Batter Up
Flashback
"The world is ending. Riiiiiight, I'm going to believe that one," Rainbow Dash said with an eye roll.
"You ponies have serious misconceptions about my sense of humor," Discord commented, arching a brow as he floated about the crystalline cavern beneath the School of Friendship.
"This is still amazing! To think that the Roots of Harmony were still growing for so long after my castle appeared!" Twilight gushed.
"Yes, well, making the school so close helped speed things up," Discord mused as he crossed his arms. "Are you really ignoring me?"
"No offense, Discord, but when ya start talkin extra on the crazy, we tend to tune ya out," Applejack informed bluntly.
"Regrettably, I'm not joking or crazy," Discord corrected coldly as he looked at the farmmare, who actually swallowed at that completely serious face.
"Oh please," Twilight said with a sigh as she turned to face him. "Discord, I'm in the middle of studying one of the greatest discoveries in the history of magic-"
"You have one every season," Discord pointed out dryly.
"-so please finish up or postpone whatever prank this is," Twilight scolded impatiently.
Rarity cleared her throat to address the reality warper more diplomatically. "While not as harsh as Twilight, I do agree, that is a rather over the top jo-"
"Ohhhh Headmare Twilight!" Pinkie Pie called as she literally rolled into the room, coming out with a bump and a pronk, holding out some papers for Twilight, who blinked in bewilderment at the documents now pressed against her snout.
"Um...Vacation time, Pinkie?" Twilight asked in surprise.
"Yeah, it's my mother's birthday in a few days, so me and Maud are heading to the old farm!" Pinkie Pie explained with a bright, wide smile.
"And you're only filing now?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"..." Pinkie Pie tilted her head. "I didn't know I had to put in papers for birthdays until a few days ago. The Cakes just always sent their regards. Why, should I have done it sooner?"
Twilight, shrugging off the informal work ethic and personal relationship between her friend and the Cake family, just made a noise of understanding. "Admittedly, how to properly file for a vacation was one thing I never thought about needing to inform you all on, soooo that's a bit on me. Sure, Pinkie. Just put it in a month early next time and say hi to your family from us," Twilight answered with a warm smile, their other three friends seconding the motion.
"Thank a bajillion, Twilight!" Pinkie hugged her quickly before racing out of the room.
"Now, Discord, was there-" Twilight began, blinking in surprise as she noticed that Discord was gone. "That was surprisingly easy."
"You don't think he really meant anything like that, right?" Applejack asked, slightly on edge from Discord's attitude.
"Nah, he's just pulling us hard. Besides, if the world was ending, someone, anyone else would notice it too!" Rainbow assured confidently.
Flashback End
Twilight shook her head clear of the memory that haunted her for so many nights. If only she had asked Celestia sooner, if only she hadn't blew off Discord's warning with such assurance. Could she have saved the world, with a little more time?
The answer was no, she intellectually knew. Even if she took Discord completely serious at that time, it would have given her less than a week more to work with. And everyone from Pinkie Pie to Discord to Harmony herself knew there was no way to fix their old world. But what-ifs had plagued her constantly with guilt and shame up until the end.
She could no longer afford to be bogged down by her own doubts over the past if she was to support all their survivors through this uncertain future. She had to be strong to keep the people from splintering, to make a good and safe home for those still coming through the aether, for her fellow leaders and for Discord to aid him in guiding them through this mess.
That said, as she steeled her inner resolve, she couldn't help frowning while she watched the viewing portal follow Discord and the armored princesses walking towards the bloodbath. She had seen Discord casually behead a human and Celestia herself incinerated half of another.
Such a willingly lethal use of magic, by her mentor no less, should have left her in shock. She was sure that she should not be emotionally prepared to handle watching this. Despite a slight aversion to the violence, Twilight couldn't find her disgust or horror in this display. She almost felt...not happy, but at least relieved that those vile humans were dead, calming an angry ball that formed in her stomach while watching this village get slaughtered. It had been almost like hatred, a feeling she was most unfamiliar with. She had only felt its cold heat when Tirek had destroyed her home, nearly killing Owlowiscious with it.
Looking around the table discreetly, only finding one reacting how she expected she herself would. Slight whimpers reached her twitching ear, and she knew Princess Skystar indeed wasn't prepared for this. But Seaspray and Thorax kept faces of stone. The hippogriff general looked far more grim while the changeling king appeared neutral on the exterior. Rain Shine had a look of concern, but Ember had a look of distinctly grim satisfaction from the displays.
Discord had said their minds had been altered, granted new instincts and basic information to go with their new forms. Perhaps it was gratitude for being their savior, perhaps it was some understanding she came to while their minds were all one in the teleportation. All she knew was that she trusted Discord with whatever was changed about them. That said, these changes, he implied, were based on similar creatures in this world. New instincts from this world would explain these new feelings, or lack there of, and the natural acceptance of fighting and killing being necessary.
She was logical and practical though, or at least tried to be. Others might react much more adversely to such things. She'd have to observe and hope for now, both on that matter and on the imminent battle.
Meanwhile
There were no words spoken between the three immortals when they marched out of the forest, their magics rippling with angry impatience. They made their way to the village center where these so called knights brought the remaining villagers, who could only kneel and wait for the slaughter. They were unnoticed for the time, something they did not desire in this instance.
Discord raised his hand and clenched in into a fist, one of the armored humans screaming as he was yanked through the air at breakneck speeds. His fellow soldiers turned in shock, their gaze following the flailing human as he landed on the ground.
Looking up just in time for Discord's foot to come down and crush his skull inside his helmet, the metal screaming almost as much as the man did before the grey matter of his brain splattered around the offending limb. Discord stared with a cold, even gaze. With hate and fear, their enemies began to yell, "Beastmen!" Discord spared a glance to each of the armored mares at his sides, finding the eyes of their helmets blazing with sapphire and golden magic. Settling his eyes back upon their new, charging quarry he simply nodded and resumed their walk towards the survivors.
There were roughly two dozen knights in all and six were charging them with steel swords drawn. Two for each of them. Or, that's what Discord thought until they got within range.
It was over in three seconds.
Two metal-covered Alicorn horns glowed with magic as Celestia swiped her hand to the side, sending one of the men flying and crashing into a fence, splintering the wood as the force of the blow caved in his armor. Luna, not to be outdone, extended her hand and used her magic to snap the neck of another enemy, dropping him dead before he even hit the ground. They both looked at the center two most opponents and both mares raised their hands, sending out a hail of blue and golden magic needle-like projectiles.
Celestia reached out to grab the blade of the penultimate attacker, her arm not budging and her armor unscratched. At the same time, Luna leaned out of the way of the swipe of the final knight and reached passed his guard to grab his face.
Discord arched a brow as the two displays of human Swiss cheese fell with blood flooding out of their armor. It was still an unusual experience, others being protective of him. It was a bit touching, but he wasn't sure if he was annoyed or amused that they were worried over so little.
"AHHHHHH!"
He didn't show it, but he was genuinely surprised when the screams of agony reached his ears.
"IT BURNS! STOP IT! STOP IT!"
Celestia's foe had tried to remove his weapon from the beastman before him, but found it unmovable. Then he started to sweat, panicking as he realized his hand wouldn't let go of the weapon. The appendage grew hot as the sharpened metal began to glow in the armored equine's grasp. She pulled him forward, laying a hand on his chest. It was nearly melting already as his flesh began to burn and bubble in his own body.
"NOMORE! NOMORE! MAKITSOP! NONONONonononono...P-please no more. I'll be good mommy, please?"
Luna's display was far less telling, but equally brutal. Her eyes glowed black for an instant as the man fell to his knees with a twisted and pained look of utter horror upon it, sobbing and begging for mercy from some unknown nightmare. And then, he just stopped with a slight jerk, his eyes lifeless as he fell from Luna's grasp. Death by overwhelming fear.
'Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon,' Discord mentally concluded as he watched the gruesome kills they had made. 'I'm not surprised those parts of them still exist, but killing like that came far easier to them than I expected,' he thought to himself, noting to keep an eye on them after this.
Without word, he stepped over the corpses with long strides as he moved to the remaining soldiers, surrounding the remaining and clearly scared villagers.
"W-wait! Stop right there, Beastman!" A soldier yelled. Unlike the other, his face was partially exposed to reveal a cowardly expression topped by blonde hair. He looked ready to soil himself. Discord, amused, humored him and halted his progress. "W-we have no quarrel with your ilk here! I-i-in fact, I believe this can be a good exchange for both of us!"
"Captain Belius!" one of the other soldiers yelled in alarm and caution.
"Shut up you bastards!" Belius exclaimed in outrage. "It doesn't matter if it's us or a beastman that does it, so long as this place is taken care of"
"We don't don't even know if it can speak-!"
"I can talk just fine," Discord informed bluntly, relishing how the humans nearly jumped out of their armor at his voice. "Now, what were you saying, Belius?" he inquired conversationally, being sure to use the name to unnerve him a little.
It was clear they were put off by him not only talking, but almost politely. Perhaps even that he was articulate. Beastman-type creatures could be on the less intelligent side of things in the multiverse, he knew.
Still, the named Belius gathered his nerves as he forced a conspiratorial look upon his sweating face. "We are Knights of the Baharuth Empire, sent to wipe out these villages."
Discord took note of the air growing hotter on his right and colder on his left as the Alicorn mares joined him, making the knights tense and hold their weapons a bit higher with tremors in their hands. "Go on?" he prompted with a cool smirk, deciding to let him dig a bigger grave.
"We didn't come here to fight demi-humans, so let us go and you'll have these heathens all rounded up and ready for feasting," Belius offered in a manner he probably thought magnanimous, but only came off as craven as the villagers let out cries of alarm and renewed fear behind him.
Discord tightened his tail around his waist as he tried to suppress any notable change in Luna and Celestia's magics, their rage rising with every word. Days ago, he could have down that without breaking a sweat. Now, it was much harder to make it look effortless.
"Well? Do we have a de-?!" Belius went wide eyed as his voice died in his throat, taking slow and gasping breaths.
"Captain? Captain Belius?" one of the knights said in confusion.
"GAH!" Belius cried out, spitting up a mouthful of blood as he stared at the large, dual horned Beastmen with a coldness running through his veins, as if death itself was approaching. "Wh...what did you do to me?" he asked incomprehension..
Discord rose an eyebrow...and faded into nothingness, to the shock of even his companions.
Belius stared...and then he screamed in agony as his heart was phased out the back of his body, still pumping blood as magic kept the connection operable despite flesh and metal being in the way.
All stared upon Discord in disbelief as he stood behind the captain, holding Belius's still beating heart in his hand. "You know you can still be alive and aware for a few minutes after losing this, Belius?" Discord asked conversationally as he examined the organ in his hand. "Most injuries make you pass out or die before that, but it's quite a way to go."
"P-put it back!" Belius yelled, unsure if he was demanding or pleading as he saw his own life beating in this creature's grip. His own men were too petrified by the display to do anything that might endanger their captain's life, unloved or not.
"Relax, that kind of stress isn't good for the heart," Discord informed in amusement as he channeled magic into the organ. "Poor thing might give out."
Belius's eyes dilated as, right before his eyes, his heart stopped beating. He struggled, trying to force himself to breath as he took an involuntary step forward. A strangled, airless scream ripped through his mouth as his heart slipped from Discord's hand, ending the magic. The fresh, unnatural agony racked his chest as he felt his arteries infused through his back and ribs. He collapsed, crushing the heart hanging out of his back. His final fading, terrified vision was of the mysterious Beastman.
Discord looked down at the corpse with contempt, but he was pleased that Celestia and Luna didn't immediately come to his defense as two more knights screamed while taking a stab at him. He merely glanced at the first man, making no move to block the sword.
He had no need to.
Right as the tip was inches from his arm, it bent. As if it were made of rubber, it turned at an acute angle. The knight didn't even have time to register what was happening before he moved close enough to stab himself in the throat.
Only those watching closely noted that not a drop of blood stained the chimeric stallion's body, rolling off his fur and clothes like water.
Discord sighed in annoyance as the other didn't stop, not seeing what had happened from his angle. Like the snap of a whip, the fallen Draconequus hit the ground with his tail. A green wave of magic washed over the ground before fading away and sending the attacker skidding back, leaving them all in stunned silence.
"...What are you?"
Discord hummed as he looked to the knight, another with a partially exposed face. A second in command most likely. "My name is Droc," he answered plainly as he glanced over the wary soldiers eyeing his every move. "You could say we all recently moved in nearby," he explained vaguely as he scratched his chin to sell the aloof vibe he was going for. "I just thought I'd stop by and see why those of the Slane Theocracy were attacking the Re-Estize Kingdom and pretending to be knights of the empire."
There was a cold chill that ran over them all and Discord could see Celestia and Luna look up in confusion at his sudden knowledge of this land. "I...don't know what you me," the knight tried to deny.
"Yes, you do, Londes di Clamp," Discord answered, making the human take a step back. "I didn't come here to kill these humans, I came here to stop you. Honestly, I was planning on letting most of you run away, but there's a problem with that," he monologued, waiting to see if any would dare interrupt him.
He was almost disappointed when they didn't.
"Villages, Londes. Villages," Discord repeated with a knowing smirk. "That's a lot of blood on yours hands, Soldiers of the Theocracy."
"BE SILENT YOU IGNORANT BEAST!" a random soldier yelled.
"Soldier!" Londes yelled in a voice of reprimanding and fear.
"No, Londes! We have done the work of the Gods by killing these heathens! And I will not be judged by a bunch of filthy beastma-GHRA!" the knight yelled zealously, right up to the moment he felt something constricting and cutting into his neck.
"Well, that's about all I need," Discord said with a shrug and a flick of his hand. All at once, vines shot out of the ground below the false knights. Vines that were pitch black and covered in thorns.
"Sister, are those...?" Luna asked suspiciously at the distinctly familiar plants.
"Yes. Plunder Vines," Celestia confirmed grimly.
The knight hacked and wacked at the plants trying to ensnare them, but plunder vines were tough. It took more than one swing to cut through even a thin one and under Discord's power, they grew rapidly.
"You bastard!" the loudmouthed knight yelled as a comrade managed to severe the grip on his neck, running to the enemy with some strange, stubborn hope of killing him.
Discord looked up and the vines shot out from either side of him, impaling his would-be attacker through the gullet, the vines worming their way up through the torso and right into the brain as they shredded organs and snaked around bones.
"Sun, Moon, we have runners," Discord called over his shoulder as several knights made to flee from the battle.
The armored sisters saw them, three of their enemies running for their lives and clearly terrified.
They hesitated, for a second, but then the word echoed in their ears. Villages, Discord had claimed, and none had denied it. They had not prevented a tragedy or even minimized it by coming here. They had just...ended it.
They resolved themselves, intent on ending it and teleporting behind them. Luna raised an outstretched hand, sending a gust of wind that sent the men tumbling off their feet. Celestia used her magic to telekinetically pull a discarded sword to her hand. The ponies of the earth coursed through her veins as she hurled the weapon, landing it in the back of one foe, strong enough to go through the armor and emerge out the front.
Luna made short work of the other two, sending out two sickle-like blades of magic, lopping one's head off and cutting diagonally half-way through the other.
Discord smiled softly while witnessing this. It was good they hesitated to kill enemies that had chosen to flee. If they hadn't, he'd start to worry about the killer instincts consuming them. Still, it was time to wrap this up.
With a snap his fingers, his little plants were instantly like iron and chainsaws. The agonized death screams of the knights echoed over the village of Carne as they were ripped and shredded, their blood soaking into the earth they had already stained with innocent blood today.
The plunder vines began to recede into the ground while Celestia and Luna walked back to Discord, who turned towards the clearly scared but partially relieved villagers. The mortal humans stared up at the overwhelmingly tall humanoid creature, flanked by two females of a slightly short stature yet garbed in what they could only think of as divine armor.
"Apologies for the mess," Discord offered offhandedly, breaking the ice the best way he knew: by ignoring it entirely. "But it should be safe to go home and bury your dead now."
That seemed to shock some of them back to their senses. "P-pardon my rudeness, but why would you save us?" one man asked nervously.
Discord could almost feel the confusion and worry the Alicorn princesses had in realizing these humans were still scared of them after being saved. "You should keep your ears open, Chief of Carne," Discord suggested, making a show of pretending to pick his ear for a second as the man and his wife flinched. "I said we made a home nearby and wondered what was going on, and that was what I meant. After that?" Discord paused as he looked up, considering his answer.
As he felt Celestia and Luna turn their attention on him, he shrugged and decided to tell the truth. "I was under the impression that helping someone in danger was common sense."
The suspiciously magnanimous answer shocked humans and Alicorns alike, but for different reasons.
As the survivors of the slaughter began to whisper among themselves, Discord decided to throw a line out. "That said, I also thought you wouldn't mind explaining some things to me, Chief."
"E-explain, sir?" the villager asked in surprise.
Discord chuckled. "I'm new to these lands, and my information seems a bit outdated."
The Chief blinked as the villagers all shared looks of surprise. "You just want information?" he clarified cautiously, getting a nod in response. The survivors all gained looks of relief and surprise at the claim. "I...would gladly share what little I can, Sir...?"
"Droc."
Timeskip
Celestia watched as the sun slowly inched across the clear sky. It was strange; she could feel some connection to this great sphere of light, just like the one she had wielded for millennia, but she could not move it. It was on an entirely fixed course. An unnervingly similar feeling to the Cozy Glow incident, but Discord had vaguely warned them about this some time before the big jump. Something she'd have to ask Discord about, she supposed.
Along with what they were still doing here.
Celestia was not above helping people with her own muscle and magic, but beyond piling the cadavers of all the knights outside the village, there wasn't much to help anymore. They had already helped repair a few houses and she personally saw to the fence she broke. Most of the villagers that had been harmed had died by the end of the battle, so there was few to heal to begin with. All that was left to do was prepare the burials. The ages had taught her that it was often best not to help with that in these settings, as a stranger. A savior perhaps, but she did not know these people or their dead. Burying one's own was something that had been universal in her world among nearly all creatures and she wasn't prepared to say even that wasn't true here until she learned otherwise.
So here she stood at the edge of the village, glancing out to the open plains beyond, as if the world had its arms wide open to embrace them with all its wonder and horror.
"That's the last of the bodies, in addition to an odor spell to nullify the stench for a few days," Luna announced as she came to join her. "Are they still talking?"
Celestia looked down at the armor covering her little sister, and knew it was a craftsmanship of beauty and intimidation. "About what, I can't be sure," Celestia answered with a sigh. "...Sister, what did we do?" Celestia asked softly.
Luna's shoulders sagged while she deeply wished they had a silence ward of some kind. Unfortunately, instant and discrete warding was not a skill either of them had picked up. That was Twilight's area, unsurprisingly. "What we had to, Sister. Or that's what I thought at the time," Luna responded.
"I haven't killed in hundreds of years," Celestia admitted in an exhausted voice. "I just...I saw them and knew that they wanted nothing more than to kill us, to kill Di-Droc."
"The same is true for me. And the thought of them laying a hand on him...I saw red," Luna confessed. "He is not weak though. Diminished, finite, but not impotent."
"But he'd never let us know if he was," Celestia countered, looking away sorrowfully. "He risked everything to save us and he still helps us. Losing him isn't an option for me. I don't know if its me, this new body, or sharing a mind but..." Celestia trailed off with a lost voice.
"It is true for me as well, more I imagine. I doubt it was intentional, but he made his fall from grace a public event. Every creature in Canterlot knows who saved them and have some idea of what it cost him," Luna agreed solemnly. "The ones that ran away though...I killed them for those they had butchered," she added in a dark tone.
"What kind of gods condone this behavior?" Celestia asked rhetorically, practically spitting the question out.
"Ones that are either fake or not here."
They turned and saw Discord stalking up to them with a tired yet amused look. "Is it wrong I want to steal Twilight's talent for teleporting, just for the weekends?" Discord inquired with a laugh.
Both mares looked to each other for a moment at that. "You can't teleport?" Celestia asked in concern.
"As much as I never thought I'd say this, having to walk doesn't make me a cripple. And yes, I can teleport, but that mare can naturally spam that spell like I can only do while unnerfed," Discord explained with a shrug as he let a mostly comfortable pause come over them. "I can practically taste the awkwardness, so ask away."
"Did you learn anything from him?" Luna asked curiously.
"How much did you hear?" Celestia added uncertainly.
"Enough," Discord answered vaguely as he reached up to massage the bridge of his nose. "He confirmed everything I already knew, giving me an excuse to know it, while expanded on a few points I didn't know."
"Excuse for whom?" Luna inquired with a scowl under her helmet.
"Everyone in this world that comes snooping," Discord supplied readily.
"Does this have something to do with our sudden use of code names?" Luna asked in confusion.
"Honestly, no, but, well, it's one part plausible deniability, but I had doubts they'd react well to a name like Discord," he explained with an eye roll. "As for our situation, we're smack dab in the middle of three countries and none of them really like each other."
"Yes, you seemed to already be aware of that, somehow," Celestia noted with a hint of dryness.
"Another something you were researching in your seclusion?" Luna inquired exasperation.
Discord glanced at both of them with a raised eyebrow before smirking coolly. "I'm a very old being, ladies. And as you know, age begets certain qualities," he informed, drawing their attention. "Between the passing of time and traveling between entirely different worlds, I grew annoyed of keeping track and up to date on the history and culture, or lack there of, wherever I went. So, I did the only reasonable thing: I made...a spell of sorts," Discord explained ominously.
"...What kind of spell?" Luna asked after a pause, almost unable to believe that Discord was actually revealing how some of his abilities worked.
"The kind that allows me to absorb knowledge from somebody's mind," Discord answered bluntly, feeling their startled reaction. "I won't lie. I killed a few people making that. Too much power made the brain explode and too deep of a read lead to complete mental death and the information was never complete with just one person. I was a young being back than, but I didn't particularly like leaving a corpse trail for the sake of learning about a place. So I changed the method: It reads the surface knowledge of every sapient creature in a given area and shares with me what is, essentially, common knowledge for them," Discord concluded, patiently waiting for them to digest this.
They were stunned to say the least. By the information or who it was given by, they really weren't sure which. "That's how you adapted to modern society so well," Celestia concluded as her mind raced. "And-"
"And how I knew who the elements of harmony all were. By the point you all knew me, I had perfected the technique and with my powers, I had it passively on almost always and had limited its requirements in terms of how many needing to know something while broadening its scope without harming the mind," Discord confirmed with a nod. "Twilight and her friends knew each other fairly well by that point, as did you, Celestia. It wasn't hard to pick up their general natures between seven minds."
"And now?" Celestia inquired curiously.
Discord groaned softly. "Among other things, I did it when I struck the ground with my tail. Can't have that thing on passively and I need about a dozen people to clearly know the same something to learn it myself. So, much more limiting, but it gives us something to work with. I have the general geopolitical layout, the names of the countries and locations and other fairly useful stuff," he explained before chuckling. "But all the fake knights knew they were just impersonating Baharuth Knights from the Slane Theocracy and the names of their two commanders, so I did learn that."
"...I wish I had words, but I do not. I am in awe," Luna admitted in fond amusement.
"What was their goal in all this?" Celestia questioned in distaste. "Was this to fabricate an incident to cause a war between two rivals of their country?"
"I would have assumed so, but the Kingdom and Empire already are on bad terms, to say the least. There was a more specific target in this mess," Discord explained before frowning. "Speaking of which, we have company. Act natural until I give us some privacy."
The two immortals were confused by the instruction until a voice greeted them. "E-excuse me, Lord Droc? Ladies Sun and Moon?" They all turned to see a villager approaching them with a nervous but grateful look upon his face. "Might I have a moment of your time to express my gratitude to our saviors?" he inquired humbly.
Celestia and Luna rose brows as Discord nodded to the human to come closer. The female alicorns became more confused as Discord spun a finger to subtly put up a silencing ward. "There, no one can hear us without me know, but do keep the disguise up," Discord instructed.
"Disguise..." Celestia repeated as she turned to the villager, a man approaching elder years with graying hair and thread bare cloths.
"King Thorax sends his regards, Princess," the "human" answered in lieu of explanation.
"Please tell me there wasn't an incident back in Canterlot while we were here," Luna requested grimly.
"No, Princesses. My king merely ordered us here in case you need assistance. My name is Caleph, by the way," he introduced with a smile.
"Us?" Luna repeated knowingly, wondering how many changelings were already in hiding. "How did Thorax arrange for reinforcements so quickly?" Luna asked curiously
"Hivemind," Discord answered fondly, practically grinning. The changeling hivemind was a fairly unique specimen in his experience. It was also why he didn't just discordize some changelings outside the hive when Fluttershy and the others all got kidnapped by Chrysalis: That would have either not worked at all or completely wrecked those creatures and their children for...ever, probably. "You wouldn't have revealed yourself without a reason," Discord commented knowingly. "And if its not in Canterlot..."
Caleph nodded with a scowl. "The others are hiding in the forest, Sir. We've avoided some...confrontations with the wildlife, but there are two groups of humans nearby," he informed severely.
"Two? Are you sure they're not just traveling separately?" Celestia asked as the mood turned dark.
Caleph nodded firmly. "One group is radiating purely malicious intent towards the other and has been lying in wait in the forest since before we arrived. The second just recently arrived and is giving off emotions of anger, sorrow, and ...determination, I believe," he elaborated.
"The rescue team and an ambush for them," Discord summarized, stroking his goatee. "Which means that they at least think the one they're after is in this responding team."
"King Thorax and Prince Pharynx were wondering how you would like to deal with this," Caleph answered inquisitively, tilting his head at the former chaos lord.
"Leave the ones approaching alone," Discord answered thoughtfully. "As for the rest of our zealous new friends..."
The three watched as Discord stared up at the sky, contemplating Harmony could only guess what about their current situation. "Caleph, exactly how many of you are there?" Discord asked with a scrunched brow.
"Fifty," Caleph answered instantly. "The enemy, I believe are only half that count."
Discord gave off something between a growl and hum as he absorbed that. "...We've already showed off enough for the day," Discord decided, nodding to himself.
"We do nothing than?" Luna questioned in surprise.
"Didn't say that," Discord answered in with a small, devilish smirk on his lips to the disguised creature. "Pharynx, everyling?"
Caleph blinked, both at the words and at feeling so many in the hivemind suddenly staring through his link so intently, hanging on Discord's everyword.
"Batter Up."
Timeskip
As the sun began to descend on the horizon, Gazef Stronoff wasn't sure what to make of the surreal image confronting him. He and his entourage entered a village, mercifully not destroyed, but had been greeted with a pile of empire knights piled outside of it. Now, in the center, stood four figures. One man, a farmer he believed,...and three beastmen, horse folk to be exact, but with horns. Two were covered in the greatest armor he had ever laid eyes upon and flanking a third. A much taller and completely unarmored third beastman, almost taller standing taller than Gazef was on his horse, that had, of all things, an amused smile on his face.
"Chief Warrior," the human called with a respectful tone. "I am the Chief of this village. These three, who saved my people and our home, desire an audience with you," he informed.
"You saved this village?" Gazef repeated, looking intently on the imposing creatures.
"Well, the Theocracy will never be friends of ours, I'm sure, so what's one more strike," Discord offered with a shrug as the rest of the human soldiers looked on cautiously. "My name is Droc. These are my companions, Sun and Moon. And I believe we have a lot to talk about, Gazef Stronoff."
Author's Note:
And hello Chapter 3! Sorry for the delay. Been jumping around chapters a lot and had a lot of bad shit happen over the holidays. Hope you all enjoyed this little slaughter, cause this is where canon for Overlord truly starts to catch fire.
And yeah, as you can see, don't worry about the ponies and other creatures all immediately jumping on any murder-happy wagon. They still have their old world morals clashing with their new world instincts.
See you next time!