The air was warm in Equestria, and pegasi dashed around the skies to position the clouds for the much needed gloomy weather ahead. It was the 100th harvest since the founding of Equestria, and Celestia was eager to make sure, as the kings daughter, that she would be able to handle the situation. The king was a kind ruler and often associated himself with the earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi within the kingdom. Unfortunately, Celestia’s mother had passed away after giving birth to her little sister Luna, who would rule with Celestia when their father died. Celestia had always harboured a small grudge against Luna for this, but she let it pass in hope that she too could be a great ruler. She stepped into the throne room and recognised the sounds of familiar hoof-steps padding towards her. “Nervous?” her father, the high king Sunbeam, said from behind. She hesitated to think about her answer, but blushed and replied, “Very. It’s not every day that you have to raise the sun for your first time.” The king chuckled and stroked his majestic beard with his hoof. “I remember when Starswirl the Bearded taught me for the first time. I’m sure you will be able to raise the sun and Luna will be able to raise the moon. Besides, I’m always here in case things go wrong.” Celestia thought about this and it relieved her to know that her father could set things right if all failed. How wrong she would be. She and Luna shared a room together, one side was bright and colourful, the other shadowed in sombre black and darkness. She climbed into her bed sheets and fell into a deep sleep. Poke. Her eyes fluttered open. Poke. Celestia flipped to the other side of the bed to see a little dark blue alicorn looking at her with sweet dewdrop eyes. “What’s the matter Luna?” she said, her voice sounding tired and exasperated. Luna whispered back, “I think I heard a crashing sound in the hall of stained glass windows.” She stared at Luna for a while and hastily replied, “Well what do you want me to do? You know we’re not allowed in that part of Canterlot Castle.” Luna’s eyes began to moisten and she looked as if she was going to cry. Celestia sighed loudly and clambered out of her bed, slipping her hooves into her gold horse shoes. No-pony was allowed in this corridor. It held too many secrets. The hall was dark, the only light coming from her horn. The door was old, and was probably built by Smart Cookie from the look of the architecture, it was a century old. Reluctantly, she creaked open the door and could not believe her eyes at what she saw. There, in the middle of the stained glass corridor, in a pile of shattered glass, was a creature with the head of a pony, the antlers of a stag, the arm of a lion and many other animals from Equestria and beyond. She rushed over to help, the creature still lying there when suddenly, “BOO!” Frightened, Celestia jumped back, her heart racing in her chest. The grotesquery was roaring with laughter on the floor. It looked about the same age as her, approximately 50, which was young for alicorns. She glared at the monstrosity and it responded to the look on her face with a simple, “Sorry about that, it’s been decades since I’ve had a good laugh!” It coughed in an addressing manner, “My name is Discord, and I am what you may call a Draconicus.” Celestia moved her head back slightly in confusion. “Shame about the window, but I’ve been trying to get out for years!” His grey haired face paled, “Is Sunbeam still the king?” She pondered how he knew her father and gave a reluctant yes. Discord, as he was now known, sounded like he cursed under his breath and sharply replied, “Please hide me somewhere, anywhere! He locked me in here just for being, well, ugly.” The creature’s head dropped as if in shame. Celestia pitied him, what was wrong with how he looked? She had to get him out. “Of course,” her new friend carried on, “I did spread a tiny bit of chaos when I was very young. Only a little bit though. I think only 12 ponies were killed.” Celestia stopped walking alongside him and glared at him with her jaw dropped open. “I’m joking of course,” he said, which broke the tension. She cautiously observed him for a moment then carried on walking, whilst he skidded along the floor. She could have sworn he had purposely avoided eye contact just then. They stalked through the corridors, sticking as close to the shadows as possible. They had just got into Celestia’s room when the darkness parted and Luna stepped through. “What is THAT?” She said horrified. “I do have a name,” Discord frowned and tilted his head in disgust. Celestia whispered to Luna, “He isn’t so bad, maybe he can be our friend, and we never get to meet any new friends.” Luna gave a slightly hesitant nod and they stepped into the darkness once more. Discord slid onto one of the beds and gave a mischievous wink to Celestia. She pushed him off and he began to laugh once more. She liked Discord, he was fun and what could possibly be wrong with that? They chatted over what had happened during the decades he had been trapped, and every so often, he would do something to make them all laugh so hard that they couldn’t breathe properly. He was a great friend, but she couldn’t let her father know about him. “You need to stay in here tomorrow,” she quickly brought up in the conversation, “No-pony must know about your presence.” Discord’s eyes sagged, a tissue flashed into his paw and he mockingly said, “Aw, but then I’ll miss the party.” Luna, the type of pony that she was, looked at him softly, and then turned to Celestia. She started to make that face again. Celestia knew this wasn’t going to end well. Discord sat there on the windowsill for most of the night. The timberwolves howled in the far-off distance and he contemplated where events would lead him now. A horrible thought occurred to him. What if Celestia was just going to lock him up again like her father had if she ever became princess? He couldn’t take the risk. Silently, he used his crooked wings to gently move like a snake across the room to where Celestia was sleeping. He extended one of his claws and moved it to Celestia’s neck. However, a feeling came over him of guilt and indecision. His claws shook but he resisted the urge to slice through. He slithered back to the sill and glanced back at Celestia every now and then. If she took up the role of princess, that would be when he’d make his move. Discord wondered, was this the feeling of love? No. Not for him. Not for the spirit of chaos. Morning. The day of the harvest festival. It was a celebration of the founding of Equestria and the creation of harmony. And Celestia had to be the one to start it. Raising the sun would be no easy feat she pondered as she stepped towards the podium on the Canterlot castle balcony. The thought occurred to her that, if Discord revealed himself in the crowd, her father could be so disappointed; he would give ALL duties to Luna. As she took her place in front of the golden sun statue, King Sunbeam bellowed to the mass in front. “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” He said, in the royal Canterlot voice, “The time has come for a new generation to control harmony, firstly my eldest daughter, Princess Celestia!” She gasped, never before had she felt this much joy as she stepped forwards onto the stage. She leaped into the air, her hooves held high as she flew, and behind her, the glowing orange sun rose to the sound of an applauding crowd. There was a small flash and her cutie mark finally appeared after so many years. She had done it. But just then, a sound erupted from the mass. A single voice. A certain Draconicus shouting, “TRAITOR!” Discord flipped down his hood and threw his cup of apple cider, which hit Derpina Hooves straight between the eyes, causing them to shift weirdly. He stormed onto the stage and pointed one solitary claw at Celestia. “Do you know what this means?” He questioned. “It means you’re going to have to lock me away again!” Before she could answer, her father roared saying, “Discord! How did you get free? Guards, capture h-“In the middle of his sentence, Discord’s hand flashed, the king was thrown up and backwards off of the stage. Discord glued the king’s wings to his side and he plummeted, head first, off of the balcony. The crowd and the royal sisters gasped in astonishment, but Discord had clamped his hand around Celestia’s throat. He smirked, not joyfully this time, but diabolically, and the foul stench of his breath emitted from his mouth along with the words, “I guess I have control of the throne now.” She wanted to hoof his face, but before she could react, Luna slammed into his back. He let go, clearly winded by the blow, and Celestia, Luna and the crowd ran screaming. Discord laughed maniacally as the sun went down and the moon came up. Lightning cracked against the ground and various ponies started squabbling and fighting like puppets on a string. The sky filled with pink clouds, and chocolate rain fell in the bucket loads. Many houses set on fire and a plague of parasprites decimated the land. They didn’t even care. Celestia and Luna were so in shock, they just kept running to Starswirl’s tower and didn’t stop. Starswirl was a very old unicorn. The oldest in all of Equestria. He had been there at the defeat of the Windigos themselves albeit he was assisting the plight of other ponies at the time. But they could trust him. Barging their way into his chambers he turned to them, his hat’s bells jangling whilst doing so, and his mouth parted slightly. His cracked lips greeted them, “I see you’ve managed to start the end of the world,” he tittered, “very impressive indeed for your ages.” Celestia glared at him and said, “How can you joke about this? Harmony could end and the Equestria we know will be gone forever!” The old wizard smirked and squinted his eyes slightly. “Ah, but fair Celestia,” he replied, “I have seen the future. The world cannot end here if you two stop it. I am but an old man; I can help you one last time before I pass on to the other side.” He brandished a dusty wooden box and opened it to reveal six gemstones of all kinds of shapes. “If you wish to defeat chaos, you must use the opposite, the Elements of Harmony.” They attached the rocks to their golden and black armoured plates and turned to thank Starswirl. But, it was almost like he was fading and a white glow had consumed him entirely. “Just remember Celestia,” his voice echoed, “When darkness rises, the world is cloaked until the Twilight.” And with that, he vanished. Luna was sobbing. Yet another pony that was close to them had gone. But what had the wizard’s last words meant? She guessed that she would understand in time. Luna gazed up at her seemingly soulless sister and wailed, “We can’t do this! We just can’t!” Celestia helped her sister up from the floor where she was crouching, head in hooves, and supported her on her shoulder. Luna may not see it, but Celestia was crying deeply on the inside. They reached a signpost. One led to Ponyville at the centre of all the chaos, and the other led to the Everfree Forest and an escape. They had to choose. Luna let go of Celestia and stumbled like a filly walking for the first time towards the forest. Celestia’s eyes widened and she shouted, “Where are you going! I need you to do this with me!” Luna kept moving onwards. “You can’t do this!” Celestia’s voice was practically a scream now, but Luna kept going. “You’re, you’re a coward! We’re meant to save Equestria and rule together! What would father say if he were still alive?” Luna stiffened and stopped. Her horn began to glow violently. She turned around and her eyes were pure white. In a shout louder than the royal Canterlot voice she growled, “Let’s go love and tolerate.” At least 20 pony corpses littered the main street of Ponyville. Atop a giant striped hill, Discord was resting on a throne. The sisters, now more determined than ever, strode up to him valiantly. He looked down at them and smiled evilly. “You know, maybe I should try checked hills, striped just doesn’t quite look right,” he chuckled. In an instant, he had teleported to Luna’s side. “My dear, you want nothing more than revenge on me right now don’t you? I can see it in your eyes. I bet you have tendencies for that don’t you?” Luna went to hoof him in the face when he teleported again. “And Celestia, now that I am the supreme ruler of chaos, Equestria and disharmony, how would you like to rule by my side?” She shirked her head away violently, her sparkling mane whipping him in the face. “Fine,” he growled, “be that way”. At that moment, the ground shook and bolts of coloured light shot out at them. They both quickly dodged out the way, but just in time for Discord to hit Luna with a grey beam. Luna’s eyes looked like they’d become like slits for a moment, but then she charged towards Discord, horn glowing. Celestia did the same. He sent a shockwave of energy into them, throwing them back and slamming them into the crater they had made. The sisters could barely stand. “I think this means a little victory cheer, don’t you?” He gloated and began to sing, “Discord you’re the greatest. Discord you rule! Discord you’re fantastic! And Celestia drool-“ They stood and the elements began to glow on their armour, a giant rainbow, the likes of which Equestria had never seen before, shot out from their horns and combined together into one humongous beam, which froze Discord into stone where he stood. The land began to morph back to normal, and the sisters collapsed onto each other. A statue of Discord stood before them, and it looked like he was still singing when they had defeated him. It didn’t matter now, it was all over. Luna looked suspiciously greyer than she had done before the battle, but Celestia just put this factor down to them losing their father and one of their closest mentors in the same day. They helped each other out of the dirt as a hundred ponies, pegasi and unicorns came to cheer them for their efforts. Two pegasi lowered wreaths onto the princesses’ heads and Luna smiled for the first time in a while. A unicorn came up and presented them with some golden chains from his shop. Celestia knew just what to do. She took the Elements of Harmony, and slotted them into the chains. “Perfect fit,” she observed and smiled at the unicorn. They returned to the castle and marvelled at the window where they had first found Discord. They passed it and carried on towards the room that had just been built at the end of the corridor. Back in the wooden box, the Elements would be kept there until further use was required. Celestia tapped her horn against the glyphs on the door and it sealed shut. Many ponies were lost in the battle. Victory, who was one of Celestia’s close friends, had ironically died in the battle. A statue commemorating her was placed along with Discord in the castle’s hedge maze. Once again, Luna and Celestia studied the window, and they knew they were thinking the same thing. In the place of the old window, they had one of a Draconicus controlling ponies, like puppets, to always remember the tragedy that took place. Celestia admitted it, she had kind of liked Discord even loved him if he hadn’t had pre-judged events. Another window took her attention. This one had six ponies, and one dark one in the middle, not too dissimilar to an older Luna. She pondered this for a second, what could it mean? THE END (?)
