A claw tenderly caressed a lavish stone in an almost loving manner. Even through the shroud of black in the back of the temple, Maelstrom's vicious and gleeful grin could be seen as he looked over each and every one of his beautiful creations.
The rusted, colored stones lay there in his palm, each swimming with a hateful, and demonic aura. They were truly the most amazing creation, and far better than anything the other gods could come up with.
Especially Aegeus... Just the very name shuddering in his skull made the demon want to crush something in hate. He couldn't though. What was in his claws were his stones, and he didn't spend all this time, effort, and work into making something, just for it to be destroyed out of his own loathing of the alicorn.
“No...You must be kept in a safer place,” Maelstrom muttered to the stones as he carefully dispelled them into a black smoke, causing them to vanish from the air. Just in time, it seemed, as a warning, punishing streak of flames from Aegeus's horn scorched his face.
Aegeus couldn't help but smirk with dark pleasure as the surprised creature gave a screech of pain and desperately clasped his hands to his face, before spinning to the alicorn, absolutely seething. If it wasn't for the fact Maelstrom wanted to stay designated to his plan, that infuriating stallion would be a melted pile of flesh on the temple grounds.
“You're lucky that's all I'm giving you for what you've done to the book!” Aegeus snapped. Maelstrom should be grateful since the council had deemed him to be punished severely and all Aegeus had done was blast him. “Sympathy isn't very pleased with you either, and the council is just about done with you! You are to be condemned to the temple until the council can figure out what to do with you. You aren't to help out the other gods at all!”
Maelstrom tried to keep his face as straight as possible, but when Aegeus turned away for a moment he grinned into his claws. His plan had gone perfectly. Corrupt the book and get imprisoned in the temple? Now that's what I call killing two birds with one stone.
“You know you're not to tamper with that book,” the stallion snarled. “What you've done to it isn't something that can be easily erased.”
“Like permanent marker~!” Maelstrom sang. He hopped away with an almost childish, poisonous giggle as Aegeus stabbed at the air with his horn and snorted. “Just go see Sympathy!!”
He waited until the spirit had flown from the temple, and the livid glare on the retreating form turned to one of stress and sadness as he gazed down at the pit that still had the faint outline of a black aura from Maelstrom's earlier spell. His ears pinned back as he shut his eyes.
The penalty for Maelstrom's deed was supposed to be death, or at least an exile of some sort, but the stallion had decided in his heart against it. He had known from the beginning that the god was nothing but bad news, but out of the respect to Sympathy, and out of his pure heart, he could never kill the god. Maybe if Maelstrom knew Aegeus was protecting him he'd finally come to realize that his soul had been tainted.
But from the immortal that was soon to become the god of death and suffering that was a wish that would never be granted.
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“I'm tired.”
“Discord...”
“And hungry!”
“Discord...”
“And I'm thirsty!”
“Discord!”
“What?!” the draconequus finally snapped. He was beginning to regret unzipping that unicorn's mouth. Of course, he could maybe do a make-shift gag out of tree leaves and stuff it in her mouth, but he didn't think Twilight's friends would really appreciate that...
“We have been hiking for a half hour!”
“So?” the petulant and coltish Discord pouted as he made a big show of crossing his arms and slumping there in the air. Didn't these ponies realize just how much candy he needed to eat to keep up his strength? Why, more candy than the number of cupcakes that were cranked out of Pinkie Pie's bakery in a morning! “I'm far bigger than you little ponies, and a big draconequus like me needs to eat!”
“You don't need to point out how big you are,” Fluttershy giggled impishly, which heightened in volume as the spirit gave her a playful swipe.
“I hate to agree with the dog, darling, but I share his sentiments,” Rarity said from the back of the line. “You have to remember, Twilight, between the shortage of food in Ponyville, and the fact we were shoved into this journey so quickly, we've barely eaten anything all day!”
The rest of the girls looked at each other and at their bellies, which only then groaned in discomfort to confirm what Rarity said was true.
Chrysalis only rolled her eyes and continued trotting on with her babies. Ponies (and all species) and their need to constantly ingest materialized things... She and her children had been feeding from the group the entire time, and they hadn't even noticed. Combined with Maelstrom's spell, changelings didn't actually need to consume much in a day. The fact she wanted all the emotion she could get was just for the sake of having power.
“We really shouldn't dip into the supplies this early, guys,” Twilight pointed out. “We didn't pack that much food. Aren't there any fruits or berries nearby?”
“Aren't you all grazing animals?” Chrysalis asked flatly. “Just eat the grass.”
“Ah do actually see a bush in the distance,” Applejack said. “It's got a whole bushel of berries from the looks of it.”
Discord, who had been listening to the girls the entire time, just threw up his hands in exasperation and angrily tapped Twilight's head with his knuckles. “Hello, earth to Twilight! Earth to ponies! Are you forgetting you have a wonderful, handsome, and magical being on your team here? I'll just poof us up some sandwiches!”
The violet mare only shook her head at him. “Discord, Celestia said you should only use your magic when we really need it, just in case you need to be at your peak for something we encounter. If there's food nearby we should take advantage of that rather than waste unnecessary magic.”
What, did the ponies think his magic was a puddle and if it dried up it would be gone forever?
Pinkie Pie shifted a few things in the saddlebag to make room for the berries and followed Applejack to the bush. A bored Screwball decided to follow them.
Twilight visibly didn't look to pleased that they were stopping to take a break only a half hour into the journey, but she knew it would be mean not to; not to mention the fact they needed to take special care of Applejack, who had only just recovered.
The rest of the gang dropped their saddlebags and sat underneath a shaded tree to wait for the two mares. Twilight levitated a canister of water out of her bag and started passing it around to her friends. As Discord took a drink, he smirked and handed it back to Twilight.
The mare, deciding against common sense and instinct, took another swig—only to spit it out in sheer disgust from the putrid taste of salt. “Discord!!”
The draconequus howled with laughter and rolled about in the grass, clutching his stomach and pointing to her flushed face. “Ohoho, that's priceless!”
Seething, the mare stood over him. “That water is part of the necessities you aren't supposed to tamper with! We need to make sure we have enough so we don't get dehydrated on the journey, otherwise that could be dis...” The silver zipper was summoned up as the smirking spirit sealed her mouth shut and leaned over her shoulder.
“You were saying, dear?”
Face as red as a tomato, the embarrassed unicorn unzipped her mouth with magic and growled at him. “And you just used up one of your freebies! Now you only have one left, since you zippered my mouth shut earl...” There was the zipper once more. The ponies all gaped at each other. He was asking for it.
“You insufferable, horrible... Leave me alone or else.” By now it was clear what the spirit wanted: a magic duel. Twilight refused to indulge him. She normally loved having magic duels with him and they had them weekly. For the past few months now the spirit had taken her as a pupil of his own, in a sense. Silly pink clouds and flavored milk aside, he actually had some pretty good attacking and defending spells he had taught her.
“Or else what?” Discord taunted. His eyes were alight with a playful malice.
Deciding the best tactic would be to just ignore the imp, Twilight turned to her friends. “If we continue on without anymore stops we should make it out of Everfree by this evening. There we can stop and take a rest, and have a real meal.”
“I packed some cucumber and hay sandwiches,” Rarity suggested, “Even some lemonade.”
“And I packed some vanilla and chocolate swirl cookies!” Spike grinned. “I managed to whip up an entire batch in just an hour. We can have those for dessert.”
Twilight shook her head at her friends, which prompted questioning pouts. “I know we're all hungry, girls, but we need to carefully ration our food, remember.” Barely a moment after those words passed her lips, she was suddenly drenched in a downpour of thick, green goo from above.
“Hey!” Spike growled, shaking his fist at the laughing draconequus. “You leave her alone, you big bully!” He watched as Twilight stood there, motionless. Slowly, she turned to the draconequus with a fire in her eyes.
Oh, it's on.
The laughing Discord squealed as magical, purple binds suddenly appeared around his ankles and wrists and bound him together. Right before Twilight pounced on him, he snapped away the bonds and blew her back with a powerful gust of wind. “How about a little pepper with your salty water, Sparky~?”
The violet mare looked up, only to start sneezing uncontrollably as a vial of pepper appeared over her head and started to shake out large, gray flakes all over her. Although her magic didn't specialize in summoning something out of thin air, she improvised and influenced a mound of dirt nearby to explode into a puff of brown clouds and cover the spirit.
“Yeah, you get him, Twi!” Spike called out as he cupped his claws over his mouth and cheered. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy cheered as well.
Chrysalis, sitting as far away from the group as possible, only rolled her eyes and glowered at the duel going on in disgust. It seemed this group of idiots wanted to make this trip as unbearable as they could.
Just then, Twilight tied Discord's tail to the tree with magic. The changeling found herself giving a smirk as she watched the unicorn assault the draconequus with a Styrofoam baseball bat. Of course, if traveling with these girls meant she'd get to see Discord get frequently beat up, then maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all.
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“Pinkie Pie, there's a cherry tree!” Applejack's happy voice rang in excitement from beside the pink pony as she continued examining the berries. They had walked all this way, just to discover the stupid berries were poisonous.
“Ouu! You know, we were running low on cherries when I left Sugar Cube Corner,” Pinkie Pie pointed out, “And I bet I could get a whole hoof-full of berries to bring back to them!”
Applejack hated to dash the party pony's enthusiasm, but she needed to point something out. “Hun, by the time we get back to Ponyville the berries will be spoiled. ...Pinkie?” The peppy pony was already skipping up to the fruit tree.
Eying the area with a dopey smile, Screwball happily cantered on after them and sat just under the big cherry tree.
“Whoa, that tree sure looked a lot tinier from the distance,” Pinkie mused in awe as she stared at the towering tree above them. Its sturdy, chocolate brown form was twice the size of the fruit trees in Ponyville, with thick branches that tightly clutched onto their fruit.
“It's probably because we're further in Everfree,” Applejack responded offhandedly as she made her way to the tree. “It ain't nothing an experienced bucker like me can't handle!”
Confidently, she made her way to the tree and gave it a sharp buck. The sound of her leg thundering against the bark echoed through the vast area, and so did something else.“....YeeeeOOOWWW!!” The southern mare hopped back in agony and clutched at her throbbing back leg, muttering a string of curse words under her breath.
Pinkie Pie winced a little herself and glared up at the tree. “Here, let me try doing what Mrs. Cake does when she wants me to do something. Ahem. ....PINKIE, YOU GET DOWN HERE AND HELP THE CUSTOMERS, AND STOP STICKING GUMMY BEARS TO YOUR LIGHT TO MAKE A GUMMY BEAR CHANDELIER!”
Her screech echoed and caused the leaves to quiver around them, but nothing else happened. “Well, I got nothing.”
Applejack didn't answer. Her attention was diverted to the pink and purple pony hovering in the air and communicating with a frog on her belly. “She can float? Well, she is Discord's...pet.” It was worth a shot. Smiling, Applejack looked up at the pony. “Hey, ummm...” Consarnit, why didn't we ask Discord what her name was?
Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin thoughtfully with her hoof and tilted her head at ScrewBall's cutie mark. “I think Dissy said her name is....Screwy.”
Shrugging, Applejack turned back to the loopy mare. “Screwy, could ya help us with something?”
Screwball looked right at Applejack and blew a raspberry in her face. PBBBTTFFFF!
Applejack slid her eyes shut and wiped the saliva off her face. “Uhh...we need y'all to float up to that tree and pick some berries. Think ya can do it, Sugar cube?”' The response was just another raspberry, and Applejack angrily wiped her face. “Ugh! Ah don't even think she understands a word Ah said, Pinkie!”
Gasp. “Wait, look!”
Screwball was happily levitating up into the air and hovering closer to the top of the tree. The ponies below gave a whoop of joy—up until the floating mare darted back down to the ground, cowering, and without any berries.
“What gives?!” Applejack demanded angrily. “Ya scared of heights or something?” Her frustration increased when the pony only shook her head and suddenly mimicked an unsettling buzzing sound.
“I think we broke her!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Fed up with trying to get their food, Pinkie Pie shook her head and motioned far back to where the girls were sitting. “AJ, let's just go back and ask Twilight if we can dip into the food supply a little. Maybe cupcakes~!”
“No!” Applejack snapped. “If y'all wanna head back that's fine, but Ah'm bucking those berries off!” This wasn't even about food anymore; it was about her pride. She lowered her head and scuffed her hoof into the dirt. Right before she charged, Screwball suddenly jumped in front of her and started buzzing frantically. Angrily, Applejack pushed her aside. “Look, if y'all are scared of something than just git! Ah said Ah'm getting those cherries!”
Screwball's ears lowered as a pug whimper sounded from her. She backed away shamefully on all fours and started following Pinkie Pie back to the rest of the group.
Applejack snorted and eyed what was now her most loathed enemy: the tree. She lowered her head and galloped towards the tree, snorting in rage. Right before careening with the large mass, she whipped her body to the side so her entire right side slammed into the structure. As she expected, the leaves above shook, and finally, finally, nearly all of the cherries came tumbling down.
The country mare let out a cheer of happiness and bucked the air joyfully. Suddenly, a large, spherical structure slammed into the grass beside her. Applejack winced and glared over. What the hay...? She could only stare in horror as a dark cloud rose above her.
xxxxxxxxx
“Uncle! I cry Uncle!” Discord finally managed to choke out through his laughter as Twilight continued her three minute attack on him by enchanting a bunch of feather soft blossoms to attack the spirit. He was helpless, stuck in the flowers as they kept nuzzling him all over his body with their fuzzy leaves.
“Oh, so you forfeit the duel~?” Twilight couldn't stop grinning. It was never too much of a surprise when she beat him, because her final attack was always to tickle him, and that's what broke him. Maybe it was a little unfair, but he cheated at everything too!
“I do, I do! I...” Through his cackling, Discord could hear an unsettling sound in the distance. It was loud, screechy, and very familiar. “St-stop for a minute...I hear something.”
“Yeah, it's your own girlish screams, Freak show!” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“No really! Stop!”
Whatever Discord was hearing, Chrysalis was as well. Her ears were up and alert and she had pulled her babies closer to her. As much as she hated to stop the spirit's torment, there was no way she could decipher what the sound was with his babbling and giggles. “Stop...and listen.”
There was no mistaking the intense urgency to their voice, so Twilight released her influence on the flowers and looked questionably at the draconequus and changeling mare. That's when the rest of the girls heard it; the shriek of a siren and a deadly, roaring buzz was unmistakable.
Having recovered completely from his laughter, the now vigilant, on guard draconequus stood in front of the girls, in a protective manner and eyed the distance.
That's when they saw the deadly, angry ball of glowing amber closely pursuing two certain ponies, and one little purple one that was frantically wailing like an alarm in alert.
“BEES!” Twilight shouted.
Screaming, the group took off frantically through the forest. Flying deliberately at the back of the line, Discord immediately engulfed the ponies in a protective bubble that were galloping in front of him, and he wormed his way to the back of the shield to look at the three still bolting through the trees, far behind.
“Applejack, Pinkie, Screwball! Try to get close enough to the shield so I can pull you in!” He poked his hand out, only for a bee to stab it with a stinger. Jerking back with a yowl, he stared at the fairly large insect glaring at him through the other side of the bubble.
The bee was huge, and intensely fierce looking. The most concerning thing about it was the unsettling, and seemingly demonic glow to its blood red eyes. These were not ordinary bees. The spirit stared, memorized for a moment longer, and then snapped back to attention and yanked the three trembling mares through the shield right before the bees impaled them.
The frightened group inadvertently huddled together as the billowing clouds of insects continued to pelt at the shield. Discord watched with terror as they quickly began to wear away at it. “I don't understand! Sure this shield isn't indestructible against something like a basilisk or a harpy, but its force should be enough to disintegrate these bees on impact!”
Chrysalis was the only one of the group to easily understand what was going on here. Tartarus's seal was weak enough for Maelstrom to carry out his influence across the land, and his poison could easily corrupt the minds of the creatures that lurked across the country. With Maelstrom's curse and him not there to control the demons, this could be a very dangerous journey. For all of them.
“The force field will not hold forever,” Chrysalis said. “We need to get out and fight them. These bees are being controlled by the demons in Tartarus, and they're ten times more aggressive and dangerous than normal bees, as is everything else in this land.”
Twilight pressed her snout against the bubble, curiously, and shrieked as a bee's stinger stabbed the bubble outside, inches away from her eyes. “The best thing we can do is to split up once we get out of the shield. It will confuse the swarm and they won't be sure who to attack. Discord, is there any way you can provide a distraction?”
The god scoffed, as if what the mare had asked was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. “Easily~!”
“And Chrysalis, is your magic strong enough to attack?”
How weak did these stupid ponies think her magic was? “Of course.” She cringed, as did Discord, when the two realized they needed to collaborate together to defeat the swarm. “I doubt we can scare the swarm away, but enough attacks should be able to kill one group at a time.”
“Alright, girls, brace yourselves to run!”
There was a tense moment of silence, save for the buzzing amber, and the group of ponies split the moment their hooves hit the earth. The bees buzzed angrily and in confusion, not entirely sure where they should go. As the swarm targeted the retreating backs of Twilight and Screwball, Discord engulfed the large forest in a shroud of darkness, effectively blinding the insects and the ponies.
“Oh that's your idea of a diversion?” Chrysalis snapped, “Blinding the ponies so they can't see where they're running to?”
“Oh, just trust me on this!” the spirit snapped. “I know what I'm doing!” As he predicted, the furious and deeply confused insects flitted around angrily, but could see nothing in the darkness around them. “We need to combine our magic for one blast that will send these stupid things straight to the moon.”
The prospect of teaming up with the meat rug made fighting a basilisk with a toothpick far more appealing, but she knew a strong blast might be the only thing that could affect the monsters. “Alright...”
The two lowered their claw and horn, and instantly a burst of power emanated; one aura green and one golden, and they entwined together in the air, twisting to create a blast of ribbon-like magic. It would have been a fatal hit and it would have disintegrated each bug on impact, had it hit them. The surprisingly intelligent insects split in the middle and swerved out of the way from the attack, which promptly singed through the trees behind them.
Chrysalis stared. “Oh-”
“-Crap,” Discord finished for her.
The enraged swarm targeted thousands of beady, glowing red eyes on them both, and their synchronized buzzing became louder. Abruptly, they dove for the spirit and changeling. The two hopped back in terror and ducked at the last second, causing the swarm to barely miss the top of their heads.
“This is ridiculous,” Discord snarled, “I'm ending this now!” He clapped his hands together, and an instant burst of golden fire shot to the swarm. Once again, they used the same tactic as last time to avoid it.
“It's no use,” Chrysalis said. “We need to attack from behind them. Whatever they see us do they can fly to avoid it. They're faster than normal bees.”
“They're everything more than normal bees!” Discord exclaimed, as he swatted futilely at one of the insects. It didn't even faze it. The spirit tugged at his ears in frustration as he tried to hatch a plan in mind. Finally, the proverbial light bulb going off, he grinned. “I've got it!”
With a snap, he had conjured a house sized, white cloud...that was dripping. There wasn't rain coming from it, but the cloud itself was dripping gooey, white drops. The spirit instantly teleported with the cloud, abandoning Chrysalis and leaving her alone to fight the bees.
The changeling queen seethed with hate. Of course it wasn't too much of a surprise that he just left her to be stung to death by the vicious bugs, and if she had her way, she'd probably have left him to die as well. With nothing to do but to defend herself and her children, Chrysalis stood her ground against the insects.
If it wasn't for the fact she promised Maelstrom she'd protect the ponies, she would have lured the bees straight for them. The changeling queen powered her aura and created a weak shield, but aimed it only to protect her babies.
The swarm hummed lowly in the air and prepared for the fatal dive to end her. Chrysalis backed up, to the shield. If she was going to die right now, she at least wanted to be as close to her children as possible. The insects made their fatal dive, and the queen shut her eyes to prepare for the end.
The end didn't come. Rather than hear the deafening buzzing and feeling the thousands of needles pierce her, the queen heard what sounded like a wet, loud squish, and opened her eyes. Discord was inches away from her, laying on top of a giant ball of glue (which she now realized was the cloud from earlier), and trapping the ball of buzzing amber. Chrysalis could hear the muffled hums coming from the wet goo as it wiggled around.
Breathing heavily, the queen stared up at the draconequus. He glared back at her, coldly, and pried himself loose from the glue. “Girls, you can all come back now!”
Moments later, several heads poked out from behind the trees as the ponies (and dragon) came trotting back. Fluttershy and Screwball galloped into the spirit's arms and wept.
“Are you alright?” Twilight demanded, horrified at how puffy some inflamed welts were from a few stings. “We should never have left you two alone!”
The spirit waved a swollen hand dismissively. “Nonsense, I promised Tia I’d protect you and I wasn’t breaking that promise.” He’d never say it, but his desire of protecting them stemmed from way more than just having his wife order him to.
“Are we sure those were even bees?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I mean, I don't remember the bees in Ponyville being that big and...and...”
“Merciless,” Twilight finished. “They weren't even just aiming to protect their hive. They wanted to kill us all...”
“What we've all seen is only the beginning,” Chrysalis began in a grim and quiet tone. “The seal of Tartarus is becoming weaker by day, and the more it breaks, the stronger its power on this land will be. It may very well be controlling every feral creature in this land right now. We must always be on our guard with whatever we fight. The fact that Tartarus's influence is slowly turning them all demonic means they will be challenging foes.”
“Basically, what's in this journey could snap us all like a toothpick?” Applejack gulped.
You have no idea, Chrysalis thought gleefully. It would be interesting to see what Maelstrom planned to do with them, and she could sense one amazing fight to the death would commence between Discord and Maelstrom, that she'd be all too happy to help out with.
Still, she fabricated an almost sad look as she hid her secret pleasure. “That's exactly what I'm saying. However, we do have almighty chaos with us, so I think we have a strong chance against the monsters we'll encounter.”
The group was silent for a few moments as they contemplated this. Finally, Twilight quietly spoke. “Well, we better keep moving then. If we're still out walking by the time nightfall hits there's no telling what else will find us.”
“Ah just wish Ah managed to get those cherries,” Applejack said glumly. She stared as several, glistening red orbs were held up to her face by a pink hoof.
“Lucky for us, I managed to run back and get them when we ran from the bees!” Pinkie Pie giggled.
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Discord wasn't certain what time it was, but he knew that judging by how high his sister's moon was in the sky that it was late. The rest of the ponies were asleep, huddled up under one large blanket he had conjured for them. He knew he should probably sleep as well. Twilight had promised to wake them all up at the very crack of dawn, and she wasn't one to neglect a schedule. The draconequus found he couldn't sleep though. He needed to do something. He needed to write.
Dear Tia,
You know, it's strange how I managed to live without you for thousands of years and yet I can barely even stand one night without you. Corny, isn't it? I never thought I'd turn into...'that kind of guy', but...I just miss you so much. I guess this is what they call 'love'~?
It was strange not eating dinner with you, and having you force me to eat my vegetables. Of course, Fluttershy has taken over your part for now. ......And I just realized what I just said. Oh, gods—you know what I mean!
We ran into some bee trouble today. Apparently along with the plague on the realms, the feral creatures around here are going from dangerous to pure evil, insects included. Don't worry, I protected the girls like I promised. I even took a few stings to save them. You owe me a big cupcake when I get home!
P.S. How's...dear chaos, it still sounds so surreal. How's our baby?
He gently tied the scroll with a ribbon and smoothed a paw over it. He half wondered if hugging it would make her feel like she was getting a hug, but then he gagged to himself at the disgusting sentiment.
This time at night is usually when the two would either be asleep in each other's arms, or staying up later to enjoy their private time of husband and wife that they didn't have a chance to do during the day. Instead, his beautiful queen was all alone...and probably puking. Luna wasn't even there for her. There was nothing but servants she hardly even knew, and a plague all around her.
Bowing his head, the spirit thought he might have done something stupid, like cry, if he didn't hear the cautious little voice beside him say his name.
“Discord?” The baby dragon could hardly be seen in the shadows, but Discord knew he was there. Those blinking, emerald eyes easily confirmed it. “What are you still doing up?”
He shrugged a listless, quiet shrug. “Nothing really. I was just writing to Tia...” What about you?”
“I...well I have a really hard time sleeping away from home.”
Discord nodded absently and looked down at the letter in his palm.
Spike shifted awkwardly for a few moments and held out his claws tentatively. “Oh, well... You know, I can send it off for ya if you want.”
The spirit looked down at the parchment and back at the child. He could probably, easily send it off with his own magic, but since Spike was nice enough to offer he accepted and rolled the parchment into the dragon's claws.
Taking it, Spike dispersed it into the air with a crackling green flame, and watched the embers soar off into the distance until they couldn't be seen. The two sat there in silence for a bit, not sure what to say. Truth be told, they didn't converse much. Spike was always too nervous to approach the intimidating spirit, and what conversation they did have was usually Spike yelling at Discord for messing something up with his chaos or tormenting Twilight.
It probably would have spared them both the awkwardness if Spike had just gone back to the tent, but for some reason the baby dragon didn't budge. He could just feel...sadness from Discord. He could tell he needed someone to talk to...that he needed a friend.
“Are you homesick?”
“Yes,” the spirit answered. He turned sharply to the child. “Why, did you look at the letter?!”
“N-no, no!” Spike squeaked, waving his hands in front of his face. “It's just...well, it's easy to tell with just your expression and body language.”
A hint of a smile turned up the spirit's face. “Not too stupid for a baby.” It quickly fell again. “Yes, I'm homesick. I know it's stupid since it's only been one night-”
“I don't think it's stupid,” Spike cut in, “I think it's nice you miss Celestia. It's normal to want to go home when you're away from it.” He shrugged to himself with a sheepish smile. “See, I've never really had that feeling of homesickness because I've never really left the people I love. The biggest move I made was from Canterlot to Ponyville...but it was really from one library to another library.”
Discord stared at the hatchling, confused. “Don't you ever miss your dragon family though?” He watched as the baby almost instantly silenced and looked down mournfully at his claws. “...Oh.”
“I don't really know who my original family is,” Spike told him, feeling a slight pang in his heart as he tried again to remember where he used to be before Canterlot. “I mean, I was hatched by Twilight, and that was it. Twilight is like my family. She's kinda like a sister...” He shrugged, and then said very quietly. “Kinda like a mom...”
“Well, you're not alone on the whole not-knowing-where-you-came-from deal,” Discord said, “because I have no idea where I originate from.” He shut his eyes. “The thing is, although dragons aren't the most pleasant creatures, they're not downright diabolical. They're just fierce creatures, so you don't really have to worry about the kind of folks your biological family are, but I do. ...The theories of where I come from are not very happy ones.”
Listening intently, and with a look of concern in his young eyes, Spike watched Discord's face contort to a mixture of anger and inner turmoil.
“I'm said to have spawned from demons from Tartarus, or else I was born from the world's negative energy and hate. The servants were so afraid this was true, so many of them tried to kill me when I was only a child. The palace seer advised my adopted parents to drown me.” Discord felt something odd on his tail and he turned to see Spike was clutching to it, as if he needed it for security.
“Well...you-you know you don't come from demons,” Spike stuttered out, but the draconequus shook his head.
“That's just the thing, Spike; I don't. I don't know where I come from!” The look on his face was desperate. “I don't know who my parents are or if I even had any for that matter! I don't know...why I'm the only draconequus in the world now. I don't know what happened to the others, and I don't know if my parents were killed sometime in the past.” He closed his eyes. “I just don't know...”
It was a very unusual sight for the hatchling to see the spirit in such a sad and desperate state. He didn't think he knew any other emotion but happiness, and he didn't think he was capable of any facial expression other than his usual smirk. The two were a lot alike though. They were both dragons, both orphans, and both different.
“I know you'll find out someday,” Spike said, “And I'm sure I will too. And you know, it doesn't even matter where you came from, really. The only thing that matters is who you choose to be. At least, that’s what Twilight tells me. I come from a fierce race, and I know that. I come from very mean creatures, but I don't choose to be them. And you don't have to choose to be your...family, if you really were born from demons.”
His expression changing, the draconequus looked down at the child.
“And you haven't chosen to be like the demons,” Spike continued with a gentle smile. “I mean...you've done some bad stuff, but, er, I kinda have to!” He giggled slightly. “Did you hear about my rampage in Ponyville? I think I destroyed more than you did in your reign! You haven't chosen the path of a demon. I mean, well, you have a family now. You're married to the princess—er, queen--you have a sister, friends, and you're a king for crying out loud! Plus, Twilight tells me you're going to be a father?”
A slight smile came to Discord's face and he chuckled. “Yes, I suppose that's true.”
“Well there you go.” Spike shrugged and grinned. “I've never personally met a demon, but I've listened to enough of Twilight reading from her books, and you certainly don't sound like the demons she's read about. It's just my opinion, but I don't think you have much to worry about...”
He had to admit, the usually annoying kid he really just used as a prank target was very bright, and even comforting to some degree. “Um...thanks, kid.” He smirked slightly. “Tell you what, if you can help me find a way to dye Twilight's mane green with pickle juice when she's sleeping I'll help you find your real parents someday.”
Spike giggled to himself at the thought of a green maned Twilight and smirked. “Deal.” They shook on it, and yawning, Spike finally got up. “I should try to get to sleep again...and you should try too. Not sure how I'm gonna—it's so hard sleeping away from home.”
“You should have Fluttershy sing you a lullaby. It works wonders.” He stared as Spike gave him a weird look. “I mean...I wouldn't know that.”
The baby dragon giggled to himself and slipped back into the tent as Discord continued sitting there at the edge of the hill. Right when the spirit finally decided to turn in for the night, a bright flash lit the area he was standing in, and a scroll dropped to his feet. Hurriedly, Discord snatched it up in his claws and started reading.
Dear Discord,
I'm glad I'm not the only one having terrible insomnia tonight. Our bed seems so empty right now. It's actually so depressing to sleep in that I've taken Luna's bed.
We got a report from Luna, actually. It's not going too good in Trottinghan. They got an earthquake earlier and it wiped out a good portion of the town. Luna is there trying to stabilize and calm everypony down, but there isn't much she can do but clean the damages.
Don't worry, I promise you I'll have a mountain of cupcakes ready for you when you get back. I'll even put extra dill pickles and gumdrops in the batter...Ew.
I'm hoping the baby is feeling better than I am. It feels like I've been on one of those carnival rides that spin you relentlessly. Obviously since it's not moving yet, I'm not sure how it's faring, but I know it probably misses its Daddy very much.
I know it's hard, darling, but I want you to get some sleep. I don't like the fact you're up so late when you need to get up early in the morning. Other than missing me, what's keeping you up?
The spirit got out a quill and paper, sat down in the grass and responded.
The main thing that's keeping me up is how much I want to be with you, Tia, but I've also been thinking about things. I had a chat with the little 'Spikey-Wikey' earlier. It turns out I'm not the only one that's been wondering where I came from. I had no idea the poor kid was an orphan; I really just thought he chose to live with Twilight.
He's not so stupid for a dragon. Well...maybe I shouldn't say that considering the fact I'm part dragon, but you know what I mean. He had some insightful and comforting points. You know I've always worried that I do come from demons, and even though the kid says I don't seem like a demon, I'm still worried about the day I do find out who I am.
I'll always wonder about my past, but I think the question is...do I want to find out where I came from, and will I like what I discover?
xxxxxxxx
(Uggghh, I know it's not indented and I'm sorry about that, but it was giving me such issues when I tried to indent it for some reason! For now just enjoy it....jumbled, I suppose.
Other than my crappy revision this is not the edited version and I'm not sure when the edited version will be up. My editor is a busy bee and his academics come first before editing fics. c:
Bees are deadly creatures indeed...)