The Taxonomy of the Lower Reaches of the Discordian Dimensions

The darkness pulsated, but if there had been any observers on the outskirts of the Chaos dimensions, they would not have been able to tell it did.

“It begins.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. The creature that has held you back all this time is powerless. His power has not moved to another entity like the last time.”

“Good. I do not wish for more false alarms. Let us ready.”

The darkness pulsated again, though this time it was as if it was made up of millions of entities.

“Not...going...back to hospital,” said Discord, struggling as best he could. Starswirl groaned. Trying to carry Discord back to the castle, even with magic was like trying to grasp a giant macaroni noodle that kept flopping about. The draconequus was delirious but still seemed to have strength in that body.

They were about a half mile from the Castle of Friendship. While Starswirl did feel that the hospital was the best place for him, he needed to get Discord somewhere closer first, and somewhere out of the rain that had now become torrential.

The whole way there Discord had muttered nonsense sprinkled with the occasional  phrase that cut Starswirl to the quick: “you all hate me.”

“No, boy. We don't hate you.”

“You do! I knew it was all too good to be true. When I get out of this statue...”

Starswirl was immediately thankful that when they reached Castle Friendship, the rain on his face would disguise any wetness that had appeared there by other means. He pushed open the heavy doors and dragged in a very soaked and very maudlin draconequus.

“Twilight!” called the unicorn. “I found him!”

The sound of several sets of hooves running down the stairs greeted Starswirl's tired ears. Twilight and Fluttershy headed the crowd of ponies and Spike.

"Geeze, he looks like a dead eel," said Spike.

"Spike!" scolded Twilight Sparkle.

"Sorry...it just sort of slipped out."

Fluttershy was moving towards Discord. She reached out to stroke his mane but he seemed to recognize what she was going to do and curled up against Starswirl, away from her. He was delerious, but he still felt guilt at what he had done.

Fluttershy felt a gnawing sensation in her chest at his fearful movement.

"We need to get him to the hospital," said Starswirl.

"No hospital!" whimpered Discord. "I want a bed."

Twilight helped Starswirl move Discord onto a sofa bed. The draconequus curled up, and buried his snout in the pillows. He truly was exhausted.

"You can rest for a bit, but we really do need to take you there, boy."

"No hospital," repeated Discord, but there was less fight in his voice this time. He just seemed relieved to be in a soft bed, even if his drenched feathers were soaking the sheets.

"Send a message to Doctor Zygoma," said Starswirl. "At the very least he needs looking at."

Spike starting taking a note.

Fluttershy watched Discord from the door. She really hoped the cure the doctors were developing with the antibodies would not only be ready soon, but might actually work. She wanted more than anything to comfort him and stroke his mane and tell him everything would be okay. But would it? The disease seemed to be affecting Discord much faster than it had affected the pony. And he had cowered from her. Was that because he was so ill he didn't recognize her? He had never cowered from her before; not seriously. Yes, he had done things like make himself small when she had scolded him, but that was just Discord being Discord, and even then there was a bit of humour in it. She really wanted to hold him.

"Fluttershy."

She jumped at the sound of Starswirl's voice.

"I...I owe you a great apology," said the unicorn. "I assumed a lot of things about you and Discord that were not true."

Fluttershy felt her face turn hot as she remembered the circumstances in which Starswirl had last encountered her and Discord together.

"Um, that's...okay?" she scuffed the ground with her hoof. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about this. Unfortunately that seemed to be exactly what Starswirl wanted to talk about.

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry if this is terribly forward of me, but I need to know once and for all—did Discord do anything that you didn’t want to do?”

“No!” came the reply right away. “It was consensual.”

Starswirl nodded. “That’s all I need to know, Fluttershy. Now we just need to work on getting him better.”

Fluttershy nodded, but she felt a flash of anger for Starswirl and the others. Why did everyone think Discord was such a terrible person? Why did they always jump to such horrible conclusions? Why couldn’t they see how loving and brave and funny he was? Well, she partly knew why. He had caused a lot of trouble for them in the past, but he was no rapist. She had never felt threatened by him in that way, and she was well aware how powerful his magic was.

She felt angry, because ponies always pointed to Discord as an example of someone who should be shunned and feared.

"Sir," Fluttershy said to Starswirl.

"Call me Starswirl, Fluttershy."

"Oh. Um...okay. Would it be alright if I had a few moments alone with Discord?"

"Of course!" The unicorn gave her a warm smile and left the room.

Fluttershy moved towards the bed and looked down at the pale draconequus. His breathing was shallow and he whimpered slightly now and then.

Tentatively, she reached out with a hoof and felt his muzzle. It was warm to the touch and she knew he had a high fever.

Discord shifted slightly at her touch. She was carressing his mane and that confused him. Why the heck would she be touching him in such a gentle way after what he had done? He decided she was a hallucination. He was partially used to hallucinations after the sensory depravation of his stone prison, and there had often been times when he questioned whether his yellow pegasus friend was real. Well, this version of Fluttershy who was being sweet and welcoming after the events of the past few days had to be an illusion.

He felt slight relief at this. It meant he didn't have to feel guilty that he was leaning into her touch. The illusion was so comforting- the illusion that this warm, beautiful, kind mare cared about him and wanted to protect him from the horrors of the world. That she didn't think he was an awful person. He whimpered and curled up half of his body in her lap.

"There, there," the illusion was saying. "It's alright. You're going to be okay. We'll find a cure, okay?"

He felt drops of wetness fall on his face. Illusions didn't cry did they? Mind you, hallucinations could be anything. He lay in her lap and decided to enjoy the sensation of her imaginary hoof on his mane while it lasted.

The next day was a tense one. Discord didn't seem to be getting any better. Twilight knew it was bad since he didn't seem to be doing his usual terrible patient routine when he got sick. Flus and colds were the "worst thing ever", and Discord would often act like he had the plague and couldn't ponies show some compassion? And couldn't ponies know how awful having blocked sinuses was?

But this time he only lay there, and that was unnerving.

Twilight looked up at the sound of Fluttershy closing Discord's bedoom door.

"How's he holding up?" said Twilight, thought she knew the answer. She wasn't sure what to say anymore.

Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry. Then to Twilight's horror, she did.

"This is all my fault," wailed the pegasus. "He was doing this all for me and he shouldn't have done!"

"What? Hey, no! Don't you ever say that. Discord chose to do this. Besides, that creature came to Equestria at just the right moment. If Discord hadn't been doing his study of the dimension's fauna we might have been less prepared."

"He relies too much on me, Twilight." Soft little sobs began to come from the pegasus.

The alicorn got up and gave her friend a hug. "Listen," she said. "I do agree with you that Discord does have some issues with clinginess." To put it mildly thought Twilight, "But that's something we can work on later. Right now we need to focus on making him comfortable and making sure he gets better."

Both ponies looked up as there was a sudden knock at the door. It was Doctor Zygoma with a package.

"I've just visited the pony in hospital," she said. "And I'm happy to report that we started him on the antibodies we've gotten from your blood sample, Fluttershy."

Dr. Zygoma removed a drip and bag from the package, containing a honey-coloured serum.

"I'd like to try it on Discord, with his permission, since he seems to be adverse to coming to see us."

"Stubborness always was his greatest affliction," muttered Starswirl, who had been alerted by the door and had just joined them.

"Where is the patient?" asked the doctor, ignoring Starswirl's comment.

"Through here," said Fluttershy eagerly, and opened the door to Discord's room.

"Hello, Discord," said Dr. Zygoma. The draconequus shifted slightly at the sound of her voice. "I'm here to administer a treatment. With your permission I'd like to start right away."

Discord opened one, blearly, bloodshot eye. He could make out Dr. Zygoma with her drip and next to her, a worried looking Fluttershy. Why did she look so worried? Oh, right. Hallucination.

"G'ahead," he muttered to the doctor. "Nothing to lose..."

"Sit up a little for me."

Doctor Zygoma dotted Discord's inner eagle elbow with a swab of alcohol then attached the drip to a vein. Discord didn't even flinch at the needle. He barely cared anymore. Everyone hated him, so what was the point? Normally he loved people waiting on him hoof and hoof when he was ill, but this he couldn't muster up enough energy to care. He had no magic, and he had hurt his best friend. Nothing mattered anymore. He lay back down on the pillow and succumbed to his feverish dreams again.

The doctor turned to Fluttershy. "I'll be back every day to check on his progress. In the meantime make sure he drinks plenty of fluids and that he's comfortable."

"I will," said Fluttershy. The doctor smiled softly at the pegasus. "I'll do everything I can to make sure he gets better," she said.

"Thank you," said Fluttershy softly, looking up at Zygoma with gratitude in her eyes. The doctor placed a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, smiled at her once more then took her leave.

The next few days felt equally tense. Though Doctor Zygoma visited daily to top up Discord's serum and check his temperature, his condition seemed to have worsened. At one point his fever had been so ridiculously high that Fluttershy had placed ice packs on his forehead, neck and chest in an attempt to cool him down. He would mumble non-sensical phrases, and occassionally he cried out that nothing was real, which broke Fluttershy's soft heart. She knew how much he feared the darkness and lack of stimulation.

Then on the fourth day, Doctor Zygoma had news.

"The pony at the hospital has recovered," she said to everyone. "I don't understand why the serum isn't working with Discord."

Rarity hugged Fluttershy as she let out a whimper. "Shhh, darling. We'll think of something," she said to her friend, though part of her wondered if that was true.

"Could it be because he isn't a pony?" asked Twilight. "Maybe the serum affects draconequii differently?"

"It's possible," said Dr. Zygoma. " It could even be that magic was his life force and without it he's struggling to hold on, but all we're doing at this stage is guessing. I...I'm very sorry to say this, but unless we can find an alternative solution Discord's chances look bleak".

"No!" shouted Fluttershy defiantly, causing Rarity to jump.

"He's not going to die! I won't let him die."

"None of us want him to die, Fluttershy," said Starswirl. "But the serum doesn't seem to be working and it worked with the pony. Both of them were attacked by the same creature so I don't understand why it isn't taking."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide, as if something had just clicked in her mind.

"The creature," she said. "Could it...could it be possible that the one that attacked the pony and the one that attacked Discord aren't the same species?"

"What makes you think they aren't, Sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

Fluttershy took a deep breath. She had a theory, and it was a longshot, but it might be the only one Discord had.

"When the creature that attacked me sprang it turned white. The creature that attacked Discord didn't change. It was always black." Something else occured to her and she pushed her way through the crowd and ran upstairs towards the library. The others followed in confusion.

Fluttershy ran towards the desk Scriptum had been working at and began to sort through the papers franctically. After about 15 minutes she found what she was looking for. She handed the species description to Doctor Zygoma. "I suggest taking this description to the specimen at the hospital and comparing it with the monster," she said. "See if there are any other differences that aren't that obvious. This description lays out all the physical and behavioural characteristics of the creature. If the one that attacked Discord is indeed different, then we have to figure out how to cure him some other way, and there isn't much time!"

Doctor Zygoma nodded and took the parchment from Fluttershy. "I'll let you know as soon as I examine the specimen," she promised.

Once the doctor was gone Fluttershy began to pace back and forth franctically. "I don't know what else to do!" she cried. She was frightened for Discord. He was getting worse and the cure could take months to develop. Twilight's ears drooped. She had been thinking along similar lines. Any relief they had at figuring this out now was short-lived as they all realized it might be too late for the draconequus.

"I have an idea," said Starswirl. "I have no idea if it will work, but it's worth a shot."

Everyone looked at him, urging him to continue with their eyes.

"Twilight, back when you defeated Tirek, the other princesses transferred their power to you. I may be able to do the same for Discord. It's not exactly chaos magic, and I don't know how long it will work for if it does happen to work, but if it is lack of magic that is destroying him, then it would be crazy of us not to try."

"What about you?" asked Twilight. She was concerned that Starswirl might be sick or weakened by giving up his magic on something that might not even work.

"I'm an old stallion, Twilight. I've lived a good long life and even without magic I've got enough pep in me to still raise hell!" He reared up on his hind legs. "C'mon! No time to lose!"

They gathered round the bed, where Discord lay. He looked extremely thin and pale and his breathing was still shallow.

Fluttershy gently placed a hoof on his forehead then hugged him. Discord seemed barely aware of her presense.

"Alright, everyone, stand back," said Starswirl.

His horn began to glow, then a blast of magic shot upwards, glowing in a bluish-purple ball. The colourful light illuminated the room and made Discord's pale, gaunt figure look unearthly. Then it began to move downwards, spiralling like the water going down a drain into the draconequus. Eventually the last of it vanished into Discord's chest.

Starswirl collapsed at the energy drainage. Rainbow Dash and Applejack hurried over to help him up.

"Did it work?" asked Pinkie eagerly.

"Did what work?" asked Discord, and Pinkie shrieked with delight, causing the draonequus to instinctively shove pillows in his ears.

"Discord!" cried Fluttershy, and she ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

He was surprised by this, and cringed slightly. How could she hug him after what he had done? All of a sudden thoughts about Fluttershy were forgotten as a wave of nausea overtook him. "Bucket," he whimpered through gritted teeth.

"What?" said Twilight.

"Bucket!" he cried. But it was too late. The sheets would have to go in the laundry.

Everyone took turns keeping an eye on Discord after that. Though he seemed to be doing much better and his temperature was down, he was still rather weak and confined to bed. Of course now that he was awake he spent every minute telling everyone how bored he felt. When he wasn't awake he slept fitfully.

Around evening, it was Starswirl's turn to watch over the draconequus.

"Oh, hey Old Man," said the draconequus, turning on his side to face the unicorn.

"How are you feeling?"

"Vomity," came the reply.

"I'm sorry I asked."

Discord chuckled, then winced at the slight pain it caused his ribs. Immediately he wished Fluttershy was there to make him feel better, and he chided himself internally for it.

"What's wrong?" asked Starswirl, as he saw the look of pain on the chimera's face. "Do you need another bucket?"

"No...no. I..."

He was very confused. Why was everyone so concerned about him? Why wasn't he being punished for what he had done? He eyed Starswirl warily. Was this some kind of trick?

"Would you like some water?" asked Starswirl.

"Er....no," replied Discord. He suddenly felt the urge to get up and attempt running away into the night. He sat up and winced. Another wave of sickness threatened to overcome him. He shoved it down as hard as he could.

"I'm so glad you're doing better, boy."

Discord bristled. "Are you?"

"Yes?" said the unicorn in confusion.

“It was all your fault this crap happened anyway!”

“You’re half right. It partly was my fault for sending you away.”

“Yes it was! I was…huh?” Discord hadn’t expected Starswirl to agree with him.

“I shouldn’t have sent you away or fired at you all those centuries ago, but you were such a stubborn person! I was afraid war would break out if you and Celestia married.”

Discord snorted. “Not like that was gonna happen anyway. The old girl clearly had a thing for stuck-up princes after all.”

Starswirl fidgeted. He figured it was confession time and he wanted a clean conscience. He really didn't want Discord to continue to blame himself for anything, especially not the situation with Fluttershy that had turned out to be totally benign. “Er…not exactly.”

“What do you mean ‘not exactly’? You told me she had decided to marry the Prince because she wanted to. And I wasn’t even informed of this development. She…she didn’t even  bother to tell me.”

“Yes…I did say that…but…”

Discord’s head was cocked to one side like a confused hound. “But what, Old Man?”

Starswirl sighed deeply, as if he had just climbed a mountain while carrying two overweight goats strapped to his back.

“She still wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea. She came to me in tears the night before saying she was afraid of hurting you, but she knew she had to marry him to prevent conflict. In a lot of ways you were right, she felt pressured into it. And she didn’t want Luna to take her place. She loved you.”

Discord was completely still.

“Wait, but you said she didn’t say anything about me when she made her descision.”

Starswirl looked at the floor.

“Old Man?”

The silence continued.

“You lied.”

“I…did…but I was in my own precarious situation! You had been warned several times that your interference with royal matters was going to cause conflict between kingdoms! The truth clearly wasn’t working with you.”

“So that’s how it is, eh, Old Man?” Discord’s voice was a threatening purr and he was now out of bed and towering over the unicorn. “Oh, I don’t think you get to play high horse here.”

“That’s exactly how it is! You’re the one that’s reading far too much into it. I made a mistake. I’m not proud of it, but it wasn’t entirely my fault either! You caused outright anarchy! Ponies died because of you!”

Well, so much for not wanting him to blame himself for anything though Starswirl wearily.

“You made me think I had…” Discord stopped mid-sentence. “Actually, you know what? Screw you. You don’t deserve to know what I thought I had. Don’t come near me again, Old Man. I can’t promise I’ll be my usual affable, charming self.”

“Discord, listen to me…”

The draconequus had turned on his goat heel and left the room already. Starswirl started to follow after him, but Discord whirled around and snarled aggressively at him.

“Get bucked,Starswirl!” he growled. “I don’t want your false sympathy, or anyone’s false sympathy. That’s what this has been about all along: Ply the draconequus with platitudes to keep him happy so he doesn’t wreck all our peace and harmony, because we all know what a terrible person Discord is.”

He swallowed hard as he suddenly felt nauseated. “And I am. Look what I did to Fluttershy.”

“Discord…”

“Don’t come near me,” repeated the draconequus. “I’m outta here. But first I’ve got to make a stop somewhere. Don’t bother coming after me Old Man.”

Then Discord was out the door, and flying upwards and onwards. Starswirl was shouting something below him, but he didn’t care. He continued to travel until he was well out of sight of Castle Friendship, then he scryed for the pony he was looking for. After a few minutes the magic returned and relayed the location of who he was seeking.

“Hello, Scriptum,” Discord growled.

Starswirl moaned in frustration. Discord never listened! He decided he had been wrong about stubborness being his greatest enemy. Discord's greatest enemy was assuming the worst about everything.