"The grand ballroom was constructed under orders by King Astraeus and Queen Hemera in honor of the birth of their daughter Phoebe. It was later expanded upon by Queen Iris during the First Alicorn Reformation to commemorate the founding of Alicornia. The first Grand Galloping Gala was held here shortly after my sister's birth."
Luna led Discord through the castle, enthusiastically pointing out every single room and the history behind it with such passion and in such excruciating detail, he thought she was a professional tour guide. The delightful shimmer in those cyan-blue eyes coupled with her small but sweet smile made Discord's heart do backflips. He found it difficult to avert his eyes from the unicorn's face as not gazing at her splendor would seem almost disrespectful. Unbeknownst to him, Luna did in fact notice his gazing and fought to keep a blush from creeping across her cheeks. They soon approached the throne room and found Queen Concordia conversing with some foreign dignitaries when her eyes fell coldly upon the pair.
"Luna dear, now is not the time for...sightseeing. Mother is busy."
"Mother, if...if Discord's a guest here, then we should make him feel welcome...-"
"That's nice dear, but not when I have visitors. Understood?"
Luna looked down submissively. "Yes, Mother." Leading Discord by the paw, she gave Queen Concordia a sorrowful parting glance and sighed. She didn't understand her mother's displeasure with her new friend, being one of the most kind-hearted ponies she'd ever known. It couldn't be that he was a chimera; centaurs, minotaurs and even a sphinx had visited the castle at one time or another and the queen never showed such prejudice towards them. Whatever's the problem with my mother goes deeper than Discord's appearance. But would could it be? There was only one person that could possibly know the answer. Luna just hoped he would be cooperative.
Queen Concordia stared after them, displeased and even disgusted by the thing wandering around her castle. Unsupervised. With her daughter. "Captain Swift Wing?"
The armored Pegasus bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Follow them. I don't want either of my daughters left alone with that draconequus."
Captain Swift Wing bowed once more and started after them. Queen Concordia excused herself from her guests and headed to her bedchamber, the rage at seeing Discord and Luna together steadily rising the more she thought about it. Pouring herself some wine, she drained the glass and instantly refilled it. Ever since the discovery of Discord's heritage, she felt herself on edge even more so than usual. Only a very select few draconequui were born with an inherent gift for chaos magic, the majority of which came of a royal bloodline and were thus far more powerful. Now that she had seen firsthand what a draconequus' powers could do, Queen Concordia feared his true potential.
Thankfully, Star Swirl's report of about Discord's current magical progress seemed to indicate that the chimera still had a long road ahead of him. Good. Perhaps his chaotic abilities can be put to good use for once. Sipping her wine, Queen Concordia stared at a family portrait of her with King Solaris and their children, the first and last they would ever appear in together. She raised her glass and emptied it. "Damn them. Damn them all."
"Canus fructum!" Star Swirl shot an enchanted beam at the bright red apple, causing it to rapidly age until it became a fuzzy, dark green glob of fungus. "Fructus principium!" The apple was engulfed in a bluish-gray aura and rapidly shrank into an apple seed. The wizard smiled triumphantly and jotted down his findings, searching for an empty space on his table to place his notes. His tower was a cluttered mess of scribblings, alchemical devices, spell books and outrageous chemistry equipment sets. While many would term it "disorganized," he disagreed, finding that he could easily locate anything with his unusual categorization system. "Now where did I put my magnifying glass?"
The double cedar doors swung open to reveal two familiar young pupils, uncertain expressions etched into their faces. "Hmm? Oh, Discord and Luna! How may I help you?" Star Swirl put away his notes and gestured for the two to step closer. "I do apologize for the mess. I don't often receive visitors and it's how I prefer to keep things ironically orderly."
Luna nudged Discord forward and he stared up at his mentor nervously. "Mister Star Swirl? I was just wondering...do you perhaps, I don't know, happen to know what it is that I am exactly? I'm a chimera but that's all I know."
Of course he'd have that question on his mind. Still, Star Swirl wasn't surprised that Discord would ask him; it was how soon it was that threw him for a loop. "I see. Well, Discord, the thing of it is...you're partially right. You are indeed a chimera but as for the specific type, you are what is known as a draconequus."
"A dracone-what?" Luna inquired, equally as confused as Discord.
Star Swirl pulled at his beard, wondering how much he should reveal to the two. "Draconequus. It is, or rather was, a species native to a place known as the 'Chaosverse,' a realm of disorder and near-lawlessness. They derived their power from manipulation of chaos magic, a raw but extremely rare type of magic. With it, they were capable of just about anything."
Discord interjected."Wait, you said, 'was.' Does that mean...I'm the only draconequus left?" His voice trembled, his shoulders sinking as if bearing the weight of such a revelation. Luna patted his back sadly and looked to her mentor for answers.
"I'm afraid so, my boy," Star Swirl painfully admitted. "They were all destroyed during the Umbrum-Draconequus War over ten years ago. The umbrum, or shadow ponies, wished to control the Chaosverse and harness chaos magic for their own usage so they waged war with the draconequui, a war that seeped over to Equestria and threatened to cover the land in darkness and disarray. They ended up destroying each other and now neither species is alive today."
"All except for me, right?"
It truly hurt Star Swirl to see the child so distraught but the truth had to have come out sooner or later, or at the very least was the truth that was officially adopted. Discord had so far shown himself to be a humble, kind and reserved young man and it was evident that the pain of being the last of his kind was dragging him deep into depression. He was already ostracized for his appearance-having grown up in a place where he beaten for such a reason-and now had to live with possible survivor's guilt and loneliness. Star Swirl sighed, unsure what he could do or even if he could do anything.
"Yes. But know this Discord: you are not alone," Star Swirl smiled.
Luna placed her hoof over Discord's bird claw. "No you're not."
The doors burst open and Captain Swift Wing came rushing in, panting heavily as he did. Spying the children, he landed and gave Star Swirl a salute. "I'm...sorry for the intrusion, Sir, but the queen ordered me to stay by their side. For security purposes of course." He smiled nervously underneath the old stallion's scrutiny.
"It's quite alright, Captain," Star Swirl grinned, causing the Pegasus to visibly relax. "You are only performing your duties after all and should be commended for doing so."
Captain Swift Wing wiped his brow and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for understanding, Sir. Anyway, it's time for the princess' music lessons. Come along, Your Highness." He then began to usher Luna out the door, unaware of the glare the wizard was throwing his way nor the look of sadness on Luna's face as she bade her friend goodbye. Once the two disappeared from sight, Star Swirl dropped his friendly façade and angrily muttered to himself, speaking in a tongue Discord didn't understand nor wanted to.
It was obvious why the captain was really there: the queen was worried about Luna being alone with Discord. Even though he barely knew anything about the young draconequus, it seemed to Star Swirl that it was highly unlikely that Discord was harm Luna in any way. The two seemed to genuinely hit it off, based off their interactions in the library. Now that he thought about it, would it really be a bad thing if the two were romantically involved? Discord was a prince after all and marrying a royal was in a princess' job description. Then again, perhaps Star Swirl was reading too far into it.
Letting his body relax, Star Swirl patted the seat of a wooden stool and said, "Now then, while the princesses are occupied, how would you like to learn about the finer points of alchemy?"
Discord leapt onto the stool and wagged his tail like an excited puppy. "Would I? Sure! Teach away, Master!"