Disclaimer: Power Rangers = Saban. My Little Pony = Hasbro. Discord (based on the Horse Orphnoch from Kamen Rider 555) = Hasbro and Toei. Anything you don't recognise = mine. All clear on that? Good. Enjoy. And RIP Steve Jobs.
Chapter 8: Awakening
The sun beat down on the barren ground. As far as the eye could see, there were no trees or bushes or anything green. Tufts of seemingly dry grasses forced through the cracked ground and one could see zebras eating and collecting them in the distance. The only respite from the blazing heat was the night. The two figures walking the plains didn't care for any of that.
Lord Zedd snarled through his grille and looked at his travelling companion. The unicorn once known as Trixie was useful when the fog of insanity lifted from her mind. He supposed that he was to blame for the insanity, but a quick look into her mind suggested otherwise. He shuddered lightly as he thought of the images he had seen. Not that he was afraid of them, just that even for him they were a bit unsettling…even for him.
The deranged unicorn had regurgitated a good bit of information about Discord and what she knew. From what he could make out of her jumbled words, Discord was a warrior that had managed to overthrow the ruling monarchy for a short period. Any creature who dared to stand up to the Princess of the Sun was a worthy ally, especially now with the new Power Rangers about.
He gripped his staff tighter as he thought about the day's events. Power Rangers had stopped the glorious return of his empire – both familiar Rangers and unfamiliar. The old Blue Ranger would be a nuisance except Zedd was certain that the Power Coins were destroyed. One or two may have resurfaced and repaired in the "home" dimension, but that was there. He stopped his train of thought as his twisted minion came closer.
"Where is this prison? If you've wasted my time here worm, I will destroy you!"
Trixie – or Tricksy as she called herself now – pointed the shattered stub of her horn in one direction. Light blue sparks of magic issued forth and seemed to fizzle out. Focusing through the constant agony of her mutating flesh, she nodded once and spoke.
"Prison close. Not far. Master, Discord may not be so gracious to your attempt to free him."
Zedd nodded and focused his vision in the direction Tricksy had indicated. He disliked the heat as it slowly cooked the topmost layer of his exposed flesh and his brain. If he didn't get out of this heat soon his reign of terror would be over before it began. Through the haze of the heat, a tower of some sort could be faintly seen in his field of vision. Not wanting to waste any more time in the blistering heat, he reached down and grabbed Tricksy by her remaining wisps of mane and vanished in a shower of sparks.
Tomb of Discord
For the billionth time, Discord was bored. The ponies he had been imprisoned with only lasted for so long until they died or killed themselves. He supposed the last one had to do with his…eccentricities. On the other hand they would have gone mad eventually – even without the whole eating of the dead bit. Idly, he wished Celestia had gone all the way and encased him in stone instead of imprisoning him. She would have probably put him out in the Palace gardens, tied a ball on a string on his horn and played tetherball. Or kept him as a macabre trophy and something to scare the little fillies with.
Reaching up, he adjusted his helmet and bowed to an imaginary dance partner. Keeping time to an invisible beat, he began dancing a Viennese waltz with a partner that seemed to be better than him. A change in the air made him miss a beat and stumble his steps. Pausing the music in his head, he stuck out his tongue and tasted the charge. Two beings; one strangely unicorn-ish and the other magical humanoid mishmash of space and pony. In other words, it was odd. As he felt a tingling in the air, he rolled his eyes. If magic could breach the walls, he would have been out within a few days of his imprisonment.
As expected, the first blast had no effect. He wanted to tell the beings that they were wasting their time…but he didn't think his voice would reach the outside. Also, he wanted to save his voice for the turning. Yes, those outside would serve well as his personal guards…and if they didn't. Well, he knew what would happen then. Rolling his eyes, he paced away from the wall and lay down on the ground. He wished Celestia had thought to put a window in somewhere but maybe that was only reserved for family.
A drilling sound broke him out of his boredom. Drilling would be a smart thing to do but even with a magical drill it would…be…impossible.
A slight cracking sound was all the warning received before the "impenetrable" stone prison came crashing down. Coughing through all the dust and grime, he stared out into the haze and took in his new servants. One was a horrid mess of twisted flesh that somewhat resembled an azure unicorn…although its horn was shattered beyond repair. He swallowed down his bile as he realised the flesh was slowly twisting and warping and if he listened hard enough, he could hear bones cracking and snapping together. He didn't know what the unicorn had been in direct contact with recently, but whatever it was, it was gradually mutating the body.
The other figure was a menacing humanoid with silver and chrome armour and strange tubes running over its body. It had no skin and seemingly no skull. Where its face would be was an emotionless mask of steel and its brain pulsed slowly. Squinting in the light, Discord thought he could see eyes behind the blood red visor, but dismissed it as a trick of the light. The chrome and flesh humanoid seemed to exude an evil essence that eclipsed his. As a wicked grin crept over his face, he prepared to induct them into his fold. He knew his voice was smooth like honey…and that honey would ensnare his prey easily.
"My friends, I thank you for freeing me. We will usher in a new reign and overthrow Celestia once again."
Lord Zedd growled under his breath as he felt the subliminal magic in the horseman's words activate. Silently shaking the feeble spell loose, he took in his first look at the feared Discord. The figure was standing on two legs and seemed to be steady. He was clad in armour that looked like it had come from Ancient Greece and had polished unicorn skulls as macabre shoulder pads. Zedd could see the horseman's primary weapon was a short staff or spear that was sheathed on his back and a short sword dangled from his hip.
Practically encasing its equine head was a bronze helmet that was studded with diamonds with small eye slots and a hole for his horn. He wasn't sure if Discord had wings, but he wouldn't be surprised if he had them. The most interesting feature of Discord's armour in Zedd's opinion was the hands. They were sheathed in gauntlets that seemed to be made from teeth and bone.
"Yes, we will overthrow Celestia and you will become my Royal Guard"
Zedd glanced at Tricksy and rolled his eyes. The mutating unicorn was being sucked into Discord's spiel and was almost grovelling at the humanoid unicorn's feet. Stepping forward, he raised his staff and swung it down on Tricksy's back – sending the pseudo-unicorn sprawling. He radiated red from within and his voice was molten steel.
"Get up, worm! You serve Lord Zedd and not this pathetic husk!"
Rounding on the confused and slightly freaked out Discord, Zedd pointed his staff at him and growled out his ultimatum.
"Join me or die here."
TBC…
