It Will Never End
“Hey Celestia!” Discord called out.
She didn’t reply
“Do you want to hear a story from your uncle dizzy!” he asked excitedly.
No reply
“Ok here it goes!” He spoke into unlessening ears
_-()-_
"Listen to me," said Teriek, as he placed his hand upon my head.
"There is a spot in this accursed world which thou hast never yet beheld.”
He spoke to me as he entraps me into this tale woven by his tongue.
“And if by any chance thou hast beheld it, it must have been in one of those vigorous dreams which come like the wave’s upon the brain of the sleeper who hath lain down to sleep among the forbidden sunbeams --among the sunbeams”
His word’s entrapping my chaotic mind with intrigue
“I say, which slide from off the solemn columns of the melancholy temples in the wilderness. The region of which I speak is a dreary region in, Equestria. For within the borders of the Forest of the Everfree there is no quiet there, nor order.”
His word’s making my eyes widen in a giddy horror at the thought of a place that was untouched by me yet still untouched by the light brought upon by an accursed princess who scorches all with her fiery light and her unimaginative boredom.
“That’s you by the way!” discord mentioned.
"The trees of the forest have a saffron and sickly hue --and they flow not onwards to the sky, but palpitate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the forests trails is a pale desert of gigantic incoherent thoughts. They mumble one thought unto the other in that insanity, and stretch towards the heaven their long ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct murmur which cometh out from among them like the rushing of muffled screams and cries. And they mumble secrets one unto the other.”
He continued on with his enchanting tale of a land I could only dream of.
"But there is a boundary to their realm --the boundary of the dark, horrible, lofty forest. There, like the waves about the Hebrides, the low underwood is agitated continually. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And the tall primeval trees rock eternally hither and thither with a crashing and mighty sound. And from their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting dews. And at the roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing in perturbed slumber. And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise, the grey clouds rush westward forever, until they roll, a cataract, over the fiery wall of the horizon. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. But only by the edge of the Everfree there is quiet accompanied by silence…and order.”
He spoke as his words chilled me to the bone.
It was time for me to take my leave to what I thought was going to be my home.
My land.
My Kingdom.
* * * * * * * * *
It was night, and the rain fell; and, falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was chocolate milk. And I stood in the morass among the tall thoughts, and the rain fell upon my head as I listen to the thoughts as they shared secrets one unto the other in the solemnity of their desolation.
“Such an inspiring horror show “I thought to myself as the world around me shifted and engulfed itself in a never ending flow of cycles and insanity.
I was having such a splendid time within the chaotic madness. Until…
All at once, the moon arose through the thin ghastly mist, and was red in color. Similar to the color of fresh warm blood pouring out of a dying soul
And mine eyes fell upon a huge grey rock which stood upon a cliff by witch was the tree line, and was litten by the light of the moon.
“Why would such a plain object ever catch my attention?” I thought as a gazed upon the plain feature.
The rock was grey, and ghastly, and tall, --and the rock was grey. Upon its front were characters engraved into the stone.
I flew above the ever changing landscape until I came close unto the edge of the wood, so that I might read the characters upon the stone. I knew of every language inexistence and knew of the infinite amount of cyphers that only linguists dare to dream of.
Yet I could not decipher the characters.
Angry and confused I flew back towards my favorite spot to watch as the chaos engulfed and spewed itself out.
Suddenly the moon shone with a fuller red, like that of dark dead rotting blood.
I turned and looked again upon the rock once more, and upon the characters, and the characters were DESOLATION.
And I looked upwards, and there stood a beast upon the summit of the rock, and I hid myself among the swirling constant madness so that I might discover the actions of the beast.
“Oh this is going to be interesting” I thought to myself as I watched the thing curious on how its mind would comprehend the chaos if even at all.
And the creature as large and stately in form, and was wrapped up from his shoulders to his feet in the toga of other animals skins.
My eyes widened in shock over the fact it was using other animals skins as articles of clothing.
It was sickening
The outlines of his figure were indistinct --but his features were the features of a Demon; for the mantle of the night, and of the mist, and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered the features of his face.
And its brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care; and, in the few furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with existence, and a longing after solitude.
The moon shone upon his face, and upon the features of his face, and oh! They were more terrifying than the thick nightmare’s which hovered about the blackened souls of the dammed!
It made my blood that was once boiling with sweet madness, freeze within seconds.
The thing sat down upon the rock, and leaned its head upon its hideous claws, and looked out upon the desolation.
He looked down into the chaotic landscape, and up into the tall primeval trees, and up higher at the rustling heaven, and into the bleeding moon.
Lay close within shelter of the chaos, and observed the actions of the thing as it trembled in the solitude --but the night waned and it sat upon the rock.
It turned his attention from the heaven, and looked out upon the dreary wood, and upon the yellow ghastly leaves, and upon the pale legions of mindless thoughts.
And the beast listened to the whispers of the water-lilies, and of the murmur that came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of him (of which I assume is a he for there is no way to discern its gender).
And he trembled in the solitude --but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
Then I went down into the recesses of the morass, and waded afar in among the wilderness of the thoughts, and called unto the powers which dwelt among the fens in the recesses of the morass inside.
And the powers heard my call, and came, and brought with a behemoth, unto the foot of the rock, and roared loudly and fearfully beneath the moon.
And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the thing. And he trembled in the solitude --but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
His resolve was scarring me for he would not move nor budge.
So I took action.
I summoned the elements with the curse of tumult; and a frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where before there had been no wind.
And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest --and the rain beat upon the head of the thing --and the floods of the river came down --and the chaos was tormented into order --and the thoughts shrieked within their beds --and the forest crumbled before the wind --and the thunder rolled, --and the lightning fell --and the rock rocked to its foundation.
And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the thing. And he trembled in the solitude -- but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the forest, and the thoughts, and the wind, and the chaos, and the heaven, and the thunder, and the whispers of the thoughts.
They became accursed and were still.
“W-What?” my mind thought for my doings were striped from the land.
The moon ceased to totter in its pathway up the heaven --and the thunder died away --and the lightning did not flash --and the clouds hung motionless --and the waters sunk to their level and remained --and the trees ceased to rock --and the thought were no more --and the murmur was heard no longer from among them, nor any shadow of sound throughout the vast illimitable desert.
And I looked upon the characters of the rock, and they were changed --and the characters were SILENCE.
My eyes fell upon the countenance of the thing, and his countenance was wan with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his head from his claws, and stood forth upon the rock, and listened.
But there was no voice throughout the vast illimitable desert, and the characters upon the rock were SILENCE. And the man shuddered, and turned his face away, and fled afar off, and I beheld him no more.
“What just happened?!” I thought to myself as fear, confusion and darkness engulfed me whole.
* * * * * * *
“Now there are many fine tales of spirits in turmoil --in the iron-bound of melancholy.” Said discord to Celestia.
She didn’t reply.
“Therein, I say, are glorious histories of the Heaven, and of the Earth, and of the mighty Sea --and of the wave’s that over-ruled the sea, and the earth, and the lofty heaven.”
He continued
“There was much lore too in the sayings which were said by history. “
Celestia still did not reply
“Both chaotic and “holy” things were heard of old by the dim leaves that trembled around the world --but, as I live, that “fable” which that Teriek told me as he sat by my side in the shadow of his cage, I hold to be the most wonderful of all!”
He said with a smile...... to a princess...that didn't exist.
But as the Discord made an end of his story, his smile vanished
He fell back within the cavity of the “tomb” and laughed.
He could not laugh with the Demon known as “Princess Celestia”
For he was encased in stone.
“She cursed me to insanity because I wasn't allowed to have fun! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” He screamed and laughed in his mind.
His mind which dwelled on forever in the tomb, came out therefrom…..
“Discord?”
His mind snapped back to what was left of his reality.
“Hello?!” he yelled after the familiar voice. He waited a few moments whilst listening intently.
“Discord if you can hear me…”
“I CAN HEAR YOU!” he called out
PLEASE SET ME FREE, KILL ME, JUST PLEASE STOP THE PAIN!” He screamed and cried out to the voice.
“I’m sorry…” the voice said before stopping for what was going to be an eternity
“PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU! KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-“
He...just kept screaming and reaching out for something that wasn’t there.
* * * * * * *
Celestia walked up to discords statue once again. It had been at least a decade since she had last visited him. And it had been almost a
century since the elements turned him to stone….for the third and final time.
He had sided with Teriek so the elements had no choice.
“Discord?” she said softly half dreading yet half hoping for a response from the stone that was once her friend.
To her joy and dismay the stone did not make a sound.
“Discord if you can hear me…” she began to speak as tears welled up in her eyes
“I’m sorry…” she said as she watched listened for any sight of his mind within the stone.
She sighed and began to walk away.
She did not hear the muffled screaming from inside the statue.
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(sighs) And people wonder why I take Discord's side so often. Any entity(Harmony in this case) that repeatedly uses a thousand plus years of isolation as a punishment is neither something I usually can get behind or trust.
Don't get me wrong, its not a bad read, but it is depressing and all it makes me want to do is write a fic about destroying the Tree or Discord committing suicide in the statue, which leads to issues throughout the world if not the universe, or something else that makes Celestia and/or the Tree realized they screwed up.
Cause Discord does NOT deserve this and no one could convince me otherwise.
7417806
You know what I would love for a change? Fics like this that have a happier sequel or bonus chapter. Twilight or someone gets him out of the statue, Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie tearfully and angrily scolding the Tree of Harmony for its cruelty, or even just letting the poor guy die. Hell, I'd just take Celestia or Luna being able to mentally visit him.
7418084
Oh no, I agree. I always enjoy it when some people address how horrifying this could be. My statement was more on the fact that, even with the one's that take this dark angle on it, there are usually only one of two parts it plays. One is like here, where it is shown as a horror with no way out. The others are fics where Discord is out and while it is shown/implied how bad the stoning effected him, no one really cares. Fluttershy might, sometimes Pinkie Pie, but every other pony either doesn't seem to get or just ignores it.
My point? I appreciate these things acknowledging what Discord and other villain, might have gone through, but at the same time, I'd like to see a few more with happier endings, or even just hurt-comfort endings. Little variety and hope in with the bleak eternal punishments.
7418216
7418109
I love you both
7418233
If there was a hug emoticon here, I would use it. XP Preferably a Discord one.
7418292
millennia is a synonym of 1000 years
7418292
but can Also be used as a plural
7418333
7418571
Its one of those words that technically shouldn't be used like a singular, but often enough is. Probably because it rolls off the tongue a bit better than millennium.
7418034 A tree that used isolation against someone who was quite willing to torture everyone with his 'brand' of fun to the point of breaking reality.
If one might be immortal, and cannot be dealt with in any other fashion, is it cruelty to dispense justice that one could've avoided earning? Why scold the tree for committing justice on cruel tyrants who play puppets with those under them? The focus of the story is on the villain correct, but that allows for one to ignore the plight of those who suffered, should their voices be ignored because the tyrant cries out for the justice that had been served to him? Does one ignore the plight of those who suffered him upon learning he has never changed despite being given a truly major chance?
7418891
I don't want to get into another one of these debates. Every time I do, I feel like I'm ruining the comment section for the author.
But yes, as far as I'm concerned, it is cruel and it isn't justice. I don't believe in justice to begin with, and if I did, I wouldn't have it issued by some Crystal Tree I know nothing about. Nightmare Moon got out after a thousand years and had no desire to change, but instead of being banished again, she was turned back into Luna. Discord equally had no desire to change and at least his way didn't run the risk of killing all life on earth. He got stoned again, and he even had to break out the first time.
Besides, no really gave him a good reason to change- one friend is not enough amongst the constant scorn of the rest. Especially when someone else is offering to be your friend and not judge you for how you want to be.
If the Tree is so powerful, so JUST, than it could have at least either banish him to another universe or let the poor dracon sleep and dream eternally. Instead, we get the clear implication that he is aware of everything, to the point he hears everything Celestia says in the castle.
So no matter what how you try to paint it for me, you are NEVER going to make me buy that extreme long term isolation is a route to go- killing him is more merciful at that point, forget permanent. And if anything, the sheer idea of it makes me want to write fics where this stff comes to bite them in the flank.
Oh, and lastly? We have no confirmation of him torturing anypony. The only one even vaguely implying that is Celestia, his long time enemy. What he did to the Mane 6 was self defense the first time. His so called "betrayal" was him siding with someone who he didn't think was going to try and hold him on a leash.
PS This is like if ants and other insects called justice on you for killing and tormenting many of their ancestor when you were a child.
PSS To the author, I am sorry if this gets out of hand. Or hoof. XP
7417780
I'd really love someday to write a confrontation between him and the Tree of Harmony, if I can just figure out how to make it talk (I mean, I did make it talk in one fic, but it was just a branch that was intended as a cutting to grow a new tree in another universe.) They've done so many terrible things to each other (in canon, the only thing we know of is the plunder vines, but in my universe he created the Everfree to trap the Tree of Harmony and limit its influence), but in the end, he aided the girls in opening the Tree's box, and the Tree accepted his amulet as a key, so it's starting to sound like they can at least work together, if not forgive each other.
I actually have a scene in one story (mentioned, but eventually it will be described) where Discord tries to talk the Tree into turning him into stone again (because he feels profoundly guilty and self-destructive after Tirek), and instead the Tree summons Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to talk him down off the ledge.
I think turning him to stone for so long was utterly horrible, and was in no sense justice, but depending on how destructive you think Discord was, it may fall under the mad dog rule -- ie, a mad dog is not at fault for becoming rabid, but you have to kill it anyway. It may be that because that was the only way to stop Discord, it had to be done even though it was far, far worse than what he deserved. (I don't think he can easily be killed.) That being said... it was still far, far worse than he deserved, and someday I'd like to see Twilight really grasp the magnitude of what was done to him. (I think Celestia does, and that's why she had him released to be reformed. And Fluttershy does.)
7419273
It depends largely on what you want the origin of the Tree to be in a given fic. One fic I read(yours, maybe?) it was apparently his sister and implied that she turned into the tree for some reason- she seemed to communicate through drops of water Discord could interrupt. One idea I had is that either during the Rainbow-strike or while in stone, Harmony can manifest in a mental form and talk to Discord- she was a very(to him) young spirit in that concept. Though, a more interesting idea would be the Tree gaining its own form. Possibly an alicorn or something else.
I actually had a concept once that the Tree of Harmony is actually the product of a corpse of a creature titled as a "Beast of Harmony"(what it is, is a secret, no spoilers!) whichi s essentially the Predator of the Draconequi. Needless to say, Discord is scared shitless of a living one.
As for the Tree and the Box thing? Eh, I'm of the crowd that believes Discord planned that betrayal to open the box. That, quite possibly, could be Discord's olive branch, or apology,
.....I will LOVE to see that scene you mentioned.
As for the rest?.....I actually have one headcanon(I'm an author, I need many different ones- and at least one has Discord as the literal Devil) that actually excludes the Tree and Celestia of all guilt. It goes back to the elements being turned to stone themselves: justify why that happened anyway you want, doesn't matter for this point to work.
The idea is that because the Elements were stoned, not even the Tree could undo what happened to Discord until they were revived. He might have actually went even through a few cycles of more insane and more sane in there. Celestia, in the second season, either didn't grasp what Discord went through yet or thought that he was just so ancient that a thousand years didn't mean anything to him. After he was resealed, she somehow became aware of it- perhaps a dream-meeting with the Tree itself, or Luna dream walking into Discord's statue and realizing the hell he's been in- assuming that Luna's sealing was different than the statue.
My mental image is that the whole reason the Keep Calm, Flutter On thing worked was because Celestia(and Luna too, possibly) actually apologized to his statue. And just as Discord never had a friend, he's probably never had a sincere apology before, which makes him tentatively curious about the whole thing.
His betrayal than becomes either him faking a betrayal to help Twilight and the Tree, or him taking the lessons of friendship but adding in that it might be best to be friends with beings more like himself.
7419392
I have two universes with Discord myself -- one where he's Q (from Star Trek, the character Discord is actually based on) and one where he's the Equestrian avatar of chaos, one of three entities charged with maintaining the magical balance of the world. In the one where he's Q, he totally planned the betrayal to open the box, and is responsible for the creation of the box in the first place -- the Tree of Harmony is a Continuum expert system, and when the plunder vines had paralyzed it, he hacked it to produce the box. (The idea there is that the Rainbow Power links the girls' life force to Twilight's through the magic of friendship... thus making all of them immortal. Because Q had already promised that he personally would not make Fluttershy immortal.) But losing his powers wasn't part of the plan -- the person who was supposed to learn the friendship lesson was Tirek, Q underestimated Tirek's level of sociopathy, didn't realize that Tirek was capable of taking his own powers (not the power of the Continuum, or he'd have been unbeatable, but the power that allows Q in a flesh body to contact the Continuum and draw energy from it -- without that, he was genuinely powerless.) The lesson he actually learned wasn't "don't betray your friends" but "don't manipulate your friends and try to play puppets with them even if you have a benevolent reason that's to their benefit."
I don't like "Discord planned to lose his powers to Tirek" because it totally cheapens that moment when Discord actually gets real for a moment -- when we see him, heartbroken and helpless. I can't believe he planned that. I can believe he had a plan involving pretending to sell out to Tirek so that Twilight would have an opportunity to win the key to the box, but not that losing his own powers was part of the plan. I think that if Discord had a plan, it didn't work out the way he wanted it to -- which, of course, is fitting for chaos. He gets the results he wanted but not the way he planned on it.
I totally agree with you about the Tree losing the ability to do anything, including free Discord, once the Elements were turned to stone. I also suspect it was neither the plan of Celestia nor the Tree to banish Luna for a thousand years; something went wrong there. Celestia might have been planning to free him once she and Luna had fully restored a stable government, except that said stable government was mostly in Celestia's hooves and Luna was getting more and more jealous and feeling unloved, so they never got to that point before Nightmare Moon. That being said, Celestia did say in Return of Harmony that she hoped they'd hold him forever. I think Discord rattles her more than any other villain she's ever dealt with, and that she said that because right at that moment she was scared and angry and feeling stupid for ever thinking reconciliation with Discord might be possible. Once he was re-stoned and she calmed down, she was able to think things out better.
7419447
Ahh, okay. Allow me to reclarify myself: I mainly just believed he planned the betrayal thing. The personally losing his powers thing I can go either way on. Had an scene idea once where Discord explains that the reason he did betray them was of his "chaos instincts", basically a gut instinct on a cosmic level that generally keep him from doing anything stupid. Last time he didn't listen to it, he end up in stone, so that it lead him to being powerless, he was beyond confused and scared until the very end.
I agree with everything in the third paragraph. I'm on Discord's side usually, but that doesn't mean I bash his enemies. I think what went wrong is that the Elements, in canon at least, need more than one bearer. And Celestia? Yeah, something was really bothering her when he showed up....Maybe she thought he might have had a claw in Nightmare Moon? That or he paid an unseen visit to Luna and teased her about it- cause, seriously, the only other reason Luna might not have shown up is if she was still weak....S1E1 to S4E1 is one year, so, that could make sense.
PS Weird observation. Discord's tail moved over the thousand plus years to encircle that pedestal. I wonder if that ever freaked Celestia out.
PPS Weird idea: We can obviously argue it wasn't his intention, but I personally believe Discord helped Equestria early on, giving the three previously conflicting tribes a common enemy to put aside their differences for. And, possibly, motivated the ponies into putting the sister's into power.
7418969
Forcing your own way onto..
I'm sorry what, I was going to debate this but what. Considering that we have no way to communicate with insects, insects neither have sentience or the ability to rationalize, but what you just basically said was Discord was a child, and that ponies compared to him are measly insects who should let him have their way with them.
This is some intense level of villain apologism that I haven't seen in a while and there is nothing I can say that'll shift that.
7419772
Well, it is. Discord is, essentially, a higher life form that can warp reality at whim where as ponies are short lived creatures of laughably(to him) finite power. Just because a creature is sentient by our definition, doesn't mean its sentient by a high life form's definition. Fluttershy can perfectly understand so called non-sentient lifeform, so for one like Discord, simply understanding a creature's language and such is a very, VERY low bar for sentience.
Also, everyone makes the argument that Discord was like a child. This is the other half of that logic that people like to ignore. Only difference is that Discord just messes with the figurative ants, not kills them or their entire colony.
And its less villain apologism and more "I'm tired of people acting like there is no possible justification for what Discord did." Because there are a hundred reasons that make sense: A. Higher life form, so empathizing with lower life forms is very hard for him. B. He lived in Equestrian lands prior to the ponies and didn't like the pests messing with his home. C. He didn't want ANYTHING near the Tree of Harmony, his true enemy. D. A personal favorite, he is in some form a consequence for the victory(or whatever you want to call it) against the Windigo.
But my biggest, ultimate reason for being on Discord's side? After a thousand years in stone, isolated from the world with just his own hate, he did not ONCE make an attempt on anypony's life. Not Celestia's, not the Mane 6, and not even the Tree.(Plunder vines were a thousand years ago, don't count in that moment) He tried to secure his own survival without causing death. And its canon he's aware in there, so no getting around that.
So forgive me if I'm tired of the Discord-hate train that seems to conveniently forget that Discord's "punishment" would have given him a perfectly good reason to go on a killing spree, but didn't. We have seen what Discord has done, but most seem to ignore how much worse he could have been.
Also, I never said that the ponies were wrong to fight back against him. Just as ants are free to bite you. I said that the thousands of years of pure hell was overly cruel for canon Discord, who has shown the least amount of malicious intent of most villains. And that expecting him to see it as justice is, at best, laughable.
Again, sorry.
Question, if you break the statue, would that theoretically kill him?