To Restore the Balance

Chapter 2: A Week's Progress (Rise of The Order of Chaos)

*Discord POV*

Staring out the window of his new castle, Discord looked out at the city of Manehattan, watching the hustle and bustle of ponyfolk fleeting to and fro; although, Discord couldn't really call the city Manehattan anymore. No, this was Discordicopica, the capital of Discord's newly erected empire. Once again, Discord thought back on all the events that had taken place since he had… "spoken to" Celestia, Luna , and the elements of harmony. As far as he was concerned, it had been one productive week.

No sooner had he left Canterlot, Discord had transported himself to Manehattan, the location he had determined to be the best possible place to start his campaign against the forces of good. After all, it was a nice, long distance away from the goddesses and their army, so he'd have plenty of time to organize his forces and prepare a counterattack; but before that, of course, he needed to build an army to counterattack with. Appearing in the center of the city, Discord had conjured the largest barrier he could possibly create, sealing the city and its residents in, so that no one could enter or exit without his knowledge. Giving himself some time to recuperate, Discord set about gathering all the ponies he could, using a mass-transportation spell to drop all the earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi in range into his immediate area. It had taken quite some time, but once he was relatively sure that he'd gathered all the ponies together, Discord is best to explain himself.

Using his Royal Voice, something he hadn't done in eons, Discord told the populace of his revelation, making sure to leave out what he'd done to Twilight and her friends, and making sure to emphasize that, though he was steadfast in his beliefs and would be using the city as his base of operation, he would not force anypony in the city to follow him, nor did he want anyone to do so on his behalf. After he finished his speech, he just stood there, waiting to hear the inevitable jeers, curses, and overall scorns of the crowd he'd amassed before him; it was what he'd expected, what he'd prepared himself for. Slowly, the general muttering and silent discussion among the crowd began to grow louder, building to a crescendo, the uproar he'd known was coming, and braced himself for the torrent of insults to come.

But they never did. Instead, he was began to notice the general opinion of the crowd as the shouting continued to grow louder still; they were not shrieks of scorn, nor condemning curses, but rather shouts of agreement and overall support. These words of praise and well-wishes continued on, growing in volume and abundance, until they all joined together to become a single chant that rang with the strength of the combined voices of over ten thousand ponies:

"DISCORD! DISCORD! DISCORD! DISCORD! YEEEAAAHHHHHHH!"

Thousands of hooves stomped in time to the engrossing mantra, and bursts of magic flew into the air, creating vivid burst of red, gold, and black energy. As Discord gazed on at the entirely unexpected spectacle, a dark, sinister smile crept across his lips; he had his army.

Even now, Discord found himself smiling as he gazed out at the ponies below as they went about "remaking the city in his image", altering everything in the city to reflect their image of the Lord of Discord. It still amazed him how a few words had swayed so many, so thoroughly. Even now, he knew all he had to do was walk across the to the adjacent window and he would see hundreds of pony training for the battle they knew was fast approaching, each clad in black and red armor, his golden emblem of chaos emblazoned on the shoulders and chest of each suit.

That was yet another reason Discord had chosen Manehattan as his base of operations; the entire city's infrastructure was based solely on the production and distribution of manufacturing goods. With a little tweaking here and there, the factories that had once made TVs, canned goods, and toys, had been retooled to make armor, swords, catapults, battering rams, and every other weapon Discord's army would need in order to wage a proper war. Though rather lax in its production, this monolith of military might would provide even his young, inexperienced army with the means to give Celestia's lot a good run for their money.

"So, I see you've made yourself quite at home here. Love the color scheme you've got going."

Discord turned to find Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, leaning against the door-frame of his throne room. She had arrived with her hordes of shapeshifters almost two days ago, and had been equally as astonished as he was at the degree of acceptance the citizens of Manehattan had extended to them. Since then she had been otherwise preoccupied with creating a hive for her swarm; after all, the needs of her hive came before all.

"Thank you, Chrysalis, although I can't really take credit for the improvement in the decor. That honor belongs to Hot-to-Trot. She's the best fashion designer in Manehattan, and I have to say I can see why."

"Indeed, but you know I am not here to exchange pleasantries."

"Of course not, after all, you've never been one for ideal chit-chat. You're here because I've started a war with Celestia, your enemy, and you want to know why."

Taking to the air, Discord floats lazily around Chrysalis, who made it a point to turn with him, making sure not to let him out of her sight. He simply grinned at her blatant anxiety; she didn't trust him and with good reason. The two had never really been close, and just because they now had a common enemy that didn't mean that one wasn't planning to stab the other in the back at the first chance they got. Discord drifted closer to Chrysalis and soon their snouts were mere inches from one another. They continued to stare into each others' eyes, the unspoken threat hanging in the air, and neither willing to back down from the other.

"You want to know what thoughts are going through my head, and more importantly, how you fit into them. You want to know whether or not to trust me with your horde, your resources, and what may very well be your life...should we fail that is." Leaning back lazily, Discord drifted away from Chrysalis, effectively breaking eye contact. "But rest assures, my dear Chrysalis; I have no intention of double-crossing you, now or ever. I simply saw a chance for us to seek revenge on our common enemy, and that you have, or I should say had, far more resources than I did at your disposal. Your being here is simply that of common interest."

Chrysalis seemed to pause for a moment, cocking her head to the side as she pondered his words. Discord could only smile; of course they had a common enemy, but that was where those commonalities ended. When he'd sent Chrysalis the letter telling her of his plans, he'd left out his true motives behind why he was doing it. Instead he'd told her what the situation would look like to anyone else; he had never been sincerely good, but had been secretly bidding his time, waiting for his chance at revenge. Just like he'd thought, she'd bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Now, they were both in it for the long haul, and to back out now would be to place yourself between two armies with no allies; an all 'round no-win situation.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" Chrysalis asked, shrugging as she, too, seemed to reach a similar conclusion.

Before Discord could say anything, one of his Chaos Guards barged into the Throne Room, his armor heavily damaged covered in scorch marks. Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak, but Discord beat her to the punch.

"And for what reason have you decided to barge into my throne room?"

"Lord Discord, there's uh... a group of ponies here to see you."

Chrysalis raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but Discord smiles mischievously.

"Well, if these guests are so insistent on meeting me, I guess I should at least give them a proper greeting."

Discord lazily floated down the hallway to the main foyer, Chrysalis and the wounded guard following close behind.

"Hmm, that was quick." Chrysalis said very matter-of-factly. "I knew Celestia would send assassins to try and kill you to end this war quickly, but still, this is much sooner than expected."

Discord continued to grin knowingly, "You might want to rethink that Chrysalis. After all, things are not always what they a-"

As Discord enters the Grand Hall, he and the others two were greeted by quite a sight; the foyer of his new castle was in complete shambles. Pillars were smashed to dust, paintings and furniture alike burned flames of black, gold, and red, and smoldering craters littered the floors. His Royal Guards, the best of the troops he'd amassed while in Manehattan, lay beaten, battered, bruised, and bloody all across the room, flung about as if they were a bunch of cheap rag-dolls. Standing in the center of the wreckage were eight ponies, several of whom were wearing the Elements he'd brought into this world not long ago. One pony in particular drew Discord's eye more than the others; this pony wore the crown of Entropy.

The pony was a unicorn, but unlike any unicorn Discord had ever seen before. His mane and tail were cut in a rough, untamed fashion, both glistening a brilliant dark red and black. His skin and fur were dark as night itself, a midnight shadow occasionally interrupted by jagged slashes of red, giving him a look much like that of a zebra. His eyes, a deep crimson red hue, were narrow and wild, like a feral beast let lose, and the wide ear-to-ear smile plastered on his face sent chills racing up Discord's spine. His cutie mark, if it could even be called cutie, was an upside-down five-point star, surrounded by a double circle, covered with arcane glyphs, pulsating a sinister neon red, and outlined by ten fiery pegasus wings. It was a truly evil-looking mark, but that wasn't the worst part; it was moving, the star slowly turning within the double circle as the various symbols flickered in and out of existence.The strangest thing about him, though, and what Discord found most interesting, was his horn; it was broken. Less than three inches from the young stallion's forehead, the jagged stump of his horn protrudes from behind his hair, splintered edges running round it.

"Now let's try this again." The black and red-stripped pony said, grinding a nearby guard's head into the ground under his left hoof. "Where. Is. Discord?"

With each word, the red and black unicorn pressed down harder on the guard's head, twisting his his hoof so the bits of rubble cut into the cream-colored earth ponies face. Before the guardpony could so much as groan, the entrance burst open, and twenty earth ponies stampeded into the room, swords clenched between there teeth.

Two things happened next that through Discord for a loop, and made Chrysalis's jaw drop clean to the floor. One, was that all seven ponies stepped back, ducked down, and covered there ears with their hooves, as if they were in magic kindergarten and someone had just swore. Next, the unicorn, lowered his head, as if he were about to charge the guards with nothing to fight but his busted horn.

"Great, just great", thought Discord as he face"hoofed" himself, "of all the ponies Entropy could have chosen, it decided to choose the crippled, headstrong pony about to get himself killed."

However, as Discord waited to hear the slice of cold steal through pony flesh, he became aware of a dull chatter, a low mumbling that seemed to fill the room. Looking back, Discord looked at the unicorn, to find that he wasn't dead, in fact he was far from it; he was casting a spell. A golden ichor flowed from the tip of his broken horn, snaking its way down his face, until it finally came to rest on his lips, where it seemed to sink into his skin. As this continued, the unicorn began mumbling in a language both foreign and familiar to Discord; Horsewhinny, ancient language of the long since extinct horse species of Equestrian.

All at once, the room became a cacophony of sound, from the scrapping of hooves against a chalkboard to the snarling of a pack of feral timber-wolves, as the earth pony battalion ground to a screeching halt, already feeling the unicorns power. Quick as a flash, Discord wrapped his tail around Chrysalis's head, ignoring her blatant and numerous protests as he jammed his claws into his ears, determined to not be on the receiving end of the spell. All twenty reared up in terror their bodies quickly began to turn to stone. Discord couldn't help but grimace in fear at the sight; after all, he'd experienced a similar faith twice over, and neither had been pleasant.

As the spell reached its apex, a blinding flash of light filled the room, and the twenty now petrified ponies shattered, leaving no recognizable remains. The unicorn turned back to  captive, but in his place lay a cracked stone replica embedded in the floor. Snarling in anger at his spell backfiring, he reared up on his hind leg and brought his hooves down on the statue's head, shattering it in a spray of gravel and dust.

Although Discord was horrified, he found the unicorn's ferocity to be both refreshing and intriguing. Seeing no more reason to remain hidden, Discord methodically strolled into view of the eight ponies, slowly applauding their performance.

"Well done, my mysterious group of ponies. I must say, I'm impressed."

Before any of the group could respond, Chrysalis leaped in front of Discord, firing a massive burst of magic at the keeper of Entropy. Without so much as a twitch, a barrier appeared between the ponies and Chrysalis's blast. Sparks flew as the two collided, but it was short-lived, as the barrier began to ripple and flex, encasing Chrysalis's blast in a sphere of swirling orange and green energy.

"Thanks for the energy, Chrysalis. Hope you don't mind if I return it." said the stripped pony, grinning coldly. In a burst of red, gold, and green energy, the sphere exploded outward, hurling a wall of destructive energy at Chrysalis.

As he watched this new display of power, Discord had to admit he'd severely underestimated this pony; not only was he ready and able to cast spells, but he continued to be surprised by each new trick this pony pulled out of his sleeves. However, as impressed as he was with the pony's performance, Discord couldn't let him kill Chrysalis.

Using his own magic, Discord launched the remnants of a nearby pillar into the path of the blast, and threw a blast of his own magic in for good measure. The two blast met in a violent outcry mere feet from Chrysalis, blasting the petrified changeling queen into the wall as the shock-wave rippled outward, tearing apart what was left of the room. Still in the direct path of the blast, the unicorn was thrown back, his feet skidding along the floor until he'd rejoined the rest of the would-be assailants. A curtain of green fire enveloping her body, Chrysalis, now a nine headed hydra, advanced on the group of disoriented interlopers, seeking to make full use of her unexpected advantage. Rearing up, Chrysalis roared, dark green flames bellowing from four of her mouths, while the other five spewed forth a foul-smelling corrosive acid, filling the room with smoke, ashes, and the smell of rotting eggs and brimstone.

Reverting to her original changeling form, Chrysalis trotted back over to Discord, grinning conceitedly at her victory. "Well, that was fun."

"Quite. But before you start victory dancing, you might want to take a second look behind you."

Swiveling around, Chrysalis could barely believe her eyes. Standing amidst the boiling acid and smoldering cobblestone was the group of ponies, completely unscathed by her vicious onslaught. Standing at the forefront of the group,was the unicorn, once again chanting in the ancient tongue, his words taking the form of a red and gold shield, holding both the acid and flames at bay. Hissing in irritation, Chrysalis advanced once more on the ponies, but was intercepted by Discord, who placed a firm paw on the changeling queen's shoulder.

"Now now children," Discord boomed. "As amusing as this has been, I think we've had our fill of violence for the day, don't you?"

The group's response was abrupt and immediate. "Lord Discord..."

Chrysalis stood dumbfounded as each pony bowed there head low, as they repeated the unicorn's greeting, earning an enthusiastic laugh from Discord as Chrysalis continued to gawk.

"Why my dear Chrysalis, what ever is the matter?"

"Ah....ju..bu... they...and you... the... ah...WHAT!?!?" was all the Queen of the Changelings could manage to say as she continued to try and make sense of the sudden turn of events.

Discord simply sighed; much as he enjoyed watching her struggle with what had just happened he had no time to waste with this.

"Chrysalis meet the Elements of Chaos. Elements of Chaos, Chrysalis."

The Unicorn walks up and casually raises his hoof. "Sup."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...WHAAAAAATTT?!?!?!"

Discorded groaned, face-pawing himself for both his and Chrysalis's short-sightedness. "These ponies are the bearers of the elements of chaos. You know, the one's I created from the energy I took and chaorrupted from the elements of harmony?"

"But, but, but... look what they did to your castle! LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO YOUR GUARDS!" Chrysalis stammered, gesturing wildly to the scene of wanton destruction and the smoldering smudges and piles of rubble that were once his guards.

"So?" he said, shrugging as if it was no concern of his.

Chrysalis would have said more, but her tie raid was cut short as Discord released his own pulse of golden energy, allowing it to lazily sweep over the room. As it did, wherever the ripples of energy touched began to mend itself; Pillars reassembled, great works of art reformed from the ashes, and craters swelled and filled in, restoring the room to its prior glory. even the guards, be the burnt to a crisp or pulverized to dust, were reassembled and brought back to life with a jolt. All the while, Chrysalis continued to stare at the spectacle, slack-jawed in disbelief, and once it was complete, she only continued to gaze at Discord in disbelief.

"HOW. IN. TARTARUS. DID. YOU. DO THAT?!?!?"

"They are the WIELDERS of chaos; I and the GOD of chaos. It stands to reason that anything they do with the power of chaos, I can see it undone."

"Then why do all this? Why not just let them in; there your element bearer's!?!"

"To test them; I needed to know if they were strong enough to stand against the sisters and their elements. to answer your next question; yes, I do believe they are."

"I...I...I...I need to get some air."

Grumbling in frustration, Chrysalis stormed out of the Throne room, and Discord couldn't help but laugh at  her antics. What he'd done had made sense, and he knew Chrysalis knew that; she was just upset that she hadn't been informed beforehand, and just the fact that some thing so trivial made her so made cracked Discord up. But now was neither the time nor place to revel in his own mischief. Taking a moment to situate himself, Discord returned his attention to group of ponies in front of him, the unicorn once more the center of his attention.

"What is your name?"

"Broken Magic, my lord." Magic raised his head to look directly at Discord, his eyes full of determination.

Discord just rolled his eyes. "Skip the formalities, Magic. Your bearer of Entropy, the element closest to me. Why we're practically family."

Still floating, Discord conjured up to armchairs, a tea set, and three miniature cotton candy clouds. The second chair scooped up Magic as the clouds rained chocolate milk into their cups.

"Yes, si.. uh...Discord." Magic pawed at the ground, obviously uncomfortable with this situation. Discord, however, took no notice as he took a sip of his chocolate.

"So, Magic, now that you and your friends have proven yourselves, I'd like to get down to brass text." Setting down his cup, Discord made sure he spoke loud enough for all the ponies to hear him.

"We're here to fight for you against Celestia and Luna, to the death if necessary." Magic's words were followed by murmurs of agreement from the rest of the group.

Hmm... blind loyal, I can use that. Discord though to himself, smiling grimly. "Good to hear. So, before we get better acquainted, tell me, Magic.... What do you know... of the Everfree Forest?"