(This chapter will be told from Discord’s point of view, continuing from the last chapter.)

The Pegasus finally stopped struggling in my arms, going limp. “…You didn’t hit her that hard, did you?" “Why do you care?” He turned around and started walking away. I hoisted her over my shoulder and followed him. I waited as his horn glowed a magnificent yet subtle red color. The rift opened up, allowing us to enter. The void was the same as always, bleak and free of anything. Almost like deep space without the colorful stars. Although it was very dark, a constant light lit the whole of the void, but there were no light sources. No actual defined horizon or sky or visual depth played a part in this dimension. You could hear a low, moaning wind blowing somewhere, but you couldn’t see or feel it. We walked the correct ways to the center to avoid looping and starting back where we were. Finally we reached the middle, an obvious place where it was a little brighter and the floor was a lighter gray color.

I set her down on the floor and wrapped a collar around her neck, and then attached that to a chain which hooked to a spike in the ground. The good thing about being a draconequus is that you have opposable thumbs. Chance won’t be able to take off the collar because she lacks fingers. Before we got here, I had fixed a muzzle onto her, keeping the rag in place and preventing her from waking up. I took that off and threw it backwards, and Sombra caught it with his horn. I sighed and looked up at the black and indigo “sky”. Things close to resembling stars dotted this sky, but vanished once you look at them dead-on. You could see them in your peripheral vision, though. “Ahh, the void is looking so lovely today, eh, Chance?” I heard a small gasp and I had to smirk to myself. I guess she didn’t know I knew when she awoke. “This is your new home, now. You will be kept here while certain… ‘errands’ are taken care of in Equestria.” “What? We’re not in Equestria? What do you mean, errands?” I chuckled, amused by her confusion. “No, we’re in another dimension, where certain physics that apply to Equestria are not played here. It’s quite fun, really.” “…The errands. What are you planning to do there?” Without answering her, I turned and flew away.

“Wait, come back! You can’t leave me here!” “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll come back for you once I’m done with Ponyvi- I mean, with the errands. And I certainly can leave you here. Just watch me.” Sombra was long gone now, probably bored. I left the way I came, mentally noting when to turn this way or that, even though there weren’t any visual aids. Chance couldn’t have seen me once I turned the first corner. The void was a strange place that Sombra and I both created. Its purpose was many; a prison, a safe house, a meeting place, et cetera. I had gotten the idea to keep her here because it was no easy task to find your way out of here, even if you’ve passed through hundreds of times.

Sombra and I came up with the most brilliant plan ever thought. Since Chance has such an interesting psyche that it’s so simple yet almost impossible to understand, we chose her. She’s friends with just about everyone in Ponyville and Canterlot. She even personally knows the Princesses. That makes her a wonderful pawn. Basically, my plan is to terrorize the two towns and make it look like Chance was responsible. Oh, yes, it does sound trivial, but in actuality, it will be one of the worse things to happen in Equestria’s history. I designed a bomb that will help us do so- but this is no ordinary bomb. It is designed to go off in intervals, each blast a weak pulse of fire, metal shrapnel, and utter force. The first blast will be the worst, causing the most damage, sending the lesser-wounded ponies outside to help the hurt. The pause between the first and second blast will also be the longest, to ensure the most ponies are outside to feel it. The second blast will send buildings tumbling down, scorch trees and fields, and render many ponies’ senses useless- sight, hearing, and feeling. Hopefully it’ll blind them with shrapnel and debris, deafen them with its loud boom, and numb them with fire and multiple scrapes. The explosion’s height reaches above the clouds, to make sure any Pegasi don’t try to flee its wrath. Sombra will cast a spell over Ponyville and Canterlot to make it so nopony can get out, but the explosion can get in. Then, he will make a hologram of Chance walking through the streets, with a look of sick joy pasted on her face. She will be called to help the others, but the hologram will just smile and walk away. Now, with the matter of the Princesses, I will personally break their horns and clip their wings as they’re under piles of rubble. I’m still debating whether or not it’s worth it to kidnap and kill them. I would love to have them watch as their subjects burned and died, knowing they could do nothing to help. It’s going to be glorious.

Quite a few hours have passed, and it was nighttime. We decided to detonate the bomb during the night because Celestia will most likely be sleeping in her castle, vulnerable and unaware. All was silent as we made our way to the detonation location. We placed the bomb, about the size of a few beach balls, in a field between Canterlot and Ponyville. To be honest, the silence was a little disconcerting… Luna should have spotted us relatively fast. Something didn’t feel right. Ignoring my instincts to abort the plan and get out before anyone sees, I stayed and triggered the detonation to go off in 3 minutes- just enough time to pop back into the void while destruction is wrought. I had to admit, I was feeling giddy about having a foolproof plan that will surely rid this world of Celestia. I looked over and nodded to Sombra, who then opened the rift to enter the void.

We made our way to the center of the void because it will probably take around 10 or 15 minutes for the bomb to stop pulsing, and we needed to make sure Chance hadn’t escaped and ventured too far into the void. She was, indeed, there, sleeping like a lazy oaf. She must’ve heard us and woke up, immediately scooting backwards away from us as far as her leash would go. “Oh, nice to see you too.” She flashed me a dirty look and I smirked in return. It was always so amusing to watch her attempt to hate me. “So, I guess those things we needed to do are done. I just need to go back and check up on things later.” “Which is…?” “None of your beeswax, mutt.” She sighed, annoyed, and slumped forward. “Slouching is bad for your posture, you know.” She looked up at me and had a look on her face that obviously said ’screw off’. I decided then would be a good time to go back out and see how much damage the bomb had caused. Without saying anything, I left, with Sombra following closely behind. I heard her groan, probably in frustration. I stopped in my tracks, receiving a deliciously evil idea. “Wait a minute, Sombra… Let’s take her with us. You can cast an invisibility spell on her so she won’t be seen, but she will still be able to see what happened. You’ll be in charge of her, though, when I take care of the loose ends.” Sombra’s face perked up, probably enjoying that idea. “Sounds… interesting.” We looked over at her, confusion written all over her face. I flew over and untied her chain from the ground. Holding her in my arms, I covered her eyes. I didn’t want her seeing the way out. I knew she was smart and could easily remember the directions to turn. “Hey…! Let me go, you jerk! Stop touching me!” She tried fighting back, despite my amazing strength keeping her from squirming free. “Uncover my eyes! Stop! I need to see!” Ugh. Annoying. “Shut up, you weak-minded mule.” She stopped after that and I chuckled quietly.

We got outside and I released Chance, holding her leash. She was probably strong enough to try to escape, and I didn’t want to take any risks. As she recovered from my grasp, Sombra cast an invisibility spell on her, but made it so only he and I could see her. “What… Where are we? What’s that smell? How did we get out of that pla-” Sombra groaned and hoofed her in the mouth, causing her to fall. Blood trickled down her snout and she looked more shocked than in pain. “…You could have just told me to be quiet.” He scoffed and looked at me, waiting for orders. I told him to have Chance see all her ‘friends’, but keep her restrained enough that she can’t interfere. I gave him the chain, which he held with a levitating aura, and flew off to Canterlot. I heard Chance look up and say “Ho…ly…”, shocked and probably on the edge of sobbing. Again. While she was sleeping, I was able to mix in visions of the disaster here into her dreams. Like I said, sometimes her mind is weak. She can’t handle something like this mentally; enough of this and she’ll be easier to break than a toothpick. I flew to Celestia’s castle, looking for any signs of movement to tell me where the princesses are. I heard a few stifled gasps from the ponies below me, probably seeing me and knowing I had caused this wonderful array of destruction and death. I had nothing to show I had found any of Equestria’s rulers. Not even a glimpse of white or indigo. I started to feel uneasy as the search went on. Surely they would be under here. Maybe they were in a deeper part of rubble. I sighed and started digging through heaps of rock and brightly colored stone. Finally, after a few minutes of searching, I had an idea. Mimicking Twilight Sparkle’s voice, I called out, “Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia! Where are you? Say something!” Nothing. I had hoped even that would bring her out. “Oh well. No use beating a dead horse. Or, in my case… A dead Alicorn.” I broke out laughing. Sometimes I crack myself up.

Since nothing was to be done here anymore, I flew back to Sombra and Chance. I saw Chance in the air, tugging at her leash. “Let me go! I need to help them! LET ME GO!" Tears fell freely down her face. “But you can’t remember your ‘friends’. Why help complete strangers?” She shot me a look that could kill and said, “Discord, you wouldn’t understand, would you? You have no friends.” Anger filled me and I lifted her up by her leash, holding her abdomen and preventing her from using her wings. “How many times do we have to tell you to shut up?” She kicked and grabbed at her collar, presumably choking. “Fuck you,” She hoarsely said. “Okay, that’s it. We’re going, Sombra. Now.” He opened the rift again, and we walked through. I didn’t bother to cover her eyes as we went through the maze of turns we had to take. I dragged her by the leash as she squirmed on the floor, trying to breathe. This time we went a different way, to a place with “correctional facilities.” By the time we got to a small, enclosed room and I let the leash go slack, her face was a light indigo color, and she started gasping and coughing. “You’re going to go through your second lesson. Respect,” I said. “You do realize what ‘fuck you’ means, right?” She looked up at me with a look of disgust and maybe even horror, and I smirked. I went ahead inside, dragging her along. “Stop with the dragging…” She said. “Then keep up and follow like a good girl.” She did, however the chain was still pretty taut as she hesitantly walked with me. We went through the door and entered the small, dark room, filled with different supplies, a fireplace, and a chrome table. The anger was still present as I aggressively strapped her to the cold metal table and turned on a bright light hanging above her. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?” She said, annoyed. “Shut your trap, you annoying little pest.” I turned the brightness of the light up, almost blinding her, so she couldn’t see much. I grabbed a dirty piece of broken glass from the floor and leaned on the table, tracing the sharpest end of the glass lightly around her cutie mark. “So, your ‘cutie mark’, I assume it symbolizes creativity, hm?” “Y-yeah. So what?” Her voice started to tremble, trying hard not to show it, and I grinned. I knew. “I can be pretty damn creative as well.” I stopped tracing it and started to carelessly shear the fur on her thigh, shaving the image of the mark off. “What the hell are you doing!? St-” “Do you need another hoof mark on your face?” Sombra growled from a corner of the room, and she went quiet. I intentionally nicked her skin with the glass here and there, causing her to squirm. I did the same on the other side when the whole image was but a patch of reddened skin.

When I was finished, I went to the fireplace. “So, when I said I was creative, I meant it. Take this, for example,” I held up an iron rod that had been sitting in the fire, glowing a magnificent orange color. On the end was an piece of metal in the shape of my skull. “I captured my horns perfectly, don’t you think?” I giggled. “I can’t see a thing with this light in my face, you a…” She cleared her throat at the end to try to hide her mistake. “You can’t? Here.” I moved the light out of the way and held the hot metal close to her face. “Holy-! Get that out of my face before I get burned!” I laughed and brought it back over to me. “Oh, don’t worry, my little Chance. I won’t be burning your face.” I heard her quietly sigh in relief. “You’ll be getting a new cutie mark, though.” Her head shot up and stared at me. “Excuse me?” I nodded to Sombra, who held her chin backwards, keeping her from making much noise. I lifted the metal to her thigh and turned it horizontally. Chance was hyperventilating, probably knowing what I was doing. I grinned and stuck the metal onto her skin and waited. She tried to flail, making weird noises and whimpers. “Chance, if you squirm you’ll make the image look weird…” I whined. “And if you want to keep your mobility, you’ll stop this instant.” She stopped moving. Threats are the best. After the image had time to burn into the skin, I moved to the other side. Chance watched me and I watched her. Her face was soaked. “Don’t cry, it’s almost over.” I placed the brand on her skin again, and she flinched, staying in a weird, tense position. She was probably trying her hardest not to make any noise. When the metal was done doing its job, I stuck it in a bucket of water. “See? That wasn’t so bad. And you have a lovely new talent: Being mine. Now that you have this cutie mark, you’ll be mine forever. In sickness and in health,” I held my hands together close to my face and swooned, exaggerating the implications of her new mark. I looked at the swollen, blistered burn and then at Chance, who Sombra had released. She was shutting her eyes tightly and biting her lip. I still wasn’t finished. “Chance, I can look into your head. I know your fears, what triggers paranoia and anxiety. And much, much more,” I said, walking over to a drawer. “I know. I know everything about your psyche. Like sensory deprivation and suffocation, for starters.” I heard her shift uncomfortably. I pulled out a shot with a vile full of cloudy liquid, a switchblade and a bandana. I went back over to her and told Sombra to hold her head in place. With some effort, I managed to tie the thing around her eyes. “Stop, please let me see, please! I need to see!” She started to hyperventilate again. “So, this shot contains a special kind of fluid. What it does is almost immediately paralyzes the victim temporarily. If I stick this in your calf, almost everything will be immobilized, except for your breathing and speaking abilities. Speaking might just feel like your whole mouth is kinda numb.” I stood still, not making any sounds for her to tell where I’m at. “…Get it over with! Stop toying with me, and just do it!” “Oh, but there’s no fun in that, now is there?” I stuck the needle in her skin, where I had cut away her fur. She jerked one way and squeaked, taken by surprise. I giggled. She finally went limp and I could hear her heart rate speed up. “Still alive?” I mocked. She growled in response. “Good. So now you can’t see or move. What else could I deprive you of without killing you?” I got up onto the table and on top of her, with my knees pressing into her chest. “Maybe we can start with air…” I wrapped my claw around her throat firmly. I brought the switchblade out and lightly pressed it against the indent in her neck. “Now, what’s my name?” “Discord.” I tightened my grip and pressed the blade down harder. “Wrong. My name is Master. At least, to you it is. When will you speak?” “Whenever I damn well please.” The anger I felt returned and I slashed a long gash in her neck. I made sure to avoid any vital arteries. “Wrong. You will speak when spoken to. Do you deserve to be mine?” There was a long pause. “Answer me!” She sighed. “…Probably not.” She said, voice breaking. My grip on her neck tightened even more. “Will you ever try to escape again?” She swallowed hard. “No…?” I chuckled. “Good girl.” I loosened my grip a little.

The questions and answers went on for about a half an hour, gaining some progress. Sombra finally left after falling asleep a few times. This left me to ask more interesting questions. I took off her blind fold when I was sure Sombra wasn’t in hearing distance. “Listen, and listen well. I’m not a mind reader, per se, but I can read your psyche. It’s an open book. I can tell your deepest, darkest hopes and desires,” She looked at me with confusion and shock. “Yes. I know,” She squirmed underneath me. “But I also know your fears and deep-rooted instincts. I kno-” “Yes, Master, I know you know. You know I have a thing for pain and being owned and all that crap. But what I don’t understand is why you did any of this.” The words flooded out of her mouth. “Well, you see… You’re very precious to your friends and family back home. You’re very easy to break. In fact, you might have already been broken. After you’re completely broken and you’re on my side, and the whole town of Ponyville is a disaster along with Canterlot, you will finish off every last pony alive.” Those last four words came out surprisingly full of anger and hate. Both of us looked confused. “How did you perfectly describe the dreams I’ve been having lately?”

I grinned and chuckled.

If she only knew.

Author's Note

Okay, sorry about the late publish. I've been going through frequent writer's blocks throughout this chapter. That's probably why it has a varying speed... Anyway, the next chapter will be back to normal, and all other chapters unless stated like I did in the beginning of the chapter.