Author's Note

Į̴͍̜̟̬̼̦̻͌̆̀̈̽̒͘M̶̨͖̗̖̲̫̜͊͋́̋̆͠ ̴̢̬̖̳̲̣̙̬̜̻̜̼̲̟͇̔́̿͐̚͜͝S̴̛̯̲͙̗̟̲̘̜̤̬̰͍̣̐͒̒̏̂O̶̡͖̬̻̙͉̖̫͖̳͇̜̗̩̟͚̿̓̂̔́̐̊̕R̵̡̜͎̣̬̟̩̘̻̞͓̞͔͖̫̽̍͊̄̐̍͑̐̓R̷̡̡̦̲̳͉̘̹̝̪̞͙̰̦̰̀̋̀̏͂͂Y̵̧̧̻̗͙͖̬͇͕̻͉̆̏̑̅͆͋̀̔̃̅́̚͜͜

I̸n̷ ̴T̸h̴e̷ ̶E̷n̶d̸ ̴I̸t̵ ̴N̵e̵v̶e̸r̸ ̵M̷a̵t̸t̸e̸r̸e̸d̴

A statue of stone, A bleeding heart

A poisoned throne, A lonely start

Blood flown, On imprisoned art

now, Death must play his part

8 Days after Canterlot Mega-spell

Discord for once in his long, long, long life, didn't know what to do. He had no more magic, he was quickly running out of hope, and the shield was starting to fail. He had done his best to keep it going, he had shrunk it as little as possible, for as long as possible, but now he couldn't shrink it any further. If he did the young fillies would have no more room to breathe. The shield was already at the very base of his statue prison, protecting himself and the two fillies, the once small area of his grove that the shield covered had been choked to death slowly as he was forced to give it away to the cloud, and dead creatures that stalked Canterlot.

He looked around the now dead grove, the once lush grass that had a bright green glow of sunny days, now sat dead brown. The once neatly tended and thick hedge maze that hid him from the world, was nothing but twigs reaching from the ground, looking more like the skeletons of the dead, then the green leaves and followers it once was. He had to look hard, but he could still see it, the remains of a picnic that had been set up in the hopes of fun times and happy memories. The ruby red of the blanket that it was set up to take place on was still visible, though barely. It was half eaten away by the acidic pink gunk that wormed its way into everything the cloud touched, the food that was to be enjoyed sat rotting never to be touched by living hooves, for all his caretaker prepared for, this event was not even a possibility. That they would die that day was never something that had crossed the young mare's mind.

A realization hit Discord, it hit him with the same force that only The Elements of Harmony could replicate, a fear and pain he had not felt since his second imprisonment. Discord just realized he kept referring to her as it, or mare, did he not know her name, he racked his brain trying to come up with a name that he had never once cared to hear, let alone learn.

He pulled his mind open and dug as deep as he could go, he pulled forth a memory of his caretaker as a filly, her mother only bringing her to the grove because the babysitter she had quit at the last minute. It was not a good first meeting, for her mother at least, having to drag her daughter crying from the grove when she was told it was time to leave. He remembered that fillies first words ever spoken to him dancing around his statue with a sing-song voice “Mr. Funnyface, Mr. Funnyface”. She couldn't have been no older than four, and yet she didn't fear him, no she liked him. It was everyday after that she would visit him, and everyday she would do something different, bringing with her some new story or joke, that to even discord was good, funny even, making him wish that he could laugh or even give off a small good chuckle. Yet for all that, he still couldn't bring the mare's name forth, he pulled himself from his head and looked out into the crowd of the dead to find her, he didn't have to look far, as she was one of the few that had the honor of being right up against his shield. She dragged and beat and moaned as she eyed the fillies under him, her fillies, that she once not long ago, loved more than anything in the world, and for all his power, Discord couldn't remember her name.

Discord looked down at the two now panicked ridden fillies hiding under him, he wrecked his brain again thinking back to the day that he was shown to them and told their names, yet for all his will. He did not know their names, why had he ignored that mare on such things as this, why had he not just listened to the simple sentence that she sputtered at him. Discord screamed in rage at himself, even with what was going on, as the very seconds that these fillies had to live in the world ticked down, Discord argued with himself. Why did he even care, why was he saving their lives, in the end that would die from old age or some random cruelty of life he couldn't stop, and just like all the others they would die and leave him here, alone. A crack echoed through the shield, Discord took no notice still raging with himself.

His magic pool was emptying fast now as the cloud and dead tore away on his shield, sensing the weakness that now spilled out into the air like a dinner bell, the shield cracked louder this time, Discord again took no notice, as he ripped apart his memories, remembering all the times that he had spent with them, those two fillies were practically raised in the grove that his statue called home. They played games under his watchful eyes and swung from his arms on the sunny days that would allow for such things, helping their mother when something was too tough for her alone to do. He pulled up a particularly emotional memory of a time that the mare had told him of the bullying that the two fillies had suffered at school because of her position at the castle “the royal bird poo cleaner” he heard her voice clear with pain and sadness. Discord had raged at the time, it was only now that he understood why. Those fillies were his. He couldn't deny it any longer, He cared for the mare and her fillies like he hadn't in all of his life, they were his, and he would be damned if something was going to happen on his watch.

Discord let out a scream, not one of anger, or madness, or fear, but one of sadness. His mind whipped and churned as he broke down, and began to beg, for any pony to come. He cared not what he was doing, if it meant saving the lives of the two fillies under him, his two fillies, he would kneel before Celestia herself and beg for their lives, but he now knew the truth that his mind had been telling him. Celestia wasn't coming, it was all up to him, he was filled with a new will. He could save them there had to be a way, then came the noise that would haunt Discord in his darkest nightmares, with the sound of shattering glass the shield had finally broken, and with it came a world of Silence.

Nothing moved, not the fillies, or the dead, even the pink cloud didn't rush in as the shield gave way, this was his chance, Discord did the only thing he could do. He tried to free himself, then it hit him, he had not enough power. The cloud knew this, that why it didn't strike. Whatever dark force lingered in that cloud's sick magic, wanted to let discord feel what it was like to be powerless, to fail. The fillies were almost comatose with fear, they didn't move, or scream, the only sign that pointed to life was the tears flowing down their muzzles. Discord could only watch as one of the dead took a small, hesitant step forward, Discord once again started to beg as he watched. The mother of the two fillies was the first to approach grabbing the smallest and youngest of the two, who let out nothing but a whimper at the touch, opening her eyes to see what was happening

Discord tried not to watch, but he couldn't look away, couldn't block his ears, couldn't save his daughters. He watched as the Filly opened her eyes, looking upon her dead mother. She didn't even have time to scream as the mares muzzles ripped into the fillies neck like a ravaged beast, spraying the crimson red blood of the child over Discords statue. No amount of dark magic or forced will could hold back the dead and pink cloud, they rushed forward into the feast, tearing apart the two sisters, leaving nothing but bones and blood, most of which laid on Discords statue, a reminder of his failure.

It didn't take long after the act for the dead to wander away, the only thing staying being the mother, she seemed to stuck near the entrance to the grove unmoving as she stared Discord in the face, a piece of her daughters coat hanging from her rotted broken jaw, a present perhaps form the dark force that lived in the cloud. A gift of days past, of lies told, and of dreams that now only lived in the minds of the dead. It was in the silence of his grove that the smallest of cracking sounds could be heard, as the tears of a weeping god, met with its master's only true failure, the blood of innocent foals.