//------------------------------// // Slaughter // Story: Resonance // by Masterweaver //------------------------------// "Just stay in here, where it's safe. Mother whilst look after you." Gallic Waltz nodded, clinging to Crystal Note as she watched Somber Tunes give one last kiss to the earth pony mare. Somber Tunes saw the fear in her gaze; he could not bring himself to look her in the eyes, even this one last time, lest she think that the hatred brimming in his soul was for her. No, Gallic Waltz was worthy of more than him... The gray unicorn stood, summoning his blood drenched blade from beside the hole in the ground. In front of him, a checkerboard of blue and vermilion slowly consumed the grass; floating balls of fire screamed into the cloud homes of the pegasi, and twisting, laughing centipedes with the faces of eagles chased after terrified foals. The sun reigned over the sky, served by slowly gliding concoctions of sweets that bled chocolate onto the corpses of ponies torn apart by rabbits. "....this far, and no further." Somber Tunes began his trot forward. "Today, Discord, thou dies." *** It wasn't difficult to locate the laughing draconequuess. He was busily putting on a puppet show for an enthralled audience of salami, and were it not for the still living eyes of the puppets in question it might have seemed rather cute. "...and then the princess asked, But whatever shall we do? My husband is become a werewolf, for which there is no known cure. And so the duchess began to search, asking her myriad friends if they knew of any possibility." The gray unicorn edged around the crowd, hiding behind popsicle bushes and stone statues of half-pony monstrosities. He had seen the fools who had challenged the god head on; he did not intend to risk failure so stupidly. "But the answer came from an unexpected source: The prince's brother, who was a dragon, revealed that she knew of an immortal woman who had a pool that could cure all ills." Somber Tunes shifted, preparing his blade as he examined the monster's back. Soon, this would all be over; soon, he would be able to rest again, knowing his family was safe. The magic tightened silently around the scimitar's handle. "And so it was that the princess and the duchess assembled a great group, consisting of a number of unique individuals who--" SCHLORP Discord glanced down at the blade that emerged from his chest. After a moment, he put down the puppets. "Take ten, girls." He turned around, tutting lightly. "Good try, very good try. But, future reference, my heart is actually in my paw." "Then I shalt cut off thine arm, beast!" Somber leapt forward, grabbing the blade with his magic and ripping it out of the monster. Discord grinned as he leaned out of the way of a slice. "Bravo, sir knight, bravo! You nearly got within a foot of hitting me!" The unicorn did not reply, instead grabbing random detritus from the area and flinging it at the mad god. With a wave of a frilly pink umbrella, the creature knocked it aside, but by that point Somber Tunes had teleported into the branches of a ribbon tree and out of Discord's sight. "Oh, you're a tricky one. And intelligent, too, don't think I didn't see the dragon's blood on your little kitchen knife." The beast giggled, summoning a lawn chair and sitting down. "Go on, brave colt, I'm defenseless! I don't know where you are! Nothing's stopping you!" There was a quiet moment. "....Hmmm. You are very smart. I guess I'd run too, if I had such an excellent foe as myself." Somber Tunes kept himself still. Such obvious goads were below him. "Wow, this is surprisingly boring." Discord ywaned, streatching as he got up. "Ah well, back to my little story. Now, where were--" Without warning, Sombra teleported to the beast's side, striking down hard and true. Multicolored candy gushed forth from the golden stump as Discord clutched it in his talons. "OOOOOOOOOOOOH NOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH THE PAIN OH CRUEL WORLD WHY? WHY DOES IT HURT SO GOOD, WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!" Abruptly he gave the unicorn a grin. "That what you were expecting, bladeboy?" Somber Tunes blinked. In an instant Discord had made himself whole, and just as the unicorn realized he should run the mad god had clenched him up in his red tail. "Do what thou wish, monstrosity! Thy are nothing more then a temporary sickness, soon to be cleansed by the brave and the true!" "Wow, you actually believe that." Discord snorted. "You know, I do a lot of things to honorable ponies like you, like make them into slaves, or turn them into foals... foal slaves? Nah, too cliche. Anyway, my point is I could do a lot of things to you. Tell you what: I'll let you choose where I should start your punishment." Somber Tunes narrowed his eyes. "Thou wouldst twist my very words." Discord sighed. "Oh, see this is why I don't like smart people. They try to find this thing, called a pattern, in everything, and they assume I have a pattern, and blarghity blarghity BLARGH. Fine, you know what? Say anything. Anything. Tell me what to do, and that's what I'll do. Limited time offer. One shot. Come on, buddy, I want to get back to my puppet show!" "If thou truly claim to hold to thy word, then tak my sword and thrust it through me!" "Done!" With a flourish, Discord grabbed the blade and jammed it under Somber Tunes' tail. The stallion cried out in pain as the tip of the blade broke through his horn; he fell limp, waiting for his life to drain away. "Oh, by the way, you never said for me to kill you. So I'm making you immortal." Discord snapped his talons. "Zing!" The unicorn clenched his teeth. "So I shalt suffer to the end of days. Thine punishment is complete, monster. Yet still I stand, ready to oppose you." "Oh you flatterer." The beast tilted his head. "Hey, I know, let's go tell your wifey wife about this!" Somber Tunes' eyes shot wide. "Oh yes, bladeboy, I know all about them. Mindreading, you see." A claw tapped the goat's head. "Yours is very boring, by the way, all structure and order...." He shrugged. "Oh well, I'm going to ruin your life now, don't wait up!" Casually, he tossed the gray unicorn over his shoulder and disappeared in a flash. Somber Tunes stared for less then a second before galloping across the checkerboard plains.