//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10,5 
// Story: The Matter Of Friendship 
// by HeartShieldFiM 
//------------------------------//

'Discord?'
The draconequus' heart shattered as he heard a well-known voice. One that has disappeared out of his head a long time ago, but it seemed to have returned.
'Discord?' the voice asked again. 'Are you there?'
Discord hid under his pillow. 'Go away, please,' he muttered. 'Leave me alone now…'
'You know that the only one who could make me disappear, is you, right?'
The creature nodded in pain. 'I know… But I can't…'
'Discord!' another voice yelled. 'What's wrong?'
At that moment, the draconequus felt a huge thump on his back. As he turned around, he saw it was Pinkie Pie.
'What's wrong?' she asked again. 'You were talking to nopony, hiding under your pillow…' The pony squinted. 'Did you have a nightmare again?'
'Sort of,' Discord replied, not really paying attention to Pinkie. He thought about the beautiful, melodic voice he hadn't heard for such a long time.
'Hey…' Pinkie tried to enter his thoughts. She laid her hoof on his cheek. 'Something I could do for you?'
Discord wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight.
'Yelp,' Pinkie said, but actually she didn't mind at all. As long as she could breathe and Discord was happy.
After what felt like eternity (yeah, like Pinkie knew how that feels) Discord finally let go.
'What happened?' Pinkie asked, sitting on the edge of Discord's (draconequus-sized) bed.
Before he knew what the consequence of this all could be, he said, 'I heard her voice again.'
'Whose voice?' Pinkie dared to ask, because she saw the pain in Discord's eyes and knew he could get angry.
But Discord only looked at his knees. 'Her voice. The voice of my very special somepony.'
'Oh…' Pinkie said. And again. 'Oh… what happened? Why is that a bad thing?'
'It was a long, long time ago, Pinkie Pie…'
'You are, like, invincible, eh? Did she die?' the pony asked.
Discord shook his head. 'No, she is alive.'
'Could you tell me a bit more about you two, then? How did you get to know each other?'
The draconequus took a deep breath. 'Okay… there I go… a long, long time ago, when she and I both were two young creatures, we lived happily together in Canterlot.'
'You have lived in Canterlot?' Pinkie asked surprised.
Discord nodded. 'For a while. We were friends…' He paused. 'Say, best friends and even a bit better than that. We used to play together every day, on the swings, in the lovely gardens around there… Of course, not everypony liked me, because I am…'
'Because you're Discord?' the pony asked.
'Indeed,' Discord replied. 'Well, she liked me, I thought. And she was beautiful, as beautiful as the sun. I could watch her for hours, the sight never bored me…'
Pinkie smiled. 'Ah, that's cute. I can imagine a sweet, little Discord…' she said, stroking his head. 'Go on, please.'
'We grew older,' Discord continued. 'And closer. When she had a problem, she went to me. I'd solve everything for her, no matter what. When she cried, I made it rain chocolate. She loved it, just like you do. And whenever her world started to collapse, I was there for her. Like a friend should.' Suddenly, Discord's mood seemed to go from happy to angry, as he said, 'One day, she told me I was very, very special to her…'
'And, that was a good thing?' Pinkie asked, being pretty unsure about the rest of the story.
The draconequus shook his head. 'Oh no, not at all! You know, she said I was like a brother to her. A big brother who's always protect her, and love her. I felt honored, but I started to think about stuff. You know… then I found out that her remark hurt pretty much…'
'Because…?'
'I found out I was in love with her…'
'Hmm…' Pinkie frowned. 'I see. That must hurt indeed. I wanna hear the end of the story, please, continue!'
Discord sighed. 'Well, I tried to act like I was just being a brother, you know. Doing stuff for her, like she wanted me to do…'
'Then?'
'That was the time I messed up everything,' Discord said. 'By spreading chaos all over Equestria. She didn't want me to do it…'
'What did she do?' Pinkie asked curiously, almost bouncing up and down on the bed.
'Well, it kills you inside… being imprisoned by the pony you loved…'