Star-Crossed
The sound of small yet hurried hooves clashing with the marble floor rang through the halls. The young mare in flight had a concentrated look upon her face as she banked around a corner, her long, nearly translucent pink mane flowing around her in the swift motion. Between each beat of her hooves, she could hear the faint pattering of feet and talons behind her, their frequency increasing as they became gradually louder. The mare turned her head as she ran, her magneta eyes managing to focus on her pursuer despite the adrenaline pumping through her to combat the fatique. She couldn't help but smirk at the sight behind her. The long, serpentine body behind her struggled to avoid wildly swaying side to side, as it would surely spiral out of control if not maintained by it's owner, who awkardly ran on all four of his mismatched limbs. Satisfied by her opponent's battle to keep up, she turned her attention back to her path and proceeded to accelerate.
Noticing the young alicorn's amusement at his predicament, and her unrelenting pace which outmatched his own, the creature behind her decided that he wasn't getting anywhere by following her rules. No flying, and no magic. But these rules weren't very fun. Not for him in the least. They were too confining, and since he possessed near limitless power, he felt that they were made for him to break. With a skidding halt, he rested as he watched his alicorn contender dart off into the distance to disappear around another corner. An idea popped into the creature's head, and with a mischievious smirk, he snapped the taloned fingers he possessed on his left hand, and in a flash, he was gone.
She was on her last lap, confident more than ever that she would come in first place. She even dared to take another glance back after noticing the lack of pattering feet behind her. He was nowhere to be seen. She had left him in the dust. With this in mind, she turned the last corner to meet the agreed finishing line. To her shock, he was already there, leaning against the bust that served as their marker, with a quite possibly feigned look of boredom upon his face. "Discord!" she shouted accusingly with a pout. "You used magic didn't you? We agreed not to!"
Discord contemplatively looked up to the ceiling while placing a talon on his bare chin. "I don't recall such a thing." he replied with as much innocence as he could muster. He glanced at her to see that look in her eyes, which he knew from experience meant she wasn't buying it. So he nonchalantly walked over to her and examined her horn, going as far as to tap the point of it repeatedly. "Celestia.." he inquired playfully, "are you sure that you didn't zap me here? Maybe you were the one cheating, but it backfired."
Celestia gave him a stern look, and he returned it, which locked to twos' eyes for a moment. But his unbalanced pupils suddenly shifted to the sides, resulting in the quivering of Celestia's muzzle. Discord continued to put on a goofy smirk, which then plunged Celestia into hysterics. She hung her head low and stomped the ground with her left forehoof as she laughed. Discord joined her, rolling on his back comically as he cackled. Lasting for a good minute or so, the two regained their composure, with only a slight smile remaining on their faces. "Alright, you're a good sport," Discord teased as he wrapped an arm around Celestia's neck. "and you were without a doubt winning, so I'll give that one to you." Content with such a victory, she nuzzled her head against him and smiled.
Discord returned a warm smile, but it soon twisted into a smirk. "You should enjoy it while it lasts, because one day I'll defeat you!" he proclaimed arrogantly, instantly breaking the moment of comfort and peace between them.Celestia pushed herself away and ran off, snickering. "We'll see about that!"
The two returned to running around after each other, no goal, no race, just playful glee guiding them. Celestia looked back as she ran and teased "You can't catch me!" to the again struggling to keep on his feet Discord. Just as she returned her attention to her path, she collided with a tall and broad alicorn, who's crimson mane was flowing upright, as if it were a raging fire against his jet black coat. Looking up from her slouch, her eyes widened upon recognition of her obstacle, and she promptly sprang to her feet. "Father, please forgive me. I'll be more careful next time."
The stallion that towered over her gazed at her, his eyes betraying a hint of contempt. But his gaze soon softened, and he smiled. "You're exuberant, just like your mother. That's good." were the only words out of his mouth. Celestia expected as much, King Canicula wasn't one to waste words. Even his praise was laden with cold calculation. She knew he meant well, but it was unnerving how he extended the same personality to his family. She had to wonder if the old stallion ever just relaxed. But the serious and orderly king could change in an instant, becoming overtly aggressive and intolerant when things did not go as he had planned. Celestia had the misfortune of spotting him like this once while he was negotiating with delegates from Phillydelphia.
Whatever warmth and love he was displaying now was instantly distinquished when he took notice of Discord. He made no attempts to hide his scowl and contempt as he gazed upon the creature, which he then carried on to Celestia. "I thought I told you to not to go near him. You've been playing again haven't you?" This wasn't so much a question as it was a demand. It always was when he was addressing political matters.. or Discord. The tone of his voice made that very clear. Celestia couldn't bare to look at him when he was like this, she could only look down to her hooves and feel his wrath wash over her. This wasn't her and Discord's first offense, and she felt certain King Canicula would only get harder on them as time went on. She didn't fear for herself so much as she did for Discord. By her father's royal decree, he was to be confined in a chamber made specially for him. It was in a tower seperate from the rest of the castle, far from the living spaces of even the guards. The only company he usually got was when vital supplies were delivered each day, and of course, from the frequently rotated guards that stood outside his chamber. It was no secret that this chamber was not so much his home as it was his prison.
But whatever attention the guards gave him, or whatever spell was cast upon his chamber to prevent his escape, he always found a way out, and always it was to spend time with his two favorite princesses. He couldn't remember much of his life before meeting them, but his most prominent childhood memories were of them. He knew them since they were fillies, and he suspected they knew him for longer than that. Whenever he would ask of where he came from, he was only given skewed answers. Queen Portia could only give promises that one day Discord would know all he could desire about his past, and each time she was asked, her eyes betrayed an ever growing sense of guilt. To be merciful to the gentle queen, Discord has long since ceased to ask her. To this effect, Discord increasingly felt unwelcome in his own home. Everypony looked at him with either contempt or indifference. He'd roam the castle, try to make new friends, but always he was rejected, and then escorted back to his chamber when word got out that he was free. Celestia and Luna were the only ones that cared, his only real friends.
"You, beast, return to your chambers, NOW." King Canicula bellowed. As if on cue, several guards rushed into the hall and set their sights on the small and lanky creature who could only look to Celestia for comfort. But little comfort was found in her sorrowful eyes. "If you will not comply, you will be force." Canicula pressured as the guards closed in. Discord sighed, and brought his gaze up from Celestia to look Canicula in the eyes. His stare pierced like daggers into Discord's boastful confidence. But with a gulp, he worked up the courage to say something he had wanted to say for a long time.
"No." The word slipped cautiously from Discord's lips. It was but a whisper. Whatever protests Celestia would have made were extinquished. She was deathly silent as she looked in disbelief from Discord to her father, and back.
"Excuse me?" King Canicula inquired with utmost ridicule and frustration.
"No." Discord stated more firmly. The growl that eminated from King Canicula was the only thing the guards needed to hear to begin apprehending the pitiful creature before them. Out of respect for Celestia and her family, he normally would not fight, but today he had decided he had enough of being torn away from his only friends. With a burst of magical energy, the guards were repelled, and Discord took the opportunity to grab hold of Celestia. With his free hand, he began to snap. But there was no effect. He tried again. Nothing. He and Celestia could feel the hot breath of Canicula over them. They turned to see him looking down on them, his horn glowing with a strange red energy. Looking down on himself, Discord frowned in realization that he was enveloped with the same energy. He back up to meet Canicula's eyes. His defiance had died as Canicula cruelly smirked.
Discord was dragged away, bound in chains. Struggle as he might, he could not halt the growing distance between him and Celestia. She stood by her father's side, looking down to her side in regret. He wanted her to do something, anything. He knew she wanted to. Yet he knew she couldn't, as no pony opposed the will of the king. Not even his daughters had a say in the matter of his rule. Taking in one last sight of the princess, he stopped struggling as the doors to the hall closed in front of him. Somehow this time felt different. He felt broken. Perhaps it was because he learned he had no power over Canicula, and no way to reach out to Celestia. One day, I'll be strong enough. I swear.
It was hard for him to believe in himself though, when it came to being thrown back into his chamber. He knew the sounds by heart, of magic being used to hopefully seal him inside. It wasn't the spells that bothered him, he could bypass those easily enough when it came time that he could no longer bear to be away from the princesses. No, it was what came after each incident, something that he vowed he would never tell the princesses, as he felt the burden to be too heavy. It occured each time he had the audacity to spend time with the mares he cherished. Especially with the one that made his heart flutter. Canicula must have felt disgraced and disgusted by the concept of this 'foul creature' ever having feelings for his daughter of sun. And it was because of this that Discord believed the king to bring a masked guard to his chamber. Why he would give the guard a contemptful nod, leading to the guard entering Discord's chamber and closing the door behind him. Discord had grown familiar with the energy the lash would be enveloped with. And what it felt like colliding with his flesh. Discord could only grit his teeth and dream of Celestia.
Celestia, no.. Princess Celestia, had spent the good part of a morning staring into the mirror of her vanity, making sure she was utmost presentable. Her mane had to elegantly flow, her coat had to shine with magnificence. Attention to detail was incredibly important, she had to be flawless. A true mare of royalty. A royal pain in the flank. She shook her head, she couldn't think like that anymore. A century had passed, yet she still had the immaturity of a filly at times. Besides, she had to be on her best attitude tonight, no matter how much she disagreed with the ceremonious occasion.
"How are we supposed to dance in these?!" Celestia turned to see Luna standing in the door, wearing an elaborate ball gown complete with frivolous laces, straps, and buckles that made the layers and layers of fine velvet tighter and stuffier than ever before. Celestia even saw signs of a corset underneath it all, which made no mistake that Luna was downright uncomfortable. Why anypony would design such a dress for a young mare was beyond either of them.
"Dear sister, you must be kinder to yourself. Don't bother with that... thing until an hour or so before the gala." Celestia stated softly. There was no point in enduring such torture this long before needed. As for how they were supposed to dance, Celestia had a strong feeling that they weren't, though she didn't have the heart to tell her younger sister that. They were assigned the dreadful task of standing there and looking pretty while the common ponies did whatever it was they were attending the gala to do. Such was the royal grace they were expected to keep until they were old enough to actually take political manners into their own hooves.
"And Luna, don't set your expectations too high. This is more of a blessing towards the common ponies, nothing in comparison to the parties we've already been to." Celestia added as Luna turned to leave. Luna nodded to show her acknowledgement, and then left to remove the suffocating attire. Celestia did one last check on her appearance and trudged on to see what breakfast the chefs have prepared for her. Something meager no doubt, they wouldn't want to chance to eldest princess getting plump over the course of a day, as if that was even possible. But before she set hoof outside her chamber door, a familiar magical sound rang behind her.
Startled, she spun around to address the unexpected guest. "Discord! What are you doing here? If the guards see you they'll.." Celestia started, only to have Discord zip towards her and place a talon over her muzzle.
"Don't worry my dear, I've presently got the guards running errands, and your father is busy investigating claims of zebra spies in the guest list." Discord stated, floating towards the vanity and examining himself in the mirror before morphing into a zebra. " 'Sides, I would not miss the royal ball, for any reason, big or small." he teased, smirking while flaunting his zebra mane.
"Discord, please, listen." Celestia stated as she walked over to her bed and sat. Discord tentatively joined her bedside. Celestia looked him over, and despite trying to keep a stern expression, had to hold back a chuckle as the 'zebra' before her looked at her curiously with goofy, mismatched eyes.
"I.." she began after clearing her thoughts. But she was cut off.
".. want to express your love for me, and then ask me out to the gala! You know it to be true!" he spurted, much to Celestia's chagrin.
"No Discord, I.." she tried again.
"I know! We can celebrate right now by making out! Pucker up!" Discord proclaimed, then throwing himself at Celestia while awkwardly shuffling his zebra lips which he was obviously not yet attuned to. Celestia tried to push him off, but he persisted. Despite the growing impatience inside her, she couldn't help but giggle as Discord brushed up against her and made the silliest faces imaginable in his struggle. Discord almost landed a kiss on her nose, but their attention was suddenly drawn to the door when they heard a gasp.
Luna stood there stunned as she processed the situation. Celestia feared she would run away and alert any remaining guards, but instead she sprang to the offensive. "Intruder! Get off of my sister!" she shouted, rushing valiantly towards the bed, her horn charging a spell. Before she could reach him, the zebra flung himself across the room to Luna's amazement, and in a flash, had returned to his natural form, easing Luna's concern.
"Surprise!" Discord exclaimed before scooping Luna up in a hug. "You've got quite the fighting spirit don't you little one?" he teased as he placed her besides her sister. He then distanced himself from the princesses and positioned his fingers into a rough square, peeping through to examine the princesses. "Look at you two, all prettied up for the big day!" he said with a wide grin. "Say cheese!" he exclaimed before a flash of light inexplicably burst from his 'camera'.
Celestia had learned not to question these strange stunts that Discord would sporadically pull, there simply wasn't any comprehendable reason for many things that he did. Instead, she focused on her sister, who's eyes were smudged with excessive eyeliner. "Oh, Luna you've overdone it." she said lovingly. It was cute in a sense that Luna tried so desperately to live up to her big sister. But as her role model, it meant being the one to point out her mistakes, which wasn't always easy.
"What do you mean? I'm a big pony, I can.." Luna defended, but Celestia had already levitated a mirror to Luna's face. "Right.." she admited, obviously disheartened as she looked down and took a towel that Celestia offered to clean herself up at the vanity. Celestia frowned, hoping that Luna wouldn't take it too seriously. She glanced over to Discord, who shared the worried look, despite the fact that his eyes shifted around the room, no doubtedly trying to find something to alter, before making a short return to Celestia's gaze.
"Ahem.." Celestia intensified her worried expression, and motioned towards Luna with jerks of her head. Discord pouted before flashing over to Luna's side, transformed into a prissy looking unicorn with a golden mane. "I'm a stuck up pony who doesn't realize that you're beautiful as you are." he mocked, making the most pretentious faces he could as he spoke "They say my bloodline is pure, but if I keep treating mares as badly as I do, then my blood won't be the only thing that's blue."
Mission accomplished, Luna was laughing to the point of tears, which made the excess makeup run off. Discord looked over to Celestia who was smiling in satisfaction. "Luna, would you like me to help?" she asked her sister as she recovered from Discord's joking.
"No thanks, I think I see what I did wrong the first time." she replied and returned to working at Celestia's vanity. Celestia shrugged, and then went for the door, beckoning Discord to follow.
"Did I do well?" he asked once they were clear of the room.
"You were fantastic, but.." Celestia started, drawing off into a sigh. "About what I was going to say earlier. You... can't come to the gala." Discord looked at her, dumbfounded. For a moment he thought she was joking, but this wasn't her type of humor. Besides, the regret in her eyes told of her sincerity.
"But I can come in disguise you know?" he retorted.
"No, that's not enough. I know you Discord, you'll get bored by the mundaneness of such a 'party'. Remember the last party? It was ten times livelier than this could possibly be, and yet you weren't content. You... you transformed the entire band into wailing monkeys for Portia's sake."
Discord had to hold back a chuckle at the memory. It was quite hilarious, but now wasn't the time for laughter.
"I'm sorry Discord, but I have to ask you to stay away. Father was furious the last time you escaped, he almost had you executed. I can't run that risk again." she stated, her voice pained. She looked into his eyes, which were for once expressionless. After several seconds of no response, she groaned. "Discord! Please! Please promise me you'll stay away!" she said, raising her voice far more than she wanted to.
"I get it..." Discord replied in a low voice. His blank eyes were accompanied by a low hanging frown. Immediately Celestia was concerned, but before she could say anything more, Discord continued. "Have fun at your gala," he stated with a hint of venom "without me." he issued almost as a challenge. With that, he snapped his talons, and was gone in a flash. Celestia gritted her teeth and stomped the ground. She hated when he acted like this, taking everything so personal. She could swear his head wasn't screwed on the right way, which given his powerfully random nature, had more literal application than she could bear. Yet, she felt nothing but sympathy for him. She knew where she had chased him off to, and the thought of it was making her heart heavy as she stood alone in the hall.
Discord had returned to his chamber. "Home... sweet home." he said in a theatrical voice. But the sarcasm behind his words carried so much intensity, it almost manifested into vicious poltergeists, but Discord had them banished before they could come into being to attack their parent. He then slumped onto his bed, which was more like an elevated slab of concrete. He had always personalized the entire room, but Canicula in a terrifyingly admirable decree of cruelty had the unicorn guards periodically change his chambers back into it's original state of cold and dreary. Discord couldn't be bothered to alter anything to be more comfortable now. Celestia's words still ran around his head, mocking him. How could she do this to him? Didn't she like his company? So what if her father didn't like it? After hours of slouching, Discord finally got up and began pacing. It was time to think about what he wanted to do. As he looked out the window he created for himself in the windowless chamber, he could oversee the busy streets of Canterlot from the height of his tower. Stroking his beard, which had grown in rather well, he contemplated the situation. It was then that it dawned on him.
"So I can't go to the gala with Celestia, doesn't mean I have to stay here though. While all those irritable ponies herd up at the gala, I will have free access to all of Canterlot!" he pronounced, his voice gradually uplifting into song.
"Oh, the chaos I could wreak, an entire city I can roam!
Just imagine the fun, that I could have here on my own!
The streets shall be eroded,
the buildings all but bloated,
with fountains overflowing, with...
Chocolate! Why yes Canicula will find,
the largest river of all time,
flowing through his great city, consuming all,
Oh what a pity!
He won't appreciate the gifts I give
Sometimes I wonder why I let him live,
It seems his only purpose is for pain!
But someday I'll defeat him,
uplift Tia from life so grim.
And I shall become a lord, and Celestia the wife,
of Discord!"
The booming crack of lightning broke him of his bout of inspiration. Looking around the room, he noticed he had transformed various portions of it into both silly, and horrifying renditions of it's former self. Looking out the window, he also noticed he had summoned a thunderstorm over Canterlot. Confused pegasi were already scrambling to retain the scheduled weather. Their state of panic sent Discord into hysterics. "Oh, this is but the beginning!" Discord said, his voice giddy with anticipation. "Soon.. the party will begin."
__________________________________________
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't the slightest clue what kind of tempo or whatever the song would go to. I just sort of wrote it out. I suppose the first couple of lines I had a sort of remix of "This Day Aria" playing in my head with the lyrics, and the rest had a sort of Anastasia "Dark of the Night" theme to it. I suppose you can just make up your own music and pacing to it. It should be flexible enough for that.
Built for Chaos
"Um.. guys, please tell me I'm not the only one who heard him singing." one earth pony guard said to his three companions. They just shrugged and proceeded to chuckle. "Come on guys, honestly, did you hear him sing? Or is he just messing with my head again?" the pony pressed, now basically begging for a straight answer. Finally, one of the other guards, a pegasus, spoke up.
"Yeah, alright we heard him. Ignore him, he’s just being Discord.”
“Alright, it’s just.. unsettling man. What prisoner would be in a theatrical mood unless they were up to something?”
“I said ignore it private. Last time we allowed ourselves to be lured in there, the court alchemist had to put our personalities back in the right bodies. Or have you already forgotten that?”
“No sir, point taken.”
The dawn of the setting sun and rising moon engulfed the land with a beautiful orange glow, though this was only possible because of the pegasi, who cleared out the unscheduled dark clouds in respectable time. Ponies could already be seen advancing en masse towards the mountainside castle, merging into a large congregation by the castle gate. Discord had watched them with intrigue, noting how uncomfortable most of them looked in their pretentious attire. In addition, many mares were overshadowed by their 'noble' counterparts in discussions of no real importance. Those who had an opinion to voice were either interrupted or silenced.
It all was quite frankly disgusting and worst of all boring. Discord waited anxiously as the sun set, and the ponies one by one were cleared to enter the castle for their precious gala. The gala that the sweet Princess Celestia would be attending... without him. Sighing, Discord slipped off the top of his tower, and flew over to the great Canterlot library, which was predictably all but abandoned. Porting inside the massive glass chamber at the top of the library tower, he began to rummage through a shelf. “Who would take the time to read all of these? Look at this one!” he whined to himself as he held up a book with a spine as thick as a brick. This one makes me nauseous just by looking at it! he thought before flinging it behind him as he continued to rummage through the books, desperate to find something interesting enough to hold his attention long enough for the gala to start.
An unfamiliar voice sounded behind him however, nearly startling him. Spinning around to meet the visitor, Discord was surprised to see a zebra before him. “I cannot believe you are still alive.” the zebra said, a look of astonishment on his face as he looked Discord over. “My my you’ve grown.”
“Wha.. who.. “ Discord stuttered. Something about this zebra reminded him of something, but he was unsure of what.
“You don’t remember anything do you?” the zebra asked.
“Are you insulting my memory?” Discord quickly retorted, not quite sure why he responded in such a way.
“No.. no.. it’s just that, my grandfather was ordered to dampen your memory when you were young.”
“Excuse me?” Discord struggled to keep his composure. Could this zebra actually be giving him the answers that nopony else would give him?
“I know you have a lot of questions, and that you have no reason to trust me, but please believe me when I say I know how you came to be. Your father has been involved in my family for quite some time.” the zebra said with some hesitation.
“My father?!” Discord asked, betraying his nonchalant posture from before. “You know who my father was?”
“I shouldn’t say father really, but he was your creator.”
“Alright.. I guess, but who?”
There was a moment of silence as hesitation flooded over the zebra. But something sparked in him that boosted his confidence.
“King Canicula.”
Discord looked at the zebra, dumbfounded. But the blank expression on his long face turned into that of pure hysterics.
“Next you’re going to tell me that Celestia is my sister aren’t you?!?” he cried. “Oh wait.. I really hope not.. that would be terrible!” he added before continuing to cackle. The zebra tried to interject, but couldn’t raise his voice above Discord’s laughter. Thankfully though, the creature ceased his laughter before long, and returned to his normal posture while wiping tears from his eyes.
Another look at the zebra’s stern face told him that it was no joke however. The humor had vanished, and Discord was now dead serious.
“So wait... if the king created me, then why does he hate me? And why are you telling me this?”
The zebra cleared his throat. “Well for one, Canicula threw my grandfather out of his research division as soon as you came of his work. The family line became worthless to him then, and being a zebra in Canterlot is not easy when you have no royal status and war is brewing between his people and mine. I was lucky to land an janitorial job here at the library.”
“As for why he hates you, it’s because you are an abomination in his eyes. A failed experiment.”
Discord’s eyes widened.
“An.. experiment? I don’t think I believe you.” Discord said, his intrigue now laced with horror, which led to the defensive attitude.
“I don’t expect you to take my word for it, but I do know the whereabouts of the facility you were created in. If you can take us there, I may be able to show you.” the zebra spoke as he walked to the edge of the tower, peering out the glass. He pointed to the edge of the city, in the direction of the Everfree Forest.
“Won’t there be ponies there to report to Canicula when we arrive? He doesn’t exactly know I’m out and about yet, and I plan to keep it that way.. for now.” Discord retorted.
“It was abandoned due to extensive structural damage. It was too dangerous, and nopony could ever go back in to retrieve any material. I figure you could keep us safe as we venture through.”
“Alright, grab on to my tail.” Discord commanded after a moment of contemplation. The zebra complied and with a snap, they were gone.
They appeared on the edge of the forest. While every square inch of the wall of foliage in front of them was dense, there was one particular portion that had a strange design to it. The trees there had purple leaves and yellow striped trunks. The flowers around it were blue and seemed to radiate a strange magical energy, which it seemed only Discord could feel, as the zebra accompanying him trotted on forward through the flowers, unphased by the sensation that Discord was feeling.
“I think.. I think the entrance is buried somewhere around here. If we dig up these mounds around the trunks, we might find the door.” the zebra said, tentatively stomping his hoof at a mound of dirt.
“No need, I can feel... a presence. It’s very strong around this area.” Discord said as he hovered on over to a tree and ran his paw over the ground. The zebra on the other hand, started feeling funny in all sorts of places, but most prominently, between his haunches.
“Hmm.. yeah, this must be it.” Discord said, examining the tree before him. Clicking his talons, the tree’s roots began rising out of the ground, and then suspended the tree. Then like legs, the roots scuttled the tree out of his way. Another snap and the dirt which was beneath the tree began raining upwards, slowly but surely uncovering his point of interest.
“Um.. Discord.. could you take a moment to check me over?” the zebra behind him asked in a strangely feminine voice. “I don’t feel so well.”
Discord looked behind him, and his eyes widened in shock, but then narrowed in amusement. The male zebra that had led him here... didn’t look much like a male anymore. His mane was softer and longer, his muzzle wasn’t as pronounced, and his flank was rounder. “This can’t be good.” he muttered, biting his lip as he noticed Discord’s mischievous expression. “Am I breaking out in a rash, did a parasprite sting me, what...”
“Say, I never got your name.” Discord cut him off.
“Name’s Zorbo.” he answered.
“You look more like a Zecora to me.” Discord added, his chin rested on his lion knuckles.
“Wha...” Zorbo sputtered. Discord conjured a mirror and levitated it in front of the confused zebra. “No... no.. this can’t be happening.”
“Well it is.”
“No it’s not, this is a joke.”
“Yes it’s a joke, because it’s funny. Doesn’t mean it’s not happening though.”
“Did you do this?”
“No, but now that I think about it, that tree that just walked away had the same aura about it that those blue flowers did.”
“So... the flowers did this? But how?”
“I dunno, poison maybe? They sure do have a good sense of humor though.” Discord said with a chuckle, before glancing over to the former tree spot. Sure enough, there was a metal door laying there, uncovered and waiting.
“Is this it?” DIscord asked, despite the fact that it was clear to him, as if to annoy his companion.
“Of course it is.” Zorbo stated, awkwardly walking over the spot. His hips felt huge, and he could feel Discord’s eyes on him, increasing his discomfort to tremendous levels. Opening the door, he peered into the darkness. Discord joined his side and extended his neck like a telescope into the aperture and scanned the stairs that descended into even more darkness.
“Ladies first.” Discord offered, returning his neck to its original length to glance at Zorbo and nod towards the darkness.
“I hate you.” Zorbo stated bluntly as he walked into the wall of black. He gulped as vision left him, but at least it was something to take his mind off his current bodily predicament.
“Why thank you! It feels good to be hated!” Discord replied, his sarcasm yet again almost manifesting into a physical monster.
After minutes of stumbling around in the dark halls, Discord finally conjured a torch for Zorbo. Zorbo led the way, confident in the paths he was taking as if he was familiar with the design. Before long, they arrived at another door, which strangely enough had blue light beaming through the gaps.
Cautiously opening it, Zorbo dropped the torch in astonishment.
“This isn’t structural damage..” he muttered as he scanned the sight before him. There was an entire ecosystem in place of the underground facility, complete with a miniature sun, which was miraculously contained within a magical field. There was even an immensely dark cloud slowly rotating around the ‘ceiling’, in a path that Zorbo assumed was in line with the ‘sun’, and would periodically block it off long enough to give the ecosystem a sort of seasonal existence.
And it wasn’t an arid environment either. In fact, it seemed tropical. Sure enough, in the far corner of the landscape, there was an active waterfall dumping into a lake. But.. the water was brown.
“Well, I was certainly here.” Discord stated as he floating onward into the underground paradise, his eyes wide in wonder and glee. This had to be the source of the sensation on the surface. But what had leaked through was nothing compared to this. The feeling was glorious. “This is beautiful! Why can’t the everything be like this?!” he proclaimed, admiring the pink clouds above. He floated on over to the lake and dipped his paw into it. He tentatively licked the liquid, and found that it tasted just like chocolate milk!
“This.. is wonderful!” he shouted to Zorbo, who was standing deathly still. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, floating back over to the transsexed zebra. Zorbo was staring at a creature standing several yards away by the tree line. It looked like a lion, but had bat wings tucked by its sides,and a scorpion tail coiled up behind it.
“That son of a gelding, he succeeded where my grandfather left off.” Zorbo said through his fear. “The Manticore, a lot of his life went into making it possible, but in the end Canicula took all the credit.”
“Canicula?”
“Yes, this was his goal. The Cockatrice too. Hybrid animals containing the strength of one prime animal, and covering up the weaknesses with the strengths of other animals.”
“And I was considered a failure?” Discord asked, examining his mismatched limbs.
“Well, most importantly, he wanted these beasts to be easily controlled. They were to be his warbeasts to use against my people if war was declared. You..” he said, then looking Discord straight in the eyes. “You are the embodiment of unpredictability. You are a mistake.”
“Right, so you’re saying I was to be one of those things?” Discord retorted, glancing over to the prowling Manticore, who had been advancing towards them menacingly. Discord raised an eyebrow at it however, and it was flipped onto its side and rolled away like a rug.
“You still don’t believe me do you? Even after all you’ve seen?” Zorbo accused, irritation in his voice.
“No, I believe you. The moment I stepped in here, I felt... right, like I belong here, which.. I dunno, just makes you a whole lot more credible than you were in the library.”
“So then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t care about Canicula’s motives. I want to know the full story behind my creation, and why I’m still alive if I’m a mistake to him.”
“Well, I know that you weren’t supposed to be a Manticore. I was never told why they did what they did, maybe my grandfather never really knew, but I’m guessing they wanted to try something not in the plans once test runs of animal merging proved a success. But they got it in their heads to splice the embryos of a dragon egg and equine fetus. But to get it to work, they had to increase the magic flow from the standard for the other experiments. When it did work... well, you were the result.”
Discord continued to listen intently. It was coming back to him, slowly but surely. He could believe the zebra’s story because each word overwhelmed him with a sensation of deja vu and remembrance.
"Grandpa said you were the ugliest newborn thing he had ever seen... his words, not mine. It was enough though for Canicula to want you terminated immediately. What they weren’t expecting was your magic potential. Father had went through the research notes extensively and determined that the magic they were siphoning into you to make the merge a success, mixed with the dragon metabolism to consume magical gems was.. well, it made you a literal spirit of disharmony that they just couldn’t handle, even as a child. I went over the notes myself and was capable of drawing the same conclusion.”
“So.. I guess you could say I’m a.. ‘draconequus’?”
“Yeah, sure. They never really got around to classifying you because Canicula just wanted you dead. But evidently they couldn’t. Grandpa even told, much to the entertainment of my father and I, of how Canicula actually threw an adolescent Hydra at you after it refused to even go near you. And how you turned that Hyrda into a harmless bowl of pasta. I suppose it only got worse after my grandfather was kicked out.”
“And then this happened.” Discord said, the look in his eyes showing his revelation as he surveyed the environment he had created. “I remember now. I was old enough then to understand that they were trying to kill me, not play with me. So I escaped, and turned this place upside down in the process.”
“What I don’t understand is why you’re still around. Surely Canicula would have tracked you down centuries ago.”
“He didn’t have to, because Queen Portia found me soon after I escaped and convinced Canicula to keep me alive. If you’d call the life he gave me ‘living’.” Discord sighed, and contemplatively looked down at his hands.
“What do you mean?”
“For all of my life I’ve been locked up and treated like a monster. Canicula never took pity on me. And the only solace I found was in the princesses.”
“So you never really escaped did you?” Zorbo solemnly asked.
“No, I didn’t. I’ve endured centuries of torment and isolation and for what? Because in his eyes I’m a mistake? I can’t love Celestia because I’m a mistake?!” Discord pouted.
“I.. I had no idea.” Zorbo muttered, starting to regret bringing Discord here. This creature before him, the draconequus with limitless power, was undoubtedly becoming zealous.
“I can’t go on like this anymore, knowing now that I was meant to be like this. Knowing that I can’t be who I am because Canicula fears me because I am his mistake. It simply will not do. It’s time for a revolution, it’s time to introduce some chaos into the king’s ‘perfect’ little world! It’s time to claim Celestia!”
“Celestia!?” Zorbo asked in disbelief. “What do you want with her?”
“I want her to love me! And appreciate my ability! But she cannot do that with her father in our way. I aim to correct that!” Discord bellowed. The ground began to quake as the draconequus dramatically raised his arms by his sides, and the ceiling began to give way, leading to debris beginning to fall, as well as the pseudo celestial body above them threatening to collapse.
“Discord! Stop this!” Zorbo pleaded, but Discord would not hear him. Fortunately, he was receiving magical protection, as a chunk of rock that nearly crushed him was instantly shattered into dust before it could clash with the unsuspecting zebra.
Zorbo could feel the ground above them lifting, as the ceiling of earth above them gave way, letting beams of moonlight pierce into the underground ecosystem. Soon, they were at the surface, hills of displaced earth and forest surrounding the alien intruder of an unnatural jungle combined with forgotten facility. Frightened chimeras ran around the duo, some fleeing into the forest. All the while Discord was madly cackling, until he noticed the pseudo sun had begun destabilizing. Focusing his magic on it, he tried to maintain it, but its power was uncontainable. Realizing this, he made it ascend into the sky, and forced it to implode to minimize the damage to their surrounding area. Regardless, the outburst was magnificent, and Discord was forced to raise a powerful shield around Zorbo and himself.
Searchlights could be seen aiming at the Everfree from the faraway city of Canterlot that overlooked the land. Discord’s mouth coiled into a wicked grin.
"What better way to make an unveiling than to explode a sun!?” he asked the now shaking Zorbo.
“Please...” Zorbo stuttered, tears running from his eyes from the brightness of the explosion despite the defense that Discord had afforded him. “Think this through.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that, but you did remind me of something.” Discord said, momentarily pondering the zebra before snapping his talons, returning Zorbo to his original state.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a kingdom and their king to address!” Discord announced before vanishing.
“What.. what have I done?”
