I listened intently to the confused and frightened chatter of the ponies that had wandered into my precious throne room.  A few of the unfortunate guards from earlier had gathered with the crowds to control them and organize each group of ponies in a fashion to where everypony would be able to see me.  I watched as citizen after citizen gathered into my throne room, each carrying worried expressions and doubts about the wonderful décor.  Shining Armor, the captain of my new guard, called everypony to attention after the throne room had been nearly fully packed with ponies.

His voice boomed loudly throughout the room, obviously amplified by his magic so as to capture the attention of the guests.  “Attention everypony!  You’ve been gathered here for an…important announcement from our…new…ruler!”

The confused chatter grew louder as Armor spoke to the crowd.  With a snap of my fingers, the door to the throne room slammed shut with a loud bang, causing everypony in attendance to shut up and turn their attention toward me.  I sat comfortably from my ceiling-mounted throne, my features appearing upside-down to everypony.  Two chains fell from the armrests of the throne, each attaching to a large metal collar locked around the necks of the two princesses.  Their heads were bowed in shame and sadness.

With the crowd silent, I began to speak in a regal tone.  I said, “Ladies and gentlecolts, it is with great honor that I welcome you to my humble castle!  In case you are unaware, I am Discord, the new ruler of this land you call home.”  I took a bow on my throne, my head nearly hitting the ceiling.  The chatter began again, this time a little bit quieter.

I overheard a random mare in the crowd whisper, “Why is Princess Celestia chained up?”

Another stallion mumbled to himself, “Who does this goon think he is?”

I cleared my throat loudly and snapped my fingers again.  This time, a giant block of marble crashed to the floor of the throne room in front of the crowd.  Using my magic, I morphed the block into the shape of a small dragon, and allowed it to do the talking for me.  It bounced from one side of the room to the other as I controlled it.

“Perhaps you didn’t understand my meaning?  I am the ruler of this beautiful land!  I am your leader!  Have you nothing to say to this?”  The marble dragon shouted to the crowd with my voice, my hands waving around in the air on my throne.  The crowd’s chatter ceased as the dragon spoke.  I let out a silent laugh as the fear filled their eyes.

Shining Armor stepped forward from the door and sighed, “Today, our beloved Princess Celestia was bested in a battle against this creature.  He has claimed the throne for himself, and has rightfully proven that he is fit to rule our land…”  Just like we had rehearsed, Armor did an excellent job.  I could feel the regret in his voice!

I made the marble dragon disappear and laughed from my throne, “That’s correct, everypony!  I am the rightful ruler of this land of Equestria!  Would you like to swear your undying loyalty to me now, or wait until you get home?”  I leaped from my perch on the throne, landing with a loud thud in front of the crowd.  For the first time, the ponies were getting a closer look at their new master.

A stallion at the back of the crowd called out, “Why would we swear to you?  Princess Celestia will beat you!”

I noticed Armor slap a hoof to his face, letting out an angry sigh.  Apparently Canterlot ponies have no clue how to listen when another pony speaks.  I sighed, “My good sir, you are an idiot.  Can you not see what has befallen your precious princesses?”  I warped to the princesses’ sides, hanging my arms right above them.  I laughed as a black magical aura surrounded the two and they were lifted from the ground, completely immobilized.

The crowd let out gasps of horror as they realized the full extent of what they were witnessing.  If Celestia could stop me, she would have done it already.  The same went for Luna.  I laughed as I listened to frightened voices scream in fear.  Armor made a mad dash from side to side, attempting to quell the ignorant rabble of frightened ponies.

I let Celestia and Luna fall to the ground.  I warped above the massive crowd, letting out an extraordinarily loud roar.  The ground silenced once more, and most of them collapsed to the ground in fear.  With a smile on my face, I cheered, “Welcome to Discordia, everypony!  Whether you enjoy your stay or not is up to you.  I would suggest you try not to get on my bad side.  Oh, and I hope you enjoy a little chaos!”  I snapped my fingers and turned to see the center of the floor bulge upward.  A few seconds later, a giant geyser of pink liquid burst from the ground.

I materialized a cup in my claw and floated gently over to the geyser.  The ponies in the crowd were speechless as I dipped the cup into the geyser and gulped down what it caught.  I chuckled, offering the cup to the crowd, “Care for a little punch?  It’s quite sweet.”

Nopony made a sound.  Nopony moved.  In fact, you could almost say that they were paralyzed with fear.  I laughed as a single stallion shoved his way to the front of the crowd.  Or at least, I think he was a stallion.  He had on some unusual clothing and some purple sunglasses.  He stuttered, “Th-this is simply impossible!  This must be some kind of sick joke, right?”

I shook my head and laughed, “My good sir, of course this is a joke!  Everything’s a joke!  I mean, just look at that hairstyle of yours.  Funniest thing I’ve seen all day.”  His expression shifted to one of insult.  I continued, “Now, would you care for a little punch?”  A cup of punch materialized in his hoof as he lifted it up to check his mane.  Unprepared, the stallion dropped the cup and let punch pour all over his fancy outfit.

The stallion didn’t say anything.  Nopony did.  Everypony just stared directly at me, wondering what my sporadic behavior would bring next.  I heard the faint hum of magical energy and turned to see a beam of light shooting from Celestia’s horn.  I decided in the instant that I would have fun with this.  Just as the beam hit me, I let out a loud scream of pain and agony and magicked myself out of the sight of the ponies in the room.

The chains binding Celestia and Luna shattered and the geyser of punch subsided back into the ground.  The throne shifted to the floor, and the windows and curtains returned to normal.  The red carpet returned in place of the invisible tiles.  The Celestia statues shifted back to their original depictions.  The large door swung open, and as far as everypony knew, all the damage I had done had been reversed.

The ponies in the crowd sighed in relief.  The two princesses looked at each other with unsure expressions.  Armor scratched his head in confusion.  The other alicorn joined the princesses by the throne.  Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when a loud explosion sounded from just outside the room.  Everypony darted to the side of the room to stare out of the windows.  They watched as a large clump of rocks crashed into the side of the building.

“Do you like it?”  I called to the ponies from the other side of the room.  I was scanning my claws for dirt and scratches.  After all, I had to be quick with changing everything back to normal in my short absence.

With hesitation and fear, everypony turned to see me leaned against the wall, kicked back like a greaser in a diner.  I smiled at the crowd of confused ponies as another beam of light crashed into me.  When the light faded, I rolled my eyes and wiped the smudge of energy from my stomach.  I shook my head in disappointment.

“Can’t you understand that I’m invincible now?  I own this place.  There’s no way to avoid that fact.  Just submit to me and I promise you’ll all be able to live happily in Discordia.”  I was growing tired of beating around the bush.  My smile faded and my eyes straightened.  I was serious at this point.

A mare called from the crowd, “If Celestia can’t beat you, then the Elements of Harmony will!”

My face adopted an angry frown.  I felt the rage boil in the back of my brain.  Snapping my fingers, I reverted everything back to its chaotic state.  I pointed to the stained-glass windows with irritation and impatience.  “Take a long look at these windows, ponies!  Tell me what you see!”

Everypony’s eyes scanned the windows.  Most of the eyes widened in horror as they interpreted the images on them.  The mare from just a second ago cried, “You…destroyed them?!”  I could hear the intense fear in her voice.  It was a sweet sound for me, and calmed my boiling anger slightly.

I laughed, bouncing from window to window, “That’s correct!  Won’t someone get that mare a prize?  I have not only bested your princesses, but I’ve also destroyed the Elements!  I am unstoppable!”  Most of the ponies fell to their plots in stubborn disbelief.

A voice called from the door to the throne room.  “You may have destroyed the Elements, but the ponies born with their power are still alive, correct?”  It was a snobbish voice, obviously one of the typical Canterlot types.  I turned my head to greet the owner of the voice.

I placed a claw to my lower lip in mock-consideration.  I laughed, “Why yes, I believe they are.  You’re late to the party, sir.”  I warped to the stallion’s side.  He was wearing a nice black suit and had a rather defined blue mustache.  I wanted his mustache.  It would’ve gone great with my goatee!

The stallion looked me in the eyes as I appeared beside him.  He scoffed, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, you beast.  So long as those ponies are around, you aren’t invincible.”  He didn’t flinch or waver as I moved closer.

I stopped to think about this for a moment.  He was correct.  I couldn’t be completely certain of my invincibility until I tested my might against the ponies that were born with the power of the Elements.  I scoffed, “If I’m something that can be stopped, then just try and stop me!”  I warped to my throne and took a seat there.  The two princesses stared up at me with blank, shattered expressions.  They knew it was useless.

Or at least, they wanted me to think they knew it was over.  They wanted me to let my guard down against the ponies that had bested me before.  But I wasn’t going to rest until I knew for certain that my immortal invincibility was fact against all odds.  I didn’t need an ace flying from somepony’s sleeves and making the house go bust, if you catch my drift.

I looked down at Celestia and back to the stallion by the door.  The rest of crowd stayed in their spots, afraid to try and leave.  I waved my claw in irritation at the princesses.  “Celestia, be a dear and write a message to that student of yours.  What was her name again, Sunset Twinkle or some other hoopla?”

Her eyes grew wide in anger.  She stamped her hoof and said, “Twilight Spar-!”  I cut her off in mid-sentence.

“No matter.  Tell her and her friends that if they wish to save you from certain death, they need to arrive here within three days.  If they do not show up, I will begin my reign of chaos without them!  And I would simply hate for them to miss the pre-conquest party!”  I grinned as the look of anger in her eyes subsided.

She bowed her head low and closed her eyes.  She sighed, “Y-yes sir.  Right away…”

The sound of those words escaping her lips made my heart flutter again.  I cheered, “Alright, everypony!  You’re all dismissed!  Return to your homes or works or wherever you spend your time!  You have three days until your worlds are flipped upside-down.  Please, do try and enjoy it!”  I waved my paw at the door, and everypony burst into action as they corralled out of the room.

There were five ponies left in the room when the crowd had finally scattered and fled.  Shining Armor and his alicorn lover; Celestia, who was busily writing her letter to the ponies; Luna, who tried to comfort her sister; the stubborn stallion that had confronted me after so rudely missing the party; and I all sat in the throne room, wondering just where all of this would be going.

To my delight, it didn’t take long for Celestia to finish her letter to Twilight Sparkle.  She magicked it up to me on my perch on the throne.  I smiled as I read the first few words.  Before reading the whole message, I took a mental note of all the ponies in the room.  Armor and his lover were cuddled together underneath one of the beautifully-colored stained-glass windows.  The stallion sat by the door with an angry glare frozen on his face.  The two princesses sat beside one another on the opposite side of the room of the other two ponies.  I could feel the tension between the two pairs.  Betrayal ran deep in their thoughts at this point.

I read the letter to myself, scanning it for accuracy and hidden meaning.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

To my most loyal and faithful student, I am afraid that I must ask you to travel to Canterlot immediately.  There is a matter of utmost importance that requires your presence.  I cannot say here what the problem is; in the off chance this letter should be intercepted.  I shall simply say that our beloved land of Equestria is in grave danger.  Please, Twilight.  You and your friends’ presences are required here as soon as physically possible.

The lives of everypony are at stake!  Do not hesitate to stand out against whatever you may find upon arriving here!

With urgency,

Princess Celestia

I chuckled as I read the letter over a few more times.  I rolled the letter up and cast it back down to Celestia.  Resting my head on my paw, I laughed, “Very good, Tia.  That is acceptable.  It should definitely get their attention.  But don’t you think you should mention the three-day time limit?”

She looked at me with fire in her eyes.  In a burst of magic, the letter was gone.  I assumed it was some sort of automatic delivery system established using teleportation magic.  Then again, I could have been wrong.  So much had changed in the way of technology and terrain since the day I was sealed away so long ago.

I sat on my throne, the whole world flipped around, waiting patiently for any type of response to the letter.  After what felt like hours of sitting in the tense room, a green flame ignited in the middle of the air.  It choked itself out, leaving behind a rolled up piece of parchment.  Using her magic, Celestia threw the paper at me without even reading it herself.  She obviously couldn’t stand deceiving her ‘loyal student’.

I unrolled the parchment and read aloud,

Dear Princess Celestia,

We’ll leave for Canterlot immediately, your majesty!  We should arrive before nightfall if everything goes as planned.  Try and keep yourself safe until we arrive!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle and company

I nearly fell from my throne in laughter.  The pesky ponies had taken the bait so easily.  Tonight would be the night I would finally claim true dominion over Equestria.  The five ponies in the room shared concerned looks.  I took a deep breath and continued laughing.  My mind raced with thoughts of just how exactly I would be ending this day.

By morning’s first light, only one of two things would be certain.  I would either be invincible and ruling Equestria, or I would be beaten and disposed of once and for all.  The latter of the two was unlikely, so I cast it away.  I let my mind drift off to all of the different cities and landmarks I would be able to twist and distort.  I let a wide grin cross my face as I realized that the entire world was my own personal playground.

But for some strange reason, I couldn’t shake this weird feeling from my gut.  I couldn’t quite place my claw on what it was, but it was a feeling that seemed all-too-familiar to me.  I had felt it once before, a long time ago, before my semi-loyal subjects had turned on me…