Teardrop

by KidatHeart5

Prologue

“Ooh! What have you got there?” Discord asked in mischievous curiosity.

“The Elements of Harmony,” Celestia answered as a pink force field surrounded her and Luna.

“With them, we shall defeat you,” her sister added.

Discord couldn’t help but burst into laughter. These pony sisters were making fools of themselves. “You should see yourselves right now.” He laughed. “The expressions on your faces. So intense. So sure of yourselves.”
He was so busy laughing that he didn’t see the sisters join horns and emit a rainbow beam that headed towards Discord.

“Hilarious!” he continued to laugh hysterically.

ZAP!

Everything went black for Discord at that moment.

It took a few moments for him to realize what had happened.

His dream avatar began thinking, “What happened to me? Have I been…turned to stone? I-I-I can’t move! Oh, drats! The sisters have managed to defeat me! I have to find a way out of here!”

Suddenly, he was sucked into a tunnel. “Aaaaah!” he screamed. In what seemed like a moment, he was suspended in mid-air. When he realized what happened, he was floating gently downwards. He looked around the tunnel and saw many objects floating in their places. He said to himself, “Ooh! This would be my kind of place.”

Discord tried to fly back up, but some unseen force kept dragging him down. He grunted, “Why…can’t I…go back…up?” After some minutes of trying, he finally sighed in defeat, “Oh, poo.” He looked around in amazement, for the unnatural was very normal for him. He soon came upon a rocking chair and decided to sit down. “Well, I guess I could stay here until I’m free from my stone…” he said, “…prison!” As he saying the last word, he fell out of the chair.

Fortunately, he was floating again. He only sighed of relief before he felt gravity pulling on him when he got to a very tight space. Discord caught his breath when he reached a tunnel alike to the one above. But he felt like something was different. He thought about it before…

TWANG!

He noticed that he was hanging upside-down from a curtain rod. He fell to the floor and placed himself upright. He walked down another tunnel, this time paved with tiled linoleum. Discord said to himself as he came to a chamber of doors, “This is exactly how I envisioned Equestria. Now, I’m sure one of these doors must lead me back home.”

But before he could try one of the doors, a white rabbit came running beside him. “Hey!” he cried. “What…?” He tried to gather what he just saw when he suddenly felt something bump against him.

Discord turned to see an unfamiliar figure. It had a brown mane, but no tail. It had glasses, but no ears. It had limbs, but no hooves. But what was most striking of all was that it was…pale. It also wore strange clothes not only on its upper body, but also its legs. Discord was frightened, but also curious. He slowly asked the figure, “What are you?”

It looked up and Discord saw the most interesting blue eyes behind the glasses. He felt dazed by its appearance, especially when it stood up on two legs...like him. “Oh, excuse me,” it spoke in a feminine voice. “I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone of your kind before.” “What do you mean?” he asked in a confused tone. “I’ve seen many fantastic creatures one wouldn’t find in the normal world,” she explained. “I’ve never met a creature like you before. What are you?”

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “I’m a draconequus. I’ve come from the land of Equestria…and quite possibly still am…in body form.” “Body form?” she asked. “You see, I’ve been turned to stone by the Royal Pony Sisters and here I am in dream form,” he answered.

“Excuse me, but is Equestria where special ponies live?” she inquired. “You know, Pegasi? Unicorns?” “Sure,” he replied. “Pegasi, unicorns, and Earth ponies. Oh, if you’re really lucky, you could be an alicorn…” he grumbled, “…like the sisters who turned me to stone.”

“What are alicorns?” she asked. “They have the wings of a Pegasus, the horn of a unicorn, and the heart of an Earth pony,” he explained in a bored and annoyed tone. “The last part makes me want to gag.” “Ponies with both horns and wings?” she said amazingly. “Wow! I’ve never seen any pony like that before!”

“Well, since I answered your questions, it’s time to answer mine,” he said. “What are you?” “I’m a human,” she replied. “Okay, so just what are humans?” “We’re a mammalian species who are very smart and think what other animals can’t,” the human explained. “We live in societies and have towns and villages.” “Equestria has those,” Discord scoffed. “Really?” she asked. “I never knew that. What’s it like?”

“Well, before I turned it inside out during my chaotic reign, Equestria was a boring place with ponies who act like you,” he quickly gave an answer to her question. “What? They talk and act like humans, but they’re still ponies?” the human gave an astonished smile. “I never knew that!” “What? You’ve never heard of such a place where you from?” Discord gave her a confused look. “I thought you said you met creatures that are not from your world.”

“Okay, here’s the thing,” she sighed. “I and many other people are not like regular humans. We have magical powers and can travel from universe to universe. We never knew about you or Equestria before…” “Wait, wait!” he interrupted her. “You’re magic?” “Yes,” she said.

“So you must know of a way out of here!” he grabbed her in hopeful joy. “Well, I can because I’ve been here many times,” she explained. “What?” he let go of her in confusion. “You’ve been here before?” “This is Wonderland,” she nodded and gestured the chamber. “Oh, good!” Discord clapped and floated. “You must help me find a way home!”

“The only way we can do that is to go through Wonderland,” she motioned her arm toward a door. “Well, come on!” he said excitedly as he grabbed her wrist. “Let’s go!” He raced towards the door and stopped at it. He was about to open it when the human said, “But I don’t even know your name.” “Oh,” Discord replied as he put his paw on the knob, “it’s Discord.” He opened the door to find a slightly smaller door.

“What…Hey!” he cried in bewilderment. He gave the human an angry glance and asked, “What’s the big idea? Are you trying to trick me…ooh, whatever-your-name-is?” “It’s Rose,” she answered. “Rose?” his scowl relaxed and then twisted in confusion. “That’s a funny name.”

“So is yours…Discord,” she retorted. “Ha, ha, ha,” he sarcastically laughed. “At least the ponies back home didn’t find my name weird. Now, getting back to the matter at hand, what’s with this door?” “Oh, allow me,” Rose said as she grabbed for the second knob. She opened it to reveal another door like the one before. Discord watched on in confusion as she continued to do this until the smallest door finally opened up to a space.

“After you,” she gestured for Discord to enter. “Wow,” he gave an astounded half-smile. “You sure do know your stuff.” “I know,” she acknowledged his compliment as he squeezed through the small space. She then crawled in after him, but got stuck for a few moments. She pulled herself free and panted, “Phew! I guess I’m not who I used to be.”

So thus their adventure in Wonderland began. First, Rose ate the growing cookies and cried a pool of tears. Next, they came across the Tweedles and went to the White Rabbit’s house. Unfortunately, though, Discord mistakenly ate a cookie, which made him grow and cramped inside the house. Then, Rose shrunk him and her and met the talking flowers. Discord slept during their song number and he and Rose continued on their trek.

To Rose, this adventure was routine, but to Discord, this was something brand-new. He knew he was able to create this type of environment back in Equestria, but he never knew such a world as this. He felt like this could be home, but something in him yearned for Equestria. Finally, they strode along the magenta-colored path. Discord knew for sure that he would be home soon and Rose could reverse his stone state.

Suddenly, a broom dog was sweeping away the path. Discord wanted to scream and shoo the dog away, but he didn’t want to freak out in front of Rose. The dog approached them, but he stopped and went around them before continuing to sweep away the path. Discord simply refused to believe that this was the end of the path. He raced up ahead while Rose shouted, “Discord, wait! There’s a fork in the road!”

“Fork in the road?” he scoffed. “What are you talking about…?” He stopped as he came to a fork in the road and a pole with two signs pointing either way. Rose came up to him and said, “See? I’ve tried it before.” Discord could do nothing but look downcast and return to where they came. She led him to a clearing with a rock in the center.

As they sat down, Discord sighed, “So that’s it. We can’t go anywhere else.” He turned to Rose and angrily pointed at her, “And you said you knew the way around here. I can’t believe you lied.” “What?” she said in bewilderment. “How did I lie to you? Didn’t I just take you all across Wonderland and guided you? Didn’t I do all of that for you?”

“Well, if you’re such the ‘expert’, then how come we haven’t found a way out of here yet?” he sneered. “As I’ve learned on my adventures here, this is the part where you must confess your sorrows in order to continue onwards,” she explained. “Well, how does that help us?” he scoffed. “A new path opens for us only if we feel sad or low,” Rose said. “I, for one, have never felt such pain in my life,” he said. “That’s unfortunate,” she told him, “because then you’ll never be grateful for the things you have.”

“I don’t need to be grateful,” Discord differed. “I have my powers to keep me happy.” “Yeah,” Rose said, “and that’s not enough, isn’t it?” He looked at her for a long time and sighed, “No, I guess not.” “Haven’t you had someone to love or to care for?” she asked. “Surely there must be someone back in Equestria.”

“It’s ‘somepony’, and no, I haven’t,” he corrected her. “I’ve had no one but myself back there. It was just me against the world.” “Seriously?” she pondered. “I made everything in Equestria like I wanted it, because I’m the master of chaos,” Discord held his head high. “I don’t need any pony to make me happy. Those meddling sisters had to go spoil my fun!”

“Just what were you doing in Equestria that made them turn you to stone?” Rose asked. “Oh, I just rearranged it so that it’s the opposite of its boring self,” he replied. As he explained what he did to Equestria, she became less pleased with him. After he finished, she said, “Sounds to me that you made some serious trouble. No wonder the sisters turned you to stone.” “That’s why you can come back with me and reverse the spell on me,” Discord told her. She hesitated, “I don’t think I can do that.”

“What?” he turned to her in surprise. “Why not?” “This seems like the type of magic that does justice,” she replied. “It’s not very easily reversible by someone like me. I’m only learning.” “Why didn’t you tell me this before?!” Discord grabbed her and shook her.

“I didn’t know that’s what you wanted,” Rose explained. “Also, I might land in big trouble if I did something to undo what the sisters did.” Discord paused and let out a big sigh. He set her down and said, “I suppose I’ll be stuck in stone for a very long time. I thought that you might be the one to help, but I guess not.” “I’m sorry if I couldn’t be of more help to you,” Rose apologized. “I wish I could help, but I don’t know how.”

“Mind if I spent the rest of eternity here in Wonderland?” Discord asked. “I’m getting you out of here so you can return to your body,” she said. “That’s what I can do.” He hesitated, “Maybe I don’t need to go back to my cold and drab stone body. I feel more at home in Wonderland. I could stay here for the rest of eternity.”

“And what?” Rose shot off. “Be all alone?” They sat in silence for a few moments while she regretted saying that comment. Discord pulled his legs toward his torso and said, “I’ve never been more alone in my life.” “Nobody wants to be,” she whispered. He stared at the ground as he explained, “Even if I do go back, I’ll have nopony to turn to.” “At least you’ve got one good friend: me,” Rose said as she leaned towards him.

Discord was surprised when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He stuttered, “What did you do that for?” She smiled, “Just so you know someone cares for you.” He blushed, “Nopony ever gave me a kiss before. You’re the first.” “I guess it makes me lucky, then,” Rose shrugged happily.

“No,” Discord smiled. “It makes me luckier.” He sniffled and quickly said, “Oh! Excuse me!” He conjured up a hanky and continued, “Er, cold coming on.”

Rose gave him a dubious look and he said, “Okay! Just because I got turned to stone doesn’t mean I really am! I have feelings, too, you know!” She smiled, “I thought you did.” She astonished him even more when she hugged him.

Discord felt different for the first time since he could remember. He felt all mushy inside. It grossed him out, yet warmed him up at the same time. Then, he knew what that feeling was: love. Even though he was a dream avatar, he could still feel Rose’s warm embrace.

Then, Discord felt something swelling up inside. He had to let it out some way. Just as Rose let go of him, he stood up, walked towards one side of the clearing, and pressed his hanky to his face. All he could choke out was, “Oh, look what you’ve done! I haven’t felt this way in a long time and now…” Rose gasped, “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

“No!” Discord sobbed. “What you did was wonderful! In fact, it was so wonderful that it made me…” She ran towards him and consoled him. He was so busy sobbing that he didn’t notice the surroundings disappearing.

His tears only stopped when he heard a familiar humming. He and Rose turned to see the Cheshire Cat appearing with a tree. When he asked Discord what he was doing, the latter only blushed and hid the hanky behind him. He stammered, “Er, just hanging out here looking for a way back.” He made the hanky disappear after that. After their encounter with the Cheshire Cat, Discord and Rose went through the tree and entered the maze.

Soon, they met the cards and the King and Queen of Hearts. However, after a mishap during croquet, they were put on trial. Afterwards, they fled and eventually found the doorknob again. Rose realized they came to the end of their adventure. She said to Discord, “This is it, Discord. We’re going to go our separate ways.”

He held her hands in his paw and claw and begged, “When can I see you again?” “I don’t know, but I hope it’ll be soon,” she shook her head. He smiled, “I hope so, too.” He saw her smile for only a moment before everything became blurry. He felt himself swirling and landing somewhere. When he gathered himself, he saw that he was back in his own body. He sighed, “This is going to be a long wait.”

Even though he was stone for more than a thousand years, he eventually forgot the girl he explored Wonderland with. He convinced himself that it was just a dream and soon plotted his revenge against the ponies who imprisoned him.