Chapters "Wake up...wake up Celestia...your trial is at hand, Celestia..."
That nagging...that nagging in the back of my head...more and more has that nagging been prodding at me. First, with the original imprisonment of Discord is when it appeared. Then, with the banishment of my sister after the horrid war we had long ago, it grew worse. Again, as Discord was reimprisoned the nagging grew even more malicious. As time droned on, though, I grew accustomed to it's chides, to it's claims, and ignored it. It became nothing but static...
Yet again, it grew. My celebration of the new couple was cut terribly short as I lied about needing rest to everypony else after my defeat at Chrysalis's hooves. What I really needed, though, was a session of screaming at my least favorite Spirit of Chaos.
As these bouts of schizophrenia would sometimes boil me down to near insanity, I required some form of...relief. Seeing as nopony could possibly contain the understanding of what it is like to have lived nearly as long as I, and has dealt with what I have dealt with, and I would never think of involving my dear Little Lulu in my sickness—I felt I owed her that much—there was only one logical choice in who to vent to.
"Ahhh, Celestia my dear. Having headaches again, are we?"
I sneered. His voice always made me sneer. Or maybe scowl? Perhaps scowl would work better...I don't know, but it was not a happy face whenever I entered the secret chamber held within my Castle walls.
"It's that voice again. It's gotten worse lately. In fact, I think it's the worst it's ever been in thousands of years." I retorted, pacing around the center of the room, my hoof-falls clearly denoting my very...unsatisfactory mood.
"Ahhh, I see." I paused in my pacing and watched as the snake slithered it's way onto a couch made of cotton candy, propping his head up and giving me a wry smirk with those annoying mismatched eyes of his.
"Please, do go on, darling."
I glared back at his smile. As much as he enjoyed this; as much as I hated this, I had to do this, else I would lose my ever loving mind. I was just at least glad that The Voice wasn't bombarding me right then and there...else I really would have lost it.
"You don't have to be so smug, Discord." I snapped at him before continuing to circle his container.
"You don't have to be Ruler." he replied casually, ripping a piece of the couch off and eating it before continuing, "Nor do it have to be in this container. Nor did you have to replace my statue with a fake just so you could come here to yell me once in a while..." he chuckled, "Nor did you have to banish Luna, nor did you have to cripple Chrysalis, poor girl."
Every time he spoke the word "nor," I could feel my blood boil. He was blatantly insulting me and my decisions, even after great pain, both physical and mental, was involved with each of them. He knew this would pick at me, and he knew it was working, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of breaking me. He hasn't done it yet, and he wouldn't do it then.
"Poor girl? She got what she deserved." I scoffed, "Trying to harm my subjects like that? She was evil."
At this Discord burst out in full on laughter, his obnoxious chuckles echoing and mocking me as if I was a naïve foal.
"What is so funny!?" I demanded, nearly slamming my face against the magical plate as I tried to burn him with my heat ray vision...that I wish I had, at the time.
"Celestia, you honestly, after all this time, have not discovered the fuel behind that voice?" As smug as ever, the ostentatious being snaked his way to the magical field's edge, staring me eye to eye with a gleam only found in those who think they have won, "You HONESTLY don't know WHY you just cannot remain happy?"
"I have lived a very, very long time, Discord." I start, clenching my teeth and hissing, "I have seen many loved ones move on, and have made many eroding decisions. My MIND cannot last forever...but..." I almost couldn't say it...I hated the fact that he was better than me, that be could best me at every turn, outdo me in every way..."but your mind-"
"-can last forever. I know this." he shrugged, "So you try to place your pains on me in order to prolong the eventual collapse of your mind." He flopped backwards, the cotton-candy couch exploding in a pink, poofy mist and reforming into a hot tub filled with steaming water in which he relaxed, "But trust me, you won't be ruling Equestria anymore when that time comes."
Again and again, his words just continued to tick me. I still refused to let him get a hoof over me...that was the one thing I was never allowed to let him do, never again. He used to hold me—mind, body, and soul—but that was long, long ago. Now, I held all the cards.
Or so I hoped...
"Amd why, pray tell, would that be?"
"Oh, just because soon enough everypony will have had enough of your tyranny, is all." he answered casually, waving me away as if it was nothing.
"T-t-tyranny!?" I was taken aback...he was joking? He had to be joking!...right? "I am NOT a Tyrant, Discord! If any thing, You, Chrysalis or Nightmare Moon, were the Tyrants!"
"Is that so?" my secret confidential placed a paw to his chin, seeming to stare off in thought, "I think I can convince you otherwise, for the most part."
"TRY me." I snarled, glaring daggers into his consistently collected face.
"Let's start with me, hmm?" he propped himself upright, his legs sticking out of the bottom of the tub while the water seemed to ignore the fact that there was no bottom, "I promoted, if anything, the exact opposite of Tyranny: Anarchy." he shivered at the mention of that word, obviously releshing in his dream of a world of games without rules, "Nothing but sunny nights and delicious chocolate rain was all I desired. All of it, really, was harmless fun."
"You literally flipped all of Equestria upside down, and threw balance out of the window like it was a peice of trash." I countered, "Nopony could have withstandsd such insanity for long, and you know it!"
"That is not the POINT, Celestia." he explained, waving a claw, "Besides, I love them all just as equally as you!: My toys to play with. I never would let anything horrible befall any of them."
"TOYS? I do NOT think of them as TOYS!" I screamed, momentarily losing my temper and flaring my horn a dark red.
Only for a moment, though. My composure was quickly recalled with a deep breath and a resteadying of stance.
"They are my subjects, and I do everything I can to protect them..."
"Wouldn't want your toys broken, clearly."
I paused and glared at the smug fiend, then continued quickly after, "From you, from Nightmare Moon and from Chrysalis."
"Speaking of Miss Loony Mooney, where do you think that side of Luna learned how to do what she did?"
This question threw me off a bit, I admit...was he blaming me for what happened to Luna? While yes, I admit that I probably could have prevented The Nightmare from arising, I, in my defense, didn't see the signs until it was too late to stop. Discord took my thoughtful silence as his cue to continue, so he went on.
"I mean, Luna was young, compared to you, anyway. There was no chance for her to witness how to properly corroborate on a decision!" He snapped and the floating image of a Crescent Moon eclipsing the Sun flashed into existence beside him. My eyes instantly were transfixed on the ethereal picture...
"So...soon enough...well, as the saying goes: 'Pegasi of a feather flock together,' I suppose." He shrugged and the two shades of light melded together into one, murky yet eerily luminescent orb. It quickly dissipated, though, leaving me wondering what he tried to symbolize with that.
"My sister and I were anything but together, then." I claimed, "Explain yourself, Discord."
"She followed the example of her older sister." he sharply stated, forcing me to rear back at the sudden bite, "Just a bit more radical, as her rage and jealousy took ahold, obviously."
"I am NOT a Tyrant, Discord! There is no PROOF that I influenced her behavior!"
"There is no proof that anypony else didn't do it, either." he responded with a sly nod.
"Th-that's irrelevant logic, foal."
"Just because it's not fully relevant, doesn't make it false."
I groaned, rubbing my temples with my hooves. He was getting worse than The Voice!
"I am growing tired of this. I feel worse than when I arrived..."
"It'a because, deep down, way down in that messed-up mind of yours, your innocent self knows I am right, you know." Discord tapped his own forehead as I looked up at him, "And I'm not even done defending my case, yet!"
"What else do you have for me to digest?" I asked wearily, expecting some indigestion if it was anything near as volatile as his last few comments.
"You have blatantly related Chrysalis to be synonymous to 'Pure Evil,' yes?" I nodded slowly, eyes narrowed, "Well, eat this, Tia..."
I hated it when he called me that...
"What would YOU do if all of your little ponies were starving and a neighboring land held the necessary fruits to survive?" he paused, gauging my reaction, then went on, "Hmmm? Wouldn't YOU do everything you could to protect your precious little SUBJECTS?"
On instinct, I nodded furiously, wondering what he was planning, "Of course!"
"I figured as much..." he paused again, and I looked at him in confusion while he stoked that beard of his a couple times...
Was that it? Was that all he had to say?
Apparently not.
"Do you know what became of Chrysalis—the Changeling Queen herself—and her young?" he asked curiously, genuine sympathy actually lining his question.
"Well, no, but I'm sure she deserves whatever befell the witch." I answered honestly.
He nodded, stroking his beard again, "I see...one more thing before I start to wrap this up: Remember how you felt when Luna was first banished, and you refused to talk to me?"
I thought back, way back, about a thousand years ago...the time spanning Luna's banishment until I started sessions with Discord were filled with nothing but sorrow, loneliness, and self pity. I had forsaken my first and only true love, and had neglected the pleas of my own sister until I was forced to banish her because of the rage that transformed her. I was all alone...ruling a land of lesser creatures which could not comprehend my feelings. The only reason I was able to go on were the friends and foals I met through the years. Though they came and left time and time again, they still were able to keep me going until Luna was returned to me.
Seeing that a melancholy smile had appeared under my glistening eyes, my examiner went on, "Now, I want you to use those far-seeing powers of yours to find what has befallen that so called Witch, Chrysalis."
Shaking myself back into the moment, I decided to play along, expecting to find the insect amassing a force to attack Canterlot again...oh dear Myself, was I wrong.
"I...I didn't..." I felt severe regret swell-up inside me at the sight...and yet...there was a slight tinge of joy that I could not explain, "I never wanted to..."
Discord sighed sadly, shaking his head with a shrug, "All she wanted—all she needed, actually—was just food."
Chrysalis was always a creature of twisted beauty, as much as I disliked to admit it. Her original form, while insect-like and very off-putting, still managed to be captivating and, in a very corrupted sense of the word, beautiful.
But now...
Her right wing was nothing but a torn stub of frayed material against her back, and the left wing had large, tearing slash almost down it's entire length. Of course...not only were her wings crippled but from the way her gait was shaking, it was clear that at least two of her legs had been severely damaged, and her energy was obviously almost entirely burnt, as depicted by the multitude of holes throughout her entire body. To top it off, her horn was chipped at the top, a crack running from the broken piece all the way to the base...something that must have really delivered a searing headache constantly, I was sure.
"And guess what?" Discord broke into my examination of the crippled moth, bringing my gaze to him, "The swarm abandoned her. As a Queen who cannot provide for her young is not fit to be Queen at all, to them." he shrugged again, "She's lucky they didn't kill her, really...or maybe unlucky."
I gulped, my conscience starting to nag me again, quietly whispering into the back of my mind.
"Shining Armor's love probably gave her the strength to survive the blast, but it's very clear that, all alone and without any source of love left for her to use, she will die very soon."
I turned again back to Chrysalis as she suddenly collapsed, her dark blue mane more disheveled than usual as she hunched over, the appearance of one who has accepted the loss of everything clearly radiating towards me.
She was alone...and unlike me, she was going to die alone.
Unless I helped her.
"I need to send assistance for her, now." I stated suddenly, turning to leave immediately.
"Oh, but will you, is the real question, no?"
I paused, freezing in place as his question registered, "Of course I will. It's my duty to help all who need it."
"Even if they need it, do they really want it, though?"
I remained silent, then continued to leave while Discord continued to rattle on.
"Whether you know it or not, Celestia, you are a Tyrant." he became loud, complete and obvious seriousness filling his voice in a manner of the likes he had never expressed before.
"A tyrant of love and humiliation."
"A tyrant? That doesn't make sense..."
"Well, maybe he does have a point, though...just n-"
"What!? You would agree with him!?"
I could hear two voices argue back and forth...they had been arguing for some time, actually. It was somewhat annoying to hear for so long, and the preexisting headache and fatigue didn't make my position—or mood, for that matter—any better.
It was odd, though...the voices sounded almost like the same person. One was definitely Celestia, but the other was new to me...or was it? Maybe it was a memory...a very distant, yet lovely memory...
"No! Just not in the way you are interpreting it, Celestia."
I groaned, laying my face flat on the mat and covering my aching head with hole-riddled hooves.
"Just kill me, already..." I groaned, trying oh so desperately to will the arguing to end with the power of a thousand headaches...to no avail, of course.
Deciding to distract myself with inner thought, I reflected on the situation I had been recently placed in, taking note of it's...irony, I guess. Let's start with the bad, though: It was humiliating enough having my plan foiled, then the defeat at the hooves of the very source of food I was leeching from just threw salt into the wound. It was humiliating enough being abandoned by what was left of my—well, what used to be my—swarm, but the merciful, "kind" help Celestia forced upon me—going so far as to make sure I couldn't commit suicide as well as to provide a comfy loft for my jail cell—just threw salt in the wound, cooked it on a skillet, then ate it like morning bacon to be deposited elsewhere at a later time.
Arguing continued to drone on, but the distraction of some meditative reflection really helped to drown it out.
Celestia, with an escort of four Royal Flight Guards, quickly tracked me, probably following the flakes of my wings, the shriveled green clumps of my once beautiful hair, and the green ooze which is the changelings's equivalent of a pony's lifeblood. Upon being cornered, I thought that I would go down in a blaze of glory by fighting, hoof and fang to the end with my enemies, only to (after making a hiss so deep and threatening that all five adversaries shook in fear) proceed in tripping over a root and falling unconscious to my face. Some time later, I awoke to find Cadenza actually channelling love into my body so it could start repairing itself...if anyone has ever felt anything more humiliating than having the lofty treatment hoofed over to you by your very enemies and food...you have my greatest condolences.
"Tia, I will NOT stand to hear this anymore, for now at least."
THANK. YOU. I thought, groaning inwardly as the conclusion to the bickering outside subsided. Guess I'll have to reflect on the good in a moment.
"Fine, yes, she has been waiting for a while, I guess. Go."
A few hooffalls later and the doors to my dimly lit "cell" opened, a swath of light flooding in and silhouetting Celestia—my enemy, my captor, my rival, and my saviour—as she stared down at my weak and bruised form.
Her face was too shaded for a proper reading of her expression, but I had a feeling it was somewhat stern.
"Chrysalis."
"Tia."
She stepped into the room more, her wings shifting and repositioning at her side as she approached, "Please, call me Celestia." she asked, slightly annoyed, and slightly sincere...mostly the annoyed part, though.
I smiled giddily, flashing my teeth and batting my eyelashes in as polite a manner as my honed acting could muster, then answered in a tone so sweet that I could feel my teeth decaying on the spot, "Bite me."
"I see you are still sore about your plan failing." Celestia remarked disdainfully.
"No, what's sore is—oh let's see!—my head—broken horn and all—my legs—quite a fall I took!—and the region between here," I placed a forehoof on my chest, glaring daggers directly into the spot Celestia's shadowed eyes should be, "and here!" I concluded by slapping, in an admittedly un-Queen-like fashion, my flanks, "Ow." forgetting that it was in fact very sore down there.
After taking a moment to rub my bruised behind, and reprimand myself for hitting it, I turned back to my captor and placed my angry face back on, "I accept that I lost, though I am still disappointed by my drastic failure..."
"As is your swarm."
I hissed, attempting to stand and pounce the pompous princess there for making such a remark, but my weakened legs gave out before I could even get all the way up, so I settled for delivering a very mean glare with a force to challenge a sonic rainboom or two, "You look at me like I am pathetic! As if I am just some weak creature to be dominated and controlled!" If I were not a lady, nor a Queen, I would have spat at her hooves, "You think I am a pathetic little bug at the whim of your magnifying glass! Fearful of the sun and what it could my do to my frail body..."
Celestia's face seemed to become even more shrouded as I went on...
"But I am not. I may be ashamed I failed my subjects, but I am still Queen Chrysalis! YOU are but a mere Princess who gathers all of her strength in the same manner as I do! The only difference is that YOU do not wish to acknowledge that fact, while I gladly do, Celestia!"
"Please..." she muttered, almost inaudibly, "Call me Tia, Chryssy..."
I stuttered, hesitating a moment at the sound of her sudden change in tone and the sudden sound of my childhood name...but shook it off and continued with renewed vigor. Still, that flip of tone seemed familiar...the voice did too, yet it was foreign, at the same time. It was peculiar, to say the least.
"So in truth it is YOU who is the pity! YOU who requires the mercy!" I grinned now, my rage forming into joy, "You were defeated by this little insect, who was in turn defeated by YOUR so called subjects! While I accept the full responsibilities of my failure, YOU go on ruling the land as though it is your sole right to do so, all because you guise yourself as the object of everypony's affection, when all you really are, deep down beneath all of that pristine coat and flowing mane which defies physics..."
As my excitement built, so did my strength, fueled entirely by the vigor behind my vilification of the old mare before me. I again attempted to stand, legs spread wide to help my support as I shakily straightened the knees.
"...beneath the immeasurable magic; beneath the pretty smile and kind mannerisms; beneath the ever loving Princess and Goddess, is NOTHING..." taking a moment to force my stance totally upright, gasping at the amount of difficulty the simple task required, I clenched my teeth, eyes narrowed to slits, and delivered the KO blow: "but a lovely little Tyrant named Tia!"
There was a short pause in which no sound was made, save for my heavy, stuttered breathing, then a soft hum filled the air and Celestia's horn lit up, revealing her face for the first time since she entered.
The look I found, though, told me to move, to dive for cover as her glare practically stabbed me through the chest with a serrated blade, but my body was too weak to respond, and I soon found that an invisible force was steadily tightening around my neck and lifting me slightly off the tile.
"Chrysalis, you really ARE just a BUG which I can—and SHOULD—crush to a disgusting green and blue pulp!" a sudden jolt from the invisible grip forced me to my back, gasping dryly for air, "But that would just be too nice for you."
My airway was freed from the grip and a loud gasp, accompanied the massive intake of air my lungs had been screaming for, cut the air while my right forehoof came up to rub the now severely sore spot I was choked by. All the while, coughs escaped my mouth while Celestia turned to leave me alone again, locked in my comfortable prison.
"And never refer to me as anything except Celestia." she spat before the doors closed, "Or even, your Master."
Once the coughing fits had ended, and I had sufficiently rubbed my sore throat, I glared at the closed doors and muttered to myself.
"There's something that rhymes with 'itch' that I would REALLY like to refer to you as, right now, you insane, bipolar, little..."
Coughing ensued again.
"Ugh...I wonder what will happen next?" I asked to mostly myself, "I really don't feel all to happy about being a...a 'guest' here for long."
I slowly rolled my neck, standing again with determination glinting in my eyes. I was still shaky, but already more stable than before.
"I don't know know who is loving me right now, but I thank them for their contribution!"
My wings expanded out with a snap, the holes within each quickly disappearing as the thin, papery material regenerated with my strength.
"Celestia...this identity crisis will be your downfall!"
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Would you like a side of Questions with your Confusion Platter?
"I do not care wh...ah, er." We shook our head, recollecting our calm and steeling Ourself for the confrontation ahead, "We do not care what currently plagues Celestia, for it will not deter our goal to help her." We took a deep breath, reinforcing our already steeled walls as a hoof was raised to knock on the door before us. Of course, a wandering servant-pony passed by and gave a curt bow, asking if We needed anything, then, noticing that We seemed nervous, asked what was wrong.
We waved her off and explained that everything was fine, and that We just needed to talk to our Sister about some of her recent behavior.
"What's wrong? What did she do?" The servant now seemed really worried, but We quickly lied, explaining that it was just some Sisterly conflict that would be sorted out shortly.
She nodded in understanding and moved on, stopping to wave with a smile before turning the corner. We also rose a hoof to wave back with a bright smile of our own...
But the shattering on the other side of my sister's door made us freeze.
But only for a moment! Quickly, the massive doors were flung wide open with a burst of magic and we bolted inside, horn ready and glowing to defend our dear sister from whoever was attacking her...or even from herself if needed.
Of course, one must have expected our...ah, confusion when all we found was Celestia sucking on her hoof. Well, at first, anyway.
"Wra! Wroona! Whar wrrr ooeer?"
Our sister...was talking...with her hoof entirely stuffed in her mouth...
"Er, sister...the hoof?"
"Wher weerrrf?"
Spittle started dribbling out onto her chin while she—so we assume—tried to grin sheepishly.
This definitely was...odd, to say the least.
"Please...do take your hoof away..."'
She did not even budge. Just...continued to stare with that awkward and somewhat loopy, hooffull smile.
Clearly, something was amiss. Er, aside from the hoof sucking, of course. We mean...why was the floor sparkling?...
OW! And sharp!? Wait...
Our eyes widened in realization. Glass on the floor...our face staring back at me in a dozen different portions and positions...yet all retained one constant: A look of shock, despair, and anger.
Almost growling, we gently slid Celestia across the floor two feet to the right to find the large mirror which had once beautifully reflected her room now lay in shatters—literally—with it's framework bent to hell.
Ah, excuse our language...
And yet...still with the sheepish smile, but now her bloodied hoof was out of her mouth and held slightly raised off the ground as a few crimson droplet tricked down.
"Why?"
Celestia remained silent for quite some time, unmoving. The only actual sign that she was not a statue, and that she was thinking, was the smile which slowly faded into a nervous frown.
After waiting for what must have been at least fifteen minutes, We pressed on, "What has caused such...such irregular behavior!? Why are you so...confused?"
To this, she immediately answered.
"Discord says it's because of you."
I gave a double take, wondering why WE were being blamed.
"Wha-wait." Did she mention Discord? "What do you mean, 'Discord says'?"
"He has been ou-er...My therapist." she prodded the small puddle of blood beside her with the same hoof which created it.
"Well there is your problem!" We shouted, catching a quizzical look from our sister as we flared our wings and stomped a hoof, "He is a monster! And crazy himself! He-!"
"He is not a monster." We stopped, our sister's sudden, and blunt, statement immediately puzzling us, "He is...what he had to be."
"What...?"
She continued on without pausing to hear our probably nonsensical confusion
"And so is...was, Chrysalis..." She suddenly smiled, though it didn't seem like the kind of smile which resonated happiness. It was more...nostalgic, with a sense of ironic regret.
"And...I guess...so was I, or...so will I be."
Everywhere...everywhere I turned, more confusion, more questions! With Chrysalis, she claimed that there was much I had yet to learn about Celestia and Her.
And now Celestia was speaking about secrets, which, if We were figuring correctly, all revolved around Our very own foalhood...conspiracy theories! We hate conspiracy theories...so much confusion is always involved!
"Will...will you tell me what happened? What started this whole...ah..." We just couldn't bring the word to mind which would explain the whole situation. The mind was too busy melting.
"Debacle? Catastrophe? Failure?" Celestia suddenly twitched. It was small and quick, but not hard to miss, "A catastrophic failure is what this is!" Her demeanor suddenly changed entirely. Instead of seeming meek and confused, she now seemed angry, and very, very fearsome.
The semi-glowing eyes and suddenly smoking mane reinforced this.
"Ah, s-sister! Calm down!" Guess We could add bipolarity to the list of things very wrong with our sister...
"She has to be removed..." She suddenly turned to us, her teeth gritted in a fearsome snarl, "I swear, Luna, everything will be explained, but not until She is ended. It is, after all, entirely Her fault that I had to do what I did."
I stepped backwards, taken aback by my Sister's sudden ferocity. She is ALWAYS calm...the last time I saw her anything close to as threatening and angry as this was from a glimpse of a memory when The Nightmare first took over.
"Just..." For a moment, her expression softened, "Please...stay out of this. You don't need to see what's behind every veil."
Before I could properly react her expression hardened into dark determination and she stormed out of the room to accomplish whatever it was she seemed to think would fix her...
Wait...who is this 'She' Celestia was speaking of?
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We all know you adore her, and now she knows too.
"Pffff-aaahhh! Hahahaaaa!"
"A-and she just WAVED BACK!?"
"Yeah! Oh dear ME yes!" I clutched at my own ribs, almost in pain at how much I had been laughing it up with my good ol' buddy Dissy, "It was just soooo adorable, actually..." The memory brought a nice, warm feeling.
Her cheery yet stern smile...
The glow of the very moon behind those eyes...
I always loved those eyes...
"Reminiscing?"
I snapped back into reality, shaking my head and staring back at the smug grin Discord trained onto me.
"Yeah...you could say that."
A long moment of silence passed between us, during which Dissy tapped the container which trapped him. This container, of course, reinforced the contempt I felt for Celestia...
"Why didn't you just tell Luna? All those years ago?"
The question was expected, but it didn't make me want to answer it anymore.
"You know back then Celestia and I would have done anything for eachother. We would have kept any secret, fought any foe, or assuaged any wound." I paused to see if Discord had any input.
He did not.
With a 'hmph,' I continued, "We actually borderlined on lovers, to be honest. Might have actually become a THING if...she hadn't made that one, fatal request..."
Without missing a beat, Discord asked, "What request?"
He knew full well what I was talking about. He saw it all, watching as the horror unfolded, slowly. He had long been imprisoned by Celestia for attempting to change the laws of reality—even through the protests of their years of friendship—but he still could watch.
Chaos is, after all, much like Harmony: It is omniscient. It is constant.
"She asked me to...replace her..."
I really did not want to go on...the whole story was just...a travesty. Right from the beginning, I knew something would go wrong, that someone would end up hurt.
In the end, we were all hurt.
...
But that is really a story for another time.
"So what happened?"
Ugh. Typical shrink: Ask questions, grin or nod, then move on without so much as an acknowledgment. Still...it is Discord, he tends to always know exactly what he's doing with some kind of underlying purpose.
...I think.
"I took a strong liking to the little one...she thought we were sisters, I ended up loving her, and never wanted to let her leave." The memories...they started flowing back like a river, smooth and calm and serene, filled with beauty...
But of course...it soon came to be rapids, churning angrily towards the end. Toward the one last drop, all water-falling into a pit of rage.
She became jealous.
A battle was fought.
And...my little one was hurt...her rage boiling into The Nightmare...
"I never forgave Celestia...I probably never will, for as long as I live."
Discord snorted, "Who knows, that might not be very long!"
My eyes snapped wide as saucers at this remark. He betrayed no signs which might have told me if he was trying to warn me of something, or if he was just being...his annoying self.
He grinned like a cheesier cat, "Oh Chryssy, things are going to unfold soon, you know." I swear, if my exoskeleton allowed me to sweat, I probably would have.
Instead, my color slowly faded to a pale grey.
"I suggest..." he drew the word out, toying with me, clearly. I didn't quite enjoy it, though, "you go live-up the new Equestrian life before time is up."
"What do you mean?" I asked quickly, gritting my teeth and shouting, "What are you telling me? I'm going to die?"
"I cannot reveal everything, now can I?" he bent his serpentine shape to a very odd-looking Q shape...somehow, and shrugged, "It just wouldn't be fun! Plus, it's not my job."
"What? Then who's 'job' is it?" I demanded an answer to this, narrowing my eyes darkly as they flashed a menacing green and blue.
"Ever wonder why your wounds healed so quickly?" he asked suddenly, seeming to avoid my demand entirely.
Hesitantly, though, I still played along and left the question in the back of my mind. It will be for another time, I guess, "...Yes...it wouldn't be you, would it?"
"Heh, sorry, not me." He snickered, irritating me slightly, "Now I might be overstepping my boundaries here a bit, but answering your first question would be far, far too much, so...here goes."
I patiently waited on my haunches, expression stern and serious while I awaited my answer from the Mad-God.
"Ever seem like, since your reveal at the Wedding, that massive amounts of unknown thoughts of love, admiration, and awe have just flown at you from seemingly nowhere?"
Thinking back, I did recognize his point, so I nodded slowly, eyes narrowing again as I wondered where he was going with this.
"There're...creatures out there..." he started, slowly, as if trying to choose the right words so as not to 'overstep his boundaries,' I guess.
"Who watch us, and adore us."
"As in, you and I?" I asked curiously.
"No no. Far more than that." he grinned such a mad smile that I thought his face would explode.
Which...in all honesty, I wouldn't put past him.
"Everyone! EveryTHING. You and I. Celestia and Luna. Twilight and the other Elements. That bubbly Pegasus...they really seem to like her for some reason...everyone." He rubbed his chin in thought, "I think Pinkie Pie knows about them...and I know a certain minty-colored unicorn definitely knows about them."
I quickly started to think that I maybe shouldn't have inquired into his mind like this...clearly he was speaking of things beyond what I, or really anypony—or anyTHING—should ever know.
Perhaps this was why he became so...mad. So messed-up.
I was then starting to think of what he was like before what he is now, but decided that I should never get too curious, else I might ask him and get much more than I ever wanted, or most likely needed for that matter.
"But anyway...I again suggest you go see what kind of life your 'little one,' as you call her, has sparked throughout all of Equestria."
Attention now focused on Discord's new morsel of info, I leaned in closer, curious as to what he was talking about.
"I'm sure that none of your spies had much time to explore the deeper parts of pony life. The darker parts, one might say, actually!" Flinging his arms out wide, he concluded, "Go to a rave! See what Luna has inspired!"
I blinked several times, smiling a blank smile with naïve eyes staring into nothing...
Hmm...well, if I'm going to die...
"...What's a rave and how do I do one?"
"Alright, where is she..?"
Of course, the Queen of the Changelings, Mistress of all that is sneaky and deceptive, found a way to escape her cell and not leave a trace!
"How did she even regenerate so fast!?" I paced back and forth before the guardspony who's job it was to make sure this very thing did not happen, snarling at the thought of being bested—again!—by Her! "Where is she sapping the emotion from? Ugh! I'll have to find her quick before she plans anything again!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that aforementioned guard was shivering in his little armor. I narrowed my eyes at him out of contempt. Failure...incompetence! Ohhh...I know what the perfect punishment for him is...
"Wha-whoa! Hey! P-p-p-Princess!" He squealed in shock as my magic enveloped his form and raised him to my level.
"Oh! Don't worry! It's not your fault at all!" I wailed, wrapping him into a tight, comforting hug, "I didn't mean to scare you like that! I swear I'm not mad."
Letting go of him, I giggled as he took a deep and loud gasp of air. I just love bearhugs...
"We'll just have to find her again! She definately has to be within Canterlot still, so..." I clapped my hooves, giggling brightly, "Gather a bunch of the guards and tell them we're playing hide and seek!"
The guard opened his mouth to say something, clearly confused for some reason, but closed it again and only stood there, eyes narrowed as he tried to figure something out...
"Go!" I snapped, leaning in close so his face was barely half an inch from mine, my eyes narrowed, "NOW!"
With that, he scurried off, scrambling down the steps like a bumbling little foal.
"Buh-bye!" I waved him off, grinning like mad.
Like mad...
"Have we gone mad?" I pondered, looking off into space with a hoof to my chin, "Eh, maybe about this much." I held another hoof up in front of my face and made a semi-pinching motion with my fing-
"Wait...I don't have fingers."
Shrugging, I moved on, preparing to find good ole' Chryssy.
Again.
"Oh I LOVE hide and seek!"
"Ready or noooot!"
Did I mention yet that I love Hide and Seek?...oh, yeah, hehee, I did.
"Here I come, you insect!"
I could feel the eyes of every guard upon the back of my head. They were scared.
Of me...
I almost felt bad for seeming so cruel...but of course, with fear comes respect, and with respect comes control and order! Harmony.
"Well! Don't just gawk at me like idiots!" I snapped, losing my grin as I whipped around, wings flared, to reprimand my army, "Find her! And bring her to me." After searching around the crowd of white and gold to make sure every last one of them got the message, I grinned again, satisfied, and turned back forwards, "Feel free to use force if she resists in the slightest."
They filed out into the city before me. Pegasi to the sky's and towering rooftops, Earthponies to the streets, and Unicorns activating mass-group searching spells.
"Let the game begin, Chrysalis!"
"Oh! I LOVE games!"
"Shut-up!"
Grumbling inwardly, I set out myself to find my preymate-I mean playma-GAH! Enemy. Find my enemy. Stupid Tia...
"I thought I bucked your ribs in?" I wondered, questioning how she was still around after such a bone shattering kick.
"More like GLASS shattering, silly!" I responded, surpassing a giggle, "You kicked a mirror."
I stopped in my tracks.
"I did, didn't I?" With a renewed feeling of...contentment, I tilted my head down to smile at the little filly beneath me, "Why are you laying on the ground? That cannot be comfortable."
The filly shrugged, "Well...you've kept me here..."
She was a very bubbly filly...even with that down face she had on at the moment, anypony could easily tell that she radiated joy and kindness with the intensity of the sun.
The sun...
"Get your butt up here." I lifted her small form with my magic. She went along without complaint and allowed me to gently rest her across my back, "C'mon...we have dire matters to sort out."
We continued on. She made no noise, and barely moved for quite some time through. Though I would catch glimpses of her literally flowing pink mane here and again from the corners of my sight.
"Ooooh, I'm bored..."
"Shush!" I snapped, looking over my shoulder to find that she had, at some point, shifted positions so that she ended up sitting on her haunches—on my rump—with her back to me.
She ruffled her wings, shifting positions slightly to better balance on my flank, "She's a bit too good at playing hide and seek...can't we just play a different game?"
"Ugh..." I was beginning to remember why I disliked her...
"Hey! Look! Luna's raising the moon!"
I stopped momentarily to look down an ally branching off to our right. Indeed, through the gap in the buildings, I could see that the moon was on it's way to the position of honor. Behind me, I was sure, the sky surrounding my Sun was exploding with brilliant colors of crimson, purple, and orange. Of course, turning my head towards it proved to be dissatisfying, as the massive skyscraper blocked my view.
"At least I know Luna is staying in the Castle, and not poking her nose into my affairs..."
"Hehe, yeah, she always did snoop around too much for her own good."
"She did...didn't she?" Hard to suppress a giggle there. It's just too true.
After that, though, it all went sour.
"Do we really have to hurt Chryssy?"
I sneered, averting my gaze from Tia at all costs, "She is a monster. She needs to be hurt."
Tia suddenly flopped over my mane, staring me almost point blank into my eyes, upside, hanging over my head.
I will admit, I jumped a little.
"But you love her." She whined.
Whining whining whining! That's all she was ever good for...maybe I shouldn't have given her all that compassion earlier...she's starting to take it much too far.
"Get off my head, and stop talking." I demanded, glaring darkly into those innocent eyes of hers.
She remained quiet for a while, just staring back with a blank expression. It was almost odd...her frown looking just like a smile from this position. Eventually, she spoke, though.
"No."
"Tia, I will punish you, too." I explained, lining my voice with sugar, "Now please get off and be quiet!"
"Only if you promise to not hurt Chryssy."
"I am the grown-up here, the elder!" I started, raising my voice, "I do not obey you. On the contrary, you are the one which must obey me!"
I roughly yanked the brat off my head and dropped her to the ground, "I won't punish you, for you were only being naïve..."
"No! You were only being mean!"
My eyes snapped wide open.
"Shut up!" I reared around and snarled at the little Alicorn, "You want to see me being mean? Fine! This is 'mean!'"
I had had enough of her sniveling. Her whining only made it worse! And now the crying? I didn't need it, and I was not going to deal with it!
"I am leaving you here, gone, and away from me! And if you TRY to follow, I will ignore you." Her face, which was already contorted into a disgusting look of anguish, quickly faded into something one might find on Fluttershy after witnessing the death of a bunny, "And if you try to come near me..."
I narrowed my eyes, making damn sure the message hit home.
"I will not hesitate to punish you, severely."
I don't need her. She only hinders me, makes me weak! Naïve! But no more. She has been left far behind. Now I can do what I should have done long ago, and there will be NO regrets.
All I have to do...is find her.
Oh, but where to start? I should have consulted Discord again...although, he was starting to pick my nerves a bit too much.
Ohhh...I need ideas! Where could she possibly have gone? It's been far too long for any of her old interests to still be around, so I have no leads what so ever...
She has to be within the City still. A Queen out on her own in the wilderness? She wouldn't stand for it. She thinks far too highly of herself to do that. And regardless of how she regenerated so fast, she still needs to gather a supple amount of Love before even attempting a trip back to her hive, I'm sure...
Where does one gather love? Where to ponies go to find a possible source of affection?
Any of YOU have any ideas? As much as I hate to acknowledge Discord's "watchers"...
I'm running out of options and clearly I am desperate.
...I need a vacation. The Sun is nice this time of year, right?
That's right, I'm talkin' to You!
Ooohhh, goody! It is finally MY turn to enthrall you crowd of creatures known as Humans, yes? Oh, joy! Joyous indeed! I promise not to dumb down this already booooring story with unnecessary thoughts about non-important subjects, unlike my...associates probably have been doing.
Hmm, where have we left off...? Ah-hah! Luna is searching for answers now, I do believe! Which means I'm sure all of YOU are as well! Well look much further, for I have the answers! But they are not for your eyes...not yet.
In due time, my friends, in due time!
First, how about a nice chat with Celes-Tia again...
"Discord! Awaken, now!"
Such a demanding tone...oh, why can't Tia be the one to awaken me? She would have been much gentler about the process, I am sure!
"Please, Celestia! I am trying to catch my beauty sleep!" I snapped back, scowling angrily at my captor, "Even though I am clearly already handsome enough."
"We really do not have time, nor patience, for your games at the moment, Discord."
Yes...she was getting worse. Her voice had strayed so far from it's prior identity, I probably shouldn't even call her Celestia anymore! More commanding every minute, yes! Soon enough, I might have been facing torture instead of interrogation.
"Fine, fine. But you know how much it pains me to ignore games." I conceded. Where was Tia, though? I wondered, spinning and resting my head on the couch's arm. Trapped in a tube all of eternity with only a single piece of furniture is something I would never suggest anyone do, might I add.
Oops! Seems like I lied about not interjecting my own thoughts!
"Oh, Dissy," her accentuation change threw me off guard, I will admit. So odd...to hear the old Celestia right after being reprimanded by the Tyrant, "We're starting to wonder if maybe it was your games which did this..."
I shook my head no, but provided no verbal response.
"Right, I figured th-aaand how do we know he's really telling the truth!?" Again, her speech pattern changed. The voice slightly deeper than before. The accentuation more commanding than before. Even her posture stiffened up more than before.
All in mid sentence, too!
"I Pinkie Promise that I am not fibbing." I stated truthfully, although Celestia kept her angrily stern stare trained on me, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
A small, girly giggle escaped Celestia's mouth—which sounded oh so cute—yet her face remained as stern as ever.
Maybe I did mess her up by accident...?
...Ehhh, nah.
"Cute." Celestia snorted, turning with a snobbish flick of her mane, "But in all seriousness, you need to tell us..." Without turning around, she asked, "Does this condition have something to do with Chrysalis?"
I grinned. Of course I already knew what was happening, and of course she already knew that I knew. The thing is, with a mind as chaotic as mine, especially with all of the thinking time I have, I can ponder, quite literally, everything. Somehow—and I couldn't tell you how—my subconscious generates a number of outcomes to every situation and event, which I then personally decide on which is more likely to happen.
Ever wonder why I so willingly allowed Twilight and her friends to fire their Super Friendship Cannon of Rainbows and Love? I had decided that I had no chance of losing from the above description, and since I had yet to be wrong before, I just...accidentally let it happen!
Oh well, it'll work out in the end for me. There's a 99.99999 percent chance that I'm right!
"Yes." I answered, eliciting a quick, but barely noticeable glance from Celestia, "But there's more than that." This time, her whole head turned, and remained intently fixated on my mocking grin.
She hated that I knew more than her.
I, on the other hand (as you humans say), loved that fact!
"Everything that has happened since Luna's return...From Nightmare, to Me, to Chrysalis...everything from one thousand years ago is coming BACK!" I watched as, slowly, her eyes started darting around the room, head reared back and tilted slightly to the floor while her mind raced!
I LOVE my job!
"The more and more you realized this, the more anxious you became, clearly." I shrugged, just to emphasize how clear it was. Well, clear to me, at least, "Because you know that if your dear little sister ever discovered what you did—everything you did—then you know that she would hate you for the rest of your life!"
Her anxiety rose through my whole speech, denoted by the fact that she had started to breath somewhat erratically, "Or, that's what you think, anyway. Celestia, I have thought of five very likely outcomes to this situation." Her eyes instantly refocused on me and her breathing completely stopped. Guess she was holding her breath for what I had to say, "One involves the end of all life as we know it, oddly enough." I gave a small laugh at the sudden look of shock and fear she gave me. Oh, it was hilarious! But I had business to attend to, so I allowed only a short chuckle, "Another ends with the usurpation of your thrown by Chrysalis, and the third ends with your very death, also by Chrysalis." Again, that look of shock and fear. She should probably breath soon...ah, there we go! Her face was turning purple, hehe, "One ends with your death by your Little Luna's hooves..." she was about to cut me off with, most likely, an outburst of rage or denial, but I shouted to stop her from doing so.
"Celly, just be quiet and listen!" I hate to admit it, but it did love her at one time, long ago...but...this is for another time. You just needed to know why I am telling her all this, is all, "You did very wrong by Luna, and you know that, which is the whole reason why one of those four endings are more likely to occur! But if there is anything you should know..." If you couldn't tell, I was no longer in a playful mood, "It is that Friendship is Magic." Ugh...so cheezy! But...still true, "So family must be something even more deep-rooted, more transcending than that!"
I paused, taking a moment to recollect myself while Celestia processed her thoughts on my outburst.
With a sigh, I continued, clearly not in the mood to play games at all...I promised I wouldn't! "Lastly, you can save your relationship with Luna, and remain as the Loving ruler you swore to be."
Without missing a beat, she finally asked the question she had originally came to me for, and which I already had the answer to, "What of Chrysalis?"
"If you must know...she dies." I stated bluntly.
"What!?" Tia gasped at this notion, "But why? She doesn't have to...does she?"
I was about to respond, but Tyrantlestia cut me off, "If it will fix the damage! Then so be it!"
She started to storm out of the room, clearly uninterested in anything else I had to say...too bad for her, though.
"She'a going to die no matter what..." I muttered, even though she couldn't hear me any more, her hooffalls echoing back from the long hallway she exited through, "Either by Celestia, or Luna..." I shrugged again, rolling back over on the couch to get to sleep, "It's only natural for the death of a leader or two to be necessary to bring about order, after all."
I guess now that you know what is happening here...kinda...you're wondering which outcome I have decided is most likely, then?
Not my job to tell you. It's the writer's. Complain to him, not me.
...well this quickly went sour.
I have to kill her...she...she has to die!
There's no other way...sh-shhhheee j-just won't let me do what needs to be done if she's still alive! You know what I mean, right?...oh...no-nonononono...I'm doing that odd thing Discord would do...I-I'm talking to no one! It's been happening more frequently lately, actually...I feel as though my head is just so...jumbled. Like there's so much swirling around so fast that I can't decide on what to do...and then that feeling as though my every action is watched by thousands upon thousands of strange creatures from another world...Discord used to always talk about that...
Gah! Shhhhh...wait...she's there...watching me...right on the other side of the room...I-I think she saw me glance over...her eyes moved away just as mine did...
She's weak...immature...naïve. She won't be hard to overtake...I...I could beat her down with my hooves...or run her through with my horn...but first...I have to bring her...to...the floor...
I'll just...calmly stroll to the side...
Pretend to notice something on the floor—No! Don't look over!—Turn...turn slowly and lean down...then...
Buck her to the floor!
...what just shattered?
