A Promise Not Forgotten

Dan:

“Where am I?” I asked as I looked up at my friends.

“The throne room, Dan,” Discord said sitting on a table looking down at me.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Colin half yelled to me.

“Oh, right,” I said while getting up off the floor. “Aidan is being controlled by Prophet that is for sure. We can get him back though! When we were fighting he kept fighting Prophet’s influence. He gave us just enough time to get back here.”

Celestia stood in shock, “But that’s impossible! Nopony has ever been able to resist mind control!” A look of determination and confidence covered her face. “We have to get Aidan back!”

“We will, princess,” I said sitting on the table next to Discord.

“Is Aidan… ok?” Colin asked cautiously.

“Yeah, but Prophet might get to him if we don’t move fast.”

“May I suggest we get a proper force to fight Prophet?” Discord said.

“I think that’s a good idea, I can’t handle him one-on-one,” I said rubbing the back of my head which was still healing from the bark digging into my skin. My clothes were littered with holes; I’m going to need some new ones.

“Shall we go eat?” Discord asked.

“How could you think of eating now!?! We have to figure out how to get Aidan back!” Colin said.

“We have to get him back before Prophet finds a way to ruin him forever!” Celestia added.

“Don’t worry,” Discord said calmly. “Aidan will be fine, he is more powerful than you realize. I can sense this kind of stuff. Shall we, Dan?”

I believed every word Discord said. He is the type of person I would trust my life with. Something about him seems trustworthy. But there is one thing that is troubling me.

Colin:

“Damnit! Those morons are worrying about eating when Aidan could die!” I said angrily.

“Calm down, Colin,” Celestia said from her throne as she walked down the steps. “Discord can be trusted. Aidan is more powerful than you or even he knows.”

“And just how powerful is that?” I asked.

“When the time comes, you will know,” She said before walking out of the room and following Dan and Discord.
I stood in the empty room and looked at the many stained glass windows depicting Prophet.

“In all of these he seems so peaceful, and a true leader. It shows him as the head of the Royal Guard, I assume that was before Shining Armor showed up.” I thought to myself. It also showed members from the other nations bowing to the Equestrian flag.

“He united the nations before he drove them apart. Just what the hell went wrong? That journal should tell me.”

Celestia stood in the doorway, “Are you coming?” She must have come back when I wasn’t paying attention.

“Yeah,” I said following her out of the room.

“Though I won’t be able to eat much at all” I said under my breath.

I saw Iron Hoof walking down the opposite direction of the hall, I guess he didn’t want to eat with us , or like me, couldn’t.

Dan:

“So, Lieutenant Dan, eh?” Discord asked.

“Yeah,” I said walking with him to the dining hall.

“How has Earth been since I left?”

“Wait, you were at Earth?” I asked.

“Oh, you didn’t know? What a shame!” Discord said, full of excitement.

“When were you on Earth?”

“Oh… maybe around the medieval ages.” Discord said looking off into nowhere in particular.

“How old are you?”

“Honestly, I stopped counting after ten thousand,” Discord said like it was nothing.

“Holy shit dude,” I said in awe. “Earth is dead by now, I’m almost certain. It should have been about six years since I left, so there is no telling what it is like now. When I left it was falling apart completely. Why the medieval ages though?”

We entered the dining hall and the others were listening in eagerly awaiting Discord’s story. Even Celestia was wondering. Discord walked in and sat down at the long table.

“Well, contrary to popular belief, I am not a being of pointless chaos,” Discord said. “I was created with a different purpose, chaos is merely a side effect.”

Celestia responded with a look of confusion, “Care to explain?” She said.

“The first reason was to unite Equestria, and the second: Purge it of immortal beings,” Discord said eating a salad placed in front of him.

“Now how the hell would that help unite Equestria?” I asked confused.

“Back when Celestia was just a child there were many alicorns and beings like them. They often got into wars that caused world-wide destruction that killed off entire populations, one of which was the human race.”

“Really?” Colin asked. “Humans were here too?”

“Oh, yes, and were quite the industrious species. They quickly advanced into a technological stage that the other races could only dream of. When the alicorns and other magical beings came about they didn’t care much for the humans and would rather them be wiped off the face of Equestria. I was created to remove any immortal being, be it alicorn, gryphon, changeling, zebra, or even human. I had to remove the imbalance of power so that Equestria could be unified.”

“How did you defeat that many alicorns?” Celestia asked a little shocked, as per norm.

“Dear Celestia, you are nothing compared to me,” Discord said with a mocking grin.

She was offended and stood up, “You will not insult me in my own castle!” She yelled to Discord as her horn started glowing.

“You don’t want to do that…” Discord said, half challenging the princess of the sun. Celestia charged a beam of light and shot it directly at Discord. He responded by holding up a hand to catch the energy in his hand. He caught the pulsing beam and formed it into a ball before eating the pure energy. “Told you!” He said mocking the goddess.

Celestia stood with a puzzled face, “B- but how?” She asked, barely able to form the words as her powerful magic was completely absorbed without any apparent side-effects.

“I was made to absorb the power the magical beings wielded,” He said with a straight face. “They tried things more desperate than that, my dear.”

“Then why didn’t you fight the Elements of Harmony?” She asked trying to form an idea of just who Discord was.

“I was given the purpose to unite Equestria, remember? From the day we first met I knew that inside you was the desire for peace. You were the one who would help unite Equestria, and I was right. The power inside you directly reflects your motives; if you want to harm, your magic will be more destructive and unpredictable, but if you want to protect then your magic will be measured and strike with justice. Some ponies learned to disguise their powers though, so that they could appear to do good; that didn’t work out to well for them,” Discord said slightly bored.

“So that is why you would let me and my sister live?” Celestia asked to be sure.

“Yes,” Discord replied.

“Why the chaos then?” Celestia asked.

“It is the best method to lure out immortals. Either they will hate it and seek to end it, or they will want to forge an alliance with it. When I peered through to the inner motives of all those who opposed me, I could see that none of them had what it takes to be a true leader. I drained the power from each and every one of them leaving their empires in shambles; their subjects blamed me for the downfall.”

“I see,” Celestia said looking down in thought.

“Cool story, bro,” I said still mocking Discord. He and I will get along just fine.

We talked about some other things, mainly Earth though, as we finished our breakfast.

Aidan:

You fucking moron! You let Dan get away! Prophet yelled in my head.

“Not my fault. It seems I am resisting myself. I shouldn’t be able to do that, should I?” I asked Prophet, he knew exactly what I meant; that I have two separate personalities since his arrival.

He is more powerful than you; alone you would never stand a chance. With me guiding you, I can keep him suppressed and make you more powerful. When that is done he will never be able to fight you again.

I sat upon the mangled corpses of this village’s inhabitants. The gryphons were stupid, and actually thought that they could fight. Being stubborn never gets you anywhere; they need to learn that to survive. “What now?” I asked Prophet as I slid down the pile of gore.

We move toward Canterlot. The princess now knows of our presence and will do everything she can to stop us. Dan and Colin will aid her.

“I’d prefer not to kill them,” I said as I walked toward the city of the goddesses.

If need be you will have to.

“Understood, and what of discord?” I asked looking back at the wreckage of the forest we caused in our bout.

He will not be an issue.

“Oh yeah? And why is that?” I asked looking forward again. Up the road was another village that I had left untouched in my raid. That would have to change.

He is vulnerable if you know how to fight him. Only I do, and I can’t risk telling you. In the event you are captured I will be forced to leave you. You might be able to protect him if Aidan succeeds in resisting you. If that happens you must continue our work, resist Aidan and bring Equestria to its knees.

“Sounds lovely,” I said looking at the town as it grew closer. “Time to get moving,” I said as I burst into a full sprint.

Colin: Who wrote this portion.

“I’m gonna go for a walk on the grounds. I’ll be back in a half hour or so,” I said.

“Ok, when you get back, were going to have you try to lift one of those garden statues,” Twilight replied.

In light of recent events, Celestia thought it best for me not to go to Ponyville for the day.

I glanced in the direction her hoof was pointing. It was a large stone statue nearly three times my size, and made of solid stone.

“Sure…”

I started to explore the grounds. I had reached one of the boundaries of the gardens, I think it was the east side, when I saw a small, worn path going through the hedge. It was naturally hidden, but even less noticeable since it was overgrown. I followed the path, partially crouched over, until the space started to open up. I came out of the hedge, looked around, and saw I was in a grove of blooming cherry trees. I walked forward into a small, circular clearing.

At its center was a large, table top flat rock. I approached it. It was the perfect height for kneeling next to. Beside it I found an old iron fork, rusted with age. Above the fork, etched into the rock was a bit of writing:

Life In Dreams

In some dreams I fly.

I float above my strange life.

It makes me wonder,

I see life clearly in dreams

But why can't I while awake?

“It’s a tanka,” I thought.

A tanka is a poem similar to a haiku, just with fourteen more syllables (two lines). I used to write them back on earth, they helped me cope.

I looked over to the far edge of the clearing, there was something shiny on a tree trunk. I walked over to it. It was an old, rusty balisong, probably stuck in the tree by some semi-destructive pony. But the thought occurred that ponies don’t have hands to use balisongs. I pocketed it, hoping to examine it more later, and headed back to Twilight.

Journal Entry 03:

Today I continued my secret studies of the orb. I have deduced that it contains a new magic, one Equestria has never seen before. With Mendax’s supervision I will be unlocking the orb and absorbing the magic. I know that this seems selfish, but to fully unite the empire we must do whatever we can.

On a side note: I can’t stop thinking about what is inside of the orb. I have become Distant and Celestia is noticing it. Mendax has begun to worry and hopes that opening it will help. The desire to absorb whatever power is inside that orb is unimaginable. It is the only thing I dream about in the few hours that I sleep. I never dreamt before this, perhaps it is linked.

While holding the orb I feel more powerful and the few spells I have tested were indeed more powerful. Whatever is in that orb, it will certainly help in the coming hardships. The gryphons have once again started their slow but persistent refusal to comply with our policies. We can only hope that this doesn’t devolve into a war.

Journal Entry 04:

We opened the orb. I have been in a magic induced coma for a month now. The gryphons have indeed worked up an army and have challenged our empire. They will regret it. The new powers I have attained will show them that.

Also, I have noticed a distinct change in my personality. I have been acting more hostile to those around me. To those I had no feelings for to begin with I now utterly despise. Before the change I loved Celestia with all my heart and would die for her in a heartbeat, but now I just don’t care. I don’t like her and I don’t hate her.

-Five Minutes Later-

I have reread what I wrote. I am sickened to the core of what I have become. The orb has poisoned my mind and it’s hard to resist its influence. As far as I can tell, it comes and goes and I can’t recollect anything when the magic takes control. The gaps have even started to get larger; at first it was minutes and now has escalated. I have to resist whatever evil the orb has plunged into my mind. This whole ordeal was pointless; I should have never gotten greedy. My dear Celestia, I hope for your sake that I can beat this.