A king and his queen

Chapters

The fall of a king
Descent
Rise again

The fall of a king

(A/N: A hand for Stalin the Stallion everybody! And if you have no idea what i'm talking about when I said Fallen kingdom, here's the video)

Discord wake up!

In the darkness I saw light. In the sundered and blackened fields of my mind I saw a single godrey pierce the ashen grey skies.

Discord!

Slowly did I come too. And when I awoke, I saw not stone, I saw...grass...expanses upon expanses of grass.

And in the distance did I see a city.

"Who? What? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" I shouted into the seemingly boundless sky. Not a cloud in sight. Confused, I moved forwards towards the golden city.

As I neared the city, I saw guards. Not royal guards, but those who were clad in white and gold. Plumes stood on their proud yet humble heads as they smiled and bowed to me.

"Who are you?" I asked them as the waved me through. They simply smiled as they ushered me through the streets.

Confused and utterly lost, I walked down the street, all around me, ponies! They were talking, some airing laundry, some talking. I saw foals laughing and playing.

And I felt a pang in my heart. Why?

I continued down the street until I felt a tug on my tail.

"Um...here!" A blushing filly handed me a single flower. Light pink in color, but a powerful symbol none the less.

Nobody had ever been kind to me. No one. I had always been alone as this...monster. I had always been different.

And others hated me for it! Those conniving cowards! All I wanted were friends! All I wanted was a group to call my own, to share my hopes and dreams. To...talk to. I was by myself! It was maddening! I hated those ponies! I hated them!

But.....why? Why such anger? Why did they deserve only misery and chaos? I kept walking and soon, I came to a mirror.

And what I saw sent pangs and shivers through me.

I saw not my patch-work monstrosity of a body. I saw a proud glowing white Alicorn with a mane like the wind, ever flowing free. I saw eyes not my own, for mine were the eyes of someone wrought in the deepest levels of pain and self-depredations.

I saw calm, happiness, and sure eyes. Eyes of good.

And I knew.

He was Harmony

What did this mean? What was happening? Why was I..shown this? As I walked on, memories assaulted me. Of happiness, of kindness of honest, of good, all they were. Good.

Discord

The voice spoke again, but this time with great sadness.

And I felt foreboding as suddenly I lost control of the body I felt myself drift as I became but a specter.

It felt as if I was a spirit. Residing and merely..watching. Watching as this....pony went from door to door, chatting and talking, and laughing with other ponies. I saw how he carried himself with ease, knowing he was full and well, and that he was indeed happy.

Happy.

Why was that word so...irksome to me? Why did it bother me so much? And why does my heart hurt when I think it?

I saw the stallion as he gazed to the fading sun, chuckling he muttered "ah, she's at it again!" His voice joking and full of laughter as he took off running towards a massive castle, shimmering with gold and redbrick.

As soon as he arrived, guards wearing similar attire to those I saw at the gate greeted him.

"Late again king?" They asked opening the gates for him. He merely laughed. I found myself puzzled by their...casual nature around the monarch as he entered into his home.

King? Him? He behaves less like a king and more like an urchin! Why?

And I saw him as he passed through his gilded and golden house. Befit for his title. I watched him pass endless rooms full of golden furniture with no interest at all. I saw as he made his way straight to a door at the end of the hallway.

And as he opened it, two very familiar filly's ran up to him.

"Daddy daddy!" They both cried in joy. One was pure white with a mane like the Aurora Borealis. Pink, light, almost pale, but what struck me the most was the sun on her flank.

The large stallion knelt down and picked her up, nuzzling her. The other one sat on her flank and her eyes began watering.

"Aw, now don't be like that Luna." He chided as he reared back on both back legs, picking up the smaller filly who had her forehooves outstretched.

he nuzzled them both, and they to him.

"Late again?" Asked another alicorn. The voice! She was the one with the voice! The one that called me from my sleep!

"Sorry! Sorry!" He joked as he placed both fillies, to their delight, on his back. Making his way over to the female, he leaned out his neck. She who was on the floor who radiated joy. She was grey with a brown mane, like the very earth itself. Her eyes were sky blue and her smile was as assured as the tide.

She too leaned out and they locked lips, obviously in love.

I watched them with a sense of....nostalgia? And...loss? Why?

Suddenly the door burst open and a light earth stallion walked in, his mouth dripping with blood.

"K-king." He whispered before falling over, his back full of arrows.

At once I felt another pang grip me. The king, Harmony watched for a few seconds, his eyes displaying the shock he felt. But soon they were replaced by grim determination.

"Gaia, get the children away, use the hidden access tunnel. HURRY!" He shouted, she too looked shocked, but she obliged.

He closed his eyes as his horn began glowing. In a minute he was covered from head to horsehoe in armor, a massive glowing white broadswords firmly locked within his teeth. He turned around to his wife for a minute and dropped it, rushing over and hugging the group, his wife and kids.

"Keep safe, and one day I'll see you again okay?" He said facing his two fillies who had tears in their eyes.

They nooded, Luna reached up and wrapped her hooves around his neck.

"Don't go daddy." She said in tears. He simply pried her off and fixed her with a sad smile.

"One day Luna. One day we'll meet again." He said simply as he handed over the still sobbing filly.

As he rushed out, the matron Gaia turned to me.

Discord

WHY?!? Why was she so familiar to me? Why was she so...close? Yet so far from me?

I followed the king as he ran out, still unsure of what was going on. He pulled out the massive sword from a sheath and cut down these...shadowy things. What were they?

I saw similar fights happen as he cut down wave after wave of these things, stallions everywhere were killing and being killed, blood shed in the streets and the cries of children could be heard.

Suddenly I saw the filly from before as she cried over an unmoving corpse.

Another shadowy being began cackling as he desceded upon the harmless filly, a sharp sword drawn. As he came under a streetlight, I saw the dead and rotting flesh, pale and veiny with dried blood.

"NO!"I heard someone yell out as mare ran in front of the undead who swung his sword without pity or remorse.

"I...love...you...Sarah." I heard as the mare promptly fell over.

The undead cackled loudly this time. Prompting the filly to scream in terror, her dead mother forgotten.

I watched as the king raced over and cleaved the thing, fury burning in his eyes.

I watched as he raised himself up on his wings and cast a spell so full of holy fury that it illuminated the night.

"KNOW THIS! I AM THE KING AND I WILL NOT WATCH MY PONIES DIE!" He shouted, and hell hath no fury like he.

But it was all too soon as I saw another one of the creatures holding a bow and arrow, it pulled the arrow back and shot it straight, right into the king's heart.

I watched the growing horror dawn as the golden light faded from the king's body, the arrow which seemed to pulse with darkness sapped his energy, and soon he too fell.

And he landed in the streets with a heavy thud, the king was slain.

I returned to the body, this time not ethereal at all.

But I didn't feel any different, I could feel the body lie still and numb. I saw through the king's fading vision that the city was falling, buildings burned as stallions fell left and right. One family was backed into a corner with their father desperately swinging his sword.

"GO! GO! LIVE!" He shouted shoving his wife and son to the side as one of the monsters speared him with a long lance. He dangled lifelessly, watching his family run away.

And he smirked, before the light left his eyes.

Chaos and destruction, misery and pain, they filled the night air as these things invaded the once beautiful city.

My vision became blurry as the king began crying, lost was his kingdom.

"NO! HARMONY!" I felt my..his stomach grow cold as the voice of his wife, rife with torment ripped through the howls and screams, the clang of metal and the whizzing of arrows.

He..I watched as, with tears in her eyes she knelt by his side.

"Where.....are.....the...girls?" He asked, his voice soft. She shook her head.

"They're safe and away from the city. Oh Harmony." She said rubbing and whipping his..my? Cheek.

She turned and got up suddenly, glowing with brighter and brighter light as she ascended.

"No...Gaia....don't....don't do it." I felt tears again as Harmony pleaded for his wife to stop.

She simply gazed upon him with the saddest eyes.

"From dust. To dust."

Her voice was but a breath on the wind as sheer white light blinded me....him?

And with that, the world fell away as...we blacked out.

Descent

(A/N: I gaze up into the boundless skyline! Noteblock choirs playing in the sunshine- oh! You're still here! Ah whatever, 2nd of 3 chapters)

Sadness racked.... my mind as I saw what the queen had done. She had sacrificed herself to age away the invaders. But that wasn't the strangest thing I saw, the strangest thing I saw were the stallions still left standing to defend the city. You would have expected to leave as soon as her baptism by age had started but they all stopped what they were doing and looked up at the queen, tears in their eyes.

"ALL HAIL!" They shouted once, I saw their hooves raise in salute as.....they too died. Their skin and bones being peeled away as the sands of time washed over them. But the oddest thing was, they were smiling with pride and joy. Happy to the end.

Why was I shown this...heart breaking madness?

......Is this madness? Is this true misery and pain? Is this what I wrought upon the ponies in my time?

Discord

The voice pulled me from my thoughts as I became the king again, for he was not dead.

Groggily he stood, his once shining golden coat now tattered and ruined, his horn severed and various scars running down his face.

"Gaia?" He asked like a lost child after it's mother. I felt the tears in his eyes as he moved, no, limped to his wife's lifeless body.

"Gaia?" He asked again nudging her. I knew, he knew that she was gone.

"Gaia please don't do this." The tears came hot and fast.

"No, please NO!" He nudged more furiously, this time however, he turned her body till he was staring in her eyes. And within them were two globes of knowledge and peace.

That broke the straw, he wept furiously, sobbing into the bright and clear day with not a cloud in sight.

His protests became dull as his soul hardened. I could almost see the love and care diminish from his eyes as he began digging a hole with his bare hooves. Without a word, he picked her up with his forelegs, cradling her as he stumbled over to the grave. Placing her in, he pushed the dirt back over and put up a simple gravestone, a stone.

And as a last touch, he placed a crown on the head of the stone.

Why? Why did this strike such a chord within my own heart? Was he one of my ancestors? Was this another scheme by the Princesses to make me repent? If so! I WILL NEVER!

Blast those ponies!

"BLAST THOSE PONIES!"

"BLAST YOU ALL YOU FILTHY MAGGOTS TO THE DEEPEST PITS OF TARTARUS!" He screamed into the sky, his eye red and ripe with tears and his voice raw with sorrow.

I watched as he used magic to set fire to everything with blind rage, not even from his horn did he cast spells, the licking flames seemed to permeate from his body. In his rage I watched him burn down anything that wasn't cobblestone and spit fire at anything that stood, eating it through like acid.

Discord

My view shifted this time, to show him walking through the burned and torn town, his kingly regalia torn even further, it barely clung to him as his sickly thin form trod through the once vibrant streets.

His eyes were hollow and sunken, monuments to his ordeals. I watched as he made his way to the castle and through the halls, to the room where I previously saw his happy moments with his family. It was simple even by royal standards, a plus red carpet, 4 chairs, a table, and two thrones, and a stained glass window depicting the once mighty alicorn standing over his foe, a deathly white skeleton.

And I beheld a powerful moment, I saw the king gaze up at his former glory and I saw the painting cast rays to him. He stood there for a long time before lowering his head and leaving again, back into the wilderness.

Discord

The scene shifted again, this time showing an appalled white unicorn walking through the township, clay and straw houses stood where once imperial marble held dominance. I watched as he made his way to the castle which still stood even after these harsh years in full regalia.

I watched him make his way through the halls and into the throne room, sitting- nay, slouching upon the throne was an overweight unicorn with a dark magenta coat.

"Who be you wanderer?" He asked, his voice thick with the sloughing fat in his throat.

"I am the king, or..was the king." He said lowering his voice.

The new king laughed. "Oh? Lookie here boys! He says he's king? So whaddya want huh? Your old seat back?" Menacing laughter.

"No, I just came to visit." He replied bitterly.

"Oh? Is that so? Tell me? Where is your queen?" The old king was on the verge of crying.

"She is dead."

Raucous laughter.

"HAH! Serves you right! You call yourself a king yet your queen is dead! I bet you watched your whole kingdom die!" The entire courtroom was laughing as lords, ladies, and guards belittled the old one.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Screamed the new king as the guards forcefully hauled the old man out.

And as he sat in a dirty mud puddle, I saw him look down at his own dirty reflection.

And I saw the fire of vengeance burn bright.

Why was this so familiar to me? Why did this town seem so....blastedly familiar?

Thinking back, my earliest memories...no...not memories...feelings.

My earliest feelings were one of sadness, such extreme sadness....and anger?

"Blast these ponies." I heard the king curse as his flames turned sickly black.

Then I saw him grip his head.

My...earliest memories....were one of freedom...seeking it.

I saw something happen to the king as he began levitating in the air.

"MY.....NAME.....IS......DISCORD!"

I felt my being grow cold.

"No! You..will....not...CONTROL ME!" He shouted, a violent flame whirlwind had erupted because of this identity crisis.

This went one with the king in desperate pain.

Yes....I remembered this town......this was the town that I was born in.

Discord

I saw the flames cover him, hiding him from view. I saw the city guards and the old king rush out.

"What the devil is this?!?" Shouted the fat new king staring up at the globe of flame.

Then suddenly it burst with radiance.

......And I stepped out?

DISCORD!

And with that, the memory faded like it was being pulled away. I awoke...in a grassy field.

Was this who I am? A lost king?

...Was that why I always felt the pangs of harmony?

........Is it so wrong to give it a try?

I looked down at the grass and saw a single flower, the same flower the filly had given him-....me.

Picking it up, I walked along the broken cobblestone road.

What if...what If I tried become something I wasn't? Would it kill me? Send me into oblivion?

....Well.....it hast to better than my miserable existence of unwanted chaos.

Really, it makes sense. Of course I couldn't exist in nature.

Discord

I looked up and beheld the grave with the single golden crown upon it.

And with a heavy heart, I leaned down and placed the rose against the stone.

As soon as I did this, I felt woozy, sleepy.

Discord

I fell to both knees and looked at my hands/claws, they were fading fast. I was fading.

I began laughing, so this is how I died? Voluntarily? Well....there was nothing else in the world for me...so be it.

But I looked back upon the grave, and my jaw dropped.

There, standing directly in front of me, was the old queen.

"It's been a long time." She said simply throwing her hooves around me in a hug.

And I felt that emptiness leave me, the sadness and depression plaguing me for so long left.

"Discord. That was for you." She said simply, smiling.

"You and Harmony are one and the same. Never forget that. I married him knowing full well of you. And I couldn't be happier." She said simply.

I began crying. Why now? At the end of my life? Why now?

As if reading my thoughts she responded. "Because it is through our hardest moments we redeem ourselves." She said simply giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye Discord. And may we meet soon." Her voice faded until I was by myself in the rain.

And..for the longest time I couldn't remember how, I smiled. Knowing that I had one last shot at things.

It was time to pay my favorite twins a visit.

And tell them....I'm sorry.

Rise again

(A/N: And so it ends, later dudes and remember, viva la vida boys 'n girls, viva la vida)

"Sister! Come quick! It's Discord!" Luna screamed, Celestia raced to the window and beheld something she had never thought in a million years. Discord was walking, but also...disintegrating. He started growing a horn and wings, his body began changing. But that wasn't the weirdest thing. He was...doing good?

He zapped an old stallion and instantly the stallion became youthful again, ponies who had been running around screaming now stopped and gazed in amazement. He went up to a women holding a child in her hooves crying. He touched the child's forehead and instantly the baby began breathing and crying. The mother looked up, not with tears of sadness, but with tears of joy.

As he passed by, more and more ponies began clearing a path for him as he did. But they also did something...completely out of the ordinary, they reached out their hooves as he walked by, in silence.

And Celestia saw more and more of Discord's frame fall away. Hooves appeared where paws and claw once where. He got down on all 4's and continued walking onwards.

His wings became even, his short cropped hair became an everflowing mane.

Suddenly an old stallion leapt up from the crowd and bowed.

"My king." He said as the last of 'Discord' fell away, and was replaced by an all too familar figure.

"Daddy?" Celestia heard Luna by her side.

'Discord' or better, 'Harmony' turned to his daughters with a sad smile.

"Oh my sweet girls, it's been too long." He said simply, Luna rushed forwards and grabbed him in a vice like hug.

"DADDY!" She screamed in Joy. Harmony nuzzled and hugged her back.

Father and daughter stood crying as they reunited, millennias falling away as bonds once thought broken were restored.

"I am so, so sorry girls. For what I put you through." King Harmony said as Celestia walked over, her jaw opened in amazement and her eyes frozen in shock.

"D-d-d-da-dad." She stuttered out. And without another word, Harmony took her in his hooves and raised her high as if she as an infant before firmly grasping her in a hug.

She began to weep then, all eyes forgotten as a family reunited, finally sealing an open wound in the two's hearts.

And with a smile, Harmony rose as if he was raising the sun as an imperial light emanated from his being.

He looked towards the Everfree forest, and too the Dragon's steaming mountains as creatures from all shapes and sizes raced to Canterlot to behold him.

"Let no one else cry for the day is good. With my restoration, comes the passing of evil and cruelty, of distrust and sadness. May all you who serve faithfully under the sun and moon live long lives."

He turned to Celestia and Luna.

"And to my daughters, I am sorry about all that I did...and what I became. And know too, that your mother died in honor, as she saved my life, and many others."

He began rising as his voice grew softer, finally his soul could sleep.

Everypony began crying.

"Where are you going?" Asked Luna, fresh tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry my child, but my time is gone. It is your day and age now. And may you rule and live for eons."

He turned to Celestia.

"I...there are no words that can describe my sorrow. I was a fool back then. Can you forgive me?" He asked in sincerity.

Celestia flew up to the fastly fading older Alicorn and hugged him, sobbing openly into his shoulder.

"Of course." She whispered between sobs.

He smiled as he finally let go of the ties holding him to the earth.

And with that, passed the king.

And that was when I ruled the world.

The end