//------------------------------// // Round 2: Things Fall Apart // Story: Just A Game // by Ice Star //------------------------------// He didn't see her as she dived into the clearing, or how she spilling out from the fog like some kind of demon. Her armor was a bit battered and candy floss clung to her mane. It was darker than he remembered and now boasted highlights of purple. Discord saw how it glittered and rippled. Less pleasant things marred what the dreary ponies who called themselves Equestrians would praise as beauty, but Discord was indifferent to this sister. She would be nothing but a filly in his mind, no matter how much her current appearance contradicted that. Streaks of blood from cuts on her body and the creatures he altered to serve him marred her. Tales of her prowess in combat — magical or otherwise — against his twisted creations and corrupted mortals had reached his burning ears oh-so-quickly. It was no surprise she found him first. Luna was the sneakier by far. A dark cloak, now torn, rested atop her withers, twinkling runes stitched along the hem hid the wings she occasionally flared. All of this was as though she was trying to boast of her swift, silent, and deadly nature. If it hadn't been for that twinkle, and the strange look in her eyes he might not have seen her at all. She had gone from playing in the shadows to becoming one. Her stare was almost too clear, the deep blue of her eyes finding something that he dismissed as fancy. But betrayal was there too. Maybe even some disbelief? He wasn't one to dwell on feelings that were complicated, and certainly not the kind that led to all morose matters like moodiness and contemplation. Or at least, not often — every bit of who he was, what he liked, and what he craved could stand no such things. They created stillness and other dastardly things. ... Discord was the grand Chaos King of what was once the Equestrian, Triarchy. Three united tribes of the north had all been led down to the bountiful lands of the south. Each had been looked down on from the World Tree he thought would be much better than — if any ponies or gods knew how to find it. For the regular trees, Discord felt that if they were able to eat the ponies who attempted to use it for firewood in these barren times instead of just accepting ax strokes, they would be improved. He had heard of these ponies that came down from the north while he resided farther in the south, hailed and pampered as the fickle god of the kingdoms there, yearning to stir up anarchy. He had felt the magical imbalances of the world, sudden jolts of energy that shook him and stirred the magic in him and willing him to seek out what ruin or riches would be left in the wake of the source. It was the scavenger's instinct, and as far as Discord knew, he was the only one of his kind. He had heard of the gods that lead mortals in an exodus from a frozen waste. Unfortunately, Discord had heard the tales far too late. When those stories had reached his ears, they had already begun something like a kingdom. All of this happened while he wallowed in worship and stagnation in the desert lands. In those most curious stories, he had recalled an especially interesting tidbit. In them, there were two Alicorns, and that they reportedly lost an empire at some point. He didn't bother with the details, he just thought he would get to see his friends again, and that they would welcome him even without an empire. Like a flick of power, Discord had suddenly known that he had to take a trip to what was the north for him. He had arrived in a burst of the latest bout of imbalanced to wrack the homeland of the two sisters he had known so long ago. He had headed up from the south, only to find a land of castes and deeper stagnation where tradition ruled, if only barely. It also bored Discord greatly. The ponies were everything the friends he had left ages ago — friends who spoke of the north like a promise — would hate, and those two crazy sisters were nowhere to be seen. These wretched ponies spoke of a great, kind white mare beyond a pony's understanding. The mortal rulers were nearly all deceased, and of course, Celestia would never mind him having a little fun with these terrible excuses of ponies, who proclaimed that Celestia was their hero. Of course, Discord had known that meant she must be planning to bring fun and smiles to them all one day. During this time, Discord knew that the ponies couldn't possibly be the mortals of the friends he had, especially when nopony had known who Luna was. Surely Celestia, sweet Celestia, would hate ponies like this? He had so much power now, too. The ages of messing in the affairs of mortals left him with so much opportunity to wreck havoc on a land not his own. And that was exactly what he did on the eve the last magical disturbance rang out — the Triarchy was no more when Platinum died. ... Discord looked at Luna again. Betrayal and anger were fresh on her face. She was never the forgiving one between the two. Forgiveness was a peculiar thing with her. Celestia would let him get away with so much and extend it without much thought. But Luna? It was something to be coveted with her. She still seemed so sad and pushed aside in how she currently presented herself before him. Why? How, especially when it was always she who was the more stubborn sister? "So it is true." The mare drowned in shadows whispered with a voice that knew too much woe. "It really is you." There was no exaggeration or malice to her words, not yet. It was just the grim truth, all wrapped up in obvious layers of astonishment. The grove felt colder after she spoke. He just really hadn't known how much they had changed, not when Discord had only seen half of his old friends. She certainly wasn't his friend. This may be still somehow Luna, but this reaper — a shadow bundled up so that none could see her — didn't want to joke with him. He felt nothing for her. Not even pathos. Just annoyance. He was a king now, and this country was to be as random as he wished. She was, as ponies spoke of her, the lesser half of two goddesses — and that was when they knew she existed at all. Discord just wanted out of the way as much as her own subjects did. He plucked an apple from the tree's branches and tossed it at her. All this was before he took advantage of his peculiar form and slithered around the truck, eventually sliding into the dying plant. She was much quicker than he remembered. Far quicker, and deadly too. In the time since the fall of the mortals who ruled, the crown was a concept to be discussed with threats of violence behind it and action taken in all the wrong ways. All such acts of mortal folly only furthered divisions and interpersonal conflict. Everything had all been so easy for him, and as a result, she had seen war. She had clearly things in the north too, and her sister had too. He didn't care what they were, not unless those could somehow stop them — but it was written in their present circumstances, and thus, impossible to ignore. Discord knew that she fought, that much was clear, but she was fighting to establish a plan and diarchy not her own. If what he heard was true, it did indeed sound like there was more intent for a monarchy to rise in the event of his impossible failure, not a diarchy of all things. Maybe she was playing hero too, and to ponies who often didn't even know that she existed. He didn't really know. Discord just jumped to a different tree with a flash of magic and a clap of his mismatched limbs when an arc of her lightning came too close to hurting him. Was it revenge against throwing rotten fruit at her? Maybe. He just wanted there to be action, and his mind had a constant need to move with the rest of him. This was a starting fight. It was turmoil and strife. Power hummed in his ear, drowning him in its disobedient song. There was no need to think about such things. About anything. She wanted to usurp him, that was clear. Luna would lose this battle. They hadn't seen one another in ages. She couldn't possibly know her enemy. She wasn't aware of the things that he could do now. He wasn't aware of all the things she knew either, but that wasn't the point. Luna wanted him out of the way because of what he did to this land, no doubt. She was also the bearer of a plan that her eyes said she did not support. She did not speak. She was a shadow, and Celestia's shadow specifically. She was not the filly that he knew. He didn't even want to face her, not when she was so miserable and depressing. Maybe Celestia would be interesting to fight, if he was ever going to see her again. They all grew up. And yet... This was still just another game. And it would be a win for him.