The Dragon

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Twilight stood firm at the steps of the pyramid. She had a long sword on her side with wing blades equipped. She wore strange armor that seemed to wrap around her body. Beside her was a stallion with gold fur. His two forelegs were a talon and a lion's paw.

She looked to her left side and saw two long, serpent-like creatures. The closest one was a male. He had a dragon tail, a goat's leg, dragon leg, his arms an eagle claw, and a lion’s paw. On his back were two elegant blue wings that glowed in the sunlight.

The female looked similar to the male apart from the mane, which was pink, white, and dark blue. The Female had a massive shield and a long spear. She wore a beautiful armor set that glowed similarly to the male’s wings.

The male turned to her. “Well, here we are Twily.”

“Discord, If I don’t make it plea-” she was cut off with a kiss.

“None of that now. we’ll make it.” he gave her a reassuring smile

A white dragon with feathered wings sprouting from his back came beside them. “Brother, steel yourself. Lucifer won’t go easy on us.”

Twilight looked and took in the dragon. He had gold armor with a cross engraved into it. He had a flaming sword that burned with the passion of a million supernovas. In the other arm was a shield made of the cosmos itself.

She looked behind her and saw an army of every species in Equs. Four of her friends were at the front. Three ponies and one griffoness. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Freya. She looked back at the white dragon who yelled out

“Children of Our Father's Fruit, we will fight the darkness and drive deep to the fiery pits of Hell. We will save the dimensions and Do Father’s will”

Everyone shouted in agreement, as they were all ready for battle. Discord held his paw up and a second later, a battle axe flew into it. The golden stallion had a staff held at the ready. The Female had her shield and spear at her side.

Twilight looked up at the pyramid. A black dragon stared down with a smirk. Beside him were all sorts of creatures, all with demonic wings of different dark colors. The white dragon created a trumpet out of nothing and blew into it. Everyone shouted a cry as the war of Equs began.

Twilight woke up extremely confused and a little concerned. She rolled out of bed and grabbed a piece of paper and a quill. She trotted downstairs and wrote down every detail she could recall. As she moved downwards, she then smelled a heavenly scent coming from the kitchen. She trotted into the room and sat down at the dinner table.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, Spike had a plate of French toast and syrup. He placed it down next to her and hugged her. She finished a paragraph and gave Spike a quick hug. Twilight then went back to her writing. Spike let out a sigh and walked over to the other side of the table. He sat down and ate his toast, looking over at her.

After a while, Spike picked up his plate, walked over to the sink, and placed it in. He was running the water. Spike looked back at Twilight, hoping she would eat her food. He finished washing his plate. Spike trotted over to her and grabbed her paper. Twilight looked at him, anger evened in her eyes.

“Spike! I’m doing something really important. Could you please give it back?” She stated

He looked at her fearfully, then responded, “It’s just that I made you breakfast, and I wanted you to eat it before it gets cold.”

Twilight felt a sting strike at her heart as Spike looked at her. She pulled him into a hug and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry Spike, I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that.”

“It’s okay Mom, I know how important your studying is.”

“No Spike, I- I shouldn’t get too wrapped up in things without making time for them.”

Twilight released the hug and turned to the plate, putting it in front of her. Spike smiled as she consumed the delicious meal. He looked down at the paper with a smile and read it. Spike raised a brow before letting out a small chuckle. Twilight looked over at him and then blushed as she realized what he was laughing at.

“Give that back.”

Spike snickered, “Sure, but why are you writing this”

“It feels too real to be a regular dream. I need to ask Princess Luna about this.”

Spike perked up -“Oh right, Um.”- Spike approached the counter and grabbed a scroll.- “We have a lot of things to do before the gala.”

“Right, what's the first thing on the list.” Twilight said, finishing the last sentence of the dream.

Spike looked it over and inwardly sighed. “We have to get our outfits from Rarity. Then I have a two-hour study session followed by a test of everything I learned this month.”

Twilight looked at him, and then at a calendar next to the sink. “The gala is today! How did I forget? Come on, Spike, we have to get to Rarity’s.”

Twilight grabbed the saddlebags Spike packed for her and gestured for him to get on her back. Spike grabbed a history book and ran over to her. He got on her back and looked over the parchment with a task for the day. Twilight smiled at him, and the two trotted out of their home.

Ponies gave them a wide berth as Twilight and Spike moved through the streets. Twilight looked around sadly. She looked back and noticed that Spike was reading the History book. She sighed as she heard whispering coming from the surrounding ponies. Spike heard the ponies whispering about a dragon, about him.

“What is that thing doing with that book?” a Mare whispered to her friend

“That thing is going to hurt that mare one of these days.” a stallion told his wife

Spike did his best not to ignore them, but despite that, he knew he couldn’t, not really. Burning hot tears welled in his eyes and his face contorted in anger until a familiar voice came from behind them “Hay Twilight.”

Spike wiped his tears away and looked at an orange earth pony mare. She had a brown stetson and a bright smile on her face. “Good morning Applejack, where are you heading.”

“Rare’s, She should have our gala dresses ready.”

“Hopefully, my suit looks just as good as yours does.” Spike says flipping to another.

Applejack turned to Spike and smiled “ I bet it will be Spike. Hopefully, you're not too tired after yesterday.”

“No, I’m good just studying although if you still need help on the farm I’m your dragon.” Spike said, giving her a kind smile.

Applejack chuckled while Twilight looked at Spike, Happy that he had at least one friend. Applejack examined the text Spike was reading then whistled. “Spike, that's some advanced stuff. I didn't learn about the pegasus revolution till I was about seventeen or so.”

Twilight looked at Applejack like she grew a second head but then brought a hoof to her head as she realized that the level both Spike and her were learning at “I homeschool him AJ, I teach him a subject by month.”

“Yeah, mo- Twilight is really good at making a learning plan.” Spike said, doing his best to play off his slip as nothing special. Applejack wouldn't understand.

Applejack raised his brow but then continued, “Alrighty then besides ancient Equestria, what else have you learned recently?”

“Well, I learned about geography and what animals live in certain environments.”

“Nice, but what does that have to do with history?” Applejack directed the question at Twilight.

“Where animals live can help identify what time period, it is and even the location with the surrounding environment.”

Applejack and Spike looked at each other, then Spike nodded and went back to his book. Applejack just shrugged and trotted to Twilight's pace. The three moved quickly down the road as the ponies around seemed to have been getting more nervous as they lingered.

The three trotted up to the door of the Carousel Boutique. Twilight knocked on the door and after a few moments, Rarity opened the door. She greeted Applejack and Twilight with a warm smile. Spike waved at Rarity, who ignored him and waved for the two mares to come in. Spike got off Twilight's back and tried to walk in behind them when Rarity closed the door on him.

Twilight glared at Rarity and was about to say something when Applejack held a hoof up. “Hay rares, you closed the door on Spike.”

Rarity raised a brow “Did I? I must have not seen him.”

Applejack glared at her. “You're really going to lie to me.”

Rarity had a nervous expression, but then sighed and opened the door. Spike had an annoyed expression but walked into the boutique, anyway. He moved over to Twilight and she pulled him into a side hug. Applejack gave Spike a smile then turned to Rarity “You going to show us the outfits or?”

“Right, Spike, here you go.” Rarity levitated a black suit to him.

Spike smiled at the suit and then up at Rarity. “Thanks Rarity, this suit is great.”

Rarity raised her head. “Why to thank you Spines.”

“Spike!” Twilight and Applejack coughed out in unison.

“Right come girls, let us show you your looks.” the three followed her to a section off part of the shop.

Spike saw many mannequins with dresses and suits alike. Spike looked at the suits and saw unique designs on them. One was pink and blue with a yellow bow tie. Spike smiled. He could picture a certain pink mare wearing it if she were a colt. Looking around, he began to notice how dull his suit was by comparison.

Applejack noticed Spike's expression falling as he looked at the suits around the room. She trotted to him and patted him on the shoulder. “What's wrong, sugar cube?”

Spike looked up and gave a false smile. “Nothing AJ, I'm just admiring Rarity's work. She put a lot of work into them.”

She looked at the suits around the room and then down at Spike's suit. It was a standard black with a red tie with nothing else of note. Applejack frowned at this. She was no fashion expert, but she knew that compared to every other suit, this wasn't her best. She cleared her throat and smiled at Spike. “Well, sugar cube, granny is pretty mean with a thread and needle. She can add what you want to it.”

Spike's eyes widened. “Really, you guys don't have to.”

“I insisted, you helped out on the farm. Now let me help you.”

Spike smiled “Thank you AJ”

Applejack took the suit “Ain’t nothing Spike, just trying to help.” As the dragon and the farmer spoke, Twilight and Rarity went behind a curtain.

Rarity let her see her own dress. It was a blue dress with stars carefully stitched and dressed up to give depth to the piece. Twilight eyes sparkled as she gazed at the dress. This was far better than the last dress she had requested. She let out a shutter at the memory but quickly disregarded it. Twilight carefully took it off the mannequin.

Rarity placed a privacy screen in front of her. Twilight looked at the screen for a moment before shrugging and putting the dress on. Twilight removed the screen to show Rarity how it looks. Rarity clapped a hooves and praised her on her appearance. Twilight blushed and thanked her for the dress.

Twilight took off the dress and placed it in a bag to protect the article of clothing. Rarity did the same to Applejack’s, and the two were off back to the main room. Entering the room was met with Spike's laughter as Applejack told him a tale about her family. Twilight smiled while Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Applejack are you going to try on your dress or take it home for the gala.”

Applejack looked over to her “Home. I got a lot of products to make for my stand.”

“Alright then.” She hooved over the dress. Applejack unzips the bag to look at the dress. Spike was going to peek at the dress only for a blue aura to push him away.

Twilight glared at Rarity then let out a sigh.-“Let's go Spike.”-Spike looked over to Rarity and a jolt of anger came over him. He gritted his teeth and followed Twilight out of the shop. As they left Spike grabbed his history book and read it trying his best to forget what happened there.

Twilight finished editing her account of the dream. She was surprised when she discovered that the dream was still fresh in her mind. Finished her editing then. She looked over to the cloak and noticed that Spike had ten minutes till He had to turn in his test. Twilight stood up and looked over the answer sheet. She looked over to the kitchen where Spike was taking his quiz.

Twilight was considering telling Spike how much time he had but thought better of it. She hated when Shining interrupted her when she was studying. Twilight stood up and trotted over to a bookshelf. She went over to the S section and pulled out a book titled ‘Special Creatures and Monsters’

She moved back to her desk and saw Spike holding his test, a pleased expression on his face. “I'm done, mom!”

Twilight smiled at him. She kissed him on the forehead and began to grade the test. Spike noticed the book and grabbed the paper. Twilight's ear flicked in his direction but continued her task. Spike read the paper and focused on this Discord character, unlike everyone else in the dream, Discord seemed to be out of place. Well, he and the other creatures like him.

Spike opened the book and tried to find a creature who fit the description. He found a few close calls but none really fit till he came across one entry that was only one page. He read the page a few times before reading it out loud. “ a Draconequus is an amalgamation type of creature. They have powerful magic only rivaled by alicorns. Unfortunately, this species went extinct over a thousand and forty years ago.”

Twilight looked at him, surprised. “What? But how is that possible?”

“That's what it says, Mom.” he handed her the book.

She read the entry over, checking and double-checking the information provided. Twilight let out a sigh and closed the book. “I guess it doesn't matter. It was just a dream. I just need to ask Luna about it.”

Spike read her account once more then thought about it “Wait, how is a Draconequus in your dream If you've never seen one before?”

Twilight was about to answer but then thought about it. She didn't think about that. Twilight could explain the others away. She knows of both dragons and griffons but Draconequus. Twilight just now learned of them, so how could they be in her dream? Twilight heard Spike chuckle, and she looked at him. She smiled, She could get answers from Luna later, right now she and Spike now some free time.

Sometime later, Spike and Twilight sat on a sofa in the study. After Spike’s passed his test, Spike wanted to read with Twilight before the gala. He picked out an action mystery book called ‘Biohazard’ but after the book mentioned certain experiments on family, Twilight immediately replaced the book with ‘Daring do and The Lost Ark.’ much to Spike’s annoyance.

They were near the end of the book when a knock came from downstairs. Spike stood up and stretched. “I'll get it.”

Spike ran down the stairs and moved towards the door. Spike opened the door and his jaw dropped. Standing there was Applejack. She wore her stunning gala dress. The green of her dress made her eyes stand out like an emerald in a sea of quartz. The dark browns of the saddle highlighted the green of the fabric and the orange of her fur.

Applejack cleared her throat and Spike napped out of his self-imposed trance. “Oh um come in AJ”

She trotted in and hooved over his suit. He thanked her and walked into the kitchen. Just then Twilight trotted downstairs, dressed already on “Spike who was at the- Oh hay Applejack, what brings you here?”

“Just bringing Spike his suit.”

Twilight raised a brow “I thought he already had his suit?”

“I wanted granny to add a few things, to say thanks for lending a hand.”

Twilight smiled “Thank you, Applejack, Spike doesn't have any friends and I'm glad you try to be his first.”

Spike finished putting on his suit and growled slightly. Did Twilight really have to tell Applejack about that? He inhaled and put on a fake smile. He walked out and showed off his suit. The suit was still ebony black, but it had Twilight's cutie mark on the left side of the coat, along with a scroll with green flames behind it on the right side.

Twilight pulled Spike into a hug. “Spike, you look so cute.”

Spike blushed while Applejack chuckled into her hoof “Um M- Twilight, I think the word you're looking for is handsome, Right.”

Twilight laughed and shook her head. “Yes, extremely handsome.”

Applejack chuckled. “Well, we best be heading out if we're going to get to Canterlot in time.”

Twilight nodded and proceeded to the door. Spike ran upstairs and then came down with a backpack. Applejack raised a brow and gestured toward the bag. “Twilight tends to forget things when she is too excited. So I got to remember things when she doesn’t.”

Applejack looked at him and then shrugged. “If you say so. Come on, can't help Twi if you ain't with her.”

“Right” Spike nodded, and the two moved out into the town.

Twilight saw Spike and Applejack walk out of the library. Beside her Rarity gasped as she saw Spike’s modified suit. Twilight looked over and saw her with a disgusted look on Rarity's face. Twilight glared at her but before she could say anything, a Rainbow mane pegasus flew down.

“Sup guys what's who were waiting on?” the pegasus asked with a smile

“Rainbow dash, don’t fly in your dress! The sweat will ruin it!” Rarity orders in a screechy voice.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and lost her smile. “Sure Rares, it's not like it takes more than that to get me to sweat.”

Spike saw Rainbow and moved over to her. “Hay Rainbow, you look awesome!”

Rainbow gains a cocky expression. “I know, Spines, no need to tell me.”

Spike’s face deflated. A pang of anger shot through him. “It’s Spike but Spines, sure.”

Rainbow ignored Spike's tone and turned to Applejack. “So where are Pinkie and Flutters?”

Applejack raised a brow. “How am I supposed to know that.”

Rainbow shrugged right when A pink pony jumped out of Applejack’s hat. She wore a blue and white dress with candy designs on it. She jumped off her head, AJ’s hat landing perfectly back on her head. Pinkie jumped all around them, excited for the night ahead of them while Rarity stressed out about the dress.

Finally, when Fluttershy arrived, Twilight asked Applejack and Fluttershy for a few things. Applejack handed her an apple and Fluttershy gave her a set of mice. After thanking them, Twilight cast a spell on each object, making them a carriage and horses, respectively. Spike sat down in the mares hopped into the carriage while Spike hitched the horses. He sat down in the front seat and set off to Canterlot, hearing idle chatter coming from the carriage Spike couldn’t help but feel left out.

The sun went down as the carriage approached the front gate. The girls left the carriage leaving Spike alone to park the carriage. As he moved he heard more whispers about him. He looked over to the noise and saw too noble mares whispering to one another about him. He opened his ears and lesson.

“That oversized lizard is back, I thought the princess finally got rid of him.” The mare stated dismissively.

“we’ve if we keep our things close by, you how much those monsters love shiny things.”

Spike's eyes filled with tears, then burning-hot anger. He hopped down from the carriage and tied the mice horses to a tree. He walked over to the two mare and did his best to look friendly. The two mares scowled at him. “A beast like you shouldn’t even breathe the same air as us!”

Spike glared at her any pretenses of friendliness gone. One mare had a light pink coat with a white dress. Spike was about to walk to the gate when the mare got in front of him. “Where do you think you’re going, you little monster?”

Smoke wafted from His nostril. “I was going inside ma’am”

“It's invite-only, and why would anypony invite a savage.”

Spike pulled out his gala ticket and shoved it in her face. “Oh look at that somepony invited me, so if you don’t mind.”

The mare took his ticket and ripped it to shreds. Spike looked at the pieces of his ticket that were scattered on the ground. “A disgusting creature like you is not welcome here.”

“Shut up! Today was going to-”

“Pipe down!” a familiar voice order.

Spike looked behind the mare and saw a white stallion wearing purple armor. He glared down at Spike and then turned to the mare. “Has he been bothering you, ma’am?”

“Yes, he has, sir.”

“You ripped up my ticket!” Spike shouted

The stallion got in front of the mare getting in a protective stance. “You don’t want to make things harder on yourself, do you? So pipe down.”

Spike’s face contorted into a rage, and smoke bellowed from his mouth and nostrils. The mare faked a fearful screech. Two other guards arrived with the other mare who was unbeknownst to Spike, and left to grab them. The guard approached him, spears ready when the stallion raised a hoof.

“No need for that. I’ll throw this delinquent in the dungeon.”

Spike’s face fell to shock, He looked at the stallion with dread. “Please, not again. Shining armor, I didn’t do anything!”

The stallion didn’t react to his plea, he just let his horn, grab Spike by the legs and drag him to the castle. Spike's head banged on the ground and blood fell from his nose. He begged Shining Armor for to let him go, all the while the mares were chuckling to themselves.

“Quite, can’t believe you. Not even a few minutes back in Canterlot and already causing trouble.” Shining Armor stated angrily.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Like you didn’t burn down the house.”

“I was five, and it was an accident. I’m sorry”

“Sorry doesn’t bring Mom and Dad back, does it!” Shining Armor spat, glaring at him. Anger and guilt ran through Spike’s very being as his suit tore and gathered dirt. Shining Armor opened a side entrance and dragged a now crying dragon through it.

Twilight and company walked into the ballroom, where noble ponies trotted around the room. As the rest of the mares took in the surrounding environment, Twilight had an expression of worry. Spike should have been here by now so what happened to him? Applejack saw Twilight nervously looking behind them. Applejack trotted to her side and draped a hoof over her.

“What’s wrong Twi?”

“Spike should have joined us by now. I’m starting to worry.”

Applejack looked down the hall. When she didn’t see him, she turned to Twilight and smiled at her. “I'm sure he’ll catch up. He's gotta just be running late.”

Twilight worriedly nodded, not really believing it but then moved up to Princess Celestia, who was greeting the guest. The girls bowed to the Princess and made their greetings before leaving to do their tasks for the night. Twilight, however, stated, looking back at the entrance. Celestia noticed this and levitated Twilight to her side.

“What's wrong Twilight?”

Twilight looked over to Celestia. “Spike should have walked in by now.”

Celestia gave her a comforting smile. “Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll have my guards find him.”

“No! Uh”- Twilight blushed over her outburst- “I mean, Princess the guards aren’t very nice to him.”

“I’m sure the guards will treat him with the love and respect they are sworn to give all of my subjects.”

But princess-”

“Twilight, please, I know you have your misgivings but this is what my guards are for. Let them do their job.” Celestia stated kindly yet firmly.

As Celestia called the guards. Twilight looked over to the line of angry nobles waiting for her to leave. The guards trotted away beginning their search leaving Twilight and Celestia alone. “Twilight, I will come and get you when they find Spike.”

Despite the situation, Twilight smiled at Celestia. “thank you princess.”

Princess Celestia smiled back, but then it dropped when a pink noble mare cleared her throat. An annoyed expression was painted over, then quickly covered it with a joyful mask. -“Twilight why don’t enjoy the rest of your night here? I would to chat but”- The princess gestured to line. Twilight nodded then trotted away

Before she got far enough away, She overheard the pink mare say something about who invited the rif rafted. Twilight ignored the comment and looked around the ballroom. She spotted Rarity talking to Blueblood and was about to join them when she heard a commotion coming from the other end of the hall.

Twilight arrived at the scene and saw Pinkie Pie dancing around in a very undignified manner. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at how much fun her friend was having. However, her face fell as she overheard two stallions gossiping. “I wasn’t aware Princess Celestia had a court Jesture.”

“I thought she was the new lost cause.”

The other stallion sneered at the idea. “Uh, isn’t that brat of a ‘prince’ good enough?”

Twilight trotted up to the stallions with an annoyed expression. “You really shouldn’t speak bad about other ponies.”

One stallion rolled his eyes while the other nodded and gave her a look that she didn’t recognize. The stallion trotted up to her and placed his hoof under her chin. He tilted her head up so that the two could lock eyes. “Forgive my friend and me. A sexy, hot mare like you should not hear such chatter.”

Twilight was not amused by this stallion’s attempt at flirting. -“I’m just going to get my friend.”- Twilight pointed at Pinkie and walked towards her. Leaving two rather annoyed stallions behind her.

Pinkie finished a quick spinning move and wheezed. She had a crazed look as she eyed every pony in the room. Her face fell and contorted into anger as she saw the annoyed looks that she was getting. She was about to shout out about how boring they were, but Twilight stopped her and gestured at an empty table in the corner of the room.

The two sat down at the table. After Pinkie caught her breath she turned to Twilight. “These ponies are party poopers. I thought Canterlot would have a crazy super duper cool fun party but it’s all just wine and politics.”

Pinkie Pie pouted, causing Twilight to smile at her sadly. “Most parties with the nobles tend to end up like this. I’m sorry this isn’t what you thought it would be pinkie.”

“It's okay Twilight, We can throw a super duper party later.”

Twilight smiled. “That sounds great hope it's not too late Spike has-” Twilight’s face fell as her thoughts drifted back to her adopted child.

Pinkie noticed this and subtly moved her tail to her side. She moved it back against Twilight’s fur, tickling her. Twilight shivered and bit back her laughter. Twilight looked at Pinkie, who winked at her. Pinkie’s tail didn’t relent on its assault, making Twilight double her mental defenses. Eventually Twilight couldn’t hold out and she busted out laughing.

The surrounding ponies looked at her strangely, as if she had grown a second head. Pinkie joined in on the merriment, the two enjoying themselves till they were gasping for air. She recovered first and offered Twilight a hoof. She grabbed the offered hoof and stood up, smiling at Pinkie.

Pinkie saw the smile had not reached her eyes. Pinkie sat Twilight down and gave her a comforting smile. “What's wrong Twilight?”

“It’s Spike. He hasn’t come into the hall and I am worried about him.”

Pinkie pulled her into a hug. “It's okay Twilight, I’m sure he's okay, Hay maybe he found a few gems to snack on.”

“I don't know, pinkie, he's not the type to wonder like this, especially over something like this.”

Pinkie thought for a moment then got an idea. “How about you go to the crazy maze in the back? I heard it would be fun.”

“Pinkie!” Twilight stated, exasperated.

“Please Twilight, I know you're worried about Spike, but the guards are looking for him. Today is meant to be the best day ever, so have fun!” Pinkie pulled Twilight's face to hers, emphasize the point

Twilight sighed and nodded. She stood up and headed towards the maze in the castle gardens. Pinkie smiled at Twilight right when a white stallion with a long golden mane approached her. Rarity in lockstep behind him.

Twilight entered the garden, passing Fluttershy who was playing with a squirrel. Twilight reached the maze and took in the surrounding atmosphere. The stars In the sky lit up the sky like fireflies reflecting off the ocean surface. The well-trimmed leaf walls made a calming, soothing background. She sat down on a well-ornate bench. The faint chirps of the crickets calmed Twilight's nerves considerably.

Twilight looked at the decor around her seeing a few mildly interesting statues but when her eye met one in particular, she froze, her gaze was transfixed on the statue that seemed to be an amalgam of different creatures. Her dream from the morning rushed back to her mind. The pyramid, the army, the black and white dragons, and finally the long brown serpent-like creature.

She approached the statue carefully. Unbeknownst to Twilight, her horn lit up. A soft glow shone around her. Twilight arrived at the base and looked up at it. “What are you?”

The glow intensifies while the statue slowly, quietly fractures. In the castle, in a well-secured room, six gemstones glowed so brightly that if anyone were in the room, the sight would blind them. Twilight felt a pressure from the base of her skull, but she couldn’t place it at this moment. The cracks became more prevalent, catching Twilight's attention.

Twilight looked on in horror as the cracks moved further up the art piece. Twilight then noticed the gold light coming from the cracks and she started to do a breathing exercise to calm down. The pressure on her horn was increasing, and she desperately tried to cut it off.

Back in the castle, the gems' light glowed even brighter, setting a blaze on every item. The gems then violently exploded, sending shards all over the room. The shards, still glowing, started fading as if they were being removed from reality itself. A silent alarm was triggered, sending a magical frequency back to the one who cast the security.

The statue shattered into pieces revealing the creature hidden beneath. Twilight stood still as she heard a scream come from the being. It fell to the ground and Twilight quickly ran to his side. She looked him over with worry, trying to see if he was hurt in any way.

Discord opened his eyes and saw a sight he hadn’t seen in a long time. A pony, specifically a unicorn looking over him. He smiled as a devious idea formed in his head. “Forgive me, my dear, but shouldn’t this happen on our wedding night.”

Twilight's face flushed red, and she backed up looking at him slightly annoyed. “I thought you were hurt.”

Discord looked at his hands then his legs. “Well still have my parts. Discord thank you for asking.”

Twilight eyes widened as she realized who she was speaking to, and then she blushed. Discord smirked. “I take it your name is Twilight, right?”

Twilight looked at him shocked. “What, how did you-”

“Well, you recognized me, and given we’ve never met before, I take it dear old dad send you a vision of me. Don’t worry, he sent me the same of you.”

Twilight's jaw dropped as she heard this. He saw her. What did he see, does he know about them? Twilight was lost in her head. Discord looked around. He was in a garden with a castle off in the distance. Speaking of a castle, it seemed as her royal hinny was galloping like a mad mare to them.

“Say my dear this place seems quite boring why don’t we get a change in scenery?”

Twilight looked confused but then nodded but then she heard Princess Celestia screaming her name. Twilight looked behind her and saw Celestia with a panicked expression, rush to her. -“Discord wa-”- Twilight heard a snap behind her and suddenly the two were in the woods.

Twilight looked at her surroundings, shocked. She lit up her horn and scanned the mana field, no lingering magic around her. She looked back at him, dumbstruck. “How did you?”

“Simple, pulled where we are to where we’re heading. But that’s not important. Now my turn, what about your vision, my dear?”

The Prince of Chaos

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Twilight stood there looking at Discord with both interest and fear. He had just explained something impossible. Moving two locations together and undo it in less than a second is only possible by damaging the surrounding area. She looked around the opened hill she found herself on. Trees surrounded the hill in all directions. On the hill was a set of pillars, worn yet paradoxically firm.

She was about to trot over to the pillars when Discord cleared his throat grabbing her attention.-“Well, aren't you the sweetest mare I’ve ever met. You stare at me and you don’t answer questions. Truly, you are above all that hogwash, am I right?”- He then snapped his claw

An elegantly designed crown materialized on her head along with a matching regal cloak and cane with her. Twilight looked at the objects with interest. She lit up her horn only to blush as she realized what Discord said. “I'm sorry, my name is Twilight”- She held out her hoof to him.

Discord couldn’t help but chuckle as the mare still had the oversized clothes on her. He grabbed her hoof and shook it. “Well, it seems like Her Majesty is gracing me with her sweet voice.”-He said with sarcasm.

Despite the sarcasm, Twilight couldn’t help but blush. She tried to think of something witty to say but let the retort die in her throat. Twilight lit up her horn and scanned the clothing. Her jaw dropped as she couldn’t find any magic within the clothing.- “How did you-” Twilight was cut off when Discord placed a paw on her muzzle.

“Answer my question and I'll answer yours, it’s only fair, my dear.”

Twilight fought a sigh and nodded. “Okay then, what was your question?”

“It's quite simple really, what happened in your vision”

She blushed, remembering a specific part of the vision. “Okay then It started at a pyramid.”

Spike read over Twilight's account of her dream. He had read over it several times now. He looked around his cell. It was spartan with only a bed and a single light bulb flickering above him like a dying fire. Spike felt tears well up in his eyes but he quickly wiped them and growled in anger. He shoved the paper back in his backpack and moved to the bars. He pulled them, trying to force them open violently.
Spike was about to melt the bars with his dragon fire when he heard hoof steps.

Spike let out smoke from his nostrils. “What is it Shining here to pick on me some more”

“I don’t know about that.” Spike's eyes widened as he saw somepony he didn't expect to see. A white stallion with a gold mane trotted into view along with two earth ponies. a pink mare and an orange one with a stetson on her head.

“Blueblood, pinkie, AJ!” Spike shouted excellently.

Applejack gasped as she looked at his torn suit. “What happened, sugar cube?”

Blueblood approached the cell and pulled out a set of keys he ordered a guard to give him. “Shining armor is what happened, mud pony.”

“Blueblood!” Spike exclaimed with his arms crossed.

“Right, forgive me, Spike.”

“It's not me you have to apologize to.”

Blueblood turns to Applejack and opens the cell. “Forgive me I'm not used to being around the common folk.”

Applejack glared at him. “Well, I accept it but you gotta watch your tongue you hear.”

Blueblood chuckled- “So I've been told.”- He placed a hoof on his muzzle with a wince -“Well, mostly told”

Pinkie giggled while Spike muttered about, telling him so, under his breath. The four were about to get moving when a messenger stallion approached them. He bowed to Blueblood and turned to Applejack. “Princess Celestia wants every remaining element of harmony in the war room immediately.”

“Remaining?!” Spike shouted worriedly.

Don't worry Spikey I'm sure everypony is there already, “Pinkie said in her usual bubbly self.

The group of four followed the stallion up the stairs and through the halls. In the halls were troops of guards frantically searching every nook and cranny they could find. Spike Had sweat going down his four head just then Pinkie threw him on her back. “Come on Spike, don't think, only fun.”

The group of four trotted into the room where Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy were waiting in. Spike scanned the room several times progressively, getting more panicked as he didn't see a certain lavender unicorn. Tears filled his eyes right when Celestia and Shining Armor teleported into the room. Spike's tears evaporated from his face as smoke fumes from his nostrils “Where is she Shining Armor!”

The guards in the room held their weapons at the ready. Shining glared at Spike and held his hoof up. There was tension was thick in the room before Princess Celestia broke it by clearing her throat. “Discord took her.”

Spike's jaw dropped while the girls looked on confused. “What in the hay is a Discord, anyway.”

“A derconquess.”

Everypony looked at Spike. Shining armor approached Spike and shoved him to the ground. Applejack rushed over to Spike’s side but backed up as a jet of green flames moved towards Shining, he lit up his horn and set a magenta barrier over himself. -“Really, you couldn't finish me in the fire. How do you expect to finish me now?”- Shining spat with venom.

“That's enough, both of you!” Applejack shouted, placing a hoof on her chest.

Spike and Shining glared at each other till Spike raised a hand to him. Shining turned his back and trotted back to Celestia’s side. The princess turned to Spike with a neutral mask on. “What do you know, Spike?”

Applejack helped him up to his feet, and he reached into his bag. “A derconquess is an alicorn tear species that should be extinct.”

“Spike is right, almost all the derconquess are extinct except for one, Discord.”

Fluttershy’s eyes filled with tears while Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated. Rarity gained a look of disgust having a few ideas on what he could be doing with Twilight. Rainbow gained a look for fury and Applejack looked over to Spike and a similar expression as Celestia. Spike felt a calmness fall over him, looking into her eyes. He pulled out Twilight Dream account and cleared his throat. “We need Princess Luna to see this.”

Princess Celestia lit up her horn and teleported Luna into the room. Luna held a war scythe with elegant silver armor reminiscent of Nightmare Moon's “sister what is the meaning of this?”

Spike handed her the paper, and she read it over. Applejack thought about the information she was giving. She mulled over her question, trying to word it correctly in her mind. “Princess, you said Discord is the last derconquess. Why is he? What happened?”

Princess Celestia cracked a fearful look that came over her look but then quickly regained her composure. “He killed them Applejack.”

Everyone in the room let out a collective gasp, save for Celestia and Luna. Blueblood left the room, not knowing what he could do and not wanting to get involved after the information was revealed to him. Luna’s eyes widened as she reread the account. She turned to Celestia and gave her the letter. “Thank you for this information young Drake, your mistress will be returned to you in time.”

Anger came over Spike's face. “What!?”

Luna gained a look of confusion. “I do not see why you are angry.”

Celestia cleared her throat as smoke came from Spike's maw. “Sister slavery is illegal. Spike is an adopted member of Twilight's family, not her servant.”

Shining Armor approached Spike with a scowl on his face. He coughed in his foreleg as he got closer to the smoke source. He was about to apprehend him when Applejack got in his face. “Leave him alone.”

Applejack coughed. Shining armor turned to his guard and gestured to them to open the window, which they did quickly. The smoke left the room quickly and Shining glared at Applejack. “Ma'am that savage will burn us alive. He's already suffocating us.”

“Just let me talk to him. He wouldn't do it on purpose.”

Shining looked at Applejack's emerald eyes, held her gaze. The smoke passed over their heads occasionally making them cough. Shining sighed then shot a glare at Spike who was angry muttering to himself lost in his thoughts. “I'll tell the firefighters to stand by but if he hurts you, that savage is going straight to Tartarus, he's hurt enough ponies.”

Luna placed a hoof on Shining shoulder. “That's enough, captain, back to your task.”

“Yes, ma'am!” he saluted.

As Shining Armor left the room Applejack thanked Princess Luna and moved over to Spike. Spike was gritting his teeth applejack just noticing how sharp they were. He repeated the same phrase under his breath “She loves me! I'm a family! She Loves Me! I'm family!”

The smoke enveloped Applejack's vision as she got by Spike's side. She coughed, getting Spike's ear to raise slightly. Applejack sat down and pulled Spike into a hug. “It's alright, sugar cube. Of course Twilight loves you.”

Spike wrapped his arms around her, the smoke stopped emanating from Spike causing the rest to leave through the room’s many windows. As the situation ended, Celestia read the account thoroughly. Her eyes widened, anger and fear painted her features. Everypony collectively shuttered as they saw their loving leader gain a look that seemed unnatural to her. Rage.

“We need to find Twilight.” Spike started holding onto Applejack.

“Agreed,” Celestia affirmed.

It seems to be a waste of time.” -Luna said to examine her scythe. The Alcorn and the dragon glared at her- “We are no match for him, and Twilight's vision shows he will work with us when needed.”

“What vision?” Spike asked, feeling anger build up in his chest.

“A vision is a premonition of the future, young Drake, and if you read it you know Discord isn't the issue here.”

“I think we have very different definitions ‘of issue’ Princess. He has Twilight.” Celestia

“Yes, sister, and don't presume you know what these visions are.”

Luna sighed “Nightmare moon”

‘That was an except, sister, the others were not so clear. Even then who knows who influenced this account.”

“He killed his species. I don't want to leave him with Twilight.” Spike butted in, finally leaving Applejack's embrace.

“Agreed sister. What the future might hold for Discord is not an excuse to let him take Twilight against her will.”

“I agree, sister, but we can't face him. He is too powerful and the elements are-” Princess Celestia cut her off with her magic earning a glare from Luna.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Elements are what?”

“Yeah, what gives?!” Rainbow Dash joined in moving closer to the center of the room but still keeping her distance from Spike.

Spike looked around the room, noticing that they were putting as much distance between him and them as possible. Celestia let out a sigh and nodded to herself. “I had the Elements in a secure location covered with protection spells. The alarm went off and the elements were gone.”

The girls gasped while sweat formed on Spike's brow. “Well, there has to be a way to beat him, right?”

“Besides the elements, there was no possible way to beat that beast, a combined strike from my sister, and I could not beat him at the peak of our power.”

“There has to be another way.” Spike turned around and ran to the door.

“Spike, where are you going?” Celestia asked.

“The royal archive, there has to be something.”

Applejack looked around the room seeing everypony let out a sigh of relief as Spike left. She shot a glare around the room and trotted after him. She heard her friends call after her but she just ignored them.

Twilight trotted up to the pillars and examined them. Her face was bright red after the end of her explanation. Discord floated behind her, a smug smile on his face. He floated over to her and whispered in her ear, “So my dear, want to skip to the wedding now.”

Twilight moved away from him. -“Hay, that was in the vision. It doesn't mean I-” Discord's laughter cut her off.

She let out a frustrated sigh and glared at him. “What about you Discord, what was in your vision?”

Discord stopped laughing and then gained a somber expression, but just as quickly as it appeared, he replaced it with a smug grin. “Funny, I don’t seem to remember.”

“Impossible. I still remember mine clearly and I got mine in the morning!”

“Well, congrats on having a good memory, my dear hats off to you” A hat appeared on Discord's head and he took it off only for another version of himself to jump out of the hat and do the same. This happened a few more times before Twilight sighed and she blasted all the versions of Discord with a taser spell. The magical constructs shock violently before exporting into pieces of confetti. Twilight let out a squeak of fear and cast a shield spell over her.

Discord burst out in a fit of laughter as Twilight reacted to the confetti.-“No need to be so jumpy, my dear, although it was quite cute.” -He teased.

Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “What are we doing here anyway?!”

“Well, my dear, we're going on a little trip. I have something to do, and a cute little assistant like you is what I need.”

Twilight blushed and didn't waver. “Wait a minute, I never agreed to go anywhere with you!”

Too bad, my dear, you're going, regardless.”

Twilight got into a battle stance and lit up her horn. “I'm not going anywhere with you.”

Discord fained a surrender. “Oh no, it seems like a cute mare has bested me what will I do.” He snapped his fingers with a smirk.

Stop calling”- Twilight was overcome with a sense of calm and drowsiness.- “What did you do?”

Twilight collapsed subcommittee to sleep. Discord smirk fell and he flew to Twilight's side.- “What you're supposed to be to me, my dear.”- he flicked Twilight's horn and disappeared in a bright flash, leaving the sleeping mare alone in a forest.

A bright light woke up Spike with a start. He looked around his surroundings before focusing on the blinding light in front of him. Spike was in the Canterlot archive trying to find a way to track down Twilight. The light slowly faded as a figure took form. Stood there was the most beautiful dragon Spike had ever seen. White scales shone like crystals and lit up the surrounding room. The gold Spines sparkled like the twinkling stars around them.

Spike's eyes widened as he looked around. The archive disappeared, replaced by a star-filled void. He looked back at the gorgeous dragon. The dragon was clearly male. His square maw was proof of that, but Spike couldn't help but look him over nonetheless. The dragon gave Spike a kind, patient smile as Spike checked him out. Spike then said something without much thought, “You look so yummy.”

Spike’s eyes widened once more when he realized what he said, and he blushed in embarrassment. The dragon chuckled. “Be not afraid young Drake. I'm here to help.”

Spike's ears perked up at this. “Really, you're going to help me find Twilight?”

“Yes, I will, follow me.”

As the two dragons moved over the void. As they moved, Spike tried to steal glances at the dragon beside him blushing. It was like Rarity all over again. Spike tried to take another look only to see the dragon smiling at him. Spike jumped back “Sorry I shouldn’t be staring. You probably think I'm creepy now.”

“not quite. I get many who look at me the way you do. I may not be Sophie, but many find beauty in my form.”

“Well, it must happen a lot. I think Princess Celestia herself couldn't stop looking at you.”

“No doubt, but make no mistake, do not confuse your admiration for love, for they are separate things.”

Spike blushed and nodded his head “Don't worry sir I already learned that lesson.”

“With Lady Rarity no doubt.”

Spike looked at him with a raised brow “How did you know about her.”

“I have been watching over you since before you were mortal, child.”

“What does that mean?”

“All will be revealed in time.”

The two finished their walk when they came across two alicorns bucking a lavender door with a lock on it. “Sister, will you admit that Discord should not be the priority here.”

“Not while he has Twilight, Luna.”

There is a war brewing. We should be prepared not to worry about a unicorn. We know will be fine.”

“We don't know that!”

“Yeah! Who knows what Discord is doing to her.” Spike cut in causing the sisters to look at him.

“Spike!? What are you doing in the dream realm?”

Spike looked around “That's what this place is.”

“How does one come to the dream realm and not know where he is?”

“Well, this dragon brought me.” Spike pointed to the white dragon.

The two mares raised a brow. -“A dragon brought- where may he be?”- Luna asked using her magic to scan the realm for any extra beings.

“He's right here.” he pointed to the dragon.

The two just looked more confused as Luna forced more magic into the detection spell. Spike looked over at the dragon who had a mischievous smirk on his face. “Why can't they see you.”

“Only I and father decide who sees me or not.”

Spike looked over the Alicorn who were whispering to one another. Spike opened his ears to the conversation.

“Sister I do not sense another presence, nor does he have the gift I possess.”

Spike turned to the dragon and gave him puppy dog eyes. “Could you please show yourself to them?”

The white dragon rolled his eyes with amusement. “As you wish, young one.”

To Spike nothing happened but the princess's reaction clued him to the change. “What?!” Celestia cried.

Luna immediately jumps into action. She conger a sword and swung at the dragon only for the blade to shatter on impact. Luna’s eyes widened as the sword pieces fell to the ground. -“Princess Luna Tepes Morningstar, you will never make friends if you kill them first.”

The statement made Alicorn's eyes widen. -“How does one know our name!?”- Luna shouted while Celestia floated spike over to her.

Princess, stop this, please. He's here to help!”

“This dragon brought you here?”

“Yes! He wants to help.”

“Spike, only Luna can enter the dream realm she had to bring me with her.”

“Princess, we can't help Twilight if we keep fighting.”

“Luna, we need to hear him out.”

“This beast has violated my realm by his Mere presence.”

The dragon still gave her a calm smile. “You may be allowed in this realm, but you aren't its mistress.”

Luna glared daggers at Drake “And you have the gale to claim my domain.”

“This is not mine either.”

“Then who, dragon.” Luna snarled.

“Father is.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Tell your father this is my realm and if he wants it he will have to pry it from my lifeless corpse.”

Sister!” Celestia shouted

The dragon's smile faded. “If he considered you a threat, we would be having a far different conversion.

Luna was about to snap back when Spike and Celestia moved between them. “That's enough, Luna. Spike trusts him, so I do as well. We will treat him like a valued guest.”

The dragon snapped his claws, and the lock opened. The three looked shocked at this. “How did you.”

“Our window is shrinking. I will explain later.” Celestia and Spike ran to the door while Luna and the dragon moved at a brisk walk.

Discord, Twilight, and a purple dragon with gold Spines slowly walked up the last steps of the pyramid. They reach the top only to see two Alicorns slice into several pieces. A white dragon cut down two creatures who had devil wings. The blood that poured out of them seemed to be the cosmos itself. The white dragon rushes to an effeminate stallion.

The purple dragon tossed a rope dart at a black dragon at a speed that would rival Rainbow dashes fastest speed. black dragon still caught the dart and pulled the purple dragon to him. black punched a hole in the purple stomach causing. Purple collapsed and the white dragon cried out. “Spike!”

The white dragon sped to the black dragon and attempted to cut him down. Black stops the white one with his own. Twilight rushed to the stallion with her sword drawn. A hippogriff stuck at him and he quickly blocked the strike with his axe. Discord blocks two swings of the hippogriff before rolling to the side and cutting off the griff's wings before a cry rang out. “I got one.”

A sing-song voice made Discord's blood run cold. He looked over to the stallion. The stallion had his demonic wings flared out looking quite proud of himself. He held a broken Twilight who had blood pouring out of her mouth. White looked at Twilight and the black took advantage. He drove his sword through the white's back. Discord shouts out in rage, cutting down the hippogriff.

He was about to cut down the dragon when he heard Twilight scream. The black dragon hit, causing purple to spring back to life. Black grabbed Purple by the throat “Not so fast Dissy, don't want to lose your pets, do you.”

“Lucifer!!” Discord snarled in rage.

“Aww, what happened to Lucy? Where's the brotherly love?”

“It died after you betrayed me.”

Oh dissy, you working for the old bastard breaks my heart, from freedom to chains.”

“Better father's chains than your freedom.”

Lucifer glared at Discord then tightened his grip around the dragon's throat -“Stop!”- Twilight shouted. Looking over to the purple dragon with tears in her eyes.

“Dissy dropped the axe or we'll see how tough your pets are.”

I think that Drake would be fun bound and gagged.” the stallion said, looking at the dragon with lust.

The dragon glared as Lucifer put his sword to the dragon's stomach and grinned. Discord dropped the axe and raised up his mismatch hands. “Okay, now which one should Asmos keep.”

“What?!”

You heard me, the dragon or the pony, your choice. What will happen to the other one? “I guess it depends on who's chosen.”

The dragon and Discord locked eyes and nodded. “Send the dragon to Asmos.”

The stallion giggled as if he was a little filly on a sugar high. He went to Lucifer and traded the hostages. Asmos kissed the dragon on the neck before biting him. The dragon writhed in pain as gold blood came from the wound. “I'm going to have a lot of fun with you big boy.”

Twilight wept and screamed for the dragon to not be taken away as Asmos dragged him down the steps. Discord let out a shaky breath and looked at Lucifer. “Now give me Twilight.”

“Sure thing brother” Lucifer said before ripping off Twilight’s head and tossing it to him.

“Twilight!!!!” Discord grabbed her head and tears fell from his eyes. He sat there looking at her severed head with sorrow and pain. A sadistic chuckle came from Lucifer as he saw the grief-stricken derconquess.

“Honestly brother, what did you think was going to happen? What you two going off to some fuckin shack to fuck for the rest of time. oh wait that’s probably what Asmos is doing to that dragon pet of yours well his now. Honestly Dissy you got to take better care of them, break so easily” Lucifer crushed Twilight’s head with his feet much to Discord’s horror.

Discord's face contorted into uncontrollable rage and he attempted to strike Lucifer only to have his right arm removed from his body. He held out a cry of pain and attempted another strike only for Lucifer to dodge it and cut off his left leg. Discord fell to the ground and took in what was around him. The white dragon had blood that seemed to have the cosmos in them, blood similarly coming from his damage body. Lucfier then stepped on Discord’s back forcing a pain-grown come Discord.

“I like it better when you begged, maybe I should have kept the pony after all.” lucifer shugged “oh well.”

Lucifer brought up Discord’s axe over his and was going to put an end to the chaos lords when a snap rang out cutting off the surroundings and making Lucifer disappear.

Discord’s tears fell freely and he looked up “Why show me this? What are they to me? Tell me. TELL ME!!”

Twilight teleported around the library frantically looking for a book. She was getting annoyed since she couldn't find it. She really wished Spike was with her. Second later she felt arms wrapped around her neck. She looked back at him and smiled. “Oh spike it's good to see you.”

Twilight you're okay.”

Twilight giggled “Oh Spike you don't have to call me that when we're in private. I love it you call me mom.”

How are thou okay with that.” Twilight eyes widened as she noticed Princess Luna.

“Princess, let me explain.”

“I demand-” Princess Celestia cut off Luna with a hoof.

“Twilight, Spike you didn't need to hide this from me but I do need to say Twilight, you're a good mother.”

Twilight blushed while Luna glared between her sister and the mare calming a drake as her own. She looked over to the white dragon. He had a golden fire radiating off of him. She raised a brow and approached him carefully. “What are thou doing?”

“Perverting my brother from finding us. He wouldn't be pleased if he knew what we were doing.”

Luna raised a brow but then sighed. “You best explain in due time.”

“I will but for now we need to find out where Young Sparkle is located.”

“I will find it,” Luna said then made her way to Twilight.

He hasn't harmed you.”

No, but he wants me to go somewhere with him but I don’t know why?”

“Don't go with him Mom, please.”

I'll try Spike, but his magic is something I've never seen before and he's willing to use it on me.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Twilight is there anything in the area that can tell us where you are?”

“Only that is colder and there seems to be pillars with old draconian writing on it.”

Old draconian, are you sure?” Spike asked.

“From what I saw, yes it seems to be.”

Mom, do you still have that book about ancient dragons.”

“Yes it's back at the library but there should be more in the archives.”

Spike nodded and hugged her. He turned his attention to Princess Celestia. “I'm going to check out a few books, princess.”

“Go ahead, we can't waste the time we need to find her.”

Luna was about to protest when the white dragon said, “he's on his way, I'll pull us out.”

Twilight looked as three looked in a random direction, and then their faces fell. Well, Spike and Celestia did while Luna seemed to be angered. “We have to go Twilight's careful Discord is not to be trifled with.”

Twilight saw the three burst into golden flames then disappeared not even ash left behind. Twilight was about to light up her horn right when a familiar serpent-like creature appeared in her dream. “Well hello, my dear.”

Antlers and Fear

View Online

Twilight meets Discord's smirk with a glare. The two gazed at each other before Discord broke it by looking around the dream room. The room seemed to be a library or some sort with seemingly natural shelves. Discord realized the room was made from a hollow tree. He chuckled to himself as he looked back to Twilight.

“Well, my dear, you certainly have an interesting dream.”

“What do you want, Discord!?”

“Oh, what can't I just visit my little pony.”

“I'm not yours.” Twilight stated, annoyed.

Discord rolled his eyes but regained his smirk. “Right, you're Celes' special girl.”

Twilight's eyes widened. “How did you know I was Celestia’s student.”

Discord burst out laughing, Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “Well, you just told me”

“What but you said”

“Doesn't Princess Sunflaps call you all her little ponies?”

Twilight’s blush intensified. “Don't call the princess that.”

“Oh, sorry, I believe it's impolite to joke about the mother swan with a generous behind.”

“Great, I'm being held hostage by a pervert.”

“Oh, please, you all walk around with nothing to cover yourself, there's children around you know!”

Twilight then realized herself and covered her body with her tail the best she could. Discord snorted after seeing this. Twilight looked at him, her face burning red. “What are you doing here?”

Discord rolled his eyes. “All work makes dissy a dull boy, you know.”

Twilight glared at him. “What do you want?!”

“Okay‌, I have a proposal for you. One I think you would find quite interesting.”-Discord snapped his fingers and a book made of pure platinum materialized. “This is all the magic you can ever access right in this book. Come with me and by the end of our little adventure, It’s all yours.”

Twilight's eyes widened but then she shook her head. “How do I know that's real?”

Discord didn’t say anything; he just flipped open to a random spell and gave it to her. Twilight read it and lit her horn to simulate it. Twilight noticed the spell's properties and it was quite different from unicorn magic. Discord looked at her confused. “Aren't you going to cast it?”

“When I'm awake. Make sure you're not just tricking me.”

Discord was about to mention it wouldn't matter but then realized it would be better if she didn't know that. Twilight closed her eyes and did a breathing exercise. Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Twilight opened her eyes seeing trees around her. She stood up and felt her magic get pulled from her horn. She looked in the direction and saw Discord holding an increasingly large ball of magenta magic.

Twilight let out a pulse of magic, only for that to be absorbed as well. Twilight began to hyperventilate as her magic was pulled. She looked around trying to find something to stop him. When she couldn’t, she let out a sigh and charged him. Discord had to choke back a laugh as he saw her getting closer. His smug expression gave way to befuddled one when Twilight tackled him to the ground.

“Stop stealing my magic!!!”

Discord looked at her shocked, how did she just. Discord shook his head and looked at her with a not-too-convincing smile. “Well, if I stole it then surely you're powerless now.”

Twilight lit up her horn, and then she stopped. She backed away from Discord and checked her mana level. It was recharging as if she just cast a potent spell. Twilight turned back to Discord and looked at the ball of magic in his hand. She lit her horn and scanned the magic. She couldn't recognize the spell but she certainly knew it was powerful.

Twilight let out a sigh and remembered the spell from her dream. She cast it on the surrounding ground. Tree roots jetted themselves out of the ground and wrapped around Discord. The magic still floated beside him. Discord tried but was shocked when he found out he couldn't. He looked over to Twilight, who also looked baleful.

“It worked, that spell worked.” Twilight muttered to herself

“Yes, it worked now. Can you let me go, my dear?” Discord asked, trying not to sound freaked out.

She looked over to him and weighed her options. After a moment, she released him; the roots residing back into the ground. Discord stood up and punched a tree next to him, sending shattered wood everywhere. Twilight squeaked and threw up a shield, wood bouncing off of it. She looked at him, expecting him to threaten her, but was shocked when he looked at his lion's paw, confused.

“Strange how I can do that, but not take those branches.”

Twilight dropped her shield and trotted over to Discord's side, and cleared her throat. “Okay, so you said I will get that spell book if I go with you. What our we doing anyways?”

Discord looked at her, then over the horizon. The sun was coming up, and Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes, my dear, we're going to meet a set of old friends of mine.”

“And why do you need me?”

“I don't know, really. The old man put you in front of me and I always like figuring this kinda stuff out.”

Twilight rose her brow. “Old man? No one sends me to your statue.”

Discord let out an annoyed sigh. “Trust me, my dear, he doesn't need to order you, to get you to do what he wants.”

“Who is he?”

“My father, but let's ignore him. I'm sure he's used to it, anyway.” Twilight looked at him slightly shocked and slightly angry. “Now there's no more to it, but I guess you have your requests.”

“I want to send a letter to Spike.”

“Who might he be?” Discord smirked. “Is there something you're not telling me?”

“He's my son and I want him to know what I'm agreeing to.”

“So you do want to come with me.”

“I don't have much of a choice but If you want me to cooperate you'll let me send him a letter.”

“Sure, why not? But if anyone else sees it, it will burst into flames.”

“What!? But what if he's around some pony when it appears.”

“I can just make it appear when he's alone. I thought you would know how to do that at least.”

Twilight glared at him. “Fine, now let's find some paper.”

Discord snapped his claw and a paper, and pin appeared in front of her. He smiled and reached out a hand. Twilight looked at it, but then reached out and met it. The two shook for a few seconds before both hands and hoof were covered in golden flames. Twilight eyes widened but calmed when the fire didn't hurt her.

Finally, the two separated, and Twilight spoke up. “What was that about?”

“Just to make sure we hold our end of the deal.” Twilight wanted to ask more questions but Discord cut her off before she could.

“Come on my dear we have plenty of work to do and I don't doubt you want to get this adventure started.” Discord walked into the treeline north of the pillars. Twilight trotted after him doing her best to write the letter as clearly as she could.

Spike wrote down another location where dragons built a pillar-like structure. He looked at the other two pages filled with sites and he growled. Spike stood up and went to the shelf with books about dragons. He grabbed one about the fall of the Dragon Empire when Princess Luna trotted into the room followed by Applejack.

Spike saw Luna and scowled. “What do you want, princess?”

“To see what thou know about the dragon in the dream.”

“All I know is he knows a lot about me and probably about the rest of us.”

“Are you sure you don't know much about this dragon?” Luna asked testily.

“If he said he doesn't know, then he doesn't know, princess.” Applejack butted in

“We are not so certain.”

“Well, I don't know no offense princess, but can I get back to looking for Mom now.”

“She is your caretaker, not your mother.”

Spike glared at her and then went back to the shelf. Applejack shook her head and moved to Spike's side. “So, what are we looking for?”

“Books about anything with old draconian” Spike pulled out a book about ancient Equestria “Hopefully we might be able to narrow down her location with this stuff.”

“Thou know she will be fine. The vision demonstrates it.”

“How do we know what gets us to this vision? He might become a friend if we don't go but what if we're supposed to? What If the only time he becomes our friend is if we stop him first.”

“Spike might have a point, princess.”- Applejack pulled a book from a shelf. -“if we're supposed to befriend him. That would be kinda hard if we can't ever speak to him.”

“That is a fair point, but I am still skeptical that we must do something.” Luna stated

“Didn't Princess Celestia and you say Discord is very dangerous?”

“Indeed, he is, but as we mentioned, we could not defeat him without deception and the elements of harmony. To which we have neither.”

“Come on, princess, I'm sure there's a way to stop him.”

“We have utilized every resource available to us. You will not be able to stop them.”

Spike glared at her and was about to snap back at her when Applejack gave him a stack of books. Applejack cleared her throat and turned to her “Princess, he's telling the truth about the dragon feller, but Spike's got a lot of work to do and I think I should help him.”

“Are thou sure it's not too much for thou of a low birth?”

Applejack raised her brow. “I help Mac study for his master's in mathematics and architecture. This shouldn't be so hard.”

Luna's eyes widened, and she gained an uncomfortable expression. “Forgive me, I wasn't aware that education was so accessible nowadays.”

Applejack let out a sigh. “You ain't the first to assume it and you ain't going to be the last.”

Luna nodded her head “It is befitting thou station.”

A long silence held in as those words were processed. applejack snorted. “Mighty kind of you.” she said sarcastically.

Spike glared at Luna, and it had just occurred to the mare on how that statement could have been taken. Luna sighed and turned around, heading for the door. “I will be taking my leave, Mis Applejack. I didn’t mean to offend.”

Without another word the night princess left the archives leaving behind a dragon and pony to stare at where the alicorn fled. Spike shook his head and growled suddenly before heading back to work. Applejack joined him, peering at him as she did so. After a while, the duo wrote down two more pages of locations.

Spike growled as another paper was added “This is getting us nowhere!”

Applejack jumped back as Spike shouted just before She could ease Spike’s worry, Shining Armor trotted into the room sword drawn. He approached them and glared at Spike. “The princess wants you and the dragon back in Ponyville.”

Applejack met the stallion's glare. “What’s your problem with Spike, anyway.”

“Be careful ms, you keep him around and he’ll burn your damn house down with everypony in it.” Shining kept his glare on Spike as he said this

“Spike is a sweetheart, he would never do something like that!” Applejack shouted at him.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “If He hurts anypony, you let the local guards know.”

“I got a feeling it ain't him I have to worry about.” -He kept his glare at Spike, acting as if Applejack didn’t say anything at all. He trotted out of the room, leaving two tickets on a desk. Spike let out a sigh grabbed the papers and hugged Applejack.- “You didn’t have to do that AJ.”

“I felt different. Twi your ma, I know what it's like to lose that. I can't believe everypony is treating you like a feral dog instead of the young colt you are.”

Spike's eyes filled with tears but he quickly wiped them. Applejack grabbed the books they were studying and trotted towards the door. Spike grabbed the tickets and left. He looked down at Applejack, her fur was orange like a bright flame. A flame, a fire, and screams filled Spike's head while a crying lavender filly and a vengeful white teen glared hate towards the young Drake. Spike fought back a sob as a stray thought entered his head. ‘I deserve it.’

Twilight finished writing her letter right when Discord gestured for her to stop. She looked at her surroundings. The trees were covered in snow and they seemed to be pines instead of the oak from the clearing. She added the extra detail to her letter. She then noticed that she wasn't as cold as she should have been.

She looked down at herself and noticed she had a thick windbreaker on with a yellow scarf that almost looked gold in the reflection of the sunlight. he chuckled to himself, grabbing Twilight’s attention. She saw Discord with a bright orange scarf and purple earmuffs. He smirked at her before snapping his fingers, causing snow to appear above her, falling and burning her in the snow.

Discord chuckled once more as she let out a squeak, leaving the letter unguarded. He grabbed the letter and read it. Discord couldn't help but chuckle before bursting out into full-blown laughter. Twilight dug herself out of the snow with a scowl on her face. “What was that for!?”

Discord kept laughing, looking at the letter with the utmost amusement. Twilight blushed and rushed to the letter. “Give me that!”

Discord moved the letter away from her hoof before she could grab it. “no can do my dear. This is way too funny.”

“Funny?”

“Yes, why are you telling your colt about the terrain, what is he going to do? to find us!” Discord fell back to his enormous fit of laughter.

Twilight blushed in anger and shouted. “of course, he will.”

Discord's laughter gained intensity as he understood she was serious. “and then what will he do? You send that letter. You then have to come with me wherever I take you.”

Twilight eyes widened as she realized what the deal was but then she remembered something. “He might be able to help us actually.”

“Really and how is that?”

If he finds us, he might be able to bring us things we need?”

Discord's amusement calmed, he gained a thoughtful look and snapped his talon. Twilight felt a set of full saddlebags appear on her. “This might be interesting I guess. Let's sweeten the pot, why don't we.”

Discord snapped his lion's paw and three action figures appeared in front of Twilight. A derconquess and a mare appeared to the left of her and a figure of a little colt appeared to the right of her. “if your little colt finds us before we can get this adventure on the road. Then I'll give you the book and you don't have to come with me but if he doesn't and he won't then you'll need to be my servant for the rest of your days.” Discord smirked.

“What?! No way!”

“Oh, come on my dear, I can treat you well. Be a good servant and I'll even teach some chaotic magic.”

Twilight glared at him. Did he think she was stupid “Why would I even take that deal? There is nothing you can offer me to make me agree to that.”

“Everyone has a price, my dear. The question is what's yours.”

“If you really believe that then you clearly don't know anything.”

Discord gained an annoyed expression. “I severely doubt that. Look, I will be a fair master. You can keep your son and get whatever you want within reason of course.”

“Enslavement is still enslaving. No matter how “well” you treat me. Come on everyone looking for a master, you would just be trading Celestia for me.”

“Celestia is not my master! She's my mentor and trusted friend.”

“Sure she is. I've seen her type before. She makes you think it's your choice but really she pushing to it.” -Discord growled.- “I hate those types.”

Twilight backed away from him fear shooting up her spine. Twilight cleared her throat and did her best to get her trembling under control. “Look, h-how about if Spike finds us before, you come with me and learn about friendship. I will keep you out of stone and vouch for you. If he doesn't then, I'll help you with whatever you need if you ask but within reason, and I'm allowed to ask questions.”

Discord looked at her with a raised brow. “Now. If you win, I have to be your friend. If I win, you're just my servant with extra steps.”

“Not your servant, but a friend. everypony needs a friend.”

“Is this really what you'll agree to?”

“Yes, I don't know what that vision means but I know we have to deal with it together.”

Discord remembered what he saw in his vision. This mare's head, severed lying at his feet. He felt strange looking at that and unbeknownst to him Twilight saw his uneasy expression. Twilight smiled hopeful that Discord might not be as bad as she suspected. Finally, Discord looked at her and sighed. “Fine, I gain the cards either way.”

Twilight raised a brow wondering what he meant but then a golden aura envelope around them then subsided. “Okay, then.”

Discord snapped his fingers, and the letter rewrote itself, making Twilight panicked. She rushed over to read it. “What did you do?”

“Since you're so confident, why don't we make it A bit more fun for him.”

Twilight looked it over and noticed what he had done. The information was hinted at in a poem. Twilight sighed. “Okay, but what do we need before going on this adventure of yours.”

“You mean ours, and if you must know, then we need a set of antlers, a dragon scale, and a blue rose.”

Twilight raised her brow. “That's a rather random list, don't you think.”

“If you knew more about magic, you would know what I was doing.”

“Why don't you enlighten me then.”

“Figure it out, my dear. If you can't, then I guess Tia prefers her blades dull.”

Twilight groaned at the insult and shook her head. “I'll figure it out. Also if we're going to be friends, we shouldn't insult one another.”

“Sure thing my dear.” Discord said, dismissively before moving into the foliage. Twilight followed him ready for another long walk.

Discord floated through the trees, lost in thought. Why did he agree to her terms? He doesn't gain much with them, but then again he doesn't lose much either. Maybe that's why but still he needs a new angle to approach her with. She'll mostly likely lose the bet so she won't be able to refuse basic orders when framed correctly but still her no doubt constant questioning might cause some trouble.

He looked behind seeing Twilight following in a similar state to him then he got it. Emotions cloud judgment and her vision certainly allows him to explore. Discord smirked, he could work with this. He floated over to her and lay her on his back. She let out a squeak as they flew through the woods. “allow me, My dear.”

Twilight stared at him confused. “um thanks.”

The two flew and hid in the bushes. The bush was next to a clearing with an animal. Twilight parted the leaves in front of her and saw the most majestic elk she had ever seen. It was an Eikthyrnir, it seemed to have golden fur with greenish overtones. Twilight wished she Had a camera to capture a once-in-a-lifetime fine. She looked over to Discord, who had a malicious grin.

Twilight felt uneasy as Discord eyed the animal. “Discord, what are you doing?”

“Well, we found the first item.” Discord stated handing her the rewritten letter. “Send it why don’t you, we don’t unfair now do we.”

Twilight grabbed the letter but still felt uneasy about Discord. She looked down at the letter and felt a quick gust of wind. She then heard a cry of pain coming from the direction of the Eikthyrnir. She looked over and saw a grizzly sight. Discord stood there covered in blood playing with the now severed antlers.

Discord turned to her and smiled “Well what are you waiting for, send the letter already.”

Twilight shut her eyes, tears filling them. “How could you do that to that poor creature!?”

Discord rolled his eyes-“well it's not like I killed him or anything.”-as he said this the Elkthyrnir stood up and ran into the trees, blood pouring from its head.

Twilight galloped after the elk ignoring Discord who was shocked at her actions. He was about to follow after her right when a golden light showed down on him. He covered his eyes as the light was far more intense then forty stars combined. The light dimmed and Discord could see a silhouette of a dragon coming down.

Discord got into a defense stance, ready for the figure to attack him. A booming voice came from the dragon. “Do not be afraid brother, for it is I.”

Discord lost his defense posture immediately as the visage of a white dragon with a gold spine appeared. Discord rushed over to him and wrapped him up in a hug. “Mikey! It's been too long! What like a thousand years.”

The white dragon gave Discord a sad smile “Indeed it has been although I wish it was shorter.”

Discord gained a devious smirk “so you're here to see me or are you going to help me.”

“I am here to assist someone else brother, father assigned this to me personally.”

Discord’s expression turned shocked. “So is the old man going to finally give Ponykind a holy book or are revelations coming to pass.”

Mikey let out a sigh “I do not know why Father wishes for me to do this task but it is one I will gladly perform.”

It was Discord time to sigh “Yeah of course you would. Well, I hope it goes well for you. The old man gives you some pay for all your work.”

“Doing father’s will is payment enough.”

Discord groaned. “Yes of course all glitter is gold and all that, but seriously, at least ask for something.”

“Brother, it is not my place to demand or ask.”

“Uh, your brick wall, anyway if you ever have some time why don’t you come with the pony and me and get some much-needed understanding, he ain’t going to tell me what that vision meant.”

Father sent you a vision?”

Yeah and the pony, well at least he picked a cute one.”

Mikey smirked. “You find her attractive.”

“Not like that. I just appreciate good work. That's it.”

Mikey nodded “Indeed, but I do know what you're doing, and I ask you to reconsider.”

“Reconsider what?”

“If you take down the ward, then the forces of Evil will be welcomed here.”

“True, but how else am I supposed to take her with me.”

“You could leave her here, come back when you have answers”

“Also true but you know me I like to cut out the middleman.”

Mikey let out a sigh. “I know I can't dissuade you so I suppose I will be taking my leave.”

Discord looked at him uneasily. “You're not going to try to stop me.”

“Only you brother, no one else.” Mikey flew away, leaving Discord confused. He thought about those words but stopped when a feminine scream grabbed his attention.

Twilight galloped to the whimpering cries of the Eikthyrnir. She passed snow-covered bushes and trees. She came to a clearing where the Eikthyrnir was whimpering, clutching its injured hoof to itself. Twilight rushed to it but tripped from a hole in the ground. She groaned in pain but lit up her horn and healed her injured hoof.

Twilight carefully approached the elk and gently patted it on the side.- “It's okay, I may not be Fluttershy but I can still help you.”- Twilight told the elk kindly.

She lit up her horn and mended the animal’s injuries. The Eikthyrnir cried in pain as its bones were righted and its torn horns were calcified and scabbed over. Finally, Twilight cut off her magic and patted the Eikthyrnir soothingly. “There, that should do it.”

The elk stood up and pressed its hoof on the ground testing it, to see if what Twilight said was true. After declaring it true the Eikthyrnir turned to her and gestured to her to follow. The Eikthyrnir galloped into the treeline only stopping to check if She was following. Twilight nodded and caught up then they both moved farther into the woods.

The Eikthyrnir moved quickly through the trees with Twilight just behind. They moved through the branches and bushes till they reached a river. The elk gestured towards the water, then it lowered its head and drank from the river. Twilight nodded and smiled at the elk. She lit her horn and covered a small portion of the river with a filter spell.

As the bacteria and germs die under the spell, Twilight took a sip from the clean area and then took a breath “Thank you. I didn’t think I was that thirsty.”

The elk moved over to her and sat down, tilting its head. Twilight smiled at the elk then it quickly fell as the events from last night along with this morning suddenly fell upon her. She looked up to the elk and gave it a pat on the head. It brought its head closer to Twilight and nuzzled her. She giggled at the act.

“Thanks, bud.” Twilight then sighed “I wish I knew what to do. I just made a deal with someone I barely know and that guy is supposed to end up as my… coltfriend? Husband? Uh, I don’t know.” Twilight paused patting the elk once more.

“Then there Spike.”- tears welled up in her eyes- “what happened to him. He looked so beat up when I saw him in the dream and he seems to be worried sick, I don’t want him to worry about me, I just…” Twilight sniffled as tears fell freely.

She sobbed into the elk's chest and pulled it into a hug. The animal, not knowing what to do, pulled away and licked at Twilight’s tears. She giggled as the elk’s tongue tickled her. She gently pushed him away and smiled. “I can see why Fluttershy likes spending time with you guys so much.”

Twilight went to pet the Eikthyrnir, only for it to stand up, alert. Twilight looked at the Eikthyrnir concerned, and then she heard it. Growling, vicious feral growling came from the woods behind them. Snow fell to the ground as unseen creatures moved between them. The Eikthyrnir stood between Twilight and the woods. Three wolves jumped out of the bushes and circled around them.

Twilight kept her eye on the wolf to the right of her. It snarled at her with teeth dripping in a disgusting ribbed saliva. It jumped directly at Twilight. She shut her eyes, ready for the teeth to pierce her flesh. However, it never did, for Eikthyrnir jumped in front of her, getting its throat ripped out, blood splattering on Twilight's face.

Twilight screamed in horror as two wolves consumed the Eikthyrnir's corpse. She threw up a shield just before the last wolf snapped its jaws at her. The two other wolves joined in and attacked the shield. Twilight was terrified but she could lose her focus, the shield would if she did. The wolves slashed and nashed at her barrier.

She looked about for an opportunity to get out of the wolf's grasp. Anytime she saw an opening a wolf closed it. Twilight whimpered as her shield started to crack. She shut her eyes, tears falling from her face. Every strike felt like a hammer hitting the base of her skull. The pain gives her a headache, every throb consigns with cracks.

Twilight decided to wipe her tears and stand up strong, just like Princess Celestia taught her. She shook in fear but did her best to stay standing as a jolted of pain ran through her. Twilight let out a shaky breath and was ready to drop her shield when a splatter of blood on it. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw Discord standing where the wolf's gore was.

Discord rose a brow, gore-soaked at the two remaining wolves. “Well hello muts, I hope you don't mind, but this fine young mare is all mine.”

One of the wolves jumped directly at Discord and bit down at his throat. Discord looked down at the wolf uninterested. He grabbed the wolf's head and crushed it with no effort. The last wolf whimpered and decided to run away. Discord was about to kill it with a snap of his fingers but decided it wasn't worth the effort and turned to Twilight.

She backed up to the back of her shield doing her best to reinforce it. Discord knocked on her shield with the best reassuring smile he could muster. “It's safe now my dear, you can come out now.”

Twilight trembled as she looked at him. Discord rolled his eyes. “Come on my dear trust me there's nothing dangerous here.”

Again twilight didn't drop her shield. Discord was getting annoyed. He placed a hand on Twilight's shield and shattered it, making Twilight scream in pain. She fell to the ground. Discord's eyes widened. Anger overcame Discord and she looked at her writhing on the ground. He snapped his fingers, healing Twilight's headache.

“Really, you feel your shields, do you know how stupid and dangerous that is? You could have passed out you ignorant-” Discord stopped as he saw Twilight curled up in a ball of tears falling from her face, shaking in fear.

He wanted to keep ripping into her but some strange pressure was in his chest telling him not to. He let out a sigh and sat down next to her. He gently patted her on the back and looked around making sure no animal was on their way. Twilight felt the talon on her back, its soft calming rhythm calming her down a bit. She looks at Discord still covered in blood yet with an unsure expression on his face. She had no idea who she was dealing with but now she was certain Discord wasn’t like anything she had a face.

The Angel of Chaos

by iconicgg

The Dragon

The Prince of Chaos

Antlers and Fear