'Wake up...open your eyes you idiot...'
He wanted his brain to shut up, to leave him be. He was tired, and it hurts to move. No, no, sleep was a better idea, just sleep. He'll wake up nice and refreshed in a few hours, and enjoy a pleasant brunch of cotton eggs and upside-down bacon. For no, no moving, no opening the eyelids, nothing.
'Move, get up and move!'
Discord curls up his lip annoyance- his brain was being especially bothersome today! But slowly as consciousness filled him, so did the memory and oh great mother of sweet pearl, what hellish pain this was! His eyes flew open, and he found himself in some sort of primitive cage made up of thick vines and smelly moss. And he was tied up again- those little gremlins sure were persistent in that goal.
His wings were bound, his legs, arms, and his mouth, all bound up in snakey dark vines. Oh how they smelled, how rough they were. It was as though he was wearing a suit made up of sand paper and splinters. But above all, his neck continued to throb and ache- it was a pain to move, but if he wanted to get out, he would just have to suck it up.
He paused and tried to use his powers- to turn his restraints into bubbles, to heal himself or at the very least alivate the pain....Nothing. Zip. Nada.
'You are but a husk of what you were before.'
You are but a husk.
But a husk.
Husk
Powerless, that's what she did to him. It was a grim reality, knowing that some changeling queen went around and took his powers- he had no idea they could even do that. Weren't they all supposed to be nothing more then silly copy-cats? Impersonators?
Not that mattered really, what mattered was his getting out. Quietly he looked around in his cage, looking for anything, anything at all. The ground was soggy, really soggy. His feet and tail made these awful sucking sounds when he tried to pull them out. He was never one for hygiene, but for the love of Equestria, he'll willingly become Celestia's royal footstool for just one bath. Maybe one with lots of bubbles and rubber ducks...
"ʠ≓◃, ◄≖≗đ!"
Discord's ears perked up, peering out to see two slightly larger then normal changelings having a little conversation. Rusty on the language, tried to pick up what they where saying as he contionously tried to wiggle out of his binds.
Something about how boring guard duty was... Something about how great their queen was, gag... Something about how upsetting that the queen wasn't going to be at the feast... but how they needed to save the sea gull for her trophy...
Wait that wasn't right.
He hissed quietly as he finally finally loosened the restraints enough for him to slide his griffin's claw down a inch to cut off the binds. Hands free, he immediately tore off the ropes on his mouth and feet. Sea gulls, why sea gulls? Well why not sea gulls? It made just as little sense as everything else that's been happening.
'My children will not waste your remains'
Discord freezes and back tracks a little. They were talking about a fest. They were...are going to, if he doesn't get moving, eat him. No, no, no, that he will not stand for. He was the Lord of Chaos, literally immortalized in stone for his misdeeds. And now they were going to have him for dinner?
No, no, no!
Seagulls... sea gulls... he muttered under his breath, repeated the strange words spoken by the guards... No, not seagull. Skull. His skull for a trophy. "WHY!?" He screamed uncontrolablly. He wasn't scared as so much as appauled and really disgusted. A thousand years ago, changelings were delightful little things much like parasprites. Now they were twisted and evil. Actually evil. Evil evil.
But no matter what his reasoning was, his outburst turned out to be a really stupid move. The two guards that were practically ignoring him, now had their full attention on the draconequus. Their horns glowed brightly, aimed at his head. One started screaming about how the other did a shody job of tying up the prisoner.
"Wait, wait, don't-" Too late, the trigger happy fouls shot at the cage with their horns. In his panic, he felt a rush of adrenaline pushing him into the mud below, narrowly avoiding harm. The wood and vines splintered apart in a dreadful explosion, giving him an actual opening to escape. 'Idiots! Glorious idiots!' Discord could hardly believe his luck as he wasted no time in scramming out of there as fast as he could. What luck he had to have those baboons for guards?
But the joy was short lived as the ruckus attracted other changelings, all joining the chase. For once in his life, he felt his heart pounding- not that he was scared! No, no, why would he be scared, it wasn't like he was going to die or anything.
He tried to unfold his wings, only to see that they two were tied up and folded against his back. In his panic, he must of missed that. He remained on foot, zig zagging around the trees, flinching at the sounds of tree's getting hit by the bolts of magic- they were shooting to kill. He wondered vaguely why they didn't just finish him off when they had the chance. The morbid explanation was that perhaps they were trying to preserve the freshness.
"Hnngh!" Discord stumbled, trying to push past the creeping pain that was catching up to him. But he couldn't slow down, he couldn't. The gap between them and him was far too small as it was! But the more he forced himself, the slower his pace became. it didn't help that he had no idea where he was going, that if he was just plunging himself deeper into changeling territory. A bolt of green magic catches him in his back, causing him to cry out.
The force was enough to knock him off balance and into the ground. The sounds of the hive was getting louder and louder- his mind was gripped with a desprate need to survive. He scuttles off the floor and back on foot, narrowly missing a combined attack. One changeling was quick enough to get in his face, but was savagely torn down with a swipe of his claws. Barring his teeth at the swarm, he takes off again. He knew better then to waste a moment to taunt them.
But he also knew that he could not keep this pace. They will catch him. They will kill him. He could take on a handful of these things easily without his power, but the forest was literally infested. Like maggots in a rotting corpse. Too many to count, too many to fight off.
He see's what looks like salvation- a break, a upcoming clearing! Maybe it lead into a village, or even royal grounds. Or maybe just an empty field with nothing to hide behind. He goes for it, mustering up every last bit of strength he had-
"BUCKBUCKBUCKBUCKBUC-!" Too fast, too fast to stop on time. It was a clearing alright, a clearing for a sudden death drop into an unforgiving raging river of pure rage.
'Wings you fool, use your wings!' his brain screamed loud enough that he was sure the changelings watching above would hear. Still in mid-air he tears at the last of the rope, scratching at himself in the process. 'FASTERFASTERDOITBUCKCUCK-!' His wings twitched ans spasmed, and finally the Pegasus wing burst free. It flapped insanely, desperate for its featherless partner to become undone.
But you can only fall so slowly.
And it became clear to the disappointed and hungry changelings above, that perhaps Discord wasn't fast enough.