> Black Lies, Green Fire > by Paradox the Wierdo > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elegantly, mist wove around his thin frame and the merciless wind whispered and howled into his numb ears. Every second was an hour, every hour was a life-time. Steadily, rain beat upon his spindly mismatched body, sending cold shivers up his bony back. The young draconequus trudged though the mud, feeling the icy wind whip across his face. He whimpered. He was too weak to make a louder sound. The draconequus carried on walking, though it more similar to staggering by now. Startled, he felt a sharp pain in his tail and spun around, only to see it stuck in a hep of twigs, all equally twisted and gnarled. He turned back to face the wind and attempted to pry his tail from the life-less piece of wood but failing; only getting it stuck more. Taking hold of his poor tail with both paw and claw, he gave it a sharp yank with what little strength he had with him. It came away, leaving a ragged, bloody hole in his tail. He cried out in pain and hugged his tail tightly, tears mixing with the rain and the his own blood… So much blood… He was so covered in it that you could hardly see the thin scraps of material that barely covered his small, shivering frame. The draconequus felt a heavy feeling fill his body and felt unsteady. He wobbled for a few seconds before succumbing to his tiredness and fell like a stone into the dirty mud. It went dark. *** Nine-year-old Princess Chrysalis II had gotten lost. Again. Small wings beating hard, she hovered over the grey hills, searching for the hunting party that she was attempting to pursue. It wasn’t her fault that she was curious as to why she was not allowed to be a part of the party. Therefore, in attempt to find out herself, she snuck out of the castle. Unfortunately, she had gotten lost. She cursed mentally as she felt her charcoal robes stiffen in the rain, knowing that she should have changed into something more suitable. Suddenly, she heard a weak cry in the distance. Her ears perked up as she tried to figure out as to where it came from. It was small but it was a cry all the same, and undoubtedly of pain too. Momentarily forgetting all about her hunting party, she turned around and sped off to where the cry came from. *** She looked in surprise at the weird creature covered in mud and some sort of sticky red stuff. ‘Is it dead?’ she wondered, contemplating whether she should try and wake it or if that would just aggravate it. She decided to risk it, prodding it curiously with her hoof. Surprisingly, it opened a red and yellow eye, wearily glanced at her and then closed again. Chrysalis rolled her eyes thinking that it could be faking and began to examine the creature. Chrysalis had never seen anything like it. It had the head of a pony, an eagle claw and a lion paw as front legs and the back legs of a goat and… was that a dragon? Its tail was scaly with a white tuft on the end, though it had a bloody hole in it that made Chrysalis shudder. She sighed, her eyes glancing back to where she came from. The rain poured steadily atop her head, not missing a single beat and grey skies covered the moon. She turned back to the creature which was lying still, it's eyes now half open and looking at her. Chrysalis sighed again and approached it again. She concentrated and a light green aura escaped her horn. The creature stared at her horn with wide eyes. "What, you never seen a horn before?" she scoffed and continued letting out the aura. Chrysalis circled the now confused and slightly terrified creature and began levitating it. It whimpered, eyes now the size of plates and she snickered. The changeling carefully lifted the creature onto her back with her magic and slowly lifted off the ground. She knew that she had to act fast or else he could perish or she could fall and then they would both be stuck here. Chrysalis scanned the area, searching for some sort of shelter. Her eyes laid rest on a looming shadow of a large building. She zoomed towards it, hoping that it wasn't too late. *** Once she arrived Chrysalis laid the creature down on the porch before looking up in sheer awe as she took in the full wonder of the castle. It was made from an strange sort of stone which shimmered even in the storm. It was nothing like her castle back home. Instantaneously, the door began to open. Chrysalis quickly darted into the bushes, watching as a pale young alicorn with a light pink mane about her age ran up to the creature and levitated him off the ground, carrying him in. When the door finally closed, Chrysalis waited a few seconds before breathing a sigh of relief and flew away into they grey sky to continue searching for her hunting party, thinking that that was the last that she would ever see of the poor creature. Boy was she wrong. > Chapter I - 10 years later > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 years later… The sleepy draconequus slowly opened his eyes, yawning, and casually rolled off the bed. The floorboards emitted a large thud under his weight. Remembering where he was, he glanced at the old grandfather clock that rested againt the far wall. Discord had always found the equal ticking annoying and had even thought about throwing it out the window and seeing how old Starry would react. The ancient wood read that it was quarter to ten. He was late, again. Cursing, he clicked his fingers and his bed garments changed to a white shirt and some black pants, grey socks. Discord thought for a second and clicked his fingers. The right sock was now green and the left, purple. ‘Better’ he thought, smirking. He put on his boots, hiding the mismatching socks, and ran out of the room. *** He slowed down before the polished oak doors leading to the dining hall, catching his breath. Taking another deep breath for luck, he pushed open the oak doors and waltzed into the great room. There, at a table set of white marble sat King Orion with Lulu and Celesta. Discord bowed mockingly as Orion lifted a white brow. “You’re late” the navy blue stallion said, obviously unimpressed by the draconequus’ fondness for lateness. Discord rolled his eyes and sat down beside Celestia, who giggled at his behavior. Orion coughed again and the two quickly stopped their giggling. Discord snapped fingers again before him appeared a beautiful cup of chocolate milk. Discord sighed in admiration, lifted it up to his lips and was just about to take a tiny sip when another cough rang out. Discord sighed and put the cup down. “How many times have I told you?” Orion said, motioning over to the cup. “No chaotic magic in the castle-” “-Unless you are given permission,” Discord finished off, grumbling. “I know that.” “Then follow the rules,” Orion said, levitating up his cup of tea. Discord sighed again, snapped his fingers, making the cup of chocolate milk disappear. Sulking, he started to make himself some tea instead. “Only ten in the morning and I have already annoyed Orion. Congrats.” Discord muttered to himself. Even though he enjoyed annoying King Orion, it wouldn’t do well with Celestia, who was always nagging him to go easy on her father. Discord had lived in Galactium Castle for 10 since he had miraculously appeared at their door. All he could remember before then was a pair of deep emerald eyes. He knew neither whose eyes they were nor where he had seen them. A soft, melodious voice interrupted his thinking as he turned around to find a different, lilac pair of eyes looking into his. Discord grinned. “So, do you want to practice in the Cobalt Room* or something?” Celestia asked timidly. “I would be very much obliged” he replied standing up and together they exited the dining hall, hoof in hoof- or rather, paw in hoof. *** The sound of weapons clashing against each other echoed across the training hall where Queen Impostura of the Changeling Empire was drilling her youngest daughter. Commands were being yelled and Chrysalis was obeying them, fulfilling them against a team. Hot and bothered, she carried on, using her anger and tiredness as a fuel for battle. As she zaps away the last soldier, her mother flew down from the stalls and landed gracefully before the already kneeling, sweating princess. “You have done very well, daughter of mine,” said Queen Impostura, motioning for Chrysalis to stand up. Once she does so, the Queen continues her discussion. “As future queen, you must be able to defend the territories of your hive and as you are good at the battlegrounds, you have much to learn about orienteering. You are free for the rest of the day to leave the castle and to make notes of your surroundings outside of the empire. I trust you will not get lost like you did when you were a child.” “No mother, I will not,” Chrysalis said, eagerly shaking her head. “I hope not,” the Queen continued. “You are dismissed.” Chrysalis nodded and bowed again, attempting to hide her excitement. She flew off in a hurry, leaving the old queen staring peculiarly after her. She sighed at started walking back to her chambers. ‘Relax,’ she thought. ‘I have trained her well so now even her heart cannot accept love. She is a true heir to the throne, not like her sister…’