He arrived at the Castle gates, turning back once more to admire his work... Only to feel disappointed.

Rather than the usual, bright scenery with imaginative, Laissez-faire structures and liberated physics, his work now seemed bleak and lifeless: barren, dark rocks supporting the castle from underneath...

Dark clouds covering the sky, with lightning flashing in the distance, enveloping the landscape in a pale light, thunder rolling in, audibly growing louder and more shrill with each rumble, testifying the approaching storm.

"What a gloomy day..." he muttered, no joy in his voice...

Oh well!

He'll fix it once the deed is done - there are things to be dealt with, and it's all up to him now.

"Le sigh... No chaos without effort..."

He turns around, facing the gates.

And stumbles back in surprise!

A smile creeps onto his muzzle.

"Came before to meet me? How courteous of you!" he sneered.

The goddesses just glare, their glances... Inscrutable?

For once, he's genuinely surprised to see them. They appeared unpredictable, a rare feature, considering their roles as maintainers of Harmony across the land, all over Equestria.

"Discord." the younger one spoke sternly. He smiled inwardly. Luna had always been the adorkable, try-hard little geek. Studious, always gazing at her own stars, trying to see deeper into the cosmos, every time she glanced through the lenses of her telescope.

She had an eagle eye, even in the dark - as expected from the Princess of the Night -, and a mean buck - surprisingly enough, she could be quite hot-headed if you hit a nerve. And by 'hot-headed', think of the phrase: "ETERNAL DOMINEERING QUEEN OF HELLFIRE!"

Anyways, she glared at him with a scornful look.

While she wasn't as dominant as... Her alter-ego, she was definitely the more authoritarian of the sibling. Too strict for his taste!

Her sister, on the other paw...

He really had to work hard to suppress the warm smile.

It was really ironic, now that he thought about it - his greatest nemesis, who also stood the closest to his heart. She was as beautiful as ever - magnificent, pearly white fur which contrasted that colorful, flowing mane of hers. Both sisters looked fine, very elegant and regal (if a bit preppy) - but out of the two of them, Celestia still stood out. As the saying goes, "you can stare into the sun, but not at her".

She was always the more easy-going than the rest of the aristocrat posse up ol' Canterlot, and DEFINITELY more laid-back than her sister. She was kind, humorous, and caring. Not to mention that she had an amazing ffffffffface!

But, it's the soul and heart that matters, not the body. Or so he heard.

"So, you're the one..."

A new voice, presenting the new arrival.

He stepped forward from between the Princesses. Tall, scrawny... Bipedal.

His face was unreadable, and lacked noteworthy characteristics - apart from his eyes, which were trapezoid shaped and had very dark irises and deep pupils, half covered by a pair of oblong, shaded glasses. He was wearing a dark gray military uniform, consisting of tunic suit with matching trousers and steel boots, a black beret adorning his head, with a pin on it's front: a red X in a red circle, like a traffic sign, and the same thing printed on the chest of his tunic, above his heart, with the number 11612 beneath it.

He stopped a few steps in front of the two mares, staring at him, not blinking once, his face carrying a soft glare.

"Ah, you must be the new guy..." the draconequus smirked "Hope you enjoyed your stay. But, right now, I have to advise you to leave, A.S.A.P., 'cuz I'M back, and there simply isn't enough room for the two of us."

"I can't leave." the figure replied dryly "I have to stay here."

"Well then, just sit back, and enjoy the show!" Discord grinned "I can assure you, it'll be magnificent. After all, when was the last time you've seen pure chaos?"

The figure, as if considering his offer, stared in front of himself, thinking.

He then looked up.

"Well, mom showed the flow and continuity of the perfect, eternal chaos that filled out the newly born world, right in the beginning - the first order Existence had ever seen. It was very... Sightful back then."

He looked back down at the chimera.

"But every other attempt at recreating the true chaos I saw back there were usually failures or fakes."

He narrowed his eyes.

"And I doubt you'll be any different."

Discord's smile turned into a scowl. His tail whiplashed on the ground.

"Oh, I guess you're one of those neigh-sayers who claim my chaos is nothing but 'disorder plus'."

"You got THAT right." the figure nodded.

The spirit cracked a grin.

"Then I guess you'll be glad to hear about the disorder I caused... In the near past..."

"Near past?" Luna asked "But you've stoned until now!"

"Don't underestimate my powers, Luna..." Discord chuckled "Especially when you had seen it's end results."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh. Don't you remember...?" the chimera's smile turned malicious "...The Magic Duel?"

The Princesses eyes widened...

"That was... You?"

"Yeeessss, and everything else that led up to it..." the spirit hissed.

"All that suffering Trixie's been put trough..." Celestia uttered.

"The accidents on the railway..." Luna added.

Discord raised an eyebrow.

"Accidents?"

"WHY?!" the Sun Goddess snapped, snarling at the Chaos God, her mane suddenly resembling flames...

"Well, being imprisoned in stone can make one quite desperate..." the spirit smirked "Especially if your imprisonment lasts for millennias..."

This halted the two princesses, as they looked away, shame and guilt present on their faces.

Yes, some past decisions still stung...

Presently, Alexei cracked a smile as well.

"...Especially if you're constantly suffering from nightmares, right?" he asked.

Discord took aback, while the two sister exchanged puzzled looks.

"That was... You?" the chimera gasped.

"Yes." the figure replied "Consider it a warning."

"Consider... What?" the Princess of the Day asked, her patience growing thin. Alexei paid no heed.

"AS for your little ploy of ruining people's lives for your own gains..." he went on "Well, let's just say..."

His smile turned into a wicked grin.

"...You're one massive git!"

His eyes dilated as realization dawned for him...

"You're... You're with those diesels!" Discord burst out. Again, the princesses exchanged looks, but Alexei silently signaled them to play along.

"So you've met them..." he snickered "Good to know you're trying to catch up..."

"Celestia, what is this?!" the spirit snapped "I did NOT expect such tumble greetings from your humble subjects! First, I get mocked by one of your ponies and a green, recycled industrial gas pipe on wheels! Then, I'm ostracized and jeered at by your own protégé and her friends, old and new, as they seem to have been acquainted with those track-bound greaseballs, and were quick to pick up some of their traits!"

"Good." the elder sister replied "The Elements of Harmony no longer seem to work against you, thus, we've left with no choice, but to result to brute force and sadistic violence."

"We're all set with that." Luna grinned "But the girls needed a bit of toughening up to deal with such a drop of morals and "sudden" change of approach. Oh well, anything to pummel you to the ground."

"They've done nothing that you don't deserve..." Celestia continued "In fact, there's still a lot to be done..."

"So put 'em up, big guy!" the younger sibling cried, getting into fighting position...

Discord looked hurt.

"Well, you two certainly ARE different since the last time I saw you." he grumbled "You're different."

Then, he suddenly smiled.

"...And I like it!"

"You're NOT gonna like it, once we're done with you..." Celestia hissed, preparing herself as well.

It was only now that Discord noticed that they weren't wearing the Royal Jewelry. No tiaras, no neckerchief, no horseshoes...

All naked!

"By the way, we're not the only ones..." Alexei spoke up "The others are on their way..."

"Others?"

"Yeah... You can already hear them..."

He didn't understood.

Then...

He heard them...

The sound of heavy-duty combustion engines, roaring at top speed, echoing in the distance, growing louder and louder.

He glanced back above his shoulders - the tracks lead straight where he was standing!

They all ended around the turntable he was standing on. There was an iron fence surrounding the makeshift "yard", but what good would that do?

He stared at the three deities before him - HIM, the sore thumb.

"You set this up alright..." he muttered, dumbfounded.

Alexei nodded.

"It's time for you to meet the Other Railway!"

A cacophonous chorus of horns cut the conversation short, as the roar grew to an ear-splitting volume.

Around the bend came a large, robust mass of darkness, with fire blazing above. The first of the horde burst trough the fence, utterly demolishing a great portion of it without even a flinch from it's side, it's cohorts continuing the destruction along their way.

As they drew nearer and nearer, Discord broke out in cold sweat...

He gazed at his former friends, and the new guy.

Their face told nothing. They waited.

One by one, the growling silhouettes screeched to a halt around the turntable, quickly hidden by the cloud of thick, black smoke they brought along.

Motors revved and roared, and in the smog, a series of sharp CLANKs could be heard, as the headlights came to life.

The beams cut trough the smoke like white blades, scrolling the area, scanning for the draconequus.

Suddenly, one of the beams caught him, and soon, all the others jumped at him as well - he was in a crossfire of blinding light.

The beams grew thinner and flickered, eventually fading away as the fog lifted...

It revealed a row of engines, all glaring daggers at him, a vengeful look in their eyes...

Doors opened and slammed shut, and from between them, came their drivers - the semi-circle growing thicker, as they advanced.

Now, the turntable Discord created was large, with many tracks leading to it, and unlike with other turntables, which were only a set of rails bridged over a circular well, held up by a giant axle which also turned it (an the engine on it) around, this one was a whole platform: a large, disk shaped concrete table with a set of tracks dividing it in the middle, with only a thin line between it and the edges of the well. It was apparently (and quite fortunately for Discord) set between two tracks, disabling the engines from rolling onto it.

But that didn't stopped the mares, the griffon or the dragon...

They came, drawing nearer and nearer to him with the manners of a panther getting ready to pounce...

Heads lowered, horns pointing forward, wings raised.

Usually, such a sight wouldn't have bothered Discord - lotsa ponies used to challenge him when he reigned over the land, vast amount of them even more pissed off than the equines before him.

But these mares...

There was something different about them.

One thing being, of course, that they were the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony - all six of them, plus one, one of the many lost Elements. What, you honestly thought there were only SIX of them?

And so was the dragonling and the griffon that tagged along.

However, the magic of the Elements was not present...

Instead, a different, far more wile and vindictive, enraged power radiated from them, while the diesels...

They were like black holes, their robust bodies soaking up every amount of magic around them, leaving only a certain, unsettling emptiness.

No matter what they were built of, they were the pure antithesis of any sort of magic he had witnessed before - apart from the magic that radiated from their drivers, which seemed to make a link between them and their engines.

Puzzled by the phenomenon, it was only now that the chimera noticed something which they all had in common:

A positively murderous look on their faces.

His fur and feathers stood on edge.

"They want my blood..."

The Princesses and the Controller had also noticed the magical bonds between the locomotives and their drivers, and observed it with hidden curiosity.

The most strongest bond was between Twilight and Diesel, with Trixie and Bowler being right behind them. Rainbow Dash's and the Iron Twins' bond was third, with Gilda and CoBo right behind them.

Applejack and Spamcan came fifth, with Rarity and Old Stuck-Up sixth and Spike and BoZo being the seventh strongest. The weakest bond belonged to Pinkie Pie and Steamie: the link between them was very thing and weak, as if only temporary...

They'll have to look into that...

All of engines, even Derek and Steamie, glowered at Discord hatefully. Now that his scheme was unveiled, they had MORE than enough reasons to pummel him into the ground.

Their motors growled, flames rose from their exhausts (burning cinder from BoZo's and Steamie's funnel), as they glared at the draconequus.

Their drivers were more on the furious side - apart from Gilda, who's fur and feathers merely stood on edge in agitation, all of them seem to have lost, or were quickly loosing their cool.

Twilight was, once again, ablaze, her crest and tail a bundle of flames, her fur turned white and her cutie mark and irises blazing red. Her horn was enveloped in a magical fire.

Trixie have undergone the same changes, but in a slightly different form: her mane and tail crackled and glowed with rapidly changing, seizure-inducting electric fire, her fur a cold, bluish white with high-voltage discharges arcing all over it, her irises taking up a piercing, icy blue color. Her cutie mark was still missing. Her horn droned with electricity.

Rarity have gained the same sort of boost: Her body shiny and bright, as if carved out of one, gigantic diamond, radiating a blinding white light, her mane and tail waving in the dark shadows cast by the clouds, flickering like plasma, with an eerie, purple-ish white light, her irises glowing the same way, her cutie mark now appearing as real, different-colored diamonds placed upon her skin. Rows of hexagon-shaped diamonds rotated and flickered around the length of her horn.

Applejack's mane and tail became partially unbound and turned into a deep amber color, and her entire body was slightly blurred, as if it was radiating heat. The concrete beneath her cracked. Her fur, now thicker, varying between harvest and metallic gold color, her cutie mark bright green, with her hat (now white), slightly shading her glowing, amber eyes.

Pinkie Pie looked like as if her 'Diane' alter-ego had turned Super Saiyan - her mane and tail, both shaggy and zig-zagged, now stood on edge, as if being under constant static charge, along with her fur. Her body was also blurred, literally vibrating at a speed where edges and contrasts became vague. Her mane a poignant Fuchsia, glowing with a sharp, Phlox purple light, and her fur was now a shocking, electric pink. Her irises were a deeper blue, but glew like two blue neon sign 'O's, while the balloons of her cutie mark were now neon green and red instead of blue and yellow.

The ground beneath her also cracked and crumbled - she seemed quite vexed.

Fluttershy's eyes were narrowed. Ocassionally, sparks fell from the sides. She held her head low, so her mane casted a shadow over his eyes. She had changed, significantly: her fur had grown thicker, her wings were larger. Her mouth made a scowl, tightly shut, but at the corners of it, her lips crept open, revealing sharpened, jagged grinders. Her crest and tail, usually well combed and smooth, were now disheveled and rough, resembling the leafage of a weeping willow, thorn in the wind, now a bright, glowing blood red color instead of the original pink. Her fur, once a solid, cream color, was now a bright, almost eye-hurting hazard yellow, and her cutie mark appeared to be different as well: instead of three simply detailed, slightly cartoonish butterflies, she had the silhouettes of three Old World Swallowtails, colored in the same manner as her normal cutie mark, but, once again, the colors were brighter or deeper. She heaved, and her wings flared, revealing long, sharp feathers. Her eyes opened wider for a split of a second, as she blinked, revealing that her eyes, too had changed: their color was now a sickly amarath, irises resembling that of snakes, while her pupils were glowing white.

Dry, colorful leaves circled her like butterflies, flying up and down, forming a vortex around her lithe frame. But as soon as they scraped the ground or flew to high above, they caught on fire, burning to crisp, and blown away by the intensifying wind, carried away as ash.

Rainbow Dash had changed as well: Her cyan fur was bleached into a sickly bluish-white, while the colors of her mane and tail became divergent and dissonant, the stripes either too bright or too dim.

Her eyes - irises and pupils - were blazing red, and blurred. She snarled, and her teeth now sharp.

Her wings opened and flapped a few times, growing larger like Fluttershy's, and also gaining a metallic tint, feathers growing long, wide and sharp, the wings' structure seemingly changing into a streamlined, mechanic one. Her crest and tail stood on edge, and reached up to the sky like flames... Not like natural ones, though - not like Twilight's...

They looked like the flames of gas or oil burners - the blazes were sharp and barely wavered in the increasing wind - a tempest was drawing nearer and nearer.

Spike seemed to have suddenly matured, or progressed into his "greed growth" - he was taller, even taller than Gilda, and looked much like the teenage dragons he faced during quest. His eyes now had slit pupils, and the spikes on his spine and head were jagged and sharp, and his scales now like an armor. His body had grown strong and somewhat muscular, his frame resembling that of Mr. Alexei's, or Discord's, albeit loosely in either case. Green flame enveloped his body, circling around his feet, orbiting around his body in the form of fireballs, and snaking down on both of his arms, glowing in the palm of his clawed hands, now clenched into fists. His mouth, muzzle-like, was kept tightly shut. With each step, he left a burn mark on the ground.

Gilda was the only one who seemed unphased by her transformation. Her body was enveloped in a silvery light, her outline enhanced with white, and her fur and feathers had more saturated, deeper colors. Her entire body looked more beastial, and slightly larger than usual, with more muscular, but sleek hind legs, sharper claws and beak, bigger wings and longer feathers. Her pupils were like dark wells, and her irises burned with a golden light. But she kept her cool, and leveled head.

She approached Discord with an oblique path, her eyes following his every movement.

"I see you sent Cromwell back." the figure spoke.

"Yeah. We thought it's best if he informs the others..." the class 08 replied.

"Nice display..." Discord scoffed, anxiety audible in his voice "You practiced this a lot, didn't you?"

"Disdain won't help you..." Luna whispered, her hoof scraping the ground.

"So, this is how you're gonna play?" the draconequus went on, ignoring the alicorn's reply "Twenty against one? That hardly seems fair..."

"Who. The FUCK. Said. That WE'RE. Playing. FAIR?!" Bowler hissed.

"Like you'd deserve it!" Stuck-Up added.

"To tell you the truth, Discord..." Alexei uttered calmly, as he and the Princesses began to charge up their own magic "We originally intended to... Negotiate with you... Talk things over. Come to a common ground, a compromise, if you will. Perhaps make a deal. Accept your return and invite you to help us - Equestria could use someone like you. For once, you have a taste in architecture that would be a real credit to the team. AND, being the "God of Chaos", you also, presumably have some wisdom - and sage advices are always welcome."

Suddenly, the figure's voice became incredibly cold, emotions, like blood, all drawn from his face.

"Yet here you are..." he uttered "During your existence, you've done nothing for the benefit of all. You abused your own powers, and mercilessly tortured the innocent and the guilty, carrying out sentences made by you, upon your judgement. You are the Spirit of Chaos, something that has no master by it's nature. It gives you power that most people would die or kill for. You've no friends, you know no love, and your existence has no point. So here you are... Wasting away."

His voice had grown completely monotonous, and gained a slight buzz, as if it was generated by a machine. Blackness crept up his body, covering his clothes, streamlining his already simple shape. Soon, it reached his head, and his beret disappeared. His body was now nothing, but a black silhouette, his eyes glowing brightly - pale, clear white rectangles, perfectly even, shining like the windows of a building at night.

His form became robust and angular (apart from his head), and he himself was enveloped in a force the chimera couldn't recognize. The magic he was using was both ancient and modern. It was unlike anything he had experienced before.

Carefully, he glanced at the Princesses.

His fears were confirmed.

Both had assumed their raw battle forms.

Celestia's crest and tail were swishing flames of plasma and fire. Her fur glowed, with golden stripes of solar flare arcing across her body. Red marks appeared on her fur, resembling very simply drawn flames, all leading and intensifying in her cutie mark, now coated in various shades of red. Rather than a neckerchief, her royal bracelet was now a robust, streamlined golden chest plate, and her tiara a golden helm, and her horseshoes turned into two-tier, armored golden boots. Yet, her eyes shone blue with what appeared to be Cherenkov radiation, her irises and pupils indeterminable.

Luna's mane and tail were now like nebulae, the number of stars inside of them increased, and constantly changing position, colliding with one another, representing cosmic radiation. Her fur was now as dark as the deepest night, yet, still carried a blue hue, with simply drawn, glowing blue marks spread across it, looking much like simply drawn lightning bolts, once again, leading and intensifying at her cutie mark, now glowing brightly with the same, bluish light. Her Royal Jewelry had transformed the same way her sister's did, but unlike Celestia, her eyes weren't glowing blue. Instead, they were red as the harvest moon.

The draconequus felt cornered.

Each pony had a different sort of painful magic for him - even the griffon and the dragon, and the Princesses!

The engines just growled and hissed in their mechanical ways, glaring daggers at him, ready to strike.

And the figure. Just stood.

Gazing at him.

Emotionlessly.

His eyes darted around - wherever he turned, glares and glowers meet his glance.

There was no escape.

But then...

His mouth curled up into a warped smile.

"Catch me first if ya can!" he said, quickly.

He snapped his fingers.

...Nothing happened.

For a split second, everyone's eyes widened.

Discord, slowly registering that he didn't changed his own location, snapped his fingers again.

...Again, nothing happened.

As the others slowly recovered from the initial shock, the draconequus tried again, snapping his fingers once more.

...And again, nothing happened.

A nasty smirk began to spread on Diesel's mouth, which, like an infection, spread onto all the other engines...

Discord tried, again and again, snapping his finger, hoping that it would induce a teleportation, a random explosion, ANYTHING. He continued, growing more and more frantic.

"Thce he he he he hee..."

A chuckle, that rose into the air like dust blown from it's resting spot by a releasing valve, came from Bert.

"All ou' o' spar'les, ey?" sneered 'Arry, quick to join his brother.

"Well, that's a bit of a bummer" snickered Derek "I was expecting something more..."

"Climatic?" Bowler asked, smirking conceitedly "Don't be delusional."

The chimera's fingers were aching from the attempts, yet, he kept on, as the sound of mocking and jeering slowly made it's way into his ears, like a cloud of poison gas.

This was the worst.

They didn't even bothered to attack him.

They just... Teased him, laughing at his folly.

"It seems that the suppression spell is working." said a monotonous voice.

"Suppression spell?!" the spirit gasped, looking at the dark silhouette. Alexei's body was now completely featureless, apart from the oblong, angular 'eyes' - rectangles of sterile, white light.

"Yes." Celestia whispered, her voice roaring like a thousand fires.

"You see..." the figure went on, hovering closer to him "We are all well aware of your powers, but only I can tell what are your true capabilities."

Discord found himself, backing away towards the center of the turntable, as the silhouette glided towards him.

B̴̸̥̭̰͚̳̯͙̣͕̙͖̙͔̌͋̍͗͠Z̹̬̥̟͍̖̫͇̦̟̟̜͖̐ͭͬ̊͡ͅŽ̶̸̨̧̰̳͖͕̫͙̈́ͮ͆ͩ͒ͦ͐̈ͯͮ̇͠Z̨̛͇̝̹̘̠͖͚͍͔͔̼̘̫͙̹̤̄̃͊͋̒͆ͤ̂ͫ̓̂̂ͅZ̴̪͍̙̯̟̯̼̮͓̩͍͇̻̖̠͍̩͊ͩ͒ͮ̄̌̏ͭ̋̏̍̃̑̊͡T͎̯̰̯̳͈̼̘̪̔̑ͪͯͮ̅̎́ͅ!̢̗̥̰̦̭̟̼͇͙̜̮̮̪̻ͤ̽̀͊̂̂ͧ͋̿͛̂̓ͮ̚͟

Everyone fell silent, as a distortion flashed through the Controller's being - his body, completely and utterly black, like a starless spot in the depths of space, lit up for a moment.

It displayed static, with a painfully loud, white noise, making everyone in his vicinity flinch in an unexplainable gush of pain, anger, sorrow, loathing and disgust.

For a brief moment, the world was horrible, unforgiving place, with little joy or hope to be found, lost somewhere in all the havoc and disorder that defined the very essence of the dying land.

Cities burned, oceans drained, rivers overflowing, the ground infertile and scorched, it's resources exhausted, forests ablaze, mountains crumbling, ponies, dragons, griffons, all living beings dying from pestilence, poisoning, famine or blood loss.

For a brief moment, the world stopped, revealing it's darkest secrets before the engines and their drivers.

Then.

All was normal again.

Discord stood, not noticing the brief, yet scarring change in the scenery.

He never could've noticed.

All he saw was the horrible twist that occurred on the rival god's face.

From too rectangles of light upon the deepest black, his visage changed to monstrosity that the draconequus... Couldn't even describe.

The monolithic darkness was suddenly displaced by a flashy, eye-hurting display of scrambled black and white, accompanied by an ear-hurting noise.

His face...

It pained him to even look at it:

Eyes like dark gashes, oozing a black liquid (blood?) at their edges, pupils shrunken and white as star, shaking. The mouth looked like his lips and the skin around them had been thorn off, revealing sharp, metallic teeth and gum, both completely black, reflecting what little light there was to shine upon them.

It was only a short, brief moment, but the image was burned into his mind.

As the others recovered from the shock, their eyes, once more, fell upon the events unfolding before them.

Alexei drew closer to Discord, his features resurfacing from the darkness of his body, gaining more detail by each passing moment. His emotionless look slowly turned into a glare.

- Who... WHAT are you?! - the spirit snapped. The Controller ignored his question, and instead continued where he stopped before, unphased by the moment of eversion:

- In order to ensure you wouldn't do anything... Unpredictable... We had to eliminate all but one options for you.

There was a hint of malice in his voice.

Smiles and smirks faded, and one by one, the powerful charge that surged through the mares, the griffon and the dragon died down, reverting them into their original form.

"The suppression spell we used was a three-tier detect-and-repent casting." Luna explained, her voice like the lunar wind "Celestia's magic detected the source. Mine isolated it. Alexei overpowered it."

"Effectively, we disabled you." the figure finished. He stopped, standing still a few meters in front of the draconequus. Albeit his original clothes have returned, he was still greyscale, lacking any colors beside black, white and gray. His eyes were completely dark voids on his head.

Slowly, he turned towards the group.

The wind picked up.

"I recommend that you lot stay out of the way." he spoke softly, his glare slowly turning back to Discord "We'd like to deal with this issue ourselves..."

The next second, a fierce gush of wind blew up thick clouds of dust from the ground. It then proceeded to twist and turn them in the air, making the circle around the chimera, the goddesses and the Controller collectively. As the wind grew stronger, the clouds grew thicker and denser, forming a pillar of darkness around the four deities, completely obscuring them. Then, once they were no longer visible, it stopped.

Before the Mane 6, Trixie, Spike, Gilda, and the Other Railway engines stood a massive tube of asthma-inducting pile of particles and vapors, like a tornado frozen in time.

"Is it me..." Stuck-Up began "Or have we just been, as the pleb says, ditched, just like that?!"

The others slowly came to their senses as well.

"Yeah! What a bloody rip-off!" BoZo snapped "We all came here, ready to exact rightful, justified vengeance - out of solidarity, of course - upon that wretched freak, and all we get is a face full of dirt!"

"Go' dam' i'!" Spamcan cursed.

The engines began to grumble and murmur to each other, deeply disapproving the Controller's decision.

"Now hold ya horses!" Applejack snapped, momentarily forcing silence over them "Let's think abou' this clearly!"

The others watched with interest. A.J. wasn't much of public speaker.

"Ah say, so far, so good." she said simply.

"Wha' do ya mea'?" 'Arry asked.

"So far..." the cowmare began again, gaining a bit more courage "So far, Mr. Alexei had been a darn good controller, accordin' ta you, now hasn't he?"

Agreeing mumbles replied to this question.

"An' th' Princesses, despite their errors, have proven ta be decent, sensible mares, now haven't they?"

More agreeing chatter was the answer.

"A.J.'s right, guys!" Rainbow Dash declared "I mean, this IS the God of Chaos we're talking about! And, as you deduced it, there's nothing WE can do, because the Elements of Harmony are now useless against him!"

"Aaaawww... But we even had these super-awesome power-ups!" Pinkie moaned.

"Doesn't matter." Rarity spoke up "Think about it, darling! All it would've took him is the mere flick of his finger, and we'd have no power at all!"

"This sucks..." Rainbow groaned "We had what was probably the only chance in our lives to give Discord what's coming for him! And then, the Princesses' took it!"

"With a reason!" the white unicorn snapped "If anyone's justified to teach that ruffian a lesson, it's them! They go waaaaaaaay back before us!"

"Huh? Wha' do ya mean?" Spamcan asked. The others were interested as well.

""Go waaaaay back"?" the polychromatic pegasus muttered "How so?"

"Didn't you know?" Rarity asked, truly surprised "Princess Celestia and Discord had known each other since they were born!"

The others were stunned.

"H-How do ya kno' that?!" Applejack spluttered.

"It was in the "History" column of a magazine that I bought following the suggestion of Alaric." the fashionista explained.

"You mean Old Stuck-Up?" Spike asked, bemused.

"Yes." the mare replied, suppressing a giggle "Now I assure you, it wasn't one of those cheap tabloids! Sir Alaric has a very fine taste in informational literacy, and the money I spent on that issue was well spent - quite a bargain, as a matter of fact..."

"Git on tha point!" the cowmare snapped.

"Well, if you insist..." Rarity frowned, then thought back to the column.

"According to that article, alicorns and draconequuses had already existed eons before the first ponies, and even the first animals in general! According to religionous records, the Creating Goddess, Writer of the World, Faust, and the Destroyer God, Eraser of Existence, Mephisto, made a pact: Faust would create the world, and fill it with many creatures, and Mephisto would eventually end the world, and all it's inhabitants. But, almighty as they were, this wasn't as easy as they believed it would be - both creation and destruction on such imaginable scales required more effort than anything else in existence! Thus, they decided that it wouldn't be them that would bring substance to the vast emptiness that was existence. Instead, it would be their creations. And thus, Faust created Space that expanded into the void of existence, and Mephisto invented Time that would limit existence to age.

With the Beginning finished, the Ending was just about to start.

Because Faust and Mephisto had a child!

A foal, to be precise.

Her name was Gaia, and she was rumored to be the first alicorn to exist.

Since she was only a foal, her knowledge was little, and unlike her parents, she couldn't imagine infinity. She, like any other foal, who couldn't utter a word, could only "utter" one certain thing: full stop. Or period. The most common thing we end sentences with, spoken or written.

And a dot in expanded in three dimensions was, of course, a globe.

Gaia's globes filled the vast emptiness of space with light and matter - stars and planets - while it left the rest completely empty and devoid of anything but darkness.

Our planet was Gaia's favorite, and when she grew into fillyage, she decided to settle there. However, she soon grew lonely. Her father, recognizing that she was without a mate, decided to make one for her. However, the mate couldn't be one of creation, as Gaia was of that kind. No, it had to be a being forged from destruction, from sweat, blood, and effort that executed the idea.

Thus, Mephisto gave the First Sacrifice: He gave up his existence, and from his cease, Chaos was born. Mephisto had no true place in the world, as being who represented destruction and annihilation, and even Faust could only observe the world - she couldn't intervene.

And so, Faust was accepted and known as the only Creator, known by many names and many forms.

She was Existence.

Mephisto, no longer present beside her, ruled the nihil beyond space and time, where the emptiness was a blinding void of light, and Gaia's work was revealed as globes of darkness and anti-matter.

With Mephisto's cease, time started, which meant that both Gaia and Chaos were "born" the same time, putting and the to the later invented pressing question: who were first? Alicorns or Draconequui?

Gaia and Chaos set about filling the planet with life: Gaia made the barren ground rich, and the air filled with vital oxygen. She made plants grow, and turned the land green. Meanwhile, Chaos filled the world with elements: water, fire, metal, earth, wind, and lots of others, setting up the rules of physics.

Gaia was the orderly sort, who did things in a systemized manner, while Chaos did his job haphazardly and dynamically. Then, together, they began filling the world with critters: Gaia made the peaceful, humble ones, while Chaos spawned the ferocious, proud ones. And to top of their work, they created the two beings that ruled above all. Like their parents, they based them on their own selves: Gaia's daughter, Harmonia, was an alicorn, and Chaos' son, Pandemonium, was a draconequus.

The two deities then left in their own ways: Gaia literally became one with Nature: she gave up her godly powers to become the spirit of the planet she adored so much, while Chaos, disappeared into space, the great eternity that had since then ruled by him: the Law of Chaos.

Sadly, Harmonia and Pandemonium were disaccord: they both wanted to follow their own ways, the different rules of their parents: Harmonia believed in Order, organized through will and law, while Pandemonium believed in Chaos, which existed through spirit and thought. They went separate ways, and ruled different races:

Harmonia ruled the equines, created just before her and brother, while Pandemonium lead the beasts that had existed way before the ponies, him, or her sister.

With the two kinds separate, the two main races - alicorns and draconequui - evolved in different ways: ponies, so much alike the alicorns, were soon granted wings, horn to summon magic, and strong legs to run, while the other equine races were given their own sorts of magic, and more importantly, wisdom that was often beyond the ponies. Draconequui were created from the many beasts, and thus, they visage was various. Since ponies were all the same back then, Harmonia changed the color of their fur into the many colors of the rainbow, and gave them cutie marks so that they could find their reason and purpose.

However, with the equines on one side, and the beasts on the other, the world was divided upon itself. Conflict was bound to be.

The war that broke out devastated the young world. Many equine races were separated from the land, some even isolated to places unreachable for the others. The many races of the beasts became a few, and even those turned on each others. In the end, the two sides abandoned their leaders, and hid from their battles, starting life anew, peacefully, if not completely on the same side. Meanwhile, the alicorns and the draconequui fought and fought until their leaders - Harmonia and Pandemonium themselves - fell by each other's blows, falling dead on the battlefield. With them gone, the two races stopped their quarrel, but suddenly found their selves... Without any purpose, any reason to even exist.

One by one, they gave up on their lives, becoming part of the recovering world itself: seasons, weather, anomalies, miracles.

The last of the alicorns, Universe and Galaxy were chosen as King and Queen of the ponies that remained, to the pair's deepest surprise. Their daughters, our beloved Princesses, were rumored to have made close acquaintance with the last remaining draconequus, Discord. Some say they were friends, and in the case of Celestia and Discord... Something more..."

The mare stopped, looking at her friends with pride.

They just stared back at her, mouth either forming an 'O', after releasing a gasp, with a tint of red on the cheeks, or the jaws being near the ground, as they stood, dumbfounded.

Finally, Rainbow Dash mustered enough ego to ask:

"...What sort of magazine did you buy?"

"..."Historiaphilia Monthly"?"

The engines exchanged perplexed looks.

"Da fook..." the Iron Twins muttered, with understandable confusion. Stuck-Up hummed to himself, also proud.

"Well, what do you think of THAT, Twilight?" Pinkie asked. Her friend didn't reply.

Both she, and Diesel, had been gazing at the pillar of clouds before them.

That's when the others noticed the silence.

There was no sound.

Not even the wind.

"...The Hell is going on in there?" Diesel muttered, and Twilight shared his thoughts.

His eyes darted to left and right.

"Where is he?!"

The two sisters didn't reply to him, just eyed, emotionlessly.

"Oh, don't tell me you're picking on Metroboy's genre of facial expression!" he snapped, his tail whiplashing. The two sister slowly exchanged looks, then quickly directed their glances back at him. He tapped his hooved leg.

"C'mon, Celestia! This isn't like you!" he said in a noticeably desperate manner "What's wrong with you two?"

"What's wrong with us?" Luna asked "What's wrong with you?! No matter what happens, you're never satisfied, living life in your hedonistic way. That's not a problem on it' own, but you also abuse your own powers for your own amusement! You willingly tortured, twisted and maddened ponies that were around you, and tried to KILL us, your own friends when we finally opposed you!"

Discord looked hurt.

"That's... Not true..." he muttered.

"YES!" Celestia snapped "Yes, it IS! Discord, you've tried to destroy Equestria as we know it, twice, no less, and had corrupted millions of ponies beyond redemption during your... First reign." she shuddered, as she said those last words "Why?"

"I... I..." the chimera muttered, suddenly looking lost.

"And even now, after you've been turned into stone for the second time, you're still up to your old tricks." Luna continued "Somehow, from the boundaries of your imprisonment, you managed to corrupt not only one, but dozens into antagonizing a mare that turned to you to dull the pain - the one who had been causing all of it!"

"We tried to be reasonable with you, countless times!" Celestia added, her voice turning surprisingly desperate as well "At times, I was lurching between theories... Was it the pure chaos you were supposed to control that got into your mind? Or was it your true self using chaos as a weapon to gain authority? You nearly drove me insane!"

Luna muttered something under her breath about Celestia's last sentence, then went on herself:

"No matter what way we look at it, chaos is only a tool for you to become a tyrant! All you want is to manipulate and warp ponies' minds! Well, though luck! Now WE have the upper hoof!"

"How so?" Discord asked, not really paying attention. He was still lost in his thoughts.

"Alexei came to our world before the engines, and basically predicted that they'll come! What's more, he's capable of seeing the greater scheme of things. Those engines, and the very ponies, griffons and dragons that drive them are chosen to deal with the hardest task known in Existence: defending it! All you've done is cross their path and distort existence for your own enjoyment! Well, NO MORE!"

"You seem very confident in that scrawny fella'..." the draconequus muttered.

"That's mainly because he's the one who's been controlling you, making you build a mountain that provided a "relatively" quick way to Canterlot for the engines, lead you to said engines to face humiliation, the bring you back here, stripping you of your powers, and leave you completely at our mercy." the Princess of the Night explained in a matter-of-factly manner.

Discord jumped, suddenly quite active after his momentary gloom.

"WHAT?!"

"That's right. I'm in control."

The two alicorn's eyes slowly widened, and their pupils shrunk, as an expression of horror spread on their faces.

Slowly, the spirit turned his head around, ready to face anything... But he actually faced...

It looked vaguely like Alexei... Yet it wasn't...

They weren't certain, at least.

His skin was sickeningly pale, and his eyes were completely white, his pupils vanished.

His clothes seemed to be shape-shifting with every snake-like step he took. At the moment, he was wearing a black leather uniform with jackboots and a black peaked cap, round glasses in front of his eyes, and a triangle-shaped, amorphous shadow of a mustache under where his nose should have been.

Noticing a small movement that not even Discord himself had noticed, he called out to him, softly but sharply.

"Just stand still... Would you kindly?"

The chimera froze, as if his strings were pulled too tight.

His attire changed. He now wore brown, with a weird, red armband on his left arm. He suddenly grew black hair, with a lock sweeped across his forehead, and his mustache shrunk to a... 'Toothbrush' size.

"Discord..." he muttered with a painfully wide, malicious grin. He also developed a Gearmane accent.

"Do you really think you're in control?"

Another change.

His uniform was now green, with much golden decor. He once again wore a peaked cap, but this one was larger and plate-shaped. On the center of it's front stood a five-pointed red star. His mustache had changed again, now growing into full size, as he continued, his accent changing into one that the Princesses could only register as Stalliongradian.

"Chaos is not a toy. It is one, if not the most strongest forces that ever existed. And it is one because it's constant, not bound to anything or anyone, unrelated to anything or anyone, yet filling the void between everything... And everyone..."

Another shift.

His uniform was still green, but a darker color, and a much simpler design, and his hair was combed back, sticking to his skull, and his left arm once again adorned by a red armband, but this one had a yellow, five-pointed star on it, unlike the previous one, which had a white blot with an oddly shaped black cross on it.

"Chaos grants it's user wisdom, as it exists everywhere, beyond time and reason. But when you force it between walls, give boundaries to it's infinity, forging it into the shape of tool you can use... It distorts. It looses the wisdom that is tied to it's vastness, it becomes... Disorder. Havoc. Destruction. Tyranny!"

The chimera flinched at that last word.

Alexei went through many changes on his towards them.

They weren't sure what these transformations meant, but it made them fell... Threatened.

He appeared as war leaders, of various ages and nations, movements that inspired the masses, only to grow into the worst dictatorships. As his changes continued, military tunics were slowly changed into smart suits, boots into leather shoes, and medals were replaced by ties.

The Princesses' and the chimera's feeling of dread changed into disgust.

It was the politicians that were on the roll call, all the corrupted, deceiving bunch, tie-necks rotting from the inside.

They didn't know these people.

Never heard of them.

Never met.

But they could TELL that their visages were something to be scared of or frowned upon.

Eventually, the Controller reverted back into his original self.

He stood before Discord, silent and still.

When he spoke up, he sounded more serious than ever:

"No wonder you became corrupted. Your interference with the natural state of chaos, which, for some reason, was unsatisfactory for you, had cost you a painful price. You once had friends. Now all you have is corrupted chaos that you use to gain power. Well, power doesn't make you happy..."

"Doesn't it?" the spirit asked with honest surprise and curiosity.

"No." Alexei replied dryly "Especially when you can't handle it..."

"And who said I "can't" handle power?"

"Half of the World?"

"...That's only half of it!"

"The other half had either went insane, died, committed suicide, developed schizophrenia, or were otherwise scarred for the rest of their lives."

". . . . ."

"Well? Got anything smart to say?"

"Come on, Discord!" Celestia snapped "We're not asking for something hard!"

""Not asking for something hard"?! Celly, your basically asking me to give up myself to "superior" powers and let THEM decide whether I can use my powers or not, and what for!"

"That's not it, Discord!" Luna replied "You were our friend, and despite what you've done in the past, we still want to be your friends! We don't want you as a servant! We need you as an equivalent!"

"And after millenias spent encased in stone, unable to do anything, you still thing I believe in that?!" the spirit bellowed.

"You've turned your own talent into a dictatorship without order!" Celestia cried "Ponies suffered and died! You almost completely devastated the world! You were bucking MAD, for crying out loud!"

"And THAT was the only solution, I assume. Just like when you sent your sister to the Moon!"

The two sisters froze.

That was a low blow.

Though they have talked over it a thousand times, the memory, and the mutual guilt still stung. It left them breathless, just thinking about it.

"Interesting..." Alexei muttered "So you can hear or see the outer world from your prison."

"Occasionally." Discord replied sullenly "What does it matter to you?"

"You've seen the fumbling of Celestia in her solitary ruleship..." the figure replied "A great leader she may be, her powers can only reach as far as they did. The same way the Sun is incomplete without the Moon, Harmony is incomplete without Chaos, and vitsa versa."

"All we ask for is your co-operation!" Luna added "You can still do chaos... Every now and then, to make ponies' lives a bit more surreal, I guess... But the main reason is that we need your help! We need you as an ally, not as an enemy!"

"Great. Now I'm degraded from a friend to a mere "ally"!"

"That's not the point!" the elder princess cried, with tears welling up in her eyes "Discord, we NEED your help! We want you BACK! I want you back!"

"We all do!" her sister shouted "You were our friend!"

"You have great powers and an incredible sense of creativity!" Alexei snapped "But you only use it to entertain yourself, wasting away!"

He was growing impatient.

"Look, if you try hard and think back, I think you'll realize that your chaos had been corrupted! It isn't meant to be controlled, yet you tried to use for your own gain, ruling it with an iron fist! In return, it corrupted you! Chaos never meant to cause harm! Yet everyone remembers you as a soulless tormentor! Obviously, your powers have corrupted you in return!"

"That still doesn't explains why you want me among yourselves so badly!" the spirit rebuttled, hopping of the ground.

Alexei rolled his eyes, then stepped up to him, grabbing him by the arms and holding him up close, glaring into his eyes.

It was an uncomfortable position, and Discord was getting nervous - even more so than he already was.

"We can be corrupted by Order the same way you were corrupted by Chaos!" the figure hissed "This may not have occurred to you, but corrupted Order is just as bad as corrupted Chaos, if not worse!"

The draconequus didn't respond. He just stared.

"I guess it's best if you see it for yourself!" the controller declared.

And right before Discord, his glasses fused with his eyes, bright white once again, akin to television screens that received no signal.

In the whiteness of his eyes, something began to emerge.

Discord didn't understood, then...

...His mind was assaulted by pure information, POURING out of the screens, gushing in torrents, filling his thoughts relentlessly...

warD̴E͘A͢T҉HmurdersuicidemassriotsGEN҉OC҉I̸DE͏[assaultmutilationpainT́O͏R̛TURE̕sufferingfamineideologykingdomempirefirearsonmonarchyfallinquisitionBE̴TR̷A͝YA̷LslaughterhomicidepestilencepollutionexhaustionrightsabandonmentenvironmentC̷Ó͜L̕Ĺ̵Á͟͝P҉͞S͏̸E̶͟͞crisismoneygreedinflationeconomymilitarypoliticsextremistsfascismF̞͈͎̘͎͕̪̪E͚̘A͇̜R̰͇̺̣͇̞̜̖paranoiacleansingṘ̓̈͆̓̚E͑ͩ̈͆͌͑̋V͆̔Oͫͫ̃̿͗̌L̏ͯ̉T̄̀̈́̿ͫstalinismcollectiveT͍͇͓̱̟̯͖͇̘̱̥͇̪͖͚̙́̂̎ͯ͒́ͫͥͫ͆́͂ͬͪ̑Ḙ̖͚͕̲̩̣̘̝̳̺͓͉̝̊̇̐ͣ͒̐̀̊͑̽̾͛̃ͅR̳̱͎̼̥̼̜͕̯̳̂͛͛ͩ͊̀R̙̹͍̠̲̲̻͚̻̭͆̑ͭͤ̐̏̀̆̈̍ͩ̾̌ͅÕ̱͎̪̖̤̘̯͚̦̘̺̠͖̞̪͇̪͇̔͊͑ͮͯ̏͊͆ͩ̽̂̋̎͛ͣ͌͋͐R͇̫͓͇̟̜̻̦̬̉͗̆̊ͩͦ̓̅ͤͦ̈̃͑ͤhypnophobiabookburningpogromhatrednazireichcountriesW̅̋ͣ͑͏O̱̎̈́̄̀R̷̳̜̜̋̀̓̽ͩ̒L͕͖͋̀D̄͌͞affairbattlesovietworkcampgulagconcentrationexterminateinvasionamericaredblackR̨̛̀́͝À͠C̸̢̡͟E̵̕͢͡͞xenophobiaattrocitiesimperialE̢X͏̵̧P̕Ę͠R͜I̕M̡̢Ȩ͟N̢T̀̀͡StheftautopsyburiedȀͭ̈ͧL̆͆̑̈I͗͆Vͬ̈͋Eͣ̓ͬ́̓̀logswaterdroughtguerillapartisanwarfareV͞I͟O͞L̵͘͏EŅ̴C̢ĘnihilstaticwallIS̶Ò̵̢L͡͝A͘T͠҉I͡ON͝desperationsubversionresistance.R̢̛ͤ̉ͯ̂̀ͫ̐͛ͨͧ͆ͣ͌̇͌͜I̷̸̿̔̓͐́̒͐́ͥ͑̾ͫ͟͞S͌̆͒ͨͮ͗ͬͨͥ̎͒̅͏́́Ë̴̸́ͮͧ́̂ͭ͐ͮ̽̀ͧ͘͢͠autonomous.liberate.release.JU҉ŞT.I͡CE̶...͠POW҉ER.̵.̨..h̶̨͞u̶͢n̡̛g̕͝ér̶҉.̡҉.̛́.́..̣͕ͤͧ̀ͫͥ͜ͅC̦͉͙̩̻̫̪̔̉o͈͈̩͙͗ͥͫ̽͌̽ͅR̷͓̟̥̳̠̱̯̜̂ͣͫ͐̓ͣ͋̕ř̶̖͎͔͙͙̖̝̃̓U̷̧͚̬̘͙̽̽ͪ̔͛̍͘P̮͎̦͉̦̅̌̏̄̽ͭ̋ͤ͊̀͡T̹̞̞̝̰̪̖͙ͩͬ̋̄͆̀̄̈͒̀́ï͈̬͉̅͌͝o̵͆̓̎̀͏̙̬͖͠N̴͖̖͕̩̜̐.̠̓̿ͥ̔͂̋́.̶̴̴.̢͝...̶́F̛R̵҉́ȨE͜D̨̢̧O̢͜M.̡͟.̶̡.̛.̶̕.͏̶ÀN̡͡AR̢̡̕C͘H͟͡Y͟..̴̡..Ç̷̵̯͉̮̜͓̪̳͍̘̖̠͈̺̰͍͢͞H͏̢̭̯͎͙̞̩̜͉̤̻̝̫͚̼̞̗̮̦͕͡A̷̡̡̲͈̞̪̩͞͡Ǫ͖͍̱͈͙̬̝͕̻͈̩̭͝S̨͢҉̳̟̠͉̟̘͓.͏͏̮̝͇̼̙̰͞.̸̙̭͔̼̲̬̰͉͙̯̯͓̻̰̰̠̪͠.̡̗͇̹̩̺͍͈̬̬̫̟.̶̳̰̭̼͈̮̞̖̭

He found himself laying on the concrete.

"So you see..." the figure spoke, fading in from the blaring whiteness "It's a mutual thing. We need you so we wont go insane from the monotony and repetitive nature of our everyday lives, as the novelty of every saturday morning villain wears out quite quickly. In turn we... Well, give you a frame. Something to hang onto. To give you reason to exhibit chaos. Friends. While your behavior prior to our meeting IS condemnable, I still think you're a quirky, interesting person, and you've never lost the two friends you stood up against in the first place. But you can't have just three friends. There are countless ponies and other creatures out there who would probably like to meet you, and get to know you - the first ones being the equines, the avian and the dragon that stands outside this antechamber of events..."

As he slowly came to his senses, he felt a splitting headache - the raw, dark knowledge he received left scars in him.

Scars that only ONE thing could heal.

The vision of the cure herself came into view, as he sat up. He smiled, which the others answered with warm smiles as well.

However, he suddenly noticed that Alexei's smile had turned... Somewhat devious...

Come to think of it, so did the others!

What were they up to now?

"However, there's one thing you still need to learn..." the figure said softly.

"And what's that?" he asked.

The Controller's smile turned positively viscous.

"Humility." he whispered.

The spirit blinked, slowly registering what he said, as the cloud wall opened up behind them...

To be Continued...