Prologue: Accidents Happen
The beauty of the daylight strangled the yellow pegasus until he was put into awe at the sheer amazement that was Canterlot. He could hear the chatter of unicorns, the constant pitter-patter of hooves hitting the smooth stone road as the stallion made his way down its gloriously gallant way. The unicorns paid him no mind despite his cheerful expression towards them. Their noses high in the air, smelling the stench of their wealth and luxury. He shook off their cold affects, and embraced the warm sunshine in the clean air. The castle proper lay ahead of him.
A metallic gate stood in front of him as a guards pony approached the golden stallion with a stern look on the hard working pony's face. His face looked at the yellow stallion with a cold stare, as the pegasus pulled out a small pass for entry. The pegasus smiled cheerfully at the guard without a care as the guard looked it over, and without a word he moved aside; letting the gates open for the pegasus. The sounds they made rang in the pegasus' ears like chimes from bells as he happily trot along his merry way. Of course, not before giving a sultry glance at the guard from the back as he passed by; stifling a blushing giggle as his hooves hit solid stone. His lip being nipped by his teeth only for a split second.
…
As he entered the castle itself he melted with the shift of tone. The columns, the architecture, and the windows gave the pony a sense of wealth, justice, and purpose as he made his way down the main hall. The grand state was beautiful in itself, but the closer he looked the more detailed and intricate everything seemed; never letting order leave it's frame. The arches over each door had little sigils on them indicating what was beyond the mahogany frames.
The guards seemed content but stern. They gave a sense of accomplishment and power, but also a sense of security and bulwark. Their eyes steady and ahead, but always on the lookout for any potential threat. However, they ignored the yellow pegasus altogether for whatever reason. The pegasus has only been here once before: on mail business. Maybe they thought he had mail to give to somepony important.
He could hear the sound of music playing as he passed by a slightly open door. The sounds of an expert cello player emanated into the hallway. The beautiful music filled his ears with delight. His mood continued to lift and he was almost carried down the hallway by the music itself.
Stone columns passed by the pegasus as he found his way to the audience chamber of the castle; where the Princesses of the Sky resided: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. He took a deep breath as he pushed the door open; his face beaming with excitement.
Nobody was there.
His voice aired a small, "Hello? Princess? You summoned me in a letter...?" His hooves moving on the ground slowly as he closed the large door behind him.
He could have sworn it was the Audience Chamber in the letter. He read it a billion times before coming here!
The pegasus opened his mouth to speak once more before quickly being interrupted by a flash of light.
Just then, a being that completely baffled the pegasus stood before him with mismatching legs. As the pegasus looked up to see just who this being was, he could immediately tell that it was the infamous Discord – Spirit of Chaos.
He put his pawed hand under his white chin fluff and coyly knelt down to the pegasus' level, the being's body completely off the ground and floating on thin air.
Discord had a smirk and his extended canine was in full view of the pony as his eyes gaze down at the helpless pegasus. "So, who has come to grace me, the wonderful powerful Discord, with their presence?"
The yellow pony opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His ears lowered as the being's eyes seemed to flash in the sunlight coming in from the stained windows.
The being leered at the pony with a bewitching smile; his yellow eyes had their red pupils trained on the pony. "What's the matter, scared? Or do you want me to guess you're name..." The being's clawed fingers came into view and snapped – the sound ringing in the pony's ears for a moment.
The area the pony was standing in changed quickly; the pegasus was quickly propped up onto a couch like a cork in water as Discord pulled up a big fluffy pillow for the pony right on cue. The couch brought upon a strange calmness to the pegasus as his face mellowed out into contentment.
"Your name... Let's see here..." The draconequus pulled out a magnifying glass, the lens accentuated his yellow eye to gargantuan levels as it peered over the poor equine. "You're yellow, a pegasus, and..." He pulled up the pony by the tail-not even a wince of pain- and peered as his backside, "-have an exclamation point for a cutie mark!" His paw made quick contact with the pony's backside before setting the stallion back on the couch. "Well... Clearly your name MUST be... Existential Panache!"
An audible cough was heard from the stallion as he tried to compose himself. He blushed as he looked up at Discord to confirm he was right. "Y-yes, that's my name. But... that doesn't make any sense, how did you-"
"What FUN is there in making sense, Exist? Come now, little pony. Surely you must know of what I am capable of." Discord snapped his fingers once more.
The room was awash in the glorious cosmos beyond equestria in that moment. Stars and galaxies quickly seemed to speed towards the center of the room. The sounds of rushing fire, echoing crystal, and all things imaginable rang in Exist's ears like beautiful bells. The power, the magic, the chaos of it all... Exist's eyes were wide and glistening with curiosity and delight. Ever so quickly, the cosmos effect was brought to the center point in the room where it finally burst into confetti for Exist- who was now standing on solid ground- and quickly the couch was now gone. Exist's mouth was anchored to the floor.
"Whoa." The pony smiled with excitement albeit bewildered by the being's intentions.
There was silence for a moment as the draconequus shifted his eyes, or rather plucked them out of their sockets, and looked behind him. There was a regal looking pony coming in from the back door. Said door was just closing behind the mare; making a modest mechanical click sound as it did.
"Ahh, it's the royal Princess herself, Princess Sunbutt!" Discord let out a snicker as he motioned for the pony to move forward to greet her. She rolled her eyes, and quickly gave a warm smile for the pegasus.
The sun's rays pierced the glass, and hit the Princess's pure white body; letting her flowing pink and green mane sparkle in the slight breeze. Her gold-plate-protected hooves lightly hit the ground with each step as she went to meet the pegasus for the first time.
Exist started to sweat lightly, but put on a brave face for the Princess and gave her a modest bow. Discord's eyes rolling in his hands as the pony did.
"Princess... Um, so why have you summoned me? In your letter you said you wished for Princess Twilight Sparkle to do...what exactly?"
The celestial Princess just chuckled and replied with an almost motherly tone, "Exist, I am asking for your assistance with Twilight's alicorn magic."
Exist took a moment to process this information before quickly rebutting, "B-But Princess, I'm only a pegasus! I don't think I could-"
She raised her hoof and closed her eyes, "You'll understand when we start. It'll be completely safe, I promise." She smiled, and led the pony towards the secluded back room of the audience chamber. All Exist could do was patiently follow the Princess.
Strangely, the chimera like being followed close behind. His face was flat with boredom and disinterest. A rather obnoxious sigh escaped his mouth as he closed the door behind him after they all entered the other room.
The next room was barely lit when compared to the audience chamber. Two windows on either side and a small window in the center wall gave life to the room. It was a large room, but it came with the price of needing more light to fully lit. The ceiling hung a chain connecting a brilliant golden chandelier. The chandelier, being crystal smooth and clean, sparkled from its lit flames, and lit the room more.
A purple pony sat in the center of the room: wings and a horn were in common with Celestia indicating she too was a Princess. She quickly looked up as the door closed to find the three waiting for her. The room fell silent for a moment as the purple pony looked at Exist in confusion; her eyes narrowing for a second before quickly returning back to a calmer disposition.
"So...Princess, are you sure this is ok? I mean, he isn't a unicorn so..." She contemplated the ramifications of whatever it was she was about to do. The details being a complete mystery to the yellow pegasus; he could only tilt his head.
"Oh, just give the poor stallion some info, Princess Twilight." Discord cupped his hands around the yellow pony's face and forced a smile out of the poor stallion. A well received glare was given to the chimera like being before they approached the stallion proper.
Twilight smiled sheepishly, "Uh, well... Today I'm gonna do this spell that... uh, well, let's see. Starswirl the Bearded came up with this spell when an evil creature tried to destroy his hometown..." Her eyes scanned the book thoroughly. "...Mm... Ok, I think I got it now. Thank you for helping me, Exist, by the way." She took her book through magic and held it up so she could see; motioning with her hoof to have Exist stand closer to her. "Discord, can you sit...there?" She lifted a hoof towards Exist's direction.
Discord shrugged, "Are you sure? ...Weeeell, alright then, if that's what you want." His face complacent as he obeyed the command... a little to literally.
The draconequus' body moved and swirled around the yellow pony; squishing him in a body hug. The pony's front legs now stretching out the top of the chimera ice cream top, he scrunched his face as his body felt the crushing weight of the creature. Fortunately, Discord leaned forward and gave the pony enough room to breathe in end. His head rested on top of the pony's soft golden mane, his face grew into a smile as his eyes became lazy.
"Discord! I didn't...ugh." Clearly unable to reason with a chaotic being, she quickly started up the spell from her book. "Ok, ...Just, Exist, sit tight." Her horn lit up the room with a purple glow; Exist watched contently under the squishy chimera.
Celestia calmly sat behind Twilight, her eyes beaming with delight at her pupil. A warm smile was on her face as the room felt the embrace of the alicorn's purple glow.
Exist started to shift his legs under the weight of the chaotic being, and scrunched his face angrily being annoyed by the being. "Could you like... Not crush me please?" He looked up at the being's yellowing eyes.
Their red pupils peered down at the pony, "What are you talking about? I thought you LIKED this sort of thing." He lifted his nose in the air disapprovingly. "Well FINE. I'll just..." His body quickly disappeared in a flash of light causing Exist to fall onto the floor. However, in a quick motion, Discord blinked back into existence and was slightly larger now; his arms holding the yellow pony in a warm embrace. "...Hold you then." He lay on the floor, his giant head now resting on the pony's body once more.
The forced affection was a bit overbearing and completely out of left field for the yellow pony. He could only kneel on the floor and wait for Twilight to finish whatever it was she was doing.
"It'll only be a few more minutes while I conjure up this spell..."
The yellow pony looked behind the studious princess, and saw Princess Celestia waiting patiently behind her. He cocked and eyebrow, "So, um... Miss Princess Celestia... How come you're here too?"
"Hm? Oh. I'm just here as..." She looked off to the side for a moment to think, before answering, "...protection! I know all sorts of spells and magic, so if anything were to go wrong I could quickly fix it. However, it's only a precaution, as I know how talented Princess Twilight Sparkle is."
Exist nodded in satisfaction as he had no reason to doubt the Co-Ruler of all of Equestria.
"And Discord?"
"He's-"
Celestia was cut off by the jubilant and somewhat omnipresent chaos spirit, "I'm here for fun! It gets so BORING just watching the minutes go by where I can't even cause any chaos!" He pushed his face into the yellow pony's face with their eyes meeting before quickly being pushed away. "Watching minutes... Playing with quasars and floops... Watching the intimate guard activity..." He started listing away his day to day activities that he may or may not have been directly involved with.
Completely ignoring the attention seeking mannerisms, Exist sighed as he watched the purple pony start her spell. "So, one more question. This spell... You're going to use it on something?"
"I'm going to use it on you, Exist. You agreed, remember?"
"Oh that's coo—Wait what."
Before he could object, Twilight raised her horn and the magic quickly began to envelop the room. Sparks of energy flew and began to focus on the yellow pegasus. Out of instinct he jumped up only to fall face first into Discord- who was holding him. The being smiled coyly albeit lowering his eyes on the pony, forcing a blush out of the poor pegasus.
The room quickly became enveloped in a purple light and blinded everyone for a moment. Corners became round before disappearing completely. The glass that revealed the outside became invisible; it was as if the whole world no longer existed. Just white.
The room suddenly became full of two sharp yells. Their tones distinct but unable to be deciphered due to the quickness of them.
Twilight shook her head, her horn now back to normal, "I-is everypony alright?" Her voice full of regret and concern for her actions.
"I...I think so..." Exist, now laying on his back, the floor began to chill his body with a sobering cold from the marble. "..."
"Well THAT was unexpected, Twilight. You nearly blew off my other tooth." Discord uttered with an annoyed expression on his face as he got up.
"So what was the spell supposed to do?" Exist brushed his forearms off as he pulled himself back up.
The Princess quickly picked up the book and read it over fervidly, "I just don't get it, it was SUPPOSED to swap your Magic..." Her eyes narrowed.
"My magic...?" One of his eyes closed and the other looked her over suspiciously.
Her horn glowed, and helped the yellow pony up with a little bit of magic. "Let's see... If I was reading the spell right, it was supposed to turn you from a pegasus to a unicorn..."
A paw under his chin, Discord took a gander at the young stallion. The pony seemed to be pretty normal, but something seemed amiss. There was something the princess was missing. His yellow eyes analyzed the pony with a piercing accuracy and reported back to the draconequis.
A guard came over to the white princess, and spoke to her softly. She smiled at her younger princess, who returned the smile with a nod, and left the room a graceful look on her face.
He himself felt weird as well. It was as if something had been doubled. "Little Existy pony..." His hands picked up the pony with a surprisingly powerful grip. "...hmm." He sniffed the pony. Exist giggled nervously under the wiggly fingers. "...?"
"D-Discord! Put him down!" The appalled purple princess finally interjected. "I have no idea what I did, but it wasn't the th- …." Her eyes looked down below Exist.
A glass of chocolate milk sat on the ground below Exist. It was an adorable little pink glass that was just minding its own buisness. The room itself seemed not to mind its existence at all, and neither did it the room.
"What is it Twilight?" Exist asked as he looked below him. "...? Is that a glass of chocolate milk? But that doesn't make any sen-" His eyes widened as he was placed on the floor.
The chaotic spirit took a closer look at the cup of chocolate milk before bursting into ill fated laughter. His pawed hand now on his face as he laughed he said, "Hahahahah, you have GOT to be kidding me Twilight. Surely this is the BEST prank you've ever pulled! Hahaha!"
The yellow pony felt strange. It was as if something else was attached to him now somehow. A feeling of... curiosity and danger. He took a deep breath as if trying to stifle something. Just this deep welding feeling deep in his body seemed to want to be released.
"Twilight... I feel weird." The pony lowered his head as he tried to shake the feeling away.
Whispers started to sound off in the air, and letters slowly carved into the ground around them like knives on hardened cheese. Exist clenched his teeth as he saw the same word over and over. He saw it so much the word seemed to whisper to him, and brandish his brain with its swirls and sounds.
Twilight looked at the yellow pony with deep concern, "Um, are you ok?" She slowly put her hoof on his front knee, but was quickly repelled by a strange force. "A-Ah! That magic...!"
Discord's face was beaming. His eyes twinkled with delight and excitement as he watched this predicament evolve. "Isn't it wonderful?" His wild wicked grin sprung for the yellow pony.
"Th-th... T-Twilight, what did you do?!" His eyes looked up at the purple pony shaking with fear. "Twilight... there's... this word everywhere." The expression on his face was beyond comprehensible apprehension and anxiety.
Twilight gave a grave face, but only furthered her determination and thoughts. Her eyes quickly scanned through another book in her magic. Her mind quickly trying to piece together a solution, and her power guiding her towards a probable solution.
There was none she could find.
"How could I have...!? All I wanted to see was to try and swap your magical abilities with some other type of magic, but..." She fervently flipped through the book to see if there was something she missed. "...I copied instead."
Exist shook his head, "What did you copy?" Sweat started to bead down his neck as he tried to hold back the energy building in his body.
The entire time Discord had an insidious grin upon his face; crouching down to the ponies level and watching them converse in vain over this seemingly small conundrum. His eyes wide with excitement, for he knew what was about to happen, but did not want to speak of it. Paws crossed under his tuft chin, he just watched them.
"..." Twilight seemed to go paler with each passing moment. "...I really messed up this time, but...! I can fix this! I just need to-"
It was at that moment that the yellow pony seemed to grow a dark expression on his face. His eyes became darkened and obscured by light. His body became low before it seemed to lift of the ground. The air in the room became heavy as well and a strange feeling about it started to occur. All of the windows of the room seemed to smash out into the air, but only to turn into water and fade away. The pony was in the air now, his wings did not move, and it seemed he was moving of his own accord.
The pony lifted his hooves which subsequently glowed a mysterious light before suddenly becoming pawed. For a moment, he looked at his pawed hands as if in awe. A faint expression of distress came over him as he started to flap his wings slowly out of instinct from being in the air. He put his paws to his snout before shaking his head once more.
Discord, having dismissed Twilight entirely due to her being in total shock, slowly floated over to the distressed pony in the air. "So how does it feel to be a harbinger of chaos?"
A trembling voice came out of the pony, "...L..eave me..." He clenched his teeth again as a small pulse of gray light came off of him. "...Leave me alone...!"
As he yelled at Discord, his body suddenly took him outside. The summer air was arid and dry. The leaves on the distant trees seemed to crumple and crinkle as a simple breeze ran through and up the mountain that Canterlot was situated upon. The sun stared down on the golden city with indifference and unwavering solitude in its gray-blue sky. Innocent arrogant ponies walked down the streets, not noticing a wave of ice cascading down upon the street.
Sparks flew around, unknown forces pulled houses from the ground. A magic show disrupted by flying sparks that pierce the stage of a pony performing. The pony's purple cape fluttered in the wind as she scoffed whomever was trying to upstage her, but quickly drew back as tables flipped and cubed clouds filled the desolate sky.
An apple merchant delivering his order to another satisfied customer- now covered in blue and purple paint from a nearby paint-shop. His eyes looked to the sky to see a jaw dropping change in scenery. An almost mirror like walkway staring back down at the ground; spires of ice quickly striking the ground.
A rather royal looking pony speaking to one of the guards at the castle gates could only watch as the wind kicked up and sparks of lightning danced around the buildings and streets. Wildly, the ponies try to run out of the city: luckily none seemed to be getting hurt, oddly. He put on a brave face and quickly started to sprint for the city. His blue mane blew back from the wind, revealing more of his unicorn horn.
The wind seemed to brush away from the yellow pony as he slowly walked down the dirt road, unwavering of the scenery around him. The sky became dark around him, but his eyes did not divert from his path. A broken cello quickly whisked by a young blue colored pegasus. His goggles firmly affixed on his eyes as he attempted to approach the untouchable pony, but was quickly brought off guard by a sudden growth of vines that encased him to the ground.
Time flew by quickly as the pony came to the edge of Canterlot. A large forest lay at the base of the mountain, and ponyville was only just beyond that. His eyes darted to the ground as a wetness fell from his face.
"What have you done?!" A muscular white stallion approached the yellow pony about to leave the area. "...Who are you...?" Suddenly realizing that it was no great monster he was after, but what seemed to be a griffon pony hybrid.
Before Exist could even reply, in came Discord, slithering like a snake, he went around the yellow pony and stood in his way, "Where do you think you're going, my young protege?" Still snide and confident, he snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. He paused for a moment, before realizing something, "...Hm..." Everything then froze, as if physics finally caught up with everything. Leaves hung in the air, trees stuck to the side, houses in the air, and ponies frozen in time.
It seemed as though Discord wanted to take the yellow pony somewhere, but for some reason his means to do so were blocked. He looked down at the pony and said, "Come with me."
The muscular stallion was still staring at the both of them, his jaw agape.
Without a word, Exist and Discord flew off the cliff and away from the pandemonium and chaos above. The wind whisked by them as they approached the dense forest before Ponyville, which was quite a far ways away.
The muscular stallion looked around, still shocked, and exclaimed, "... WHAT THE F-"