Discord glanced around with a blank stare as a heavy sigh past his lips. The castle was still in the same decrepit state that he had last remembered it; almost as if someone had plucked the building from time itself and thrust it back into the present. The walls still sat in their half crumbled states, and the floor still bore scares that were inflicted long ago.
He could still remember that fateful day; the memory was still so vivid he highly doubted he would ever forget it. It was as if he could see Celestia standing before him; her expression filled with not love, but hate.
Sometimes I forget how much she hated me… How much we hated each other…
He could still hear her cold, inane voice echoing through his ears mere moments before he was imprisoned. Aside from when Celestia had first broken his heart, it was the most painful moment in his life.
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“Discord! Your reign of chaos and terror ends here! There’s nowhere left to run!” Celestia roared as she slammed her hooves against the stone floor, the sound echoing throughout the massive, open throne room. Standing beside the regal white alicorn was Luna, whose dark blue coat stood as a strong contrast to her sister’s bright natural color.
A deep, animalistic growl came from Discord as he eyed the two alicorns, nothing but hate and anger bubbling up from deep inside of him. After all he had done, it had finally came down to this; just him and the two sisters. After all his tireless efforts of searching and hunting for Celestia, she had come to him willingly, but her purpose was not what he had originally intended. “It’s been a long time, Celestia… Do you remember when we last met? When you crushed my heart and all my dreams?” He hissed to her, his much deeper tone of pain being buried by his intense hatred of her.
“You’re a monster, and that’s all you ever were! You never even loved me! Luna was right about you!” Celestia declared as she took a step towards the Draconequus’s twisted throne.
Discord’s frown shaped into a furious scowl as he continued to watch her. Just seeing her standing there brought forth old memories of pain, which then manifested itself as anger. He truly hated her now, and wished nothing but to watch her die a horrible, painful death. The mere thought of it brought a smile to his lips. “You’re right… I am a monster…” With that he raised a claw and an odd aura surrounded both of the royal sisters. With just a flick of his wrist the two alicorns were thrown across the room, their impacts against the wall echoing all around them.
Celestia slouched down against the wall before falling to the ground in a heap. The impact against the dense stone wall had been painful, but not severe enough to cause any serious damage. After a moment, she jumped to her hooves and charged towards the Draconequus.
“Stupid girl…” He growled as he once again picked her up with his reality bending powers. She struggled and flailed in the air fruitlessly, trying with all her might to break his telekinetic grip. She was finally in the palm of his hand. After all this time, he could make her feel the same pain he had experienced. He would break her, slowly and painfully. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, Celestia… I just want you to remember that you deserve every agonizing second of this…” He smirked to her as he stared into her eyes. This was all he wanted now. He didn’t want to love her and be together like those days long past. Now he merely wanted to cause her pain. A great deal of pain.
Discord raised his lion’s paw and pressed two of his fingers together. Just as he was about to inflict the first painful, torturous blow to Celestia, he was hit directly in the chest with a burst of light. His body froze up, and the alicorn broke free from his grip.
“Alright Luna, now!” Celestia declared as their horns light up. He could only watch in horror as six separate gems appeared from seemingly nowhere, each casting a colored light onto him. Unbeknownst to him, they were the Elements of Harmony, the secret weapon the two alicorns had brought to topple his reign of tyranny. The stunning spell Luna had cast kept him efficiently locked in place as the lights grew brighter, finally joining together in a brilliant rainbow. He was hit full force with the blast, and in fear, he watched as his body slowly turned to a dull, grey stone.
He glanced at Celestia as the stone enveloped everything up to his head, leaving the rest of his body locked in place. She merely stared at him, watching with a scowl as he was slowly imprisoned. She held no feelings of love for him anymore; hate had completely replaced those old emotions. So as the stone crossed over his eyes and he was placed into his thousand year prison, his heart broke a second time. The last real thing he saw before his seemingly eternal banishment was her face, twisted and morphed from that once perfect image he had loved.
Celestia…
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The intense light faded and Twilight Sparkle once again found herself in a remote part of the forest. It was much darker here, as the trees were old and had grown to massive proportions. She would have stopped to admire the giant oak tree standing near her, but there were far more pressing matters to attend to.
The lavender unicorn looked around, hoping to spot some sort of civilization through the thick foliage. Disappointingly however, she caught not a single glimpse of stone or any sort of ancient castle. This had been her seventh teleport, and the exhausting spell had been slowly sapping her strength. She could hardly stand, and wished nothing more than to close her eyes and drift off to a nice, relaxing dream.
No, Twilight! You have to find Discord and save the Princesses!
Twilight’s eyes immediately shot open and she stood at attention. Her mind was right; she had to concentrate on finding the castle, even if it required another exhausting teleport…
Sighing, she closed her eyes and teleported off to another part of the forest.
A mere second later Twilight found herself in a slightly similar looking part of the forest. For the eighth time, she began the quick search of the surrounding area, and just as the seven that preceded it she found nothing. Sighing once again she paced across a slightly open clearing, just a small gap in between the dense trees. The dirt was soft and felt good underneath her hooves. It would have been a great place to take a nap, but she knew better.
Remember, the Princess is counting on you! All of Equestria is counting on you! She told herself firmly, believing that the words would motivate her enough to cast another teleport spell. The lavender unicorn looked around a bit more, yet found this area of the forest just as abandoned and lifeless as the rest.
Maybe there isn’t a castle here; maybe I’m just imagining things… Twilight let out another sigh as she stopped, wondering if this indeed was the best way to find the wayward Draconequus. I do remember the Princess telling me though! It was a long time ago, before the wedding…
Twilight racked her brain, trying desperately to bring back the old memory and any accompanying facts that could help. All she could recall was a discussion with the Princess not long after they had sealed Discord away for a second time. They had been discussing the then evil villain, and the Princess had briefly remarked about a castle in the Everfree Forest…
“Ugh, why didn’t you pay more attention to her?!” Twilight scolded herself as she let out a heavy groan. “I’ll never find this stupid castle at this rate…” The lavender unicorn was far more preoccupied with putting herself down then paying attention to where she was walking, and because of this, she tripped over a root and began rolling down a hill.
After a quite painful decent down the bumpy hill, Twilight brushed the dirt off of herself and got to her hooves. “Why am I so stupid?! I can’t even walk right!” However, she quickly dropped her previous comment when she looked up, seeing a massive towering building of stone standing in front of her.
It was a large structure, though she was sure it was even bigger in its prime. Right in front of her was the main gate house, whose iron portcullis had long rusted away into nothing. Only a few levels of the castle were still standing, the upper levels having no doubt crumbled and fallen after many years. Trees, fungus and all sorts of vegetation were now the only occupants of the castle, as it had seemingly covered every inch of the decrepit stone.
“Th….th…” Twilight was at a loss for words as she looked at the old castle. “That’s it! I found it! Oh, thank Celestia!” She exclaimed in glee as she hurried through the gate and into the palace itself. I knew I could do it… now I just need to find Discord!
The next room was hardly different then the outside as the ceiling had crumbled away, leaving moss and vines to claim the once magnificent building. “Discord!” She called out into the empty room, frowning when she heard no reply. Well, I better start looking… It shouldn’t take too long to find him in this place, what with more than half of it being destroyed and all…
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“Have you two heard the news? It’s absolutely dreadful!” Rarity exclaimed to her friends as she hurried over to them, nearly tripping over her own hooves in the process. The two of them were standing beside the large fountain in Ponyville’s town square, talking about some idle banter.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack looked over to watch the prim white unicorn race over to them, stopping for one quick moment to make sure she had not chipped a hoof. After seeing that her perfect manicure was still intact, she finished the short walk and stood beside them.
“Oh, hey Rarity. What’s going on? Did Twilight find Discord?! Oh oh, I bet that’s the news, isn’t it!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down with glee at their apparent victory.
“Why would that be the news, Pinkie? She said it was dreadful, not good!” Applejack stated to her pink friend.
“Oh, right…”
Rarity merely rolled her eyes at her two incompetent friends and began explaining the situation. “I’ve just heard what’s going on in Canterlot, and it’s awful! This Arcana Council that Twilight was talking about have completely taken over the city! With no other rulers, the army has no choice but to listen to them!”
“So, you’re sayin’ that this council now rules Equestria?! But what about all the ponies still loyal to the Princesses?” Applejack quickly exclaimed, not having realized sooner that the situation was this serious.
“They said that the Princesses are dead and that the unicorns are the rightful rulers now! This whole thing is getting very dangerous, so I certainly hope Twilight finds Discord soon…” Rarity sighed as she glanced down at her hooves.
“Well, Dashie and Fluttershy are still out looking, but I don’t know if we can do this anymore… We looked everywhere Twilight suggested, and we didn’t find any sign of him!” Pinkie Pie said sullenly.
“I know, I suppose the only thing we can do now is hope that she finds him before things get any worse…”
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Discord clamped his eyes shut and tried to force out the old, painful memory. He had lived through that one at least a thousand times while he was imprisoned, and he really didn’t want to go through it again. Instead, he turned away from the spot she had stood, and looked grimly out the open roof.
“O that this too sullied flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fix’d his cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter. O God! God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!”
His words echoed back to him, seeming foreign and different then when they had first come out of his mouth. As if another person entirely had spoken them, and he was merely listening.
I didn’t think it would be this boring out here… But I deserve this, every agonizing second… This is the only place fit for monster like me…
Discord sighed and leaned back in his throne, his eyes glancing up at the vast starry night above him. Luna’s night was a beautiful thing; a true gift that he and many others often took for granted. The same could be said for Celestia’s sun, which rose in such a brilliant array of colors that not even the most skilled painter could capture a fraction of its beauty. It was just like her, perfect and flawless in every way.
And that’s why I can never be with her…
He closed his eyes and took in the eternal silence around him. It was dead quiet; not even a bird or mouse stirring through the old ruins of his once magnificent castle could be heard. The only thing he did hear was the soft sound of hooves on stone… no doubt his imagination once again recreating that fateful day.
He didn’t want to open his eyes; he didn’t want to once again see her standing there, her eyes ablaze with fury and hate. More hooftsteps came to his ears, yet he still kept his eyes shut to the imaginary sound. Go away… I can’t handle this again… go away…
He had loved her more than anything, and the time he had spent with her, however short, was worth the thousand years alone. He couldn’t stand seeing her that angry again, not after all the happiness they had just recently experienced.
The hoofsteps continued to grow louder as if she was getting closer and closer to him. He could hear somepony yelling, though he merely took it as her furious roars from the past. He kept his eyes closed, too afraid of the sight that was in front of him.
“Go away…” He mumbled into the empty room, still refusing to open his eyes. The yelling grew louder, and as it did Discord cringed. “Go away…” He repeated once more, wishing more than anything for the old memories to simply disappear.
However, it seemed she ignored his pleas, as the yelling still continued. He didn’t make out the words; he didn’t want to. Hearing them once was more than enough. He didn’t want to have to listen to Celestia’s angry insults and roars a second time.
“Go away…” His whole body was shaking now as he snarled at the air. “Go away!” The yelling didn’t stop. “Go away!” Still, it refused to halt and only grew louder. “GO AWAY!”
Discord yelled at the top of his lungs as his eyes shot open. His jaw immediately dropped at the sight in front of him. It wasn’t his imagination reliving old memories as he had thought. It was a unicorn. “T-twilight… Sparkle?”
“Discord! Finally, why didn’t you answer me before?! You were just sitting there yelling at me to go away!” Twilight exclaimed as she was finally glad to get a real response out of him. She had been absolutely delighted when she had first caught sight of him sitting on his throne, but was disappointed when he merely sat there with his eyes closed.
“I… I thought…” Discord’s voice trailed off as he tried to grasp the reality of the whole situation. Finally, after a few moments of thought, he spoke up once again. “Wh- what are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“There’s no time to explain, but you need to go back to Canterlot and save your wife! She’s in really big trouble!”
Discord was surprised at her words, since the very last thing he expected was the unicorn coming to get help. “Why? What’s wrong?!” He quickly snapped, concern for his wife the first thing coming to mind.
“The Arcana Council! They’ve rebelled against the Princesses and locked them up! You need to go back there and save them!” Twilight yelled as she jumped practically five feet in the air; time was of the essence and every second they spent talking was a second lost.
“T-The Aracana Council? I never…” Discord’s voice trailed off once again as he took in her words. After a few moments he sighed and leaned back in his throne. “…And just what can I do? I’m just a… monster…”
Twilight stared at him in complete surprise. She had expected the Draconequus to immediately rise to the occasion and go off to save the princess. “What are you talking about?! Get off your flank and go save the Princesses!”
“You just don’t understand Twilight… you never will…”
Finally, something triggered in the unicorn’s mind, and she remembered why he was acting so weird. “You still must be depressed! Listen Discord, your wife and all of Equestria needs you! Snap out of it and go save her!”
“I’m depressed, huh? Is that what you’d call it? I’d say I’m thinking more clearly than I ever have… Look at me Twilight; I’m the ugliest, most horrific creature in all of Equestria… Do you think I belong with Celestia? Do you think I belong anywhere in this world?” Discord mumbled as he continued to stare at her.
Twilight stood silent for a few seconds. She hadn’t expected him to still be depressed, let alone this far into it. “Of course you belong with her! She’s your wife and she loves you more than anything!”
“Maybe now, but it wasn’t always like that… Hate isn’t a strong enough word to describe what she felt for me… And she had good reason to; I destroyed her entire kingdom and replaced it with my own just because she rejected me… I caused so much pain and suffering, and for what? So I could see her suffer too? I’m a monster, Twilight, and I belong here...”
She couldn’t help but stare at him. Never before had she seen him in such a vulnerable state. He looked so weak and defenseless, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. “But Discord… That doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done. What really matters is what you do now, and that’s saving the Princesses!”
“And just how am I supposed to save her?! I couldn’t even save myself; instead I just became a twisted, freakish monster… She deserves so much more than me… What she deserves is some beautiful, strong stallion that could actually make her happy... All I ever did was cause her a bunch of stress…”
“Don’t think like that, Discord! You’re still just stuck in one of the stages! Now just snap your little talons and let’s go save Equestria, there’s no time to waste!”
Discord sighed and turned his head away from her. “Go away. Find somepony else to save her… I’ll just sit here and rot for the rest of time…”
Just like the other stages, it seemed impossible to change the Draconequus’s way of thinking. He was simply set on being depressed, and no matter what she said, he merely ignored her. But this was the most pivotal and important stage; after this would be acceptance. And with acceptance he would get the strength to save his wife.
I need to make him snap out of it, but how? He passed through all the other stages on his own, how am I supposed to do anything? Oh, Princess… I wish you were here…
Then it came to her, like a miracle, the idea suddenly appeared in her head. Grinning, she looked up at the depressed Draconequus. “Remember before the wedding, not long after my friends and I put you back in stone?”
Discord glanced up, slightly curious at her odd comment. “Yes…”
“Well, remember when the Princess came to you that night? When everything changed? She told me all about it and the exact words she said…”
The question brought the memory back to his mind, of that cold night in the garden when Celestia had for some reason visited him. He could still picture her face as she spoke; the sad, gloomy expression that had so deeply affected him along with her words.
“Now, whenever I look at you, I grow a hatred for myself. Remorse that maybe you could have been saved. I blame myself for what’s happened to you, and although you may have been a monster; although you may have wanted chaos… Maybe, just maybe, I….”
He quickly dismissed the memory and looked at Twilight with a angry scowl. “None of that matters anymore! Don’t you see? It’s as if fate itself doesn’t want us together! Our entire relationship has been marred by tragedy… From when she rejected me, to when she imprisoned me. From when I broke out the first time, to when you and Luna franticly tried to stop our wedding. And now, Celestia’s pregnant and some stupid council’s overthrown her… We don’t belong together, Twilight… I realize that now more than anything…”
“But… but…” Twilight’s voice slowly died as she continued to look at him. She had been so certain that that would have worked. Though she was now seeing that it was no different than the rest of her words.
Discord once again turned away from her. “Now leave… I hope you find somepony else to save her…”
Twilight sighed, and after a moment, she reluctantly began pacing away. There was just no way she could reach the Draconequus, giving up seemed like the only option. After a minute, she was out of the throne room, leaving Discord to sit alone.
She’ll find somepony… He told himself firmly, mostly as a way to combat the guilt he was feeling for leaving his wife. It’s just some weak council… in fact, I’m sure the guards have it all under control by now… Nothing’s wrong, I can just keep sitting here alone…
Deep down he missed her more than words could describe, but he knew he couldn’t go back. The universe just didn’t want them to be a couple. Even if she had… she had…
“I…” Tears were now pouring from her face, and it took all her strength to keep from falling to the ground in a sobbing fit.
The memory thrust itself back into his mind, her tears almost visible in the shimmering moonlight. In fact the sky tonight looked just as it had back then. Almost as if it was some sort of sign. No! Forget about it, I belong here… I just need to remember that…
Discord looked up, and standing right in front of him was Celestia, looking just as she did that night. Tears ran down her face, and her distressed state spoke just as clearly to him as it did back then. She looked up at him, staring right into his mismatched pupils.
“…Loved you…”
That was all it took. After those two words, Discord was on the stone floor bawling his eyes out. She had really loved him, even after all the pain and suffering he had caused. Despite being a monster, she had feelings for him, she had been able to get past all the horrible acts he had committed.
If she could do it, so can I…
After a moment, he quickly recomposed himself and got to his feet. Smiling for the first time in quite awhile, he raised his talons and a loud snap echoed through the stone chamber. The next second Twilight was standing in front of him, a very confused expression on her face.
“D-Discord?” She questioned, not understanding why she was suddenly back in the ruined throne room.
The Draconequus straightened his back and stood tall as he looked at her with a grin. “No time to explain, Twilight, we have my wife to save!”
Now understanding the situation, Twilight smiled back and jumped up in glee. “Yes, yes, yes!!! Let’s go kick some flank!”
“Yes, indeed! You know, I almost feel sorry for the Arcana Council. If they knew what I’m about to do to them, they never would have tried to overthrow my wife…” With that, Discord snapped his talons and he and Twilight disappeared, leaving the old castle behind him for good.