The Tale Of A Lost Wolf

by Solaris Night


Chapter 42.5: Secrets Kept Hidden

The walls of the olden temple crumbled under a simple gust of wind, the pieces of rubble that fell from them created echoes through the entire construct. In ancient times this sanctuary would have been one of the gratest marvels the world had ever seen, but time took it's toll on the place. The once beautifully etched walls, which depicted legends, prophecies and many other stories, were worn out and covered in moss. Small streams of light found their way through the numerous cracks in the ceiling, providing the only means of illumination.

Suddenly a bright flash and a loud pop disturbed the silence inside the temple's giant chamber, scattering the critters that ran around before.

"Can't see a darn thing in this place." Discord complained, as he strained his eyes to see what was in front of him. He snapped his fingers and suddenly a cake with several candles appeared in front of him, providing him the light he sought. "Much better." he said in satisfaction. Before he moved forward he took a small bite out of the sweet and nodded in contempt.

Wordlessly he walked across the stone floor and towards a giant set of stairs. When he reached it another version of himself, wearing a bellboy uniform, greeted him.

"Good evening sir. Mind if I inquire to where you are headed?" the bellboy asked while tipping his hat.

"The top if you'd be so kind." Discord answered.

"Very well sir." Once he stepped next to his double, the bellboy pulled a lever that appeared out of nowhere and pulled it. The ground beneath their feet shook for a second, before it tore off the remaning floor and began to ascend. For a couple of minutes the platform continued to rise until it reached the top.

Once at their destination Discord stepped off and turned to the bellboy. "Here, keep the change." he said offering him a piece of the cake.

"Quite gracious of you sir." the bellboy said and put the cake into one of his pockets, smothering it. Discord turned around and began to walk towards an altar, while the bellboy pulled the lever once again and the platform disconnected from the stairs and quickly flew off into nowhere.

Silently Discord approached the altar and when he reached it he took a good look at it. The shrine like the rest of the place was broken in numerous places and covered in moss. But amidst all the decay there was a gaping hole of irregular shape carved into the stone slab. Discord traced the hole with his hand and a grimaced look fell over his face.

"Gone." he mumbled quietly. He stroked his goatee, as the gears in his head ran in overload. "Not good."

Without another word he swallowed the whole cake and snapped his fingers, disappearing in a bright flash.

***

"You'll never get away with this Ahuizotl!" Daring shouted as she hung upside down from a rope. Her sweat fell into the pool of lava below her, vaporizing before it even reached it.

"Au contraire, dear Daring." Ahuizotl responded. "This time there is no way you'll escape and stop me from getting the Neptune Jewel." he boasted.

"We'll see about that." The mare began to struggle against her restraints, slowly starting to swing from side to side.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." the demon said pointing with his tail upwards. Daring looked up and saw that the rope was grinding against a jagged edge of a rock. "Now then, if you tell me how to get the Jewel, I might help you." he grinned, showing his sharp fangs. "Or don't, I'll find it one way or another, you'd just make the search ea-"

His sentence was cut short when a bright flash and pop interrupted him. Both Daring and Ahuizotl looked towards the source of the disturbance and spotted the draconequus staring at one of the walls with great interest.

He was mumbling something to himself, unaware of the presence of the other two.

"Discord!!!" Ahuizotl shouted, drawing the draconequus's attention to himself. "What are you doing here?"

Discord quickly glanced at him, but his gaze quickly went over to the mare who was still hanging from the rope. In a flash he appeared next to her.

"Daring Doo!" he said in excitement. "I can't believe you're here."

"Uh, yeah. Hi." she greeted him, weirded out by the situation.

"I know you must get this all the time, but would you mind, if you signed one of my books?"

"Sure?" the mare answered hesitantly. Giddiy he snapped his fingers and a book and a pen appeared in his hands.

"Here." he said stuffing the pen in her mouth and presenting her the open book. Daring gave him a mixed look of confusion, annoyance and anger. Discord continued to look at her, not sure what she was so furious about, until it dawned on him. "Oh right." he said slapping his fore head. "You guys don't have hooves in this realm." he snapped his fingers and one of the mare's hands was free and holding the pen.

She rolled her eyes, before she signed the book. Discord held the novel in front of him admiring the signature. Before he had a chance to thank her, he was interrupted by the annoyed demon below.

"Excuse me!" Ahuizotl cried out. "What are you doing here? We were kind of in the middle of something."

Discord quickly looked around the ruins and only at that moment realize what was happening. "Oh I'm sorry." he apologized. "I was just looking for a relic and got a bit sidetracked."

Ahuizotl's gaze hardened into a glare as he took a cautious step back. "You are after the Neptune Jewel as well?!" he exclaimed in horror.

"The what now?"

"The Neptune Jewel!" Ahuizotl shouted even louder. "An ancient and powerful jewel that the ancient Mareyians crafted with which they could control the waters of Equis."

Discord mulled over what he had told him, until it came to him. "Oh you mean that old thing." he said upon realization. "Yeah that thing is not real."

"WHAT?!!!!" both Daring and Ahuizotl shouted at the same time.

"Yeah, it was just a make believe that the ponies made up to ward off their opponents." He then outstretched his hand and an image popped up on his palm. "What I'm looking for is this here. Have either of you seen it?"

The two carefully observed the image which looked like an ordinary piece of rock with some inscriptions on it.

"Nope."

"Never seen it."

Discord grumbled as he made the hologram disappear. "I see." His face, now serious, slightly unnerved the mare and the demon, but very soon it disappeared and Discord was back to his old self. "Well I don't want to keep you two so I'll take my leave." He paused for a second and pulled a camera out of nowhere. "Right before I take a picture."

His arm stretched and grabbed Ahuizotl and brought him to his side. He held the camera high in front of him and prepared to take the photo. "Say cheese." he said to the other two.

For a brief second the amre and the demon were blinded by the sudden flash and once they could see again, they saw Discord was already holding the developed photo.

"Oh I can't wait to show this to others." He then snapped his fingers and a small blue bird appeared in front of him. He handed it the photo. "Make sure all of my friends see this."

The bird looked at the photo, before glancing back to Discord. "So I need to show this to Fluttershy." it spoke in a deep masculine voice. Discord eagerly nodded and the bird tucked away the photo. "Understood." it said, before saluting and flying off.

"I should get going too, there are other things I should be doing." He waved his hand before disappearing.

Daring and Ahuizotl stared at the empty air where Discord was before. "What happened?" the demon asked, his mind completly confused.

"Don't know." Daring answered. "But one thing I know is that our trip here was for nothing."

"I wouldn't say for nothing." he said with grin. "At least I'll get to see my arch nemesis perish before my eyes."

"I wouldn't be so sure." the mare said waving at him with her free hand. Ahuizotl quickly realized what she meant and before he knew it she broke out of the ropes, flying straight at him.

"Ah horseapples." was all he said, before getting kicked in the face.

***

"This is not good." the chaos spirit mumbled to himself as he floated through the forest. "If this goes on we're all in trouble." He paid no attention to his surroudings until he stopped in front of a giant cave. He looked at the massive hole in the mountain and took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm back here again. But it is the right thing, the necessary thing to do."

Determined he walked into the cavern and was soon engulfed by darkness. For several minutes he wandered thorught the cave system, until he stumbled into a large cave which was illuminated by numerous bright blue rocks which laid upon the walls and ceiling. The light was just bright enough to navigate, but couldn't show much detail.

Discord crarefully took a step inside and was halted when a thundering voice shook the cave.

"WHO GOES THERE?!"

"It is I Discord, spirit of chaos and mischief." he introduced himself, throwing in a deep bow as well.

For a few seconds there was silence and then loud rumbling began and it seemed as if the cave itself was shifting around. Once it stopped a large golden eye, larger than even the draconequus , opened up and stared directly at him.

"You dare return here spirit?" the creature spoke, this time in a less deafening tone. The voice carried with itself the signs that whoever it was that was speaking was old and tired. "I thought I made it clear the last time that do not want to speak with you again."

"I know, I know." Discord quickly responded. "But it is urgent that I speak to you."

The creature sensed the distress in his voice and it took a long and deep breath. "Who am I speaking to? Discord the spirit or Raijat a friend?" he asked, the question surprising the draconequues. "Depending on your answer I might listen to you."

"I haven't been called that in over five thousand years." Discord chuckled as he pulled out of his coat a pendant and placed it onto the ground. "For this one time I will be who I once was."

The creature slowly blinked and appeared to make a small nod. "It is good to see you again Raijat."

"You too Ageny." Discord responded.

"What is so urgent that you had to come see me?" Ageny asked.

"It seems somepony is collecting the pieces of the key." The answer shocked Ageny, his eyes widening in terror.

"How many?"

"Not sure. I know that beside mine, one has recently been put into the Canterlot treasury where it should be fairly safe. Others are gone and the rest have disappeared over the ages." The two fell into a deadly silence, as Discord allowed his friend to process what he told him. "This is not like in the past Ageny. This fellow could actually do it."

Ageny remained silent as he was in a deep thought. "And you came to me to ask for my help, correct?" Discord nodded in affirmation. "I am sorry to disappoint you old friend, but I am no longer as energetic as I was in the past. Even getting out of this cave would be difficult."

The draconequues sighed in disappointment, but a smile quickly stretched across his face. "I figured as such." he said. "But you can still help out."

"And how can I do that?"

"You will train your successor." Discord quickly replied.

Ageny's eyes tightened into an angry glare. "No!"

"Oh come on. Are you really telling me that you're going to leave this world without passing on the legacy?"

"Yes." Ageny blurted out.

"Don't tell me you are still hung up on the fact that 'None are worthy' shtick are you?"

"It is not a shtick." Ageny angrily shouted. "In all these years that I have lived none have proven themselves worthy to take on my teachings. What makes you think I'll change my mind?"

"Because this one is different." was Discord's reply. Ageny began to settle down as he continued to listen to his friend. "You don't have to take him on if you don't want to, but you also can't just dismiss him like that. I say you give him a shot, he might surprise you. And it's not like you have a choice, if they manage to get all the pieces the whole world will be in danger."

Ageny said nothing, instead he pondered over the draconequues's words in silence. "Very well. I shall see if he truly is as great as you say he is."

Discord smiled triumphantly and began to dance around. "Good to hear that." he said cheerfully. After a couple of minutes he stopped his jig and got serious. "Although you might not need to do that."

"What do you mean?" Ageny asked inquisitively.

"I made a promise on that day that I'll protect this world from the corruption left behind. That's why I also carry one of the pieces around." he said nodding his head to the pendant on the floor. "All this time I've only been watching, but now is time for action."

"You'll go after them." Discord nodded to Agney's remark and the giant sighed. "Are you sure that is wise?"

"They are too dangerous to be left alone anymore, they have to be stopped." the draconequues said with determination. "Besides they would come after me at one point or another?"

"So you'll deliver the piece to them? Isn't that even more foolish?"

"I'll leave it in capable hands." Discord said shooting his friend a smirk. "I know a guy who won't succumb to the corruption."

Ageny said nothing, instead he looked at him with saddened eyes. "If you do that you won't be as powerful." he pointed out. "And don't you think they probably have a way of bringing you down even when you're at your most powerful. Otherwise they wouldn't be so ambitious on getting the key."

"You sound like you care." Discord said, leaning down and picking up the pendant. "I've already made up my mind and you know how stubborn I am." He turned around and began to walk away. "Besides I don't plan on dying."

"Yet you also don't expect to return either, do you?"

Discord stopped in his tracks and turned halfway towards Ageny. "Hope the kids meets your expectations." As soon as he said that he disappeared, leaving Ageny behind.

The giant closed his eye and began to turn away from where Discord came.

"Farewell, old friend."