//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Discord // by PurpleWonderPower //------------------------------// Chapter 8 "Hello?" Twilight called, as she stepped into the cave the very next day, "Spirit or dracone-whatchamacallit? Are you in here? It's me, Twilight." Her gaze fell upon the Tree of Harmony. "Hello?" she called, "Are you there?" There was a flash of light in front of the tree, and Discord appeared, leaning against it, turning the pages of a book. "Oh, hello again, my dear Twilight," he said, standing up and tossing aside the book, which instantly grew wings and fluttered out of the cave, "What brings you back here so soon?" "I...wanted to see you again," said Twilight, shyly, "You said you'd be here. I love my life, but I've always been so lonely. I was hoping we could be friends." As Twilight said those words, Discord felt a blow to his heart. "Friends?" he repeated, in a soft voice. "Of course," said Twilight, smiling at him, "I'd love to have somepony to talk to. We can have fun and do things and explore together." Her hopeful face made Discord feel rather touched. "Oh..." he said, in a small voice, "Well, I've...never really had a friend before..." "Well now you do," smiled Twilight, touching his lion paw with her hoof. She smiled up at him, and Discord felt a bunch of warm fuzzy feelings brew up in his stomach. A smile crawled onto his face, too. He just couldn't help it. He gave Twilight's mane a quick tussle. "So," he said, "What were you hoping to do today, my dear Twilight?" "Well...I was hoping you might show me the Everfree Forest," said Twilight, hopefully, "I came out here to explore and maybe have adventures, and the Everfree sounds like such a magical place." "Are you sure you can handle it?" Discord said, playfully, raising an eyebrow at her, "You are just a little pony, after all." "Oh yeah?" grinned Twilight, arching her back, "Try me!" Discord smirked. "Well, in that case," he said, grinning, "I can't imagine what we're still doing here!" He scooped Twilight up into his arms, and they both vanished in a flash of white light. They reappeared on the other side of the thick black vines, and Twilight opened her eyes. "Wow!" she exclaimed, "That was cool! I've tried teleportation spells before, but I've only just started to get the hang of iiiiiiiiii..." Her voice trailed off as she saw the sight before her. Her mouth hanging wide open, she slowly walked across the checked ground, gazing out in astonishment. It was like a land of wonder, filled with anything you could possible imagine! The grounds were checked with dozens of different colours, with a random assortment of giant landmarks and trinkets sticking out from everywhere. Huge playing cards grew out of the ground, and a shimmering rainbow coloured river flowed through the landscape. Mushrooms the size of trees stood along the bright pink grass, and a vast array of bizarre creatures scampered around through the undergrowth. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" breathed Twilight, trotting past a line of giant ticking clocks growing out of the grass, with twisted hands moving anticlockwise. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She trotted along the banks of the flowing rainbow river. She dipped her hooves in the shimmering rainbow water and hurled into the air, scattering the sparkling rainbow droplets all over! "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my GOSH!" She gazed in awe at every single aspect of wonder and chaos around her, from the colourful checked grounds to the array of huge vivid plants striped and spotted with every colour imaginable. From the flowing rainbow river to the ticking clocks and haywire trinkets, from the gargantuan card pyramids to the flying pigs and the tap-dancing fish in top hats. "Oh my GOSH!" Twilight gaped around her. Appearing next to her, Discord patted Twilight on the head, sensing she was a little overwhelmed. "It may seem a little chaotic for you," he said, "But—" "I love it!" The words burst out of Twilight's mouth as she stared around in amazement! That stopped Discord right in his tracks. "You do?" he repeated. "It's amazing!" exclaimed Twilight, in awe, "It's like a...wonderland! Do you really live here?" "I do," replied Discord, "And I find it very homely. I say a little chaos here and there is just what every place needs." He fluttered back from the river and settled down on the plush pink grass. He produced a large pair of sunglasses from thin air and put them on his face. Twilight giggled! "I'll say it is!" She trotted over and sat down next to Discord in the pink grass. It was very soft, much softer than the grass back in her home. Just as she was relaxing and looking round at the land, she felt something wet and sticky drop down on her face. She looked up, just in time to see a bunch of bright pink clouds pass over her head past, drenching her and Discord in a torrent of sticky brown milk! They coughed and spluttered and tried to shelter themselves from the downpour! "What was that!" exclaimed Twilight, shaking herself off. "Oh, just some of my cotton candy clouds," said Discord, snapping his fingers and getting rid of the chocolate milk covering him and Twilight. Twilight's head tilted in confusion. "Um...what's "cotton candy"?" she asked. Discord gasped! "You've never tasted cotton candy before!?" he exclaimed. Twilight shrugged. "Well, we've got to do something about that right away, haven't we?" Discord said, firmly. A cotton candy cone appeared in his lion paw, which elongated and reached up to the bunch of clouds, scooping up one of them in the cone. He brought it back down and took a bite. "Mmmm," he said, satisfied, "Delicious. Here, have a taste." He passed the cone to Twilight, who took a bite. An overwhelmed expression spread over her face! She didn't think she'd ever tasted anything like it! Suddenly, all the delicious daisy-and-daffodil sandwiches she had eaten in her life seemed like tasteless dust! "Wowwwww..." breathed Twilight, licking her lips. "Tasty, aren't they?" said Discord, breezily. An empty glass appeared in his hand and he held it under a nearby cloud, filling it with chocolate milk. He brought it to his lips, but instead of drinking the milk, he drank the glass, and tossed the chocolate milk over his shoulder, which exploded. Twilight laughed! "How did you do that!?" she exclaimed. "First thing you need to know about me, my dear," Discord said, pinching her cheek between his finger and thumb, "I can do anything." Twilight laughed and pushed him off her cheek. "Then will you show me more of your land?" she asked, hopefully. "It would be my pleasure, my dear," Discord said, reappearing in a posh black butler outfit, and leading her down the path. Twilight laughed! "I'll never get bored with you around!" They headed down the path decorated with the ticking clocks, and Twilight spotted a house sitting on top of a floating chunk of land. "Hey, is that your house?" asked Twilight, galloping over. "It certainly is," replied Discord, following her over. Twilight stared up at the house on the floating chunk of land. Flowing from it was a thin rainbow waterfall, down into a rainbow water pool about the size of Twilight's bedroom. Oh, and the rainbow water was flowing up, from the pool to the house. "The water's flowing...up?" she said, in disbelief, "But...that's impossible!" "When it comes to chaos magic," said Discord, patting Twilight on the head, "There's no such thing as impossible." Since Twilight insisted he show her his house, Discord gave her a personal tour, from the zero-gravity kitchen, to the furniture on the living room ceiling, to the curtains that opened and closed all by themselves. "So you relax on the ceiling and eat your meals in mid-air!? My mind is officially blown!" she squealed, jumping around excitedly. She suddenly spotted a bookcase by the chaise lounge and walked over. She picked up one of the books with her magic and read the title: Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone. "Don't tell me," she said, grinning, looking over at Discord, "You have a bunch of books that turn pages all by themselves?" Discord stood silently for a few seconds. "Actually, those are just books," he said, in a thoughtful voice, "But that's not a bad idea!" He snapped his fingers, and all the Daring Do books on the shelf hovered up in the air, opened, and the pages flipped by all by themselves, making Twilight laugh! "This place is AMAZING!" she squealed! They vanished and appeared back outside his front door, and Twilight spotted a huge tree growing on another floating chunk of land not far from the house. It was very tall, with leaves a deep shade of cerulean and a mauve trunk. "What's that?" Twilight asked, pointing at it. "That's my Thinking Tree," replied Discord, "It's where I do most of my really deep thinking." They vanished and reappeared back on the ground. "So what else is there to see?" asked Twilight, eagerly. Suddenly, she felt a tremor beneath her hooves. "Whoah!" she exclaimed, stumbling on her hooves as the ground shook, "What's happening!?" There was a huge explosion, and a worm the size of a castle tower burst out of the ground, scattering dirt and stones everywhere! It had greyish violet scales and a bright red mane-like structure. Its eyes were black and beady, and the scales on its head were pale fuchsia. The colossal worm looked down on Twilight, and gave a tremendous screech, its mouth bursting open into a vicious tripartite jaw with spikes jabbing out of the flesh and three black tentacles writhing from three centre! Twilight screamed in terror and leapt away, shielding herself with her hooves as the Tatzlwurm screeched, spraying the ground with saliva! "Excuse me!" snapped Discord, angrily to the Tatzlwurm, "Where are your manners!? Is that any way to treat a new friend!?" The Tatzlwurm stopped, then closed its maw and sank down a little, looking remorseful. Twilight opened her eyes a crack and removed her hooves from her face. Cautiously, she walked up to the Tatzlwurm and reached out a hoof. She patted it on the head a few times, and it gurgled happily in the back of its throat. Twilight laughed! The Tatzlwurm gave her a lick with one of its tendrils, then sank back into the ground. Twilight laughed again! "What was that?" she asked, smiling. "A Tatzlwurm," replied Discord, "One of the many creatures who lives here." "Well I love it," said Twilight, happily, trotting along, gazing at all the wonder and chaos, "I love everything about your place." Discord watched her trot around, looking at everything there was to see, and smiled. He had assumed he would hate the daughter of Celestia's niece, but he didn't. She was something special, definitely. Previously, he had assured himself that the only reason he had watched over her these years was because he wanted to see the Breezies make fools of themselves, having been kept from entertainment for thousands of years, but now he realized that wasn't the only reason. Discord wasn't the cruel, scheming, coldhearted master of chaos he had once been, and he knew it. Twilight petted a Jackalope on its head. It nibbled on her hoof, before scampering off to join the rest of them. Twilight laughed! This place was so magical. Then her eyes fell upon the black vines that surrounded the land. They weren't like any other plant she had ever seen. But this was the Everfree Forest, after all. Everything here was new. Twilight slowly reached out to touch the huge black vines, but as she did so, one of them whipped out and seized her hoof in its coils! She gasped and tried to break free, but Discord quickly tapped the vine with his eagle claw, and it disappeared in a flash of light. "Thank you," said Twilight, in relief, keeping well away from the Plunderseed vines, "What are those things?" "Plunderseed vines," answered Discord, "To keep out those who try to break through." "Why would anypony try to break through?" asked Twilight, "You could stop them just by snapping your fingers or flapping your wings if you wanted to." Discord snapped his fingers, and five different coloured bubbles appeared above his hands. Inside each bubble was an apparition of a pony. The first was orange with a pale yellow mane, and a cutie mark of three red apples on her flank. The second was bright pink with a bouncy mane and a cutie mark of three balloons. The third was a pure white unicorn with a curled purple mane and a cutie mark of three diamonds. The other two were pegasi, one blue with a rainbow mane and a cutie mark of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt, and one yellow with a pink mane and a cutie mark of three pink butterflies. Each of them had their Element of Harmony around their neck. "I have wings," answered Discord, "They are strong...but not as strong as Rainbow Dash's." He indicated the blue pegasus with the rainbow mane inside the blue bubble. "And my magic is greater than many. But there are still those who are capable of overpowering me." He indicated to the five ponies and their Elements. He snapped his fingers and the bubbles shattered and disappeared into thin air. He looked down at Twilight and felt something like horrible guilt. "Listen to me, Twilight Sparkle," Discord told her, placing a paw on Twilight's shoulder and crouching down to her level. "There is evil in this world." He summoned a handful of flames, which reflected in Twilight's eyes. "Hatred," His eyes bored into hers. "And revenge." With a blast, the flames expanded and burst out into a ring of fire, which slowly died away. Twilight felt the heat on her neck, and her eyes widened. She moved closer to Discord and nestled her head against his chest. "I know there's danger in the world," said Twilight, putting her arms around him, "But I'm not helpless. I'm fifteen now. I can take care of mysel—" She was cut off as Discord pinched her lips shut. "I know you aren't helpless, Twilight Sparkle," he said, "But..." "...You just care about me," Twilight smiled, her eyes welling up, slightly. Discord rolled his eyes. "Ughhhhhhhhh...Yes," he admitted, stroking her cheek and looking at her from the corner of his eye, "I do. Please don't make me get sappy." Twilight laughed! That night, when Twilight had come home from her adventure, she went straight upstairs. She lay on her bed thinking all about what had happened today. It was like she had found a whole new part of her life. She felt very excited about it. Then she had an idea. Getting off her bed, she walked over to her desk. Going through the drawers, she found one of the empty books of lined paper her aunts had brought her. She picked up a quill with her magic and wrote the words My New Friend on the cover. She opened it to the first page and began to write. Dear Diary, she wrote, Having friends is something I've never experienced before. My whole life I've spent on my own, around trees and plants, and my three aunts always ignoring me. I've always wanted somepony else to talk to. But something happened to me yesterday that changed everything! I made a friend! I met him in a cave I was exploring. He says he is a spirit and a draconequus, and is just the most interesting creature I have ever seen. He has the arms and legs of all sorts of creatures, and even has two different wings. He's so nice. He's just the kind of friend I always wanted. He's compassionate, and encouraging, he tells the most amazing stories and he can make ANYTHING funny. Also, I thought my alicorn magic could do amazing things, but it is nothing compared to his. He can do absolutely anything just with a snap of his fingers. He showed me this amazing land, where everything is topsy-turvy. It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. It has all kinds of crazy trinkets and wildlife, with a rainbow river and giant card pyramids. It even grows these delicious flowers with rainbow petals and pink cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate. I also met a Tatzlwurm. It seemed scary at first, but it was really sweet. The place even had these endless staircases that go on forever and crazy doors to other dimensions. It was the most fun I've ever had in my life. My new friend is very odd, but in all kinds of the best ways. He says he will always be there if I need him. I'll never be lonely again with him around. I just know we're going to be the best of friends. Twilight Sparkle xxx