//------------------------------// // Controlling the Truth // Story: Controlled Chaos, Chaotic Control // by Siswitch //------------------------------// “Somepony in my position doesn’t belong with a monster like you!” “You... Think I’m a monster?” “After what you did can you blame me?” ------ Discord never gave up easily. He just needed a little time to come up with the way to stay on top. That pony was heading to Ponyville and who would she go to? That goody two hooves and her friends. They were all women. He wasn't sexist but he knew most woman had weakness's when it came to men. If he couldn’t force them to shut up, he’d have to resort to a much more dangerous and degrading form of persuasion. He was going to be emotional. ----- Twilight was the first to see Zecora running into town, the spell on her had worn off on her a mile or so back and she was in her adult form again but her eyes were still as scared as ever. Twilight rushed over to her as she collapsed in exhaustion. “Zecora! Oh my word, what happened to you?” She waited for her friend to catch her breath, looking over her to see if she was hurt. Her body was covered in light scrapes from the bushes she had run past but other than that she didn’t look hurt. “A-a m-monster of mismatched form was causing a chaotic storm!” She gasped out in her usual manner. Twilight paused for a second as her thoughts instantly turned to Discord but she knew she shouldn’t jump to conclusions, after all the zebra in front of her did look very flustered. “Zecora are you hurt? Do you need the hospital?” Twilight was becoming increasingly aware of the crowd gathering around them. “Take me somewhere that is inside, I need somewhere safe to hide...” Zecora shakily stood up, Twilight nodded worriedly and took Zecora back to her library. Once they were inside Zecora seemed to calm down a great deal but was still shaking slightly. “Zecora... Tell me about the monster.” Twilight got her first aid kit out and started covering the scrapes on Zecora’s body. Zecora took a deep breath and searched her memory. “Head of pony, tail of snake, with this I make no mistake. His eyes were red and yellow too, eyes that stare right through you...” She paused to compose herself. “His magic was quite a sight, something I didn’t except that night... This tale may sound like I am joking around but surely you trust me, our friendship is sound.” Twilight stared at the zebra with a confused look on her face, her description matched Discord to a T but he was imprisoned, she was there when he was imprisoned. Zecora looked at her nervously fearing that she didn’t take her seriously. “Zecora... I know who you’re talking about.” She muttered quietly, fearfully. “What was he doing? “Causing chaos it would seem, stuff you’d see only in a dream... When he saw me he was scared, seems he had been unprepared. His voice was as desperate as his chase, he panicked and he lost the race.” Before Twilight could make sense of how a powerful being like Discord could fall behind a, no offense to her, a common zebra the door rattled with a few quick knocks. “Oh, that’s probably Rarity with Spike. Just one second.” She made her way over to the door and pulled it open, seeing an unfamiliar stallion on the other side of the door. “Um... hi! Can I help you?” “I was hoping you could.” His voice sent a chill down Twilights spine, it was unmistakable. Before she could do anything the stallion trotted into her library and shut the door with his magic. “Now stay calm, I’m not here to hurt any of you...” Zecora stared at him with wide eyes. “The beast with those demonic eyes! We will not believe your lies!” She lowered herself and narrowed her eyes. Discord sighed and turned into his normal form again. “Now please... Calm down.” His voice sounded weak and frightened, a hard stretch considering he was still giddy from earlier. Twilight was about to freak but heard the weakness in his voice and she became confused. “I... I really need your help.” For the next half and hour Discord tried his best to keep up a pathetic act as he told them about Celestia and his chaos urge and how horrible the whole situation was. He blew everything out of proportion and even made a great deal up but he was a convincing actor and the girls fell for it. “I mean it’s not like I can stop...” He couldn’t fashion up real tears but periodically dapped his eyes with a handkerchief to make it look like tears when silently falling. Twilight had softened a while ago after hearing of his feelings for Celestia, his words where sincere and honest at that point, whether or not the rest of it was exaggerated lies she fell for it all after getting tripped at the first emotional hurdle. “My father was such a role model of chaos... It runs in my veins...” Another fake dab, another exaggerated groan of sadness. Zecora didn’t fully trust him but after understanding the reason for him chasing her she had calmed down slightly, listening to his tale in full. Twilight magically handed him another tissue, on the verge of needing one herself after hearing such a tale. “You poor thing... I can’t understand having an urge to do something so.. Extreme but... You’re obviously telling the truth.” She sighed and looked at him, not believing that she actually feel sorry for him. “You're not exactly my friend but you're obviously in such distress.. I hate to see anyone like this. I... I can’t lie to Celestia but I suppose I don’t have to tell her right away.” Discord smiled a little in relief. Another knock on the door caught their attention, followed by a singsong voice from the other side. “Twilight!” The door swung open, Rarity trotted in happily, “Sorry I’m late darling I had a huge order to-” She froze mid-step as she saw the draconequus sprawled across the library floor. Discord smiled casually at her. “Well hello Rarity. It’s been a while.” He leaned on his paw and smiled a little wider at her freaked out expression. Rarity stammered incoherently, trying desperately to think as she tried to make sense of this situation. Twilight gave a slight glare at his casual attitude, she slowly stood up and said in a calm way “Rarity, I know this is a bit odd but there’s a good reason fo- where is Spike?” Her interest suddenly shifted as she noticed her assistant was nowhere to be seen. Rarity seemed shocked at her friend being so calm about the fact the being that almost tore apart their friendship was lying in the middle of the room. “H-He’s out picking up some fabric I ordered.” She stammered, still not taking her eyes off Discord. “More importantly what is that foul beast doing here?!” “Are you talking about me or the zebra? If it’s the latter my respect for you goes down a couple of notches.” He smiled, rolling onto his back to get most comfortable. Zecora blinked a few times at that statement but decided to say nothing. Twilight sighed and slowly walked over to her. “Rarity...” She hushed her voice. “He’s not as bad as we first thought. It’s just his nature to create chaos, he’s actually hurt emotionally at the minute and needs our help.” Rarity didn’t see to calm down but she took her eyes off Discord to look at Twilight. “Oh please don’t say he’s put you under his spell again.” She said in an equally hushed tone, her face twisted with worry. “I can’t fall in love with a rock again, Twilight, I just can’t.” The girls heard Discord laugh heartily and spun around, he covered his mouth to try and stop obviously still smiling behind his paw. “I’m sorry, it’s just that was hilarious!” He shook his head to try and stop laughing but he kept chuckling to himself. Rarity narrowed her eyes and back further away, speaking quieter. “How exactly is he hurt?!” She questioned her friend, “He looks fine to me!” “He’s... In love with Celestia.” She didn’t bother to hush her voice, Discord stopped laughing to eavesdrop although it was fairly obvious he was listening in. “He promised not to cause chaos anymore chaos but lost control.. He feels terrible for it but knows it’ll hurt Celestia deeply if she find out so...” Rarity knew where this was going. “So.. You plan on lying to the princess to protect a love stricken chaotic mess?” She squinted a little in confusion. “Well... She loves him too and I can’t imagine wh-” “What?!” Rarity’s voice became very high pitched, “She loves him back?! Was it her that freed him to begin with? Oh it was, wasn’t it?!” Her eyes where growing larger in shock. “How could she fall for such a beast? How could she keep this a secret? How, oh how could she trust his word?!” For a while no one said anything. Discord shifted a little where he lay and sighed, realising Rarity would never truly be on his side and he couldn’t blame her after what happened with Tom. To everybody’s surprise Rarity seemed to calm down after taking a few deep breaths. “So... He really wants our help?” She muttered, defeated. As much as she hated Discord she couldn’t resist getting involved in such a scandalise affair. “As painful as it is to admit it I simply can’t let my Celestia down.” He raised a talon in the air, “I promise I’ll try to control myself in the future but I do need an outlet every now and then.” “As long as the damage is not set for life I cannot see why we can’t allow temporary strife.” Zecora said confidently, smiling a little. “You have my blessing to play in Everfree, as long as you keep it away from me.” She stood up and headed to the door. “I must head back home for now, but this has been very... Wow.” With that she left, leaving the two ponies alone with Discord. “Now.. If I’m to be an accomplice to this lie I simply need to know details.” Rarity tried to block out the images of them together or to be more specific her guesses of how it would work. “How did you two get together? Such star crossed love is very uncommon.” Discord pondered for a second whether to tell her then realised is he was going to keep her on his side he needed to befriend her even if it was just a little. With a heavy sigh he lifted himself off the floor and propped himself up against a wall. “Well now, that’s an interesting story. It all began, if you forgive me for being so cliché, a long, long time ago.”