Discord's Gift

1st day of 5th Moon, 6 ALR: Canterlot Royal Hospital

Discord lay in agony as he felt the chaotic magic within him twist and contort. His entire body was covered in probes and needles monitoring his vitals and magical activity while also administering next to useless pain medication. The lights of his room were far too bright as his tender eyes burned and his head throbbed, not helped by the insufferable beeping of the heart monitor next to him. He had been in this state for the better part of two weeks and all the while he had not been able to get a proper night's rest.

His only comfort was the yellow mare behind him, her pink mane frazzled as she two had not gotten enough sleep. Fluttershy had been the one to take Discord to the Ponyville hospital after he had collapsed during one of their weekly tea parties. Twilight had ultimately decided to move the ailing draconequus to an isolated wing of the Royal Canterlot Hospital. She had initially barred Fluttershy from visiting him because of the possibility of dangerous magical surges due to Discord’s mysterious condition. However, despite the yellow pegasus fear of anything remotely dangerous, she had insisted on being by Discord’s side, prompting several protests from the recently crowned purple alicorn.

Discord felt a ripple of magic flow through him and a knot began to form at the base of his stomach. He opened his eyes and stared intently at the white plaster ceiling of the room as a wave of pain flowed through his body. The knot was a sign of what was coming, and he turned to look at the yellow pegasus beside him. Her eyes were bloodshot due to lack of sleep and yet they were still so captivating, a sign of how deeply she cared for the draconequus. “Fluttershy… Can you get me a doctor?” Asked Discord in a pained voice before his eyes rolled back and his body began to shake violently.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she saw sparks begin to surround Discord’s violently shaking body. Frozen in fear she was only broken free from her trance by Discord’s screams of agony. She bolted out of the room and galloped along a seemingly endless hallway screaming for help. As she rounded a corner that led to the main portion of the hospital, Fluttershy finally saw several nurses and two doctors reviewing a clipboard of patient information.

“Please can anypony help me, something terrible is happening to Discord!!”

The doctors and nurses looked in shock at the sudden outburst, unbecoming of a pony as timid as Fluttershy. The group along with the yellow mare began the gallop back down the hall towards Discord’s room, when suddenly time seemed to freeze.

A blast of light rushed out in all directions away from Discord’s room as chaos magic broke free from the draconequus. Fluttershy and the medical team behind her were blown back to the end of the hall as the torrent of magic ripped the ceiling of the hospital wing away, blowing it hundreds of feet into the air. A beam of raw magical energy then blasted straight up into the sky sending a great pulse of light shooting across the Equestrian evening sky.

As the rubble settled a severely weakened Discord lay on the charred remains of his hospital room, smoke still billowing from the smoldering carpet beneath him. Guards and other medical staff from the primary wing of the hospital rushed into the devastated wing of the hospital. They helped collect the unconscious bodies of Fluttershy and the medical team that had run after her in an attempt to help Discord. Many of the unicorn guards used their magic to suppress the flames that began to consume the rubble of the east wing of the Royal Canterlot Hospital.

Twilight looked out at the crowd of nobles before her, their bickering rigging in her ears as she took another scroll from Spike. Princess Celestia had often complained to her about the day court when she was still living in Canterlot and had warned her about its dull nature shortly before Twilight’s coronation as Head of State. However, she had not appreciated how mind-numbingly boring and annoying the petty arguments between nobles truly were.

The mayor of Manehattan and the dock owner were arguing with the leader of the Dock Workers Union over a strike that had been delaying cargo and passenger ships at Equestria’s largest port.

“We simply must get the docks working again, Manehattan and all of Equestria depend on the steady flow of traffic through the docks, this strike threatens to derail the delicate supply chains that support our economy!” Exclaimed Mayor Scribble Write.

“These strikes would end now if Executive Sea Dollar here agreed to increase the dock workers' wages!” Harbor Might exclaimed as he pointed an accusing hoof at the blue unicorn wearing an expensive suit, before continuing, “The dock workers bust their flanks making sure ships are moored properly and cargo is moved in and out of ships, the least the Port Authority can do is give them a decent living. We demand a 40% increase in wages or the strikes continue!”

“But the margins are far too tight, an increase in wages will surely result in increased port fees, and ponies across Equestria will feel the pain of higher prices!” Interjected the well-dressed unicorn.

Twilight could feel an ache begin to form at her brow as she began to speak, “Mr. Might would you be willing to end the strike if the workers get a 30% pay increase?”

Harbor Might began to smile and looked up at the princess just as a Sea Dollar’s face fell into a deep frown. “Yes your Majesty, the Union would agree to end the strike with a 30% salary increase,” he replied, with the indifferent expression on Twilight’s face giving way to a slight smile.

“But, Your Majesty, the Equestrian Government should be stopping these disruptive demonstrations, not encouraging them!” Whined Sea Dollar as the slight smile on Twilight’s face disappeared and turned into a death glare.

“Mr. Dollar, I am going to offer you a small subsidy in exchange for the 30% pay increase, but should you object to this deal I could mandate the 40% pay increase as requested by Mr. Might, and impose a moratorium on shipping fee increases,”

The scowl on Sea Dollar’s face faded away and he bowed deeply at the purple alicorn, “No your M… Majesty, I agree to the deal,”

“Thank you, your Majesty, I believe that we have finally settled this…” Said Mayor Scribble Write before the glass of the throne room shattered, spraying glass all across the room. Twilight immediately teleported herself and Spike away from the throne and the guards towards the middle of the three ponies whose conversation had been interrupted by a shower of glass. With her magic, the princess threw up a force field deflecting the sharp glass away from the small crowd of ponies in the room.

Twilight turned to the holes where the stained glass windows had been and saw a massive column of pure chaos magic shooting straight up into the air. Chunks of the hospital roof shoot up in all directions away from the source of the magical column with a pulse of magic reminiscent of a sonic rainboom shooting across the sky.

“Fluttershy was at the hospital!” exclaimed Spike.

Twilight looked at Spike wide-eyed and the pair ran out of the throne room, the guards and the ponies from Manehattan still sitting dazed after the sudden magical burst. Guards in the hall rushing into the throne room froze at the sight of their princess running out towards the hospital. The windows all along the hall were shattered glass strewn across the floor and crunching under Twilight’s hooves.

After finally collecting herself from the shock of the realization that Fluttershy might be severely hurt, Twilight turned to Spike. “Go get the girls! I will find out what happened to Fluttershy,” Spike nodded in agreement, and then Twilight disappeared in a flash of purple magic.

Twilight emerged in another flash of purple just outside the entrance to the hospital. Before her guards and medical workers covered in ash were evacuating patients out of the wrecked hospital. Although the main wing of the hospital had not suffered the direct results of Discord’s magical explosion, its proximity meant that much of the medical equipment inside had been fried by the surge of chaos magic, and like most of the buildings in Canterlot, the windows had been blown out. Broken glass crunched under the wheels of hospital beds and guards with carts began to transport patients to other nearby hospitals.

Twilight galloped over to one of the doctors whose eyes lit up at seeing the princess so soon after the disaster that unfolded. “Doctor, how are the patients, have there been any casualties as a result of the explosion?”

“Your Majesty, we have reported some major injuries from staff and patients closest to the explosion, but thankfully redundancies prevented any life support magic from failing as a result of the blast. Canterlot General has agreed to house the most injured and weak patients, while the rest will be transported to a temporary location that we are setting up at the park,” The doctor pointed to the tents being set up in the field in front of the Royal Hospital.

Twilight turned to look at the work the guards and other medical staff had done to prepare tents and equipment for the temporary hospital before turning back to the doctor, “What about Fluttershy and Discord?”

“Fluttershy was away from Discord’s room when the magical blast happened, she had apparently noticed something was going on and had run to get some help from some of our other medical staff when the blast occurred, but she was still close enough to have broken her left forehoof and right-wing. Discord has miraculously survived the magical surge, and his magical activity levels have stabilized although at a severely weakened state, we are still keeping him isolated from the other patients but we believe that the possibility of another surge is unlikely. Fluttershy has just left before you arrived at Canterlot General to treat her injuries,”

“Thank you, I will send another battalion of guards to help with the recovery efforts, and I will make sure to find a way to contain another possible surge by Discord. I will leave you to get back to your duties,” Twilight gave the doctor a small smile and walked away before approaching the commanding officer of the Royal Guard detachment working at the temporary hospital.

"Lieutenant Steadfast, I would like you to send a guard informing Captain Rampart that I wish to send another battalion of guards to assist in the evacuation and recovery of this hospital.” Twilight held on to an aura of calm authority but the anxiety of Fluttershy’s awful condition was gnawing away at her crumbling resolve. All she wanted was to teleport to Canterlot General Hospital and see Fluttershy, but she understood she had a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of all her subjects. Twilight felt a sense of guilt for not seeing just how unstable Discord's magic truly was, and her perceived lapse in judgment and lack of precautions had led to a catastrophe that had endangered all of the citizens of Canterlot and had severely injured one of her best friends.

“Yes your Majesty,” Replied Lieutenant Steadfast with a salute before galloping towards one of his guards with the princess’s message to the Captain of the Royal Guard.

Satisfied Twilight turned back to the hospital to make sure she did everything possible to mitigate another magical surge from the I’ll God of Chaos. Inside there was a swarm of activity, staff and guards sweeping the glass and scattered papers off the floors while also moving the last of the patients outside. Twilight didn’t need to ask where Discord was, even in his weakened state, his magical presence was so strong that she could still sense his location. As an alicorn, Celestia had taught her how to distinguish the magical signatures of individuals and use them to find their locations. Typically it took some effort to use this ability on a normal pony but the unique nature of chaos magic and Discord’s raw power made him especially easy to detect.

Discord had been moved to the now mostly vacant main wing of the hospital, doctors had reconnected new monitoring equipment and an IV drip to his tattered frame. His appearance was truly horrifying, the feathers on his pegasus wing had fallen away, the fur on his body singed from his magical surge, but most hauntingly of all, his eyes were glazed over yet full of so much pain. The only sign of life other than the beeping of the heart monitor was the slow rise and fall of his chest.

“H… H… How’s Fluttershy?”

Twilight grimaced at the mention of her name, “I have yet to see her personally, the doctors say she is in a stable condition, the blast broke one of her wings and legs,”

Discord frowned but then spoke, “I… I felt something wasn’t… wasn’t right so… I sent her away in hopes… that nothing would happen to her,” he turned to look at Twilight, “Tell… her I’m s… sorry,”

“It was my fault, I should have cast wards and taken other precautions, but I will tell her,” she refrained from mentioning her regret of letting Fluttershy near him knowing that it would break the already ruined draconequus. Her horn glowed a soft magenta as she manipulated the arcane field around her, the magic flowing through her before touching her horn to the walls. A magenta field spread out in all directions covering the walls and floor of the room, “I’m sorry this had to happen to you, Discord, your recovery may be slowed but hopefully this ward can absorb at least some of the energy of any subsequent surges,”

“D… do not… worry about me… go see Fluttershy,” Discord managed to give Twilight a weak smile before he fell asleep, his chest continuing to rise and fall.

There was a flash of magenta and the purple alicorn in Discord’s room was gone. Twilight reappeared at the gates of Canterlot General Hospital and she immediately galloped inside and to the front desk. The receptionists froze at the sudden appearance of the princess.

“I’m looking for Fluttershy!” Twilight’s veneer of professionalism was now gone as she desperately wanted to see the state of her friend.

“Room 321 on the third floor, Your Majesty,”

Twilight didn’t even wait to thank the receptionist before darting to the nearest set of stairs. She galloped as fast as she could up the steps and only stopped for a brief moment to look at a map and find where room 321 was located. Unlike her frantic dash to the room, Twilight softly opened the door, careful not to disturb her friend.

Inside lay a sleeping yellow pegasus, her foreleg, and wing tightly wrapped in a gauze cast. Her left eyelid bloomed in a sickening purple bruise and a cut ran through her right cheek. Most of her body not covered in bandages was bruised and small cuts criss crossed her body. Thankfully she was alive and resting, her chest rising and falling softly, her pink mane tangled and frizzy. Twilight sat down on the cold tile floor and wept softly, finally allowing herself to completely break down.