Chaos Competition Chapter 16

A Toast To Changes

The seconds seemed to pass in a slow, torturing way that should be deemed illegal to existence. Everything in the dark forest stopped around the Sun Princess, so that she was no longer aware of the spells that wore her down, the animals that slithered around her, the macabre plants and surroundings... She had almost forgotten that she was standing in the middle of the worldwide feared Everfree Forest. It nearly seemed harmless to her now in comparison to what laid before her.

It was all... Everything I did... All the time I waited, Modest’s spell, that barrier... It just led me to this. This was... my reward... My reward for everything that I went through...

At that very moment Celestia, Princess of the Sun, ruler of the great kingdom of Equestria, felt like the most useless of ponies that existed in all of time. None of her magic would ever be sufficiently powerful to undo what she had seen, or the pain that had been brought to her heart.

~~~

Miseria smiled as she stepped back to look up at Discord. She laughed as he twirled her a bit and held her close. “Oh, say it, brother. I want to hear you say what you feel. Please do say it.”

He chuckled and caressed her face as she put a hoof on his paw. “You deserve it, my dear. All of it.” He kissed her forehead and embraced her again. “Miseria... After all that we have been through... And thinking of all that we will enjoy together... I want to let you know that I--”

He was cut off when he finally noticed the faint trace of foreign magic in the area, very close to them. In fact, the dim glow of the golden light actually drifted around them at that very moment. It was undoubtedly magic aura that he knew and recognized all too well.

It can’t be... Celestia...

“Discord!” Celestia finally gathered enough strength to stumble closer to them. Though she was now weak and her voice was low, she still tried hard to reach them, and seemed genuinely happy to finally get his attention. “Oh, thank goodness you could hear me...”

He turned around and gave her a hard look that nearly made her freeze in her spot. “...”

She smiled a little as she looked at him. “I finally found you, Discord... Oh, you have no idea... I’m so glad I found you... Please... Please don’t go again, okay? You have... You have to listen to...”

Miseria gave her an unimpressed look that was filled with disdain. “Oh. It’s you.”

Celestia blinked as she stared at Miseria. “M-me?”

“Yeah, you. You’re the one princess that just won’t stop hurting my brother, aren’t you?”

Celestia frowned with confusion as she looked at both Miseria and Discord. “Y-your ‘brother’...? But... Wait a minute, I didn’t... But you just... You... You just can’t be--”

Discord wrapped his eagle arm around Miseria while she giggled at Celestia’s stunned stammering. “Yes, Celestia, she said it right. I happen to be Miseria’s older brother. She was kind enough to give me that title from the very beginning. Seems to make her happy.”

“He’s the best big brother ever! Why are you so surprised, princess? Does it make you jealous? Oh, he’s got so many things to show me...” Miseria smiled and leaned against Discord while she giggled again.

“Indeed. And unlike you, she’s eager to see and learn them. You know what? Over the short, but delightful time that we have known each other, Miseria has come to be so much more than just a little sister to me...”

Celestia shook her head. She glanced at Miseria with a raised eyebrow, then looked at Discord again. “What are you talking about? What... Just what is she to you?”

“Oooh, a touchy question, isn’t it?” Miseria grinned and laid down on her cloud as Celestia looked between her and Discord. “I’d be happy to answer it!”

Discord raised his paw to silence keep Miseria back. “Well, I’m in the middle of explaining what she means to me, aren’t I? As I said, she is now so much more than a little sister.”

Celestia followed him with her eyes as he floated around her. “You see, that’s what I’m trying to have you explain. You can’t just say something like that, Discord. I mean, I thought you and I were--”

“...So much, in fact, that I would daresay I have now forgotten all about you, Celestia. I decided to leave you and your meaningless demands for me to change while I give her your place instead.”

Miseria giggled and waved her hoof down. “Oh, please, brother. You’re making me blush.”

“Well, you look adorable when you blush, while we’re at it.” He stopped himself and shook his head. “No, wait. Hold on, that wouldn’t do her justice.” He looked at Celestia and made a face while he waved his claw. “Of course not! Why, her place now is so much higher and better than yours ever was, Celestia.”

“Discord, how can you say something like--”

“Oh, it’s quite simple, I assure you! You’d know all about it, of course. I know it’s nothing new to you, so don’t play innocent and hurt with me. It was the same for you, wasn’t it? I know, I know, Celestia. You finally found somepony to give a better place in your heart.”

“No, let me explain. It was something simple, Discord. And it’s all better now! If you’d just listen--”

“You forgot all about me when you ran off to that prince, didn’t you? All that ‘your appearance doesn’t matter to me!’ All that was nothing but a petty, spoiled lie of yours. Good thing I didn’t believe it for a second.”

Miseria jumped off the cloud and watched it disappear in golden powder. She looked at Discord and gently nuzzled him so he would embrace her. “She had to say all those goodie stuff to seem proper and kind.”

Celestia frowned and shook her head. “Wait. No, it wasn’t like that. You just don’t get it--” She grunted as the grass under her hooves grew when she tried to step closer. It snaked around her legs and held her in place. “When are you going to stop this...? Let me go! Whoever is doing this, stop it! I have to--”

Discord unleashed his glare upon Celestia before she had the chance to protest any further. “You...”

She looked up at him and gasped, shrinking under the weight of his eyes. She immediately recognized the old anger in his glare, and was honestly frightened by the sudden impact of those hateful emotions. “Dis--”

“What do you want, Celestia?! Don’t you think you’ve done enough to me during all this time?!” He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow while she tried to speak. “What? Suddenly you’re speechless? Please. If anypony can talk, it’s you. Especially about rules and conditions, right? That’s your favorite subject of all. Some moments you pick to show up. Did you come to try and spoil my afternoon like you did my morning?”

Celestia stared at him sadly while he went through his rant. She noticed that he grew angrier every time he lashed out at her. Please don’t do this... Discord, this isn’t you... She grimaced as he fixed his eyes upon her again, with the least of patience. “...Will you please let me speak?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to do so all along.”

“...I haven’t forgotten you, Discord. I couldn’t. Not ever. This was just something caused by a change in events. A change that I can explain.” She winced as her injuries began to hurt again.

“Oh, what do you know.” Discord waved his paw as he began to turn around. “I don’t care to hear any of it.”

“No, please, you have to! You... Ngh... Y-you misunderstood. Nothing happened in the palace, with Modest.”

“Seriously?! I saw that, Fluttershy saw that--Luna saw it... And you come all the way out here with the nerve to tell me that nothing happened?! You’re more worthless than I thought, Celestia!”

“B-because nothing happened!” She winced as he stomped his lizard foot down. “Just... Let me talk... Let me finish...! It was... Modest was not in his right mind. It was as I suspected, Discord. He was... under a powerful spell... It... It was all...!” She cried out a bit as she collapsed on the ground.

Miseria floated in the air while she watched her. Ooh, she dug quite a bit, didn’t she? Pretty clever. But still... Doesn’t look like it’s helping your situation one bit. She smirked a little as she looked at Discord.

A storm blew up on the sky above them as Discord floated over Celestia. The ground also cracked just ever so slightly before it rumbled a bit and moved back to a firm, albeit uneven level.

He continued to glare down at Celestia with little sympathy or consideration for her hurt condition. "Oh, poor, poor Celestia. It was worthless of you to come here. Just a terrible waste of time for you and your kingdom. Don’t worry, now. You can run along, back to your precious Prince of the West!”

Celestia shook her head a bit and tried to utter something, but gasped when Discord slammed his tail in front of her to silence her. You’re wrong...

“There’s nothing for you to find here anymore! Nothing except what you deserve, that is. Now that this is all finished... I suppose you’re better off with that daft prince of yours, because I have found my queen.”

She let out a weary sigh as she watched him approach the mismatched alicorn again. “Your queen.”

“Yes--my queen!” He smirked as he caressed Miseria. “Isn’t she wonderful? Better, by far, than a cunning, deceitful princess. Don’t worry, Celestia--she will make me happier than you could ever hope to make me! Because, for starters... She will accept me just the way I am!”

Celestia tried to push herself up from the dry ground as Discord laughed. “No... You’re making a mistake--a big one. This isn’t you! This isn’t who you are and you have to stop, before it’s too late! Otherwise, you’ll just... Oh, Discord... If you don’t stop, you’ll turn into your old self... Into that...”

"That what? That ‘monster’? Go on, say it if you must! ‘My old self’, how foolish of you! Celestia... Don’t you see, sweetheart? This is the ‘self’ I’ve always been! No ‘old’, no ‘new’; just the usual Discord!”

“N-no! I know that’s not true. It can’t be; not after all we have done for you. All of us have helped you change for the better, Discord. You just have to see that. There’s no way our effort was in vain...”

She closed her eyes and winced again as she tried to remain calm. She could feel Discord’s glare still fixed upon her; perhaps he would even raise his claw to attack her. Regardless, she had to stay calm and try to talk reason into him. “...I know you’re just saying all this because... I hurt you...”

He growled and cast his gaze away as she opened her eyes to look at him. “Here you go again...”

“You have all right and reason to be hurt and angry--you more than anypony. I understand that! Believe it or not... I understand how you feel, and why. But don’t think for a second that I will be discouraged, Discord. You know why? Because I know who you are! I know that you have changed! So this anger... I know it’s just that. Anger that will pass with time...”

She knelt down and breathed a bit faster as her voice dropped slightly. “I am willing to wait. I am willing to let you go wherever you please. You can go away from me forever, if that will make you feel better. But... I just don’t want you to lie to yourself. This isn’t you... You have changed...”

“Changed?! Hah. How hilarious!” He appeared before Celestia and knelt down to lift her by her golden collar, making her cry out. “I think you’re the one lying to yourself here, Celestia.”

She opened her eyes and gave him a pleading look. “I’m certain it’s not--”

“Quiet! It’s always been about you--about listening to you. Now you’re going to listen to me!” He lifted her a bit higher and smirked while she tried to pull away. “You know... Maybe I would have changed. After all, you almost had me fooled. You nearly made me go head over feet over you.”

“I never... intended... to fool you, Discord...!”

“Nah, nah--save it. It wouldn’t have been long before you had me wrapped around your little hoof again. I would have done anything for you! And you knew that, so what was your first thought? Right. ‘Change everything about him, because I will never like him the way he is. Change it into whatever I like!’ That’s the way it’s always been, why change it now?!”

He did not spare Celestia of one bit of his cutting bitterness and resentment. He even chuckled as she helplessly received the blows from his screamed words.

“Stop it... Stop all of this...”

“What did you plan to do when I became another obedient subject, Celestia? What were you going to do? Were you going to send me off with the little ponies forever so that you could stay with Modest? Were you going to keep me like the royal pet that unleashed chaos only when you wanted it? Go on, what were you going to do once you had me played for a fool in front of everypony?!”

“Stop talking like this! Can’t you understand?! We are both being brought into another twisted game! This time even you are being manipulated, Discord!”

“No! That’s not what I meant! When did you become so... so clueless?! It’s right in front of you! Open your eyes and see the problem!” Celestia looked at Miseria as she smirked and looked up.

“Don’t try to blame anyone this time. It’s all your fault--you’re taking the responsibility you’re entitled to! Haven’t you always loved responsibility, Celestia? There you have it, then! Bask in all its glory! Rejoice while they finally shred the joke of a relationship we had to shreds. That’s just what you wanted!”

She glared at him as she took a deep breath. Don’t let his words get to you like last time. He isn’t himself. I need to be strong to help him this time. “Discord... Do us both a favor... And please listen to yourself. You’re not making sense. Think about what you’re saying. Once again, it’s nothing but sad, angry, hurtful--”

He grinned and threw her back on the ground as he cut her off. “Good! About time you got a taste of decent pain for once--don’t you think so, princess?!”

Miseria gasped quietly and smiled as she watched the argument with complete interest. Ooh. Oh, my. This is getting good. She tapped her hoof and appeared a crystal glass with pink lemonade and a yellow straw. She smiled a bit and giggled as she drank the small glass. You tell her, brother!

“It’s about time you know for once what pain feels like. Don’t give me that--you don’t know anything about pain! I’ve been on the receiving end for far too long--I ought to know a thing or two about it.”

Miseria nodded as she munched on a few flowers made of cotton candy. She appeared some sort of remote control that made the volume of Discord’s voice raise as she pressed some buttons. She also made the two of them zoom in while she floated in the air a good distance away from them.

Oh, hold on, I forgot something! How silly of me... She pressed another button on the controller that made the environment freeze around her, as though she had ‘paused’ everything.

“I finally realized how you are and how you will always be. You see, it doesn’t matter how hard I try to get you to accept me. You’ll always find something in me that needs to change, won’t you? Causing chaos, turned to stone, reformed, it’s all the same!”

Celestia looked down as Discord continued to scream and rampage. “...” She said nothing when he stopped to take a breath for once. I’m losing him... I’m going to lose him again.

Discord chuckled and lifted her face with his paw. “But... It doesn’t matter now, does it? Thank you kindly for finally thinking about both of us. You’ll have the chance to move on with that lame little pony you found, princess. You can manipulate him to your heart’s content and change everything about him!”

“Oh, Discord--”

“Easy, dearie. You don’t need to ‘worry’ about me anymore. I’ll be fine, really! More than fine. It’s my time to rejoice, Celestia. Because the great, unmeasured Chaos is BACK!!"

At the snap of his fingers, all the trees of the forest disappeared and were replaced with trunks of different colors that coiled around the bare ground and branched out in a tangle. Within seconds, the area had turned into an unrecognizable mess of chaos and eerie darkness.

Discord laughed wickedly as he spread out the magic aura of his chaos, watching it slither past the forest, into the city. “They really could use a bit more rain on their parade. All of you!”

“N-no... Oh, dear goodness, not again...!” She looked up at Discord as he started to corner her into a cramped space of the ground. She dodged his spells and mischievous creations, but then collapsed on the ground again. “Discord, no... I can’t deal with this again!”

Miseria giggled as she watched the chaos take place. She clapped her hooves together with delight and started cheering while colorful sparks burst out of her body and her tail. “Yeah! Go, brother!”

She looked around at the new forest again, then started playing with some of the branches. “Brother, this will definitely be a better home for us! The new Kingdom of Chaos!” She glared at Celestia with a smirk, then let out a laugh as the princess continued to inch away from the twisted magic that surrounded her.

“Kingdom of Chaos?! No!” She shook her head and tried to push herself up, but slipped on the uneven ground that Miseria had altered. She’s got to stop doing this... I can’t let her get away with all of this. She can’t beat the power of Truth, and... And I know Discord’s feelings are still in there...

She cried out when a group of hooting rabbits marched past her, giving her angry looks. He’s still in there... Somewhere... She looked up at Discord, who know looked as though he was conducting a symphony with flying animals and self-playing instruments.

The animals made the musical sounds while the instruments let out different animal noises.

“I can’t... give up... There’s still some hope and time to stop this...”

Discord laughed again as Miseria floated close to him and handed him a glass of champagne. “To the new kingdom, eh, Miseria?” He snickered and drank from the glass.

“To the new kingdom, brother!” She licked her lips after she finished the champagne and stomped her front hooves in the air. She looked at Canterlot with delight as it was suddenly covered with heavy, whipped covered, while storm clouds appeared between the streets and zapped anypony nearby.

Celestia grimaced and flinched as she tried to gather some strength. In the meantime, she was forced to helplessly witness all the chaos that the two mismatched creatures unleashed upon their surroundings, causing accidents and fear within the citizens for the mere fun of it.