Sharp of Mind and Claw

That was a decade ago, and he never failed to show up twice a week, unannounced. He taught me of books, ones that made me laugh, ones that made me shed tears, ones that made me wonder what on Earth could have inspired such thoughts. The man from before, the one called Adolf Hitler, had his own book even, and his ideas disturbed me greatly. He had made it his goal to try and purge the surface of their world of anything but his ideal of perfection. And people had followed him! The madness of the world of humans never ceased to amaze me.

He taught me of movies, which were like books, but without the mental picture and strain on the eyes. Some movies simply wouldn’t make sense on paper, and others were made magnificent by the place called Hollywood. He taught me to focus on memories of these movies, and I saw them in full length like I was there. I saw short men with big feet roaming through a vast and broken land in an attempt to free themselves of a powerful talisman. While I didn’t understand how one ring could grant such unimaginable power, I didn’t doubt that being granted power in such an instant was possible, seeing as I was a living example of the idea.

My head nearly exploded as I explored the phenomena called the Internet. There were pictures that made me want to vomit, pictures that made me laugh, ones that made me confused, and even ones that made my mind foggy with lurid ideas.

One day, while exploring my memories of the Internet, I looked to Discord, who sat on a black leather couch reading an article of Cosmoponytan. He looked up when he realized I was watching him. The look on my face was one I had thoroughly enjoyed learning, and it clearly read ‘Are you serious?’. He held his hands up defensively.

“Don’t look at me like that. I read it for the articles, okay?” He explained, and I shook my head disappointedly.

“That’s what I’m worried about. . .” I mumbled, and he laughed. Over the years, we had become quite the pair, and he was practically a father to me, despite his title and standing as the most chaotic being to ever walk Equestria. When he finished laughing, he looked at me expectantly. These days, I didn’t need spent much of the dreams out of my own mind, and he mostly just stuck around for support. He knew that if I came out of my trance-like state, I had something important to say.

“Discord, I seem to have found something that troubles me,” I said, and he grinned at me.

“Well, I would hope you find something that troubles you, or else I’ve created the next great philosopher,” he jibbed, still smiling. “What seems to be the trouble?” I swallowed.

“Their world. . . It seems to be openly aware of ours. . .” I told him nervously, and his smile fell. His face grim, he stood and put a hand on my shoulder.

“White Claw, there are some things that are a mystery even to me. The best I can come up with is that one day, one of their kind got a view of our world and it became famous. They don’t actually see our world as it is, but they see it as that human believed it to be. He saw things like the Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia, their legends like Nightmare Moon, all of that,” he explained, and I frowned at him.

As he turned away, I said to him, “But. . . You were there. They knew of you, and there was. . . A man. A man with your voice, and he-“ Faster than lightning, my friend whipped around and grabbed my muzzle firmly in his large bird claw.

“I know of the man!” He hissed, and my eyes grew wide. I had never seen Discord angry before, but it was terrifying. “I know they know of me, and I know that man seems to portray me! I don’t have all of the answers, White Claw! Never bring that man up again, understood?” His yellow and red eyes bore into mine from mere inches away, and I weakly nodded. He slid his hand from my muzzle and sat back down on the couch. He stared at his hands for quite some time, and I was worried for him. He had clearly spent a fairly long time thinking over the man who seemed have given Discord a voice.

Hopping off the pedestal I always meditated on, I landed next to him and tossed an arm around his shoulders. I may have still been growing, but my paw barely reached his far shoulder. “I’m sorry for bringing it up, Discord. I was only curious, and you know I haven’t been able to watch the whole time as you have,” I explained, and he looked at me out of the corner of his larger eye. Before I knew it, there was large, rough bird arm wrapped around my neck and a massive lion paw rubbing my head so hard the fur nearly came off. A classic noogie. I should have expected as much from Discord.

Using all my strength, I was able to topple him to the floor and a battle of scratching, biting, and rolling ensued. In the end, he sat on my chest, looking contented. He leaned forward and stuck out a single finger. I raised an eyebrow just before he tapped the end of my wet nose and said, “Boop!” With a rush of wind, the room around me as well as my companion vanished.

After that, I remembered to never once bring up the man called John de Lancie. Discord taught me more than even the memories could have shown me. As my intelligence grew, so did my self-doubt. I began to wonder if I would ever escape my prison, and even worse, if I should even be trusting Discord. I still remembered it clearly, and I never wanted to confront the awful truth that he was only sharpening his newest weapon to being chaos to Equestria. He wanted me to escape so I could unleash a fresh hell onto the unsuspecting ponies above, and the memories he gave me almost made me indifferent. As I said before, I have become harsh, cold, almost dead on the inside.

It doesn’t take a genius to put on a false smile and pretend to care, but my only moments of true happiness were when I was with Discord. He was the only family I had left in this terrible life, but there was still a catch. He told me that the day I left would be the last he would ever be able to visit me; that once I was out and about in Equestria, his influence would be dead. His power only went so far, and the ever-present sun and moon kept him from having power in the outside world.

However, as much as I loved having him there for me, my very being called for adventure. Discord said I bear something called human nature, which apparently meant that every fiber of my being ached for freedom. I didn’t like the idea that I shared such a human characteristic, but he said that I had possessed it long before he came along.

And so his support and teaching proceeded. Now, on this day, I turn twenty two years old, and I’ve finally formed a plan to escape. I was never quite sure if Discord has some role in it, but even to the Diamond Dog guards, I towered over them. My fists were easily as large as their heads, and a single claw was long enough to gouge into their thick skulls and small brains. I just needed the opportunity to escape, and freedom would be mine.

As I was roughly shoved back into my cell, I sat down on the floor where I normally rested. Closing my eyes, I allowed the dream to take me. When I opened them again, I was in throne room much like Princess Celestia’s, except Discord sat upon the throne with a warming smile of jagged teeth. I grinned back, flashing my own set of teeth well-equipped to bite and tear. He sauntered over to me and threw an arm around my shoulders. He barely had to stoop anymore to do so, although I doubted he was maintaining his full size.

“White Claw, how nice to see you! I didn’t know you were dropping by today!” He said with a surprised tone in his voice. I laughed and shoved him off of me, and he had to take to the air to keep his balance. “It never ceases to amaze me how strong you’ve gotten over the years, boy. . . I’m gonna miss moments like these,” he mumbled, looking as though he was going to shed a tear. I look at him confusedly.

“What do you mean? What makes you think this is coming to an end any time soon?” He smiled kindly at my words, a smile that he only used when I was being extremely naïve.

“White Claw, I’ve been watching you. You know I always have been. And I can see that you’re planning something. Something very soon,” he said very knowingly, and my ears dropped. Ashamedly, I kicked the carpet at my feet. It felt good under my tired paws.

“I didn’t want to tell you because I figured you’d try to stop me from going,” I grumbled, and he burst into laughter. I looked at him again, and he wiped an actual tear from his eye.

“Why would I ever try to stop you? I gave you this gift so you could make a change in Equestria, and you certainly can’t do that in imprisonment! White Claw, I knew from the day I gave you that knowledge that a time would come when I would never see you again, and I’m alright with that,” he explained, and I felt a weight come off my shoulders. “I just decided that it was time for me to say goodbye and give you one last present. But you’re not going to like it. . .” His voice trailed off, and I furrowed my brow in confusion. He looked at me apologetically as the tip of his tail came to rest on my forehead and a stream of visions, almost like a movie, came rushing forward.

I was in a room filled with gems and polished white bones. A large bed rested in the back of the circular area, and a table before it. At the table sat a single Diamond Dog, a spear leaning against his chair. Pack leader and Alpha, Greyscar smiled malevolently at somebody behind me, and they came into view.

“Sit now. Eat food,” he said. I always hated their awful broken language, and it rose even more hatred hearing Greyscar speak it. I watched as the figure didn’t move an inch, and I hear their voice.

“Do what Greyscar wants with this one, then I leave,” she said, her voice defiant and filled with resolve. My heartbeat was deafening in my ears as I recognized the voice. It was my poor mother, but much younger than I remembered her. It must have been over a decade before she was murdered by the same monster that sat before her now.

Greyscar rose and seized her wrist. “This one will birth Greyscar a son, a healthy one,” he growled, and tossed her forward toward the bed. I watched as a terrible grin flicked across his face and he advance toward my mother’s bent form. I shut my eyes tight, refusing to see the terrible crime being committed. I then realized all sound had stopped as well. When I hesitantly opened my eyes, I found Discord watching me with a saddened look on his face.

“I’m sorry I had to show you this, but you had to know. The reason Greyscar murdered your mother that day was because he realized you would never walk in his footsteps as he had hoped. He was filled with a rage that his successor was a deserter, and so he killed your mother for raising you as one,” he told me, his voice serious but saddened. “I truly am sorry, White Claw.”

I looked down at my hands in disbelief. My own white fur seemed like a traitor now, and my mind raced. I am the spawn of my mother’s murderer. I am the spawn of a rape. I’m worth less than nothing. I’m a bastard and a monster. Tears streamed down my face as I looked back at Discord. “Why? Why did you show me this?” I pleaded, my voice hushed as though I’d been wounded.

He sighed and almost looked as though he was going to cry. “White Claw, you forget who I am. I may love you like a son, but I am still Discord. Above all, I bring chaos. I have trained you, and now you are strong enough to benefit me,” he replied, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“How could this possibly help you? If I kill Greyscar, how does that help you at all?” I asked, taking a step closer. He looked up at me with disappointment in his eyes. For a split second, I was confused, but I realized he was disappointed in himself.

“If you were to kill Greyscar, you become Alpha. With you as Alpha, the pack must follow your orders. Immediately after killing Greyscar, you would flee, leaving the pack without a leader. There would be chaos among the pack, and it would branch to other packs for assistance, and there would be outsiders who wished to claim power as well. Diamond Dogs would come for hundreds of miles to become an Alpha-“

“Leading to mass bloodshed and havoc through the packs,” I finished, and he nodded solemnly. A thought popped into my head, one I couldn’t simply ignore. I took another step toward him. “Were you responsible?” He raised an eyebrow at me and I scowled in return. “Don’t give me that! You know exactly what I’m talking about!” I growled, a vicious edge to my voice. Discord hung his head in shame.

“Yes. I was the one who provoked Greyscar to impregnate your mother,” he admitted. The world stopped spinning for a moment. Adrenaline flooded my veins, my pupils narrowed to predatory pinpricks, and my claws were fully extended. Baring my teeth and snarling, I dove at Discord as time resumed its natural course. He slid out of the way narrowly and took to the air. Using all the power in my hind legs, I thrust myself into the air and made a grab for his tail. My claw barely clipped the end of his tail, forking it at the finned part.

“White Claw, I’m sorry! I am force of chaos, it is my job to bring about those sorts of things! I had no plans for you until we met that day a decade ago, but I cannot say I regret my decision. I was doing my duty, just as I am now,” he called down to me as I snarled up at him. He snapped his fingers, and my vision blackened. As the world faded, I faintly heard a voice in my ear. “I’m going to miss you, White Claw. I truly am,” it said, and I recognized it as Discord’s. In it was something I had never heard before. Sincerity. And just like that, my final meeting with my closest friend and bane of my existence came to a close.