Discordant Embrace

Discord froze. Chrysalis, now turned to cold, hard stone, floated in the air. His psyche took a major blow. He started to shift back to his normal state. He flew over to the statue.

He snapped at Twilight, who had been joined by her friends, "Go AWAY! Leave! Take Celestia and just go!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes at him. "But that statue is extremely heavy! You'll never-"

"I said go!"

Twilight and the rest of the mane six flew down to inspect their defeated princess. Discord caught the statue, arms bulging.  It was heavy. But he had been a statue himself; he knew the burden. His wings flapped furiously. Discord, for the first time in many years, cried.

Twilight and her friends flew down to the still-smoking crater. Celestia was laying on the ground, eyes closed, unresponsive. Twilight started to panic, but she saw the alicorn's chest rise and fall. She sighed.

Twilight picked her teacher up with magic. Everypony still had their wings. They would take care of their princess as she had taken care of them. They'd deal with Discord later.

Discord flew back to the city, landing in the castle grounds, setting down the statue. Tears fell freely from his face. Changelings were bustling all around him, out from their hiding places. He did not care that they saw him cry, and they tried to ask what had happened to their queen.

All that he offered in response was "I'll fix it... I'll fix it."

He had to find Chrystal. He stroked the frozen queen's cheek and told her, "I'll fix it... I'll fix everything. Just hold on."

He entered the castle, eyes wide open, searching. Where would she be? He checked the throne room, towers, basement, and on and on. He came upon a room with a sign on it.

Chrystal's room! Knock before entering! NO BOYS!

He pushed the door open, seeing an empty room. He had one suspicion about where a child would be though. He walked toward the bed and stopped at the foot of it. He kneeled down and looked under the bed.

There, he saw a small changeling covering her eyes with her hooves, shaking.

"Chrystal, it's me. It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of," Discord said gently. At the sound of his voice, she peeked out from behind a hoof and her eyes instantly lit up. She squee'd and crawled out from under the bed. She tackled him in a bear hug.

"Discord! I was so scared! I-I-I-I-I hid under my bed!"

The draconequus chuckled. "I know."

"Is everything okay now?"

Discord frowned. "Sort of. It might be hard for you to understand, but I have to show you."

"What is it?" Chrystal asked.

Discord lifted her up onto her shoulders and walked back to the courtyard.

He placed Chrystal on the ground in front of the statue.

"Who made a statue of Mommy?"

"I... Chrystal, that is your mom."

Chrystal looked at him with disbelief. She waved her hoof in front of the queen's eyes. If this wasn't just a statue... Her brain connected the dots. Her mom wasn't anywhere else to be found... She started to tear up.

"Mommy... Mommy!" she sobbed. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! No!" She turned to Discord. "Can you help her Discord!? Can you!?"

Discord hugged her and lifted her up, patting her back. "I think I can. It might take some time, but I can help. Okay?"

Chrystal wiped away tears from her eyes. "Okay."

"Now, we have to go away for a little bit. Can your people take care of things by themselves for a little while? I don't know how long we might be gone..."

Chrystal nodded. "Uh huh. W-w-where do we have to go?"

"Back to where I saw your mother for the first time. Canterlot. Before that though, we need to stop in Ponyville too. Ponies there might not like us, but I'll figure it out as we go. Now, do you need anything before we leave? We're leaving as soon as possible."

"No, I don't need anything. All I have are toys, and I don't need them for this... Can we do one thing before we leave?"

"What is it?"

"I want to say goodbye."

Discord lead her back to her petrified mother. She walked up to the statue and hugged it. "Mommy, me and Discord are gonna go and find a way to fix you, okay? He'll take care of me. We'll be back soon Mommy."

As Discord was flying away from the city with Chrystal on his back, he spoke. "We'll find a way to make her better. You know that, right? You trust me?"

The little changeling girl nodded. "I trust you Discord. And I know you'll do everything you can. I will too!"

They flew on for a little while longer, before settling down in what was the clearing for the night. The crater remained. "Whooooooaaaaaah! What happened here?! There were houses, and trees, and why is the pool bigger?!" Chrystal cooed.

Discord looked away sheepishly. "I, erm, got a little upset. Want to see a magic trick?"

The child's mind, easily distracted, focused on Discord. "What is it?"

"Close your eyes and don't open them till I tell you. Okay?"

Chrystal covered her eyes and nodded vigorously. Discord snapped his fingers, and the clearing reverted to as it had been a few days before, houses and all.

"You can open them now."

Chrystal opened her eyes. "Holy cow Discord! How did you do that!?"

Discord laughed, "Magic my dear, magic." He tapped her small horn. "One day, you'll be able to do it too."

"Cool!"

The pair had chosen the big mansion that the queen had used. As night settled in, the two settled into bed. Not even ten minutes after going to bed, Discord heard a knock at his door. Chrystal entered.

"Discooord?"

He opened one eye. "Yeees?"

"Can you come in my room and check for monsters? I'm scared of the dark..."

Discord got up and went to her room as she jumped back under the covers. He checked the closet, under her bed, and the hallway. "Nope. No monsters."

"Can you please stay here? I'm still scared..."

Discord nodded and curled up on the floor. "I'll be right here if you need me. Now get some sleep, we have a long few days ahead of us."

"Okay. Goodnight Discord."

"Goodnight Chrystal."