Some Love

Discord stumbled out into the dirt, wading through a veritable pond of cracked clay and loosened dirt. The air around him rung with the hard note of his apparition, and as he stepped from his mini crater, he fell to his knees, gasping for air.

His vision was still fading from white, and each crack in the ground was glowing intensely. Crawling forward, and only managing not to throw up due to his empty stomach, Discord’s talon came in contact with a large rock.

“DISCORD?”

Discord’s ears perked up, the hairs on the end of each raising in alarm. Could it possibly be...?

Discord pushed himself to his hoof and claw, bracing himself against the half shattered pylon that stood out of the ground closest to him. He looked over at the source of the noise with his bloodshot eyes.

His gaze first fell on a pile of rocks—it must have been ten feet tall, and stretched off into the distance. Each one was covered in markings, some with under ten, others with hundreds, maybe even thousands on them.

Through a break in the rocks, he saw a figure. It was hunched over, trembling, yellowing eyes wide in disbelief. Discord slowly moved from the pylon, pressing the rocks aside to make room for himself.

“Hey! Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and sixty! Careful with those!” the voice rang out, attacking his ears like a rusty sawblade.

Almost as bad as that damn static...

“Figures; you’re the first living thing I see in years, and the first thing you do is annoy me. Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and sixty two...” There was laughter, and each laugh felt like a stab through the eardrum. Discord cringed as he moved himself over the pile.

“Wait... three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and sixty three... how do I know you’re actually real, and not just a hallucination?” Discord stepped off the pile, and stood before Twilight, looking her up and down. She was a mess, to be certain: from her scraggly mane and tail, to her scabbed, frayed body, to her split and ground down hooves.

“Oh, Twilight, my dear,” Discord whispered. “How could I be anything but real?”

Twilight Sparkle looked up at Discord, her face contorting. For a moment, it looked as though she were stuck in the place right before one sneezes, before it became apparent that she was trying to cry. No tears came out, her body having been drained of all non-essential moisture ages ago, but the attempted emotion was all there.

Unable to control herself, Twilight flung herself around Discord, embracing him. As she did so, some of her remaining fur on her body rubbed off into his, and a few scabs detached themselves from her and flaked to the ground. She cared not about her sores reopening—not right now, anyway. This was a time for rejoicing.

“What’s this for?” Discord asked, confused, gently pushing Twilight off of him. Twilight’s expression of joy drooped slightly. “It hasn’t be terribly long since we’ve seen ourselves last.”

Twilight’s expression morphed into one of confusion. “Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and sixty eight... what are you talking about? I haven’t seen you for over—”

Discord pushed one of his pads on his paw up to Twilight’s lips. “Twilight, please! Not so loud! We are in public, you know...”

Twilight stared at Discord, mouth gaping, unable to truly comprehend what he had just said to her. “I-I... what? Excuse me? Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and seventy...”

“You don’t need to make such a big scene,” he said, glancing down at her. “I know it’s been some time, but you’ll make ponies stare at us! Usually, I’d be up for a big ruckus, but I’m not in a good way right now...”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight yelled, her voice echoing across the empty landscape. “We’re the only ones here! We’ve been the only ones for... at least—”

“Twilight, come,” Discord said abruptly. “Let’s go out and do something, shall we? Take a little stroll through Canterlot with my favorite mare.”

Twilight stared at Discord in disbelief as the draconequus grabbed her left foreleg and lead her away from the cracked rocks she had been engraving with the lines.

“No! Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and seventy five! I need to be there! I need to keep the time!”

“There’ll be clocks aplenty where we’re going...” Discord said, his voice dropping to an almost ominous tone.

Twilight cocked the skin where an eyebrow had once been, far too long ago. “Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and seventy seven... oh, I see now. You’re messing with me! How could I think, even for a second, after all these years, that you’d be any different? Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and eighty...”

“Now, Twilight, please,” Discord said, grinning down at her. “Why would I ever do something like that? Truth be told, I have... different motives this time around.”

“Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and eighty two?”

“That’s right,” Discord said, still smiling. “We’re going on a little date, you and I.”

Twilight’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Wh-What... Discord? Have you gone insane? You must have, this apocalypse drove you to madness, just like it’s dragging me down with it, oh dear sweet three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and eighty four...”

“My dear, the only thing you’ll be mad with is love,” Discord chided, giving Twilight a ridiculously dopey grin. Turning away from her, his eyes darkened, and he looked off into the desolate distance. “This will show Meredith,” he muttered under his breath.

Twilight stared at Discord, mouth gaping like a fish out of water. “Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and eighty eight?”

“Come on, Twilight! It will be grand!” Discord pirouetted in front of Twilight at grinned down at her, arms wide. The stunned alicorn simply stared at Discord, unable to do or say anything in response.

“Oh, don’t act so distant,” Discord said. “We both know that this has been coming for quite a while...” His eyes shifted back and forth, as if he were attempting to convince himself of this as well as Twilight.

“Discord, we... three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety two... we don’t have time for this! We’re the last ones left, and we need to be doing something responsible with our time!”

Discord let loose a loud, long cackle, doubling over in mirth. “Oh, Twilight! Now you’re just speaking gibberish. Good to know you’ve got a sense of humor, though. You know I value that in a mare...”

Discord sauntered class to Twilight, his hoof and claw cracking the clay beneath with the force he put them down with. Twilight stumbled back a pace, her own hoof catching on a sharp, twisted piece of metal, causing her to fall into her thin haunches. She grunted as she collided with the dirt, a thin trickle of blood escaping from where the metal dug into her fetlock.

“Now, let’s... have a little dinner date, shall we?” Discord said, folding his legs up as he sat down on the ground next to Twilight, stroking the underside of her chin with his paw, holding it there and gently rubbing the blistered skin. Twilight felt a shudder run down her spine, and she dry-heaved slightly.

“I-I don’t... three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety nine... I don’t understand...”

Discord looked into Twilight’s yellowed eyes thoughtfully, a strange, almost primal look plainly visible for Twilight to see in his own. There was a pause of silence, which was only punctuated by:

“Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred.”

“You say the sweetest things,” Discord said, laughing.

Twilight shook her head. “I can’t believe it. After so long without any punctuation in this hell, and the only other survivor is you. Gibbering mad, no less!”

Twilight cast a disdainful look at Discord’s apparel. “Why are you even dressed in a suit?”

Discord stopped laughing, and his expression turned dark for a moment. It was an almost angry expression as his thoughts turned to ones of Meredith. “Well, I’d want to look my best for our date, wouldn’t I, Twilight?”

Twilight’s mind stopped working momentarily, and this was accented by a nearly comical fizzling of her horn, which shot sparks when Discord let her know what his explicit intentions of his raving truly were. Her wings opened, but they were merely bone with skin stretched over them now. A few of the remaining feathers fluttered off, landing on the cracked earth without much hurrah.

“Th-Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred and ten?”

Discord slid himself closer to Twilight, his free arm caressing her emaciated form. Her crusty, faded coat ground against his suit, which had begun to stain from the dry wind blowing the dirt and clay dust into it.

“Oh, this is going to be just lovely,” Discord crooned, placing his talon under Twilight’s bony jaw, moving her head so that she faced him. His yellow eyes looked into hers, and he smiled sultrily.

“D-Discord I d-don’t...” Twilight’s remaining teeth chattered and clacked together, her body quivering in confused terror. What was he playing at? Did Discord know something she didn’t? He had to be stringing her along, right?

“Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred and eighteen... Discord, please, just... just tell me what you’re playing at, I can’t handle this! As far as I know, we’re the only ones left in this world, and I’m so frightened and I...”

Twilight blinked, and she would have shed tears had there been enough moisture left in her body to do so. “P-Please, just... talk to me like...”

Discord pressed his muzzle up against hers, his comparatively wetter tongue wrapped against her dry, cracked one. He gripped the sides of Twilight’s withered figure, his snake-like body wrapped up around her like some sort of foul, mix-match anaconda moving in on its prey.

“Fggh nhhmh nd fnnd nn mlln, aaht nhhmh ndnnddn fvvn ffoffn, nn nhhmh nd ndnnddn!” Twilight moaned into Discords mouth, feeling his tongue slip between a gap in her cracked, yellowed teeth.

Discord pulled away from the former princess, and smiled at her yet again. This smile wasn’t as sultry as the one before, but it certainly betrayed the hint of further advance. This was a softer smile altogether, and Twilight felt herself begin to quake again.

“Don’t fight this, Princess,” Discord crooned. “We can have the perfect night.”

“D-Discord...” Twilight heaved, blinking hard again. “Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty four... please, for the love of...”

She trailed off. All of her higher powers had died. She had nothing to beg for the love of.

Twilight fell to her side, dust stirring up in small clouds around her. She no longer bothered to heave or blink; she now knew that it was useless.

All she had was her counting.

“Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty six... Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty seven...”

Discord slid up behind her, his immense tail and the lower part of his body still coiled around her. “Oh, darling Twilight... I know what will set you proper...”

Twilight, laying there in her near stupor, her eyes closed, made no movement except from her lips. “Three hundred and fifty nine million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty nine...” she whispered.

Her eyes shot open as she felt something warm press up against her backside.

It slid between her legs, and up against her inner thigh. She did not move, she did not breathe: she did not even speak, because she could not bring herself to do so. The count continued on in her head, but her raspy voice no longer carried out over the ground.

She could not—no, she refused to believe this was happening. She had to be hallucinating; a lack of water brought this on, perhaps! She...

How could the only being left in the world be so cruel?

Wasn’t it enough that the land had been blighted and baked, reduced to a wasteland, the sun and moon frozen in the sky? Hadn’t that been enough?

“Oh, Twilight,” he said, his voice hissing from his mouth like the air from a deflating tire. “You really are a magnificent mare. This date has been so entertaining! You make such pleasant, droll conversation.”

She did not answer him. She could not even feel what should have properly been felt—she only felt weight on top of her.

“Can I confess something to you, Twilight?” Discord pressed down into her, and Twilight opened and closed her mouth, like a fish out of water.

“I honestly thought that you would turn your snout up at me. Absurd now that we’ve nearly completed a full date, and you’ve yet to run out on me...”

Twilight felt her hips lift, and her eyes widened in terror.

“Fluttershy was absolutely right! I should have stopped messing around with you all sooner, and treated you like proper ponies instead of my pandemonious playthings.”

Twilight felt a great force push into her, and her face slammed into the hard, dusty clay. Her cheek ground into the earth, the remaining fur becoming stained with a dull, rotten-yellow hue.

“D-Discord...” she managed to croak out. “P-Please, stop... I just... I don’t...”

“Yes, today has been a good day. Who cares about that snobby bitch, Meredith? She’s a thing of the past, Twilight Sparkle, and I can assure you one thing: I will dedicate my time now to you, and you alone.”

With that, it was over. Twilight felt her lower body slam into the ground as her legs and hips were dropped. She ached, her dry, blistered nethers having been torn by Discord. She felt a dampness spreading down her legs, but this was not a dampness as she had remembered so long ago. This was a thick, oozing wet feeling, dripping down her back legs as if as a crude, black oil. She could not tell if it was his ejaculate or her own blood. She did not want to look between her legs to find out.

“Yes, this was a lovely dinner date, Twilight,” she heard Discord say as the voice slowly became further and further away from her, his hoof and claw beats crunching over the earth setting a dull beat beneath his slick tone. “And don’t you worry, I’ll pick up the check.”

Twilight gripped her head in her hooves, biting down hard on her lip, until she could taste the sharp, metallic taste leak onto her tongue.