MLP: What is sanity?

by Raventalon

Chapter 1: Dance With the Devil

MLP: What is Sanity?

Chapter 1: Dance with the Devil

I don’t know how long after my death that I began to feel consciousness again. For me, it was sudden and overwhelming. I had no body that I could feel, yet I sensed a vastness in the space around me. As I dwelt in this strange sense of being, the moments preceding this entered my mind. With rising panic, I realized what happened to me.

I was dead. That thought struck more terror into me than any other moment in my short life.

I don’t know exactly how much time passed as my terrified essence drifted along in that accursed limbo. What snapped me out of it was the approach of a large presence. It was, in a word, huge. It approached me over the vast space in what seemed like a blink of an eye. I felt the presence wrap around me, trapping me within its overwhelming presence and sending my already terrified thoughts to a new level.

“Don’t be afraid my human friend.” A voice spoke. Its pitch was deep and rumbling, echoing through my mind, doing nothing for my nerves. There was a chuckle, the voice seemingly amused by my fear. Not knowing what else to do, I spoke. “W-Who are you?” The presence drew even closer, its aura mingling with mine.

I recoiled as a deluge of what can only be described as pure chaotic energy coursed throughout me. “I am known by many names, but you may call me Discord.” I didn’t know quite how to respond to that, so I asked, “Where am I? What happened?” Discord laughed loudly this time. “My, full of questions aren’t we? You know very well what happened. You kicked the bucket, expired, and walked through Death’s door!”

The answer, coupled with Discord’s strange energy, rendered me speechless. “As to where you are,” Discord continued “You’re in limbo. The place in-between the physical plane and wherever it is you humans go when you die.” As I absorbed that information, something he said hit me. “You keep calling me human as if you’re something else. What are you exactly?”

There was a pause, and then a sudden flurry of energy as an image appeared in my mind. What I saw was an animal. At least, I think it was. It was a strange mixture of goat, lion, eagle, and many other things I didn’t even recognize. “I am chaos.” Said Discord suddenly, “A spirit, manifestation, and god of the true order of all things.”

I swallowed that little tidbit as calmly as I could and attempted to gather myself. Considering my words very carefully, I asked, “What do you want with me? I hardly think I’m something a god would waste his time over.” The image of the animal, who I now knew to be Discord, grinned. “That’s where you’re wrong little human. It’s been a long time since I’ve run into one of your kind, but I remember fondly that you were creatures after my own heart.” Discord opened his arms widely, emphasizing his serpent like body. “Humans are one of the few species I’ve ever encountered who can create death and destruction on a large planetary scale. Naturally, the fallout from such destruction breeds chaos.”

Discord’s grin widened, a faraway look in his eye, “Yes, humans are wonderful creatures.” Shifting his yellow, disproportional eyes back to me he said, “I’ve come to offer you a deal.” I felt a shiver snake through my essence as I responded, “A deal?” Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes, a deal. As you may have noticed, you’re dead. I can fix that little inconvenience for you.”

I felt a glimmer of hope rise, which I quickly smothered. Even I had lived long enough to know nothing came without a price. “That’s nice, but what‘s the catch?” Discord pouted, a strange look on his alien goat-like features. “Catch? You wound me! Can I not offer something out of the goodness of my heart?” I remained silent.

Discord sighed in exasperation, “You’re no fun. Though, I suppose there is teeny favor I would ask in exchange for your life.” His two hands came together, one an eagle’s claw, the other a lion’s paw. “I would ask that you retrieve a few…items that have garnered my interest.”

Perhaps, if I had known exactly what he meant, I would have refused and been sent on my merry way. As it happened however, his terms seemed…almost easy. “Ok. What are these items exactly?” Discord shrugged, smiling nonchalantly. “I’ve not the slightest clue.” I felt a flash of disbelief at that. “So, let me get this straight. You’re willing to give my life in exchange for items you don’t even know anything about?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. I would just ask that when I summon you. You will retrieve the items for me.” I simply couldn’t believe it. It was almost too good to be true. Discord stretched, sending an audible pop into my mind. “So, do we have a deal?” I was desperate for a way to avoid death, so, foolishly, I jumped at Discord’s offer. “Yes, just give me back my life!”

Discord’s everlasting grin turned crooked as he raised his lion’s paw, snapping it loudly.

I was completely unprepared for the sickening lurch that rocketed throughout my soul. The image of Discord vanished from my mind as I felt myself being drawn away from his presence. Suddenly, I found myself being pushed into a tight confining space. With a start, I felt myself being absorbed into the barriers of this new space. Panic was the only emotion I felt as I felt my mind start to fade. My last thought was wonder of what exactly I had just gotten myself into.
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My perception came back to me suddenly. Jolting upright, I found that I had been seated on a large yellow rug. Blinking rapidly, I placed a hand on my chest, feeling for any wounds. Not finding any, I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. With a sigh of relief, I rose to my feet.

“Feeling better?” came a voice from behind me. With a start, I turned around swiftly. Discord sat on a large rickety looking wooden throne. While Discord was a strange sight all on his own, what really held my attention was a large swirling vortex directly behind him. Finding my voice I answered, “Yeah. Death’s not the most pleasant experience I’ve ever went through.” Discord shrugged carelessly, a lazy smile on his face. “I wouldn’t know. I’m immortal.”

I acknowledged this comment with a nod, finding myself once again distracted by the large vortex. Discord seemed to notice what I was looking at and grinned. “I guess you’re wondering where we are now. The answer is quite simple. We’re in my realm.” At my bewildered look, he continued. “This place is a direct representation of my power and what I represent. Take a look for yourself.” He raised the eagle’s claw, gesturing grandly at our surroundings.

It was then that I noticed something odd; the yellow rug which I had been standing on was no longer there. Instead it had been replaced a startling white marble floor. It didn’t stop there. Taking a look around me, I noticed the walls all around us. If you could call the mess around us walls.

If you were to take a random piece of a variety of buildings from any time period around the world, smash them together, and toss in a large dash of multicolored lights, you would get something like what I was seeing. Not to mention the various disembodied voices now whispering incoherently from seemingly nowhere.

Tuning out the voices, I turned back to Discord muttering, “Right, this definitely fits the whole chaos theme.” Discord grinned widely, showing off a row of sharp fangs. “Glad to see you noticed!” he boomed. Feeling a bit like a broken record I asked, “So, why am I here?”

Discord rose from his throne, his gaze turning serious for the first time I’d seen. He approached me saying, “We’re here to discuss the specifics of our agreement. After all, I can’t send you to a completely foreign world without some form of preparation.” Caught off guard by that statement, I cut in before he could continue. “Hold on. A foreign world? I thought I was being brought back to life!” Discord laughed humorlessly, “You are, but not in your world. Not even I can alter what has occurred in a different existence. You’re dead to your world. Thus, it gave me the wonderful opportunity of sending your being to a new one.” I could only stare dumbly as he chuckled.

“Regardless, I think I should go over what exactly you’ll be faced with.” Discord continued, “You will be the only one of your kind. For none of you have graced this world for many thousands of years. This is good news, for no one will know exactly what you are. Your capabilities and intelligence will be completely unknown to them.” Discord circled around me, making me feel a bit nervous as he continued. “The specific land you will be visiting is called Equestria. It is ruled by two Gods like me. They are the gods of the Sun and Moon, which are raised to create night and day. Its inhabitance varies, but the most common sentient creature you will find are called ponies.”

Feeling a tad bit overwhelmed I stated “Ponies? Like the tiny horse things?” Discord only rolled his eyes once again. “Yes, like the tiny horse things. Anyways, there three main types of ponies; Earth ponies, who are much like your horses. There are Unicorns, who can control magic, and finally, Pegasi, who have wings and can fly.” I started to rub my head as I felt a migraine coming on. “Can this day get any weirder?” I muttered. Either not hearing or ignoring my comment, Discord continued with his little speech.

“You will interacting with them on a regular basis, so it is important that you understand one thing.” This made me pause in my head massage “You’ve never heard of me. Once you’re sent to that world, you are to not mention me even in passing. If asked, you’ve never heard of me. You’re aura reeks of me too much already; it would not end well for you if I was brought up.” As he said this, he paused directly in front of me. His gaze burned directly into mine, bringing an image of pain and suffering to the forefront of my mind. “I-I un-understand” I stuttered.

“Good.” He nodded his gaze breaking off from mine. As I sagged in relief, Discord raised his claw above his head. His grasp seemed close around some invisible object, which as he grasped it, started to glow a serene red color. Before I could fully realize it, he pressed the red object to my head.

There was a flash that blinded me, as well a searing and jagged pain that left me reeling. Blinking the whiteness out of my eyes I yelled, “What the hell was that?!” His claw still on my skull, patted my hair. “That was merely your new magic.” Ducking away from his touch, I only looked at him questioningly. Seeing my expression, he elaborated. “As you go into Equestria, a human like yourself would develop an ability of some sort. The most likely being immunity to magic. While that’s useful, it wouldn’t be enough for you to honor our agreement. So, I merely helped you develop magic.”

With those words he meandered back to his throne, a cup of what appeared to be chocolate milk in his claws. “A little warning before you go.” Discord said over his shoulder. “As you settle into your new home, learn how to use that magic of yours. You’ll be needing it soon enough.” Thoroughly baffled by his words and this experience in general, I said “How do I know this isn’t some stupid dream?”

At my words, Discord snorted waving his claw in a dismissive manner. “If you think this a dream my friend, you’re going to find this is one you won’t ever wake from.” As I tried to form a response, I was cut off as I felt the floor beneath me disappear. I could only scream as I tumbled into darkness, my conciseness fading from me for the 3rd time that day.

Comments

[Jazzaman]

intresting at least this time when the dude dies it wasn't cause he was some angsty teenager who was also an orphan much potential abounds from this fic and i see dash is in the charater tags which alone fills me with hope

[redblue293]

Interesting, I shall wait for more.

[hs0003]

Whelp good so far.
I'll favorite for now and like it once the story progresses a bit.

[Cadmium]

So far so good, i hope his magic is some crazy logic defying stuff that nopony except himself (and discord) can make sense of.

[JDSmith1123]

Good so far but you can't have two different people talking in the same paragraph. I makes it sort of confusing.

[Raventalon]

2861182

Thanks for the constructive input! Feel free to give me more.