Discordant Originsby Queen ZozerChaptersChapter 1: The Odd Blooming FlowerChapter 2: The Cold AfflictionChapter 3: From Heartbreak to BedlamChapter 4: History is UnforgivingChapter 1: The Odd Blooming FlowerMany centuries ago, there was a creature of pure evil that ruled Equestria with an iron hoof for generations. He was a large, blue goat that went by the name "Grogar". Before he was later inevitably defeated, he embarked on one final quest. He had only one goal in mind: to create a creature with unlimited power. A creature that could potentially outlive him and continue his reign of terror. He traveled far and wide and studied dozens of animals and took note of their abilities. He captured these animals and brought them back to his lair. "Now, let's see..." Grogar muttered to himself as he paced back and forth in his lab, "dragons have tough scales and can breathe fire...goats have an incredible climbing ability...lions have great strength..." He continued to mutter to himself as he listed off the various traits of each animal that he had captured. He had them in small cages on the large, raised stone surface. In the center of it was a large glass ball that was full of a strange, warm yellow liquid. It was viscous like nectar. He continued, "... the endurance of a horse, the speed of a deer, sensitive hearing like a bat, and," he props himself up onto the table and slams his hooves on it with excitement, "and the power to regenerate like a lizard!" All of the animals cawed out in fear and dread. "Silence!" Grogar gutturally exclaimed, "You're about to become part of something HUGE! A creature so terrible...and so malicious..." He picked up a strange-looking bell using the magical aura from his horns, "and most importantly..." he points the bell at the glass ball sitting at the middle of the stone table, "IT WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE!" He laughs maniacally as a beam shoots out from the bell at the glass ball. As it hits it, the beam separates and hits the various animals surrounding it. A white flash envelopes the room and Grogar is nearly sent flying, but he manages to stay upright. He squints at the glass ball, trying to see if it had worked. Inside the glass ball was a small baby creature; it was a horrendous amalgamation of animals. It had mismatched antlers: one of a deer and one of an impala. He also had mismatched limbs: a lion's paw, an eagle talon, a lizard's foot, a goat hoof, and a short red dragon tail. Grogar had succeeded in creating an amalgam creature, but he was still unhappy. "Grrrr...no no NO NO!!! IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE! HOW IS IT EVEN SUPPOSED TO WALK?!" he huffed aggressively through his nostrils. "What a waste of time...a failed attempt..." he angrily muttered to himself as he looked at the floor. In a small fit of rage, he kicked the glass ball off the stone table, causing it to crack slightly. "I'll just have to try something else then..." Grogar said as he turned around pacing around in his lab yet again. Meanwhile, the glass ball which had contained the odd-looking creature continued rolling away until it went into one of the vents. It went through a twisty maze of metal ventilation until it had eventually led to the outside world. Since Grogar's lair was built on top a mountain, the glass ball continued rolling downhill. As it picked up speed, it bumped into many jagged rocks causing to crack even more. Eventually, it hit the side of a tree and the glass ball had shattered to pieces causing the small creature and the strange liquid to spill all over the grass. The sound of the glass breaking echoed through almost half of the forest. The creature immediately felt the cold of the outside world and began shivering and whimpering like a baby crocodile. Suddenly, a young mare's hoofsteps could be heard quietly trotting towards the origin of the sound of the glass breaking. The young mare had a soft, fluffy white coat and a near-pastel pink mane. She was an earth pony that had a cutie mark of a bright pink butterfly that appeared to be resting on a single red zinnia flower. She also wore a light red bandana to keep her hair out of her face. "What in Equestria was that?" she asked herself. Suddenly she could hear a strange whimpering in the distance; she slowly trotted towards the sound until her eyes met with quite a peculiar sight. "Huh?" She slowly inched closer to it. To her, it looked like a small ball of brown fur. It shook as it felt the cold breeze against its helpless little body. "O-oh my..!" she stuttered in surprise, "what a weird looking puppy..." She examined the creature closely and corrected herself, "Oh dear....no. This is not like any puppy I have ever seen..." She used her hoof see it's face better, "Let alone...any creature." She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a white towel. She then proceeded to make a makeshift cradle around her neck. She tied the last knot in the cradle, gently picked up the strange, small creature, and placed it into the cradle. "There you go. You might look strange, but that doesn't excuse letting you die alone in the forest," she said, gently caressing her hoof against the creature's face. It stops shivering and tries to hold on to her hoof for more warmth. She pulls away her hoof and the creature whimpers in response. It's stomach audibly rumbles. "Oh, you poor thing...let's take you back home and get you fed." As the mare carried the small creature through the forest, it nuzzles more into the cradle and clings onto her neck to stay warm. She chuckled, "Oh don't worry, my dear. You'll be safe with me." A small cottage surrounded by pine trees comes into her view. She opens the front door and is wafted with the fresh smell of pumpkin. She breathes in deeply, taking in the comforting smell that filled the house. The baby creature cooed softly as the mare opened the door to the ice box in the kitchen. "Hmmm...let's see how much I have left," the mare said to herself pensively as she pulled out a glass bottle half-full of goat's milk. She put the lip of the bottle near the baby's mouth and it started licking up the milk with it's forked tongue. "Oh my! You were really hungry, huh? You poor thing..." The small creature whimpered softly as it finished drinking nearly two-thirds of what was left in the bottle. It belched loudly despite its small size. "Woah! That was...something," she chuckled nervously. The baby nuzzled cutely into the cradle and cooed softly. "Awww...you cute little thing," she said as she caressed the baby's cheek with her hoof. As soon as she did that, the baby finally opened its eyes. They were a rich red color and shined like small rubies. She quietly gasped in awe as she gazed into the baby's huge eyes. "Oh my...your eyes are so beautiful..." she said under her breath. This baby creature had come into this mare's life on a whim and she had already become so attached to it. "I'll look after you and take care of you, my dear. You'll be safe as long as you're with me," she said as she had a warm smile on her face. "Oh! You're gonna need a name then since I found you by yourself," she said. "Your name will be...hmm," she put a hoof to her chin and thought to herself. "Draco." After that fateful day, the kind mare lovingly took care of him for years. They had a very strong emotional bond. Though Draco never actually knew her real name, he always called her "Amma". Aside from him being a strange-looking creature, he lived a relatively normal life. He didn't have the crazy powers that one would think he would have. In a way, his life was very...predictable. Not that it actually bothered him. Predictable was simple. And, quite frankly, he wouldn't have it any other way. Draco had just turned 5 years old. He was unusually tall for his age; he was already at eye level with his mother. Needless to say, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Since the cottage was deep in the forest, Draco never had the chance to interact with other ponies. So, his mother decided that it was time for him to go to school. One day in fall, Draco walked alongside his mother out of the forest to the nearby school. Like any kid on their first day, he was extremely nervous about meeting other ponies. "Oh don't you worry too much, my dear. School is fun!" the mother said to him cheerfully, "all you have to do is talk to the other kids. That's all you have to do!" Draco just looked at the ground with a worried expression. He knew that he was a lot different than any other pony. Aside from his strange appearance, his mannerisms were also quite weird. He had a weird tendency to have his hands curled closed to his chest. And on that note, he also had hands, unlike the other ponies who only had hooves. He also walked on his hind legs rather than on all fours. With that said, he was understandably nervous. "But, Amma...what if the other kids don't like me?" the young draconequus asked. "Oh, honey. I can guarantee you that everypony going to school right now is thinking the same thing. It is the first day, after all. And just like everypony else, you just have to break out of your shell and be yourself. That way, you'll make some friends!" the mother responded as the school building came into view. They both stopped at the front door. The mother turned to face him, "Remember, dear. It's okay to feel nervous at first. And I know you may look different than everyone else. But I know that you're gonna make a friend if you just be your kooky little self." He giggles as she playfully messes with the small, black scruff of hair on his head. "Be good for me, okay?" she said. "I will, Amma..." he said with a smile as she kisses his forehead. "Oh! And remember...no matter what happens, there will always be someone in your corner." Draco opened the door to this classroom and, his future self would faintly recall this moment being the beginning of his worst nightmare. Sure, he was expecting weird looks, but nothing in his life prepared for the sight before him. It wasn't just weird looks; everypony had an expression of pure disgust. Even the teacher couldn't help herself at first before composing herself. Draco immediately froze in place as he looked at their awful gazes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. He walked to the front of the classroom and faced the class. The teacher snapped herself out of it spoke, "H-hi, there! Why...um...don't you introduce yourself to the c-class?" Draco just stood there, practically shaking to death from nervousness. It didn't help that even the teacher was having a cold sweat. After a few seconds, Draco tried to speak, but his voice was too squeaky from his clenched throat. He gulped and cleared his throat, "H-hi, everyone..! M-my name is...um...D-draco..." He forced himself to smile so that he could appear more friendly. In doing that, everyone looked even more visibly uncomfortable. He was nearly on the verge of tears until he shut his eyes tightly and briskly walked to the nearest empty seat. As he walked past, the other kids reeled back as far as they could in their seats in an attempt to keep their distance from him. Class had started and, naturally, the other kids began to gossip about Draco, loudly whispering to each other. "What IS that thing?" a pink filly whispered. "It's not gonna EAT us is it?" "I don't wanna find out..." "Why does he look like that?" "He looks like a chimera...but uglier..." Though the other kids whispered, the gossips just echoed in his head. He tried his best to ignore it, but he couldn't help hearing what everypony said. Time felt slow to Draco, even after the gossip died down. He was nearly on the verge of tears again and wanted to go home. He knew this would happen. He knew he wouldn't be accepted at first. But those looks on their faces? That's what hurt him most. But then he remembered what his mom had told him: "...there will always be someone in your corner." He stopped to think. What could she have meant by that? She couldn't have meant that SHE would be in his corner, right? She wasn't right there with him at that moment. Who would be in his corner at a time like this? As the young draconequus pondered, the school bell rang, indicating every young filly's favorite time of the day. "Okay class~! It's time for recess~!" the teacher cheerfully exclaimed. Everypony cheered as they sprinted to the door and into the playground. Meanwhile, Draco had only just got out of his seat and lagged behind the rest of the group, slowly walking to the door. He stopped himself right at the entranceway and nervously gazed at all the other ponies playing in the playground. The teacher who stood outside of the doorway saw him and forced a cheerful smile. "Oh come now, sweetie. It's recess time that means you can go play outside," she said. Draco just held himself as his stomach seemed to twist into knots. He only mumbled, "Mmm...I don't feel good..." "Oh, sweetie. Don't be nervous, dear," the teacher's expression softened and her muscles relaxed a bit, "it's only playtime. Go play!" Her smile, though more genuine, still didn't settle well with Draco. But it's not like he could have asked for more, so he was at least grateful that the teacher wasn't chastising him. He took a deep breathe and foolishly thought to himself as he stepped out the door. "Maybe there's still hope for me. I just need to go up to somepony and ask if I can play with them...yeah...that's all I have to do right...?" He slowly inched towards a group of fillies who were playing an early form of kickball. It was more of a game of kick-the-ball-of-hay-as-hard-as-you-can, but Draco was nonetheless interested. "H-hey guys...! Umm...do you have room for one more player...?" he asked the group. They all stopped in their tracks and stared at him silently for a few seconds. A scrawny, grey colt spoke up and said, "O-oh! Uh, sorry. We don't need any more players..." "Oh, okay..." the draconequus said. The minute he turned around, a slightly taller, brown colt ran past him towards the group that Draco had just talked to. "Hey guys! Have room for one more?" the colt excitedly asked. "Sure!" the grey colt responded. The group laughed as they continued their game. Meanwhile Draco continued walking away, practically leaving behind his hope in his wake. He walked to a small patch of tall grass that had dozens of colorful flowers in it. He sat in the middle of the patch and starting picking out petals from a small pink zinnia flower. He began thinking to himself. "What was I thinking? I knew Amma would be wrong..." As he plucked out petals from the zinnia, a faint sniffing sound could be heard circling around him. He didn't pay much mind to it at first, as he was too hyper-fixated on the thoughts going through his mind. The sniffing sound grew louder as something swiftly rustled through the tall grass. Draco looked up and searched his surroundings, but couldn't find what was making that odd sniffing sound. The sniffing sound then started charging towards him faster and faster until, suddenly, his head collided into something. No, not something. Someone. "O-ow! What the--?!" Draco shouted as he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a tiny filly sitting on the ground as she rubbed her forehead. Draco tilted his head in curiosity as the young filly opened her eyes and looked around, confused. She had a butter yellow coat, a pink mane, and she had a green bow on her tail. Her cutie mark was a bunch of beautiful pink flowers in a bunch. The little filly looked up at Draco with her shimmering green eyes. "Oh, I-I'm sorry....um...I didn't see where I was going," said the young filly. Draco just stood there silently as the filly looked around herself, searching for something. "Did...she just say 'sorry'? To me? Who is this pony exactly?" Draco thought to himself. "Yay! I found it!" the young filly said as she gasped excitedly, tugging at something in the ground. She pulls out a large purple flower and sniffs from it. She sighs contently. "These are my favorite flowers. They smell so nice," she said as she held the flower and smiled. Draco just watched her with a strange mixture of curiosity and amazement. She looked at Draco with her beaming bright eyes and hands him the flower. "Here....y-you can have it..." the young filly said shyly. "W-what...? F-for me?" Draco stuttered. "Mhm..." said the young filly as she nodded her head. "But...that's a purple dahlia. That's very rare," Draco said. "O-oh? It is? I had no idea," the young filly said, "I just thought it smelled nice." "You don't have to give it to me. It's okay," Draco said as he looked away from her. "W-wait! No!" the young filly quietly yelped before covering her mouth from raising her voice (even though she wasn't very loud to begin with). "I...really think you should have it!" said the filly, "it's rare like you are." Draco felt a weird tingling sensation his body as she said that and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He gently takes the flower from her hoof. "Thank you so much. You're very kind," said Draco, "I'm Draco. What's...your name?" The young filly looked up at Draco cutely. "My name is Posey." Author's Note You'll see why I decided to call him Draco instead of Discord in later chapters. Chapter 2: The Cold AfflictionMonths flew by. Fall slowly turned to winter, and young Draco, though he had a rough patch in the beginning, had somewhat adjusted to his way of life by regularly going to school like any other young pony. Given the reaction that he received on Day One, he was still ostracized by everypony. Everypony except Posey, of course. She was always by his side and stood up for him whenever bullies gave him a hard time. She wasn't that strong, but she stood up for him anyways. She was always in his corner. Just like Amma had predicted. Draco had grown very attached to Posey. He always felt a weird tingling sensation whenever he was around her. There was something about her that alluded him. In any case, they were great friends. During recess, Draco and Posey went to their usual hangout spot. It was a large oak tree, that had various colored zinnias near the center. The flowers, however, were beginning to wilt. "Oh don't worry! I know what to do!" said Posey as she ran off to the patch of grass a couple yards away from the tree. She was wearing hoof mittens and a cute red coat that had a white fluffy trim around the collar. Draco patiently stood there in the cold. He traced hearts in the snow with the tip of his mismatched colored boots while he waited. Posey playfully skipped back to where Draco was, she held a few odd-looking white flowers in her mouth. The buds on it looked like little white bells. "I found some!" Posey said in a slightly muffled tone. Draco had snapped out of his trance and looked at Posey holding the flowers. She looked so...cheerful. So happy. Her cheeks were a rosy pink. "O-oh! What...are those?" Draco asked. She trotted over to the tree next to him and set the flowers down. She looked at the wilted flowers with a sad expression. "These flowers wilt in the cold," she sighed, "so...we have to put in new ones." She then dug up the wilted flowers from the soil and planted in the strange white flower where she dug the hole. Draco walked closer to her to watch what she was doing. "These are Lillies of the Valley. They can survive in the cold," she said while looking at Draco with a warm smile, "and they smell really nice!" Draco immediately knew what she was suggesting. It meant that she wanted Draco to come smell the flowers with her. She always loved smelling flowers, but she especially loved seeing him smell them. He walked over next to her and sat down to smell the flowers. "They smell amazing..." said Draco. When Posey went to smell the flowers, Draco opened his eyes and realized that his face was extremely close to hers. She didn't notice at first until Draco audibly gulped. "Huh?" she turned to face him and his face turned a beet red. Draco couldn't look away from her, but he was still nervous. Posey just looked into his eyes. She was confused, but she didn't look away either. Suddenly, a small grey hoof stomped in between their faces and it caused them both to reel back in shock. "Wh--?! Huh?!" Draco gasped. He looked up and instantly knew what was gonna happen. It was his school bully, Dips. "Are you two LOSERS playing with flowers again?" Dips chuckled. "Leave us alone, Dips," Draco said, "we didn't do anything to you." "Whatever you say, twerp," Dips said as he pushed Draco to the ground. Draco was always weak. He knew he couldn't stand up to him. Despite Dips being scrawny, he was stronger than him. Even though she could never beat him, Posey always stood up for him whenever he was being bullied. However, today was a different day. A small quiet whimpering could be heard coming from Posey. Draco looked over to her and saw that she was nearly on the verge of tears. He looked at the ground and realized why she was acting this way. "No...no...no..." she whimpered as her teardrops fell on the squashed white flowers. Draco was infuriated. He stood up quickly and tried tackling Dips again, but was easily pushed down. "Just give it up already," Dips said. Draco just laid there in the snow, cold tears running down his face. He stood up one last time and tried pushing Dips again. Instead of being beaten down like all the other times, Draco managed to stand his ground. He had his hands on Dip's hooves and tried to push him back. After nearly falling back again, Draco grunted loudly and nearly sent Dips flying. He had pushed him so far that it had left a ten-meter long wake in the snow. Draco nearly fell over from the sudden surge of energy. He looked up and saw how far away Dips was and gasped in shock. He looked at his own hands in bewilderment. "What...? How did I...?" Draco asked himself. Posey had stopped crying and looked up to see Draco. "Huh...? Where did that meanie go...?" Posey asked. He just stood there silently staring at his hands. Posie stood up and walked to him. She put her hoof in his lion paw. "Are you okay?" Posey asked. "Mm?" Draco said as he snapped out of his trance, "yeah, I'm...fine." "Are you sure...?" Posey worriedly insisted. Draco looked up presumably to where Dips had landed, but saw that he was already gone. In that moment, Draco wasn't worried about where to find him. He was worried about what he did to him. A week had passed and Draco still thought about what happened that day. One morning, he sat waiting for Amma to finish making supper. The cottage felt warm from the fireplace and the rooms filled with the aroma of pastry and freshly-chopped dried fruit. Draco sat there and stared at the flames in the fireplace, watching each ember that flew up the chimney. Amma then laid out what seemed to look like a large, meat-like pie with basil sprinkled on top. Amma cut him a slice and put in on his plate. "Here you go, dear. Your favorite!" Amma said with glee. Draco quickly turned his head to his plate and snapped out of his trance. "O-oh! Thank you, Amma," Draco said, staring at his food. Amma then sat down on the other side of the wooden table. She quickly noticed that something was off with Draco. "Come on, dear. You have to eat your food before it gets cold," Amma said. Draco just looked at her with puppy dog eyes. She knew what this meant. "I know you want to go outside and play," Amma said, "but there's going to be a blizzard tonight so you need to stay inside." Draco just looked down at his plate with a disappointed look in his eyes. "You can play tomorrow morning if you'd like," Amma said. "Okay..." Draco said as he slowly ate pieces of his pie. It was one of his favorite foods, so he was at least happy that he had a good meal. And although this wasn't the first time that he didn't get to go play outside, he never really argued with it. What he did on that day, though...he couldn't just forget about it. Draco layed restless in his bed that night. He had been up for hours wondering what happened to him that day. There was no blizzard outside. He figured that this would be a good excuse to sneak out since Amma wouldn't let him play outside because there would presumably be a blizzard. But if there's no blizzard, why shouldn't he be allowed to play outside. Besides, he didn't ACTUALLY want to play. He just wanted to see if he could replicate what he did to Dips and try to find out how he triggered it. His curiosity was eating him up inside, so he quietly hopped out of bed and tip-toed down the hallway. His room was directly adjacent to Amma's, so he had to tip-toe past her doorway. He peered through the crack in the door. She was fast asleep. "Perfect! The coast is clear!" Draco thought to himself. He tiptoed until he reached the rack that had his beanie and scarf. He put them on and tried putting on his winter boots. He tried to squeeze them in and nearly fall backwards in the process. He managed to keep his balance, but he made a lot of noise, so he stood still like a statue. Amma groaned in her sleep, but didn't wake up. Draco let out a sigh of relief and finally managed to put his boots on before exiting through the front door. He walked around to the back of the house and went into the forest where he usually went. He had a tendency to get lost in the forest, but he was still determined to satisfy his curiosity. "First, I have to figure out what I want to test this out on.. And then...I have to figure out how to actually do it," Draco thought to himself as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest. He saw a large boulder by a creek in the distance. The creek led downhill, so this would be a perfect spot to test it out. He put both of his hands on it in an effort to push it, but it wouldn't budge. He even gave himself a running start, but it still wouldn't move. He had nearly given up, until he paced back and forth thinking to himself. He tried thinking about how he triggered it in the first place. His mind clicked. It was a strong emotion that triggered it. He looked at the boulder and tried to imagine it being Dips. He pushed against the boulders and closed his eyes trying to picture pushing his bully. He remembered the look Posey had on her face when she cried. How hurt she was. Draco's heart filled with rage as he growled loudly. He used all of his might to push the boulder until it eventually stumbled and rolled downhill. "Nrgh! Yes! I did it!" Draco yelled as the boulder kept rolling downhill. He watched as the massive boulder was getting closer and closer to the bottom, but then noticed a small filly walking in the pathway of where the boulder would land. They were laying down, as if smelling something from the ground. "Wait a minute," Draco muttered to himself. He widened his eyes in shock, "Gasp! Posey look out!" She looked up and saw that the boulder was already closing in on her. She managed to jump out of the way before being crushed. Draco immediately rushed down the creek to her aid. "Posey! Are you alright?!" he said as he arrived at her side. Posey looked at him and gasped in shock. "Posey, what's wrong?" Draco said as he laid out his lion paw to help her up. She reeled back from him, as if she had seen a ghost. She crawled over to the flattened flower and gently held it in her hooves before quietly sobbing. The flower's petals glimmered like stars. Draco felt horrible. He slowly walked over to her so that he could cheer her up. She quickly turned around to face him. "That look in her eyes..."Draco thought to himself. His heart filled with sorrow. It was the same look that she had when Dips smashed the flowers. And he caused that. He emotionally hurt her. And it could've been astronomically worse. It would've been more than just a couple flattened flowers. He could've hurt somepony. Badly. "Posey, I--" "No!" Posey interrupted. Draco shut himself up. "You're cruel...how could you do this...?" Posey said as she sniffled. "Posey it's okay...its just a flower. I'm just glad that you didn't get hur--" "'It's just a flower'?!" Posey interrupted again. Draco just stood there in silence. "I got my cutie mark because I picked flowers for my mom...she's very sick. But I told her that I would find a flower that would help her get better," Posey said, while Draco listened intently. "My mommy told me a story about a rare flower that could cure anything. It was called 'The Silver Starbeam,'" she continued as she held it's petals which seemed to have been shattered like glass, "she said that it only grew once every thousand years." Draco gasped in shock as he realized what he had done, "Posey...I'm so sorry...it was an accident." She only turned away from him as she shed a tear. "You're not my friend anymore..." Draco was heartbroken. His stomach twisted into knots as a rush of emotions filled him to the brim. He had never felt so hurt in his life. He cried as he looked at his hands, which started to glow. Suddenly, his irises started flickering a glowing yellow. He walked backwards in shock as he looked at his hands wondering what was happening to him. His whole body started to shake violently. He put his hands over his ears as he screamed in pain. A small white flash enveloped him as he seemingly disappeared into thin air. Except, he hadn't disappeared. He was now up in a tree, nearly 20 feet off the ground. He held on to the tree as he looked down, shaking. The white flash enveloped him again and he was now back on the top of the hill where he was before. He fell to the ground as he whimpered in pain. His stomach was twisting even more. He thought to himself that it was LITERALLY twisting inside of him. The white flash appeared around him again and he was now close to Posey again. He clenched at his stomach as he hunched his back over. Draco looked like he was about to vomit. His eyes began flickering yellow again, but even faster than before. He flung himself back and a massive beam of a dark and mysterious purple matter violently ejected from his mouth and shot up into the sky. The beam hit a small group of cumulus clouds and they increased to ten times their regular size and rumbled loudly. "H-huh?" Posey whimpered. Draco collapsed to the ground as he hyperventilated. He looked up to see Posey. The look of sadness in her eyes was now replaced by fear. Draco stood up quickly and ran further into the depths of the forest. His vision had become blurry and he ran into a tree. As soon as he made contact, the tree turned into a giant cinnamon stick. He jumped in surprise and continued running until he fell and stumbled down another creek. As soon as his body made contact with the water, it turned into tomato soup. He frantically crawled out of the creek and continued running into the forest. He looked up at the sky and saw that the blizzard was catching up to him. Because he wasn't watching where he was going, he didn't see that there was a cliff up ahead. He ran off the edge and screamed in terror as his limp body hit against multiple branches, barely breaking his fall. The branches violently ripped off his beanie and scarf before he eventually hit the ground with a loud thud. He curled his body in pain and the blizzard inevitably washed over him like a tsunami. The wind carried his body and slammed him against a tree. He opened one eye as he laid on the ground and spotted a cave nearby. He grunted as he slowly crawled towards the cave. As soon as he got in, he slumped over and held himself as he shivered. He just barely managed to get out of the blizzard and whatever had happened to him drained him of a lot of his energy. Plus, he was wounded. So, it's no surprise that as soon as he laid down, he had passed out from exhaustion. He was alive, but now... He was alone. Chapter 3: From Heartbreak to BedlamAuthor's Note I'm republishing because I wasn't happy with how I ended it before, but I think I'm happy with it now. Sorry for any confusion. Anyways, enjoy-- Chapter 3: From Heartbreak to Bedlam Amma rested peacefully in her bed until one of the windows violently flung open and suddenly turned the room into a partial snow storm. She woke up annoyed and shut the windows, but it opened on its own again. With an angry grunt, she slammed the window closed and locked it tightly. She could never stand the cold. Suddenly, the window in Draco's room had flung open and she let out a heavy sigh. She walked over to his room and went to the windows. She peered at the bed and saw that Draco wasn't in it. She gasped in shock and ran out the door to look around the house for Draco but he was nowhere to be seen. Without hesitation, Amma frantically put on a scarf and headed out the door. She nearly collapsed from the sudden gusts of cold air as she sprinted into the forest behind the house. She shut her eyes tightly as she shed tears from the sheer cold. The cold was painful, but she didn't care. She just wanted her precious... "DRACO!" Draco laid shivering on the cold, rocky floor. He had stayed in that cave for as long as the blizzard kept him in. He was starting to develop frostbite. He looked out at the cave's gaping entrance and looked at the blizzard which blew snow in every direction. He had to get something to keep him warm. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing before briskly running out of the cave to try and get wood. He figured that all he would need is branches that fell from the trees. The wind nearly carried him again before he hugged onto a tree and began crawling again. He shifted his hands through the thick layers of snow and managed to pull out a large stick. He dug up more snow and found another stick. He continued this process until he had roughly five sticks. He would've gotten more, but the cold was really starting to get to him so badly that he was starting to grow icicles on his face. He felt like he was on the verge of dying, but something within him managed to keep him alive the whole time, despite everything that has happened to him. A normal pony would've died in matter of seconds in a blizzard like this. But he was still alive, and he wondered why. He grunted as he collapsed on to the rocky floor of the cave, causing all of the sticks that he managed to gather to scatter all over the place. He barely managed to prop himself up before gathering all the sticks into a pile. He then took two rocks and tried using them to ignite a flame, but to no avail. He threw the rocks into the murky depth of the cave and it ricocheted off of the walls like bouncy balls. He pouted and sat down in front of his stick pile. He sniffled, which caused his nose to tickle a little bit. He reeled back his head and sneezed. The moment he sneezed, a large burst of fire ejected from his nose and ignited the pile of sticks that he had in front of him. "It keeps getting worse..." Draco thought to himself as he hesitantly huddled closer to the fire. "I know I've only caused pain ever since this started happening to me, but the least it could do is stop for five minutes." He shook himself out of it, "No," he said, "this is probably happening to me because I deserve it. I mean, everypony always saw me as a monster...." Tears starting falling down his face as he remembered, "Even...her..." Draco laid on his side and whimpered as his face drenched with tears. He had cried so much that tears weren't even coming out anymore since he was starting to get dehydrated. Draco opened his eyes and realized that the cave was suddenly getting darker. He looked out at the cave entrance and saw that the snow was piling up so much that it was blocking him in. He quickly stood up and grabbed a stick from the fire to try and melt the snow before it completely blocked himself in, but it was no use. In a matter of seconds, the only light source in that cave was the campfire that was almost put out. He gave up and huddled closely to what little was left of the fire. "I want my mommy...I want my mommy...I want my mommy..." Draco kept repeating to himself as the fire was finally put out and he was left in complete darkness. He only sat there silently. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned to days. And what did he do? Nothing. There was nothing he could do. He was too tired to claw himself out of the snow. He was too hungry to go anywhere. He was too thirsty to even think. He was in pain. Mentally and physically. He felt like he should've died hours ago just from the cold alone. But he didn't. "Why, why, why?" he would ask himself over and over again. But there was no response...until... "Because you need to suffer..." a disembodied voice answered. The deepness and raspiness of the voice sent chills up Draco's spine. Draco looked around the cave, trying to find where the voice came from. Even though his eyes had somewhat adjusted to seeing in the dark, he couldn't find it. He peered into the murky depths. "You're a monster..." the voice said again, breaking the silence. "W-who are you...?" Draco asked the voice. He still couldn't see it. "I am what you have been, what you are and what you will be..." the voice said in a subtle, goofier tone. "W-what am I, then?" Draco asked the voice. "You're a horrible monster....and there is no hope for you..." the voice answered. "But...what about Am-?" "No!" the voice interrupted. "She never truly cared about you! She only took pity on you because you looked weak and helpless when she found you!" the voice continued. "Is...that really true...?" Draco asked as he tried to shed a tear, but couldn't. "Oh, don't you worry yourself, now," the voice reassured him, "we'll do something about it...and we're gonna have fun getting our revenge." "Revenge? But...why?" Draco asked. "Seriously? You don't remember being hated by everypony? The bullying? You need to strike back!" the voice exclaimed. Draco just stared at the ground. "No..." Draco whispered to himself, "I don't wanna hurt anypony...not anymore." It was silent for a few seconds until the voice suddenly started chuckling. The chuckling then turned into maniacal laughter. "Foolish boy. You don't have a choice," the voice finally spoke. "What do you mean...?!" Draco asked, but was only met with silence. Suddenly, he had a pounding migraine and there was a loud ringing in his ears, which caused him to drop to his knees and cover his ears. The moment he opened his eyes, the floor of the cave looked wavy as if he was in some sort of twisted dimension. He felt nauseous as his perception of his surroundings became more and more jumbled. From his perspective, his own limbs seemed to increase and decrease in size repeatedly. He leaned against the wall and it turned into a purple checkered pattern. His own body started to morph. He wanted it all to stop. He couldn't take it anymore. But there was no hope for him. There was no one there to help him. He was alone. And the only thing he could do was lay there and wallow in pain as his mind continued to spiral down into despair. Who knows how long this would last? An hour? Days? Weeks? Years? Time seemed to matter so little to him in that moment, for Draco no longer cared, and Draco was no longer. There was only insanity. There was only confusion. There was only bedlam. There was only... Discord. For years, the blizzard had run rampant around Equestria and all of the ponies were bitter towards each other as their crops died. This blizzard wasn't like any other blizzard Equestria had ever seen. It appeared to have a center to it and it had what looked like three large horses running in a circle. Many ponies were literally frozen in ice. Their anguish only fed to the unending storm. Eventually, they had learned that friendship was the only way to stop the unending snow storm. So, they had finally come together and used what little magic they had left to stop it. During the cold, long years of snow and the frost in their hearts had finally melted, Discord had stayed in that cave until his mind was no longer salvageable. He had truly lost his mind. On top of that, he was incredibly powerful. Fortunately, he had laid dormant in his cave where he appeared to have been hibernating. He looked a lot different. He was now three times the size of a normal pony. His lion paw had claws the size of kitchen knifes and his eagle talon was razor sharp. His long red tail had prominent scales that shimmered in the morning sun. His deer antler and impala horn were fully grown. He had a long, soft goatee that was as white as the snow that had melted. He finally propped himself up from his long slumber and stretched himself out like a cat. He rubbed his eyes before attempting to stand up like he usually would, but since he was a lot bigger, he hit his head on the roof of the cave and rubbed his head as he grunted in pain. The sunlight was nearly blinding to him, but he walked out of the cave with his head tucked down. He looked out into the forest and saw the melted snow and freshly growing flowers. He yawned and stretched his arms as he rubbed his head in confusion. "Mmm...where am I?" he asked himself. Of course, no one was there to answer him. He looked down and saw how high up he was. He nearly lost his balance, but he managed to stay upright. He continued to wander aimlessly through the forest before tripping in front of a creek. He gasped at his reflection in the water. He touched his now elongated face and stroked his goatee. He stood back up and continued walking out of the forest thinking to himself. "Why am I here...? How long was I asleep for...? What happened to me...? he asked himself. "And why do I feel like I'm forgetting about somepony...? I can't remember anything..." Before he even noticed, he had walked right into the center of a busy town. A bloodcurdling scream snapped him out of his trance. He snapped his head towards the screaming pony. "A monster!"a grey stallion with a cutie mark of a boxing glove exclaimed. Discord widened his eyes in shock. He suddenly got a small flashback of the same grey pony bullying him back in school. "You..." Discord said, now enraged. And that was the very beginning of his rampage. He exacted his revenge on not only that grey stallion, but on that town. He terrorized everypony and had become the very monster that everypony would fear for years to come. Then, he went from terrorizing towns to terrorizing entire cities. Eventually, he had ruled all of Equestria. He had become the Discord that everypony would now despise. There was no going back for him. His memories of love and family had disappeared along with his sanity. Chapter 4: History is UnforgivingSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1: The Odd Blooming FlowerMany centuries ago, there was a creature of pure evil that ruled Equestria with an iron hoof for generations. He was a large, blue goat that went by the name "Grogar". Before he was later inevitably defeated, he embarked on one final quest. He had only one goal in mind: to create a creature with unlimited power. A creature that could potentially outlive him and continue his reign of terror. He traveled far and wide and studied dozens of animals and took note of their abilities. He captured these animals and brought them back to his lair. "Now, let's see..." Grogar muttered to himself as he paced back and forth in his lab, "dragons have tough scales and can breathe fire...goats have an incredible climbing ability...lions have great strength..." He continued to mutter to himself as he listed off the various traits of each animal that he had captured. He had them in small cages on the large, raised stone surface. In the center of it was a large glass ball that was full of a strange, warm yellow liquid. It was viscous like nectar. He continued, "... the endurance of a horse, the speed of a deer, sensitive hearing like a bat, and," he props himself up onto the table and slams his hooves on it with excitement, "and the power to regenerate like a lizard!" All of the animals cawed out in fear and dread. "Silence!" Grogar gutturally exclaimed, "You're about to become part of something HUGE! A creature so terrible...and so malicious..." He picked up a strange-looking bell using the magical aura from his horns, "and most importantly..." he points the bell at the glass ball sitting at the middle of the stone table, "IT WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE!" He laughs maniacally as a beam shoots out from the bell at the glass ball. As it hits it, the beam separates and hits the various animals surrounding it. A white flash envelopes the room and Grogar is nearly sent flying, but he manages to stay upright. He squints at the glass ball, trying to see if it had worked. Inside the glass ball was a small baby creature; it was a horrendous amalgamation of animals. It had mismatched antlers: one of a deer and one of an impala. He also had mismatched limbs: a lion's paw, an eagle talon, a lizard's foot, a goat hoof, and a short red dragon tail. Grogar had succeeded in creating an amalgam creature, but he was still unhappy. "Grrrr...no no NO NO!!! IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE! HOW IS IT EVEN SUPPOSED TO WALK?!" he huffed aggressively through his nostrils. "What a waste of time...a failed attempt..." he angrily muttered to himself as he looked at the floor. In a small fit of rage, he kicked the glass ball off the stone table, causing it to crack slightly. "I'll just have to try something else then..." Grogar said as he turned around pacing around in his lab yet again. Meanwhile, the glass ball which had contained the odd-looking creature continued rolling away until it went into one of the vents. It went through a twisty maze of metal ventilation until it had eventually led to the outside world. Since Grogar's lair was built on top a mountain, the glass ball continued rolling downhill. As it picked up speed, it bumped into many jagged rocks causing to crack even more. Eventually, it hit the side of a tree and the glass ball had shattered to pieces causing the small creature and the strange liquid to spill all over the grass. The sound of the glass breaking echoed through almost half of the forest. The creature immediately felt the cold of the outside world and began shivering and whimpering like a baby crocodile. Suddenly, a young mare's hoofsteps could be heard quietly trotting towards the origin of the sound of the glass breaking. The young mare had a soft, fluffy white coat and a near-pastel pink mane. She was an earth pony that had a cutie mark of a bright pink butterfly that appeared to be resting on a single red zinnia flower. She also wore a light red bandana to keep her hair out of her face. "What in Equestria was that?" she asked herself. Suddenly she could hear a strange whimpering in the distance; she slowly trotted towards the sound until her eyes met with quite a peculiar sight. "Huh?" She slowly inched closer to it. To her, it looked like a small ball of brown fur. It shook as it felt the cold breeze against its helpless little body. "O-oh my..!" she stuttered in surprise, "what a weird looking puppy..." She examined the creature closely and corrected herself, "Oh dear....no. This is not like any puppy I have ever seen..." She used her hoof see it's face better, "Let alone...any creature." She reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a white towel. She then proceeded to make a makeshift cradle around her neck. She tied the last knot in the cradle, gently picked up the strange, small creature, and placed it into the cradle. "There you go. You might look strange, but that doesn't excuse letting you die alone in the forest," she said, gently caressing her hoof against the creature's face. It stops shivering and tries to hold on to her hoof for more warmth. She pulls away her hoof and the creature whimpers in response. It's stomach audibly rumbles. "Oh, you poor thing...let's take you back home and get you fed." As the mare carried the small creature through the forest, it nuzzles more into the cradle and clings onto her neck to stay warm. She chuckled, "Oh don't worry, my dear. You'll be safe with me." A small cottage surrounded by pine trees comes into her view. She opens the front door and is wafted with the fresh smell of pumpkin. She breathes in deeply, taking in the comforting smell that filled the house. The baby creature cooed softly as the mare opened the door to the ice box in the kitchen. "Hmmm...let's see how much I have left," the mare said to herself pensively as she pulled out a glass bottle half-full of goat's milk. She put the lip of the bottle near the baby's mouth and it started licking up the milk with it's forked tongue. "Oh my! You were really hungry, huh? You poor thing..." The small creature whimpered softly as it finished drinking nearly two-thirds of what was left in the bottle. It belched loudly despite its small size. "Woah! That was...something," she chuckled nervously. The baby nuzzled cutely into the cradle and cooed softly. "Awww...you cute little thing," she said as she caressed the baby's cheek with her hoof. As soon as she did that, the baby finally opened its eyes. They were a rich red color and shined like small rubies. She quietly gasped in awe as she gazed into the baby's huge eyes. "Oh my...your eyes are so beautiful..." she said under her breath. This baby creature had come into this mare's life on a whim and she had already become so attached to it. "I'll look after you and take care of you, my dear. You'll be safe as long as you're with me," she said as she had a warm smile on her face. "Oh! You're gonna need a name then since I found you by yourself," she said. "Your name will be...hmm," she put a hoof to her chin and thought to herself. "Draco." After that fateful day, the kind mare lovingly took care of him for years. They had a very strong emotional bond. Though Draco never actually knew her real name, he always called her "Amma". Aside from him being a strange-looking creature, he lived a relatively normal life. He didn't have the crazy powers that one would think he would have. In a way, his life was very...predictable. Not that it actually bothered him. Predictable was simple. And, quite frankly, he wouldn't have it any other way. Draco had just turned 5 years old. He was unusually tall for his age; he was already at eye level with his mother. Needless to say, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Since the cottage was deep in the forest, Draco never had the chance to interact with other ponies. So, his mother decided that it was time for him to go to school. One day in fall, Draco walked alongside his mother out of the forest to the nearby school. Like any kid on their first day, he was extremely nervous about meeting other ponies. "Oh don't you worry too much, my dear. School is fun!" the mother said to him cheerfully, "all you have to do is talk to the other kids. That's all you have to do!" Draco just looked at the ground with a worried expression. He knew that he was a lot different than any other pony. Aside from his strange appearance, his mannerisms were also quite weird. He had a weird tendency to have his hands curled closed to his chest. And on that note, he also had hands, unlike the other ponies who only had hooves. He also walked on his hind legs rather than on all fours. With that said, he was understandably nervous. "But, Amma...what if the other kids don't like me?" the young draconequus asked. "Oh, honey. I can guarantee you that everypony going to school right now is thinking the same thing. It is the first day, after all. And just like everypony else, you just have to break out of your shell and be yourself. That way, you'll make some friends!" the mother responded as the school building came into view. They both stopped at the front door. The mother turned to face him, "Remember, dear. It's okay to feel nervous at first. And I know you may look different than everyone else. But I know that you're gonna make a friend if you just be your kooky little self." He giggles as she playfully messes with the small, black scruff of hair on his head. "Be good for me, okay?" she said. "I will, Amma..." he said with a smile as she kisses his forehead. "Oh! And remember...no matter what happens, there will always be someone in your corner." Draco opened the door to this classroom and, his future self would faintly recall this moment being the beginning of his worst nightmare. Sure, he was expecting weird looks, but nothing in his life prepared for the sight before him. It wasn't just weird looks; everypony had an expression of pure disgust. Even the teacher couldn't help herself at first before composing herself. Draco immediately froze in place as he looked at their awful gazes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. He walked to the front of the classroom and faced the class. The teacher snapped herself out of it spoke, "H-hi, there! Why...um...don't you introduce yourself to the c-class?" Draco just stood there, practically shaking to death from nervousness. It didn't help that even the teacher was having a cold sweat. After a few seconds, Draco tried to speak, but his voice was too squeaky from his clenched throat. He gulped and cleared his throat, "H-hi, everyone..! M-my name is...um...D-draco..." He forced himself to smile so that he could appear more friendly. In doing that, everyone looked even more visibly uncomfortable. He was nearly on the verge of tears until he shut his eyes tightly and briskly walked to the nearest empty seat. As he walked past, the other kids reeled back as far as they could in their seats in an attempt to keep their distance from him. Class had started and, naturally, the other kids began to gossip about Draco, loudly whispering to each other. "What IS that thing?" a pink filly whispered. "It's not gonna EAT us is it?" "I don't wanna find out..." "Why does he look like that?" "He looks like a chimera...but uglier..." Though the other kids whispered, the gossips just echoed in his head. He tried his best to ignore it, but he couldn't help hearing what everypony said. Time felt slow to Draco, even after the gossip died down. He was nearly on the verge of tears again and wanted to go home. He knew this would happen. He knew he wouldn't be accepted at first. But those looks on their faces? That's what hurt him most. But then he remembered what his mom had told him: "...there will always be someone in your corner." He stopped to think. What could she have meant by that? She couldn't have meant that SHE would be in his corner, right? She wasn't right there with him at that moment. Who would be in his corner at a time like this? As the young draconequus pondered, the school bell rang, indicating every young filly's favorite time of the day. "Okay class~! It's time for recess~!" the teacher cheerfully exclaimed. Everypony cheered as they sprinted to the door and into the playground. Meanwhile, Draco had only just got out of his seat and lagged behind the rest of the group, slowly walking to the door. He stopped himself right at the entranceway and nervously gazed at all the other ponies playing in the playground. The teacher who stood outside of the doorway saw him and forced a cheerful smile. "Oh come now, sweetie. It's recess time that means you can go play outside," she said. Draco just held himself as his stomach seemed to twist into knots. He only mumbled, "Mmm...I don't feel good..." "Oh, sweetie. Don't be nervous, dear," the teacher's expression softened and her muscles relaxed a bit, "it's only playtime. Go play!" Her smile, though more genuine, still didn't settle well with Draco. But it's not like he could have asked for more, so he was at least grateful that the teacher wasn't chastising him. He took a deep breathe and foolishly thought to himself as he stepped out the door. "Maybe there's still hope for me. I just need to go up to somepony and ask if I can play with them...yeah...that's all I have to do right...?" He slowly inched towards a group of fillies who were playing an early form of kickball. It was more of a game of kick-the-ball-of-hay-as-hard-as-you-can, but Draco was nonetheless interested. "H-hey guys...! Umm...do you have room for one more player...?" he asked the group. They all stopped in their tracks and stared at him silently for a few seconds. A scrawny, grey colt spoke up and said, "O-oh! Uh, sorry. We don't need any more players..." "Oh, okay..." the draconequus said. The minute he turned around, a slightly taller, brown colt ran past him towards the group that Draco had just talked to. "Hey guys! Have room for one more?" the colt excitedly asked. "Sure!" the grey colt responded. The group laughed as they continued their game. Meanwhile Draco continued walking away, practically leaving behind his hope in his wake. He walked to a small patch of tall grass that had dozens of colorful flowers in it. He sat in the middle of the patch and starting picking out petals from a small pink zinnia flower. He began thinking to himself. "What was I thinking? I knew Amma would be wrong..." As he plucked out petals from the zinnia, a faint sniffing sound could be heard circling around him. He didn't pay much mind to it at first, as he was too hyper-fixated on the thoughts going through his mind. The sniffing sound grew louder as something swiftly rustled through the tall grass. Draco looked up and searched his surroundings, but couldn't find what was making that odd sniffing sound. The sniffing sound then started charging towards him faster and faster until, suddenly, his head collided into something. No, not something. Someone. "O-ow! What the--?!" Draco shouted as he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a tiny filly sitting on the ground as she rubbed her forehead. Draco tilted his head in curiosity as the young filly opened her eyes and looked around, confused. She had a butter yellow coat, a pink mane, and she had a green bow on her tail. Her cutie mark was a bunch of beautiful pink flowers in a bunch. The little filly looked up at Draco with her shimmering green eyes. "Oh, I-I'm sorry....um...I didn't see where I was going," said the young filly. Draco just stood there silently as the filly looked around herself, searching for something. "Did...she just say 'sorry'? To me? Who is this pony exactly?" Draco thought to himself. "Yay! I found it!" the young filly said as she gasped excitedly, tugging at something in the ground. She pulls out a large purple flower and sniffs from it. She sighs contently. "These are my favorite flowers. They smell so nice," she said as she held the flower and smiled. Draco just watched her with a strange mixture of curiosity and amazement. She looked at Draco with her beaming bright eyes and hands him the flower. "Here....y-you can have it..." the young filly said shyly. "W-what...? F-for me?" Draco stuttered. "Mhm..." said the young filly as she nodded her head. "But...that's a purple dahlia. That's very rare," Draco said. "O-oh? It is? I had no idea," the young filly said, "I just thought it smelled nice." "You don't have to give it to me. It's okay," Draco said as he looked away from her. "W-wait! No!" the young filly quietly yelped before covering her mouth from raising her voice (even though she wasn't very loud to begin with). "I...really think you should have it!" said the filly, "it's rare like you are." Draco felt a weird tingling sensation his body as she said that and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He gently takes the flower from her hoof. "Thank you so much. You're very kind," said Draco, "I'm Draco. What's...your name?" The young filly looked up at Draco cutely. "My name is Posey." Author's Note You'll see why I decided to call him Draco instead of Discord in later chapters.
Chapter 2: The Cold AfflictionMonths flew by. Fall slowly turned to winter, and young Draco, though he had a rough patch in the beginning, had somewhat adjusted to his way of life by regularly going to school like any other young pony. Given the reaction that he received on Day One, he was still ostracized by everypony. Everypony except Posey, of course. She was always by his side and stood up for him whenever bullies gave him a hard time. She wasn't that strong, but she stood up for him anyways. She was always in his corner. Just like Amma had predicted. Draco had grown very attached to Posey. He always felt a weird tingling sensation whenever he was around her. There was something about her that alluded him. In any case, they were great friends. During recess, Draco and Posey went to their usual hangout spot. It was a large oak tree, that had various colored zinnias near the center. The flowers, however, were beginning to wilt. "Oh don't worry! I know what to do!" said Posey as she ran off to the patch of grass a couple yards away from the tree. She was wearing hoof mittens and a cute red coat that had a white fluffy trim around the collar. Draco patiently stood there in the cold. He traced hearts in the snow with the tip of his mismatched colored boots while he waited. Posey playfully skipped back to where Draco was, she held a few odd-looking white flowers in her mouth. The buds on it looked like little white bells. "I found some!" Posey said in a slightly muffled tone. Draco had snapped out of his trance and looked at Posey holding the flowers. She looked so...cheerful. So happy. Her cheeks were a rosy pink. "O-oh! What...are those?" Draco asked. She trotted over to the tree next to him and set the flowers down. She looked at the wilted flowers with a sad expression. "These flowers wilt in the cold," she sighed, "so...we have to put in new ones." She then dug up the wilted flowers from the soil and planted in the strange white flower where she dug the hole. Draco walked closer to her to watch what she was doing. "These are Lillies of the Valley. They can survive in the cold," she said while looking at Draco with a warm smile, "and they smell really nice!" Draco immediately knew what she was suggesting. It meant that she wanted Draco to come smell the flowers with her. She always loved smelling flowers, but she especially loved seeing him smell them. He walked over next to her and sat down to smell the flowers. "They smell amazing..." said Draco. When Posey went to smell the flowers, Draco opened his eyes and realized that his face was extremely close to hers. She didn't notice at first until Draco audibly gulped. "Huh?" she turned to face him and his face turned a beet red. Draco couldn't look away from her, but he was still nervous. Posey just looked into his eyes. She was confused, but she didn't look away either. Suddenly, a small grey hoof stomped in between their faces and it caused them both to reel back in shock. "Wh--?! Huh?!" Draco gasped. He looked up and instantly knew what was gonna happen. It was his school bully, Dips. "Are you two LOSERS playing with flowers again?" Dips chuckled. "Leave us alone, Dips," Draco said, "we didn't do anything to you." "Whatever you say, twerp," Dips said as he pushed Draco to the ground. Draco was always weak. He knew he couldn't stand up to him. Despite Dips being scrawny, he was stronger than him. Even though she could never beat him, Posey always stood up for him whenever he was being bullied. However, today was a different day. A small quiet whimpering could be heard coming from Posey. Draco looked over to her and saw that she was nearly on the verge of tears. He looked at the ground and realized why she was acting this way. "No...no...no..." she whimpered as her teardrops fell on the squashed white flowers. Draco was infuriated. He stood up quickly and tried tackling Dips again, but was easily pushed down. "Just give it up already," Dips said. Draco just laid there in the snow, cold tears running down his face. He stood up one last time and tried pushing Dips again. Instead of being beaten down like all the other times, Draco managed to stand his ground. He had his hands on Dip's hooves and tried to push him back. After nearly falling back again, Draco grunted loudly and nearly sent Dips flying. He had pushed him so far that it had left a ten-meter long wake in the snow. Draco nearly fell over from the sudden surge of energy. He looked up and saw how far away Dips was and gasped in shock. He looked at his own hands in bewilderment. "What...? How did I...?" Draco asked himself. Posey had stopped crying and looked up to see Draco. "Huh...? Where did that meanie go...?" Posey asked. He just stood there silently staring at his hands. Posie stood up and walked to him. She put her hoof in his lion paw. "Are you okay?" Posey asked. "Mm?" Draco said as he snapped out of his trance, "yeah, I'm...fine." "Are you sure...?" Posey worriedly insisted. Draco looked up presumably to where Dips had landed, but saw that he was already gone. In that moment, Draco wasn't worried about where to find him. He was worried about what he did to him. A week had passed and Draco still thought about what happened that day. One morning, he sat waiting for Amma to finish making supper. The cottage felt warm from the fireplace and the rooms filled with the aroma of pastry and freshly-chopped dried fruit. Draco sat there and stared at the flames in the fireplace, watching each ember that flew up the chimney. Amma then laid out what seemed to look like a large, meat-like pie with basil sprinkled on top. Amma cut him a slice and put in on his plate. "Here you go, dear. Your favorite!" Amma said with glee. Draco quickly turned his head to his plate and snapped out of his trance. "O-oh! Thank you, Amma," Draco said, staring at his food. Amma then sat down on the other side of the wooden table. She quickly noticed that something was off with Draco. "Come on, dear. You have to eat your food before it gets cold," Amma said. Draco just looked at her with puppy dog eyes. She knew what this meant. "I know you want to go outside and play," Amma said, "but there's going to be a blizzard tonight so you need to stay inside." Draco just looked down at his plate with a disappointed look in his eyes. "You can play tomorrow morning if you'd like," Amma said. "Okay..." Draco said as he slowly ate pieces of his pie. It was one of his favorite foods, so he was at least happy that he had a good meal. And although this wasn't the first time that he didn't get to go play outside, he never really argued with it. What he did on that day, though...he couldn't just forget about it. Draco layed restless in his bed that night. He had been up for hours wondering what happened to him that day. There was no blizzard outside. He figured that this would be a good excuse to sneak out since Amma wouldn't let him play outside because there would presumably be a blizzard. But if there's no blizzard, why shouldn't he be allowed to play outside. Besides, he didn't ACTUALLY want to play. He just wanted to see if he could replicate what he did to Dips and try to find out how he triggered it. His curiosity was eating him up inside, so he quietly hopped out of bed and tip-toed down the hallway. His room was directly adjacent to Amma's, so he had to tip-toe past her doorway. He peered through the crack in the door. She was fast asleep. "Perfect! The coast is clear!" Draco thought to himself. He tiptoed until he reached the rack that had his beanie and scarf. He put them on and tried putting on his winter boots. He tried to squeeze them in and nearly fall backwards in the process. He managed to keep his balance, but he made a lot of noise, so he stood still like a statue. Amma groaned in her sleep, but didn't wake up. Draco let out a sigh of relief and finally managed to put his boots on before exiting through the front door. He walked around to the back of the house and went into the forest where he usually went. He had a tendency to get lost in the forest, but he was still determined to satisfy his curiosity. "First, I have to figure out what I want to test this out on.. And then...I have to figure out how to actually do it," Draco thought to himself as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest. He saw a large boulder by a creek in the distance. The creek led downhill, so this would be a perfect spot to test it out. He put both of his hands on it in an effort to push it, but it wouldn't budge. He even gave himself a running start, but it still wouldn't move. He had nearly given up, until he paced back and forth thinking to himself. He tried thinking about how he triggered it in the first place. His mind clicked. It was a strong emotion that triggered it. He looked at the boulder and tried to imagine it being Dips. He pushed against the boulders and closed his eyes trying to picture pushing his bully. He remembered the look Posey had on her face when she cried. How hurt she was. Draco's heart filled with rage as he growled loudly. He used all of his might to push the boulder until it eventually stumbled and rolled downhill. "Nrgh! Yes! I did it!" Draco yelled as the boulder kept rolling downhill. He watched as the massive boulder was getting closer and closer to the bottom, but then noticed a small filly walking in the pathway of where the boulder would land. They were laying down, as if smelling something from the ground. "Wait a minute," Draco muttered to himself. He widened his eyes in shock, "Gasp! Posey look out!" She looked up and saw that the boulder was already closing in on her. She managed to jump out of the way before being crushed. Draco immediately rushed down the creek to her aid. "Posey! Are you alright?!" he said as he arrived at her side. Posey looked at him and gasped in shock. "Posey, what's wrong?" Draco said as he laid out his lion paw to help her up. She reeled back from him, as if she had seen a ghost. She crawled over to the flattened flower and gently held it in her hooves before quietly sobbing. The flower's petals glimmered like stars. Draco felt horrible. He slowly walked over to her so that he could cheer her up. She quickly turned around to face him. "That look in her eyes..."Draco thought to himself. His heart filled with sorrow. It was the same look that she had when Dips smashed the flowers. And he caused that. He emotionally hurt her. And it could've been astronomically worse. It would've been more than just a couple flattened flowers. He could've hurt somepony. Badly. "Posey, I--" "No!" Posey interrupted. Draco shut himself up. "You're cruel...how could you do this...?" Posey said as she sniffled. "Posey it's okay...its just a flower. I'm just glad that you didn't get hur--" "'It's just a flower'?!" Posey interrupted again. Draco just stood there in silence. "I got my cutie mark because I picked flowers for my mom...she's very sick. But I told her that I would find a flower that would help her get better," Posey said, while Draco listened intently. "My mommy told me a story about a rare flower that could cure anything. It was called 'The Silver Starbeam,'" she continued as she held it's petals which seemed to have been shattered like glass, "she said that it only grew once every thousand years." Draco gasped in shock as he realized what he had done, "Posey...I'm so sorry...it was an accident." She only turned away from him as she shed a tear. "You're not my friend anymore..." Draco was heartbroken. His stomach twisted into knots as a rush of emotions filled him to the brim. He had never felt so hurt in his life. He cried as he looked at his hands, which started to glow. Suddenly, his irises started flickering a glowing yellow. He walked backwards in shock as he looked at his hands wondering what was happening to him. His whole body started to shake violently. He put his hands over his ears as he screamed in pain. A small white flash enveloped him as he seemingly disappeared into thin air. Except, he hadn't disappeared. He was now up in a tree, nearly 20 feet off the ground. He held on to the tree as he looked down, shaking. The white flash enveloped him again and he was now back on the top of the hill where he was before. He fell to the ground as he whimpered in pain. His stomach was twisting even more. He thought to himself that it was LITERALLY twisting inside of him. The white flash appeared around him again and he was now close to Posey again. He clenched at his stomach as he hunched his back over. Draco looked like he was about to vomit. His eyes began flickering yellow again, but even faster than before. He flung himself back and a massive beam of a dark and mysterious purple matter violently ejected from his mouth and shot up into the sky. The beam hit a small group of cumulus clouds and they increased to ten times their regular size and rumbled loudly. "H-huh?" Posey whimpered. Draco collapsed to the ground as he hyperventilated. He looked up to see Posey. The look of sadness in her eyes was now replaced by fear. Draco stood up quickly and ran further into the depths of the forest. His vision had become blurry and he ran into a tree. As soon as he made contact, the tree turned into a giant cinnamon stick. He jumped in surprise and continued running until he fell and stumbled down another creek. As soon as his body made contact with the water, it turned into tomato soup. He frantically crawled out of the creek and continued running into the forest. He looked up at the sky and saw that the blizzard was catching up to him. Because he wasn't watching where he was going, he didn't see that there was a cliff up ahead. He ran off the edge and screamed in terror as his limp body hit against multiple branches, barely breaking his fall. The branches violently ripped off his beanie and scarf before he eventually hit the ground with a loud thud. He curled his body in pain and the blizzard inevitably washed over him like a tsunami. The wind carried his body and slammed him against a tree. He opened one eye as he laid on the ground and spotted a cave nearby. He grunted as he slowly crawled towards the cave. As soon as he got in, he slumped over and held himself as he shivered. He just barely managed to get out of the blizzard and whatever had happened to him drained him of a lot of his energy. Plus, he was wounded. So, it's no surprise that as soon as he laid down, he had passed out from exhaustion. He was alive, but now... He was alone.
Chapter 3: From Heartbreak to BedlamAuthor's Note I'm republishing because I wasn't happy with how I ended it before, but I think I'm happy with it now. Sorry for any confusion. Anyways, enjoy-- Chapter 3: From Heartbreak to Bedlam Amma rested peacefully in her bed until one of the windows violently flung open and suddenly turned the room into a partial snow storm. She woke up annoyed and shut the windows, but it opened on its own again. With an angry grunt, she slammed the window closed and locked it tightly. She could never stand the cold. Suddenly, the window in Draco's room had flung open and she let out a heavy sigh. She walked over to his room and went to the windows. She peered at the bed and saw that Draco wasn't in it. She gasped in shock and ran out the door to look around the house for Draco but he was nowhere to be seen. Without hesitation, Amma frantically put on a scarf and headed out the door. She nearly collapsed from the sudden gusts of cold air as she sprinted into the forest behind the house. She shut her eyes tightly as she shed tears from the sheer cold. The cold was painful, but she didn't care. She just wanted her precious... "DRACO!" Draco laid shivering on the cold, rocky floor. He had stayed in that cave for as long as the blizzard kept him in. He was starting to develop frostbite. He looked out at the cave's gaping entrance and looked at the blizzard which blew snow in every direction. He had to get something to keep him warm. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing before briskly running out of the cave to try and get wood. He figured that all he would need is branches that fell from the trees. The wind nearly carried him again before he hugged onto a tree and began crawling again. He shifted his hands through the thick layers of snow and managed to pull out a large stick. He dug up more snow and found another stick. He continued this process until he had roughly five sticks. He would've gotten more, but the cold was really starting to get to him so badly that he was starting to grow icicles on his face. He felt like he was on the verge of dying, but something within him managed to keep him alive the whole time, despite everything that has happened to him. A normal pony would've died in matter of seconds in a blizzard like this. But he was still alive, and he wondered why. He grunted as he collapsed on to the rocky floor of the cave, causing all of the sticks that he managed to gather to scatter all over the place. He barely managed to prop himself up before gathering all the sticks into a pile. He then took two rocks and tried using them to ignite a flame, but to no avail. He threw the rocks into the murky depth of the cave and it ricocheted off of the walls like bouncy balls. He pouted and sat down in front of his stick pile. He sniffled, which caused his nose to tickle a little bit. He reeled back his head and sneezed. The moment he sneezed, a large burst of fire ejected from his nose and ignited the pile of sticks that he had in front of him. "It keeps getting worse..." Draco thought to himself as he hesitantly huddled closer to the fire. "I know I've only caused pain ever since this started happening to me, but the least it could do is stop for five minutes." He shook himself out of it, "No," he said, "this is probably happening to me because I deserve it. I mean, everypony always saw me as a monster...." Tears starting falling down his face as he remembered, "Even...her..." Draco laid on his side and whimpered as his face drenched with tears. He had cried so much that tears weren't even coming out anymore since he was starting to get dehydrated. Draco opened his eyes and realized that the cave was suddenly getting darker. He looked out at the cave entrance and saw that the snow was piling up so much that it was blocking him in. He quickly stood up and grabbed a stick from the fire to try and melt the snow before it completely blocked himself in, but it was no use. In a matter of seconds, the only light source in that cave was the campfire that was almost put out. He gave up and huddled closely to what little was left of the fire. "I want my mommy...I want my mommy...I want my mommy..." Draco kept repeating to himself as the fire was finally put out and he was left in complete darkness. He only sat there silently. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned to days. And what did he do? Nothing. There was nothing he could do. He was too tired to claw himself out of the snow. He was too hungry to go anywhere. He was too thirsty to even think. He was in pain. Mentally and physically. He felt like he should've died hours ago just from the cold alone. But he didn't. "Why, why, why?" he would ask himself over and over again. But there was no response...until... "Because you need to suffer..." a disembodied voice answered. The deepness and raspiness of the voice sent chills up Draco's spine. Draco looked around the cave, trying to find where the voice came from. Even though his eyes had somewhat adjusted to seeing in the dark, he couldn't find it. He peered into the murky depths. "You're a monster..." the voice said again, breaking the silence. "W-who are you...?" Draco asked the voice. He still couldn't see it. "I am what you have been, what you are and what you will be..." the voice said in a subtle, goofier tone. "W-what am I, then?" Draco asked the voice. "You're a horrible monster....and there is no hope for you..." the voice answered. "But...what about Am-?" "No!" the voice interrupted. "She never truly cared about you! She only took pity on you because you looked weak and helpless when she found you!" the voice continued. "Is...that really true...?" Draco asked as he tried to shed a tear, but couldn't. "Oh, don't you worry yourself, now," the voice reassured him, "we'll do something about it...and we're gonna have fun getting our revenge." "Revenge? But...why?" Draco asked. "Seriously? You don't remember being hated by everypony? The bullying? You need to strike back!" the voice exclaimed. Draco just stared at the ground. "No..." Draco whispered to himself, "I don't wanna hurt anypony...not anymore." It was silent for a few seconds until the voice suddenly started chuckling. The chuckling then turned into maniacal laughter. "Foolish boy. You don't have a choice," the voice finally spoke. "What do you mean...?!" Draco asked, but was only met with silence. Suddenly, he had a pounding migraine and there was a loud ringing in his ears, which caused him to drop to his knees and cover his ears. The moment he opened his eyes, the floor of the cave looked wavy as if he was in some sort of twisted dimension. He felt nauseous as his perception of his surroundings became more and more jumbled. From his perspective, his own limbs seemed to increase and decrease in size repeatedly. He leaned against the wall and it turned into a purple checkered pattern. His own body started to morph. He wanted it all to stop. He couldn't take it anymore. But there was no hope for him. There was no one there to help him. He was alone. And the only thing he could do was lay there and wallow in pain as his mind continued to spiral down into despair. Who knows how long this would last? An hour? Days? Weeks? Years? Time seemed to matter so little to him in that moment, for Draco no longer cared, and Draco was no longer. There was only insanity. There was only confusion. There was only bedlam. There was only... Discord. For years, the blizzard had run rampant around Equestria and all of the ponies were bitter towards each other as their crops died. This blizzard wasn't like any other blizzard Equestria had ever seen. It appeared to have a center to it and it had what looked like three large horses running in a circle. Many ponies were literally frozen in ice. Their anguish only fed to the unending storm. Eventually, they had learned that friendship was the only way to stop the unending snow storm. So, they had finally come together and used what little magic they had left to stop it. During the cold, long years of snow and the frost in their hearts had finally melted, Discord had stayed in that cave until his mind was no longer salvageable. He had truly lost his mind. On top of that, he was incredibly powerful. Fortunately, he had laid dormant in his cave where he appeared to have been hibernating. He looked a lot different. He was now three times the size of a normal pony. His lion paw had claws the size of kitchen knifes and his eagle talon was razor sharp. His long red tail had prominent scales that shimmered in the morning sun. His deer antler and impala horn were fully grown. He had a long, soft goatee that was as white as the snow that had melted. He finally propped himself up from his long slumber and stretched himself out like a cat. He rubbed his eyes before attempting to stand up like he usually would, but since he was a lot bigger, he hit his head on the roof of the cave and rubbed his head as he grunted in pain. The sunlight was nearly blinding to him, but he walked out of the cave with his head tucked down. He looked out into the forest and saw the melted snow and freshly growing flowers. He yawned and stretched his arms as he rubbed his head in confusion. "Mmm...where am I?" he asked himself. Of course, no one was there to answer him. He looked down and saw how high up he was. He nearly lost his balance, but he managed to stay upright. He continued to wander aimlessly through the forest before tripping in front of a creek. He gasped at his reflection in the water. He touched his now elongated face and stroked his goatee. He stood back up and continued walking out of the forest thinking to himself. "Why am I here...? How long was I asleep for...? What happened to me...? he asked himself. "And why do I feel like I'm forgetting about somepony...? I can't remember anything..." Before he even noticed, he had walked right into the center of a busy town. A bloodcurdling scream snapped him out of his trance. He snapped his head towards the screaming pony. "A monster!"a grey stallion with a cutie mark of a boxing glove exclaimed. Discord widened his eyes in shock. He suddenly got a small flashback of the same grey pony bullying him back in school. "You..." Discord said, now enraged. And that was the very beginning of his rampage. He exacted his revenge on not only that grey stallion, but on that town. He terrorized everypony and had become the very monster that everypony would fear for years to come. Then, he went from terrorizing towns to terrorizing entire cities. Eventually, he had ruled all of Equestria. He had become the Discord that everypony would now despise. There was no going back for him. His memories of love and family had disappeared along with his sanity.
Chapter 4: History is UnforgivingSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
