Discord and Co., Entreprise of Evil

by The Diplomat

Chapter V

Chapter V

Ronald Winston realized that as far as anyone looking by could tell, he had been talking to himself for the last ten minutes, since Discord remained unseen to all but him. Therefore, he left Carousel Boutique with the draconequus. They walked along Lunar Avenue, and took a right when they reached the point where the avenue made a crossroad with Pegasi Boulevard.

The baron walked nervously down the large street. It was a strange sight for his eyes; indeed, he was never on the boulevard when he was not being driven around in a large Bentley with tinted glass windows. It wasn’t as long as Lunar Ave, but it certainly had more bulk to it. He would stare at the impressive skyscrapers and the various shops, businesses, people and ponies about, time flying by in an instant while he did.

And now here he was. He was a person, walking on the same pavement as everyone else. He was finally one with the crowd of commoners.

Or at least, that’s what he told himself for reassurance. In the midst of this wholly new experience, the baron felt like a kitten in the rainforest. For the first time, walking so close to people that had what most would consider as normal lives, he felt completely out of place, even though he had grown up in this city his whole life. Everywhere around him he saw men and women with casual expressions walking past him, minding their own business; and yet he had an irrational feeling that someone would notice him and lunge at his throat to steal his wallet. He was troubled by the fear that he felt, as he was finally down to earth, as it were. There’s danger everywhere, but is it really that bad? he thought for comfort. Should something like that happen, I’m sure Discord would protect me somehow.

And yet the draconequus was not helping Winston get over his nerves. The baron knew that none could possibly see Discord, but he felt nervous as he followed him to wherever it was they were going. He cringed as he saw Discord sliding forward, levitating and slithering dangerously close to all the people in front of him. And yet he showed incredible agility, because in spite of how close he came to people, he brushed past them without the slightest contact. He might as well not have been there at all, and Saint-Celest would have been none the wiser.

At some point he took to the air, performing a backwards flip and regained the baron’s side as he twirled around him. The baron stopped walking and jumped in surprise while Discord gave a small laugh in a low, resounding voice. A man next to the baron, who was talking on the phone, looked at him quizzically for a second but then carried on walking without a second glance.

The baron had to make an effort to act casual despite his light sweating. He walked further down the boulevard, with Discord curled up around and behind him, bending his supple spine in little shifts so as to make no contact with anyone.

“Where are we going?” the baron mumbled so as not to attract any unwanted attention.

“Take a right at the next occasion,” said Discord. Now that he was so close, he spoke directly into the baron’s ear in a low, malicious voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

The baron did as he was told. They turned right off the boulevard into a narrow alleyway. It stood out strangely from the large street on which they had just walked, as it was bordered on both sides by tall, shabby-looking buildings that blocked the sun’s light and obscured the path no matter how sunny it was today.

There were no people to be found there. Discord gracefully flew around Winston and started walking on the ground to the baron’s right, not so close to him anymore, which allowed him to relax a little. He figured that he was a little more people-shy than he thought.

They walked silently before hitting another crossroad with a similar alleyway, where they turned left, and then right a little further down. At some point the baron lost count of how many turns they had taken, but Discord kept on taking them, not stopping once to think his way through. Eventually the number of times they changed direction became ridiculous to the baron, who was starting to think that if he ever needed to return to the place they were going to, he would never be able to find it in this daedalian maze of small alleys that looked all the same.

Finally, they arrived in yet another alley, where there was a single establishment set inside what seemed to be countless plain walls of stone. They stopped in front of it. It was a small, run-down bar of sorts. It was covered in grime, and had two windows of opaque glass on either side of a lopsided door that were boarded up from the inside with moldy cardboard. The traveller looked up to a large horizontal beam of wood that bore the bar’s insignia. In large, painted letters of a faded jade green, it read ‘THE NEST’

“‘The Nest’?” said the baron.

Discord nodded. “Yes. This is the place,” he said.

“Does anyone actually live here?” asked the baron incredulously. What he really meant was ‘Can anyone actually live here’.

“My little friends do,” replied Discord with a grin.

The baron looked to the door, where he spotted an old piece of paper stuck to it that read ‘clozed for renauvations’. He looked at it skeptically, for the bar seemed rather to be closed for good.

“Um... this place appears to be out of busi--”

Discord opened the creaky door simply by pushing it.

“... I guess not,” said the baron.

They walked down a small set of grimy stairs to a door below. The only light present was that of the outside that came from the door that Discord had left open behind them. There was not a sound coming from behind the door they were in front of, making the place seem even more deserted.

Discord turned to the baron.

“Now, these friends of mine are behind this door. I have to tell you that they are highly sensitive to sound, so not a peep from you as we go in. Got it?” he whispered.

The baron nodded.

“Good,” said Discord.

And as he flung the door open, the baron’s ears were instantly and violently assaulted by the sound of excruciatingly loud big beat club music. He flinched, and with a gasp, the baron instinctively slammed his palms against his ears, which did not help much in shielding them against the brutal noise. Discord let out a hearty cackle that the baron couldn’t hear, and together they walked into the room, the draconequus shutting the door behind them.

Winston was so surprised by what he saw next that he could almost ignore the music. They had stepped into a very large room lit by green neon tubes on the ceiling. He stared in amazement as he saw creatures surrounding him on all sides that were neither man nor pony, dancing unrestrained to the music blasting out of large wall speakers. These creatures were small, barely taller than children. From what he could see, they seemed to be overgrown winged insects of some kind, with equine bodies even as they danced on their two rear legs like humans. He noticed holes in their thin limbs, and their empty turquoise eyes that shone with a dull glow.

But what surprised him most were the transformations that occurred all around him. In fast-paced flashes of green, the little creatures took the shape of normal human men and women, without ever missing a beat in their dance. They changed to flawless replicas of human forms at random and with natural ease. Some of them were even changing them to match the beat of the music. As much as it surprised him, he found this ability of theirs to be... ‘cool’ is the word, I guess.

He walked painfully across the room with his hands to his ears, his teeth cringing as he tried to ignore the blaring music around him. Discord, who was leading the way, seemed utterly unaffected by the music. As he passed by them, a few of the insect-like creatures actually stopped dancing and greeted him, with pats on the back and high-fives that he returned. Apparently he was somewhat of a celebrity here.

They arrived at another, larger door at the back of the room. It was guarded by two of the creatures, which were quite burly but still smaller than the baron. They let Discord in, but one of them put out his forelimb on the baron’s chest with a look of mistrust. Discord put his paw on the creature’s shoulder, which looked up to him.

“He’s with me,” said the draconequus. Winston was somehow able to hear his voice effortlessly over the insane volume of the music.

Without a word, the creature removed his limb and both Discord and the baron entered the room.

When the door was closed behind them, the baron found out to his pleasant surprise that the noise of the other room had been drastically reduced, now pumping in a muffled beat that was actually bearable to human ears. The baron removed his hands from his now ringing ears, a little dazed. He turned to the draconequus who looked as if he’d just taken a lovely stroll through the park.

“‘Sensitive to sound’, huh?” said the unamused baron, a little louder than he would have wished due to the exposure to noise.

“Yep,” said Discord. “And by that I meant they enjoy it. Thoroughly, as you might have seen.”

The baron looked around the room in which he now stood. It was full of the insect-like creatures he’d seen.

He watched as two of them ran up to Discord. The flew into him, wrapping the draconequus in a strong hug, eyes wide and wearing smiles that revealed two sharp fangs from under their lips.

“Daddy!” they said in joyful hissing voices.

Discord pretended to have the wind knocked out of him and hugged the two little beings back.

“Hello, my young ones!” he said in a merry laugh, “It’s good to see you again!”

The baron observed the bizarre scene. Discord did indeed look like a father greeting his children, although his physique was more that of a mutant grandfather. The baron stepped closer to him.

“Um... Discord? What are these creatures?” he asked coyly.

“Why, these are changelings of course!” replied the draconequus happily. “They are most wonderful creatures, that hail from Equestria.”

“What, like ponies?” asked the baron, taken aback.

Most of the changelings in the room suddenly hissed and snarled at Winston’s choice of words. The baron looked about him nervously, wondering if Discord was going to order the changeling mass to devour him alive.

“We do not look kindly upon the use of that word here,” said a voice from out of nowhere. Instantly the baron looked for its source. It was not exactly a voice, but rather two; a clear, snide voice with a less audible, lower undertone that made it seem as though the voice itself was buzzing like the wings of an insect. It was a voice that sent an uncomfortable feeling coursing through him.

The changelings went silent and retreated to the walls of the room, revealing the one who had spoken.

The baron stared at a changeling that was sitting half-slouched in a worn-out throne of red velvet. Winston immediately noticed several differences between this creature and the other ones. This changeling was much bigger than the rest. It also seemed to be a she, its large form revealing gentle curves of a feminine nature. Like a pony mare, she had a long blue mane and tail, the consistence of which resembled that of seaweed, from afar. Upon her back stood large, jagged paper-thin wings that were punctured with holes, like her mane, tail and limbs. She also had a tall, crooked horn upon her head, on which were set a pair of glowing green eyes with slitted pupils, that gave the baron a most unsettling and disdainful stare. Winston did not know who this changeling was, but he could tell that if anyone was to command a massive changeling onslaught, it would most likely be her.

Discord opened his arms wide, dropping the two changeling infants to the ground where they scurried back to their congeners, shooting the baron an antagonizing look. The tall draconequus grinned mischievously and walked slowly towards her, arms still outstretched.

“Aaah... There you are... Mama,” he said with the voice of someone who was pleased to have found someone he’d been looking for for a long time.

At first the changeling said nothing, staring at Discord with a focused expression. But as he got closer, her lips curled into a devilish smile, and she recoiled playfully in her throne.

“Hello, daddy,” she said in an almost sultry manner. Her wings rose and fluttered as he got closer still, lowering himself to her level with deep and naughty chuckle.

As Winston watched the strange and seductive moment take place, Discord turned to face him. He got up and spoke.

“I believe some introductions are in order,” he declared. “Winston, this is an old friend of mine. She is Chrysalis, queen of the changelings. Also known as...” He turned to the changeling with a grin, “... Mama Cry.”

The baron tried to meet Chrysalis’s shiny eyes with his own, as she gazed at him scornfully.

“Mama,” continued Discord, “This is a new friend of mine. His name is Ronald Winston. Also known as the emo baron who is miserable because he doesn’t know what to do with all the money in the world.”

The baron glanced at Discord in annoyance, and turned to the changeling queen. Carefully he walked up to her throne and gave her a small bow, as he had been taught to by his parents.

“Ronald Winston, baron of Wilkshire,” he said in a respectful voice.

“Pleasure,” replied the queen briefly. She then looked past his shoulder at Discord.

“And you must be the Asian gentleman, I presume?” she said.

Wait, what?

The baron was thoroughly confused. Why did that sound so familiar to him?

He turned to Discord. The draconequus was quivering on the spot, biting down on the index finger of his paw in an attempt to contain the uncontrollable laughter he had fallen prey to. Tears were forming under his scrunched eyelids as he chuckled silently.

The baron suddenly remembered where he had heard those words. It was when he was discussing his new painting business with his ex-fiancée.

Yes, with Chrissie.

… Wait.

Chrissie... Sallis... Chrysa...?

…

… Oh shit.

Discord tentatively open his eyes. They fell on the baron’s mortified expression. It was too much.

The draconequus burst out in a fit of cackling. He wriggled in mid-air like a madman, clutching his aching ribs as he reveled in the hilarity of the chaos he’d just created.

“I-I... I... Bahahahahaha! I believe you two have met?” he asked, struggling to speak through his giggling seizure.

“Might I say,” said Chrysalis, “That as rude as I might have come across to you, there was nothing personal in my snide behaviour towards you. I was simply acting on orders, and I needed your true personality to surface so that I could examine you. Although you were always a little stuck-up.”

Winston was stricken. he didn’t know whether to thank Chrysalis or not for her insincere apology for being a complete bitch with him. In a daze, he walked to the draconequus.

“Discord, are you telling me this queen was disguised as my fiancée all along?” he asked. He spoke slowly, emphasizing every word as the feelings of confusion and fury he felt reduced his voice to a mere whisper.

The draconequus laughed even harder at the baron’s question. After some more insane laughing, he stepped back to the ground, and placed his paw on Winston’s shoulder, wiping a tear with his free claw.

“Well, of course!” he said through his giggling. “I mean, how else do you suppose I knew all about you when we first met?”

Suddenly, it all made sense to the baron. Why he’d felt such resentment towards his girlfriend. How Discord had obtained all the information he had.

“But then... All of the Sallis family...?”

Discord shut his eyes once more as a new wave of laughter hit him.

“Yes. All changelings,” he said, out of breath.

From the corner of his eye, Winston spotted a green flare behind him. He turned around. Among the changelings, two of them had taken human forms that the baron recognized as Chrissie’s supposed parents. He looked at them hopelessly, while they both shot him a crooked, victorious grin.

All the time and effort he’d spent trying to get along with Chrissie... to make her like him... All the feelings of sadness and fury he’d felt regarding her, that had nourished his dreams of escaping...

It was all for a lie.

He turned to Discord and looked at the writhing beast.

“You used me,” he said flatly.

The draconequus managed to regain a semblant of composure.

“Used you?” he said, “Oh, no, no, no...”. He looked at the baron, and immediately cracked up again. The changelings were going to have to call an ambulance if this continued. “Oh my stars!” he said, “You should see the look on your face! It’s pri--”

“Shut up, Discord,” snarled the baron. “This. Isn’t. Funny.”

Something was welling up deep inside him. The changelings retreated further back, flattening themselves against the wall. They were now afraid of the young human, as they felt a new, strong aura emanating from him. As Discord looked at the baron, he saw that his eyes had not just turned red. They were practically crimson.

But he was not disturbed. After all, he was the one from whom the horn had come. Struggling to regain control of himself, he took a deep breath and spoke.

“All right, all right,” he said calmly. “Trust me when I say, it was all in the best of intentions. I had to pick someone with whom I was sure to have fun with when I returned from my imprisonment in Equestria. I had to use Chrysalis and the changelings’ help to keep track on a few candidates for chaos. And may I say, you passed the test with flying colours.”

Winston was not flattered by what Discord had said.

“I don’t wanna be your fucking candidate,” he said in a low, menacing growl that made him convulse with hate. “I wanna be free.”

There was an awkward silence in the room, blocking out the loud music that was still playing in the other room. Discord sighed.

“All right then,” he said. “Enough chit-chat. Let’s get to business, shall we?”

He walked to where Chrysalis was still sitting, unmoved by the entire ordeal. When you were queen of an Equestrian under-tribe, you’d seen much worse.

“I trust you have them ready?” said Discord.

With a faint green glow of her horn, Chrysalis levitated a small object from behind her throne into Discord’s paw. The latter walked back to the baron and stared at him straight in the eye. He saw the baron begin to slowly loosen up, his brow softening and the colour in his eyes fading away. ‘Atta boy, thought the draconequus.

He opened his paw and revealed what he was holding to the baron, who looked at it.

He didn’t recognize what it was. It was a small, brown, soft-looking lump of some sort. It didn’t look all that impressive. He was about to ask Discord what it was when he answered him.

“This,” he began. He took a small pause, as if savouring the instant of saying something he’d been meaning to say for a long time. “This is an Everfree Forest Shroom,” he said.

The baron looked up at him with no expression. “And what, pray tell, is an Everfree Forest Shroom?” he asked. His blinding fury might have subsided, but he felt a bitter anger directed towards the draconequus, that could be felt in the tone of his voice.

“It’s simple,” said Discord, taking no notice of Winston’s contempt. “As the name suggests, it is a hallucinogenic drug.”

“A drug?” asked the baron.

“Yes,” replied Discord. They are illegal in Equestria. I have them transported here by clandestine changeling immigrants, who slip past the Equestrian border patrol easily, given their knack for changing shapes.”

The baron looked back at the little shrivelled mushroom, which had become strangely ominous to him. He looked back at Discord.

“How strong is this?” he asked. Discord’s head swayed as he thought about it.

“Let’s just say that your human ‘cocaine’ is like children’s candy compared to this,” he said casually.

The baron was a little taken aback by the bold statement. “I don’t do drugs,” he said. “Why are you showing me this?”

Discord looked at him with a sly grin. Holding the shroom in between his thumb and index finger, he held it up between the two of them.

“With this little, insignificant-looking shroom,” he said, “We are going to become richer than filthy, filthy rich pigs.”

The baron looked at Discord with a dark look. He could see where the draconequus was going with this.

“You want me to sell this,” he said.

“Ding Ding Ding!” said Discord in mock approval.

“Forget it,” said the baron immediately. “I’m not becoming a drug dealer. I’m not touching one of those in my entire lifetime.”

“That’s too bad,” said Discord. “That there’s going to make it quite difficult for you to handle them when you sell them tonight.”

“Tonight?! Are you crazy?” exclaimed the baron. Discord gave him a pensive look.

“Well, I don’t know,” he said. “I did hire the queen of a whole tribe of shapeshifting bugs from another universe to pose in human form as your estranged, cynical and - to say the least - unpleasant girlfriend, simply so I could have a private eye to spy on you at all times, even as you slept in your heart-speckled briefs. Does that qualify?”

Winston, now exhausted, looked at the shroom for a long time before Discord spoke again.

“If you want to start getting in touch with real people of the real world down here,” he said, extending the shroom to the baron. “This is the way.”

The baron stared into space at Discord’s palm before slowly raising his head to meet the draconequus’s gaze.

“There is no way in interspecies Hell that I’m going to sell this thing.”

* * *

The night was pitch-black as Ronald Winston and his dragon-like associate waited under the golden glow of a streetlamp for their first customer to arrive and buy Everfree Forest Shrooms from the young baron.

So as to not attract attention to themselves, they chose a secluded spot at a crossroad between two alleyways, where there was a light to shine on them, while still staying shielded from the view of people passing by on the main streets.

The baron waited under the streetlamp. He chose to stay standing up, looking about nervously for someone to come marching out of the impenetrable darkness all around him. Discord, on the other hand, sat casually down by the streetlamp, his back pressed against its pole.

As daytime had come to a close, the temperature had dropped to a surprisingly low level for a summer’s night. Discord had conjured a grey hoodie to keep warm, and the fact that it was ridiculously large and had two large holes on its hood from where his horns protruded indicated that the garment was fitted just for him. It was old, with a few tiny holes here and there. For a reason the baron could not fathom, he had also conjured a pair of large square sunglasses that no one else would put on in this situation.

The draconequus looked in amusement at the baron, who was shivering slightly, small clouds of fog escaping his mouth with every breath.

“As it turns out, interspecies Hell is not that warm of a place,” said Discord.

“Oh be quiet,” said the brooding baron. “You could have at least conjured up a hoodie for me.”

“Like you wear hoodies,” said Discord in disbelief.

Winston was about to reply when he heard the sound of footsteps nearby. He spun round to where they were coming from. Discord got up and stood tall behind the baron.

From the shadows right in front of them, a man appeared. He looked to be about the baron’s age, but he certainly did not look like him at all. His clothes had been reduced to baggy and filthy rags. His face, tired and lightly covered in soot, was unshaven, and there were visible bluish bags under his eyes. His hair was long, reaching under his shoulders in thin, perfectly straight silky threads that were dull from being coated in grease.

He was a sorry-looking bum to Winston. For a moment the baron was tempted to simply give him a fat roll of cash or two that he kept in his pockets in case he need some. But that would mean the end of his business with Discord, and he could not afford that. Still, he wondered how this homeless person was ever going to be able to pay up for the special merchandise he was selling.

As Winston looked at the man approaching him, Winston noticed that he was actually much more nervous than he himself was. He was walking towards him in timid little steps, cowering - out of feeling cold or fear, the baron did not know - and looking frantically about him while scratching his arms. Eventually the man stopped in front of him, and the two of them looked at each other awkwardly before the man finally spoke.

“I-I heard you were selling... some pretty funky stuff,” said the young man in a frightened, raspy voice.

“Um... yes,” said the baron uneasily. “Everfree Forest Shrooms.”

He took out a small plastic bag filled with five small brown mushrooms. As soon as he did, the eyes of the man in front of him grew wide, and his shallow breathing increased. He looked at the baron.

“What kinda cheese you slingin’?” he asked with a small nod.

The baron stared at him as though he’d just randomly switched his language to chinese.

“Um... this isn’t actually cheese... they’re mushrooms,” he replied nervously.

There was an audible slapping sound as Discord threw his palm flat onto his face and sniggered. “I’m pretty sure I can hear cicadas somewhere,” he chuckled.

The baron was smart enough not to look behind him at a being that his customer couldn’t see. He felt vexed but made an effort not to show it.

“He wants to know how much money you have,” mumbled Discord. “To see if you’re serious about this or not.”

“Oh! Well--”

“Don’t tell him!” Discord interjected. “If you do you’ll be knocking at the pearly gates in no time. Convince him,” said the draconequus.

Convince him. Right.

“Well, um... I’m good, uh... ‘bro’. I enjoy the company of, uh... ‘mad cats’... yo,” said the baron in a painful attempt at street talk while Discord cackled dryly behind him.

The next minute was an awkward silence between Winston and the customer, who looked at him wearily. Finally he gave him another small nod.

“How much?” he asked, looking at the bag of shrooms.

“Ten dollars,” replied the baron.

“That’s too low,” said Discord.

“Fifty dollars.”

“Too high.”

“Twenty dollars.”

“Still too low.”

“Thirty dollars, goddammit, shut up!” exclaimed the baron, still not turning to face Discord.

He immediately regretted his carelessness as the customer looked at him as though he were an alien from a distant planet. Which was suddenly where the baron wished to be in this very instant.

“Hey man, you high on somethin’?” asked the customer.

“NO!” snapped the frightened baron. “I mean no, dear no I’m... I have bad cold, is all. Look, just... H-How much money do you have?”

The customer looked at him quizzically.

“I only have fifteen bucks on me,” he said.

“Well that’s fine, I’ll take--” started the baron before stopping in mid-sentence. In front of him, the customer had stopped breathing and looked up to something over the baron’s shoulder with a horrified expression.

From behind his dealer, a very tall, slim person had appeared from the shadows. He stared in disarray at the grotesque figure; it looked like a dragon of some kind. A dragon with a hoodie and sunglasses, that was grinning at him.

“I know you have more...” said the monster, in a low, creepy tone that echoed in the young man’s ears and shot fear into his veins.

The baron, who was not as careless as he thought, understood what Discord was doing and mimicked a puzzled look as he stared at the customer. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“It’s ok, man...” continued the draconequus in a slow, dreamy voice. “It’s the shrooms... They make you trip even when you just look at them... When you take one... It’ll blow your brains out.”

The customer looked helplessly at the strange creature, his mouth bobbing open and shut like a fish in his bowl. After a while of doing this, he shot a terrified look at the baron. He then reached shakily for something in his pocket.

“Look man, here’s forty bucks, alright, just... just lemme get out of here,” he said in a quivering voice, throwing a few dollar bills at the baron. He then snatched the bag from the baron’s hand and ran away into the night.

The baron stood rooted to the ground, a little shocked by what had just happened. After a while he picked up the dollar bills at his feet and counted them. There was actually fifty dollars here. He stared at them wondrously as though it was the first dollar bills he’d ever seen.

“And voilà!” said Discord. “Your first sale!”

The baron looked at him in confusion.

“Is this always going to be so... dramatic?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” laughed Discord. “What happens now is that he’s going to eat them, have the time of his life, and tell his buddies all about the wonderful new stuff on the market.”

Something dawned then on the baron. He’d just sold drugs in the street. In just three little days, he’d gone from taking a glass of wine with his mother by his pool in the sun to selling criminal substances at shady characters in the damp streets of Saint-Celest at night. He was stricken. Discord had flicked a switch and set his life on a whole new course.

His mind wandered back to the discussion he had with Rarity. It was hard to believe he had it just earlier this day. He mulled over what she had said, about Discord being a ruthless monster.

“Discord...” he said.

“Yes?” replied the Draconequus. The baron turned to him.

“This morning... back in the boutique... Rarity and I talked about you. She said you were evil. And while I wouldn’t go that far, I have to be honest with you and say that I don’t entirely trust you. I mean... all I ever wanted was to be an average Joe. You’ve turned me into a criminal... Is this really the way it has to be?”

The draconequus simply stared at the baron with a grave expression. After a moment he spoke.

“Look, my little friend,” he said. “I don’t know how old you think I am, but I am much older than that. I have never been born nor young; and I’ll never see the day that I have to meet my meet my maker and surrender my soul to him, for there is no such being. I have been imprisoned in stone, or turned to ash, more times than you can imagine, and I have always risen up from defeat. Through the countless years I have seen fly by, I’ve met many, many people, and I’ve engaged in a myriad of activities so much more complicated than this right here that it would make your head spin. I have battled gods, and faced peril a ridiculous amount of times, simply for my humble right to exist.”

He lowered himself to face the baron, who regretted having opened his mouth.

“If you believe,” continued Discord, “that I do not know how to turn a simple human’s life around in the direction that he wishes... you are so very, very mistaken.”

There was a very long and painful silence during which the baron could not think, as Discord’s tirade rang in his head. After almost getting used to Discord flying about his side, he could no longer comprehend the extent to which the draconequus’s existence was on a different plane of reality than his. He was not just a beast; he was a force of nature. That of chaos and random change.

And like the baron, he just wanted to be a part of this world.

Winston had underestimated and misjudged him, as Rarity had. He suddenly felt very guilty for it.

“I’m sorry...” he whispered, close to tears. Whether it was good or bad... the baron realized that he had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

Discord stood up and gave him a confident smile.

“That’s quite alright, my good baron,” he said. “You’re only human, after all.”

* * *

Together, they would do business for the next two years.

Comments

[Wisher]

Dear readers, for reasons pertaining to my incredibly dull life in the real world, I am putting this story on a short hiatus. I have tons of work, and I need a little more time to write chapter VI. But I will not make you wait for long, I promise.
Thanks to all the people who appreciate this hobby story of mine. You guys rule

[DoctorAnatomy]

1667328

I feel the tears coming on....

[Wisher]

1667441 No tears, only dreams now