In a freezing dark void, a creature is lying on his side and trying his best to ignore the fact that he would probably never be able to escape once again. Discord started humming a slow, sad tune to himself in order to keep himself occupied. He clenched his eyes shut and started rubbing his arms together because of the cold. He groaned and moved his talons to his face. He had been in this tomb for over a hundred years now. More than the regular life-span of a lowly pony...
Oh, how he wanted revenge because of this... Celestia and little Luna had imprisoned him with the help of some strange jewelry he hadn't seen before. Celestia... He felt a stone in the back of his throat which couldn't be swallowed away. He growled and tried his best to remove the feeling of regret for his own deeds. 'Those ponies deserved it! I just gave them what they deserved... Right..?' He decided to not think of that matter anymore. His mind wandered to easier times, when he was nothing more than a cub. The darkness of his surroundings became brighter, and peculiar shards fell from the void above him. They fell into a formation of a perfect mirror, and he sighed and sat down.
At least he had some memories to relive..
On what was a beautiful day to begin with, dark clouds started gathering on the horizons, continuing to drift lazily to the sky above the duo. One of the duo was a pony, an alicorn filly to be specific. The other was something special in quite a few meanings. It was a draconequus cub, a creature only spoken of in legends because of their near limitless magical potential compared to the rest of the creatures which inhabited the lands. The land they lived in remained unnamed, to keep the status quo of the generations past. Slowly but surely, a gentle pitter-patter of raindrops started increasing in force. The two youngsters shrieked in laughter as they played around in the puddles which were starting to form on the ground. The two became soaked within minutes, but they were still giggling and playing around with each-other. The draconequus, who was a male took the lead and pounced the laughing filly, making both of them tumble to the ground. They rolled around in the mud without a care in the world, such was the mindset of such young individuals. But with the rain came the cold. They agreed to find a quiet, warm place for themselves to rest and wait for the rain to end.
After a few minutes of searching, they came across an uninhabited cave. But of course with the draconequus being male, he sauntered inside the cave with his chest puffed out in order to look intimidating, when he just looked plain silly when he strutted forward. The alicorn behind him giggled, and the male bit down on his lip so he wouldn't burst out laughing as well. When they had confirmed that the cave was empty, they settled down by the mouth of the cave. The alicorn shivered and rubbed her forelegs to each-other in an effort to maintain some warmth. The draconequus frowned and focused his magic to his lion paw and within seconds, a sparking fire appeared between them. The filly sighed contently, this was really nice... And the company wasn't bad at all.
“Um... Tia?” The draconequus spoke up while rolling his thumbs. He averted his eyes from the pony. He didn't know why a pony like her would want to be friends with a freak like him, when everypony else laughed at him or was mean. It was the life he had grown accustomed to, until he met the pony lying on the other side of the cave.
“Yes, Discord?” Celestia yawned. The two had been playing together all day, and that fact was beginning to take its toll on the alicorn. She stretched her wings and folded them neatly to her back once again directly afterward. The young draconequus was her only friend which she could actually play with. All the others just did whatever she said, whenever she said it. Being a princess wasn't fun at all... But with Discord, she could actually do whatever came to mind to the two.
Discord sighed and turned his attention to the downpour. Rain was so easy, it didn't have the troubles others had. It just fell from the sky and cleansed the land with a thin layer of water. His mind wandered to the things he had done when he had lost his temper.. He shivered and closed his eyes. “Are... Are you sure you can stay out here over night? Wouldn't your parents become worried?” He moved to the other side of the cave, where Celestia was lying on her side. Celestia rolled over and faced him with a gentle smile.
“You don't have to worry, it'll be just fine. Besides, they're busy tending to the new foal that was born only a week ago.” She frowned. Her parents have been tending to that filly day in and day out! Who would've known that raising a foal would be so much work... But Celestia was lucky, she had Discord to play with when she was bored of being in the castle all day, going to lessons on magic and flying. She could teach herself both of those things when she was out here with Discord, for crying out loud!
Discord clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. “I'm pretty sure you were the same when you were her age...” A glare from the pony made him hold his arms up defensively and make a bad poker face. “Hey, I'm just playing around...” He sighed as Celestia looked away from him. “...But I'm not lying though!” He smirked as the filly groaned and jumped to her hooves, inching herself toward him. She took a few menacing steps, until she stopped just in front of him.
“Say that again...” Celestia frowned. Discord's smirk only grew wider after her threat. Discord opened his mouth and drew an unnecessarily big breath. But before he could say a single word, Celestia pounced him while growling. The look on his face shifted from one of glee, to one of utter horror. He knew that when Celestia gets really mad... It's not a pretty thing to deal with. The two rolled around on the cave floor, trying to best each other to gain the upper hoof/talon. After about a minute, Discord was able to pin her to the floor of the cave. Celestia writhed in vain to escape his grip. Discord released her after a couple of minutes, and a silence followed. Discord averted his gaze from the pony and yet again looked at the rain outside. Celestia sighed heavily and turned her back to him.
The silence which followed was heavy due to the tension between them. Celestia bit her lip, so did Discord. Neither of them liked arguing, even less arguing with each other. Discord glanced over his shoulder, but turned away as soon as he noticed Celestia moving her head. Celestia glanced over her shoulder as well. Both of them groaned and turned around to face each other. They also spoke up at the same time.
“Dissy/Tia, I'm sorry!” Another short silenced, but a snickering started from the two which escalated into a full-out guffaw. Discord clutched his sides as they started aching when Celestia wiped a tear of mirth from her eyes. They sat down with their backs leaning to each other, still snickering at the situation. When they had calmed down, Celestia ruffled her wings and stood up. With a quick glance outside, she noticed that it had stopped raining. Discord brushed his arms off and stood up as well.
“Discord...” Celestia whispered. The draconequus in question raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment. Discord didn't know what to think when he noticed that Celestia's face was blushed red. But before he could question it, Celestia darted forward and gave him a tiny peck on his cheek, then dashed out through the mouth of the cave.
Discord was standing in the cave on his own. His jaw dropped, and a sudden heat came from his chest which rose to his face in an alarming rate. He lifted his eagle talon to his face and looked to where Celestia had exited, smirked and set out after her.
About four-thousand years later in the garden of a great castle, a lone figure stands on his pedestal in solitude. No pony or any other creature for that matter dares to come close to him, and that is a wise decision for many of them. It is no normal statue like the others in the garden, no, this is something else entirely. This isn't a decoration; it's a prison. The imprisoned creature is a mismatched beast prone to chaos and mischief, who nearly invoked disharmony throughout the entire land.
But inside the prison, or rather inside the mind of the prisoner was nothing but silence and a broken spirit. Discord was sitting and leaning forward while burying his head on his talons. He was so close to make it, but nooo, the boring Elements of Harmony had to stop him once again... He could hear the world outside and see it from time to time, but he couldn't speak to the ones around him. The only pony who ever visited him was Celestia, but she was so boring these days. She wasn't the same like she was when they were younger. No, she had changed when she took over the throne with her little sister. He still remembered that day, and the voices of past days echoed through his prison.
“I look good with this crown, don't I?” The mental image of a young Celestia poising and strutting around appeared, but the spirit tried his best to ignore it to salvage himself from the pain he would feel because of it.
“Of course.” Another image appeared, but this was an image of his younger self from when he was still care-free and laid back. Discord fell back and started rolling around while clutching his head. He roared in agony and punched the image of himself with all his might. It broke into pieces like a shattered mirror. “All you need now is some chocolate milk, heh...” Another image appeared, and Discord stood up to his full height and tried his best to focus some magic to his talons. A weak, barely noticeable spark came to life from his lion talon. It was all he needed. He roared once again, but this time in rage and unleashed the small amount of energy he had gathered to the second image. It shattered in the same manner as the first one. A fire sparked to life in his manic glare.
Several more images of his younger self appeared, and he destroyed all of them in manic glee. He punched, clawed, blasted, tackled and even head-butted a few. He started becoming rapidly exhausted; his breathing became labored and erratic. A crazed snicker escaped his mouth. The last image to appear made Discord stop what he was doing and look away with tears in the corners in his eyes. It was an image of himself and Celestia. Celestia was lying on his chest and resting her head on his neck. He had his arms around the smaller mare in an affectionate embrace.
“...Damn it all...” Discord growled as he balled his lion talon into a fist and punched the last image with all of his remaining strength. This time the shards fell even slower than the others and Celestia's giggle could be heard as they disintegrated. After that, nothing was left. Not a single sound and no more annoying images appeared.
Discord was once again left alone in the dark void which was his prison. He sighed once again and sat down. He noticed a shimmer on the floor a few feet away from him, and reached to grab it. What he saw stabbed his heart, no, his entire being. Just on that little shard was a small portion of Celestia's face. It was just her left eye, nose and a small part of her pleased little smile. Discord thought about shattering it like the rest of the images, but he changed his mind. He sighed and held the shard to his chest while closing his eyes. He had went through enough stress for one lousy day...
In the castle close to the garden, one of the inhabitants were sitting upright in her bed and panting from waking up from a recent nightmare. Her heart was racing, and she tried her best to calm down as quickly as possible. Easier said than done... Princess Celestia walked off her luxurious bed and levitated a glass of clear water to her. She took a dainty sip and placed it on the desk on the far side of the room. She sighed and walked to the balcony overlooking the Canterlot Garden. She could have sworn that she felt some stray magic coming from it, chaotic magic. That's why she had awakened with a start. She could have sworn that she saw Discord firing a bolt of magic at her, but she shrugged it off as it was probably just a part of her bad dream.
The door to her room creaked open, and Luna poked her head inside “What happened? I heard some ruckus...” She said, tone full of concern for her elder sister. She allowed herself to enter the room and walked to her sister. Celestia gave her a weak smile as a response.
“I'm fine. It was only a bad dream.” Celestia assured her. Celestia took a deep breath of the crisp night air as a cold breeze graced her body. She wouldn't have any trouble with going back to sleep after this, she hoped. Her eyes wandered to a certain statue which stood out from the rest like a sore thumb. Her gaze did not go unnoticed by her younger sister, who sat down next to her.
“...You're thinking of Discord, aren't you?” The younger alicorn gave her sister a knowing smile. Celestia's ears dropped and her facade shattered. The smirk on the lunar regent turned into a concerned frown. She sighed and placed her left wing on her sister's back for comfort. “I may not know what you see in him, sister but I do know when you're hurting inside.” Luna gave her sister a strong hug then walked back to the door. “I think you should go to the bottom of this. I also felt his presence, so he's there...” With that, the door closed once again.
Celestia bit her lip. It wouldn't hurt to just visit him. He can't do anything to her when he's in there. Besides, it was her day off tomorrow and she needed something to do. Celestia sighed and made herself comfortable once again in her massive bed. She laid down on her side and fell asleep soon after.
Even when Discord dreamed, it was still the same empty void which was his prison. He didn't know if he had just fallen asleep in another dream and started a new dream within the dream. This kind of magic was a strange thing, and Discord had no intention to find out how it worked. He wandered aimlessly around the void, occasionally whistling something he thought of, only to hear it echo, even when there was nothing for the sound to bounce back from. This void was indeed a strange place...
“Hello?” He heard an angelic voice coming from the east. He snapped to attention to see nothing but a pale light coming from that direction. But that voice... It was so soft and it held a regal state even when some distress was audible in it.
“Celestia...” Discord growled and spread his mismatched wings. It was another image and he was dead set on breaking the illusion. After about a solid minute of flying, he saw her. It was Princess Celestia, alright... But she wasn't wearing any of her regalia, and that was a new addition to the images he had seen so far. It also seemed to be more... Alive than the rest. He flew even higher and decided to wait and see what was going to happen.
Princess Celestia was confused, or to be more honest, terrified. She had never seen such an uninviting place before, even in her long lifetime. A chill ran down her spine due to the cold of the strange place. She usually dreamed of happier things, but this... This was bizarre... She took a few strides forward, only for the darkness to move with her by every step. She decided for her own mind's sake to not question the strange void.
She heard a whistle coming from the dark expanse in front of her. She didn't know what it came from, but she called out to the void. The whistling stopped immediately as she spoke, and a low growl was heard, followed by complete silence. She took a nervous step back, but took a deep breath and regained her stance. She could deal with her own fears later, she had to investigate this strange place. She took a few steps forward, but shrieked as something fell from the darkness above her and reached out for her.
She felt and saw a lion's talon hold her in a choke-hold. The talon stretched out from the darkness in front of her, but a crimson glint made her realize what she was being held by. Discord stepped forward with a harsh scowl. “No more...” His right eye twitched manically, and Celestia gulped as his grip only tightened. She started wheezing for air and she felt that she was close to panicking. Discord tilted his head in confusion. Wouldn't the illusion have shattered seconds ago, or maybe even as soon as he touched it? When he came to think of it, her coat felt... No, it was... Alive. Discord released her and drew back his talon.
Celestia hit the floor of the void with a harsh 'thump', and Discord winced. Celestia breathed heavily and tried to grasp the situation which had escalated. The spirit backed away from her with a panicked expression, trying to make sense of what had just happened. When she had stabilized her breathing, she asked the question which appeared when she first found herself in the void. “Where... Where am I?” She stood up on shaky legs. Discord didn't know if he should answer her question or just run away.
“You're in the void, or rather, my prison...” He turned his back to her and walked back into the darkness. Celestia stumbled after him. Discord just looked over his shoulder with a sneer. He started walking a little faster to try and evade the princess. Celestia was panicking. She didn't want to be alone in here, and in theory, Discord shouldn't have his powers in here as it sealed away magic, but that would also mean that she didn't have any magic. She focused momentarily, only to gasp as no magic came to her. She was completely helpless right now if Discord would turn on her. The thought nagged away at her. She didn't look away from the spirit, not even for a single second. It was obvious that Discord was ignoring her, until he suddenly stopped and whipped around. A manic glint in his crimson eyes made Celestia feel very uneasy.
“Why are you following me? Can't you return from wherever the hell you were before? I... I don't need you... Just... Go.” Discord lay down with his back facing her. Celestia was taken aback from Discord's sudden outburst. She turned away to walk, but she stopped herself and took a deep breath.
“No.” She simply said. Discord growled with his back still to her. “I want you to listen to me, and listen well!” She pushed him down onto his back, positioned herself to stand over him and glared straight into his eyes. “I'm sick of you running away, or just destroying everything. In here you have no magic to teleport yourself away with. I don't know if I can come back here when I wake up, but believe me, I will take this opportunity to have a nice, long talk with you about our past.” She stared straight into his eyes, and Discord shrunk back and squeaked.
Discord didn't remember Celestia to be this... Forceful when it came to matters like these, but he didn't say a single word and allowed Celestia to continue. She continued to rant away at how irresponsible he was, and how many ponies he injured when he escaped the last time he escaped. It was a frightening amount of ponies hurt, believe it or not. Discord shrunk back. He couldn't remember the last time someone spoke to him like this. But in the end, Celestia was panting from the exertion of talking about everything he did, and how it affected Equestria the following weeks. It had taken quite some time for her rant to finish and Discord was surprisingly enough, still silent. Celestia harrumphed and blew an astral bang away from her face as she turned away from the Spirit and sat down.
“Do you think it's easy?” Discord finally spoke. Celestia turned to him and raised an eyebrow. Discord balled his eagle talon into a fist and stood up. “Do you really think that it's easy to sit in here and feel your sanity chip away more and more with every passing day!?” He stood up and took an ominous step forward. “Let me tell you something, Celestia...” He growled. His face was mere inches away from hers, and Celestia could feel his warm breath run down her face. “...It's the hardest thing I have ever lived through, knowing that I will never be forgiven for my deeds, nor ever be able to escape once again. I am nothing but a useless hunk of stone now. So in other words, I am nothing...” He looked away from her. He jumped as he felt her hoof on his cheek. Celestia turned his head to her and held the silence between them. Discord noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. Was she... Was she really crying?
“I don't think you're nothing... Celestia said as she leaned toward him. Discord stiffened, what should he do? He felt his breath quicken the closer she came to him. She closed her eyes slowly and Discord shrugged. But just before their lips would meet, she vanished into thin air. Discord was about to panic, but then he remembered that she said something about dreaming... So he must have woken up when she disappeared.
The darkness in the void became a little brighter, and Discord could see another shard lying a few feet away from him. He reached for it slowly and picked it up. On the shard was a picture of Celestia and himself. He allowed a small smile to grow on his lips, and gripped the shard tighter. Just like the void surrounding him, everything felt a little brighter.
Celestia was startled awake by a now very apologetic servant bringing her some breakfast in order to begin the day on the right hoof. She assured the servant that it was fine and that no harm was done. The servant thanked her and scurried off to finish other tasks given to her. Celestia sat up in bed and stretched her wings to their full extent.
She knew that it wasn't a regular dream she experienced last night. It was real. The darkness of the void was real, Discord was real... She sighed. She still had her day off, so she could go down to the Castle Garden like she intended to do. She felt like she needed to meet somepony important to her. She felt like a school-filly as she giggled when she thought of the mischevious spirit. Oh yes, it was going to be a good day indeed.
She frowned however when she noticed that it was raining a little, but her mind wandered off to when she was younger. It reminded her off some time she spent in a cave with a certain draconequus.
Rainfall now, and rainfall back then. She smiled fondly at the memory as she slipped her hooves into the golden ornate shoes.
