//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven 
// Story: Fool Me Once 
// by ericwinter 
//------------------------------//

Discord growled to himself as he stepped outside the newly warded room, fingers gripped tight around the ancient curved sword in his hand as he struggled to control himself. That… had been close. Too close, really. If he hadn’t already been following the new Seer to keep an eye out for her she would have been taken without a doubt, still too ignorant of her own powers to fight off even such pathetic attackers. He would need to rectify that, but after securing the house. There could be more threats around any corner.
As Discord started his search, he couldn’t help but marvel at how ridiculous it was. Vampires--and he easily recognized them as such, given the now-dead kidnapper’s perfectly evident fangs--weren’t usually so blatant in their actions. Hell, there weren’t many who could even survive sunlight long enough to pull off this infiltration in the middle of the day,  Those who could… well, most would have put up more of a fight, which meant one thing. These were Sombra’s brood, and that meant trouble was on the way.
The house was quiet as Discord searched, but that meant nothing when it came to vampires. Room by room and hall by hall he searched, steps light and blade held close and ready as he cleared each area. Finally, all that was left was the basement, making Discord grimace as he eyed the plain white door. He had no idea how many of the vampires were here, outside of that one he killed already. It could be anywhere from none to a dozen, and while he was more than capable of handling that number, he had yet to find evidence of the girl who actually owned this house and was Sunset Shimmer’s friend. If she was being held hostage, that would make things troublesome. Eventually, he simply shook his head. No helping it, he supposed.
The basement was dark, but a flick of discord’s hand solved that as he summoned three orbs of light, each shifting colors every few seconds to throw a kaleidoscope across the walls. The first thing discord noted as he scanned it carefully was the body. She was stretched out on the cold stone floor and, after a quick examination, still breathing. That didn’t stop him from letting out a quick curse however, especially after he recognized her as the Belle girl, and worse, the amulet around her neck with its practically radiant magic. That was the Artist’s gift, without a doubt. For a brief, agonizing moment, Discord saw not the white skin and amethyst hair, but another girl, with green and silver, covered in blood…
“My, my, if it isn’t the interloper,” A voice suddenly broke the silence, tearing Discord’s eyes away from the girl as he looked up. There, standing in the few shadows remaining, were three lithe and hooded figures. As Discord blinked, taking them in, there was the slight shimmer of light reflecting off silver fangs. “Tell me, sir, what is your name, and why do you interfere with our business?” For a moment there was silence, as discord merely stared at the vampires. Then, slowly, he stood from the spot he had crouched in to examine Rarity.
Are you the leader here?” He asked, disregarding the other’s question as he felt himself grow cold. Three, he thought, eyeing them carefully. Just three. He could take that. Carefully, he shifted to place himself between them and the girl, even as the two figures on the side started to spread out, surrounding him.
“Tch, how rude,” The vampire said again, shaking his head and confirming it to be the man in the middle. He was the tallest, too, and also the most relaxed of his trio, instantly setting Discord’s instincts on edge. Most vampires were extremely predatory while young, and an imminent fight would turn them into little more than animals. Indeed, he could see just that factor in play with the others, their entire forms tense as they prowled. The speaker, however, had none of that. Even without recognizing Discord, that spoke of confidence and experience. Older vampires were always more troublesome. After a moment, he continued. “Very well, I shall answer. Yes, I am the eldest of our little group. You may call me Fallen Midnight, Third Lord of Sombra’s Blackest Court. And you are?”  His fangs shifted, the vampire’s smirk growing just a touch wider, but Discord had to hold in a smirk of his own. The poor fool thought he was actually intimidating.Twirling the blade in his hand for a moment to keep loose, he shrugged before answering casually.
“Oh, nobody particularly important. The name is Discord, but you can call me Discord of Anarch if you feel like being formal.” The moment the words left his mouth, Discord could see the effect they had. Instantaneously, both of the outer vampires paused, their focus zeroing in on him like predators on a suddenly much larger and more dangerous predator who had appeared in their midst, while the third actually flinched in response. A beat of silence passed, and then suddenly a third voice spoke up.
“You’re Discord of Anarch?” The smallest of the three asked, a girl from the sound of her voice. “As in Lord Carnage Discord, The Fatherless Son and Master of the Eighth Star? High Priest of Chaos? That Discord?” And oh, wasn’t that a veritable tide of fear in her voice. Discord paused, raising a sharp white eyebrow in her direction.
“Please, now you’re just flattering me,” He said jovially, grinning. Always with the ostentatious idols, these monsters and villains. Not that he minded, per se, but it was the principle of the thing. For all the power and influence he held, Discord really was a simple man at the end of the day.
“Well now, isn’t that interesting,” Midnight interjected, seeming to have recovered his composure, and now he was the one with a sense of anticipation in his stance. “And here I thought this mission would be boring, but lo and behold. What brings a living legend like yourself to our neighborhood, old man?” Again, Discord raised his eyebrow, even as a spark of annoyance ran through him.Old man? Really?
“The same as you, I imagine,” Discord drawled in response after a moment, once again twirling his sword. “Goddesses are hot commodities, after all, and I would prefer to keep the one upstairs out of the wrong hands.”  A beat passed, and then Fallen Midnight sighed.
“I see then. And there’s no chance of you relenting?” He asked, and if Discord couldn’t hear the tone of excitement in his voice, he might have thought the vampire actually hoped he would turn away. One glance at him was enough to dispel that notion however. Already, Midnight’s hands were curling into claw-like gestures, and his fanged grin had grown wider again beneath his hood. His subordinates, on the other hand, looked much less happy about the prospect, but still they seemed to understand that there would be no avoiding this fight. Discord’s reputation was enough for that at least. Still, Discord shook his head.
“Not in the slightest.” He answered. Silence fell afterward, and for a brief moment the tension in the air grew thick enough you could almost fell it. Then, without warning, everything moved.
One Vampire, the girl who listed his titles, went for Rarity first, but Discord was having none of it. A twist of will and Discord bent Chaos to his will, scarlet arcs of lightning bursting to life and striking her without mercy. He did not see the result, however, as already his attention was pulled to another foe, the third and still silent member ruching at his flank. With easy grace the cross-colored man ducked beath outstretched fangs and claws, before rising in a twirl that allowed his enemy’s own momentum to drag them across his blade, bisecting the vampire cleanly. It was enough to slow him, however, and the next moment Fallen Midnight was in his face, fangs bared in a vicious grin as he cannonballed bodily into Discord and threw him across the room, before following just as quickly.
Discord slammed into the far wal, gasping as pain rocked rattled through his body and he bounced off, before another impact struck his front, Midnight’s splayed hand on his sternum driving him back into the wall and holding him there. With the elder vampire too fast for rational thought to follow, Discord didn’t even bother trying. Instead, he let his instinct guide him, and once again Chaos burned through his mind to set his entire body alight with sickly green flames. The rattling explosion and heat forced Midnight away, tearing a wild shriek from his throat. Discord wasn’t done, however, following the vampire in a sharp reversal of the previous moment, his sword coming up to cut across at chest level. It wasn’t quite enough, Midnight’s vampiric speed pulling him back just enough to avoid split in half, but now there was a bloody would across his front and he fell back, suddenly afraid.
“Wait, don’t--!” He tried to shout, but Discord had fought far too many monsters to pause now. Always, they tried to beg for their life the moment tables turned, but while the quick exchange had left him battered, he had fought with far worse than a few cracked ribs. He didn’t even slow down. Without hesitation or mercy his free hand came up, this time the chaos he wielded taking the form of viciously shaped icicles. Even the vampire’s speed was not enough to dodge this time, and a moment later there was a yet another impact as he was impaled all the way on the far wall, striking with enough force the ice spikes drove several inches deep into the stone. That done, Discord actually did pause, turning his eye to glare across the room and assess it.
The battle was done, that was clear. Midnight, while amazingly not dead, wasn’t going anywhere, the silent vampire was… well. And the female was twitching on the floor and looking so charred he imagined that was just excess electricity playing with dead nerves. Her glassy eyes pretty much confirmed it. Taking a moment to self check that his first assessment of minimal damage was correct, he nodded to himself. That was… five seconds, maybe ten? Long, for a vampire fight, but then there were three of them. Also Midnight catching him off guard with that clever trick of attacking through his subordinate. That there was a perfect example of why he hated fighting older vampires. They fought smart, and if it weren’t for Chaos he would be very, very dead. As usual.
“Right then,” Discord said almost to himself, walking across the room to where Fallen Midnight was already trying to claw his way free of the icicles. Driving his sword into the monster’s shoulder put a stop to that, and Discord smiled as he looked coldly into the wide, terrified eyes of his enemy. “Here’s how this is going to go. Are you listening?”
“Yes, yes!” The vampire cried, making him smile even wider. Ah, it was always amusing to see the looks on their faces when they realized just how foolishly cocky they had been.
“Good,”he said, before twisting the sword just a little to make sure. “You’re going to go back to Sombra. Tell the evil bloodsucker I say hi and everything that happened here. Then, you’re going to give him this message: ‘Never Again.’ Understood?” Midnight nodded frantically, hands scrabbling uselessly at the sword in his shoulder. Discord watched him for a moment, looking for any sign of budding courage, before finally nodding and relenting. With a single smooth motion he pulled the sword out, swinging it lightly to shake off the blood, and Midnight wasted no time in fleeing, darting up the stairs to the rest of the house and away. Discord spared a moment to glare after him, before finally sighing and shaking his head quietly. It wouldn’t be enough, he knew. Sombra would never give up on reclaiming the Seer and her power, but there had been enough bloodshed this day, even for monsters. Besides, Discord was more concerned with securing the two girls who had been victim to this attack, and if the message enraged Sombra enough to slow him down some, all the better. Turning away, he moved over to Rarity, carefully picking her up so he could carry her upstairs. The corpses, he would take care of later.
Gods, but Discord hated vampires. They really should learn to clean up after themselves.