After Discord

by Faindragon

Chapter 24

The past.
Why did I want to know?
Why did I care?
And now that I know?
Do I deserve to live?

Or should I just die?

As stated, this mansion was huge on the inside. And it was easy to get lost. It seems that I had a lousy sense of direction when inside a building. I was lost again.

I had left Honey’s room early, my goal had been to find Carrotrose. I had not found her, instead had I been trotting around the mansion, without any idea where I was. But I had continued walking.

And I had found myself in a library. It was a grand library, books covered the big bookcases, it was more books than I had ever seen at one place before. And in the middle of the room, at a desk surrounded by books, stood Carrotsword. He had his back against me, but I could see how he tensed when I looked at him. He knew that I was there.

I started to wonder what I should say to him, how should I start? I had to thank him for allowing me to stay, ask him if it was anything I could do in return. I had to repay him, it would not feel right otherwise. I stood there, thinking, when he started to speak.

“What are you doing here, fiend? Have you not done enough against me already? Have you not hurt my family enough?” he said in a deep, calm voice.

I looked blank in front of me. What had he said? What had he called me?
“What...” I started, but he interrupted me.

“You heard me, what is you doing here?” he said as he turned around, anger and rage showed clearly in his face but his voice was as calm as ever before. “Have you not done enough against me, hurt my family enough?”

“I do not know what you are talking about.” I tried to back away from that gaze. “What have I done you?”

He stopped in the middle of a step, suprise in his eyes.
“You... You do not remember?” he sighed. “It should not change anything, but I guess you deserve to know.”

“Deserve to know what?” I asked.
“What we have done. We do not have a good memory.” the voice cackled in my head.
“What have I done?”
“Shhh, listen.” the voice sounded gleeful. “This will be fun.” I could image the voice leaning forward in anticipation.

“I do not know the details, but I guess I should start from the beginning.” he sighed.

“Why would you tell me anything?” I asked.

“I tell you because I do not think you deserve this. Especially not if you can not remember anything about it yourself. This was forced on you. Forced on you by the government. Forced on you by my late wife.”

He sat down on his haunches, looked down on the floor.
“It was many years ago when all this started. My wife, she worked with the guards. She had seen our son die in service, die under the hoofs of a Discord fanatic. It was such a long time ago, but it hurt her deeply. I was out of town at that moment, I was not there for her. And when I was back was it to late. Warden, may his bones be cursed, had already approved with my wife’s idea. A way to make the guards stronger, faster and most importantly.” he paused a tear dripping from his cheek. “It should make them truly immortal, make them truly impossible to kill.”

He released a grim laugh.
“And of course could they not try it on the guards, what if something went wrong? So they tried it on prisoners. I came home during the testing. There where over sixty subjects from the start. More than half died during the injection.”

I looked at Carrotsword.
“During the injection of what?”
“Have you not guessed that yet?” the voice laughed in my ear. “All this time and you have not figured it out!”

“They injected the blood of Discord into the subjects. I have no idea where they got it from, so do not even ask.” he sighed. “My wife. She got addicted to the idea. She did not want to lose more guards, the death of our son still pained her. Every day was she in here, crying and noted down all the subjects, who they where, who they had been and what they crime had been. She also noted down their condition and their changes, as well as the day and cause of death. Some of the subjects got stronger and stronger, some got faster. Others had the ability to regrow practically any limb in less than an hour. Together where they as my wife wanted one to be. They all had one thing in common, however. They all grew insane.”

His voice heated.
“Every one of them went insane, every one of them attacked their keepers. All of them was killed and thrown away. In the end was there only one single subject left. Subject Pegasi-20, P-20 for short. You.”
I was stunned. Discords blood raged in my veins? They had injected it inside of me?
“Is this not hilarious?” the voice laughed inside of me.

“You did not show anything at all. No extra strenght, you were not quicker. They had to amputate your wings when they started to rot and you did not grew them back.” he looked at me, a faint smile on his lips. “At least not until now. It seems that you have gotten your wings back.”

I could only nod.

“And the voice? Have it started to talk to you? My wife always mentioned that the subjects heard a voice, or a laugh. Even you. But, unlike the rest of the subjects, did you not listen to the voice. You fought it. And then, one day, did I get the information from Warden that my wife had been killed and that subject P-20 had escaped. I had not heard anything about this subject until you showed up on my doorstep yesterday at dawn. I could feel the filth of Discord inside of you, I knew directly who you where.”

“Why have you not killed me yet then? Why did you tell me all this? I killed your wife!”

I could not believe it, what had happened during that time? What had I done? What had been done to me? And had it happened after that, only that I did not remember it?

“That is quite simple. I want to know your part of the story, I want to know what it was that made you come here. I know that my wife did not do what was right, I know why she did it and it pains me that I could not help her, that I never was here for her. And most importantly.”

He sighed. He looked really tired, as if he had not slept for weeks.

“I trust my daughter, and you have never done anything against her. She trusts you, and for that will I trust you.”