The water drop sounds could be heard throughout the cavern as Discord led the group. In the surrounding darkness, nobody tried to even make a peep, even if the light source from the draconequus’ eyes illuminated the path. One saving grace in their current position was that the inside of the mountain didn’t seem as pointy as outside, otherwise, the whole place would’ve felt even more foreboding with the constant fear of impalement.
“Odd?” he said.
“What is?” Fluttershy asked.
“This pathway,” Discord responded. “It seems as if it’s been dugout.”
Twilight listened to his words and stepped closer to the wall, lighting up her horn for the light source. “You know, now that you mention it you may be right, Discord. It almost looks as if the walls have been clawed up in certain places, the stalactites broken. Almost as if something big tried to make its way in.”
The Lord of Chaos twirled his beard. “Maybe after all this time some creature made its home here. In which case, we may have gained some time if the one seeking the Collar of Dominion will have a hard time getting past-”
A loud splash followed. Everybody stood still, wondering what just fell in the water until they realized they were one pony short.
“AAAH COLD!!!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she swam to the surface of the cold cave pond.
Twilight grabbed the blue pegasus and put her back on the solid ground. “You really need to watch your step, Rainbow Dash.”
“It’s not my fault, the ground here’s so slippery.” she said in jittery anger, “This is the second time in less than a week that I got “iced”. Why does this keep happening to me?!”
“Maybe life’s just giving you a… cold shoulder,” Discord quipped.
“Discord, that’s not funny!” she yelled.
A roar suddenly echoed through the cavern. Everybody immediately huddled together at draconequus’ side. Soon, a loud stomping sound followed; it was drawing closer by the minute.
“Wha-wha-wha-what is that?” the wonderbolt asked, still shivering from cold.
“My guess would be the thing that made itself at home here,” Discord said, cracking his fingers. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
It was almost there, the loud noise it was making growing ever louder. Finally, they could see something in the dark: a pair of red eyes lighting up. And another pair. And a third pair. Six red eyes were suddenly approaching fast. The Lord of Chaos raised his hand, ready to snap when all of a sudden…
“STOP!” the yellow pegasus cried out.
Suddenly the loud tapping noise went silent and the approaching eyes stood still, but she instead traipsed over to them.
“Fluttershy, no!” Spike called to her.
But it was already too late, as she stopped at hoof’s reach of the massive form, to whom the glowing red eyes belonged. The eyes lowered to her level and a sniffing sound followed. A bark came out in three rows, along with a panting sound.
“Yes, there’s a good boy. Yes, he is, yes he is,” the yellow pegasus started making baby talk as she stroked the creature's face.
The rest of the group looked at one another. Then Discord turned on his flashlight eyes even further, illuminating even more of the cave. What they saw was a giant black, all too familiar three-headed dog.
“Cerberus?” Rarity couldn’t believe it. “What in Equestria is he doing all the way out here?”
“If he went for a walk, that sure was a long one,” Pinkie Pie jokingly prod what Twilight said earlier.
The Princess gave her a quick glare before moving forward to the guard dog, who laid by the side of the animal whisperer as she rubbed his faces. “Fluttershy, can you ask him why he’s here and not guarding the Tartarus?”
She nodded and stopped petting the oversized puppy. “Come on, boy. Tell me why you’re so far from your home?”
The dog went quiet and then started to make whining noises. A few moments passed and he finally went silent.
“He’s saying that he was led here by father, along with all the prisoners from Tartarus,” she exposited.
“Father? Who’s the father?” Twilight wanted to know.
Fluttershy looked at Cerberus, who was making giant begging eyes. “He can’t say it. He’s too terrified to speak his name.”
“This father… could he be after the collar?”
The alicorn suddenly felt brushed by her side, as draconequus went past her to Fluttershy’s side.
“Then we can’t waste any more time. Fluttershy, can you ask this K9 if he can find this?” he asked, conjuring an image of Collar of Dominion.
The timid pegasus looked back at Cerberus. “What do you say, boy? Can you find this for us?”
The guard dog got back on his feet and let out a few barks, before running off.
“He said he knows where it was!” she answered.
Discord snapped his fingers and dressed up as an aristocratic hunter. “Well let’s not dally any longer! Follow that mutt!”
He charged after the Cerberus, the rest of the mares, and the dragon following close behind. Twilight, however, noticed something was off with him. The way he pushed them to hurry up without even trying to console everybody else on the matter. What was forcing him? And this father that the guard of Tartarus mentioned; Discord mentioned he could think of only one being that could bring the monsters out without a problem, but he dismissed it as impossible. Was this “father” perhaps the culprit then?
They rushed down the corridors in the mountain, following the three-headed dog as he led them through the cavernous labyrinth. Several minutes passed before he finally stopped as the light appeared at the end of a long tunnel. A narrow stone bridge stood before a wide-open cavern, connecting it to a stone cell, surrounded by hanging pointy rocks on the other side. Cerberus stopped and refused to go further, Fluttershy questioning him.
“He’s saying it was in there,” she pointed over the bridge.
Applejack looked over the edge of the bridge and got cold feet after noticing they were above a bottomless chasm. “Whoa nelly, we’ll have to go slowly, one by one, everypony. I’ll go-“
The Lord of Chaos snapped his fingers and they immediately all appeared on the other side of the bridge, the country pony finishing her sentence in the meantime. “- first… or you can just do that.”
“You’re welcome,” Discord said with a smug expression, letting them enter the cell first.
It was dim. The slightest source of light was coming from protrusions in the wall, but it was enough to make out the shapes in the room. Rubble of giant stones littered the floor and on the far end, they could see a large pedestal.
“This is it,” he told them. “The Collar of Dominion is sitting over there.”
“How can you be so sure?” Rainbow Dash questioned him.
He groaned. “Can you guys just take my word for a change?”
He moved forward, with the rest following him. They approached the pedestal in the room to claim their prize, but as they reached it, they found…
“Nothing?” Rarity reacted. “Discord, this is nothing but a pedestal.”
The Lord of Chaos looked about. “This… this doesn’t make sense. It’s supposed to be right here.”
“If it’s not here, then maybe we’ve come too late and perpetrator already skedaddled away with the Collar,” Applejack voiced her opinion.
“No,” Discord responded, “we probably would’ve been given a sign that somepony already took it.”
“Maybe it just fell over somewhere?” the Princess wondered. “It’s been such a long time since this place was set up, maybe the artifact just fell over and is under rocks somewhere in the room, right?”
“I… suppose that's possible.”
“Well, let’s get started then,” she walked over to one of the rocks. “I bet the Collar is right under… here?”
Nothing happened. Twilight tried to use her magic to lift one of the giant rocks, yet it didn’t budge. She moved on to another, but it wouldn’t move either. What was wrong? Was her magic not working? She tried to cast a simple spell, yet her magic just evaporated.
“Rarity, can you try using your magic?” she asked her.
The fashionista did as she asked. She tried to cast a simple light spell, and just like Twilight’s magic, it evaporated.
“What’s happening?” she wondered. “Discord, you didn’t tell us this place was warded against magic.”
Draconequus snapped his fingers, fizzling out just like for the mares. “Odd, I don’t remember there being a ward against magic here. Unless…”
He froze. There was something in the back of his mind that didn’t seem right. He had to make sure.
The Lord of Chaos set a question for the timid pony. “Fluttershy, did Cerberus say where the Collar “was” instead of saying “is” specifically?
“Yes, why?” Fluttershy confirmed.
A realization suddenly came over him and let out a loud cry. ”EVERYPONY! GET OUT NOW!”
They looked at him in confusion as he ran for the entrance.
“Discord, what are you doing?” Rainbow Dash questioned him.
From the draconequus she received an instantaneous reply. “IT’S A TRAP!”
The moment everybody else realized that they dashed for it. Discord leaped through the entrance, but after that, it was already too late for the rest; the giant stone spikes that hung over the entrance suddenly collapsed and blocked it out, as if they were prison bars.
“DISCORD, HELP!!!” numerous voices cried out through the barred stone cell.
The Lord of Chaos got back on his feet, then started to levitate. He was able to use magic again, which meant it was only the inside of the cell that was canceled out. This also presented a problem since it meant he’d have to get some actual tools to bust open the prison that was warded against magic. Voices of his friends would soon be overshadowed, however, as loud monstrous roars came from the other side of the bridge, accompanied by a stampeding sound. Soon numerous ghastly creatures appeared and blocked the only exit and it was Cerberus’ barking that kept them at bay from crossing the bridge to them. They’ve been set up. Whoever was looking for the Collar of Dominion already came and left, leaving behind the monsters he freed behind, to make sure his pursuers would be kept occupied for a long time. He miscalculated, however. He didn’t take into account that the one guarding the prison would turn on the prisoners, and the second thing was, of course, himself.
He cracked his hands. “No worries, ladies, in a snap, maximum two, I’ll deal with these cretins, and then I can focus on getting all of you out.”
“Will you now?”
“Of course I will. I-“
The six mares noticed a sudden change in Discord’s behavior, as he made such a sour expression that his muzzle imploded into his face. It was the voice, one that didn’t come from any of them. It was old and grizzled, and its origin came from the other side, where the gaggle of monsters had just appeared, who at the moment the words were spoken, all went silent and meek. The sound of hooves tapping against the solid stone echoed all around them. Even though Cerberus blocked everybody’s view inside the cell, they could all clearly see the creatures meekly stepping aside to whoever was approaching. Suddenly the tapping stopped.
“Cerberus,” the voice spoke again in a calm tone, “heel.”
When the three-headed guard dog was ferocious a moment ago, at the drop of a word, he put his tail between his legs, whined, and slowly walked towards it. As he did, Discord's eyes slowly turned to the back of his head to observe what came up next; the Tartarus’ guardian stepped to the side and finally revealed the person to whom the voice belonged. A tall blue furred ram with great black horns stood there, surrounded by whimpering creatures that were numerous times bigger than himself; around his neck, he wore a red leather color engraved with golden runes, and hooked on it, hanging from its middle, was a familiar runed bell, carved from a green stone.
A low chuckle escaped him, as he smiled. “Hello again, draconequus.”
The group of ponies was close enough to hear their chaotic companion, even though he could barely harness enough strength in his voice to let out a whisper. “Grogar…”
“Wait… THAT’S GROGAR!?” Pinkie Pie made herself loud and clear before the following words came in a lower note. “He doesn’t look that scary.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash soon joined in, “it’s probably just Chrysalis in disguise, trying to scare us!”
“I agree!” Rarity added. “That explains why our magic doesn’t work in here!”
“Ah concur, though Ah dunno how she’s been able to do it,” Applejack capped it off.
Twilight’s gaze was focusing all around in the meantime; for this to be Queen Chrysalis it just didn’t add up. But her sight did wander off to the yellow pegasus who gazed into the distance with a depressed expression.
“Fluttershy, what is it?” she asked.
“They’re afraid,” the timid one replied, as she saw the monsters’ forlorn faces, “they’re all so afraid of him.”
“Of course they are,” another voice finally spoke, everybody finally turning their attention to draconequus. “His will, his very presence exudes domination and despair. There isn’t a monster in the world that doesn’t become submissive by his side.”
And for the Princess of Friendship, it all finally clicked into place. “Fluttershy, you were right. The monsters… they did just quietly walk out of Tartarus. HE made them… and that’s why Cerberus disappeared,” she looked at the Lord of Chaos. “He was the one you meant, wasn’t he, Discord? The only one you said that could do it?”
He nodded. “Now you understand why this can’t be Chrysalis. She may replicate appearances, but she can’t copy the feeling of one’s presence.”
“And neither could you,” the old grizzled voice spoke again, catching the attention of the Lord of Chaos.
The old ram made a few steps forward, before speaking again. “I’ve heard a lot about what you’ve been doing in my absence, draconequus. To think that you, of all creatures, had to nerve to pose as me. The associate of mine and her two cohorts may have been easily fooled by your appearance but were that actually me, I would’ve not been backstabbed from naivety. All that bravado, for what? To “help” your friends?” his cackle echoed. “Funny how the cycle repeats itself.”
“I… I dunno what you’re talking about, Grogar,” Discord said, in a confused tone, unsure what he’s referring to.
The ram made a hard stomp, causing the creatures behind him to cower. “Such disrespect… you will address me by the proper title, draconequus.”
The Lord of Chaos finally rose to his full height, defiant. “No. I refuse to use that word to describe somecreature as repulsive as you.”
“My my, such defiance. Seems I’ll have to put you back into the proper place then. And you’ve personally provided me with the means to do so,” he proudly brushed the red strap of enchanted leather around his neck that held the green bell.
“Wait a minute!” the voice came out, belonging to the purple mare behind bars. “It was you!? You’re the one responsible for giving Discord his nightmare?!”
Grogar laughed. “And how many names did he have to go through before he finally picked that one for himself? Well, not that it matters. If it will sate your curiosity, little pony, the answer is no; I may have been the one who provided the proper imagery but it was another creature solely responsible.”
“Who?” she kept questioning him. “Who is this creature?”
“To be frank, little pony, I don’t know. So much has happened and changed in the time of my absence. It was the one that awaited me when I returned. The shadow wisp’s nature eludes me, what I do know, however, is that DOUBT is his forte-“
“Emm, excuse me, not that I want to interfere in this fascinating exchange of information between two rulers, but care to explain why are you still even talking to us?” Discord broke the conversation between them. “You already got your blasted Collar back, so why wait for us?”
“Oh, I’m in no rush, draconequus,” he responded, “but if you’re in such a hurry, then fine, I’ll get to the point, for your own detriment. Yes, I’ve got both my Collar and the Bell back, but alas, the power that I’ve stored into the Bell itself has long since been purged… thanks to you. Hence I will require a new source of magic… namely yours.”
A brief moment after that sentence ended, hysterical laughter followed, echoing throughout the cavern, as Discord laughed uncontrollably. “I’m… I’m sorry, are you serious? You’ve literally just appeared before me and announced that you want to take my chaos magic? Don’t you think that’s kind of counterproductive? I mean you could’ve just waited in the shadow and sneak-attacked me; I likely wouldn’t have seen it coming. But since you’ve made your intentions clear, I could just fly or teleport away and you’d gain nothing. Don’t you feel even a bit stupid?”
Grogar grumbled to himself. “I suppose you’re right. You could just run away from me at a moment’s notice. But if you do that, then who will protect those in the cage…” he nodded at the prisoners, before nodding back at the menagerie behind him, “… from them?”
Now it made sense to Discord why he decided to be conspicuous; he made sure that the deck was stacked in his favor. No way he could just leave Fluttershy and the rest at the hands of monsters, not when they’re under the ram’s command.
And then it began. Grogar turned his head, looking at the chimera, and motioned her to move forward. She meekly walked to the front and when she locked her eyes at the draconequus, her feline, goat, and snake heads roared and then breathed flame at him. With a snap of the finger, he transformed it into confetti. A yeti walked to the front, roared, and shot an ice beam at him. A snapping sound came and it turned into a splash of water. Suddenly, a single loud stomp echoed. Their master beckoned them, getting their attention. And as every monster surrounding the ram looked at him, he simply uttered one word.
“Together.”
Like an explosion, the entire cavern echoed with all sorts of violent sounds. Magic, even boulders started to fly across the air, cause by the monsters in an attempt to harm their target. But it was all to no avail, as the Lord of Chaos simply redirected all of it into the chasm below.
“Okay, now I’m getting pretty sick and tired of this,” Discord groaned.
His hands began to glow, locked his gaze onto the army, and unleashed his chaos magic at them, a wave of light blinding everybody. When the brightness subsided, the monsters recovered and roared in fury… in a really high-pitched voice. The draconequus had turned every single creature at Grogar’s side into a baby version of themselves. Finally, he enlarged his head and let out a loud BOOO, scaring every juvenile creature, having them run off to cry and cower behind their master’s feet.
“Well well well,” the old ram rubbed his bearded chin with his hoof. “I must say, I’m impressed. Without as much as breaking a sweat you’ve reduced them all to sniveling little cubs.”
“That’s right, Grogar,” the blue pegasus shoved her arrogance in his face, “Discord can beat any monster you throw at him!”
“Oh really?” he frowned at the prisoner. “Well, there’s still one monster left he’s yet to overcome.”
“Yeah? Who?”
A vile grin curled up upon his face. “Me.”
And the attitude on Rainbow Dash faltered for a moment, but neither she nor the rest expected what followed. “But considering what monumental power he bears, what could I, armed with an empty container for magic and a collar that only provides me with a small amount of it, do against him? I suppose I can just lay down my arms and accept my inevitable end.”
“Is he bein’ serious?” country pony was confused.
And as on cue, she received her answer, as the ram’s horns lit up in a dark light, the collar around his neck came off and put it on the ground, then stepping on it as he turned his back to everybody.
“There,” he said, “I’ll even make it as easy as possible for you since there’s no point in trying to fight back. I accept my fate.”
A momentary silence fell on the scene and nobody had any idea how to treat the situation.
“Seriously? That’s it?” Pinkie Pie finally broke it. “This is kinda anticlimactic.”
“Ya know, Ah’m baffled myself that he decided to just give up,” Applejack scratched her head, “but if that stops him and any plans he had in mind, Ah’m not gonna lose any sleep over it.”
“Go get him, Discord!” cheered Rainbow Dash.
Soon other voices join in on cheering for Discord to finish off Grogar. Everybody except Twilight and Fluttershy. They noticed something was off; not just that a horrifying legend from a distant past simply decided to give up, but also because of Discord himself, as he was suddenly showing signs of hesitation, sweat running down his brow. But why? Why was he hesitating to raise his hand against him, when he so easily took care of Grogar’s monsters?
“Discord, what’s wrong?” the timid pegasus spoke, letting Twilight know that she wasn’t the only one in the crowd to notice something was off.
“What are you waiting for, draconequus?” the ram said, still turned with his back to him. “Aren’t you going to do the right thing? Wipe me off the face of the world, and perhaps you’ll finally redeem yourself in the eyes of your friends for what you’ve done in the past…”
The princess could see it; the Lord of Chaos was sweating even more profusely now. For some reason, he was holding himself back on using his powers.
“… or perhaps,” the old ram’s head started to turn just so slightly, so that his eye could be seen only barely, his voice remaining completely calm, “you’re simply afraid of what your actions will do next? That your attempt to help your friends will only bring them more harm… just like you did it to HER?”
The moment that the last sentence was uttered, Discord’s demeanor completely changed; from hesitant, to absolute spite. His hands began to glow and he focused a beam of chaos magic at the old ram, who has willingly resigned to his fate.
There was a sound that resembled a loud crackling thunder, that echoed for hundreds of miles, yet those who heard it were left perplexed, as there was no cloud in the sky anywhere in the distance. As for those who witnessed what caused the thundering sound, they were all left agape at the maw, completely flabbergasted. There was simply no more roof of the cavern and the entire mountain was blown clean off; the Jagged Ridge had lost its edge.
“Whoa... Discord I think you overdid it,” Rainbow Dash finally spoke, still shaken for what just happened.
“That would be an understatement, Dash,” Applejack replied. “He just blew the entire mountain top off.”
“I’m… I’m still trying to recover from all of this,” Rarity waved her hoof in front of her face, “but at least we’ve solved the problem, right?”
Twilight still couldn’t believe it the Lord of Chaos did it; she only saw what he did to the Everfree Forest through his flashback, but to see it happen in person, it was downright terrifying when he got really serious, so she was glad that he was now on their side. But as she looked at him, the expression on draconequus’ face betrayed the state of the situation; it was different than it looked.
“Discord?” the shy pony next to her addressed him after she recovered from the shock, noticing exactly what the purple mare did. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you just win?”
“No…” he replied with a clearly visible anxious look on his face, the hands with which he just tore apart the mountain, shaking.
“How disappointing…”
Suddenly a laugh followed, grabbing everybody’s attention. The dust that the mountain’s destruction kicked up was blown away by the hot draft that came from the Nether Lands, revealing the grizzled blue ram still standing there, completely unharmed, along with the shrunken monsters that cowered at his feet, revealing the visible markings of the range at which the chaos magic has passed him.
He slowly turned, putting on his Collar of Dominion upon which the Bewitching Bell was hooked once more. “All that power to bend reality to your will, and yet you couldn’t make yourself to harm even a single hair on me… Just as we both knew it would happen.”
It didn’t take long before critiques piled on, starting with the wonderbolt. “Discord, what the hay!!! You just missed him on purpose!”
“I agree!” fashionista followed. “Why would you go so far, but still miss him?!”
“Is this another one of your tricks to make us learn something?! ‘Cuz this really ain’t the time!” country pony joined.
“Yeah, at this point even I’m not finding this funny!” the party planner responded to the situation.
“Everypony, please calm down,” Fluttershy urged them, “I know this looks bad, but he must have a good reason.”
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I have to agree with others,” the Princess of Friendship finally stepped in. “If this is the real Grogar, then we can’t take this light-heartedly.” She turned to face the draconequus. “So why would you purposely not harm him after you just blew up the Jagged Ridge?”
His back was still turned to them and after a momentary pause, he finally spoke. “I… can’t.”
“What do you mean “you can't”?!” more critiques ensued. “Just aim directly at him and fire! Why is it so hard for you to-!“
“EVERYPONY, YOU’RE NOT LISTENING TO WHAT I’M SAYING!” he finally raised his voice at them as he turned, silencing all of them. “I want to, believe me; out of all the creatures in the world I’m the first who would want to see him wiped out… but I just can’t.”
After his voice finally went silent, the shy pegasus was the only one who actually asked the relevant question. “But why, Discord? Why can’t you hurt him?”
The sinister laugh came from the old ram behind them. “Yes draconequus, explain to them why is it that you can’t hurt me? Or do you perhaps fear, that knowing the truth about you will have them think even less of you than they already do?”
The Lord of Chaos slowly turned to face him… or was it so that he didn’t have to face the gazes of prisoners.
“Discord, what’s he talking about?” Twilight asked him.
Some time passed, yet he didn’t respond, his back still turned to them, so Rarity tried to get his attention. “Come on Discord, tell us what he means.”
“Tell us the truth, Discord. You trust us, right?” Applejack chipped in.
But he didn’t. Nobody could tell why, but the draconequus simply refused to acknowledge them.
“Nothing?” Grogar finally spoke, after the time passed when no words were exchanged. “Very well then. If you won’t speak, then I’ll enlighten your friends, draconequus.”
Discord’s eyes raised to face him, almost pleading, as if his words didn’t make it clear. “Please... don’t.”
“Or what? You have no power over me to prevent me from breaking my silence.”
“Then speak already, Grogar! What is it that Discord doesn’t want to tell us? Why can’t he hurt you?” Twilight called from the distant prison.
“It’s very simple, pony,” the old ram smiled, “you see, in my long life I’ve learned many of its lessons. One that I’ve taken to heart was the knowledge that, whether a monster, a pet, a child, or whatever you choose to call that which you raise through your own sweat and blood, will inevitably bite the very hand that feeds it.”
“Now that’s just plain silly!” Applejack voiced her opinion. “That never happens in life if ya treat your pets well.”
“Well, technically Gummy still bites me regularly,” Pinkie Pie followed up to her statement.
“Pinkie, that’s not really helping my case,” she argued.
“Huh, amusing,” the old ram gave out a chuckle. “But it is a lesson I learned firsthand; I was the instigator after all. I understood that the very thing I did, someone else would inevitably do to me. And it is for this very reason that I took necessary precautions; I made sure that any creature I shaped as I desired with my dark powers, would have an integrated active compulsion to never bring harm upon its maker in any way.”
Nobody present was sure how much time had passed after those words were spoken; for one or two it took a moment before the words that were said finally settled in, for them to grasp the gravity of what was just said, and it could be told from the looks on their faces that it finally clicked for them. Suddenly, a loud and prolonged gasp came from inside the cage, as if the pink pony was trying to desperately grasp for air after asphyxiation.
Loud words soon followed. “WHAAAAAAAT?! YOU MEAN YOU’RE DISCORD’S-!”
The sentence couldn’t be finished as the lord of Chaos reached inside the bars with his hand to shut her mouth. “Pinkie, I would ask kindly, and greatly appreciate for you NOT to say that word, especially in HIS case, it just rubs me the wrong way.”
“But… but that doesn’t make any sense…” Twilight struggled to understand. “Discord… he’s a creature of chaos from another dimension. How could you have… created him?”
The old ram laughed. “Of course he would claim otherwise. How else could he stroke his own ego, considering that he was the lowest of the low; for in a world that I created, the strong preyed on the weak. And it was only because he was a slippery little weasel that he managed to survive. I’m still not sure how he’s managed to acquire such powers, but as it stands, my words hold.”
The Lord of Chaos parted from the cage, turning his back against the mares once more.
“Discord… is this true?” Applejack questioned him.
The draconequus finally made a nodding gesture, speaking at last. “So now that you finally know… will you scorn me?“
He waited. He had been hiding it for so long, and for him to finally reveal it after all they’ve been through he expected that there will be repercussions for his actions. He felt a sudden tug at his tail, and then a forceful pull caused him to fall. He turned his head and noticed a pair of yellow hooves reaching out through the stone bars and pulling him in.
“Look everypony, you have every right to be upset!” he self-flagellate himself, not even trying to resist the drag. “I’m a monster created by the evilest creature that ever lived. I completely understand that-!“
As he got pulled into the bars, six pairs of multi-colored hooves came out through the bars and they all embraced him.
“How can you even say that, Discord? To us of all ponies?” the alicorn scolded him.
“For somepony as upbeat as you, it’s just unlike you to go into a complete downer at the drop of a hat,” Pinkie Pie quipped.
“Even when your actions are misguided at times, we know you still want the best for everypony,” fashionista added.
The draconequus heard everything, yet there was still this feeling at the back of his head. “But I’m a-“
“You’re not a monster, Discord,” the shy pegasus said, snuggling his tail. “You're a wonderful, mystical creature of Chaos.”
He was nearly moved to tears by their kind words, thinking himself foolish that he thought even for a moment that his friends would look down on him for revealing that he was a product of the one who created monsters.
He reached with his hands inside the cage, and only then remembered something inconvenient. “You know, I’d hug all of you at once but… you know, magic nullifying field and all that.”
They laughed.
“How touching,” the grizzled voice behind them spoke, reminding them what situation they found themselves in. “But need I remind you that your position hasn’t improved?”
Discord finally put on his serious face, rose back on his feet, and faced the old ram. “Let me correct you, Grogar. The situation hasn’t improved for you. I may not be able to hurt you, but in the same vein, you cannot hurt me either. As far as I see, we’re at an impasse.”
He did it. He finally stood up to the worst creature he’s ever known. And he wasn’t just blowing hot air, he had what he needed and his adversary couldn’t do a thing about it. However, that soon changed. They were no longer surrounded by rock, so there wouldn’t be an echo, as suddenly a cackle came out of the ram.
“Oh, you are so horribly wrong, draconequus,” Grogar grinned. “This encounter is about to conclude because you will surrender your power to me… WILLINGLY.”
The rise of Discord’s confidence halted. The tone of Grogar’s voice; the way he said it, sounded as if he was absolutely sure with what he was claiming. But what can he still do? What ace did he still have up his sleeve?
“Oh yes? And how do you figure?” he asked.
“You will do it… because I know your biggest weakness,” Grogar proclaimed.
The Lord of Chaos glanced back at the stone cage, just to reassure himself before answering. “Sorry to disappoint you, but Fluttershy is still inside and you can’t reach her without going through me.”
“I’m not speaking of her, draconequus.”
Discord was confused by what he said. “Huh? Wait… then who?”
“You know her all too well. She was the first and only being to have ever shown you kindness in your pathetic existence.”
In the beginning, the Lord of Chaos couldn’t understand who he was talking about. But then memory took him back, to a far distant time and place. He recalled a dark world, once ruled over by a dark overlord, watching over the realm of monsters, where survival of the fittest was the law. And he himself, a lowly creature who would be constantly on the run from being devoured by his greater kin. And then… she came; a foreigner from a far-off land. He recalled her visage, and he finally understood… but what the enemy was saying made no sense.
“But… that was such a long time ago that she’s-“ he spoke, but soon got interrupted.
“Gone? Allow me to rectify that statement,” Grogar grinned.
The ancient ram’s horns began to glow as he cast a spell. A portal made of dark light suddenly opened on the floor and through it, a giant yellow orb arose. Even from the distance, everybody else could see what it was: a prison; a shape of a small equine was inside.
“Recognize her?” Grogar questioned his creation, as he brought the orb closer to his side.
The rest of the gang couldn’t tell from their distance, and even up close that wouldn’t help, however, one look at draconequus’ reaction gave away that he definitely knew this mare prisoner, as a single word escaped his mouth. “Gusty?”