//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Love // Story: Discord's Little Butterfly // by Fluskie //------------------------------// Thunder crashed loudly and lightning shot through the sky as rain from dark storm clouds hovering over Canterlot covered the city, forcing ponies to hide within their homes and seek safety. It was particularly a horrible storm this chilly night and it showed no signs of stopping or even slowing down a little. Either the pegasi were having issues with controlling the weather or this was suppose to happen. Nopony knew for sure. Screams of terror soon answered them though as the streets of Canterlot began to flood, picking up fences, pools, even helpless ponies who were trying to get inside. This was clearly not intended. The princesses would have to answer soon as well to their helpless subjects. They had a slight advantage from where the castle stood considering it was a bit higher up from the actual city but it still remained in the same area. It would as well flood if they waited too long to assist. Princess Luna had seem to have made that urgent considering she was already gone while Princess Celestia prepared herself, staring out at the violent waters enveloping the city. “Utter madness...Chaos.” Celestia said silently to herself, turning her attention out to the castle gardens. The plants would definitely be over watered at this point but that was the least of her worries. She had her attention on the hedges over where many statues stood, holding much history of the past. Her eyes specifically fell on the most unique one of all..Discord. The Lord of Chaos and Spirit of Disharmony..Even in these circumstances he remained in the same position laughing at almost what seemed no one but himself. Celestia knew exactly why he remained that way however. “You love this don’t you? If you were free you would be laughing at them all struggle and perish. As if you weren’t cruel already.” Her eyes blazed with fury at the statue in the distance as if she was angry with some stranger injuring her children. The ponies were basically her children anyways. It was her duty to protect them. She would not let that terrible creature ever harm them again! And then she took a deep breath. She was getting a little too angry..Now was not the time to be angry at past things that had be done. She had to focus on the present now and focus on using her powers to restore Canterlot, not be bitter with a creature of chaos who was harmless and encased in stone. She trotted over to the exit of the throne room, quietly opening it for herself and pausing, allowing herself one last look at that vile monster. “It would be horrible to ever think you would be able to love anypony else other than yourself. You have no love in your heart to give and be given.” Her eyes narrowed on the statue, waiting for him to for some reason give her a dumb response back but of course, nothing. She shook her head and exited the throne room, shutting the door behind her. *** Meanwhile, a lightning strike struck not too far from the castle gardens letting out a loud crash sound. With it came the shriek of a baby and loud crying from what sounded like to be in the area of the tall hedges. The storm continued on as the baby continuously cried, seeming to be frightened of the storm when it suddenly stopped. A baby yellow pegasus with a long pink mane suddenly emerged from the hedges in a small cradle being levitated by some foreign magic that seem to have come from nowhere. The young one was staring down at the sparkly magic enveloping her cradle as it carried her away from the lonely hedges and somewhere else she hadn’t seen before in her short life span. The young one sucked on her hoof as she was soon face to face with the large hybrid creature whom was in stone. Her cradle was suddenly gently dropped beside him, allowing her the ability to look up at him and be curious of his strange appearance. The little pegasus stopped sucking her hoof and reached her hooves out to him, making small baby babbling noises as if he might respond to her back. “You poor thing..Left out in such a terrible storm to fend for yourself..How awful.” A disembodied voice spoke calmly all around her, sort of putting her at ease. The little one seemed happy to hear him speak back to her, babbling back to him in her own baby language. “I love to see ponies struggle and try for impossible things but somehow I can pity you, dear.” The small one felt something touch her face and stroke her cheek, making her smile a bit and lean into the touch. She felt there was something physically there but she couldn’t see it. It felt like a warm paw of a kitty cat. Soft, warm, calming...She let out a small sigh, closing her eyes letting herself lean into the touch of the invisible paw. “I can’t believe I’m doing this..Am I really doing this? Caring for one of them? Caring for the kind that put me in stone in the first place?” The voice spoke to itself, sighing. “Fine, I’ll provide you shelter but only just this once. I can’t do much from here but I can try.” The young one felt the warm paw leave her face as she opened her eyes. She reached out for it with her little hoof, trying to grab it again to put it back on her face but she couldn’t seem to find it again. She whimpered a little when suddenly a small umbrella poofed out of nowhere and softly levitated over her cradle. The rain immediately stopped falling on her as the small patter of rain was heard on the umbrella instead. “There you go. I’m assuming you don’t want to sleep in a puddle. Although..You might already be.” There was another poof as the soaking wet blankets the young one was lying in were changed out with dry warm ones that felt like they almost hugged her. “Alright, that should be good. I’ve already done enough for you as it is. You better be grateful because I’m never doing this again!” And with that the voice was gone. The young one seemed to be confused though to not hear the voice anymore and she searched the stormy sky with her little eyes and then the statue, waiting to hear from it again. Did it leave?..Why would it leave her alone? She already got left behind..Why would another pony leave her? She started to cry again, a loud rumble of thunder sounding soon after she started again. “Alright, alright! What is it now? Seriously, I invite you here to stay here with me and you won’t even shut up. Stone draconequus have to sleep too you know!” Her crying immediately stopped upon hearing the voice again and she giggled a bit, reaching her hooves up to the sky. “What do you want!” “Up, up!” The voice sighed as the pegasus was enveloped in the strange aura again and lifted into the air. The strange magic tingled on her tiny body and put little sparkles on her as she giggled, being lifted up to the statue’s face. “There, happy now?” The pegasus suddenly reached forwards for his face, holding it with her small hooves and smiling. “Hey, stop that. I can still feel that you know.” She fluttered her tiny wings as she pulled herself up on to his face, climbing up and using his eyebrows as stepping stones. She pulled herself up on to his head, gripping his large antlers. She then proceeded to curl up on top of his head and yawn, resting her head on her hooves and closing her eyes. “Seriously, on my head? Ugh..” But, even though the voice seemed annoyed, a blanket was levitated from her cradle and lied on top of her along with a small pillow underneath her head. A spell seemed to of been casted on her as well that made a small force field, preventing the rain from getting on her. That night seemed to just drift away as the sounds of thunder and the flashes of lightning did so with it. *** “A search party for one foal who’s probably already dead? They’ll never find her at this rate. That storm was way too strong for her to survive in.” “It doesn’t matter, Luna. If there’s still a chance of her being alive, I’m taking it. As princesses, it’s our duty to protect them and protect the innocent and the weak.” The little one opened her eyes as she yawned softly, looking ahead to see two large alicorns trotting through the nearby gardens which seemed rather flooded with water from last night with a few flowers tossed everywhere and a few fully grown carrots and turnips. On the bright side, it was no longer storming and a warm sun shined on the statue and the little pony. The little foal moved a little backwards on the statue’s head, trying to hide behind its antlers so she wasn’t very visible as she watched the two princesses. “Waste our time chasing after someone who’s already dead? Ridiculous..” The one named Luna said. “You don’t know that!” “Anyone who has any logic of a deadly storm knows she’s dead! The only one who doesn’t know is obviously you.” The darker alicorn stomped off back into the castle. The lighter alicorn presuming to be Princess Celestia lowered her head and folded her ears. She stayed there for a moment just staring at the ground. She seemed to be lost in thought and rather sad. Why was that?.. “I don’t know what’s got into you Luna but it has to end somewhere..Our relationship has already strained itself enough. I’m worried for you...I wish you would talk to me about what’s on your mind so we can resolve whatever this is.” Celestia raised her head again, small tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked ahead into the distance. She then turned away and trotted back into the castle herself. The little one waited until she was fully gone to stand up on the statue’s head and trot around on it freely. “A lost foal, aye? I don’t suppose they’re looking for you?..” The voice suddenly spoke. The little one babbled as she pointed towards the castle and then to where the two alicorn were standing before they took their separate ways. “Oh, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? Bah, don’t bother with them. They’re a couple of grumps who don’t even know how to sustain a relationship. They’ve been fighting like this for almost..Has it almost been a thousand years since I’ve been imprisoned?..I think so. That’s rather eye opening.” The little one babbled again seeming to be in response to him. “I said don’t worry about it! I really don’t care if the younger one snaps on Princess Celestia. She deserves it! She ended my beautiful reign of chaos! Sure, the younger one did it with her but that’s different. She was most likely manipulated by her. I sense a lot of anger in the younger one and I can tell she’s as fond of Celestia as I am.” The foal babbled back again. “No I’m not being too harsh. If you were imprisoned in stone for the time it took for thirty generations to go by, you’d be angry as well. Or is it forty?..Oh dear, is my math failing me now as well?” The little foal made a small scream of anger as she punched her hoof into his stone antler. Though, of course it didn’t do anything and she stumbled backwards clutching her hurt hoof. She started crying as she rubbed her little hoof. “See, that’s what you get for arguing with me! You have no idea who I am and who you’re messing with! If you truly knew who I was and what I’ve done to your ancestors, you would be at my feet begging for my mercy!” The little foal wailed at this point as she rolled on to her side, clutching her hoof tightly to her chest. “Ugh..You’re not even listening. You’re just using that annoying noise to make me feel bad for you and say the dumb ‘s’ word. Well not happening, hun. Not now, not ever. Never have I ever used that stupid word. You won’t get the Lord of Chaos to feel sorry for you!” There was a moment of silence except for the little foal’s constant crying as the voice seemed to just think to itself, trying to restrain from saying anything else to the little one. The crying kept up for a solid five minutes before the voice finally gave up. “Alright, fine, just shut up already!” The little foal stopped crying as she stared down at the statue confused. “If I say the ‘s’ word will you please shut up?” The little foal smiled and made a happy noise as she reached her hooves up to the sky. “Alright..” The voice took a deep breath as if this was the most important moment of its life. “I’m...S-S...I’m..S-So...” “Gah!” The little foal said. “I’m trying okay!...I’m s-s..I’m..” The little foal suddenly smacked him on the head. “I’m sorry!” The little foal clapped her hooves together and giggled, now nuzzling the head of the statue. “Wow, and your hoof is perfectly fine now isn’t it?” The foal only giggled in response as she hugged his head now. The voice simply only sighed, unsure if this was enjoyable or not but not complaining. As the little foal hugged him, a crack noise was heard below her which she didn’t seem to notice at all. *** “Princess, come this way, I noticed a few things by the statue!” A guard pony and Princess Celestia galloped over to the statue of Discord. Everything seemed to look normal as always and a lot more normal considering a lot had been restored since the night of that terrible storm. It had only been a week and those ponies seemed to have everything in order again. Though, a few things were off. “There’s a abandoned cradle right here beside the statue!” The guard pointed out. The princess approached it, staring down at the empty cradle and then up to the statue of Discord. Her eyes narrowed between his stone antlers, thinking she saw something pink shift around. “How long has this cradle been here?” She asked. “A week is what some of the guards said. I work inside so I never noticed.” She softly glided her hoof through a soft blanket inside and turned back to the guard. “Continue the search, that foal is definitely here.” The guard nodded and trotted off. Celestia turned back to the statue. “You better of not done anything to that foal. I know your powers reach further than your stone prison and that you’re more than capable of wreaking havoc. I don’t trust you and I never will.” Celestia stared at the statue for a moment more with stern eyes and turned away, following the same way the guard went. A babble of a foal was suddenly heard. “Yes, yes, you did well and all that. It really isn’t hard to hide on a giant mismatched statue.” The foal was suddenly levitated off the statue’s neck and placed on the ground in front of the statue. “Let’s get this straight though, I’m not your parent and I never will be. I also most definitely won’t be associated with you. You’re going to have to find some other free care taker because I’m not doing it anymore.” The foal looked up at the statue confused and made a noise. “You have to get out of here or let yourself get caught. Those are your two options. Although, clearly it seems like you want to take the first one because your parents were sooooo ‘abusive’ to you.” The foal folded her ears and babbled angrily. “Oooh nooo! My toy rabbit got taken away, now my parents are the worst in all of Equestria!” The voice mocked the foal. The foal suddenly started to scream in anger. “Ah yes, scream your little lungs out and get the guards to hear you, perfect plan! I don’t even know why I’m talking to a tiny baby who has no idea what she wants or what she’s saying.” The thumping of galloping was suddenly heard on the other side of the castle gardens. The foal didn’t seem to care though as she continued to scream. “Perhaps they’ll make you into a stone statue like me! After all, your screaming could disturb all of Equestria. You’ll be seen as nothing but a nuisance.” The guards heads could be clearly seen over the flowers now and the foal continued to scream. “Would you..SHUT UP!” A shockwave suddenly burst from the statue, exploding outwards and utterly destroying flowers and crops as it traveled away. The young foal toppled over and nearly went flying as she gripped the ground somehow by only a stray flower survivor. The guards however got it hard as they all were knocked over and a few went flying. The shockwave was even strong enough to shatter a few windows on the castle as small pieces were flung into the grass below. Everpony in the castle area had to have felt that. “What in Equestria was that?” “A magic surge?” “A magic surge..Really? There’s no unicorns around here that could manage to do that!” “Who cares, some of the others are hurt, let’s go!” The guards that remained replied to each other as they all soon dusted themselves off of grass and galloped off to go help the wounded. This gave the little foal a chance to get up and recover. She lifted her now bruised arm and sniffled, tears dripping down her cheeks. “This is why they keep me in stone..” “G..Gah?..” “This is why they keep me in stone!” The voice repeated. The foal fell over, frightened by the voice..Well, ‘raising its voice’. “I can’t be trusted to not hurt anypony. Especially somepony as delicate as you. I don’t even trust myself quite frankly..I’ve gone mad.” The foal shook her head and seem to babble some comforting words in her own little language as she inched closer to the statue, still cautious. “Why don’t you just leave? What do you exactly see in me that’s so great?! You’re only a child!” When she knew he wouldn’t harm her again, she freely walked over, carrying confidence within her and knowing she’d be fine. She climbed up from his stone tail and then all the way up to his face. She sat on his muzzle at this point when she suddenly hugged it, closing her eyes. “Love..” The young foal suddenly said. “W-What?..Love? What’s that suppose to mean?!” “Love.” She pointed towards his chest and smiled up at him. “L-Love?..” The voice said, seeming like it was trying to touch its own nonexistent chest. “Love...You.” That was the moment that changed everything for the both of them. Although it was very short and less meaningful to an outsider, it meant everything to Discord. Even within his stone prison, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes, trying to escape the stone encasing him. He had the urge to embrace the young one suddenly..Something he had never felt before in his many years of life. The stone restrained him from moving his arms around the young one but he could visualize it happening within his mind. He didn’t even understand what he was feeling right now..He just felt warm..Happy? “I..I don’t know what to say.” The foal only grinned and nuzzled his muzzle. A foal of little words but such hard hitting meaning. “I’ve never had anyone who’s loved me before..And maybe you don’t know if you love me or not and you’re only saying that to be kind but..All I know is you’re worth more than the ponies I’ve tortured in the past and.. “I will protect you.” A blinding light exploded out as loud cracking noises sounded throughout the castle gardens. Celestia has just arrived to assist the fallen guards when she saw the sudden light, immediately following it. When she arrived she only stood there staring in utter disbelief. The pedestal that held Discord’s statue upon it was now empty with no large draconequus statue to be found anywhere. The only thing that seemed to be left behind was that same cradle from before..Untouched.