Tirek has finally been defeated.
Left powerless after being blasted to Tartarus, Tirek now has the rest of eternity to wallow in his defeat in the deep, dark, silent recesses of the planet...or at least that's what he HOPED would happen.
His 'friend' Discord decides to take advantage of visiting hours and has a riddle for the demon centaur, the answer to which may be the key to his freedom...or just Discord messing with his head. It's hard to tell.
Thanks to Katefiore on Deviantart for the cover art.
Chapters (1)
I think I already know what the riddle is. (If I'm right, I've heard this riddle in The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Scared Silly)
What costs nothing?
But is worth everything?
Weighs nothing?
But lasts a lifetime?
That one person can't own?
But two can share?
We all know what the answer to the riddle is. It's in the show's title, for those of you wondering.
Also, love the Hasbro reference and Screwball's cameo.
4846134 Yep, that's it!
4846524 That's kinda the joke, honestly: Tirek's the one who NEEDS to figure it out, but until he does, he can't truly redeem himself.
And glad those references worked!
Discord was getting a bit OOC-preachy towards the end, but either way, well done.
The story is great, I enjoyed seeing Discord try his mind games out on a villain for a change; and the art with it is great.
nicely done! now where is that upvote button... ahh there we go!
4846134 Air.
Do I smell a FullMetal Alchemist reference?
One error I noticed:
That hear should be here instead.
Other than that, nice job.
you his prized (position) as he left as a sign he still loved you?” [possession ] perhaps ?
good story. I don't think that Discord is ooc he sounds like some one who has just Figured out something and has to talk about it.
I must say, this was an amazing story, and had a real impact. Well done.
4855749 I haven't read the fic, but I remember the whole riddle from a McDonald's Halloween cartoon.
What costs Nothing, but is worth Everything?
Weighs Nothing, but lasts a Lifetime?
That One Person cannot hold, but Two People can share?
4846134 Wow, I didn't even read your comment. Lol. Same place I know it from.
4855798 Indeed. Freaky isn't it?
4855832 Lol. Very... I recall I saw that one, the Legend of Grimace Island, and the... space adventure one.
4855849 I saw all five, and still own them.
The answer is friendship!.... Yeah when you say it like that it is corny.
I love what you did, you pulled of serious well and got your point across. I especially love the part about greed that was magnificent.
This was an entertaining read! Love Discord in this!
9/10
A couple of grammar issues, but a well thought out concept and a great execution. Discord's not the preachy 'friendship fixes everything' kind of guy, but acknowledges the dark sides to existence. One thing I don't like was the repeated reference to him as the 'personification of chaos' or some such. I'm also a little fuzzy on why Desire would be related to chaos in any way. But then, that's coming from a chaoist; someone whose beliefs involve the original concept of Chaos as a creative force. It might help to add some clarification on that in the author's notes.
Edit, because it sounds like it's coming from a True Scotsman jerk otherwise: what I mean is that people have different definitions on Chaos, Desire, and the like. It can't really be assumed that every reader will know which approach you're taking, so a little explanation outside the story can be helpeful. It's like a joke that only makes sense to people who know a certain meme or play a certain game. Obviously this is subject to opinion, and shouldn't be taken as gospel. Sorry if it came off as sounding pushy.
Other than that, good job, great look at Discord as the master of words, and a good reminder of how even heartless monsters aren't as impervious as they might think.
Awesome Fullmetal Alchemist reference. That's one of my favourite parts of the series.
Other than a good need of an editor, this is great. Thanks for writing this.
For riddles, if it's not obvious enough (for me, at least) then I'll over think it and completely miss the answer. My 7th science or 8th history teacher (one of the two. Can't remember) put up riddles on the board every day and this was one of them. Couldn't remember the answer to it until now. At first I thought it was happiness, but then Discord started hinting towards friendship and at that moment I knew it was friendship. Then I looked in the comments and I knew I got it right. Nailed it…
Buy Scorpan's new Demon Blood Skin Conditioner today for 30 bits! No? Nothing? Nothing at all? Okay, I'll stop.
So Discord keeps heaping scorn on predictability, and y'all still think "friendship" is his answer?
Interesting story, my friend. I liked it!
Is the answer air? Or perhaps life?
While not this exact riddle, I actually do remember hearing a riddle once where the answer was, Friendship.
"More precious than gold, but can not be bought.
It can never be sold, but it's earned if it's sought.
Though it be broken it can still be mended.
At birth it can't start nor by death is it ended."
(It was from an episode of Class of the Titans, if anyone ever watched the show)
On the other hand, a lust for power(such as his) can cost someone everything.
I'm a bit confused as to why everyone thinks Discord's line 'You turned your back on something you wanted. You don't deserve to call yourself greedy.' is an FMA reference? They didn't come up with the seven deadly sins.
The closest thing to an FMA reference I can see is it paralleling Kimblee's spiel to Pride near the end of the series(the manga and Brotherhood anime). Pride at one point states that Greed threw away his pride as a homunculus by siding with humans(whom Pride deems inferior beings to himself) only to moments later try to steal the body of a human just to save his own skin(his container/vessel was low on energy and falling to bits(NOT dying, he likely would have been fine without, but the container allowed him to move around since his real form is a shadowy thing with lots of eyes and teeth) so he needed a new one, and decided to use a human body-Edward's). Which Kimblee found revolting ('In the same breath that you spoke of 'Pride as a homunculus,' you ran screaming to steal the body of one of the lower lifeforms you so despise, just to escape your own predicament.'-From the manga-) It's worded a bit differently in the anime but the idea is the same, 'one moment you talk of pride, the next you're willing to throw it aside just to save yourself'.
Riddle me this... What happens when the immovable object meets the irresistible force?
4850908 I love this comment.
I also love this story. 
-Spirit
4862622 somethin's gotta give.
I really like what you did here. In fact I love it. Especially the whole part where Discord talks about finding out his "toys" aren't toys at all. Honestly this is some of the best insight into Discord and his character development I have ever seen. Good job!
4862656
Wrong Answer
4846134 Life/ A life
4862622 They both surrender.
4862959
The object that applies the force passes right through the immovable object, because the infinite force is greater than the electromagnetic force that would stop them from colliding in the first place. Matter is 99% empty space, after all.
4862622
They pass through each other. Next question.
4862344
I was a little confused too, until I remembered this. Warning: spoilers up to Episode 44 of FMA: Brotherhood.
As others have said, this is a little rough around the edges, but it definitely has its heart in the right place. So good job.
I'm pretty sure the answer to the riddle is either friendship or love, or both.
4864188 I cannot believe I forgot about that scene. Or rather that line, I tend to remember the 'then why are you in so much pain' as it's one of the first hints to the fact of what Greed truly wants. Not power like he insists, but friends, true friends.
4864160
Give that man a prize.
Clearly the answer to the riddle is: 3
Ponder my enigmatic transcendent philosophizing!
The answer is friendship/love no?
Is the answer to Discords riddle family?
4864160
4862622 An "immoving" object really refers to an object that is will not accellerate, since the concept of moving depends on the frame of reference of the observer. And an unstoppable "force" refers to an object that is moving, but cannot be accelerated (so they are really the same thing). Although they would require infinite mass, and thus, infinite energy, if these objects truly could not be accelerated, then both objects would pass right through each other and continue moving. For an unstoppable force and an immovable object to exist, they must both be intangible.
Also such descriptions are not mutually exclusive for example: Black Holes.
They are an immovable object (since you can identify it as a thing it is considered an object) and an unstoppable force.
In fact, i know a few Physicists that would argue that in all instances they are the same thing.
4866669 I relearn more science from these posts than anywhere on the net. Ah school.. so much learned... so much forgotten as it's never used.
Quite nice. Discord, you got a LONG way to go, but at least you took the first step. Tirek, you might never even move a hoof in that direction.
Oddly enough, that is the vengeance that I can imagine Discord taking. Not torture (psychological or literal) not even endless pranks but, rather, to torment Tirek by holding out the great epiphany to him, knowing that his mind is such that could never accept or understand it. Tirek is too twisted by narcissism and pride to admit he was ever wrong and that he needed his brother to help him keep it together.
That's okay, though. For the truly immortal, 'forever' is a short time to wait and something tells me that he is going to enjoy turning up at unpredictable intervals to drop further 'clues'.
Maybe he even has a truly benevolent motive this time! As he said, Chaos is unpredictable and what is more unpredictable than the God of Chaos being truly benevolent for a change?
4862622
The riddle is invalid, only one or the other can exist not both. Next question.
4862622 They collide in a stalemate. Check and mate.
4859512 I'll buy it, along with that centrifuge, cloning chamber, and brain swapper.
4872254 The riddle is invalid not because only one of them can exist, but because neither of them can.