//------------------------------// // The Second Tale, Part Two // Story: Tales Of Star-Crossed Love // by The REAL Mister Pkmn //------------------------------// Chapter Six Celestia & Discord A Royal Meeting The flight’d been quite long, but it seemed worth it as they approached the edge of the land. The land was a strange duality of order and chaos that somehow seemed to work. The castle too was half something that made sense, and half something that didn’t. They soon set down in front of the castle, a pair of double doors as the entrance. The one on the right was ornate white marble, the one on the left was jagged and twisted onyx stone. Her draconequus escort went up to the doors, and pushed them open. He smiled at her. “Welcome, to the Castle of Dichotomy. The seat of power amongst the draconequui. Please, follow me to the throne room.” Celestia looked around this strange place. The right half was on par with the brilliant luster of her own Canterlot, while the left half was as strange and twisted as the Everfree. In one part of the castle, the subjects were just as seamless as her escort. But the other half looked far less so. Parts connected at clashing points, and a serious lack of symmetry. The seamless ones were about as orderly as could be, but the mismatched ones were sporadic pranksters. It was a strange sight to see such drastically different kinds of creatures getting along so well. As she was guided to the throne room by her escort, she almost thought she felt eyes on her, but she couldn’t seem to find the owner of the gaze that was upon her. She pushed the feeling aside as she found herself in what was clearly the throne room. On one side was an ornate throne of gold and rubies, and on the other was a gnarled tree-like chair. But the confusing thing is that the gnarled throne was in the orderly half, and the ornate throne was in the chaotic half. Upon the gnarled throne was what she presumed was the Queen; a mismatch of many parts. The tail of a lion, a leg of an elephant, a leg of a bird, a claw of a dragon, a paw of a rabbit, the body of a snake, one wing of a crow, one wing of a fly, a head that was more draconic than equine, one sharp overhanging tooth, eyes of blue and orange, one horn of a ram, and one antler of an elk. The king sat on the other throne, and he was far more cohesive. His legs were scaled like a dragon, his arms were the talons of a dove, his body and tail were that of a kangaroo, his wings were those of a swan, his head was more equine than draconic, his teeth were sharp yet evenly so, his eyes were gold and white, and his antennae were those of a moth. The king smiled. “Welcome, Princess Celestia. It is a shame that your sister could not be here, but it is understandable. The ceremony will start in a short while, but first you should meet them. Concordia! Discord! Our guest has arrived!” Once called, two figures came into the room. The female was as symmetrical as the king was, but the male was as mismatched as the queen. The female had legs of a wolf, the male had one goat leg and one lizard leg. The female had a body and tail feathers of a raven, the male had a gray furred body with a spined tail. The female had forelimbs of a dragon, the male had one lion’s paw and one eagle talon. The female had wings like a butterfly, the male had one pegasus wing and one bat wing. The female had a head that was more equine than draconic, while the male was reversed. The female had two protruding fangs that were short and stubby, the male had one overhanging snaggle tooth like the queen. The female had blue and purple eyes, the male had yellow and red eyes. The female had two horns of a goat, the male had one deer antler and one short spiraled horn. The female curtseyed, introducing herself. “I am Concordia, Princess of The Grand Dichotomy. I will be crowned the Crown Princess of Order.” The male approached, a gleam in his eye. He bowed. “I am Discord, Prince of this land. I’ll be given the title of Crown Prince of Chaos!” He backed off a bit, leaving Celestia a bit stunned and stood and snickered as the king glared. “Sorry pops, I know you said to ‘behave’, but… this is as nice as I get.” He then proceed to lie on thin air and float. “‘Sides, you should've expected me to not memorize that speech ya gave me to say. I prefer to speak from the top of my head.” The king sighed, looking towards Celestia. “Sorry about him. He’s rather… rambunctious.” Celestia shook herself. The odd feeling she had when Discord’d approached still bothered her, but she could analyze that later. She smiled. “It’s alright, your majesty. I don’t mind. It’s actually quite refreshing.” The king seemed perplexed at that, but his wife grasped his left talon with her paw. “Relax. If it’s fine by her, you don’t have to be so harsh on Discord.” The king sighed, nodding. He and his wife stood, and he addressed the room. “Well, let’s get going. The coronation will start soon, so we must get ready.” The two of them led the way out of the throne room, and Concordia, Discord, and Celestia followed. During the walk, Celestia made a bit of small talk. “So, out of curiosity, how long has the Grand Dichotomy been around?” The king chuckled. “Many millennia. We’ve kept an eye on many nations over the years, and how they’ve risen and fallen. Yet yours shows promise. It seems prudent to make allies with what’s likely to become a great nation someday.” A nod from Celestia. These draconequui certainly were interesting. Especially Discord...