The dark peace was as unchanging as always, as was the thought that stated so. Simple thoughts turned to blank mantras with the simple creep of time. The muted feeling of rain whispered of something cold and black, the meaning far off and muted by a great magic far off. Strange magic squealed about a grand story of adventures and chaos, but it was so distant, not a single word could reach. Thunder rolled and panic brewed in a world far off, but it didn’t matter.
For the dark peace in here was as unchanging as always, as was the thought that stated so. A simple thought that had repeated into a mantra with the simple creep of time. A mantra that would have drove anyone into insanity… Perhaps the only reason it didn’t was because he was already insane. Even with the madness of his own mind to entertain him, Discord had to admit he was dreadfully bored. If nothing else, he wanted to stretch and take a different pose. At least he could pretend to be prideful and uncaring last time, now he just looked like a fool. And not the fun kind either.
Discord could have complained to the darkness around him, about how it wasn’t fair, about how he was bored, about how he wished that he could at least sleep and dream away the eternity, but he didn’t. Not because he was above it, but rather because he had already done so a multitude of times that had turned the thoughts into mantras and caused every word within to lose their meaning.
With a loud groan to himself, Discord settled for silence. It was annoying as well, but not nearly as annoying as hearing the same things over and over, and there was nothing new to feel or say. He closed his eyes, trading one darkness for another, and tried to find a memory he could watch for a moment that hadn’t been viewed into doubt.
It had been three thousand years in this prison, two-thousand nine-hundred and ninety-eight the first time, and the first two of what would no doubt be an even longer eternity this second time. The best he could hope for is that the Elements would corrupt with the death of their current bearers, but after struggling, and ultimately failing, to defeat the six mares, he knew that his chances stood slim. The yellow mare had the purest heart he had ever seen, and he knew that not even her own death would be able to corrupt her. He knew that her purity also left her with a vulnerability, and the greatest fall of all if she did slip- But there was nothing left within Equestria capable of the darkness required to taint her.
Finally, a new thought came to him. He would have been disgusted at it any other time, but in this endless, unchanging expanse, it was a welcome distraction. I don’t think I’d want to see them truly fall. It was almost impossible to imagine those six mares truly fallen, but once your age has reached six digits, a lot of impossible things become possible. He knew exactly what they would be like, corrupted, their pure hearts abandoned for one reason or another, and the image made him feel sick.
When he had influenced them with his own elements, he knew it couldn’t truly, permanently corrupt them, just hopefully get them out of the way so he could have some fun. Even that didn’t work. He smiled ruefully, realizing how quickly Twilight must have shrugged off Hatred’s whispers, even after all he had done to usher her into his dark mare’s waiting arms. Then again, maybe she had never reached her. Discord amused himself again with another new thought, that maybe he hadn’t had been as close to winning as he had thought. Perhaps only Despair had found Twilight’s heart, and something had pulled her away from even reaching his greatest element before it could truly take root. He even knew a chess master great enough to do it, with a heart warm enough to brush away despair like an errant fly.
Celestia.
Briefly, Discord wondered if she had prepared for it all somehow, that she had known that he would eventually break free and return to try and reclaim his throne. If she had, then he had obviously made a great error in leaving her and her sister untouched in his chaos. He had, naturally, turned the entire castle into an impossible maze that not even Abyssius could have found his way out of, as Discord had wanted Celestia to be in her right mind to witness her defeat.
I guess that backfired. He mused bitterly, and as an errant image of a darkly furious Celestia came to mind, Discord shuddered dramatically, suddenly feeling very chilled.
That was when something hit him. He actually felt cold. He was actually, truly, cold. That wasn’t his over-active imagination or a chilly memory, he was seriously cold! Now that he thought about it, that thunder and panic he had heard far off and in the distance that had made him laugh as he amused himself with the wonderings of what had caused it, had been a breath of fresh air, a waking moment in comparison to the ethereal dream that everything was muted to. He could feel magic too, he had chalked it up to being the Elements in greater strength than they had ever been, but no, he could actually feel ancient magic swirling far off in the distance… Along with the weakened magic of Harmony’s chains.
A wicked smile spread across his face, and he briefly savoured the chill of frost upon stone as he gathered up all his magic within him.
Looks like it’s finally Showtime!