Chapter Three: The City
Celestia stepped out of the portal and attempted to recover her bearings. Shattered buildings, dead bodies and thunderous clouds ahead; even a hint of rain beginning to fall. It was Canterlot all right. She moved towards a nearby building and peered around the corner. There was a pathway with a rosebush on the right, and a gateway at the end. It was all clear. She rounded the corner and proceeded up the pathway. She again pressed herself against the corner and looked. Another pathway, with a rosebush to the right. Once again, she crept against the wall and looked.
"Damn it Discord, stop playing with me!" she cried.
"Oh my dear sweet Celestia, don't you enjoy a quick game or two?" joked the Draconequis. He was nowhere to be seen, but she knew he was nearby.
"Show yourself you cur!" she howled.
"Oh, fine. It was getting boring anyway." moaned Discord. He appeared a short distance in front of her and snapped his fingers, restoring the streets to their original layout. "What are you here for, a drink? Or perhaps a game of checkers?" with each question, Discord kept snapping his fingers, at first conjuring a glass of water in his hand, then a set of table and chairs with a checkerboard on top.
"Cease the games, Discord. I'm heading towards The Archon." she snarled, threateningly.
"Oh! You think you can... I mean you actually believe you..." Discord erupted into a fit of laughter. An unimpressed Celestia stood before him, not fazed by his mockery. His expression suddenly turned serious. "You truly are insane if you genuinely believe that he is stoppable, Celestia." Discord spoke with his usual tone when he was being serious; Celestia's presence was clearly not affecting him.
"Why are you with him, Discord? Why would you throw your hat into the ring with someone like that?"
Discord sighed. "Initially I was craving the chaos that would ensue from his little 'Insurrection', but that 'thing' is even more obsessed with order than you are Celestia. His wish for Equestria is essentially taking the worst points from all of the rulers in Equestria, and merging them all into one."
"Go on."
"Take, for example, Sombra's slavery, Chrysalis' feeding from ponies to strengthen herself, and your almost 'obsessive compulsive' need for justice. Now, combine it with Nightmare Moon's desire to shroud the world in eternal night, and my shaping of the world to fit my needs, and what are we left with?"
Celestia didn't respond.
"We're left with hell, Celestia. We're left with an evil far beyond me, or Chrysalis, or anything the world has ever seen."
"I suspect this is why you're having doubts."
"His goal is the very antithesis of my existence. There is no future for anyone but him in this world."
"Then join me, Discord! Everything can go back to normal with his destruction."
"Normal? Hah! Who do you think I am!?" Discord's short burst of laughter was quickly replaced with an expression of anger. "Normal is my greatest enemy, Celestia. I will not surrender this beautiful chaos around us whilst I still breathe."
"Then I will defeat you."
"You're welcome to try; but only if you can catch me!" Discord was off like a shot as he finished his sentence. He was spraying ice from his claw in front of him, and he was skating along it at an incredible speed. Celestia's wings were still a little sore, but she had no other real way of catching him. She raised her wings and took off after him.
He was already a fair distance ahead of her, so she had to apply some cunning to the situation. The problem with this is that she was battling Discord. Cunning was his way of life.
"What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, Celestia?" called the Draconequis.
Celestia remained focused on him. It was the least she could do right now.
"Tell me, my dear – are you an immovable object?"
Ignoring his question, she increased her speed. Discord's speed was lacking as he posed Celestia these questions; it would give Celestia a precious few seconds to catch him. She kept her focus as Discord weaved through the narrow streets of Canterlot, his knowledge of the streets was impressive; the kind of knowledge that she thought would be her trump card. He seemed to have been preparing for their altercation. Discord began whistling to the tune of 'Come Fly with Me', and it was beginning to enrage Celestia. His reckless abandon at times like these was infuriating, how he thought that everything was a game. She wanted to completely dismember him and throw his body off of Canterlot Tower, but she was also beginning to resent her violence towards the other foes she'd encountered. Slicing Sombra's throat, and crushing Cerberus' heads? It felt like she'd done too much, when she'd done what she had to do. She promised herself that she wouldn't kill him.
"You know? I like Canterlot." Discord said, half jokingly. An interesting comment from him, she thought, as Discord spoke again.
"I think it looks even better now than it ever did!" he chuckled. Celestia was beginning question that promise she made to herself, but took a deep breath and continued the chase. Discord suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke right in front of Celestia. She brought herself to a slow pace, and trotted for a few feet before stopping completely. She paused for a moment.
"Yoo hoo! How's it going over there!?" yelled the Draconequis. She jumped to the rooftops, and looked around. She caught sight of Discord, sat on a hammock on a rooftop garden a large distance away. He was wearing sunglasses and peculiarly, a summer dress. He also had a summer hat on.
"Discord!" she roared. "Enough of this tomfoolery! Your cowardice truly has no limits does it!?"
"Cowardice!? Moi?" he effeminately responded. His tone abruptly changed into an enraged one. "Could a coward do this!?" he snapped his fingers, causing a large house next to the one he was perched on to collapse into rubble. Celestia twitched. His disregard for her hometown was maddening, but she still resolved to hold true to her promise.
"Could a coward do this too? Or even this!?" Discord's tone grew louder and louder as he tore down a larger house, and then created a massive rift in the floor between them. The rift appeared bottomless, but was large enough for her to be unable to teleport across. Flying to him would be too slow, he'd have too much time to react, she gathered. She looked to the left and saw a fully operational Ballista emplacement nearby. The rain was coming down thick and fast now, so she cast a bolt of flame at the floor in front of her. The fire reacted with the puddles, and she instantly moved to the ballista through the cover it created.
"Excellent! It's already primed!" she muttered, as she rotated it in Discord's direction and removed the bolt on it. She lay down on top of it and sprouted her wings. Celestia kicked the lever, and it launched her at a blistering pace straight towards Discord. She tackled him to the ground and held him there.
"Curse you!" he cried. He clearly hadn't anticipated her use of the ballista, and he was now totally at her mercy. She threw her head forward at his, and smashed his head into the ground. Dazed, confused, and dizzy, he reeled in pain. She got off of him, and collected herself. As Discord continued to writhe on the floor, she cast a prison spell around him. He was completely trapped, and at her mercy.
"Tell me how to defeat The Archon." she demanded. Discord was still in clear pain, but he could still think straight. Straight enough, anyway.
"I told you earlier, he is unstoppable." Celestia delivered a swift and decisive kick to his face; he keeled over in agony.
"You're hiding something!" She growled through gritted teeth. "Tell. Me. Now."
"Fine, I'll tell you, but only in a way that I feel comfortable." Celestia sighed. Discord's damned riddles.
"Your foe resides on Canterlot Tower; a foe who holds considerable power. Locked away for fear of her potential; this filly you seek is absolutely essential."
Celestia exhaled. "The first part's obvious; you're talking about The Archon."
"Genius." Discord clapped sarcastically. "Simply genius!"
He stopped as soon as she scowled at him.
"The second part – an 'essential Filly'?"
"Yes..?" Discord was waiting for her answer eagerly.
"You must mean..."
"Yes!?"
"The 'filly' is figurative!" She exclaimed.
"Oh for Pete's sake!" bellowed the Draconequis, bursting from his prison. Celestia was astounded at how he was able to do that – and why he didn't do it sooner. "It's a literal Filly! Li-ter-al! I mean that The Archon locked away a small Filly whose magical potential is astonishing!"
It suddenly dawned on Celestia what Discord was talking about.
"The prophecy? That's just an old 'doom and gloom' story, Discord."
"Look around you Celestia. Is this the Equestria you ruled but a month ago?" Discord raised an eyebrow to Celestia's silence. "A small Filly was incarcerated not two days after you were dethroned."
"But the prison is destroyed."
"The prison is the first place you thought of. This is The Archon's biggest fear. He's not going to take any chances on this is he?"
"So where did he lock her away?"
"In the Crypts beneath Canterlot Castle. He sent Chrysalis to guard the Crypt entrance. Like I said, he took no chances."
"I could use your help Discord. You can't just return to The Archon after divulging such privileged information."
"No, but I refuse to help you either. You seem to forget just who I am in relation to you, Celestia. The world may be ending, but there are still some traditions to be observed."
"Fine. But don't you go causing any trouble around here anytime soon, Discord."
"Believe you me, Celestia. I won't be back here for a long, long time."
And with that, Discord vanished. Celestia was a little disheartened by his departure, but she gathered that his heart was in the right place. There was a sensation of dread with every word he spoke. She had never heard anything like it.
"It looks like Canterlot Castle is my next destination then." She spoke to herself. This was far from the Canterlot that she'd ruled a while ago, but she could at least find her way around. She suspected that flying to the castle would arouse the enemy's suspicions, and resolved to walk there.
