"AND FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, WE SHALL BE KNOWN AS-" Luna's voice shook the dust from the rafters. The Canterlot guard ponies cringed, some covering their ears while others shied away. Luna looked to Castor and Pleione with a hopeful smile.
"Well done, Luna." Castor boomed. "Take your place, Aurora."
Aurora stepped forward to the end of the dais, and glanced around the throne room. She detested public speaking practice, but she did understand the reasoning behind it. If she were to address a crowd of ponies, she needed to be heard from far away. She glanced down the long room to where Pollux and Asterope stood, waiting to hear her speak. Aurora imagined the room full of anxious ponies, waiting to hear her speak. She took one more glance at Luna, who gave her an encouraging grin before she spoke.
"And from this moment forward, we shall be known as-" while her voice did not reach the same volume, her voice was clear, and she heard it distantly echo back to her. She only had a moment to hear what she really sounded like before Pleione came over to her.
"You must speak with more force, my granddaughter," Pleione said, shaking her head. "What if, perhaps, the audience was chatty, and talking over your speech? Thou must speak WITH CONVICTION!" And the rafters shook again, this time dislodging pieces of the ceiling.
Aurora stamped her hoof in frustration. "If we keep talking like that we won't have a castle to live in!"
Castor spoke gently, a sign that he was very upset. "How else are you to command respect from your subjects?"
As a stream of complaints reached her tongue, she bit her lip to keep them from slipping out, another lesson that had been drilled into her brain. She gave an angry growl before taking off, out of the throne room, and onto the castle top. Aurora landed on the top of one of the towers before she slumped over.
She stared over Canterlot, watching ponies trade their wares. She caught strains of music and laughter as the ponies continued their business. On the outer rim of Canterlot she spotted her mother, busily directing several pegasi to position the clouds. Her father was among the earth ponies and unicorns, laughing with them. Her parents were adored across Equestria, something she knew her grandparents were resentful of. Yet she understood why. Her grandparents were intimidating, and they intended to keep it that way. The castle rumbling beneath her hooves put her on edge, and she watched as ponies kept away from the castle, glancing at it fearfully. Her mother and father had a more hooves-on approach to ruling. They were hardly home during day, busy helping ponies across Equestria.
Just as Aurora was wondering how she would rule when the time came, she spotted something odd among the clouds. Had she been out in the sun too long? She blinked several times. Was that cloud…pink? Before she could go investigate a familiar voice called to her.
"Lady Aurora?"
She glanced over to Firespark, who awkwardly rubbed his head with his hoof.
"Yes?" she asked, quickly checking to see if that pink cloud was still there.
"Your grandparents asked that you return for your lessons. And they said it was imperative you return immediately."
"Alright." She glumly took to the skies and trotted back into the throne room for magic lessons. Firespark took his position at the door, a worried look etched on his face.
Luna spotted her sister and tried to give a hug, but Aurora wasn't in the mood to feel better.
As Pollux was about to begin his lessons, a door in the ceiling slid open, a shaft of sunlight poured into the throne room. A grey pegasus flew down, panting heavily.
"Your Majesties," he said, pulling out a scroll from his pack, "I have an important letter for you. From Manehattan."
"Manehattan?" Pollux repeated. He levitated the note to him and began reading. "Doors and windows exchanging places?"
The throne room doors burst open as Alcyone and Atlas flew in.
"Mother, Father," Alcyone panted. "What do you know of pink, sugary clouds?"
"What?"
Atlas held up a huge apple. "Look at this! Whole orchards have these swollen apples all over their trees. They're much heavier than they look, so much so, that trees are bending over because of their weight."
"What is going on?" Castor said with a declarative thump of his hoof. "What manner of trickery is this?"
"It's called a joke."
Aurora turned around to face the most disturbing creature she had ever seen. He had mismatched horns on his pony head, that did not connect with his eagle claw, lion paw, dragon leg, goat leg, snake tail, bat-wing, bird-wing body. He glared at each of the ponies, but mostly at the Kings and Queens. "What? You don't joke anymore?"
Atlas pushed Aurora behind him and flared out his wings. "What are you?"
The creature smirked. "It's not obvious?"
Shaking uncontrollably, Aurora dashed to her mother, who instantly tucked her behind her other wing, since Luna had her first. She caught sight of her grandparents, looking horrified, upset, and-
In Pleione's eyes, Aurora saw recognition. She knew who and what this creature was. She stepped forward, looking ashamed.
"Oh, Unity." Pleione bowed her head in sorrow.
The creature made a disgusted face at being called this.
"You were meant to represent harmony for all beings. We failed you."
"Failed me?! Ha! You're kidding, right? You didn't fail me, you left me to die in a frozen wasteland!"
"We didn't know-"
"You're right, you didn't know! From the moment I was…'born,' I have been a contradiction. I have too many different natures inside me to even be close to harmony! Do you have any idea what it's like to have multiple instincts telling you what to do? To have the dragon part of you say, 'Let's go get gems!' while the snake part is hissing at you to go find some eggs? I'm not Unity! I never have been! I am chaos, I am disharmony! I am Discord!"
A horrible smile paired with a cruel chuckle punctuated his next words. "So…my little ponies, I've come for my revenge. I hope that's not a concept too far above your little pony heads."
Alcyone glared at the monster and joined her husband flaring her wings. "You'll not lay a hoof on our family!" Aurora smiled. No pony crossed her parents when they were like this. This Discord monster was doomed.
Discord smiled knowingly. "You're right, I won't lay a hoof on your family. Because I'm standing on it, you see. However-" he swatted Atlas and Alcyone away like they were flies-"You never said anything about talons or claws."
Several of the Canterlot guard leapt to attention, and dove at Discord. Wrapping his tail around one of the pegasi guards, he flung the pony into the oncoming soldiers and sent them crashing into the wall.
Firespark landed in front of Aurora and Luna, wings spread. While it didn't have the same effect as her parents, Aurora still felt protected. "Go!" he ordered. "Go somewhere safe!"
He was rammed into a wall as Discord held him by the throat. Atlas and Alcyone tackled him to the ground. He snaked his way out of the two alicorns' grip, and posed himself on the floor like a lion ready to pounce.
Behind her, Aurora heard the sound of the floor thumping open to the secret chamber where Friendship's Fire resided. She whipped her head around to see Luna beckoning her to join their grandparents. But she only shook her head, turning back to her parents. She wouldn't leave them behind.
"You," Discord said, extending his eagle claw to Atlas and Alcyone, "need to cool your heads!" As he touched them, ice began to form across their tails. It spread quickly, leaving Atlas and Alcyone to panic.
Aurora realized too late that her parents weren't being encased in ice, they were turning into ice. She galloped to her parents, frantically trying to think of which counterspell to use. She skidded to a halt as she stared at her parents, now literally frozen in terror. A lump rose in her throat.
Discord grinned wickedly. "Aww, did you care about them? I'll fix this in a snap!" He snapped his eagle claws together, something Aurora didn't think was possible for talons.
And then her world stopped.
The moment Discord had snapped, the frozen figures of her parents shattered into a thousand pieces. She did not hear the pieces as they clattered to the floor, nor did she feel the ice touch her fur. Everything was drowned out by Discord, who was howling with laughter in midair.
"No!" Asterope and Pleione cried in unison.
"Mommy?! Daddy?!" Luna gasped. Tears welled in her eyes before she scrunched up her face with determination. She took off at full speed, her horn glowing lavender. She sprung into the air, and pounced Discord out of his laughter. "You monster! Bring them back!"
Discord tossed the little alicorn aside with a disgusted look on his face. Luna cried out in pain as she slid across the floor, bringing Aurora back to the present. She flew over Discord, who completely ignored her. Aurora cradled her sister. "Lulu?"
Luna's blue eyes opened, tears streaming from them. She tried to speak, but Discord cut her off.
"I swore revenge the moment I awoke from that frozen dump. And now," Discord chuckled, "I'm going to destroy everything you have!"
Castor and Pollux rose from the hidden chamber, horns glowing. "You may have taken my son," Castor said, a tear slipping from his eye, "but you will NOT HAVE MY KINGDOM!" And with that, all four elder alicorns blasted Discord back with powerful magic. He recoiled, and then wrapped himself around one of the six pillars that supported the throne room. Enraged, the alicorns shot their magic at the pillar, smashing it into smithereens. There was a rumble as the ceiling struggled to main its balance. Discord baited the alicorns again, but they understood his plan. In a blinding flash of light, they disappeared, as did the opening to the hidden chamber.
Aurora blanched. Her grandparents had left her and Luna all alone. She heard hoof beats coming from the corridors and the majority of the Canterlot guard suddenly filled the throne room. An army of ponies stood between her and her sister.
A young unicorn bowed before the pony sisters, then spoke in a hushed voice. "You two need to escape. We'll buy you some time."
Aurora and Luna nodded. She would have to be careful, though. She watched as the unicorns' magic lit up the room with all the colors of the rainbow. The pegasus guards flew into the air, acting as a screen. Now was their chance.
Discord examined the area where the elder alicorns had vanished, then sighed. "Fine. I can deal with that." He rounded on the room full of ponies, and his evil smile returned quickly. "Ohh-ho, yes… I can deal with this."
There were multiple flashes of light, and cries of shock and horror. "My horn!" somepony cried. The room began to darken as the unicorns' horns vanished into nothingness.
"Charge!" A pegasus pony cried. As the pegasi took formation, the flashes of light began to happen again, as the pegasus ponies lost their wings and crashed into the floor.
Discord strode through this chaos as if it was nothing was even occurring. He approached Aurora and Luna, a dark aura glowing around his eagle claw. He chuckled darkly. "Last the best of all the game," he said in a sing-song voice. Aurora mustered her courage and stood against Discord. Still possessing her wings and horn, she spread them and prepared to blast Discord back. But the dark aura that surrounded his claw began to gnaw at her bravado.
A flash of armor and a deafening clang knocked Discord out. It was Firespark, now wingless, but still duty bound. He glanced at the pony sisters as Discord began to stir. "Go get help," Firespark pleaded.
It was one of the few times Luna and Aurora thought in perfect synchronization. Without another thought, the pair took off into the skies, returning to the forest. As Canterlot shrank into the distance behind them, they heard Discord shout, "Run all you want, ponies! I will find you! This is my kingdom now. And you're going see a whole lot more chaos!" His laugh seemed to echo in her head, an almost otherworldly feel.
Taking one last glance behind her, Aurora watched as the throne room collapsed, sending a huge plume of dust and debris into the air. She knew her grandparents would be safe, but what about them? Would Starswirl be able to protect them from this new monstrosity that had entered Equestria? As she glided over the trees of their forest home, she heard Discord's cackle, and with it, a pit in her stomach. That cackle had traveled to the farthest reaches of Equestria, she somehow knew. Maybe it was the odd tingle that had accompanied it, but Aurora knew now that life in Equestria would never be the same again.
You have no idea how fun it was to make good use of the Royal Canterlot voice. Also... (to the tune of Twilightlicious) Leave an R-to the-E-V-I-E-W and I will love you. Be Reviewlicious. ;)