Grogar, his guards and Discord reunited with other soldiers at Canterlot´s main wall. They bowed down at Grogar as soon as he appeared in front of them.
“Any news?” he asked.
“We searched outside the castle.” a guard explained. “But we didn´t see any trace of her.”
“And we haven´t seen her in the streets another guard added. “´We searched everywhere, and there´s no sign of her.”
Discord sighed in relief. After Grogar was done thinking, he started walking.
“That could mean she´s outside Canterlot. Or she´s hiding inside a house in Canterlot.”
A guard scoffed. Grogar perked his ears up and turned around.
“Inside an unicorn´s house? With everything that´s going on? Please… I don´t know what you mean, your majesty, but if you´re suggesting that there´s an unicorn being disloyal to us, then I´m afraid I have to differ.” the unicorn´s tone changed from sarcasm to total seriousness. “We unicorns always stay loyal to each other. It´s a fact. Looking for a scapegoat among us would only separate us. And right now, we need to stay together more than ever. So, no. There´s no way I´m breaking innocent unicorns´ houses just for some pegasus! Let me raid Cloudsdale instead!”
Discord looked at him perplexed and angry. Angry because he had just called Fluttershy `some pegasus´ as if he was superior to her. And perplexed because he knew that Grogar was not going to take that behavior well. Grogar smirked at the guard.
“Oh lad. It´s really obvious that you´ve never been betrayed. Of course you wouldn´t know how the world really works.” he walked towards the guard, making him gulp.
“But let an ancient and wise ruler enlighten you. Many years of ruling teach you very valuable things for your own survival, you know? But the most important one for me is to never trust anypony. Specially those who are closer to you. They are the most dangerous because they are the easiest to fall in their trap.”
The guard walked backwards in fear.
“From what I see, you´re very close to your kind. And I bet they also look up to you. You are lucky. But bear this in mind: One small difference from the rest, and you won´t be as loved. Hmm… Let´s imagine if I broke your horn right now.”
Grogar grabbed the guard by the horn with the magic from his bell.
“If you were in normal conditions, you might be taken care of or even considered a hero. But when the chips are down… You´ll just be useless for them. You wouldn´t be able to defend them from me, so why should they take care of you?”
Grogar started pressing the guard´s horn. He grunted.
“Then, you´ll be isolated, mistreated, always blamed for your injuries… or they would begin to plan on killing you and unicorns with the same problem. Because that´s what clans do. They care about and love you in the good times but when bad times come, they completely forget about you!”
The more Grogar spoke, the angrier he got and the harder he pressed the guard´s horn. His eyes shone more as well. He started yelling in pain. All the guards got scared. Discord didn´t like that guard much, but he felt really bad for him.
“I´m sorry! I´m sorry! I´ll do as you say! Just stop!” the guard yelled in tears.
Grogar released him. Once he was free, he massaged his horn, panting scared.
“I could have perfectly broken your horn right here, right now, in front of everypony. And yet, I decided not to. Not because I´m merciful, but as a warning of what I´m capable of doing to you if you ever disrespect me or challenge me like you just did. Understood?”
The guard nodded his head and ran away from Grogar, reuniting with other guards to the right. Grogar noticed Discord glaring at him. Grogar smirked at him. He turned back to the guard, who was shivering in fear.
“Oh.. Don´t be scared. At least you didn´t end up looking like a freak.” he looked back at Discord. “Unlike him.”
Discord widened his eyes. Then, he scowled and clenched his teeth.
“I wanted to create a more powerful monster to scare ponies away. But apparently the results didn´t out as I expected. Instead I created a clownish, childish and idiotic abomination!”
At that moment, all Discord wanted to do was throwing a thunder to Grogar, so he could break free. But he couldn´t do anything. If he did, Grogar would harm Fluttershy. All he could do was stay quiet and keep the fury to himself.
“And at least you listen to me.” he kept telling the guard. Then, he threw a look full of hatred and resentment at Discord. “He never did. As he didn´t look intimidating enough, I knew that in the exact moment he set a foot out there, he would be laughed at, humiliated and alone. And to protect him, I told him that constantly. But instead of listening to me, he ran away! And he paid the consequences.”
Discord turned around to avoid eye contact with Grogar. The ram rolled his eyes.
“You go look in Canterlot.” Grogar said to the group on the right. “The rest of you stay here.”
“Yes, your majesty.” the guards to the right said before leaving.
“Um… pardon me your majesty but is it me or we are less guards?” one of the guards who stayed observed. “I´m not trying to contradict you, my emperor. It´s just the more we are the easier to find the mare…”
Grogar chuckled.
“Don´t worry. We´ll have some help.”
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Roars or high-pitched screeches could be heard from the distance. Discord quickly recognized them and stared at his father surprised. The guards didn´t know where they came from until they saw figures revealing themselves from the fog. Their ears dropped and slowly walked backwards. Grogar had summoned every single creature he created!
Grogar walked towards them to greet them.
“Ah, my children. I´m so glad to see you all here. Ready to return to the old days of glory!” Grogar threw his fist to the air. “Let´s begin with a simple mission. You will help me to retrieve four prisoners. I will divide in two groups. One will look for the three backstabbers: a changeling named Chrysalis, a centaur named Tirek and a pegasus filly named Cozy Glow. The other will help me to find a pegasus named Fluttershy, one of Twilight Sparkle´s friends. Is that clear?”
The beasts nodded.
“Very well. The ones who can fly will come with me. The others, search for the three traitors.”
The land monsters turned around and left the group, spreading throughout all Equestria.
“Any questions?” Grogar asked to every guard.
The guards didn´t respond. They were too focused on trembling at the presence of bugbears, cockatrices and manticores.
“I said, any questions?” Grogar repeated in a more menacing tone.
The guards returned to an upright posture and raised their hooves to their foreheads.
“No sir.”
“Then let´s begin the search.” he saw Discord with his head down and hugging himself. “But first leave me alone with my son. I need to talk to him.”
The guards obeyed and walked away. Grogar walked towards Discord. The draconquus noticed his cold hoof on his back.
“Was that really necessary?” Discord asked very bitter, not looking at Grogar. “Telling my story to everypony just to humiliate me? I´m already doing as you say!” his voice broke at that moment. “Why are you doing this to me?!”
“Because I know that you´re still underestimating me. You might be obeying me, but you still contradict or tell me that I´ll lose. Face it Discord, things are going to stay like this forever. Nopony will be able to overthrow me again. I´m just saying it so you don´t suffer.”
Discord simply breathed out. Grogar took and pulled his chain.
“Now come along, we need to find that pegasus.”
The ram and draconequus caught up with the guards and monsters.
“So, where do we begin sir?”
“Cloudsdale.” Grogar simply replied.
Some pegasi were trying to cover Cloudsdale with clouds so the windigoes wouldn´t cover it with snow. They were struggling a lot.
“We cannot do it! These winds are too strong!” an exhausted pegasus said desperate.
“But we must! How else are we going to defend our kind?” another pegasus replicated while pointing with his eyes at Cloudsdale.
Even though the streets were practically empty, they could see how the pegasi were holding each other inside their houses while looking terrified at the windigoes. Seeing them from the ground was already horrifying but seeing them right next to you was definitely much worse. The young pegasus frowned in determination.
“Ok. I´ll keep trying.”
The other pegasi smiled at him and went back to work. Unfortunately, just at the moment the pegasus got confident, an enormous bugbear appeared and roared at them. Other bugbears, as well as cockatrices and manticores appeared behind them. The pegasi trying to block Cloudsdale flew away but were caught by bugbears. The manticores and cockatrices landed on Cloudsdale´s streets. Then, Discord appeared in a flash. He massaged his neck, feeling relieved that the chain wasn´t there anymore. The manticores and cockatrices were ready to break in the houses, but Discord stopped them.
“No, no. Leave it to me.” he told them as he shook his hands.
The creatures obeyed. Discord breathed in and out.
“I´m so sorry…” he whispered.
With his hands, he made all the pegasi levitate from their homes and moved them towards him. The pegasi yelled scared. Slowy, he descended from Cloudsdale and brought them to Grogar and the guards, making them land slowly. Then, they put cuffs on their hooves and put them on line as the bugbears, cockatrices and manticores landed. Discord could hear them making comments about him. He looked away in shame while holding his tail.
“Is this all the pegasi you could find?” he asked Discord.
“Yes, father.” he replied.
Grogar looked to the other monsters.
“Is he telling the truth?”
The monsters nodded.
“Very well.” Grogar walked to the pegasi. “We´ll make it simple. I´ll ask some questions to each of you and you will answer me honestly. Otherwise, you´ll pay the consequences.”
The monsters glared at the pegasi or licked their lips. The pegasi shook in fear. Grogar started interrogating a couple of pegasi.
“Are you close to Fluttershy?”
“No, sir. We know who she is, but we have never talked.” a pegasus replied.
“Did you help her to find a hideout? If so, where is she?”
“We have no idea. Please forgive us.” The ther pegasus answered desperate. The whole group bowed.
From their attitude, Grogar could see that they were telling the truth. But he wouldn´t let them go.
“Lock them up!” he ordered to the guards.
The guards took them and teleported to Canterlot. Grogar went to enquire the next pegasi.
“Do you know Fluttershy personally?”
“Well, we went to school with her but we didn´t talk much…”
“Do you know where she´s hiding?”
The pegasi shook their heads shyly. Grogar clenched his teeth.
“Take them away!” he ordered to the guards.
The same procedure was carried out. Grogar asked the same two questions to more pegasi and he always received the same answer.
“We don´t know.”
He grew more and more impatient, to the point that if another pegasus said the same sentence, he´d feed them directly to the manticores and bugbears or let the cockatrices turn them to stone. Discord noticed the change of mood and anxiously held his tail tighter.
What nopony noticed was that Fluttershy herself was coming to the scene. She made a whole to get out from the underground. She coughed and shook her body to clean herself. Then, she panted.
“Ok. I don´t know how, but I´m still alive.” she thought out loud.
She noticed some figures in the distance. To get a better view she took a few hoofsteps towards them, despite the fact that she barely had any strength left and her muscles ached a lot. She hid behind the nearest tree and leaned out her head a little. Her teal eyes filled with joy and sadness when they saw Discord. Happy, because she got to see him after this horrible time, but sad because he was completely broken. She was going to take a hoofstep to get closer to him but stopped when Grogar started talking to a pegasus mare and her foal. She gasped when she recognized the family. They were her parents´ neighbors!
“Tell me what you know about Fluttershy.”
The mare hugged her foal.
“Um… Not much. She´s Twilight Sparkle´s friend but I´ve never talked to her.”
Grogar frowned.
“And I suppose you don´t know where she´s hiding either, am I right?” he raised an eyebrow, making the two pegasi tremble in fear.
“No sir…”
Grogar sighed.
“Look. I´ve been asking several pegasi the same questions and I received the same answers over and over again. It´s impossible that every single pegasus in Cloudsdale is in the same situation. In other words, I think that you are lying to me. And I also think that the next in line are planning to as well.”
The pegasi dropped their ears. Grogar made a sign to the monsters to come closer.
“Do you know what happens when somepony lies to me?”
The mare´s and her foal´s breath accelerated when the monsters growled at them.
“That´s right. They end up in stone or as a meal. So, I´ll ask again. Are you close to her?”
The mare didn´t know what to do. Her foal put her hoof on her forelef and begged her with his eyes not to tell the truth. Slowly, the mare looked up.
“No.”
Grogar looked down and stared at the foal. He smirked in a way that horrified both the mother and the son.
“What a healthy colt you have in there. It would be a shame if something happened to him.”
“Wait. What?” the mare asked scared.
Grogar took the foal and maintained him with his magic in front of the hungry manticores.
“No, please! Don´t do that!” the mare begged with tears.
The guards held the mare, not because they wanted her to suffer. In fact, they were really uncomfortable with what Grogar was about to do, not caring about the fact that they weren´t unicorns like them.
“Lie again and this will be the last time you´ll see your son with life.” Grogar threatened her. “Answer me! Is she close to you?!”
“Mommy don´t say anything!” the foal told her mother.
Fluttershy knew she had to help her neighbors. She looked around her and saw a stone. Her magic was gone but maybe she still had her buckball abilities. She grabbed it with her tail, ready to throw it at Grogar.
The ram was about to drop him into a manticore´s mouth. That was until he saw Discord´s scared expression, which gave him an idea.
“No… Actually, my son Discord is going to kill him.”
Fluttershy gasped in unison with Discord. She released the stone from the shock.
“What?!” Discord asked.
Grogar released the child in front of Discord.
“What you heard. Make it quick if you don´t want him to suffer.” he ordered.
Discord looked at the child. He absolutely didn´t know what to do. If he didn´t do what Grogar said, Fluttershy would pay the consequences but he also didn´t like the idea of killing a foal. From the anxiety, he froze. Fluttershy watched anxiously the scene, worried about her friends.
“Need I to remind you what will happen if you don´t obey, Discord?” Grogar told him.
“Wait no!” the mare kicked the guards, which allowed her to break free. She flew as fast as she could and landed in front of her son. “Please, kill me instead. He´s done nothing wrong!” she begged Discord. Then, she looked at Grogar. “You said he was your child. You wouldn´t hurt him, so why would you hurt mine?”
Discord raised his ears. That phrase… He heard something similar in his dreams when he was younger and when the voice didn´t let him sleep. It was a very weird dream. He dreamed of being at the brink of falling into a well but didn´t because something else was holding him. Then, in the background a female voice was screaming.
“No! Don´t hurt him! He´s your child, you wouldn´t hurt him!”
Discord never knew who was screaming. All he could see was two blurry figures. One was blue, and the other was white. He was pretty sure that it was the white one who was yelling. But, why was he thinking about that now? This was the least perfect moment to remember it! And to make matters worse, the voice that sang to him before was singing now. He was about to cover his ears until that same voice spoke.
“Remember.” it said.
Remember? What did he need to remember? Was it talking about the dream? It was just a silly dream!
That was until he finally put faces to the figures in his dreams. The blue one was Grogar, and he was also the one who was about to throw him to the well. The other, was none other than his father´s archenemy, Gusty the Great! But why was she begging Grogar not to hurt him?
But then other scenes came into play. It was him as a very little draconequus with Gusty. They were playing, laughing and talking to each other. At that moment, Discord realized that the dream he had was no dream. It was a memory! The other scenes playing in his mind were also memories! It was then when he understood everything. Gusty´s spirit was trying to make him remember how much she loved him! That Grogar was wrong about nopony loving him before running away.
His breath started accelerating at the realization. Grogar´s voice brought him back to reality.
“Discord! DISCORD!”
Discord shook his head quickly.
“Carry on the order!” Grogar exclaimed.
Discord remembered the situation he was in. Grogar ordered him to kill a child in front of his mother, who was begging in tears to let him be. Discord frowned.
“No.” he said.
Everypony, including Fluttershy, gasped. Grogar widened his eyes.
“What did you say?” Grogar asked angrily and calmly at the same time.
“I said no.” Discord turned around to confront him face to face.
“If you don´t do as I say I´m going to kill her in the most painful way I can come up with!” Grogar threatened. “Do it, Discord!”
“You lied to me.” Discord replied back.
“What?”
“You lied to me! All my life you told me that nopony would ever accept me but there was a mare that accepted me way before Fluttershy. And that was Gusty!”
Grogar widened his eyes slowly.
“What´s wrong father? Cat got your tongue?” Discord raised his eyebrow.
Quickly and unexpectedly, Grogar went on to fire at the pegasi with his magic, but Discord created a force camp to protect them with his lion paw and snapped his eagle claw and made them as well as the guards disappear. Eventually, Grogar broke his force camp and shoot him right at the heart with his magic. Discord cried in pain as he fell backwards. Fluttershy gasped worried.
“I´ve had it! I thought that the tricks Gusty and Fluttershy played on you were irreversible. But I was wrong… You are no use to me… I should have never created you in the first place!” he looked at the bell. “But luckily I can change that.”
Discord closed his eyes. But just before Grogar could ring the bell, something hit his neck. It hit him so hard that it threw him to the ground. Discord looked around and saw Fluttershy standing on a rock.
“You. Are. Over.” she told Grogar with all her hatred.