"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear."
-Rosa Parks

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
-Aristotle Onassis

Canterlot Castle, 2nd Anno Harmonia

Marcus quietly ate his breakfast, enjoying the silence, knowing that before long the day would become a hectic haze of meetings, and ponies running around to get orders through to the proper recipients. His mind, however, was somewhere else entirely. Last night, he saw something he thought he would never witness in his life.

Celestia essentially losing her mind.

Granted, he thought the Tyrant had jumped -- nay, swan-dived off of the U.S.S. Sanity a long time ago. But witnessing this Celestia suffering due to his memories made him realize, even though she is a magical creature of immeasurable power, she is also still a living creature that could feel and show emotions.

He’d thrown enough into her head to turn her into a ticking time bomb. Nearly a decade of fighting against religious extremists, terrorists that killed men, women, and children, for the sake of a promise made back when God talked to them through a burning bush. His experiences with the New Foals, single-mindedly throwing themselves into heavy fire and getting shredded to pieces for the glory of Celestia, never once turning away or screaming in pain, and brutally subduing humans to change them into more mindless, unquestioning cannon fodder.

Worst of all, she’d gotten a brainful of what they did to the native-born ponies they got their hooves on. Marcus quietly stirred his pancake syrup into his eggs, his mind wandering to the time he saw a pony victim of a New Foal attack, just off the street of Paris.

Her body was broken beyond belief; her wings were shattered, her legs were destroyed beyond any hope of healing, and her face and cutie mark were mutilated to the point where it was impossible to determine who she was before the attack. After finding Cheerilee in the Lycee Lakanal, a primary school in Paris, their orders from HQ changed to watching their fire and securing any ponies fighting the New Foals. The mare was the first of many that week long horror.

He found the broken mare on the steps of the Eglise Paroissiale Saint-Giles-Saint-Leu, a Roman Catholic church located about a kilometer away from the school. While she laid in a chopper heading to an evacuation ship, the mare's final words wove the tale of her journey through the city. She mumbled out details to Marcus, explaining how she saw the beauty of Paris's buildings, the most beautiful structures she had ever seen. When the New Foals attacked, many humans had made their way inside the church for safety. They were terrified of her when they saw her inside, but the the priests vouched for her, stating she was in the house of the Lord and that she never rose to strike them down while the attack happened.

Then the New Foals came. She became their focus when she demanded they leave.

Marcus closed his eyes, remembering how the dying mare gasped for air as she told her story, how uncomfortable it felt to stand by and listen to her tale. They destroyed an uncountable number of precious and beautiful items, they destroyed the building with little regard to its history, and they attacked her and called her a traitor. Those priests told her how their faith would guide them from corruption, before she was blinded by the hands -- no, hooves -- of the very same priests.

Marcus gripped his fork tightly, his runes glowing softly as he slowly crushed the metal utensil. His faith was already destroyed by his tours in the Middle East, when war broke out.

He wasn't always an atheist. His father was a devoted Christian, but surprisingly never forced Marcus to attend church. When his father died for his comrades, Marcus had wanted to be just like him, to make him proud. So he followed in his father's footsteps and became a Christian to understand his father's religion. He went to church, prayed, became a modest son that helped his mother on their family ranch, and kept an eye on his younger brother for years.

Then 9/11 happened and Marcus saw first-hand what religion can make a person do. Marcus had all but thrown the concept of a "just and loving" God out the window.

If God had been watching, He would have saved those children from being used as bomb runners, children who were either bought or forced into the fanaticism or threatened with the death of their family.

If God had been watching, He would have guided his squad away from the IED that took the lives of the people under his command, or at least have blown up the bastards who made the bomb while they were still making it.

If God had been watching, He would have stopped the Tyrant from appearing and corrupting His sons and daughters. He would have stopped the entire war before it even started!

If God had been watching, innocents like that single mare, caught between mindless smiling drones and furious humans, would not have suffered for doing what they believed was right. They would not have been humiliated, beaten, blinded, or crippled. She wouldn't suffer a slow and agonizing death with only one lonely human by her side.

But like always, God never appeared. He never came from the heavens and banished the Tyrant. He never sent His angels to free the New Foals from their prisons.

He did nothing.

Marcus let go of his fork, looking at the crushed utensil with minor annoyance. Some of the more religious people claimed that it was a test of resolve or something. Marcus believed otherwise; perhaps He never existed in the first place, and they were alone in their fight. He never prayed for victory whenever he fought. He fought for himself, his friends, and his loved ones, but never for God.

If the bastard turned out to actually exist, he wasn't helping his case either. If Marcus was wrong, and the day he died he found himself in front of those pearly gates, he would turn around and walk away. He wanted nothing to do with a being that left him and his people to slowly march towards death as they fought against something they couldn't possibly kill without destroying themselves first.

"My, you look rather furious this morning." Discord said, his presence of the table like that of a mouse by size. He eyed the crushed utensil with amusement.

Marcus snorted, smirking rather grimly at the small draconequus next to his plate. "Just thinking of how we're all victims of some higher being that was supposed to look out for us, but just dropped the ball."

Discord snapped his claw, causing the fork to unfold back to its original shape. Marcus only nodded his head and began to finish his meal. "Higher being? This 'God' I hear so much about in my travels to find your world, I take it? The one who is all good and holy?"

"God, Allah, big dude living in the sky, whatever you want to call Him." Marcus muttered as he ate. "Just thinking about all the crap that's spewed about him and how he left us to die and be enslaved."

"Well, when you put it that way. I mean, he’s a higher being that supposedly created you, looked after you, and then never showed up to save your race from a death march. I can understand why you hate the guy." Discord swiped some eggs and dabbed them the syrup, smiling up to Marcus. "But a rather odd metal fellow I met in my travels told me that he met God himself while lost in the void of space."

"Metal fellow?" Marcus threw the words around in his skull, he couldn't help but ask. "You mean, a music fan or a robot?"

"Robot, actually, called himself Bender I believe. Anyway, I met Bender when he was about causing all sorts of mischief. Couldn't help but tag along and join him. Quite fun, really." Discord chuckled as he sat on a biscuit and reminiscence his time to Marcus. "We swapped stories, and one story that stood out more so than all the others, and let me tell you that he had an entire book series worth of them, was when he told me that he met this 'God' after he made an error of judgement that ended up killing an entire civilization that was living on him."

Marcus raised an eyebrow at this, but Discord only shrugged and shook his head. "Don't ask. All I know is that somehow he became a god to some rather quick thinking, short lived species."

"So what happened?" Marcus asked, gently pushing Discord off his biscuit, interested in hearing the odd tale.

"Hmm, if I remember correctly, he floated before God Himself, talked about stuff and life in general. How hard it was to be a god in the first place. The one thing that he was told was that being all powerful being required a 'light touch'." Discord explained, making himself a spitting image of the robot he met, dancing in a silly way. "Said that if you do too much, people depend on you, and if you do nothing, people lose hope. A light touch is needed, only enough so people won't even know you did anything at all."

"Yeah? Well I call that a fucking copout if anything." Marcus scowled, muttering darkly under his breath. Discord watched as Marcus slammed his fist into the table, shattering a portion of it. "If ours is the same way, then He fucking failed in His duties."

"Do you truly believe that?" Discord asked, changing back to himself and floated before Marcus. "Perhaps there is a reason why He doesn't interfere?"

Marcus lowered his head, shaking his head. "I don't know. I don't care either. All I care about is the people I have left. I lost my brother to my own hands. My mother died of a heart attack after the attack took her youngest son. Uncle Danny and Aunt Molly were killed in the crossfire between the PER and Dallas PD with their entire family ponified and killed by the police. My father was killed when he was protecting his soldiers in Iraq. The people I have left are the only thing I have to fight for. If some higher being turns his nose up at us and demands us to overcome something that we had no hope of overcoming on our own, then fuck him. We don't need him, and we'll win on our own. With his blessing or not."

Discord only gave a silent nod, before snapping his claw and fixing the table. "Then perhaps you should focus on the future. I just checked in last night and your world is safe for the time being. However, how many weeks, days, or mere minutes passed since then is hard to tell at the moment. Time varies between worlds after all."

Marcus only nodded his head, clearing his plate of food and a nod to the draconequus. "Thanks, Discord."

Marcus had barely finished his drink when the sounds of the dining room doors opening, revealing a minty green unicorn behind them. She gave a small yawn, before giving him a bright smile when she saw him. "Marcus, good morning!"

"Morning Lyra." Marcus greeted her with what he thought was a warm smile, although the look she gave him indicated it wasn't quite up to snuff.

"Didn't sleep well?" Lyra popped herself onto the seat next to him, a small curious look on her face. Marcus only shrugged his shoulders, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Didn't wake up in a cold sweat, so it was alright." Marcus replied, grimacing as he felt the stubble beard growing from his chin. "Need to shave soon. My face is beginning to itch from this rag on my face."

Discord chuckled as he snapped his claws, and a razor blade, a bowl of water, and shaving cream appeared before Marcus, who gave him a relieved nod for his spell. "A clean-shaven man is one ready to take on the world, or at least impress someone."

"Got that right," Marcus muttered as he began the process of cutting the growing rug. Lyra, in the mean time, had ordered her breakfast from the castle servant and was waiting for her meal. She couldn't believe she was invited to stay at the castle, although she believed it was Princess Celestia's idea to keep her close so Marcus could feel more comfortable.

"There is something that has been bothering me, but I never really had the time to think it over until now." Marcus took the blade and began to the shave the hair under his chin. "How come you never mentioned finding the ship? I figured you would crow on and on about it. Your counterpart did all the time."

"Ship?" Lyra blinked in confusion, staring at Marcus as he shaved. "What ship?"

"That Doc Waggoner's ship you found in the Galloping Sea. When we first met up with the Elements and you told them about it, I was sort of waiting for you to rub it in Sparkle's face that you made a discovery of a life time. Your counterpart couldn't help but proudly proclaim it whenever someone asks, or tease Sparkle about it." Marcus looked at a mirror Discord summoned up for him, inspecting his face as he shaved. "At least that's what she told me before the Tyrant jumped off the Sane Train and into a patch of batshit insanity, taking the Elements and her country into war."

"But…" Lyra couldn't help but be more confused. "But I never found that ship. How did I find that ship...wait!? The trip to Galloping Sea!?"

Marcus and Discord both looked on in surprise as Lyra stayed silent for a moment, her eyes wide in shock as she began to tremble. "Uh...Lyra?" Marcus leaned over and gave her a small poke. Lyra then gave a blood curling scream and slammed her face into the table.

"NO! *SLAM* NO! *SLAM* NOOOOO!" Lyra cried out, attempting to slam her face once more before Marcus reached over and stopped her. "You mean I could have discovered the lost ship that held the findings of the KV62 Party!?!"

Marcus managed to hold down the distraught unicorn, his eyes showed plenty of shock at Lyra's reaction. Discord however, was more interested at the information Marcus just gave him.

"Tell me, Colonel. Was this finding a big thing?" Discord played with his beard as Marcus struggled with the mare.

"I-I guess so?!" Marcus hugged Lyra as he answered Discord, blinking down at the sobbing mare.

"Did she tell you when she found it?" Discord pushed, he needed to be sure that this information was accurate.

"Uh....yeah. About eight years ago, a couple of years before Luna's return. Big deal -- well, at least Lyra made it a big deal." Marcus recalled, giving a shrug to the chaotic being.

"Of course it's a big deal! It showed proof of humanity's existence!" Lyra defended, her eyes glowing with anger. "Doctor Waggoner has even stated that the technology we have today is thanks to humans! Ponies coming from Dream Valley had brought with them concepts never even dreamed of! But because Celestia and Luna were still trying to get everything back in order for Equestria and the later rise of Nightmare Moon, they just melted back into society, publishing their works!"

Marcus turned his head, examining Discord as he was in thought. He frowned as he heard Discord speaking out loud to himself. "That explains how they were able to get at least half the things they have today."

"What do you mean?" Marcus couldn't help but ask.

"As much as Celestia wants to deny it, she coddles them too much," Discord explained, running his claw through his beard. "Ponies would not even have a train or electric magic generators. They had to get those ideas from somewhere."

Marcus frowned thinking it over, before looking at Discord with an answer. "'Cause they lack conflict with each other and the other species. To be pushed to create items like better armor for troops or trains to carry heavy loads to the war fronts."

"Exactly. Its so odd seeing that they still use quills to write, yet they have beginning stages to computers at their disposal." Discord closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "I've been wondering for a long time, and now the question has been answered." Discord nodded his head to the teary Lyra. "I thank you for bringing the greater achievement of your counterpart to light, miss Lyra. Without it, I wouldn't ever have found this interesting detail..."

Lyra looked even worse after this statement.

"Was that really necessary?" Marcus asked, not really agreeing with Discord's 'gratitude'.

"Say whatever you want. I was never nice guy to begin with, but I'm fair. Make everypony hate you for your job for a thousand years or so and constantly show them all your 'evilness'; it gives them something permanent to act upon," Discord bluntly told him, and Marcus found himself unable to disagree with his assessment. "But there is another reason to why I ask."

Lyra sniffed, rubbing her snout. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I believe I figured out where the Bag came from." Discord stated, his eyes fully focused on Lyra. "Your counterpart's discovery may have a hoof in its return. I spoke with someone that has been around as long as me, and she thinks it may have been unearthed in the other's recent history. This...discovery from your counterpart may be it; you made no such finding in this world and we are not at war. It's just a guess, just one difference between our worlds."

Lyra sniffed as she thought on what Discord said, and for a moment she was confused until her mind connected the dots.

Marcus himself described her entire fillyhood in detail for the past week, since he was Lyra's closest human friend and trustee. Everything, from the time she fell out of the tree on a bet to her surprise discovery of being able to walk the clouds without a spell, was exactly the same. Same age, month, and even where she lived at those dates. Her counterpart described her entire life to him, and Lyra had acknowledged each and every point.

Until now.

The rest of the other Lyra's life was completely different from Lyra's own, starting four years ago when she decided against going on a scuba diving trip with friends in order to practice her musical talents in an effort to gain entry to the Canterlot Orchestra. Her counterpart, however, decided to go for the trip, and thus discovered a long lost ship.

Lyra's mind raced as she recalled all the information about Waggoner's findings that he had written down. He described amazing relics and pictures of bipeds named humans, capable of amazing feats strength and intelligence. They can be vicious creatures of Darkness, or righteous defenders of Light. Sometimes they could even throw off a curse placed upon them to change their very being into darkness...

Lyra's train of thought petered off. Her heart skipped a beat, eyes wide in shock and horror as it dawned on her. She slowly looked at Marcus, his words coming back in a haunted voice.

"Exactly what it says on the can. Rewrites a person into a pony...changes their body, their mind, binds their soul in chains..."

Doctor Waggoner had said in his diary that they owed humanity their very continued existence for defeating an 'ancient evil' from a time even before the Princesses' own lives, that they used an ancient magic to banish the evil before it could grow even more powerful. She remembered Celestia telling them of the Bag of Tirek, and how its creator suffered the same fate. If Waggoner's account spoke of Tirek, then...

Suddenly, the Tyrant's invasion no longer seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was planned and executed with precision only a truly evil being could come up with.

This was Tirek's revenge against humanity for their interference.

"It...fits." She whispered, shaking like a leaf in complete terror.

"Lyra?" Marcus leaned in close, holding the mare close as she seemingly broke down before him.

"I could have ended the world," Lyra whispered, tears streaking down her face. Marcus recoiled at this, looking at Discord for an answer. Discord only leaned in close to hear her. "Doctor Waggoner found the castle in Dream Valley, and it was completely buried with little to no sign of it ever being there in the first place. Maybe there was a reason! They could've been trying to bury Tirek, to erase him from history altogether! And if KV62 set off from Dream Valley with relics from the area...they might have had..."

"Lyra!" Marcus shook her, trying to get her attention. Lyra turned to him, devastation in her eyes.

"His bag," said Lyra weakly. "They took Tirek's bag, Marcus. Your friend Lyra... destroyed your world... when she found that ship. She led your entire people's existence into the void!" Lyra cried out, tears streaking down her face as she yelled.

"Where?" Discord demanded, lifting the pony from her seat by the scruff of her neck and holding her close to his face. Lyra could only shake in fear, not at Discord, but at the notion that such a small decision could have such dire consequences. "Where were you supposed to go diving?"

"Discord, enough!" Marcus' runes glowed as he grabbed the draconequus by the tail and yanked him down.

"You don't understand, Colonel. That bag can lead to ruin. You cannot believe how many Tireks are in complete control of their world in the multiverse, but not a single one of them can cross into another," Discord growled in anger, his eyes with deep and vicious red glow. "This is the first one to breach the fabric of reality, and he will not stop until he has controlled of all realities under his disgusting thumb. I need that bag gone now or it will simply add more power to the other! Now where?!"

"Off the coast of Baltimare, just a few leagues east from Claw Rocks," Lyra whispered, and then yelped as she was dropped. Discord was nowhere to be seen.

Rocks, 15 miles out from Baltimare

Discord was over an ocean, his eyes wide in fury.

Mother... even after all you have done, he still exists in this world, and I was unable to stop him. Too busy dealing petty vengeance against Celestia, Discord berated himself as he raced eastward. His eyes scanned the rocks that formed out of the ocean, more like claws reaching out to sink unaware sailors to their doom. I will not fail you again. I will stop this monster here and now!

Discord flew around the area several times, his magic slowly filtering through the ocean in search of the ship, before his head snapped to the left and he teleported a mile from his location. Appearing above the water, Discord snapped his claws once more, the ocean below began to churn and swirl. The draconequus watched on in silence as his magic parted the water aside, opening it to the sea floor.

Discord's eyes trained themselves on an old and waterlogged ship resting at the bottom. He flew down, looking over the ship with a critical eye. A large gash on the port side showed the damage it sustained before sinking. He frowned as he looked at it. This doesn't look like it was made from coral or rocks. Far too high from the water line. This looks more like an attack, Discord thought to himself. He carefully made his way inside, slowly searching for any clues to where the bag may lay.

The ship groaned as it settled in the open air once again. The ancient enchantments laid within the ship when it was first built, though still functioning, were near the end of use after being submerged for so long. Discord found dozens of items, artifacts from ages long past, and yet there was an oddity about them.

Discord examined what appeared to be a rusted toy train, the wooden box all but eaten away. He tilted his head in confusion at the toy.

This toy shouldn't have existed a thousand years ago. Discord looked over it, finding more and more strange items.

A model plane, looking similar to what humans called a P-52 Mustang.

A race car -- a 1980 Pontiac Firebird.

What even looked like a tape player.

I was right. Someone or some group came to our world a long time ago and showed the ponies something beyond their imaginations, Discord thought to himself, looking at the items with some care. A zipper appeared in midair next to Discord, which he brought down with ease. He carefully placed several items within the small pocket space he created. He was hoping a clue could be found within these odd items at a later time.

Searching, he took note of what appeared to be a scale of some sort lodged in the wooden hull of the ship, light purple and with a dull shine to it.

A dragon scale.

This ship didn't sink due to a storm... it was attacked, ambushed. Discord tossed the scale in with the other items, frowning as he zipped it up. But dragons prefer to hunt by land or scavenge jewels, and sea dragons tend to avoid ship lanes due to scaring away prey. Plus, a sea dragon would attack from the bottom -- this attack came from outside the sea. Question is... Why did a dragon attack this ship for no reason?

Discord looked about, doubting there was anything more he could save. Everything else was too degraded to be of any use. As he made his way to through the ship, his mind raced for answers.

A feral dragon would only come out to sea and attack ships if they have jewels, or they are starving and eat the crew. From what I gathered, Celestia managed to curb the attacks for the past thousand years, plus Spykoran has reigned in the others. Discord looked into several rooms, but found nothing to note. He slowly made his way to the captain's bunk. So why attack a ship that barely had any worth to a dragon?

Discord opened the door to the room and stared, eyes centered to the open sky. The entire room was filled with coral and dripping with water. What caught Discord's attention was the large hole in the back room, and what appeared to be a pony's body standing up and looking behind him.

Dragon fire, Discord mused in thought. It was the one thing in the world that can hurt beings like himself, Celestia, and Luna, but every dragon fire was different. This dragon fire appeared to turn the skeleton of the poor fool into crystallized rock, burning so hot that the flesh was roasted right off, but the bones flash-fired into stone.

It was a warning to anyone who found this.

*Tha-thump*

Discord froze, eyes looking about the room as his ears tried to pick up the sound.

*Tha-thump*

Discord made his way closer to the corpse, taking in the gruesome warning with new light.

*Tha-thump*

Discord paused as he felt something attempting to gain entry to his mind. It was dark and disgusting, not too dissimilar to what he felt in a few of the worlds he travelled to.

It was also very familiar.

"Tirek," Discord growled as he stared at the crystallized corpse. The Bag of Tirek hung defiantly around it, mocking the attack that took the life of the pony that wore it. He watched as it pulsed several times like a disembodied heart, dark magic attempting to gain access to Discord's mind. Discord scowled as he backed away, his claws ready to vanish the cursed object to the pits, but stayed his claw.

Mother told me to be careful around the bag with my magic; it could corrupt with just the slightest touch of a pony's magic... guess that's how the Tyrant lost her marbles. Discord quickly flew out the hole, the bag reacting quickly at his leave. Sorry, Tirek, but I am finishing you off here and now.

Discord closed his eyes, raising his arms upwards, filling the entire ship with his magic. He made sure to keep his magic away from the captain's room as he began to lift the derelict ship from the sea floor. Nowhere on this world is safe to put this beating bag. So I'll just take it from this world.

Discord shot straight up, taking the ship with him as he flew. The ancient ship groaned -- bits and pieces of the ship broke off as they both ascended high into the sky. Discord made sure to avoid going close to the magical sun his mother created, not wanting to burn the ship up before he even got out of the planet's gravity well, nor run the risk of Celestia or Luna being controlled in case the bag managed to connect with them when they move the magical star and moon. As he flew into the darkness of space, the waterlogged ship began to dry spectacularly. In a matter of seconds, vacuum violently boiled away hundreds of gallons of water into a fine mist, spewing a thick cloud of tiny ice crystals from every open tear in the hull. The coral and dead matter inside clung to their moisture, slowly hemorrhaging wisps of sparkling ice as cells burst one at a time.

Discord and the ship continued on for several more minutes. Discord admired the star filled view all around him and the sparkling trail of powder left in the ship's wake.

Chaos... in its most primal form, Discord thought. Stars, planets, comets, and scores of other cosmic items reside in the universe. The death of a star also meant the birth of a new one. Before he was trapped in stone, he just hung about on the moon, watching space and enjoying the view of the chaos filled universe he lived in. I wish you were here Mother. You would no doubt make a lecture of it, but just to see you one more time would be enough.

Discord sighed as he looked about, finally eyeing a star and smirking. With a snap of his claws, the entire ship was encased in stone. Hundreds of runes inscribed into it, and two giant, oversized rocket thrusters attached to the rear of the rock. He could feel the bag trying desperately to corrupt him, words of power and chaos at his command, but Discord brushed them off.

You won't trouble this world ever again. When I faced you long ago, I could barely understand my powers. But I got a peek what I can do when you threatened to kill my mother...

Discord thought back to his childhood and found himself looking at younger version of himself -- small, weak looking, a pitiful sight before the massive red centaur standing before him. Tirek looked down at him, amused by his apparent defiant stand, holding his arms wide in an attempt to protect his mother. The ruby mane alicorn lay behind him, her wounds slowly healing as she looked on in horror as the young Draconequus stood before her.

I couldn't kill you...

The young Discord clenched his eyes shut before expelling a large amount of chaos magic directly into Tirek's chest. A look of utter shock appeared on his face before he was sent flying away out of sight.

But I could send you flying.

As the rockets began to warm up, Discord gave the rock-encased ship a final look. The bag tried everything it could think of to stay his claw. Power, ancient secrets, total control of the world.

Discord glared intensified, staring at the rock with disgust. "Can you give me back my mother?"

The bag fell silent, its pulsing voice melting away from his mind.

"Thought not," Discord said quietly. The thrusters began to glow with power. "There is a lot that my mother, your dear enemy Faust, taught me of the stars. Sometimes they blow up, and sometimes they turn into ever hungry black holes. Guess which one she showed me that was about to collapse on itself in a few thousand years?"

A portal opened in the void, a massive star within view. The star dwarfed anything that ponykind could ever compare to. What was even more terrifying about it was the portal was still 6 light years away, and it was still massive to see.

"Goodbye, Bag of Tirek. Your time on this world is over." Discord snapped his claws and the rockets shot through the portal. He swore he could hear the angry roar of Tirek himself before he closed the portal. "And soon, your counterpart will suffer the same."

Discord sat in silence, floating in the void before turning back to Equus.

I did it, Mother... Tirek will never threaten this world again. But now a new challenge appears. Are you happy with what happened to your people? Are you mad at Celestia... or me? Discord thought to himself as he made his journey to the planet. Will there be a time for us so-called gods to stand away from this world and watch them grow on their own?

He thought back on the scale in his pocket space, groaning as a thought occurred to him. I have some more research to do. Well, back to work.

Canterlot, Castle Garden, Several hours later

Every leader on Equus sat in the garden gazebo, lunch fast approaching as they got ready for the first War Meeting ever held. The largest of them sat outside the gazebo, his head barely able to fit inside the beautiful structure. The massive dragon with royal purple and light green scales lay outside as he waited for the meeting to begin.

"Comfortable, Spykoran?" The reindeer sitting next to his head asked, chuckling as he watched the dragon gave him an unamused glare at him. The bells tied to his massive horns gave a light chime as he moved.

"Har, har, Sint. Laugh it up -- I'd like to see how you managed to get those massive horns of yours into doorways," Spykoran growled, which only caused the reindeer to chuckle some more.

"Easy. I avoid those doors. Or I just wiggle my snout and I'm in!" Sint laughed at the grumbling dragon as he looked away, annoyed with the Sint Erklass, the 'Spirit of Hearthwarming and Bringer of Gifts'.

"This war will be massive." Warlord Wilmorn Darkhoof told Chief Thunderhooves and Shaman Quagga. "What they told me nearly shattered my very conception of evil. This… 'Solar Tyrant' will be an enemy that can destroy us all. Already the Minotaurs of this other Equus is gone, only survived by a single one. He wields Mjolnir in our stead, and I will not allow him to suffer alone!"

"A war that has taken many lives," the Elder Shaman Quagga croaked out, holding his Spirit Staff closely with a tight grip. "We will lose many of our own. But it is a sacrifice we have to make to ensure our survival."

"Agreed. My forefathers will hang me by the hooves if I turn away from this fight. I will lead the roaming tribes as one, and they will face the entire might of the Buffaloes as we come trampling down on their defenses!" Chief Thunderhooves declared. His voice filled in anger at what he learned of his counterpart's situation, being forced to flee the lands to the growing New Foals as they tried to throw away their old customs in favor of worshipping the Solar Tyrant.

"I am even amazed to see you standing here, Chrysalis," Queen Hedwig said as she sipped her tea. Her eldest son gave a crooked grin to the Changeling queen as he listened in. "Last I heard, you managed to get booted out of this very capital."

"Don't remind me." Chrysalis muttered as she rested her head on the table. "I was such a fool now that I look back on it. Compared to what we're about to go against, it feels so…"

"Petty?" Pack Leader Canis finished for her, chewing on a rib as if it were a wheat stalk. "Believe me; petty is something I am familiar with. I have to deal with it every day with the fool dogs that go rogue and cause trouble for the rest of you. Hopefully, this war will open their mangy eyes and show them that pushing the wrong buttons will cause problems."

The sound of flapping wings reached their ears, as one they turn to see the Princesses of Equestria land before the gazebo. A flash of light later, and Discord, Lord of Chaos, was standing next to them. Many of them took note of the freed Draconequus when they first arrived, although they did not react as many ponies did. Some in fact even worshipped him, calling him Lord of Change and Chance. This mainly revolved around the Buffaloes, Minotaurs, and the Zebras.

To them, Chaos was neither evil nor good. It was neutral in their teachings; chaos could affect them in the most mediocre way. It taught them to accept that there will always be something outside their control -- something that the Equestrians had yet to learn -- and yet you could learn from your mistakes and do better next time, hence why he was called Lord of Change as well.

Not that this would stop the minotaurs from bashing his skull in if they had the chance when he showed up to cause problems. They respected his power and strength, but they would not lay down before him and let him run all over them.

Discord held back rolling his eyes as he watched the three bow to him. No need to cause a fight for no reason. Wouldn't stop Warlord Darkhoof from trying to one-up him like many Warlords before him had tried before his stoning, though.

All of the leaders turned their heads to Celestia, many of them seeing her for the first time without the multi-colored mane. Sint Erklass immediately got to his hooves and rushed over to her. "Child, what has happened? The last time I saw your mane like this was when you were forced to banish your sister."

Celestia couldn't help but snort a bit; very few beings in the world can call her a child and still not feel like she was being made fun of. Sint was old long before his ascension and his duty to care for his people, making him the second oldest being alive on Equus, right behind Discord himself, who was even older than him by a thousand years or more.

"I am fine, Sint… just… recovering," Celestia said quietly to the elder. This caused Discord to snort at her comment.

"What she means is that she had her brain in a blender of horror and rape of a special variety," Discord told Sint, bluntly ignoring the look of horror Celestia sent him. "Oh, don't give me that look, Celestia. He has the right to know what you've been through."

"What happened?" Sint demanded, giving her a stern glare. Celestia swallowed nervously. Even if it had been such a long time, he still made her feel like a foal sometimes.

"I can do one better." Discord wrapped his arm around the shoulder of the reindeer, pointing him to two more approaching figures. "I can point you to the one who caused it."

Everyone turned to see the Human Commander and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Love, walking beside him in quiet discussion. Sint attempted to march over to the human and demand what he did, but Luna stood before him, glaring at Discord.

"Peace, Sint. Just Discord being Discord." Luna gave Discord a scathing glare, before turning back to Sint. "It was an accident, nothing more. An attempt to keep the casualties to a minimum with a Mind Share spell backfired not only on my Sister, but the Commander as well."

Marcus walked up at this moment, raising an eyebrow at the stink eye the reindeer gave him, but ignored it in favor of leaning against the post of the gazebo. He did take note of the dragon looking at him; while he wasn't familiar with dragons' facial expressions just yet, it wasn't too dissimilar to most species.

"Princess Celestia, is there a reason to this meeting? I figured you told us all we needed to know of the coming days," Queen Hedwig couldn't help but ask her. The fighting that was to come would be massive and the Griffon Kingdom needed their Queen to lead them into it. "Time is wasting when we could be preparing."

Celestia nodded her head to Queen Hedwig's question, slowly taking a seat before them all. Cadance took one to the left of her while Luna took the right. "Of course, but there is something I have yet to detail when I told you of the Tyrant and her conquest of the Colonel Renee's world."

"There's more?" Spykoran tilted his head in confusion. "I figured that all we needed to know is that she's crazy, that perhaps that leadership has gone to her head and believed that everyone should be happy."

Chrysalis lowered her head. She alone knew what Celestia was speaking of, given the danger her Changelings would face when they went fighting against the Tyrant's drones: the Bag of Tirek, giving false and poisonous love so deadly that it killed an entire species before the war even started.

"I informed Queen Chrysalis of the danger of going to war with the Tyrant, even more so for her people compared to the rest of us." Celestia started, her horn glowing as an image appeared in the center of the gazebo. "This is the true reason the Tyrant went on to become who she is."

"A bag?"

"What is this mockery?!"

"You expect us to believe that a bag is the sole cause to this travesty!?"

The outcries were numerous, but Discord was much more interested in Clan Leader Spykoran's reaction.

He was absolutely terrified of the image.

His eyes dilated, the wood groaned as he his claws began to crush the railing of the gazebo, and his wings clenched tightly to his back. Discord leaned in close, hearing the dragon muttering quickly under his breath.

"No! No! He had to get rid of it! I was so sure I did for my own! No one could find it!" Spykoran whispered to himself, his eyes trained on the image of the bag.

"Well now, isn't that interesting," Discord said out loud, causing everyone to look at him with surprise. "I was sure no one in this meeting would know about the bag and its properties, but you do! Tell me, Spykoran, how do you know of this bag?"

Spykoran blinked as he heard his name being called out, turning to see everyone giving him odd looks. Celestia blinked in confusion, tilting her head to the side as she gave him a questioning look. "Spykoran?"

"I… I've seen the bag before," Spykoran said after a moment of hesitation.

"How?" Discord prodded, his eyes narrowing as he thought back on what he found in the ship. "I found this in a ship coming from Dream Valley…"

Discord trailed off, seeing the dragon wince at the name of the place it was coming from, causing Discord to give Celestia a sidelong look. "You know of Dream Valley, don't you, Spykoran? I find it nearly impossible for anyone to know where this bag came from, since I found it at the bottom of the ocean. Before that, it was buried under ash and mud for centuries."

"Because I was born there," Spykoran said at last. Celestia's eyes widened at this, but Spykoran held up his claw. "I will say no more of it."

OBJECTION!" Everyone in the room was startled as Discord yelled, making the room tremble. All of them observed Discord as if he had gone more mad than usual. "I think you do have more to say on it." Discord snapped his claw, a zipper appearing in mid-air and pulled it down. Reaching in, he pulled out something and tossed it onto the table.

A single dragon scale, its royal purple shining brightly in the noon sun.

"You see, I found that on the ship. It was lodged in the wood, and knowing how tough and durable dragon scales are, a little seawater shouldn't really do much. And the amount of royal purple scaled dragons are very low. Your grandsons, the one residing in Ponyville itself, and the others living in other parts of the world, are simply too young to be a part of the attack. And Steve Magnet, the river serpent who resides in the Everfree, hates seawater and doesn't go anywhere near it and is just as young. I asked before hoof, given the oddity of the scale and the gouges in the ship -- had to cover my bases. That only leaves you, and given the size of this scale, I say its about the right size for you," Discord pushed, his eyes narrowing as he sized up the dragon. "Something you want to share with the class?"

Everyone slowly looked up at the dragon, Celestia looking at him as if she never seen him before. "Spykoran?"

Spykoran closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them once more. "I'm sorry Celestia… but I couldn't risk it. By the time I arrived, your ponies were already worshipping the bag. I had to end them all to ensure the bag stayed hidden."

Celestia looked like she was struck across the face, while Luna and Cadence stared wide eyed in shock at what the dragon said. Discord wasn't quite finished with the elder dragon just yet, as he pointed his claw at his face with a look of determination.

"This isn't the first time you done something like this, is it?" Discord's unnaturally calm demeanor hid his growing grim thoughts as he pushed for more information. "Because Miss Heartstrings gave me a rather surprising insight to what happened in Dream Valley."

Discord coughed, clearing his throat before he began to speak in Lyra's voice. "Doctor Waggoner found the castle in Dream Valley, and it was completely buried with little to no sign of it ever being there in the first place. Maybe there was a reason! They could've been trying to bury Tirek, to erase him from history altogether! And if KV62 set off from Dream Valley with relics from the area...they might have had..."

"Lyra!" said Discord in a much deeper, manlier voice. He punctuated it by clapping his mismatched hands to his cheeks in exaggerated horror. Marcus scowled, his eyes narrowing at the draconequus for dragging Lyra's fragile state of mind into the meeting.

"His bag," said Discord in Lyra’s voice once more. "They took Tirek's bag, Marcus."

If anything, Spykoran looked like he had seen a ghost of the past come rushing back and body slam him in the face. "H-h-how?!"

"Excuse me; changing one's voice is a hassle." Discord said coughing several times, before looking at the dragon. "How? I like to thank Miss Heartstrings' stirring breakdown over possibly causing the apocalypse. Even in the midst of that, she was able to connect the dots and make a surprisingly accurate guess. Given that you look like you've just eaten something disagreeing with you, I can tell you were well aware of what was on board."

Everyone stared at the dragon in disgust and horror, except for Marcus and Discord.

"You feel dead inside, don't you?" Discord gave him a long look while Marcus only closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"Every day." Spykoran answered softly. "I see their faces whenever I close my eyes, the reason I avoid my 100 year nap. Try as I might, it will carry on in my heart for centuries."

"Why?" Celestia whispered, her stunned look plastered on her face. "Dream Valley was a safe haven long ago for the ponies fleeing Discord's fight with myself and Luna."

Spykoran couldn't help but chuckle darkly at this. "Safe haven? Dream Valley was hardly a safe haven. I believe Equestria was a far safer area than Dream Valley. There were already ponies residing within the region before your 'ponies' arrived. Believe me when I say that you 'Celestial' sisters are not the only Princesses I knew of."

"Other... Princesses?" Cadance blinked quietly at this. "There were others?"

"Yes. Six others." Spykoran answered. "All of them wielding powerful artifacts, only surpassed by the Rainbow of Light, they ensured the stability of the land...until Tirek's bag corrupted them as well."

Spykoran lowered his head, shuddering softly as he recalled all those years. "It was only a couple of decades after the human children stopped coming. The portal to their world closed to us. The older generations went back to Equestria when they learned that the war was over. I went on to my first nap. Perhaps if I was awake, I could have stopped it."

"How?" Discord asked, "What could you have done to stop it?"

"Unlike other dragons' younger years, I was Tirek's 'minion' - his punching bag, in other words," Spykoran growled. "I was one for years before the human child appeared and banished him."

Marcus looked up at this. "Wait. A child? What the hell do you mean -- a kid showed up and banished him?"

Spykoran looked to Marcus. "Exactly what it means. The child appeared with the ponies. They searched for something to defeat Tirek, and found it with the gnome named Moonchick. He gifted them with the Rainbow of Light, and a heart-shaped locket that held it."

Unnoticed by the others, Marcus and Celestia both blinked at this. Celestia stole a quick glance at the human, eyes darting down to where his shirt bulged a bit just below the neck. Marcus only replied with a half-lidded scowl that said, No. So much no. That would be all kinds of NO.

"Rainbow of Light?" Luna tilted her head at this. "An ancient magic of old? What, pray tell, does it wield?"

Spykoran only snorted at her question. "You only need to look upon Celestia's student and her friends for the answer."

Celestia stared for a long moment, blinking at his answer. "You mean... this locket held the power of Harmony?"

"Apparently." Spykoran shrugged. "I wasn't there to see it; I only learned about it afterward. All I know is that Megan defeated Tirek with it."

It was now Marcus’s turn to suddenly look rather ill, which did not escape Celestia's eye. Their silent argument continued across the table, now beginning to draw the attention of some of the other leaders.

Canis awkwardly pointed a claw between the two of them. "Are we missing something here?"

"No," said Marcus irritably, at the same time Celestia said, "Yes."

Canis scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Okay?"

"Who is Megan?" asked Celestia. When Marcus opened his mouth to protest, she interrupted, "You looked like you were struck in the face the moment Spykoran said that name. Who is Megan?"

"Megan Renee was my mother," replied Marcus. "Unrelated to Megan Fairy Crap."

"And your locket?" pressed Celestia.

"Yes. Remind me that you went through my shit. That helps so much."

"It felt empty, Marcus!"

Marcus reached under the collar of his shirt and pulled out the repaired heart-shaped locket. He opened it up to show them the pictures inside. "It doesn't feel empty because it has a couple of pictures in it. And it doesn't feel magically empty because it's not --" Suddenly, Spykoran was literally breathing down Marcus's face, eyes focused on the amulet. "Whoa there!" Marcus yelped as he backed away.

"This... this is it! The Rainbow of Light!" Spykoran exclaimed. "I'd recognize it anywhere!"

Marcus deflated. "Oh, goddammit." He jabbed a finger in the dragon's face. "No." He jabbed it again at Celestia, who was smirking visibly. "No." He waved his arms around at the rest of the shocked leaders. "Fucking NO. It was my mother's, not some magical save-the-world doodad."

Spykoran focused on the pictures, before looking back to Marcus. "Your mother's name is Megan."

"Megan Renee," Marcus answered, his eyes falling to the ground.

"Her maiden name! Was her last name Williams?!" Spykoran pleaded, his eyes filled hope.

"Uh... yeah! How did you..." Marcus felt uncomfortable as the elder dragon was now looking at him with new light. He turned around and thumped his head against the post he was leaning against. "Oh, goddammit."

"You... you are her child. Megan's son is here on Equus. Then... then there is a chance for us to win! Only your mother could wield the locket!" Spykoran looked excited, his tail wagging as it knocked over statues and pillars.

Marcus gave a bark of laughter. "You're joking, right? My mom was a rancher. She worked on a ranch and tended to horses for most of her life."

Discord's head popped out from inside Marcus's ear and catcalled, "Ooh, someone's in deniiiial!"

Marcus angrily slammed Discord back into his ear with his palm, then momentarily looked rather disturbed at the physical implications of that. He glanced around the room for a few seconds, finally locating Discord hanging upside-down from the chandelier by his tail with a tub of popcorn that defied gravity by falling upward into his mouth. "No," he repeated, pointing up at him. "Not once has she ever told me stories of going to another world, even when I was a kid. It's like the perfect bedtime story, and she didn't say squat about anything. Also, wasn’t this garbage a thousand years ago?"

Discord shrugged. "You say that like time is boring and linear or something," he said through a mouthful of popcorn. Marcus stared for a moment before mentally facepalming for such an idiotic question. He already knew the two Equestrias were offset by a few years. Maybe time just did whatever the hell it felt like between universes.

Marcus turned back to Spykoran. "And besides, what makes you think she wants to see you after what you did?"

Spykoran backed away after this, realization crossing his face.

"You know, if what you said is true, you killed all of her friends, leaders, and everyone else," Marcus explained, rolling his eyes as he looked at the dragon. "She might not want to see you at all. At the very least you've got some explaining to do. Again." He waved a hand dismissively. "But that's all impossible anyway, because my mother has been dead for three years."

Spykoran pulled back completely, his eyes filled with tears. "She's dead… no. The Rainbow of Light is gone."

"It's not the Rainbow of Light!" Marcus shouted. "It's my family locket. Nothing more," Marcus sneered as he pocketed the locket.

"It is. But the magic is gone." Spykoran whispered, his eyes closed in shame and regret. "If Megan, Danny, and Molly were still around, they would have stopped the bag's influence. Then I wouldn't have..." Spykoran trailed off, covering his face with his claws.

Marcus raised his eyebrow at the additional names, his mind racing at the implications. There was no way his mother, uncle, and his aunt would not say a word about this. They had to say something or write it down somewhere. It was simply too much to believe that this was some sort of cursed fate thing. The problems of the mother's past passing to the son? Fate wasn't that cruel...

Then again, his world was being consumed by a growing pink barrier with a genocidal alicorn carrying some knockoff of the One Ring.

Spykoran brought himself back up, giving Marcus one last look before turning to the others. "I admit... I did it, and I would do it again too. I killed hundreds of ponies, both royalty and common, a half dozen species, and burned the very ground itself until naught but ash remained. To cover my crimes and to ensure the bag forever remain hidden, I forced Mount Gloom to erupt, cover the land in sludge of the Smooze, and bury everything. Everything I did was for this world. I was alone and could not spare a chance for another to be corrupted as well."

Many of the others looked at the dragon, fear filling their faces at the newly discovered murderer. Only Discord and Marcus showed nothing to this reveal. Both of them understood what he had to do. To stop a plague, sometimes you had to cut out the infected areas -- or in this case burn it ashes.

Scorched Earth protocol wasn't new to Marcus; North Korea was a prime example of it. The North fell within days of the Tyrant's war for Earth, and with little military resistance left, there was little to stop the New Foals in the area. China and Russia resorted to drastic measures to curb the growing number of New Foals in Asia. It was now nothing more but a radioactive husk. Any New Foal or PER that survived in the outer areas of the nuclear bombing found themselves hunted by the Chinese, Russian, South Korean, and American soldiers as they combed the safe zones. A little more than a year later, DC went the same route.

"I see. Then you did the world a great service," Discord answered, turning his head away from the dragon. He was done grilling him for answers.

"A great service?! He killed thousands of innocents!" Luna cried out, her eyes narrowing at the dragon with disgust.

"And you would have killed the entire world with your jealousy and 'Everlasting Night', Lulu, so you you don't get to talk." Discord commented blandly, causing Luna to flinch. He stared at Spykoran, who also recoiled. "Something you find interesting with what I said, Spykoran?"

"Tirek also wanted to bring about 'Everlasting Night'. He wanted the world to plunge into darkness." Spykoran answered, looking at Luna. "Perhaps Tirek's influences are not all centered in Dream Valley."

Celestia's eyes widened slightly, looking at her sister with new light, her thoughts racing before her gaze panned back to Spykoran. "Spykoran, while I admit to being disgusted with your past actions, you did so with a heavy heart. Killing an entire country on your own, past friends and leaders just to ensure the spread of evil had not gone further that it already had...I cannot even imagine what you've gone through."

"You have no idea." Spykoran growled in anger. "Imagine fighting your sister, wielding the awesome power of Harmony -- and instead of banishing your sister, it turned her to ash. Now imagine doing that over and over again, by the hundreds. My sin and pain can never be forgiven or forgotten. I don't need your pity, Celestia. I only need your word that we stop the puppet before she inadvertently releases Tirek."

"Puppet?" Canis raised an eyebrow at his choice of word for the Tyrant. "An odd choice of words, given who we face." While it took some effort not to think the dragon some sort of monster, Canis saw the death and destruction as a grim necessity.

"The bag changes you. You either become mad with power, its whispers forever guiding you, or you become a toy to it. Either way, you are a slave." Spykoran looked them all in the eyes before turning to Celestia. "That is what the potion is, holding the bag's power within. It enslaves your very soul to it. There is a very good chance that the bag is going for full control over the New Foals. It shouldn't work like this though. I knew someone -- his name was Scorpan, a dear old friend of mine that protected me from Tirek. He was a human who broke free of the bag's influence sometime before Megan's arrival. It may have learned from this and decided to go for a clean slate."

Quagga gave a small hum, rubbing his chin in thought. "Then it must be taking the next step. Shattering the soul, binding the pieces to its will. Very dangerous, lethal, and the darkest of magics. There is very little hope that the New Foals will ever recover from it. A shattered soul can never be mended through life. Only death will make it whole once more."

Marcus couldn't help but lower his head at this. "So, even if we win..."

"I'm sorry," Quagga whispered to Marcus. "Zebrakind has always been linked to nature; through it we understand the very essence of the soul. We understand it more than any other being. There is no recovery from a broken soul. Even if there is a chance they still reside within them, they would be in utter agony. No medicine or magic can cure it."

"I see." Marcus crossed his arms at this. "A lot of people, the PHL especially, will be devastated to hear this. Our contact with Zebras has been severely limited, so this is news to me."

"I have heard enough." Hedwig stated as she stood from her seat, her son standing by her side, a fierce look on their face. "The bag is dangerous, but we need to focus on the Tyrant's slaves. We have to deal with them before we focus on her toy."

"That would be a mistake." Discord gave them a small look. "The bag can corrupt any that gets their paws on it. I'm surprised that dear Spykoran is still in possession of a clear mind for being around it so long."

"No matter." Celestia gave them all a long look. "If the bag is present, then it will be on the Tyrant herself. For that, I ask you all to flee and seek out myself, Luna, or Discord."

"If she appears before me, I will send her flying with my hammer," Darkhoof muttered, only to have Celestia give him a rather displeased look.

"Unlike myself, Darkhoof, she will have no qualm about killing you. She holds every source of magic known to Equus, and perhaps a few unknown. She will destroy you with a simple flicker of her horn." Celestia gave a tired sigh. "Please, for the sake of your people, do not face her if you have a choice to flee."

Darkhoof huffed once before giving her a reluctant nod. "Fine. If there is chance to flee, I will."

Canis leaned in close to Tobias at this statement. His mock whisper loud and clear to all. "1,000 bits that he finds a way to corner himself with the bitch."

"I see your bet if only that he somehow simply stumbled upon her while fighting first." Tobias answered back. Both of them shook with grins on their faces.

"Go jump off a cliff." Darkhoof muttered as half the table gave a small chuckle.

"Gladly." Tobias cheekily answered him.

"Tobias, enough." Hedwig gently smacked his head before turning to Celestia. "Is that all that we need to know, Celestia?"

"Yes." Celestia nodded to her. "Prepare your armies for war. All of Equus is in danger, and we need all we can muster. Discord says that we may have time to spare. Bring your troops for training. Commander Marcus will remain behind to train our troops."

Discord gave a yawn, stretching as he did so. "When I come back, I will set something up for all for your troops to work on if it can be spared."

"And where are you going, Lord Discord?" Thunderhooves asked curiously.

"Well, Luna and yours truly will head over and let the Commander's people know they are not alone," Discord answered, a WW2 helmet placed on his skull. "We will brave the front to pass the message. You can count on us to do this brave deed."

Sint frowned a bit at this. "Why you two?"

"Well, for me it's just to snub the Tyrant's snout to show her that chaos isn't dead just yet." Discord shifted into a zombified version of himself. "The dead coming back to life more or less cements the fact that it is real. Also, I'm the only one that can rip open a portal between worlds, so I kind of have to go."

"I will go due to my status of being stone in the other Equus." Luna clarified, giving the group a long look before closing her eyes. "Seeing Princess Luna whole and unstoned will lead credence to our story. We debated in bringing another, but we believe it might be too much and too dangerous."

"Speak for yourself." Discord muttered. "I was planning on bringing her like this, all zombie-like. It would've been hilarious!"

"Or really dead." Marcus muttered. "At least zombies are straightforward and lack a barrier. Just keep shooting or hacking away until they are in pieces."

"Buzz kill." Discord slumped at this, he hate getting shot at and was no fun. Marcus only gave him a small grin before he looked back to Celestia

"Then this meeting is over." Celestia got to her hooves. "There is one more thing I wish to say before you leave to prepare your people."

The various leaders paused in their steps, looking to Celestia as she stood quietly. Celestia looked up at them, her eyes filled with sadness and regret. "I'm so sorry for dragging you all into this."

"No." Marcus stood before her, his eyes borrowing into hers. "Do not blame yourself for this."

"Please don't blame all this on yourself." Discord rolled his eyes, but Marcus only gave him a small grin.

"Please, I'm not that corny." Marcus chuckled a bit, "The blame is on this bag and the Tyrant. You are doing your duty and so are the rest of them. If they refused to join, then they'd be very poor leaders."

"Agreed." Quagga nodded his head, holding his Spirit Staff tightly. "Do not blame yourself for doing what is right."

The various leaders nodded their heads with the zebra leader, causing Celestia to smile somewhat as she looked to the ground with embarrassment.

"Alright. Enough with feelings time." Discord popped up behind them, his hoof tapping the ground. "Time's a-wasting. Sharpen your swords and buff your armors, ready your troops and prep the officers. Drums of war are upon us all and time to prepare is unknown. For all you know, the moment we get back we'll be dragging you to the front lines."

"It will take time for us to get back." Hedwig pointed out. "Some of us have an entire ocean to cross."

"Yeah..." Discord muttered, before raising his claw. "No time for sailing or road trip. We need you home now."

"Wait! What are--" *Pop*

Marcus, Celestia, and Luna blinked when the leaders vanished from view. Discord stroked his beard, a look of amusement on his face. "Hope they enjoy the trip."

All across Equus, the world leaders found themselves in various of places in their capitals. A certain Minotaur found himself dressed in a pink tutu and powdered wig, in front of the main plaza at the busiest time of day. Tabloids ran for days with pictures of their leader on the cover.

To say he was displeased would be an understatement.

"Thank you, Discord." Celestia said to him, she did raise an eyebrow at him. "Although the many guards that came with them will be rather upset with you for doing so."

"Then let me make it up to them." Marcus turn to her. "Send them to me so I can drill into them tactics of the Tyrant's Solar Army and Fleets. I can use this time to teach, and if I'm needed back at home, then they can take over the teachings."

Celestia agreed with the assessment, calling for a guard to her side to relay an order to him. She spoke up to her sister before she could leave. "Luna."

"Yes, Sister?" Luna had tripped slightly at the surprise call. She turned back to see the guard saluting Celestia and running off to follow the order.

"We must speak about Nightmare Moon." Celestia said, looking to her with concern.

"Why?" Luna blinked in surprise at this.

"Because the events leading to Nightmare Moon may not be your fault," Celestia answered. "What Spykoran said has a cause of concern, there may be some influence from the bag that may have lead to it."

"And if there is an outside influence for you, so may the events leading the Crystal Empire and Sombra." Discord added as he played with a small kunai with a tag tied to it, a gift he received on his trip through the multiverse.

"But we have to--" Luna tried to push off the talk in favor of leaving soon to Marcus' world, but was denied by Discord.

"Sorry Lulu, this talk might be good for you two." Discord looked away at the shocked look on the sisters as he threw the kunai into the air. "What? You two have been distant with each other for awhile, so a good talk may be good for you."

Discord watched as the two sisters looked to one another before taking flight, he turned to the sky, taking a deep breath as he caught the falling kunai before teleporting away. He had to prepare and make sure he didn't end up somewhere else again.

He didn't want to get shot in the snout again after all.

Once was painful enough. Getting shot multiple times by Megan Williams and the Emperor's Catachans was enough for him for the rest of his life.

The following morning

Discord stretched his body out, popping his joints as he did so. He turned to see the sisters quietly conversing with one another before they nuzzled one each other affectionately. His eyes panned to Marcus, who stood by, arms behind his back while he waited for the two to leave. Around him, experienced and high-ranking members of several species stood at attention.

Luna quietly trotted up to Discord, her wings ruffling themselves with nervous tension. A saddle bag hung from her side, filled with documents containing Celestia and the various leaders of Equus’ promise to help humanity and PHL members to stop the Tyrant. "I am ready, Discord. Shall we leave?"

"Almost." Discord snapped his claws several times, getting the flow going properly before looking to her. "Everything set with you and Tia?"

"I..." Luna looked away, taking a deep breath before looking back up to him. "You were right. As much as we like to deny it, we stood apart from one another these past years. Neither wanted to broach the painful past that we shared."

"A past that should not have happened," Discord murmured.

"If this about--" Luna started, only for a muzzle to appear on her snout, silencing her words.

"I'm not talking about our issue with each other." Discord said he banished the item. "I'm talking about what happened to you. To Sombra. It’s too much of a coincidence that after Tirek's banishment, things got worse before they got better. Sombra going mad with power and enslaving the Crystal Kingdom ponies, to your turning to Nightmare Moon. It also explains Twilight Sparkle and her friends as well."

Luna turned wide eyed in surprise at this. "What!?" But Discord ignored her outburst.

"We'll be back, Celestia." Discord clenched his claw before holding it up. "Don't do anything I might do... or do it. Might be funny to see you pranking for once and fail."

Celestia only rolled her eyes at this before Discord snapped his claw. A portal opened up before the two and the two jumped through.

Over the city of Boston

Discord and Luna tumbled through, falling somewhat before they gained their bearings.

"Let's not do that again," Luna huffed, flapping her wings as she corrected herself.

"Whoops." Discord hovered upside down, looking at the city below. Luna's heart clenched as she saw the destruction that was wrought upon the city. Marcus had described it a city of history and life, the birthplace of his country's future.

All she saw was the corpses of buildings. The stench of death and fire passed through her snout and it took every ounce of her soul not to cry as she saw buildings that put the tallest building on Equus to shame stand as a former shadow of themselves. The tallest of them appeared to have had something rammed into its side, but stood tall against whatever force that attempted to topple it. Luna looked to the ground around the building and saw a massive Equestrian Air Cruise ship laying upon the ground. It was scattered all around the building, snapped in half for its folly.

Luna looked up, feeling Discord tapping her shoulder. He pointed to something heading their way, a mighty aircraft looking quite capable of taking a hit and dishing out some of its own.

"We made an entrance. Now to give out our calling." Discord muttered to her. Luna nodded her head and took a deep breath, unaware of Discord stuffing his ears with ear plugs and placing ear muffs over them.

"SOLDIERS OF THIS HISTORIC CITY! STAY YOUR WEAPONS! WE HAVE COME BEARING NEWS OF YOUR MISSING MILITARY COMMANDER!"

Author's Notes:

Done! Now we get to the good parts!

FIGHTING!
YEAH!!!

Take note that it will begin to move very quickly from here on out. Time skips and stuff. No doubt all of you want to hear the logistics of moving millions of species to another country and funding eh?

That aside, there is a link for the new Asia Side Story and hints of places (OR rather blatantly shouting it out the top its lungs) Discord visited in the up coming one chapter story.

So. What you guys think?