me lunch first, Ms. Dash.”

The angry Pegasus didn’t offer him a reply, instead returning back to herding the Parasprites.

A loud series of notes played as the doors burst open once again. Pinkie Pie marched into the room, multiple instruments strapped to her back. After the first few notes, she developed a calming rhythm, and the little locusts stopped in the middle of whatever action they were taking, turning toward the source of the noise.

Discord was amused at the pony’s proficiency in playing five instruments at once. He watched as the colorful bugs followed her rhythm as she marched around the room. Parasprites in other rooms flocked into the dining hall just to march with her.

With an elongated sigh, Discord snapped his claws, removing both the pests and the instruments from the castle. He chuckled, “Well done, Pinkie!”

Everypony in the room sent him glares of deadly anger. He felt their eyes ripping him apart in murderous fantasies. Or maybe that was the cheese settling on his stomach.

He sighed, “What’s wrong? You wanted them gone, so they’re gone.”

Luna groaned, “You couldn’t have done that sooner?!”

“Yeah, I was just starting to have fun!” Pinkie chimed in, a childish smile on her face.

The draconequus sighed, “Oh, I so could have done it earlier. But, if you aren’t willing to work for a reward, why should I give it to you?”

“This isn’t a game, Discord! The whole castle is in disarray!” Celestia’s anger was apparent in her voice, a happening that most ponies never got to hear.

The beast in question tittered, “If you would simply take a few moments to try and solve your problems before consulting me, I might be willing to help. But there will be no lessons taught today. You all tried to stop them, so I stopped them for you…”

“And now we have to clean up the whole castle before tomorrow! Good work, jerk!” Rainbow Dash was particularly hostile.

Discord yawned, “Oh boo-hoo. From the moment I vowed to use my powers for good, you ponies have wanted nothing but trivial tasks accomplished. If I’m going to use my power to help, you’re going to have to earn it.” With a snap of his claws, the beast returned to his chamber, leaving the ponies to clean up the mess the pests had left.

A small purple creature walked into the room, fatigue obvious in his eyes. He yawned, “What’d I miss?”

The Elements of Harmony minus Kindness exploded with annoyance, “SPIKE!” The baby dragon was the direct target for the anger Discord had left them with.

From the shadows of the realm of the non-existent, Sheogorath watched the ponies explode on the baby dragon. He felt that, given enough planning, he could manipulate each and every last one of them to his own ambitions. First, he would need a body. He decided that the next moves he made would be the ones to directly lead him to his goal. A body would be his, voluntarily or not. With a tap of his staff on the ground, he vanished as the dining hall’s doors closed in front of him.

Apologies and Ambitions

*Disclaimer: There is a slight use of gore in this chapter.

The rest of the night passed silently for Discord. He had made his point quite clear with his closing remarks. Nopony knocked on his chamber door. As far as he cared, that was a bonus to his probably-hated-guts. However, something within him continued to prick at the back of his mind, leaving him with an ever-growing sense of guilt. It felt weird. In all his thousands of years of life, he had never once felt guilty about any of his chaotic actions. And now, having refused to stop the chaos of the Parasprites left him with an empty pit in his gut.

Perhaps his vow of using his power for good was changing him. It could be that he simply thought he was a little harsh on his ‘friends’. While the majority of them deserved a harsh treatment, Fluttershy had been one of the few that never asked for any kind of favor. If for no other reason, he should have helped upon her request…

Sheogorath’s words from the prior evening echoed in his head as he attempted to sleep. “…You have emotion behind that scheming face, and emotions kill scheming faces…Ah, there’s that pesky emotion I was talking about...”

The draconequus’s emotions were most definitely altering his demeanor. He didn’t appreciate being slowly turned into a kind and caring beast, as he’d always flourished on being cruel and crazy. Yet, he’d never taken the time to consider these changes until they were flashed directly in front of his face by his newly found humanoid friend.

The abomination tossed and turned all night long, unable to sleep as his mind chased through the thousands of years’ worth of memories it held in search of some other signs of change.

It wasn’t until roughly noon the following day when somepony finally had the urge to disturb him. With a hesitant knock, an armor-clad guard announced, “The Princesses and Elements wish to speak with you in the throne room, Discord.”

With an annoyed grunt, the beast rose from his bed. He scoffed, “What could it possibly be this time, eh? Do they need me to move a painting a few inches up a wall? Or maybe they want me to go shopping for them?” When the guard didn’t respond, he snapped, “Well, what do they want?”

The guard, now shaking in fear, mumbled, “Th-they want to apologize, s-sir…”

Discord’s face fell blank. “Apologize?” he repeated. “Oh, I simply must see this!”

With a signature snap of his claws, the draconequus vanished from his chambers. The guard let out a relieved sigh just as the doors to the chambers closed behind him. He was fairly happy until he realized that they shut him within the chamber. What’s more was that the solid threshold wouldn’t budge at his hooves or magic.

…

The Ex-Prince of Madness sat at the top of the tallest tower of Canterlot castle, hunched over with staff in hand, letting his eyes scan every square-inch of visible land. He needed a host to inhabit before he could set any of his plans in motion. While it would be more convenient to pick a body that wouldn’t limit his magic, he had very few options at the moment as to who to use.

The most obvious host would be Discord. However, the abomination’s power would very much rival the Madgod’s, and it would be no simple task to take control. If the possession failed, Sheogorath would cease to exist both physically and spiritually. This was an outcome he had no intentions of allowing. If the Daedric prince were to take over Discord’s form, it would have to be voluntarily. And, with the creature’s feelings for the princesses, it would be dumb to possess them.

The Elements of Harmony were out of the question as well, being capable of imprisoning even Discord for two thousand years. Again, that was an outcome that couldn’t be tolerated. Despite how limited his powers would be while in another form, he had no choice but to take over a normal creature’s shell until he could set his dominoes in place. And once the first one went tumbling, a powerful body would be his to use at his leisure.

The longer it took to set the dominoes, the more innocent ponies would die. But the Madgod was okay with that sacrifice, as there were plenty more to drive insane later on down the road.

The Madgod caught a taste of the aura of a single pony in particular, heading straight for Discord’s chambers. With a maniacal laugh, he was standing right behind the armor-clad pony. Unlike the previous guards he’d seen in the dining hall, this one was wearing a brighter shade of gold, with a larger build and sterner face. The emblem on this guard’s side revealed that he was the captain of the royal guard.

A name would be unnecessary for now. Sheogorath would find his name before shattering the poor fool’s mind. If he could get the guard alone, the Madgod would have a body to use for at least a day.

The Daedric prince kept out of sight for the duration of the exchange between his friend and the guard, until the former finally fled from the scene. With the guard hesitating to leave in exchange for a sigh of relief, Sheogorath sealed the door to the chamber closed, leaving the guard alone within.

He laughed, “Now it’s time to have some fun! Let’s see if I still have it in me!”

…

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Discord chuckled smugly, astounded by what he’d just heard.

Princess Celestia sighed, “You were right, Discord. We’ve done nothing but abuse your powers since you were set free. I apologize for losing my temper yesterday.” Sincerity beamed from the alicorn’s face, while several other present ponies seemed hesitant to agree.

The sibling princess was the next to speak. She, too, spoke with a tone of sincere apology, “I hope you can forgive my outburst. Biting my tail was the last straw…” She glanced back to her slightly-ruffled tail, the Parasprite’s bite mark still visible.

“Why of course I can forgive you!” he chuckled. “I know how it feels to have your tail munched on, and it’s not nice.” With a smug grin, he turned his attention to the six Elements standing beside the princesses.

After a few hesitant seconds, Fluttershy spoke up, “We’re sor-“

“Nope.” Discord snapped.

“-Oh...” the timid Pegasus finished, her voice fading out.

The draconequus shook his head disbelievingly and groaned, “You of all ponies have nothing to apologize for, Fluttershy! If anypony’s got to be sorry, it’s her…” As he spoke, he wrapped a light magical aura around Rainbow Dash, pulling her from the group.

“Wha- Why me?!” The Pegasus scoffed in indignation, crossing her hooves in a defiant manner.

“Oh please,” he started, “I could practically feel the hatred from yesterday.”

Twilight Sparkle butted in, “Yesterday, sure. But we’ve all been asking you for favors. So we all need to apologize.” Her friends nodded in agreement, with the exception of the stubborn blue pony.

“And even then the timid mare is innocent...” The abomination was beginning to get angry, as the ponies insisted in splitting the blame equally. Something about his pony friend attempting to say sorry irked him. “Not once has she asked me for a favor, even one that would make sense to ask! You five are the guilty ones.”

Applejack scoffed, “Well it ain’t like we been workin’ ya to the bone!”

Discord burst, “That’s not the point!” He zipped to the orange mare’s side and mocked, “Oh Discord, help me buck these apples real quick!” Moving along the line, he stopped at Twilight, “Hey Discord, could you help me carry these books to Mayor Mare’s?” Continuing on, “Discord, help me clear up this weather! Would you mind helping me search for gems? Discord, can you teach me how to woo Rarity?” The abomination face-clawed at his final mocking comment. He groaned, “You ponies have gotten along fine without me, and now you suddenly have all these senseless favors to ask!”

Spike, hoping nopony heard the favor he’d requested a week back, asked, “What’s Pinkie Pie asked you for?”

Discord calmed down almost as quickly as he snapped. He sighed, “She asked me to help make cupcakes. I love cupcakes, so that wasn’t a big deal.” The pink pony grinned happily at the approving beast.

“Yes, we’ve asked for favors, but we’re apologizing now. Isn’t that enough?” The purple unicorn lowered her voice, taking on a tone of sincerity.

The abomination took a deep breath and sighed, “Of course it is. It’s not like it was a big deal before. I just felt like giving you ponies trouble.” The enthusiastic beast kicked back against the air like a bed.

The throne room’s doors opened as a guard announced, “Captain Aegis has something to report, Princess.” The light-golden-armored guard in question entered the room as he was introduced.

…

The stallion began to panic as the chamber doors continued to refuse him passage. He even tried to pry open the window, but it was to no avail. After several minutes of scrambling about the room, he slumped to the ground in annoyance.

“I’ll just wait for Discord to get back. He’ll open the door for me…” the guard sighed audibly, uncertainty in his voice. Under normal circumstances this series of events wouldn’t bother him. Something filled him with a sense of dread.

Sheogorath loved dread. Seeing the pony’s terrified eyes filled him with a sense of joy. He laughed, “You think that pathetic beast will help you? Nobody can help you now! You’re mine!”

At the sound of the crazy voice, the guard struggled to his hooves. He put on a brave face and commanded, “I-I am Aegis Shield, captain of the Royal Guard! I demand you free me from this room immediately!” He adopted a stern posture, as if ready to fight.

A shattering sound sent his stance to shambles, causing him to leap with a shriek. Looking all around the room, he noticed that a small vase had crashed to the ground and fell to pieces. The guard readied his horn for a magic blast in case of something hostile appearing from the shadows.

A sudden squeak made him release his magic in the direction of the source. A loud squeal ensured him that the source had been eliminated, and once the smoke cleared he saw a tiny rat lying lifeless on the floor. Relieved that it wasn’t something bigger, he tried to pry open the door again.

For a second time, Sheogorath laughed, “You can kill a rat! How lovely! I imagine that skill will help you when you’re burning in Oblivion!” The rat’s body twitched a few times before it let out a loud roar.

Aegis turned just in time to watch the rodent increase exponentially in size. Panicked at the sight of the beast, he shouted, “What the hay is going on here?! Who are you?!” Charging magic into his horn, he smothered the large rat in blue energy. With a loud shriek, it crumpled to the ground again, hopefully lifeless.

The poor stallion was getting scared. Fright only helped lead to Madness. And did the Madgod love Madness! With a dark chuckle he exclaimed, “I’m the Madgod! And you’re the mad man! Or you will be when I’m finished! If you’re lucky, I’ll scalp your mane and let you watch me fashion it into a hat!” With a tap of his staff, Sheogorath summoned a sack onto the bed, and replaced the door with one solid wall.

“Wh-what…?” the guard captain stammered as he fell back against the missing door.

With a daring, angry voice, the Madgod commanded, “Open it!”

With a twisted sense of curiosity, the stallion did as he was told. Aegis was met with a grotesque, gut-wrenching scent as he untied the knot on the sack. The sensory overload sent him into a nauseous tumble to the ground. When the sack suddenly burst into flames, the guard scratched wildly at the room’s window, desperate to escape the smell of sewage and decay that drowned out the oxygen. Every breath was filled to the brim with a noxious fume.

When the flames faded, Aegis saw plainly what had been in the sack. Lying there on the bed was the rotten corpse of another pony. Another guard. His brother. With a shriek of intense fear and pain, the guard turned from the sight and slammed hard against the wall, trying with all his might to break free from the nightmare around him.

Sheogorath laughed, “You’re wasting what little clean air you have left! You can’t get out!” His tone shifted to dark as he groaned, “Nobody can. Nobody ever has.”

The events of the last few minutes blinded Aegis with fear, and clouded his rational thinking. He screamed, “Stop! Get away from me!” The Ex-Prince of Madness’s image appeared before the now-insane stallion.

“Good, you can see me now…” the humanoid said matter-of-factly. “I’ll just be taking your body now. Hope you don’t mind. I should suggest you enjoy the view.”

With a snap of his fingers, Sheogorath’s body merged with the tormented guard, whose spirit was split from the shell. Now, rather than the Madgod walking in a spiritual state, it was Aegis left in the realm of the non-existent. The room around Aegis’s body returned to its normal appearance, while the shadows of his spirit and the pony corpse remained in place.

Sheogorath could still hear the poor soldier’s cries of pain. He tittered, “Another soul duly maddened!” Looking into the nearby mirror, the Madgod admired his new appearance. He commented to nothing in particular, “Not enough purple in this outfit, but it’ll do. I hope my eyes don’t give me away…”

In place of Aegis’s blue eyes were the Daedric prince’s signature golden eyes. With a shrug of his shoulders, Sheo-Aegis exited through the door. Shegorath was aware of his limited amount of magic, as simply returning the room to normal after taking the body had drained it.. He felt as if he could use a long nap. Or perhaps a few chunks of Greenmote.

Soldiers within the castle’s halls bowed to the possessed form of their captain, which sent joyful shivers up Sheo-Aegis’s new spine. He chuckled internally as he considered that before long they would bow to the actual him, rather than his current puppet form.

Using his body’s instincts, Sheo-Aegis quickly reached the throne room, where Discord’s aura continued to emanate. The soldier at the door stood at attention to the pony he thought was his captain. Attempting to emulate the guard captain’s voice, Sheo-Aegis commanded, “I need to speak to the Princess; it’s urgent!”

“Are you feeling alright, captain? Your voice is a little off…” the guard ignorantly replied.

The Madgod groaned, “I have a cold, now let me through! Very important business!”

With a nod, the guard opened the doors and entered the room. He announced, “Captain Aegis has something to report, Princess.” Sheo-Aegis trotted in with a smug grin on his face. He’d successfully tricked one pony, now to trick them all.

…

Discord watched carefully as the guard that had summoned him to the throne room entered slowly. The stallion had a smug grin plastered on his face, as if he had just won some trivial argument. Aegis’s arrival was just the distraction the abomination needed to calm down and forget about his anger.

Princess Celestia called, “Captain Aegis, what news could be so urgent to warrant disturbing my audience?”

To the draconequus’s shock, a familiar voice sighed, “We have a rat infestation in the dining hall, Princess. They’re getting into all the food!” Aegis winked at Discord, setting alarms off in the beast’s mind.

Out of nowhere, Sheogorath’s form appeared sitting atop the guard’s body. Both figures bowed, the humanoid form having a split-second head start. Discord grinned at the realization that the guard captain had been possessed. It was a neat trick, in all fairness.

Twilight Sparkle groaned, “Not another pest problem! C’mon girls!” Without hesitation, the Elements of Harmony darted from the room.

“Thank you for informing us. This is a problem… The dinner starts before long…” With a nod, both of the princesses hurried from the room, desperate to stop the rat trouble before things got as bad as the previous day.

Discord laughed, “This is your doing, isn’t it?”

Sheo-Aegis scoffed, “I have no idea what you mean. I’m just a lowly guard.” Sheogorath’s figure laughed, “But I am the Prince of Madness, and I love Madness!”

“I thought you said that a normal body wouldn’t work?” the abomination sighed, unsure of how the possession was working.

Sheo-Aegis groaned, “It barely does. I can use a little magic, but nothing serious. The rat thing makes me wanna start projectile-vomiting all over the place!” After stopping himself from tumbling over in dizziness, he chuckled, “I need some water! Got any water?”

With a snap of the beast’s claws, the two friends were blessed with a table of light snacks and pitchers of water, which the pony-form friend immediately started to consume. They carried on in almost-silence for several minutes before the Pony-Madgod had to stop eating.

He grumbled, “This body can’t handle the food! Oh the horror!”

“You look a little pale, pal. Maybe you could use some rest?” Discord developed a genuine sense of concern for his friend.

“Oh no, I only have so much time to act in this body before I lose it! I will persist in my ambitions!” With a determined expression, Sheo-Aegis fled from the room, turning in the direction of the dining hall. Sheogorath’s figure trailed slowly behind his body, turning to chuckle, “You should expect things to get wild around here, my friend!”

With that, the Daedric prince disappeared from the draconequus’s view. Discord was left to wonder what his companion had meant by only having a limited time to act. What echoed more was the part about the demigod’s ambitions. What could a man possessed by insanity hope to do, aside from spread that insanity to others?

Tensions Rise

The night passed slowly for Discord. He drifted around the castle halls, keeping his eyes and ears open for the Madgod’s next move. It would only be a matter of time before another pony would be possessed and disposed of. The abomination was going to do whatever he could to prevent that from happening, even if it meant an all-out magical brawl. The whole night passed in relative peace, the residents in their beds, and the body of Aegis lying in the infirmary, waiting to be buried the following evening.

Despite his wanderings, the draconequus was fortunate enough to not cross paths with the sociopathic murderer. When he finally did decide to catch some Z’s, he found his room oddly active. Though nothing seemed to stir, an odd presence filled his mind as he rested in the bed. It took mere minutes for the beast to realize he was being played with by the Daedric prince, and decided it best to stay away from his chambers.

A sleepless night cursed Discord. A sleepless night full of anger and regret. If only he’d spoken up before the dinner, when that inkling of dread first started to form, then maybe Aegis could’ve been saved. But he didn’t, and now the guard captain was dead. Not only that, but everypony that had been in the dining hall witnessed his death. Not to mention the cheese that could’ve potentially injured the guests. The worst part of it all was that only he was aware of what exactly had caused the whole mess.

As his mind drifted to and fro, a sad realization dawned on him. Assuming the Elements were going to leave town on schedule, he only had three days to put a stop to Sheogorath’s antics, otherwise leaving him in Canterlot to wreak his havoc unchecked. A feeling of utter sorrow filled the draconequus’s thoughts as the possibility of the Madgod’s domination flashed before him.

Before he even noticed it, the sun started to rise in the sky, blanketing the whole castle in a comforting orange glow. Something about the light helped his nerves settle, much more appealing than the black of night. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Celestia was safe, still controlling the sun, out of the Madgod’s reach.

Or was she?

What would stop Sheogorath from possessing the Princess of Sun? If he could break Aegis’s mind and take the body by force, why couldn’t he do the same to Celestia? Or Luna? Or the Elements? Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie, all of them could be in danger.

The only thing between the Ex-Prince of Madness and the most powerful ponies in the world was Discord’s own power. And if that power turned out to be too weak, what then? What would keep the humanoid from driving the whole world insane? The master of chaos was not willing to stand by and wait to find out.

Sheogorath had mentioned feeling his ‘aura’ before to track him. Why couldn’t he do the same to the Madgod? Focusing as hard as he could, Discord tried to feel the auras of the ponies in the castle. After straining for several moments, a foreign feeling glazed over him. It was different from most other ponies, filled with either sorrow or comfort. This aura was more sporadic, not staying on one emotion for too long. It switched between disturbed and calm every few seconds.

The draconequus snapped his claws, warping to the strange aura’s general location. Just around the corner on a suit of armor sat Sheogorath, whistling a jolly tune into a mirror. The humanoid glanced quickly in Discord’s direction, letting a smile stretch across his face. He murmured something inaudible to the beast, who decided to fly closer. Seeing an odd, deceitful glint in the murderer’s eyes set something off in the abomination’s mind.

He growled…

…

It was a good night for Sheogorath. He’d ruffled a few feathers—both literally and metaphorically speaking—and obtained his first kill in the pony world. He left a certain guard without a brother, the party guests a few scarring memories, and his old friend with a due sense of threat. Honestly, he couldn’t have asked for more. His idyllic dinner party scenario had played out. Well, except there hadn’t been any Skooma involved. Nor were there any concubines.

Actually, thinking about it, the dinner party had been horrible! He hadn’t even been able to eat any cheese! There wasn’t any wine. In fact, nopony really got to witness the power of the Eidar Cheese Rain spell he had crafted for special occasions. They were all hiding under the table like frightened little kittens! He hated kittens! And he hated when people feared him! He’d rather be adored as a demon than feared as a cheese-obsessed pony.

In fact, no one knew it had been his spell. They all pegged it on Aegis. Except for Discord, who actually knew he existed. No, he needed to send a clearer message to the citizens of Equestria that he was coming to take control. He wanted to be fear-dored. Or was it a-feared? At any rate, he wanted renown! He needed to be heard!

He wanted to shatter minds. But you can’t simply shatter minds willy-nilly. No, there’s an art to it. You start with the important people. You make their loved ones suffer through the loss of them, then shatter each relation systematically. Once all the relations are gone, you focus on the world-renown mortals. Once everyone misses the old them, you spread the madness through them.

Yes. He’d already removed one important pony. The pony did have a brother.

So the next target was set. Aegis’s brother would be the next to go. Then it would be time to take his game further. First the guard, and then the world! Or perhaps just an Element. Yes. The pink pony looked like an already-insane creature. Perhaps she would be up to getting her body possessed. He hated to consider posing as a woman, but it would be a necessary sacrifice for his ultimate plan.

Sheogorath replayed his late-night musings through his head as he stared into his own eyes. Sitting comfortably atop a suit of pony armor, using the helm as admittedly-poor lumbar support, he focused into a mirror on the wall. A mirror—which, incidentally, he had conjured—reflected the demonic aura in his eyes, doubling its twisted emotions to anypony that could actually sense them.

Conveniently, just as he noticed his eyes’ intensity, a familiar aura surrounded him. None other than Discord, naturally, was floating gently just around the corner, spying at the Madgod during his down time. He adopted a wide grin as he glanced in the abomination’s direction. Then muttered, intentionally too low for his friend to hear, “You look a bit scared, Chaos.”

With that, the beast darted to his side, an angry shine in his eyes. His face was contorted into an intense scowl. He growled…

…

“Who do plan on murdering next, you sociopathic cretin?”

Sheogorath pondered the question with an indifferent expression on both his faces. He laughed, “How nice of you to consider my feelings, old friend! I haven’t really decided yet.”

The draconequus groaned, “I just don’t get it…”

“Get what?” The Madgod cocked an eyebrow, certain he knew what Discord was referring to. He snickered, “Why would I, a Daedric prince capable of limitless magical feats, decide to torment a world full of peace-loving quadrupeds?”

“Exactly!” his companion snapped.

Without looking away from the mirror, the Ex-Prince of Madness chuckled, “Because it’s fun, Discord. There’s no other reason.” He stroked his beard once before punching the mirror on the wall, his face twisting into a frown. He growled, “There’s no reasoning with Madness! Dementia is the master of a mind! When he wants blood, he’ll get blood!” The Madgod’s fist loosened, the glass shards falling like glitter. He continued with a chuckle, “And when Mania wants a joke, she gets a joke. That’s how it always works. That’s how it’ll always be.”

Discord’s heart skipped a beat as he watched the severity of the mood shifts the Madgod underwent so frequently. He shuttered at the thought of what Dementia-powered magic could do. The abomination sighed, “Can’t you find some other world to plague with your curse?”

“My curse? What curse? You think Madness is a curse?!” The Madgod launched from his armor-chair, a staff appearing in his hand, the blunt end pointing directly at his companion’s face. The ball of the blunt end let out an eerie black glow, reminiscent of a Black Soul Gem.

Discord assumed an offensive stance, his claws ready to conjure up whatever magic they could. He groaned, “And you think it isn’t! The day before yesterday you were all happy-go-lucky about cheese! Last night you killed a pony! And now you’re threatening me with magic! If you want a fight, you’ll get one, Madgod!”

Sheogorath lowered his staff, his muscles relaxing. The ball of magic dissipated as he sat back down on the armor. He sighed, “Forgive me, old friend. The longer I stay without my full power, the worse the Dementia takes over. My metaphysical existence is causing my anger to flourish, while my excitement seems to be dwindling.” He looked deep into his own eyes in the shattered mirror. “Perhaps once I gain a worthy body, my Mania will come back to full power.”

Discord scoffed, “Maybe if you went to a world with more powerful creatures, you wouldn’t have that problem!”

“A Daedric prince never gives up their mark. The last time Nocturnal did it, his eye was stolen and my champion had to get it back!” He wiped a shard of glass from his eyebrow before laughing, “And my mark is Equestria. You can keep the other provinces. But this will be the new location of New Sheoth! Ponyville can be my new Xedillian! I can already see it! Thousands of tourists will meet their ends in the once-innocent little village!”

Discord lashed out a claw in anger. He roared, “You’re absolutely insane! Do you expect me to just let you take over Equestria?”

Sheogorath yawned, “I grow tired of these quarrels. I have a pony to possess. If you’ll pardon me!” Before his companion could object, he was gone.

Discord groaned, “Don’t you dare harm another pony, you bipedal monstrosity!”

Lost in his rage, the abomination continued to think about all the possibilities of the Madgod’s mindset. After what felt like hours of floating in place with claws clenched in frustration, he was ripped from his emotions by a familiar, more comforting voice.

“What’s wrong Discord?”

Twilight Sparkle stood not an inch from the draconequus, looking back and forth between him and the shattered mirror. Not sure how to explain the damage, he simply sighed, “I’ve been under the weather as of late. I’ll fix it and be on my way.”

The unicorn cocked her head to the side and asked, “Fix what?”

Slightly confused, Discord did a double take toward the glass fixture on the wall. Upon his second inspection, he noticed it was entirely unscathed. He groaned, “As I said, I’ve been under the weather. I was certain that mirror was broken…”

“I think you could use a nap,” she giggled. Then her face fell serious and she lowered her gaze as she continued, “Are you going to the funeral?”

With a blank look on his face, Discord repeated, “Funeral? What funeral?”

“For Aegis, of course! You remember what happened last night, don’t you?”

The fire in his gut ignited again as the memory of the cheese rain appeared vivid again. He groaned, “Of course I do. I suppose I’ll be there, though I didn’t really know the fella…”

Twilight smiled warmly and sighed, “Let’s go. The service starts soon…”

With that, the two were off to the throne room where the funeral service would be held. Though Discord’s mind was set anywhere but remembrance for the Madgod’s first victim, he decided that such a gathering was the perfect place for the murderer’s next strike. Sheogorath had said he was going to possess another pony, and that he could only take willing bodies and crazy ponies. Something about the phrase ‘willing bodies’ made it echo in the abomination’s ears at that moment.

And then it occurred to him why…

You Can't Spell 'Funeral' Without 'Fun'

Sheogorath was happily perched on a chandelier, swaying gently back and forth through the air as the funeral service was carried out. To the sane eye, there simply appeared to be a draft rocking the decoration. To Discord, the cause was the same as his anger and fear. To Aegis’s brother, the cause was his soon-to-be puppet master. But none of them knew that, except for the Madgod. He knew that better than anypony else. He’d already planned the next ten steps of his plan. And if he only needed five of them, they could be traded for the first steps of the post-domination plan.

Celestia stood at the front of the room beside a large coffin that housed what remained of Aegis. She was performing the funeral ceremony, while all those who cared stood in the crowd with tear-filled eyes. Turns out, despite only being a castle guard, he had quite a few friends that would miss him. Almost half of the crowd consisted of random ponies that had been friends with him, be it through service or recreation. At the head of the crowd stood the guards, each wearing a special suit designed for such occasions.

On Celestia’s opposite side stood the brother of the victim, who would be giving the eulogy. It wasn’t until the alicorn princess ended her rambling that the Madgod decided to tune in to the service from his chandelier post.

“…Buckler Shield has prepared a eulogy for our dearly departed.” With those closing syllables, the princess walked to the side, giving the mourning guard the spotlight.

Buckler started with force, “My brother was an amazing pony; I doubt that anypony in attendance can argue that. He was a friend to those who needed him, a loving and supportive brother, and a devout guard to the Royal Family.” He lowered his gaze as he continued, “We all know him as the captain of the guard. He was trained personally by Shining Armor to defend Canterlot.”

Sheogorath shifted in anticipation. He’d heard these kinds of remarks before, and he was certain he knew what would come next. In fact, his whole plan was counting on it.

The sorrowful stallion stomped a hoof and groaned, “My brother’s actions last night were not his own!” The few ponies that had attended the dinner raised inquisitive eyebrows, not certain whether they agreed or not. He continued, “Aegis was a professional soldier, and would never act out in such a way as he had! On top of that, he simply did not feel like the pony I’ve known my entire life!”

Discord nodded in approval. Somepony had connected the dots. The only problem was…what kind of picture did they draw?

“His eyes were an odd color. His voice was distorted. His face was full of…insanity!”

Madness, Buckler! Not insanity! Sheogorath internally groaned from his perch.

Buckler took a deep breath before sighing, “Aegis wasn’t himself last night. I can promise you that. Somepony or something made him act that way. And I won’t rest until I find out who or what it was!” He turned away from the crowd, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

C’mon, you weak little equine! Just say the magic words! Sheogorath was literally on the edge of his seat, waiting for one simple phrase to escape the stallion’s lips.

If he was going to continue, he wouldn’t have been able to. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, a sad but curious expression on her face. She looked around the room before turning toward the other Elements. Taking a deep breath, she started, “Forgive me for interrupting…but I think I have something to add to this mystery.”

For some strange reason that he couldn’t grasp, a ball dropped in Discord’s gut.

She continued, “You said that Aegis wasn’t acting normal, and I’ll agree that last night’s behavior was weird…” She glanced toward Discord before immediately focusing back on her friends. “There was a time not too long ago where my friends were manipulated by somepony into acting weird. In fact, they were the exact opposite of what they really are.”

The ball nearly tripled in size.

“It was the first time Discord was set free from his prison.” Hesitantly, without much conviction, she pointed a hoof at the floating abomination. “He used his magic to turn us Elements into angry, chaotic ponies. Why couldn’t he do the same to your brother?”

Sheogorath burst into maniacal laughter, the tension down below serving as an amazing form of entertainment. Sure, things weren’t going as planned, but he could easily work this into one of his steps.

Discord raised his claws up, utter disbelief covering his face. He stammered, “T-Twilight, you can’t honestly believe that I…I killed somepony, can you?” He looked desperately upward, hoping the Madgod would do something to distract from the situation at hand.

“Who else could it have been?” Princess Celestia asked, directing it toward her student rather than the abomination.

Twilight tilted her head, thinking for a moment. She sighed, “Unless last night’s Aegis was a Changeling imposter, nopony. Discord’s the only creature I’ve ever seen do something like that.” She looked toward the beast in question, her eyes showing the hope she had that she might be wrong.

Discord groaned, “You absolutely must believe that it wasn’t my doing! I may enjoy Chaos from time to time, but I would never—never—kill another living creature!” Suspicious whispers began to spread throughout the crowd, eyes locking on to the draconequus.

Up above, Sheogorath was having the time of his life.

“Discord, do you promise that it wasn’t you who--?” Celestia lowered her gaze, beginning to ask the supposedly redeemed beast of his innocence.

Rainbow Dash cut her off. She scoffed, “It doesn’t matter if it was him or not, Princess! But I promise we’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth and make whatever’s responsible pay!” There it was.

The key phrase. The one chain of words the Madgod had waited for throughout the entire ceremony. ‘Whatever it takes’ might as well be saying ‘possess me, Sheogorath’. It was up for interpretation, sure. But a Daedra’s logic can’t be disputed, especially when there is none. It was even more magical considering it had come directly from an Element of Harmony. Rather than using Buckler as a middle-man to acquire one, he was going to get it without fuss. With a mad laugh, the humanoid dove off of the chandelier, his eyes locked onto the Pegasus’s.

With a loud shriek, she collapsed to the ground. Golden sparks shot from her body as the more powerful soul slowly crammed its way into the vessel. Everypony in the room watched as Rainbow writhed on the floor, her wings starting to unfold under the pressure. As suddenly as the show had started, it ended with a relieved gasp from the victimized body.

The voice that came out was not the rightful owner’s. It chuckled, “There’s definitely more room in here than that other poor mule. It’s a shame this one’s not a guard.”

The vacant expression and confusing language left everypony wondering just what had happened. Oddly enough, the only creature with knowledge of what was happening refused to give any sort of feedback to the utterly astounded ponies. Instead, he floated lazily in the air, thankful that something took the attention off of him.

“Rainbow, darling, are you okay?” Rarity stepped toward her obviously-pained friend, concern smothering her features.

Sheo-Rainbow snapped, “Of course I’m okay, you useless mule! I’m simply having a tough time dealing with this stress. Is that a problem?!” Something about this new body made the Dementia grow. Rather counter-productive, honestly.

Applejack stepped forward. She groaned, “I…don’t think ya are…”

The pony-form Madgod growled, “I’m fine, AJ! I’m doing better than that monstrosity will be when I’m finished with him!” A beam of green magic shot from her head, directly targeting Discord.

The abomination smiled, realizing that he was finally being challenged. For whatever reason, he was being attacked now of all times. With a snap of his claws, everypony within range of the beam vanished. Fewer witnesses and less crossfire damage meant more points for his case. That’s not to mention how magic had shot forth from a pony without a horn.

He slid to the side to avoid the evil magic. He chuckled, “Your true colors finally show, eh old ‘friend’? You must not know what you’ve just done.” After the beam stopped flowing, he darted toward Sheo-Rainbow, finding some slight enjoyment in attacking the body as well as the soul.

“Discord, stop!” Celestia called out. The abomination wasn’t listening.

Sheo-Rainbow burst into laughter, “You wanna dance, Chaos?! Let’s tango!” He opened his wings to their full extent, leaping into the air and rolling into a nose dive at the charging beast.

Twilight screamed, “Rainbow Dash, stop it! There’s no sense in fighting!”

Discord scoffed, “You’ve messed with the wrong Equestrian, Daedra!”

The two bodies collided, several golden sparks flying from the impact point. The pony-form Madgod locked his hooves with the draconequus’s claws, staring deep into one another’s eyes. The Elements and Princesses watched on in fear as the tension between the combatants tightened. With a blast of magic, Sheo-Rainbow launched Discord several yards across the room. By this point, most of the remaining witnesses were stampeding from the room, not wanting to be caught in the fray.

The beast spat, “Limited magic my left claws!” On cue, he snapped the aforementioned appendages, sending his own brand of offense at the murderer.

Leaning against the far wall, Buckler watched as the two most likely causes of his brother’s death battled it out. He examined their eyes for signs of the Aegis from the prior night. In the cyan Pegasus he found the serpentine gold that appeared just before the cheese spell. Whatever had killed Aegis was controlling Rainbow Dash. An Element of Harmony, no less. How can you battle something that can control the most powerful magic in Equestria?

Not expecting a full assault, Sheo-Rainbow was easily knocked to the ground by the draconequus’s magic. With a smile, he retaliated by back flipping midair into the chandelier he had perched upon earlier. With a well-placed kick, the décor came crashing to the ground just as his opponent passed underneath. With a loud crash, Discord was bound by the shards of glass and fire.

Nopony on the sidelines could so much as move, let alone intervene. The sight was just too surreal. The master of chaos was being overwhelmed by a blue-coated daredevil. A daredevil that was using magic without a horn, no less.

Sheo-Rainbow tittered, “Is that the best you’ve got, Chaos? I am severely disappointed.” He looked toward the paralyzed ponies, noting the overwhelming fear in their eyes. He chuckled, “I suppose now that I own an Element I’ll just have to take the rest. And then—correct me if I’m wrong—nopony will be able to keep me from ruling this province with an iron…dare I say…hoof.”

“In your dreams, you murderer!” Something zapped the pony-form Madgod in the back of the head. When he turned around, he saw Buckler shooting beam after beam of magic toward him. Tears fell from the guard’s eyes as he angrily attacked.

And then everything went black. For both Discord and Sheogorath…

A Villain's Power

The infirmary. As he regained consciousness, Discord could hear the sound of confused and disbelieving chatter. Around him stood the eight ponies that would be the most curious about the battle at the funeral. The Elements, the Princesses, and the brother of Sheogorath’s first victim all stood in anticipation. He attempted to shift into a comfortable position, but found that he was completely bound to the bed. Leather straps held him in place, though they would be useless if he decided to use his magic.

Sheo-Rainbow was strapped in the bed beside him, his head bruised by the magic blasts it had received. The abomination scoffed internally at the thought of those bonds being able to so much as slow the Madgod down. As soon as he regained consciousness, he would be back to toying with everypony’s emotions.

The beast sighed, “Are these really necessary?” He struggled against the bonds on his left side, half-considering just warping out of them.

Princess Celestia stepped forward, anger and determination in her eyes. She said bluntly, “Yes they are. After your show by the throne neither of you are leaving without some sort of explanation.” Her horn glowed temporarily as the restraints seemed to tighten to further restrict movement.

Discord scoffed, “Forgive me for not being too terribly concerned, Princess. You wouldn’t believe me if I explained it, anyway.” He rolled his eyes, continuing to pull against the straps.

Twilight Sparkle tittered, “‘Daedra’, ‘limited magic’, ‘ruling this province’…do they ring any bells?” She looked toward the figure of her friend, uncertain just what kind of explanation could be offered.

The draconequus chuckled, “Of course. Those were the taunts I used in the fight! Well, except for that last one. That was Sheogorath’s line.” He glanced toward the pony-form Madgod as if to signify that he was the aforementioned competitor.

“Who in tarnation is this Sheo-whatsit?” Applejack stepped forward, disbelief in her tone. To her it sounded like gibberish.

“If you’ll undo these bonds, I’ll gladly tell you all about it!” The beast was getting angry now. He was being wrongfully detained, after having already been temporarily blamed for an innocent pony’s death.

The ponies all shared looks of uncertainty. After several seconds of silent contemplation, all eyes turned toward Fluttershy. She nodded and said, “I trust him. Rainbow Dash attacked him first, after all…”

With that, Celestia’s magic snapped the straps, releasing the victimized creature from his bed. He groaned, “Thank you, Fluttershy. At least somepony has a brain…” He turned his attention toward the still-unconscious blue Pegasus. “That isn’t Rainbow Dash, I’m afraid. Not anymore, at any rate.”

A collective “What?!” rang out through the group.

Buckler shoved through the crowd to examine the fallen blue pony. He scoffed, “Her eyes were just like Aegis’s. Yellow. Little slits for pupils. Then he cast that cheese spell and died. Whatever killed him possesses her. Not a doubt in my mind.” The end of his analysis was met by a dark chuckle.

Sheo-Rainbow’s eyes shot open, fully revealing the golden glow to everypony in attendance. He laughed, “How very observant of you, mule! I think your usefulness is almost non-existent now!” A sudden burst of green magic shot from his head, making a midair U-turn back toward the intended target. Redirecting magic was something else to add to the list of strange Pegasus powers.

Turns out the Madgod wasn’t kidding. He had no use for Buckler, so the guard’s time expired instantly. When the curious beam made contact, the victim was essentially vaporized. Horror filled the witnesses’ emotions as the only remains of the guard scattered in the draft. Discord simply stared, his brain unwilling to register what had just happened.

Twilight stammered, “R-Rainbow…what did you…do…?” A mixture of crippling sadness and utter disbelief accompanied her broken inquiry.

The Pony-Madgod laughed, “Do you really need me tied down? I mean, these straps obviously can’t handle me!” Without waiting for a response that probably wouldn’t come, he sliced the bonds open with a bit of magic. The pony-form Daedra casually walked through the throng of dumbfounded ponies, receiving no resistance as he attempted to leave the medical room.

Somewhere between the rat problem and Buckler’s death, most of them were lost in a daze of confusion. Suddenly, all these ponies were dying in a world of peace. And they were actually dying, rather than being petrified or banished!

Just as Sheo-Rainbow reached the door, he turned to chuckle, “Do you still think you can win, my friend?” He resumed his unobstructed exit.

Two ponies were dead. The Madgod had killed two of them. Discord had just sat back and watched the first one, even knowing it would come. He hadn’t intervened in any way. The abomination cursed aloud and slammed a claw against a small medical tray. It gave under the force, sending several pieces of primitive equipment flying to the opposite side of the room.

Seven. Seven ponies. In a matter of five minutes, the body count had decreased permanently.

“What…just happened?” Twilight looked up at the floating beast, anger flowing from his eyes like tears.

Celestia sighed, “Who was that beast, Discord? Why did it call you a friend?” She regained a regal posture, the sadness leaving her expression in favor of anger.

The draconequus wasn’t certain how to begin. He groaned, “That thing is a creature from another world. It came here looking for company, or so it said. Apparently that was just garbage!” He clenched his claws, trying to visualize the first meeting they’d had.

Friendliness, light-heartedness, and happiness were three feelings that emanated from the Daedra. And yet, not a week later, they were here, in this odd position. He was killing them. Quite successfully, one could add.

“He controls a magic he calls Madness. He used to rule an entire realm of his own, until one of his brothers killed him. Ever since, he’s traveled from world to world, apparently looking for a worthy world to conquer…” Discord lowered his gaze, not wanting to admit to having ‘befriended’ the demon in secret.

Celestia stepped toward the door and scoffed, “You were the first creature he interacted with. Instead of informing us, you let him develop his plans. And now we’ve lost two ponies, a possible third on the horizon.” She nodded toward her sister, who simply nodded and followed her out of the room.

The five remaining Elements shared disbelieving expressions. Eventually, they all turned toward the depressed beast floating a few feet away. Fluttershy stammered, “Is there…anything you can do…to help?”

Discord was impressed, honestly. Of all the ponies that should’ve been crippled by what they just witnessed, Fluttershy was at the top of his list. Followed immediately by Rarity. Then again, friendship had proven to be a powerful thing on multiple occasions, and this could perhaps be no different. As long as their Pegasus pal was in trouble, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to give up hope.

And then it hit him. Friendship! The Elements of Harmony! The only magic that had ever bested him, until the Madgod showed him up in the throne room! If he couldn’t do it, perhaps the Elements could!

The abomination cheered, “There might be a way, girls! But you have to do exactly as I say…” The five focused their attention on the suddenly perked-up beast.

…

“Ahh, this is a nice piece of furniture. It could use some more purple, but I’ll handle that after I usurp the throne.” Sheo-Rainbow was kicked back in the golden throne of Canterlot Castle, enjoying the comfort of the cushioned seat. It was just firm enough to provide support, but soft enough to not put pressure on his bum.

He had a wheel of cheese in one hoof and a glass of Skooma in the other. A bite of one, a sip of the other. It was the perfect snack in any Daedra’s opinion. That is assuming the Daedra had good taste, which most of them didn’t. Every few moments the Pony-Madgod would alter something within the room, trying to get a feel for what the castle should look like once he took over.

He had just changed the door from its large purple bulk into a dark black window when the two Princesses appeared on the other side. Expecting things to get interesting, he sent away his refreshments and sat upright, mocking a proper ruler’s posture. He opened the door for them, a courteous gesture in most cultures.

With a smile, he greeted them, “Welcome to my throne, ladies. Can I interest you in some cheese? Or maybe you’re more of the cabbage types?” He summoned the aforementioned products respectively in his hooves.

The two were unfazed by his display, and continued walking toward him with blank expressions. Over a thousand years of dealing with ponies of all breeds left them somewhat prepared for anything he could pump out. Celestia commanded, “You have murdered two of our loyal subjects—“

“That you know of,” he chuckled.

“—and are currently possessing a dear friend of ours. If you know what’s in your best interest, you will leave this realm immediately.” Her horn began to glow its golden light, preparing some sort of spell that would, in theory, fix the mess that was made.

He relaxed again and scoffed, “Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass on that one, Princess. But you’re more than welcome to try whatever you like.” He waved a hoof approvingly toward the two of them before taking a huge bite of the cabbage.

The regal ponies shared nods, and their horns exploded with magic. A mixture of gold and cobalt swirled toward the demon, who refused to move an inch at its sight. Rather than counterattack or attempt to dodge, he took the blast with full force, much to the princesses’ delight.

Of course, that delight faded when the magical blast evaporated into thin air. Rather than do what was intended, it simply faded away. Sheo-Rainbow waited until it was completely gone before laughing, “Is that the best you can do, Princesses? Aren’t you supposed to control celestial bodies? Yet you can’t even scathe a poor little Pegasus!” He munched down on the cheese, open-mouth chewing it in an insulting manner.

Without saying a word, the two nodded in unison, summoning forth more magic from their horns. This time the attacks travelled separate, flanking the target. In theory he could only block one. In theory.

But theories can be wrong, and this one was no different. The only difference between the first and second attack was that, rather than the magic evaporating, it seemed as if it was being absorbed by the monster. It made contact with his body, but then it vanished. It didn’t evaporate or get bounced back; it simply disappeared.

The pony-form Madgod crushed the food he was holding before leaping to his hooves. He growled, “Thanks for the refreshments, ladies, but you’ve pissed me off! One attack is fine, but two is just crossing the line!” A beam of magic etched a literal line in the floor, just behind the alicorns. Another beam of magic targeted them directly, a sinister mixture of gold, cobalt, and green zooming toward them.

The throne room doors burst open as a voice boomed, “Now girls, use them!”

At the front of the room appeared the Elements, followed up by Discord. The five remaining Elements had some sort of jewelry adorning their bodies, with a sixth floating above them. At Discord’s cue, the jewelry lit up a bright white, and the ponies lifted into the air. Magical energy began to swirl around the group, changing to a solid rainbow color.

In the span of a few seconds, Sheo-Rainbow’s magic was blocked by the incoming rainbow. Tearing through his beam, it smashed directly into him, sending the physical body flying beyond the throne. The spiritual being sat in place, unscathed by the attack.

So much for that… he groaned silently.

When all the magical energies dissipated, the humanoid creature was revealed to the whole world in his natural state. It took the Madgod several seconds to realize that he could actually be seen, but once the revelation set in he put it to good use. Not missing a beat, he summoned a staff in one hand and a blade in the other.

The five Elements shared disbelieving looks. Twilight cheered, “It worked! It really worked!”

“But how did Rainbow’s Element activate when…” Rarity started, thinking back to when they had fought Discord and all the Elements needed to be present both physically and spiritually.

Discord darted toward the Princesses, half checking on their health and half readying for a fight with the murderer. He scoffed, “Looks like you’re fully exposed, Madgod! Now anypony can fight you on an even plane!”

“True, you all can see me,” he started with a smile, “but it isn’t even close to an even plane!”

The five Elements stepped up behind the master of chaos, the jewelry they were wearing still emanating a faint glow. The first attack hadn’t finished the job, but there was always a chance that a second one would. Discord chuckled, “Would you like to bet on that, Sheogorath?”

The Pony-Madgod scoffed, “If it’s a fight you want Discord, it’s a fight I’ll gladly win!” The staff in his hand disappeared, leaving only the bland extended toward the crowd of ponies. “But why don’t we fight with honor? An honest battle, one on one! We’ll start with physical ability!”

“Do you think we’re stupid, Sheogorath? There’s no chance we’ll win in an honest battle!” The draconequus looked around, receiving approving nods from the ponies.

“Your friends are willing to fight honorably. I promise I won’t cheat. You have my word as a murderer. As much as that means to your kind,” Sheogorath groaned, his blade waving gently in the air.

After a moment’s contemplation, and further approval from his friends, Discord sighed, “Fine. We’ll play fair. I have a bad feeling about this, but…”

All eyes turned toward Applejack. She was an earth pony, naturally giving her a greater physical strength and endurance than any other type of pony. Considering magic was a no-go, the unicorns and princesses were out of the question. Fluttershy wouldn’t do much for their case, and neither would Pinkie Pie’s admittedly energetic desire to party.

With a determined nod, the orange mare stepped forward. Face to face with a creature that had killed two ponies in cold blood, she summoned every bit of strength she could gather in her muscles. With a kick to the floor, she took off in a mad dash toward the humanoid, preparing for a full-on tackle.

Twilight cheered, “C’mon Applejack! Show this jerk who’s boss!”

The Madgod sighed, “I’m sorry you had to be the pony with the short straw. I kinda liked your accent if I’m honest.” At the end of his ramblings, the attacking pony leaped toward him, attempting to make direct contact with his breast. The Daedra wasn’t having any of that, and with barely a flick of the wrist the mare was sent flying off to the side, drops of blood falling behind her.

The crowd of hopeful ponies suddenly fell mute, the brutal nature of what just happened hitting them hard.

“Six, if I count right. Not counting the blue one and the abomination.” Without moving from his spot, Sheogorath marked off one opponent from his list of obstacles. He laughed, “Would you care to try magic, then? Seems my swordplay’s a bit much for you quadrupeds.”

Discord held his tongue. Magic was the key. Physical strength was something that Equestrians lacked, but magic was in abundance. Before there could be any debate, Princess Luna stepped forward.

She grunted, “You’ve killed three ponies, and that’s three too many. It’s time for you to pay the price!” With that, a blast of cobalt energy burst from her horn, engulfing the murderer.

With a snap of his fingers, the sword became a staff, which he pointed toward the offending mare. The cobalt wave of energy stopped in place, reversing its flow back toward the caster. As it did so, three faint silhouettes appeared to the side of the room. The beam made full contact to the creature that had summoned it, and she was cast backwards through the throne room’s doors. A fourth silhouette appeared.

The ponies were speechless.

Sheogorath, however, was not. “I’m getting tired of this game. You obviously can’t win, so just surrender and save yourselves the pain.” He removed his staff and replaced it with a bow. “Perhaps you can do better with sharpshooting? I’ll even let you use your telekinesis.” He conjured a particularly shiny arrow and drew it back in the bow’s string.

Twilight—anger blinding her rational thinking and logical processes—ripped a spear from a suit of armor at the entrance to the room and aimed it at the humanoid’s chest.

Sheogorath laughed, “Fire when ready!”

The draconequus mouthed the words, the irony not lost on him. It had been the very taunt he used when the Elements defeated him and sealed him away. Somehow, he didn’t expect things to turn out so well for them.

Letting her anger add extra force to the attack, Twilight released the spear at him. With a smug grin, the Madgod released his arrow. What followed was impossible, at least by normal standards. The projectile zipped past the ponies, colliding with the spear. It struck the spear at such an angle that it flipped into the air. As it began its downward arc, the blade of the weapon caused it to fall at a steep angle, right toward the pony that had fired it.

I needn’t explain what happened next. Suffice to say it wasn’t pretty. Not for the good guys, anyway.

Another silhouette appeared. Sheogorath laughed, “I suppose that’s it then. You have no chance in combat against me. Just give up why don’t you.” He dismissed his bow, turning back toward the throne.

Celestia stomped forward, “That is enough! You shall not get away with what you’ve done, monster!” A concentrated blast of golden light pierced the inattentive Madgod’s heart.

Clutching his chest where small drops of blood trickled from, he chuckled, “Good play, you cheating bastard. Good play.” Anger suddenly overwhelmed him. He screamed, “But you’ve made the last mistake I’m gonna let you!” Though slightly pained by the unexpected happening, he simply turned on his heel and fired a black blast back at her.

The first time Discord had seen the Madgod’s personal magic. A black aura to contrast Celestia’s golden. It complimented his green.

The energy raced toward the princess, almost certainly designed to kill her. With barely a second to consider his options, the draconequus warped between her and the beam. Without wasting time, he sent a concentrated blast of his own magic at the evil energy. If he couldn’t stop it, then he would take the blow for Celestia. If he could, then perhaps she could find a way to set things right.

The two beams of energy collided. Green swirled together with black, a vortex of sickening evil. Madness and Chaos mixed into one. If things went as Sheogorath wanted, that’s how it would always be. If Discord could pull off a miracle victory, then maybe Madness would leave the realm for good.

The vortex expanded, hurricane-force winds sucking in anything in range. The corpses of the ponies that had just died, the surviving equines, the draconequus, and the Daedra were all forcefully drawn into the cone. Everything went black for everypony.

The smell of steel filled the air.

*HERE IT IS, FOLKS. THE FINAL BATTLE IS ALMOST UPON US! WHO WILL WIN? YOU DECIDE! WOULD YOU PREFER THE MAGIC OF MADNESS, OR THE CHARM OF CHAOS? CAST YOUR VOTES!*

Bad Ending: Madness's Bliss

Steel. He could smell it. He could taste it. He could almost see it. He could feel it.

Pressing against his throat. The sharp edge of a blade. When his brain finally registered what it was, his eyes jolted open. He was in an arena; columns sprang up in the middle, with silhouettes flooding the stands above them. Blood painted the walls of the arena like blue on the sky, with grates that seemed to lead to pitch blackness taking in the excess life force.

Discord was in a coliseum, one he probably wasn’t meant to survive. Above him, in the orange light of the sunset, stood Sheogorath, eyes filled with insanity, a steel blade fully extended. With a large grin he chuckled, “I see you went to sleep. That’s quite rude!”

Fear paralyzed the beast. For the first time in his life, he was staring death in the face…literally. He stammered, “Wh-where are we, Madgod?”

“I dunno. Looks like an arena. All I know is they gave me a blade. They told me to kill you, so I think I will!” He lifted the blade with frightening speed, sending it downward to decapitate the abomination.

With barely a second to spare, the beast regained his senses and warped away, safe from the blade’s reach. He scoffed, “I thought you had at least a shred of honor. Or does honor mean nothing to Daedra?” Discord took the time to examine the arena more closely.

Where a normal coliseum would hang banisters, a grotesque sight waited for him. Certain ponies were hung throughout the top of the stonework. They were held in place by chains wrapped around their torsos. Alive, capable of breathing, but most definitely in pain. They were the crowd from the throne room. The Elements and Princesses, much to Discord’s horror, were being tormented by being forced to watch the battle.

Even the dead ponies were there, as if they hadn’t suffered enough.

Sheogorath laughed maniacally, “Honor means nothing if you can’t live to tell about it!” He launched his sword at the opponent, causing yet another teleport.

“How did we get here?” the fleeing beast asked.

“How indeed?! I don’t care much! I just want you dead!” Magic burst from the Madgod’s hands, threatening to swallow the abomination with ease.

Chaotic magic rejected the Madness, parrying the blow. Discord sighed, “I take it only one of us will make it out of here?”

“Alive, yes.”

“Then it must be me!” Discord summoned a large rock golem from the ground, a puppet as tough as the earth itself.

Sheogorath chuckled, “Impressive. I can do that too. Except mine’s electric!” He held true to his claim. A beast double the size of Discord’s appeared in a cloud of black smoke, electricity coursing through its joints. It blasted the smaller golem into dust.

The ponies up top began to stir, waking from whatever sleep they were in, permanent or otherwise. Down below, it was obvious who had the advantage.

Discord directly blasted the Madgod’s golem, hoping to dispel it. It worked, but with a sad side effect. Debris from the golem, propelled by wind, smashed into some of the innocent bystanders above. Cries of intense pain erupted from each one as the chains tightened, crushing them closer to the wall.

Sheogorath flinched, “This is a sick arena!” Then he laughed, “Maybe I can make this my new Xedillian!”

“Shut it, you sick monster!” A blast of green pierced the Daedra’s stomach.

Rolling his eyes, he sighed, “That’s it. I’ve had enough of this. No more games.”

What happened next was horrifying. Everything stopped. The ponies froze in place, their previous shrieks of pain echoing around the arena. The dust settled. The silhouettes in the stands stopped moving. Everything literally stopped around them.

Discord watched it all. He could hear everything, yet he couldn’t move. Sheogorath slowly stepped toward him, his hand emanating a deep black aura. He chuckled grimly, “You tried to stop me. You really shouldn’t have done that. Enjoy the view of your own death.”

The aura slowly reached out toward him. Crippling nausea found its way to the draconequus’s stomach. A splitting headache blinded him. The black aura swallowed his body, an eerie cold washing over him. Just when he felt as if he was falling into the realm of the unconscious, a golden light washed away the black.

Vision returned just in time to see Sheogorath turn around in disbelief. He screamed, “Impossible! No one’s ever survived my Daedric Soul Trap!”

No voice would come to the beast’s throat. His muscles were still paralyzed. He managed to look up and see Celestia’s horn glowing, obviously the source of the golden warmth that had saved him. As soon as it faded, the chains tightened. Discord could almost see the bones shatter. If there had been a shriek, his ears didn’t let him hear it.

“No matter. There might be a use for you yet, Chaos.” Sheogorath lifted the beast up in one hand by the throat. He stared deep into the helpless creature’s eyes. “I still need a body. You have enough power to be acceptable. But I can’t use you if you’re consumed with morals.”

The draconequus couldn’t look away. The Daedra’s eyes were mesmerizing. They held a type of charm that couldn’t be found in Equestria. They were definitely demonic.

The Madgod continued with a growl, “Submit to me, Chaos! Denounce your putrid reformation, and serve the Madness wholly!” A violent shake accompanied the words, stressing the intensity of this situation.

Discord’s muscles were freed from the demon’s spell. His vocal cords were functional again. But now was the time for an ultimate decision. He could live as a puppet or die as a helplessly free monster. He could betray his friends and save himself, or he could hold on to his new values and die. He desperately looked up at the ponies hanging around the arena.

Celestia, Luna, Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all stared down, their eyes flooding with tears and pain. Whether this was real to them or not, the sight disgusted the abomination. Even though he had been evil not too long ago, he felt as if everything he’d witnessed the last few days went beyond evil. If he turned back to his old ways and let the monster possess him, he would be responsible for doing these atrocities to countless other ponies.

But his mind shifted back to freedom. Submitting to the Madgod would allow for him to use his powers without remorse. Though he wouldn’t technically be in control, he would still be able to experience the joys of Chaos. Unlike Aegis, whose mind and spirit had been ripped apart, Discord would be able to experience everything the Madgod made him. He would be able to feel the magic coursing through his body, though not directly in control.

And to a beast consumed by chaotic desires, freedom sang like a canary.

“…Very well Madgod. You have a deal,” came the beast’s chuckle. Despite the inkling of guilt that seemed to be resting on the back of his mind, the abomination decided he wanted to be free. After all, look at all the good his desire to protect his friends had done. Ponies had died, and he was on the verge of joining them. No, the good side was without a doubt weaker.

Sheogorath did a double take. “Really? Was that easy, was it?” he chuckled, casting a dark grin toward the bound ponies above. “I’m afraid words are worthless nowadays, Chaos. I’ll need a little more proof before I go sending you back to your world.”

Discord scoffed, “Having power and not using it is a waste. The fact that I haven’t seen that before kills me!” He squirmed slightly under the Madgod’s grip before continuing, “What kind of proof do you need?”

With a grin resembling that of a Changeling, the Ex-Prince of Madness cast his gaze upward. He sighed, “Kill them. Kill them, and any trace of the Elements within you will be lost. Then I’ll know you can be trusted.”

“Is this truly necessary?” The guilt surfaced in the beast’s mind. He wanted freedom and his full power back, but at the same time he wasn’t willing to kill a pony. The strangest sensation overcame the plagued beast. Almost as if his mind was being clouded by some outside force. The thought of murder felt familiar, yet he couldn’t recall any memories of such an act.

Had he ever killed a pony before? Maybe. Or was he mistaken for somepony else? No, it had to have been him. Nopony else had his kind of powers. But what about the Madgod? Could he have done it? No. The Madgod hadn’t been around long enough to. Or had he? It wasn’t possible. But then…had he killed somepony? Could he have killed somepony?

…

Sheogorath chuckled darkly as the draconequus’s eyes slowly faded. The yellow of his whites and the red of his irises simply disappeared. Pure white orbs remained in their sockets. Completely and utterly insane, his mind locked in an eternal battle of uncertainty and broken ambitions.

It was quite entertaining to watch his mind shatter. No real work had been required on the Madgod’s part.

The humanoid was kicked back on the throne of Canterlot Castle, the ponies that had stood up to him lying in an unconscious heap. The abomination was closer to the throne, writhing in mental anguish. While three of the ponies were entirely dead, the other five could be salvaged for servants. All that was left was to wait for the Madness to fully possess the beast, and Equestria would be his for the taking.

The vortex had been a nice touch. Sheogorath admired a good show before defeating his opponents. That’s why so many mortals had been forced to watch themselves fall hundreds of feet through the air to a stone shrine in the Shivering Isles. It was a simple task to use his Madness to assimilate the Chaos and create a cyclone of magical energies.

And the illusion that had come afterward was an even greater work of art. The demon and the beast would carry on an intense battle for a few moments while he played the image of the ponies suffering in agonizing pain. And, after several minutes of toying with the abomination, he would offer the comfort of Madness to seal the deal. It was all a matter of patience, and that patience had paid off.

Once Discord’s mind settled into a stable shape, Sheogorath would have the combined strength of Chaos and Madness at his disposal. Nopony would be able to deny him. He would control every last creature in Equestria, if not the world. Perhaps the rulers of any other provinces would be willing to negotiate a peace treaty. A few slaves a month would be a small price to pay for the people’s sanity, right?

Only a few slaves a month. Gotta make sure there are enough to go around!

“You’re a fool, Madgod!”

That voice. I feel like I hate that voice.

On the far side of the throne room, beyond the writhing bodies of maddening ponies, where the Madgod’s newest door had been placed, a large silver monolith sprung from the ground, emitting a faint glow. An all-too-familiar glow, Sheogorath mused. And there in the glow, a large figure began to form. A humanoid, twice as tall as the current king of Equestria, with a body at least three times the girth.

“Jyggalag! My good pal! What brings you to my neck of the cosmos?” The Ex-Prince of Madness’s voice flooded with buried anger. It was because of the Daedra before him that he was even in this throne room. Which, depending on how you looked at it, could be a good thing.

The large armored figure seemed to look around the room, taking in the colors of the realm. He scoffed, “Is this what my other half has been doing? Conquering weak little quadrupeds?” Turning directly toward the pile of shuddering ponies, he continued, “I use the term ‘conquer’ loosely.”

“What do you want, Jyggalag?” Something about the Prince of Order made Sheogorath calm down. It was as if he wasn’t Mad at the moment.

The large brute laughed, “You realize you are only here because of me, don’t you?”

The Madgod responded with a snide laugh, “Actually, I’m here because my Champion kicked your ass. What’s your point?”

“Our brothers want you to return. They want to give back what I stole from you.”

“You mean the Isles? Which era? First, second?” the Daedric prince spat.

Jyggalag groaned, “They want you to be a part of Oblivion again, brother.”

“Who needs Oblivion? It’s so dull and boring, always disconnected from Nirn like it is. I’d rather be active in the mortal world. Could you imagine? I wouldn’t have to rely on my worshippers!” Sheogorath chuckled, spawning a cup of wine to sip on.

“You would have your powers back. You would have your realm.”

“No, actually, I wouldn’t. You gave my realm to my Champion. And, for what it’s worth, I still have my powers.” He downed his entire glass of red liquid.

“The offer is on the table, Madgod. Have your fun and come back to us. The Daedric circle isn’t complete without us all. The planes of Oblivion wane after Dagon’s mortal failure.” The brute turned to step back into the silver obelisk.

Sheogorath laughed, “If I’m not back by the end of the year, give my Champion a call. I think he loves Madness just like I do.” With a light wave, the Madgod watched his prison leave the realm. Looking back down at the writhing draconequus, he smiled.

I’m an equal-opportunity employer, Discord. If you kill me, I let you rule my realm!

True Ending: Chaos's Bliss

Steel. He could smell it. He could taste it. He could almost see it. He could feel it.

Fear paralyzed the beast. For the first time in his life, he was staring death in the face…literally. He stammered, “Wh-where are we, Madgod?”

Even the dead ponies were there, as if they hadn’t suffered enough.

Sheogorath laughed maniacally, “Honor means nothing if you can’t live to tell about it!” He launched his sword at the opponent, causing yet another teleport.

“How did we get here?” the fleeing beast asked.

“How indeed?! I don’t care much! I just want you dead!” Magic burst from the Madgod’s hands, threatening to swallow the abomination with ease.

Chaotic magic rejected the Madness, parrying the blow. Discord sighed, “I take it only one of us will make it out of here?”

“Alive, yes.”

“Then it must be me!” Discord summoned a large rock golem from the ground, a puppet as tough as the earth itself.

The ponies up top began to stir, waking from whatever sleep they were in, permanent or otherwise. Down below, it was obvious who had the advantage.

Sheogorath flinched, “This is a sick arena!” Then he laughed, “Maybe I can make this my new Xedillian!”

“Shut it, you sick monster!” A blast of green pierced the Daedra’s stomach.

Rolling his eyes, he sighed, “That’s it. I’ve had enough of this. No more games.”

Vision returned just in time to see Sheogorath turn around in disbelief. He screamed, “Impossible! No one’s ever survived my Daedric Soul Trap!”

The draconequus couldn’t look away. The Daedra’s eyes were mesmerizing. They held a type of charm that couldn’t be found in Equestria. They were definitely demonic.

“No,” came the beast’s response. Simple and blunt, all he needed to get the point across.

Sheogorath did a double take. “Excuse me? I’m offering you your life, Chaos! Don’t be a fool!” His grip tightened around the beast’s throat, a black aura beginning to form.

Discord chuckled through the suffocation, “I’ve been alone my whole life. Life is worthless if you have to spend it alone. And a monster like you would always be lonely. I don’t want that. I’d rather die knowing I have friends than live knowing I would kill them.” And that was that. He had nothing more to say.

He’d been reformed one month. After roughly two-thousand years of chaos, he changed. Because somepony decided they wanted to be his friend, he changed. He valued that friendship. It was good to feel wanted. That’s why he couldn’t turn. He couldn’t go back to the lonely, chaotic beast he once was. Friendship truly was magic.

So the Madgod ended his resistance. One swift flex of his muscles, and the draconequus was down permanently, swallowed instantly by a magical aura that not even Celestia would be able to dispel. “A shame, really. We could have been ‘bestest friends foreverest’!” the demon mocked.

As Discord lay smothered and lifeless on the stonework, the chains around the ponies above tightened, an audible cracking sound echoing throughout the arena. Before long, everypony that had opposed him would be dead. All because he won a single fight. If you had asked Sheogorath what being victorious felt like right then, he would’ve answered ‘swimming in an endless ocean of cheese’. He was quite content with his brutal victory. He would just need to find a body to possess. Perhaps he could salvage Celestia’s after everything was said and done.

Something uncanny happened as he pondered this. Six white lights fell around him like two-ton weights. A star, an apple, a diamond, a butterfly, a balloon, and a lightning bolt. Curious little shapes glowing with white light. He could’ve sworn they looked familiar. Of course, it hit him about a moment too late. The Elements of Harmony were reacting to something, despite their owners dying up above.

Everything happened too fast for even the Madgod to process. A rainbow beam of light burst from the Elements, swallowing him whole. A branch of the magic wrapped around the lifeless draconequus, while still other branches connected to the bound ponies. The chains shattered, the wounds healed, and the abomination began coughing up a storm. All the while, the Madgod was smothered by the light, mute and invisible, preferably being sealed away.

The ponies landed softly on the ground, all the trauma from the battle having been healed. Discord was back to full power, albeit still mentally scarred from his fight. When the Elements’ magic finally faded, the Madgod was there, on the ground, a black aura surrounding him.

He stammered, “How…can this be…possible?! I was…winning! And now…this!” He stared into his opponent’s eyes, his serpentine pupils revealing fear.

Discord tittered, “There was a time when I thought I was the best. But I was wrong. The power of the Elements defeated me, even after I had turned them against one another.” He waved a claw at the ponies behind him, “They gave me a chance to redeem myself, and I took it. It’s because I took that chance that you didn’t win. As much as I long to use my chaos how I want, my friendship with the Elements protected us.”

“Beaten by gemstones! Dagon would have a field day!” The dark aura around the Madgod continued to grow, as if swallowing him.

In a flash of red light, the walls of the arena disappeared. The objects and silhouettes within vanished as well, leaving nothing but a dark red void. The void gave way to the pastel colors of the Canterlot throne room, where familiar air graced the ponies. Still Sheogorath knelt on the ground, the darkness pouring from his body.

Celestia sighed, “I won’t pretend to understand how it was done. Despite not being connected to the Elements, Discord was still able to summon their power and use it to defeat you. No matter the circumstances, it’s time you left our realm, monster.” She turned toward Twilight and added, “Would you care to do the honors?”

With obliging smiles, the Elements retrieved their jewelry from the ground and summoned forth one final blast of magic. Discord kicked back and watched as the rainbow beam erased all traces of the foreign demon from the room. But as the Madgod disappeared, everything around him seemed to stop once more.

The Elements’ energy spread throughout the room, swallowing every square inch. Everything disappeared until the beast was floating in a blank white void. Just in front of him, as if nothing had happened, Sheogorath stood with staff in hand, a wide grin on his face. The Madgod’s purple outfit seemed to glow in the whiteness of the void.

He chuckled, “I suppose I’ve been beaten. I’m a man of ambition, Discord. And I can’t stand wasted ambition. I’ll leave your precious world be for now.” He snapped his fingers, summoning a large lion’s head statue behind him.

Discord scoffed, “You shouldn’t have underestimated the power of the Elements. That was my first mistake.” A smug grin covered the abomination’s features, knowing he had beaten impossible odds.

“Don’t think it wasn’t luck to save you, Chaos!” the Madgod snapped back, a scowl replacing the grin. “If we had battled before your damned reformation, it would have been no competition!”

“If we’d met before I changed, I would’ve helped you rule the world!” the beast chuckled.

Relaxing a bit, Sheogorath scoffed, “I suppose that’s true. I can still do that, y’know. I could go back and meet you before your change.” He considered the option for a few moments before laughing, “But I’ve had enough with pastel ponies and ‘friendship’. I’m going home to torment my Champion!”

Despite everything that had happened over the last few days, Discord couldn’t help but feel sad to see the demon leave. After all, he had added entertainment to an otherwise-boring stay in Canterlot. He sighed, “Perhaps if you visit again, you can bring a body to control that Dementia?”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” He turned toward the statue, a bright blue light swirling within its mouth. As he walked toward it he chuckled, “Have fun being the only Equestrian with memory of me!”

“I’ll try…” Discord started, until he fully registered what had just been said. “Wait, what?”

With a laugh, everything disappeared from the void. The previous scene appeared around him again, the way it had been just before his conversation. Suddenly, disorienting and painful, everything around him began to shift with motion blur. Ponies appeared, disappeared, scenery changed, and magical energies shifted around him. The feeling of being spun in a centrifugal style filled the beast’s body, and he plummeted to the ground as if a million pounds had crashed onto his back.

Suddenly the motion blur stopped. The weight lifted. He was in a room different from the throne. A familiar room…

The spinning sensation ceased just in time for the beast to watch two guards exit through a small door on the far side of the room. A wheel of cheese had mysteriously appeared in his claw, almost completely consumed. The apparent dining hall was a mess. It dawned on him just exactly when this was.

The moment before he had met the Madgod for the first time. The room was the same. The cheese was the same. The time was the same. The only difference was…there was no maniacal laughter this time.

Discord looked down at the wheel of cheese in his claw. Taking a tiny bite, he chunked the dairy out the window, nausea settling on his bowels. He stared out the window toward Canterlot Castle. Inside were the ponies that had helped him survive the battle. In a few hours he would be summoned back to the throne room to answer for his ‘poisoning’ of the guards. And after that he would be sent to his chambers for the evening. The following day would bring Parasprites and cries for assistance.

The beast chuckled as he considered that the Parasprites would be the final similarity between the two timelines. Something about the last few hours made him feel optimistic.

I suppose there’s always time for some controlled chaos now and again!

The Madgod's Nature: It's All Just a Game

Discord sat comfortably beside his pony-form friend as the royal ponies went to town on the swarm of rats that had burrowed into essentially every dish placed on the luxurious table. The pastas, veggies, and even the cakes couldn’t be spared from the disgusting vermin. Of course, unlike Parasprites, there was only so much damage a swarm of rats could do. Having only disturbed the actual food, cleaning the mess would be a simple task.

And so, waiting for somepony to ask for useless assistance, the draconequus floated leisurely aside while he nibbled on a block of cheese. Sheo-Aegis sat against the far wall, his head throbbing and arms wobbling. The rat ordeal had taken its toll on the Pony-Madgod’s physical body, and he knew that if he attempted to use any more magic before getting some rest, things would go horribly wrong for him.

It didn’t take very long for the princesses to have all the rats bagged up and disposed of. While they were working on the creatures, the Elements were in the kitchen helping to re-prepare the foods for the special dinner.

As the two royals were leaving the dining hall to join their friends in the kitchen, Princess Celestia commanded, “You are to guard this room with your life, Discord! We can’t afford another issue. I’ll be surprised if we can actually get the food prepared in time!” Serious determination shined from her eyes as she spoke.

Sheo-Aegis chuckled, “Well, I had best be getting back to my post!” The Pony-Madgod attempted to cross the threshold with the princesses, but was repelled by a light push from Luna’s horn.

“Oh no, you’re staying here as well. Keep any and all pests from so much as touching that table!” Before anypony could respond, the doors slammed shut, followed by an audible clicking noise.

Discord sighed, “They actually locked us in here! As if that would really work.” With a smug grin, he drifted around in the air, content knowing that no other pests would dare bother them.

Sheogorath, leaving his body to rest for a moment, laughed, “They said to keep all pests out, right? I suppose we shouldn’t let them back in then!” This evoked an odd chuckle from his companion. He continued with a grimace, “This limited magic is starting to piss me off!”

The draconequus scoffed, “Oh calm down. It’s not as if you had no clue that your powers would be limited.” Continuing to float gently around the room, he chuckled, “And besides, if your time runs out in that body, you can just get a new one, right?”

The Madgod sighed, “Yes, I suppose I can. But if the next is just as weak as this one, there would be no point!” The pony shell’s arm twitched as if it were waking up.

“Looks like the puppet’s trying to gain control…” the abomination observed.

Sheogorath burst into laughter, “Fat chance! That bastard’s still locked safe inside your room, living a perpetual nightmare!” Almost instantly, he realized what he had said. He hoped there would be no questions asked. He hated questions, especially when they called on his confusing mindset.

“What exactly do you mean ‘locked inside my room’? Is there something I should know?” A ball dropped in Discord’s gut. The sense of dread that’d been eating at his mind for some time grew stronger.

With a slight frown, the Madgod growled, “There are only two people I can possess: a body with a broken mind, and a willing body.” He let the information sink in before continuing with a chuckle, “I had to break Aegis’s mind! I love breaking minds, you know!”

His companion gasped, “And so you mean to say that Aegis will never be Aegis again? Even when you leave, he’ll be just as insane as you?” The abomination wasn’t certain how to feel about that revelation. Anger and admiration danced upon the tip of his brain, vying for a place in his demeanor.

The Ex-Prince of Madness chimed, “Weeeell, not quite! You see, I had to break the mind to take the body. And now, as I hold so much power, the body will eventually break.” Certain that his companion wasn’t following him, he continued, “In other words, when I’m expelled from the body, it will die.”

“So anypony you possess ends up a corpse?!” Discord snapped, the anger winning the dance of emotions. “That’s horrible! I love chaos as much as the next guy, but I’d never kill anypony!”

Sheogorath replied with a sneer, “No, you’d only make them wish they were dead. At least I’m kind enough to end their suffering!” He snickered at the thought of anything he did being kind. Daedric Princes aren’t kind. Never have been, never will be.

The draconequus took a moment to collect his thoughts. He sighed, “Is there no way to put the mind and body back together once you’re finished?”

The response he received was a simple, “Nope.”

“But… Can’t you leave the body with just a bit of life left?”

Again, “Nope.”

Anger began to swell within the chaotic beast. He snapped, “Why not?!”

Sheogorath laughed, “Because once a mind is taken from the body, it cannot be glued back together. The mind is like a priceless Faberge egg. When it falls and shatters, you can’t simply forge the pieces back into place. And even when you do, there will always be obvious flaws. No, once a mind is broken, it cannot be restored.”

“Why would you do something like that? Why couldn’t you just find a willing body?”

“Listen to your words, Discord!” the Madgod snapped, growing tired of having to explain himself. “How many ponies would be willing to sacrifice their bodies for a strange entity they’ve never seen?”

“I…But…” Discord’s argument ended with that question. He had no response.

The dining room’s doors opened with haste as a stream of ponies flooded in, each carrying an exquisite dish fit for pony-royalty. Sheogorath rejoined Aegis’s body, feeling that he’d won the argument. The Pony-Madgod passed slowly by the abomination, pausing to whisper one last comment.

“Your emotions betray your powers, Chaos.”

With that one comment, Discord was plunged deep into his own thoughts. He considered everything he just learned, briefly considering alerting the princesses to Sheogorath’s actions. It didn’t take long to dispel those thoughts, as he knew he had no proof aside from what would soon be Aegis’s corpse.

Besides, who would believe him about an invisible talking biped that had just as much power as he did? If he hoped to solve the problem, he’d need to do it in secret, on his own time. So instead of racking his brain in the hopes of finding some way to stop the Madgod, he decided to join the rest of the ponies in setting the table for the soon-to-follow dinner.

He broke from his thoughts just in time to hear Sheo-Aegis comment, “There doesn’t seem to be enough cheese here, Princess. Perhaps there’s time to make another dish?” The Pony-Madgod received strange looks from the royal ponies.

Celestia sighed, “I’m afraid there’s not. Our guests should be here any second.”

“What a shame…” he sighed. Then he laughed, “Okay then, I’ll see them in!”

With a passing grin, Sheo-Aegis trotted from the dining hall, winding his way to the front gates of the castle. A feeling of intense anger flourished in Discord’s mind, knowing that the dangerous psycho was up to something. But even though he knew without doubt that the Madgod was evil at his core, he couldn’t help but admire his friend’s work ethic.

An hour passed as the guards escorted guests to the dining hall, where they were greeted by the smiling faces of the big-name castle crowd. Sheo-Aegis, beaming with wild enjoyment, happily guided pony after pony into the room where a mere two hours ago he had spawned a hundred disease-infested rodents…

Ponies gathered all around the table, feasting on the delicacies placed upon it. At the head of the table sat Princess Celestia, and to her sides were the Elements, three on each. Princess Luna was seated at the opposite end from her sister, two of her most loyal Night Guards seated by her. Along the length of the table sat assorted ponies. Mostly friends and relatives of the Elements, such as the ex-guard captain and his wife, with a few big name Canterlot celebrities joining in just to say they ate with the princess.

This was the perfect scenario for Sheogorath. He absolutely loved large gatherings, especially when he had ideas. And boy, did he have ideas aplenty this evening! Discord wasn’t quite as excited. He sat to Luna’s right, just beside Prince Blueblood, second in line along the length of the table. Directly across from him sat the pony-form Madgod. Rather than eating as would be customary, the abomination kept his eyes glued to the psycho for any signs of suspicious behavior.

Throughout the beginning of the dinner, there was none. Most of the ponies carried on usual small talk, relaxing and enjoying the meals they were graced with. Despite being prepared last-minute, everypony found the food exquisite. Even Sheo-Aegis was surprised by the quality of the consumables. There just wasn’t enough cheese on the salad. Or the potatoes. You can’t eat potatoes without cheese!

And it was when he started to eat a particularly-buttery baked potato when somepony noticed something off about Aegis. The pony seated directly beside him, closer to Luna, paid strenuous attention to his neighbor’s eating habits at the dinner.

He whispered, “Hey brother, I thought you couldn’t eat dairy?”

Discord couldn’t hold back a smile at the impostor’s reaction. Sheo-Aegis’s eyes opened wide as he essentially slammed the potato back on his plate. Posing as another pony doesn’t work if you have to be around someone who actually knows the person. Of everything Sheogorath had learned through the pony’s mind, eating habits had not been one.

Aegis’s brother continued after a short silence, “Didn’t you say it tears your stomach to shreds?” A suspicious frown covered his face, feeling something was amiss.

Sheo-Aegis groaned, “Ah yes, but this is a special occasion! I’m sure I can handle one potato.” He lifted the vegetable back up to his mouth.

“Yeah, that’s cool, but that’s like your third one.”

Discord’s eyes met Aegis’s brother’s. Suspicion almost flooded from them. Forgetting your own intolerances on top of having a distorted voice screamed impostor. In fact, Discord was almost positive that the guard was about to stand up and make an announcement about his suspicions.

That was until Sheo-Aegis beat him to the punch. “Fillies and gentlecolts!” he began.

Discord watched as the Daedric prince split from the guard captain’s body. The humanoid leaped over the table, landing just behind the abomination, who couldn’t react due to all eyes being pointed in his general direction. Shegorath chuckled into his friend’s ear, “That body’s just run out of usefulness. You might want to watch your head.”

Aegis continued, “I find that this meal is severely lacking in processed dairy, don’t you?” Met with confused frowns and annoyed glares, he simply continued, “So I declare a remedy to this situation! CHEESE…FOR…EVERYONE!” A beam of green burst from his horn, and the ceiling to the room suddenly disappeared, revealing the bright night sky above them.

Off to the side, unnoticed by all, the Madgod laughed maniacally. He always loved that line, and what followed after. A boom of thunder shook the table and the ponies sitting at it. Something made a splash in the pot of soup at the center of the table. Shining Armor, the closest to the pot, picked it out with his magic. It was a huge wheel of Eidar Cheese, from the province of Skyrim in Tamriel.

Then the crash of a shattering plate followed. Big Macintosh, the brother of Applejack, flinched away as pieces of his dish flew in all directions. Where it had been sat another wheel of the cheese. The princesses looked up in unison, and both let out shocked gasps. What appeared to be thousands of wheels were falling from the sky, plummeting right toward the dining hall.

Celestia commanded, “Everypony duck!” Launching a beam of magic into the air to—hopefully—prevent some of the damage, she led the others in a harmonized fall under the table.

Sheogorath laughed maniacally as Discord flew to his side. Aegis stood in place with his hooves raised, joints shaking wildly in exhaustion. The draconequus summoned a sturdy umbrella into his hand with which to block the falling cheese. The two powerful creatures shared glares.

The Madgod chuckled, “Just be glad it isn’t exploding cheese! I’ve done that before, you know. Wiped out an entire village with the stuff. Talk about allergic to dairy!” He looked up just in time to watch a wheel obliterate the bowl of pasta near Celestia’s seat.

Discord growled, “How dare you?! Somepony could be killed, you psychotic monster!”

“Isn’t that the point?” The Daedra’s grin caused a lump to form in the beast’s throat. “A better question is, why haven’t you stopped the rain with your powers?”

Wheels of cheese continued to bombard the dining hall as the two shared blank stares. The sudden realization that that was a possible course of action almost made the master of chaos explode with rage. He snapped his claws with violent force, stopping the cheese’s descent instantly. He roared, “If you ever do something like this again, I’ll see to it that it’s the last mistake you make!” With an audible popping noise, the cheese vanished, and the ceiling returned to its place.

Celestia was the first to recover her chair. Unaware of the Madgod’s presence, she boomed angrily, “Captain Aegis, what is the meaning of this insanity?!” At the sound of her voice, the other guests recovered their seats, each with a look of angry curiosity locked on the apparent cause of the commotion.

Aegis hopped up onto the table and laughed, “Oh, you know, I just thought we could use some cheese!”

“We could’ve been killed, Aegis!” Shining Armor groaned. Having been the previous guard captain, he trained the current target of their anger to use his magic for important purposes.

“Oh nonsense! You all took cover, didn’t you?” A grin began to stretch across the pony’s face, unnatural and creepy.

Discord sighed, “Perhaps we shouldn’t place the blame entirely on him. After all, any number of strange things could’ve manipulated him.” His eyes darted to the spot where the invisible Sheogorath stood.

“Lighten up, everypony!” Aegis scoffed. “After all, it was just…for a little…fun…” With that last word, the pony collapsed onto the table.

A sudden sense of concern replaced the anger as a bright golden light burst from his chest. It shot toward Sheogorath, who took it without concern. A piece of him duly returned. The process of splitting from the body was much less trouble than joining it. Its direction went unnoticed by the crowd of concerned dinner guests.

Even if they had watched it, they wouldn’t have seen its destination. To them, it would have simply disappeared into thin air. Discord was the only one aware of the light’s owner, and he knew nopony would believe him if he spoke up about it. So he was left to wallow angrily as the Madgod strolled from the room, whistling an old tune from the Shivering Isles.

The ponies gathered around Aegis as his body stopped its twitching. The breathing ceased. Being pronounced dead, most of the ponies began to freak out. His brother fell to the ground in sorrow. Discord knew what had happened. He just didn’t know how to stop it from happening again.

Though hours ago they had been ‘friends’, sharing a mutual love of all things abnormal, what the Madgod had done was unforgiveable in Discord’s book. Actually killing another living creature was something the abomination couldn’t allow to go unpunished. Mischief was one thing, but murder was something completely new. Deep down, the draconequus knew what needed to be done.

Despite the anger that overwhelmed him at the moment, the master of chaos couldn’t help but admire the Madgod’s ability to disregard others’ health just to have his own fun. There was a point in time when the two were no different. And yet, somehow, the abomination had been driven from his old ways, caught between the ties of freedom and friendship. Now a strange being from another world threatened to throw the entirety of Equestria into chaos, despite Chaos’s reformation.

It would all come down to who had the most devotion to their powers. Would it be Madness’s bliss, or Chaos’s chains?