Dark Alleys, Bright Hearts

I suddenly find myself, and all the others, within a dimly lit room. Discord shakes his head, “I can’t believe she just killed Xerxes. This dream sucks.”

Grover growls, “Damn you, chimera, we could have killed that assassin while she was distracted! We lost Xerxes for nothing now!”

Mark shakes his head, “You wouldn’t have been able to kill her.”

Grover glares at him, “I have yet to meet one who can best me in honest combat, ape, and I hold no doubts that my streak would remain untarnished if I fought that hideous beast.”

Yakford shakes his head, “I doubt she would have fought honestly if she works for Celestia, Griffon.”

Mid Knight sighs, and moves across the room, “We wouldn’t have stood a chance against Celestia either. Why even try to fight?”

Discord grins, “She is right. Why should we continue to fight, Chrysalis?”

I look between him and Mid Knight, “Because there’s a chance to win, and nobody else is going to take it. Celestia is a tyrant set upon gaining godly powers, beyond anything we know.”

Mark nods, “And she’s a bitch, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t fight her.”

Mid Knight shakes her head, “We can try, and we will die.”

Yakford nods, “Then we shall die trying.”

Grover glares at her, “I would rather die with a sword in my talons and blood in my feathers than bowing and prostrating before the bastard child of a Wendigo and pony. Even if I were to die, it is better to die with your head held high in defiance than with your beak on the ground in subservience.”

Discord smirks, wrapping around me, “So, do you see it already, Chrysalis? They are perfect characters.”

I shake my head, “It’s Love now, Discord.”

He grins, “Love? No, the love interest is the human stood right there. You’re the protagonist first, love interest second. He’s love interest first, protagonist second. Haven’t you ever read a book, silly buggy? Grover is obviously the badass who’s tough demeanor is just a facade for a softhearted interior. Mid Knight is the haunted one, the failure who’s given a second opportunity to prove herself and redeem her imagined sins. Yakford is the background character, there to provide a straight man to my comedic relief.”

Yakford shakes his head, “We aren’t book characters, Draconequis.”

Discord chuckles, “Technically correct, Yakford.”

Mark rolls his eyes, “So, let me guess, you’re the comedic relief?”

Discord smiles, “Bingo, hit it right on the mark, Mark. I’m the comedic relief who is secretly powerful and will end up becoming deathly serious and terrifying whenever I’m pushed to a point of no return. Probably with some foreshadowing in there to become a future villain.”

I sigh, “I’m sad to admit that you probably are the most powerful here.”

Discord grins, uncoiling from around me, “Moi? Most powerful? That’s hilarious, coming from you.”

Mark shrugs, “I think she’s right on the mark. You’re a bit of an asshole currently, but the history books made it clear you were a tough bastard.”

He chuckles, “Bastard? Yes. Tough? Not at all. Land a hit on me, and I’m going to begin wailing like a filly having her leg cut off by a rusty knife. Trust me, they’re loud when that happens, I know from experience.”

I pause, “Why the everloving fuck do you know that?”

Mark nods, “Yeah, dude, seriously, what the fuck?”

Discord smiles, patting me on the head, “Off topic, little Chrysalis. Point is, there’s two beings way more powerful than me, and they’re right in front of me.”

I raise an eyebrow, “Are Celestia and Luna standing right behind us?”

He chuckles, “No, of course not, they’re weaklings compared to me. Really, silly little Chrysalis, I’m surprised you didn’t already know that. You must really hold a high opinion of Celestia and Luna’s powers if you think they’d stand up to moi without any outside assistance.”

I nod, “Well, if course, they are very powerful.”

Mark nods, “Yeah, they almost killed Love and I. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen even a fraction of their true power.”

Discord nods, “Well, if you think of them so highly, they’re going to be pretty powerful. More so than me, which is... ugh, uncomfortable. I suppose now there’s four more powerful than me, if you continue to think of them so highly.”

I raise an eyebrow, “Why does our thoughts on them matter?”

Discord chuckles, “Oh, dear Chrysalis, you don’t even know. Allow me to say it like this, for your little buggy brain to understand. Your thoughts and beliefs shape everything. You think they are bitches, so they’ll behave like bitches. You think they are already very powerful, so they shall be powerful. They feed of your belief, Chrysalis, like the old Griffon gods.”

Grover looks over, “What do our gods have to do with this?”

Discord shakes his head, “So many questions, so little answers. Your gods were shaped by belief, Grover. If you thought one god was evil, they would shift to become evil. If you believed them weak, they would become weak. That’s why they were so easy to kill. But, this is besides the point.” He floats down, wrapping an arm around Grover and Yakford, and dragging the both of them away.

Mark shakes his head, “We have an absolute mess of a team here, Love.”

I nod, “I know, but we have to try.”

He places a hand on my head, absentmindedly scratching my ears, “We have a lot of work in front of us. But we can do anything we set our minds to. Mark and Love, the power team, capable of anything.”

I smile, lightly blushing, “Capable of anything, I like the sound of that. Let’s try and make this into an actual team.”

He looks at me, and grins, “Not try, Love. Let’s make this an actual team.”

I chuckle, and nod, “Alright, let’s make this into an actual team. No trying, only succeeding.”