Discord now stood silent in the throne room, with the Changeling he had honestly missed for all those decades. Not initially missing her due to any love for her specifically, but for her companionship. Now, he had her for an unknown length of time; he did have to swap places to save a friend's life, but he could not see anything wrong the end result.
His friends had disappeared over the horizon, leaving him in a moment of silence; until he felt a pair of soft hands on his shoulders.
"Are you alright, Discord?" ask Chrysalis, nuzzling the top of his head.
Discord smiled at the affection. "Could be better, but as for right now, I'm perfect. I have finally rediscovered my friend of old; and have helped a relatively newer friend out in turn."
Chrysalis sighed. "Oh, how I wish I could have known of you all those years ago; how close we could have become."
"Well," he added, "we have plenty of time for storytelling, don't we? Why don't we try to remember those days, and relight that old sense of security?"
A few years after the failed Everfree Empire invasion
The younger queen prided herself on her steel determination, and outward resiliency; even though mentally she was burdened, she felt enough comfort in the company of her mother's children. Her own children of the hive were not quite as plentiful, and likely could not understand her few frustrations. It wasn't but a couple of years after her failure inside the walls of the lost kingdom, yet the results of it began to weight her mind down with each new attack on traveling caravans and parties.
The hive had no problem capturing these humans in their small groups; and the realization dawned on Chrysalis that her loss of their biggest opportunity would likely have made even her own patient mother sick. She would say this, trying to confide in the few guards that could even speak. But, the replies were always the same, though she did appreciate them to some degree.
"Your mother would never think so lowly."
"You were a learning princess, and were handed the reigns at an unfortunate time."
"Will you quit blabbering and act like a queen?"
That specific line always got her reared up, and ready to go. While most other Changelings were too afraid of her, the elder guards always gave her that metaphorical kick to get back into her roll. But, as time would dictate, as she would grow, those Changelings of her mother's brood would pass on; and after only a decade or two, none of her new children had ever experienced that failure. So, once again, she fell into her recurring depression, with no common bond beyond their blood connecting them. And she felt she would never grow out of it, agin.
That was, until a raid, during a particularly horrid storm. Her closest guards had sounded the alert of a strange phenomenon; where the storm seemed to be only covering a section of the forest. In addition, most of their old migration paths were disappearing within moments. Taking these as a sign to move, Chrysalis told her slightly confused commanders to lead the legion towards that very storm system. They trudged deep into the midst of the storm, through the mud, and rising waters in the region. After a few miles in, they came upon the camp. It was clear form the start these were not welcome beings, with stolen goods strew upon the ground if they could survive the rain, to make room for the thieves the huddle inside the carts.
As they had done with so many caravans before, the Changelings waited for the groups to begin splitting off. And it took time, as expected; none of the humans were too willing to venture from their shelters just to get soaked. The one advantage this gave the hiding hive was that the humans didn't have to wander far from their carts to be out of the others' eyes. The replacement of the humans was easy to start. They would simply wait for a human to come and relieve himself, and strike. The method was always the same. Within perhaps a few hours, just over half of the crew was no longer who they seemed.
And it would prove that patience was a great ally, as the rain finally slowed to just that of a strong drizzle, giving the huddlers a chance to get out of their carts. The rolling thunder still remained, and one cue from the queen, and a snap of her fingers paired with a flash of lightning, the horde revealed itself. To the horror of the thieves, they were well cornered by the Changelings, and only one tried to fight back; only then he found himself planted in the dirt with a foot on the back of his head. Surrender was ensured within moments, and the humans were soon finding themselves cocooned, and put to sleep by the various pheromones these creatures let out.
Chrysalis instructed her hive to begin moving the cocoons north, as she had some idea as to what would be next for her children; meanwhile, she stayed behind to examine all that the cretins had left behind. Even though she despised the humans, she felt that she had done them a great service. Not only had the thieves been stopped, now they were being removed from society in a relatively peaceful manor. And the things they had stolen?
Perhaps she could have taken the artifacts and jewelery to a nearby road, but she wasn't too excited to meet another band of humans. Instead she resigned to examine the things they had stolen. Pottery, paintings, unusual tools, and him. During their rush to get shelter, the thieves had lain a statue of some human, with a surprised expression, laying in the nearby ground. While she could not have known that the statue was alive at the time, she felt by all means that it saw her. And she couldn't bear to see it sinking into the thick mud; opting to carefully shift the stone so that he was now standing, somewhat more stoically. The expression on his face made any attempt to seem strong impossible, but he was far more presentable now.
And the young Queen found herself strongly drawn to his visage, for untold reasons. As before, she felt like she was being watched. Even though the eyes presumed to stay still, she felt they were following her. If a normal human had dared eye her with that sort of expression, she would savor them particularly for lunch in an instant. This one, however, had an aura about it. Even through the stone, she felt pain, and suffering. She would have never known the true hell the being behind that stone shell was experiencing; but, she felt him hurting worse than herself.
And so she began to feed off of that. Chrysalis began to talk to him.
"The artist behind your creation," she said lowly, soaking in the slowly dying rain, "is no doubt to be remembered through history for you. Why do I feel these things from you? I can sense fear, I can also sense adoration, and then hopelessness. I can feel true discord in your creation."
She paced around the statue, before sitting on a nearby bank.
"And yet," she continued, "I don't feel those things towards me. I feel like you can only exude these emotions, and not that anyone could ever know towards whom they are directed. Above all these, I sense dejection."
She continued on, mentioning her own fear of rejection had her own mother were to see her now. She uttered the old worry that Discord would recite to her all these decades later. That he could always remember, despite having lost her for so long; he could remember them despite having no idea whether he was awake, or asleep, alive or dead. And even though she would express that she felt some sort of love for him when they would finally reunite, for now she felt nothing but adoration.
Chrysalis would often remind herself of the statue, again. "Oh, but for a queen to feel this way of such a lowly stone; perhaps I could find this artist and have him fix one for me, before I feast."
Her visits to the figure would last for years, none of which she would bother counting. And then the forest did its most dirty work. It changed, once more. She had noticed these shifts before, as well when it would have changed to lead them to the clearing for the first time. Her discovery of this change, when she could no longer find her passage to her companion, filled her with anger, at the offset. The foliage and terrain she had destroyed upon the realization that her only real friend was gone had destroyed all she would have come to know. Her only refuge was gone from her, and she was filled with a hatred for the forest they had called home for the eons. And then she felt the heartache. She found herself on the ground in the middle of the destroyed forest, almost physically hurting from her loss.
"Why am I feeling this way about a stupid rock?" she would admonish herself. "No matter how you feel, queen, it would never have shown you the same appreciation. It could never answer your pain with its own. You were so lost in your own world that a rock felt more relatable than your own damned hive!"
She groaned, throwing herself to the ground in a bout of what she could only imagine were tears. She had seen them for years on the faces of some of their victims, and yet had never been brought to the brink of her own. What she could never have known is that the forest was only a small part of her pain; not that there was a being with questionable motives trying to create its own progeny from that very structure she adored.
Current Day
Discord could recall much of what Chrysalis would recount to him, and knew that it was likely now or never for him to explain what had been occuring; no matter how likely it was she would not believe it. He had to believe that she had trust in him, knowing where he had come from.
Discord sighed, currently being held in the queen's arms in her chambers. "I will tell you truthfully, my queen, that neither of us were truly ever in control of those moments. I doubt you will understand completely, but as long as you promise to keep your mind open, I will fill you in on it. I can sense your tension, so I believe it's my turn to tell a tale."
Chrysalis nodded slowly. "I would never be able to consider anything else, Discord; indeed, I did work myself up recalling those years, but I have tried to move on."
He nodded, smiling. "As you should, and shall."
He took a deep breath, turning over so he could look at her as he spoke.
"I would like to ask first, if you have ever heard of Mother," he said softly.
Queen Chrysalis thought for a moment, before slowly nodding. "While not directly, I believe I have heard tales of her from the many travelers I have passed through. Though, she seems more a figment than anything solid."
Discord nods. "I assure you, my Chrysalis, that she is far from a mental creation. As I sit here tonight, recalling what I can of my past, I can tell you truthfully that my name was not Discord, forever."
Chrysalis kept herself quiet, nodding for him to continue.
"My name used to be Errant Aurora," he continued. "In the time that the Equestrian tongue was developing-- Mother has told me that it has evolved quite a bit since our primitive years-- it translated roughly to 'Wandering Lights'. Errant for wandering, and Aurora are a spectacle known in the frigid north that appear every so often. So, Wandering Lights fit me, as I would find myself in many different towns in my life. I met Mother many moons ago, in an unconventional manner. She played a song that lured me into a bed of a gorgeous blue flower. It was this flower that created my stone prison; and why you found me with a rather unimpressive expression."
The pair chuckled at the recalling of his face. It was pure terror, though neither could remember the last time a human's mouth and eyes would ever stretch that far open.
"And as I explained, I could see, and hear all," he continued. "At first, it was serenity. When I would become tired, Mother herself would lure me into these dreams with scenery that only an artist could imagine. The biggest difference between Mother and the artist, though, was how real her creations in the dream realm were. I was but a lowly man, at this time. As she described me, I was a man with nothing to lose, and everything to give. The one thing she adored above all, though, is that I-- as a human-- adored her creations almost as much as she did."
"I loved her fauna, I loved the foliage, I loved the breezes and the terrain that filled my line of sight in all directions. And we grew to enjoy each other's company. While she initially was trying to seduce me to her, using the form of a stunning human female, I could not put myself in that trap. I viewed her more in the manor as her name would imply. I had finally found my Mother, amidst all my loss, and loneliness."
Chrysalis could feel the assortment of emotions Discord was combing through as he spoke. His joy, his sorrow, and soon, his anger.
"But, the very first night," he continued, "she started me on a path to something I did not even believe was a direction a human could take. She gave me my new name that first night, and has never called me Errant. Before I could even question it, she woke me again, so I could find I was back in my stone prison. She had told me, that my name was 'Discord,' and added 'the Spirit of Chaos, and deception'. And from that moment on, she has been working diligently. She has destroyed all memories of my past, and of the life I led before. She began calling me her a son, and the antithesis to herself. She began showing me horrific things; her forests burning, the actions of man on both the battlefields and in their own cities."
"And my mind began to wander. There were times where I could not decide whether I was in the dream world, or if I had awoken. Even to this day, the very question haunts me. I cannot tell, because they both feel just as real. And this was caused by her next phase, which was to change the pattern. Originally, it was prison, and almost every night a dream. Then, for nearly an entire decade, she halted me to simply one dream every seven days. Then, once a month. She would then swap them. I would be in dreams for days at a time, and in my stone prison for just hours. Then, one day, she said I would be facing a series of trials."
"The first year I spent in this forest, I was entirely alone. I don't know how she did it, but I assume she had changed the forest so that I could only find myself when I searched. There were no creatures, not even to pollinate the flora. The only friend I had, and that continue to haunt me right now, where whispers in the wind. The winds in the year would range from little whispers, to outright howls, that I still can't understand. But, despite being so alone, and lost to their language, I decided to prove to Mother that I could still function. I began working on my old knowledge of agriculture."
"For the first few months, while I was struggling with the voices, and the silence, I became a farmer. I tested various plants, and weeds, trying to find what I could consume, and what to avoid. In all honesty, I spent many days sick, more often due to ignorance. But, as time progressed, I did begin seeing that some plants were a lot safer when either cooked, or paired with others. Then one day I decided to grab on of those fateful blue flowers."
Chrysalis blinked. "You actively searched for the Poison Joke?"
Discord nodded, chuckling. "Despite every fiber of my being, and instinct, I went forward with them. I would use outstretched wooden creations to safely pluck them. I had been preparing a fruit mixture for drinking, and wasted the nectar of the flower in that pot.My greatest weakness has always been my curiosity; but, that day, it turned into my saving grace. I didn't think much of it, at first. The cauldron-- I will proudly say I made it initially from clay found in the streams-- began to smell unsavory as I was mixing it. With the scent, I could not fathom ingesting the horrid drink, so I opted to dump it out nearby."
"The next day that I came out, many of the wild berries, a few weeds, and even a sapling, had grown significantly. The small berry bushes were clearly ready to pick-- though I would learn that they just weren't far off from the beginning--, the sapling had grown significantly taller, and the weeds were up to my waist. After some more experimenting, and close calls with the Poison Joke, I realized I had my first potion."
Discord continued his tales, recounting his year alone, with his development of his own runes; his discovery of his Timberwolf pup, and his eventual introduction to the White Tail deer, and the Flash Bees creating his splash elixirs.
"And, the splash elixir that broke when I came in, gave me the strength for a time to ward off the hive," he finally finished.
Chrysalis just sat, staring at him intently. "As you know, Changelings can sense emotions, and I often use this to detect any sort of hyperbole, or exaggerations. I can't help but believe what you have been telling me. And to think that our very creator has been trying to turn you into a being of chaos."
"I honestly feel like it wouldn't take much to finish me," he said, sighing. "Even now as we sit hear, I hear the voices in the wind, and I hear their unidentifiable tongue. Whenever night falls, and silence follows, they grow louder, and I am forced to listen. The nightmares that have followed from my past still occur, and there's nothing I can do to stop them. And for that, I feel as if I am not in a dream. I have never heard of dreams, within dreams, so I must be awake."
Discord and Chrysalis simply lay in silence for minutes at a time. While she did have little problem feeding off the love he seemed to harbor for everything, despite his hatred for the path he was forced to follow, she couldn't help but feel hurt for him. Was she even a real being, herself? He had never mentioned breaking out of the stone, so perhaps this was all a dream, again. But, as she had heard him say, he had dreams even now. So he had to be awake, for sure.
Despite her worries, she was being fed, nonetheless. She could feel his love flowing steadily, though somewhat weakly; and though she could be snark and mention his end of the bargain, she felt more than comfortable letting this slide. The Queen's statue had returned, and she could sense nothing but love in it.