A Story Never Told

DAY 126

"His name... is Discord." The eight of us (me, my six friends, and Celestia, who was speaking) were in an ornate hall in  an obscure part of the castle. In front of us was an ornate door, locked by a mechanism I didn't recognize.

Twilight perked up, "I've heard of Discord. Is he behind the weird things going on?"

Some really odd things had been happening over the past day. Although stuff was happening pretty much everywhere, I was dealing with cream soda floods at my house, which had gone into my basement after I opened the door. I doubted much of my equipment had survived it, but I hadn't had time to look before being summoned to Canterlot.

Celestia's face was grave, "Yes. You need to use the elements to stop him."

Rainbow dash spoke, "What about you? Didn't you use the elements against Nightmare Moon? Why do we have to be the ones to use them?"

"The elements are not designed to be used by a single pony. Using them alone, and especially against my sister who had previously wielded them with me, nearly killed me, and destroyed my ability to use the elements at all. That's why I arranged for you to get the Elements in order to combat Nightmare Moon."

I didn't comment that the plan had turned out sup-par for me.

Celestia inserted her horn into the lock. Patterns on the door began to glow, and it opened after a couple seconds.

"Impressive." Applejack said.

Inside the room was a single box, decorated with many gems of various sizes. She picked up the box with her magic.

"This box contains the Elements of Harmony. They are the only thing that can harm Discord."

As the box opened, Pinkie Pie gasped, "They're invisible!"

"What? No, they..." Celestia looked horrified as she gazed into the box, "DISCORD!"

An eerie laugh began to emanate from the walls. It was especially creepy since the sound came from literally every surface in the room, including the inside of my own ears

"You should see the look on your face! I went through all that trouble of getting through the wards without setting alarms just for you! Don't you like it?"

Celestia had obviously conversed with Discord before, and didn't like it.

"Stop playing games! You're just as insufferable as you were a thousand years ago!"

"I forgot how boring you were. Not really, considering I heard every boring speech you made from the castle over the last thousand years. You did that on purpose, right?"

I was getting fed up with useless conversation, "Jung qb lbh jnag?"

The voice stopped for several seconds, before returning.

"Oh ho! You didn't tell me that little curse still existed, Celestia. Quite interesting. As the spirit of chaos, I can actually understand you. Funny how that works, eh?"

"Pna lbh pher vg?"

"Probably, but as they say: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I don't usually listen to nonsense like that, but it seems appropriate in this situation. Anyway, for the sake of our resident pony princess, I'll make this brief. A riddle for the location of the elements. How does that sound?"

I could tell that Celestia was just about ready to explode, only restrained by her desire to learn what little Discord was willing to tell.

"I'll take that a yes. Here we go. To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began"

The moment the speaking stopped, a mind altering field sprang into existence, both immensely powerful, so as to affect Element bearers, and incredibly subtle, so even Celestia was likely to not notice. Discord was right not to try to cure my curse, the cheater. All in all, though, I was actually quite impressed with the skill and power he possessed. I had no reason to think we were capable of beating him. Maybe I'd have to find a way to talk him down, since he could understand me.

After a few moments of conferring, Twilight had an idea, "The maze! That has twists and turns! The elements must be in there."

It took a lot of effort to fight the mind-altering field enough to not wholeheartedly agree, and I was conscious of it. Although I didn't doubt the Elements were in some sort of 'beginning', probably the old castle in the Everfree Forest, I doubted I'd be able to prevent myself from following the group.

When we reached the maze, Discord was sitting there. He radiated a completely different spectrum of energy than any other object I has seen before, and much more brightly. I guessed his form of magic was completely incompatible with mine, and vastly superior too. When we reached the entrance, Discord spoke.

"Before we start, I'm going to lay a few ground rules," his voice no longer echoed, due to it now originating from actual vocal cords, " First: No wings, no magic, " As he said this, he snapped, and all horns and wings on the party disappeared, an incredible display of power, especially against the bearers of the Elements,  "We don't want any foul play. Second. No slackers. You all have to play, or the game is over and I win."

"Jul ner lbh rira obgurevat?"

Discord laughed, "Because it's funny, of course! You don't have any chance of winning, since I'm using magic and you aren't, but you still try. Nothing amuses me more than mortals frantically trying to achieve what they can't."

I sensed another motive, but I didn't argue.  We all hesitantly entered the maze.

Twilight spoke, "Don't worry. Nothing can stop us as long as we're togeth—"

Hedges sprang up, blocking the exit and separating each member of the party.

Twilight's voice was much more nervous now, "Alright, meet in the center. We'll regroup there."

I continued along the path,  running much faster than any of the others possibly could have. Discord had taken my horn, but I still had my enhanced strength.

After a couple minutes however, I ran into Discord.

"Guvf tnzr pna'g cbffvoyl or whfg sbe ragregnvazrag. Jung vf vg lbh ner gelvat gb qb?"

Discord sighed, "You are perceptive, I'll give you that. How about this: I tell you the purpose of this game, and then I do whatever I want to you. How's that?"

"Qb V unir n pubvpr?"

"No, you don't have a choice. Anyway. The Elements grant their bearers massive protections against magic, including mine. However, If I can 'encourage' a small demonstration of the opposite attribute their Element represents, I can cause the Element in question to completely forsake its bearer, giving me the ability to mess with their mind at my pleasure."

That was scary. I knew firsthand that the bearers were quite far from perfect in their representation of their elements, one or two passing only by an uncomfortably small margin.

"However, you do not have the protection of an Element. Guess you picked the short straw, huh? Good news though, after I mess with your mind, your curse won't be able to recognize it, and you'll be able to speak again."

Discord touched me on my forehead, and my priorities and emotions became unstable, and began changing.

***

"Recumen, are you alright?" Twilight entered the chamber I was in.

"I'm fine. You?"

"You can talk! At least one good thing has come of this mess."

"Good for me, maybe. Good overall? Hardly."

"...What do you mean?"

"I can hear four of your friends outside, and from what they're saying, they aren't quite themselves. Discord got to them. What do you think would change if Discord affected my mind?"

"You'd become dumber? I don't know. What did he do to you?"

"My intelligence didn't change. I'm still at a solid sixteen thousand Rellings. What did change are my morals. No, that's not quite the way to describe it. Before, my goals were towards helping others, and improving the world around me."

"You want to destroy the world?"

I laughed, "No, of course not. I'm just completely, one hundred percent selfish now. If this version of myself is somehow exterminated, and the old me returns, I want you to know one thing: all of the things you see me do, he was capable of as well. Just because he hid his ruthlessness from you doesn't mean it isn't there."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want to have to explain this in a more stressful situation. Also, I don't want you do to anything that would force me to kill you. I like you, sort of. As long as you stay that way, and out of the way, you can live." I have her a look that I knew was absolutely terrifying.

Twilight was trembling then, just a little. Good.

I changed the topic. No sense in scaring Twilight beyond rationality, "I hear wings. Rainbow dash must have gotten hers back."

Only a couple of seconds later, the entire maze disappeared, and Discord was sitting on a tall throne overlooking everyone present.

"Looks like somepony broke the no wings, no magic rule. Too bad. I guess now—"

"DISCORD!" I shouted for his attention.

"What is it? I already gave you your voice and your selfishness, what else do you want?"

"I propose an alliance. I'm going to rule this planet eventually, and I want your support."

Discord sighed, "I thought I was the one destined to rule. Why would I give you the throne?"

"You don't want to rule, you want to play. If I keep a planet wide empire, there won't be anywhere people will come from in order to use the Elements against you, and anyone who tries to overthrow me will have to answer to you. You need my support for safety, and I need yours for stability."

Discord feigned boredom, but couldn't hide his interest, "And what would keep you from betraying me? With the vast power you would accumulate, you would no doubt find something that could defeat me."

"Why would I? No matter the plan involved, attacking you would be risky, besides—"

"Could you save your chatter about global domination until later?"

Twilight was standing in front of me, with an expression both angry and determined, "Why weren't the Elements in the maze?"

Discord looked exasperated, "Recumen already figured that one out. I never said they were in the labyrinth.  I don't know why they call it a labyrinth, though. I've seen corn mazes more complicated. Anyway, they're hidden in a completely different place."

Twilight stared at both of us for several seconds before leaving, probably to have an argument with anti-fluttershy or anti-pinkie.

After Twilight left, I addressed Discord one last time, "Oh, and another thing, Discord. The original me... we should give him a name."

"How's Rumplestiltskin?"

"I like that. Anyway, if Rumplestiltskin gains control again, he will kill you. He doesn't take lightly to tampering with his head."

"Why would he? He didn't kill the people who did that before."

"Didn't he?"

I felt Discord rifle through the contents of my brain, "So he did. If that's the case, and I was even worried about him succeeding, why wouldn't I just kill you to remove the threat?"

"Because I'm very helpful to you. If something happens to you, Rumplestiltskin will be in control again, and I don't want that. As a result, I will do what I can to prevent you from being stopped. Besides, you don't like killing people, do you Discord? I'm just pointing out that letting him get in control again would be very bad for both of us."

"You make a tough case. Very well, I'll attend to chaosifying this place, and you'll take care of the bearers. I've already done most of the work, but Twilight is still in control of herself."

With that, Discord left. I had a few ideas for discouraging Twilight. I still didn't want to kill any of them. The feeling was odd, it didn't fit. I didn't think too much on it, but a small part of me still cared about them, so I decided to try my best to find nonlethal tactics.

***

"FINE! Leave! See if I care! I don't need you guys either!"

I coughed.

"Oh, hey Recumen. These ponies are just so insufferuble! My friends have all become complete jerks!"

Good, "To put it simply, they aren't the same people. I came here because I was wondering if we could hang out sometime. Eat some food, play some games. Maybe have sex later, perhaps?"

Twilight was startled and horrified, "What? No! Ugh, you're even worse than the rest of them!"

As twilight left, I chuckled. There was no way she'd be willing to gather her friends against discord at that point. The next step was to find something in my house capable of taking care of the princesses, but first, I decided I'd pay anti-fluttershy a visit.

On the way to Fluttershy's house, Twilight and Applejack approached behind me. I immediately put them inside a shield.

I saw Applejack, and the new determination she possessed, "I see you've found something that can cure Discord's influence. I'm this close to crushing you into pulp, Twilight. Just because I prefer you alive doesn't mean I'm not going to kill you if you force my hand."

Twilight's voice was muffled through the shield, "I'm the element of magic. Do you think you can kill me with a shield?"

I gave my creepy smile again, "Of course. I've learned all the magic you know from your mind directly, and my time tinkering with my own genetics has not come without benefits. I'm much more powerful than you, Twilight. If you know what's good for you, you will give up now and let me wipe your minds. I'll bet Discord will have something for you to do."

Twilight began to cast a spell I didn't recognize. I tried to collapse the shield to crush her, but it was too late, the spell created massive psychic reverberations, and I couldn't concentrate enough to cast anything.

"You think Celestia would have taught me without knowledge of how to protect my important secrets? I know a good deal of dark magic, none of which was ever accessible to you. Did you know there is a slightly necromantic spell that perfectly imitates the wail of a banshee?"

I was desperate at this point. I knew that if Twilight managed to apply whatever cure she had cooked up, I would lose control of my mind, to forever put the needs of others above my own. I couldn't cast spells, but I was still the strongest pony for my size I knew of. I rushed at Twilight, but I underestimated the mental fortitude of Applejack, who kicked me squarely in the side.

"We don't mean to hurt ya, sugarcube. This'll only take a second"

I burst several glands throughout my body. I expelled a mix of several potent gaseous neurotoxins out of my mouth, directly at Twilight and Applejack. Unfortunately, I had told Twilight the nature of these glands before, and she teleported the air between us to a different location.

I tried another, more desperate tactic. I broke my own forelimb, and pushed the jagged edge out of my leg to form an impromptu 'claw'. (a trick learned from the aptly named horror frog) My highly dense bone structure made it even stronger than a similar weapon made of steel.

I swiped my new tool at twilight and applejack, forcing them to back off. I inserted several contact poisons into my spittle, and started spraying it at the two. Twilight didn't have much power leftover from the spell she was using to disrupt me, but she was able to summon a weak shield to block it.

Twilight started charging a new spell. The cure must be usable at a slightly longer range than my claw, and with one less leg I was unable to rush her faster than she could back up or Applejack could knock me aside. I decided on one, final tactic. I sang.

Fun fact about telepathy. It needs some sort of wave carrying it in order to function. Normally, brainwaves are used, as they are already synced to your brain activity, but brainwaves have very little power, and cause a comparatively small effect. Electromagnetic radiation (light) is unfeasible since many frequencies cannot go through a skull, and the entire spectrum must be used to be effective. So, obviously, sound is the most effective option. I don't recommend learning how to sync singing to your brain activity, as it took even me five years of practice. Once done properly, however, you send out a massive force of raw psychic energy to those in earshot. This overload of psychic power has proven one hundred percent lethal to any who hear if for more than ten seconds.

Twilight, however, immediately stopped the wailing spell, and focused everything she had on the cure spell.

***

"Sugarcube, ya might wanna have that leg looked at."

Applejack and Twilight were standing over me worriedly. I remembered what had happened. Fortunately, I had managed to prevent the other me from using lethal force until the end of the fight, when it was too late.

"Fbeel nobhg gung."

Twilight was exited, "You can't talk again! Wait, that's not what I meant. You aren't trying to kill us anymore, is what I meant."

I telekineticly placed my leg over the jagged bone break, and got it into some semblance of healability. It would be a couple days before I'd be able to use it at all. I missed the times I could heal something like that in a matter of hours, but it was what it was.

Twilight gave me a worried look, "Recumen, is it true what the other you said? That you are capable of doing all of those things too?"

I considered it for a moment. Certainly, it would be preferable for the ponies of Equestira to think of me as friendly and harmless, but I knew that the time for ruthlessness would come, and that I didn't want to be held back by that image then. Also, I fully intended to kill Discord. The prison the Elements had created before was fallible, and so would the next one. When Discord escaped again, and if my mind was corrupted a second time, it would be far less likely for the situation to be reconciled. That, and there was a considerable amount of personal anger. Despite this, however, I wouldn't kill Discord until I had a reliable way to do it, and since the prison would likely last another thousand years or so, there was no point in trying in the near future. I knew that it would happen eventually, however.

All this thinking took merely a half second. I waited long enough for it to seem truly hesitant, and nodded.

Twilight sighed, "I suspected so. That doesn't make you a bad friend, just a dangerous one, I suppose. This is probably a bad time to bring this up, but Luna just published that book based on your work."

Applejack interrupted, "Well, we're gonna have ta find the rest of the bearers in order to defeat Discord It's nice Recumen is back to his old self, but if he gets corrupted again, we're not going to have nearly as much of an easy time of curing him."

I nodded. Just because my toxins were almost depleted didn't mean I wasn't highly dangerous, especially if I decided to sing again.

***

Over the next couple hours, we managed to cure the rest of the group without much incident. Although Fluttershy had to be restrained, and Rainbow Dash was difficult to track down, we soon had the entire group.

Rarity was the first to speak after the group hug, "What's our next move, Twilight?"

Twilight responded, "We have the Elements, and we have the bearers. Discord is hanging around in Town Square, and we have the tools to defeat him. Let's go!"

It was only a short walk to Discord's throne, a tacky red-and-black chair that was floating about four stories above the ground. When Discord saw us, he looked mildly surprised.

"I see you're back together, and that Rumplestiltskin is back in control of his body. I'm dissapointed. I thought he'd take care of the bearers like he said he would."

"Vg'f zl zvaq. Rira jvgu uvz va pbageby, V fgvyy unq vasyhrapr," I retorted.

Discord yawned, "You may have the Elements again, but you missed one important thing," He reached out his magic towards me, and it stopped.

He looked very surprised, "What? How is that possible? You aren't one of the bearers!"

I decided that if there was any time for a monologue, this was it, nobody to hear the cheesiness except for my target, "Gur Ryrzragf qba'g jbex gung fvzcyl. Orsber, gur Ryrzragf qvqa'g fryrpg zr orpnhfr V jnfa'g ernyyl sevraqf jvgu gur bguref. Abg ernyyl fhecevfvat, pbafvqrevat gur ynpx bs nal xvaq bs nssrpgvba V unq va zl bgure yvsr. Ubjrire, V'z ortvaavat gb ernyvmr jung sevraqfuvc ernyyl vf. V qba'g arrq gb unir na Ryrzrag gb zlfrys gb or cebgrpgrq ol gurz. Nyy V arrq vf gb unir gurfr crbcyr nf zl sevraqf!"

"Ugh, that made Celestia's speeches look nice by comparison."

And that's when the Elements hit Discord, and turned him to stone.