//------------------------------// // Meeting // Story: Tattoo of the Sun // by FlutterSky1979 //------------------------------// Tattoo of the Sun "MAKE HASTE, SUBJECTS! THE SUN GROWS HIGHER WITH EACH PASSING MOMENT, AND I WOULD LIKE TO BE BACK IN CANTERLOT BEFORE THE TIME HAS COME TO RAISE THE MOON!" The sun shined bright overhead. Tiny rays of its light peeked in through the cracks of the thick wilderness that was the Everfree Forest, as a team of chariot-hitched Pegasi cruised beneath the low treeline. In the seat of the chariot sat two noble Alicorns, the princesses of Equestria: Celestia and Luna. Celestia shook her head with a soft smile and turned to address her hollering sister. "Honestly, Luna. I understand our time constraints, but is the yelling really necessary?" Luna rolled her eyes, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. "Sister, I'm only addressing them in the Royal Canterlot Voice. What has gotten into you today?" Celestia shrugged, taking a moment to lean her head to the side, narrowly dodging a stray branch. "As I explained before, I just have a strange feeling about our old home. Like, we've left something behind there. Or rather, there's something there that requires our attention..." Celestia trailed off. The feeling she had was growing stronger with each second they drew closer to their destination. "You know what I mean, Celeste. It's not just your sudden desire to return to a place we left behind decades ago, your entire disposition is off! It's as though your mood did a complete one-eighty while you slept! Did something happen last night I should know about?" Celestia shook her head, her eyes scanning the wooded thicket for her family's ancestral home. "Nothing has changed, it's just... I just think it's a little silly, that's all. The whole royal voice thing was their idea, not ours. Now that they're gone, I see no reason to continue using it. Just as I see no reason to have a fully armed escort for a simple trip outside of the city. Believe me, little sister, once you're a little older, you'll understand." "Hmph. Say what you will, but had I asked your opinion on these things yesterday, that is not the answer you would have given me. And enough with this 'little sister' nonsense! You know that you're barely older than m- halt! HALT! HAAAAAAAALT!!!" As the Pegasus guard attempted to bring the chariot to a stop, the back end of the vehicle lurched forward, flinging the Princesses out of their seats. Thankfully, with a quick unveiling of their wings and a couple gentle flaps, the duo managed to glide safely down onto the ground below. When the chariot finally came to a skidding stop beside them, Luna turned around and began to walk in the opposite direction from where they had landed, backtracking towards the clearing their guards had missed. "GUARDS, TO US! STAY WITHIN OUR SIGHT!" The squadron quickly retrieved their weapons from the chariot's storage space, and trotted along behind Luna. Celestia walked with the group for a few minutes before gradually slowing her steps, preferring to follow behind at a more leisurely pace as she took in the scenery around her. It was no wonder the guards has missed the clearing towards their former castle, the vegetation had almost entirely eaten it up! It amazed Celestia just how much the landscape had changed since her family's departure from the area. She wondered how much more it would be overgrown, given a few years. Within a few short centuries, the area might become completely unrecognizable from the Everfree she had once known. Using her magic to push away the low hanging branches and thorns, Celestia continued on. Finally, the great castle came in to sight. At the dawn of her and her sister's reign, it had been known as 'The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters'. These days she heard it called by a slightly different name: 'The Former Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters'. With a grin, she wondered if in time it would graduate into 'The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters', before fading away from memory entirely. Eventually, she reached the front gate of the castle, where she found Luna and the guards waiting for her. As she walked towards the great entrance, Luna stepped aside, raising an eyebrow at her. "Well, here we are. This was your idea, so I'll let you take charge. Tell me sister, what is it you want us to do?" What did she want them to do? It was a fair question, but one that Celestia did not have an answer to. Still, she had drug them all out here, so she had to give them something. Using her powerful Alicorn magic, she slowly opened the gigantic wooden doors that blocked their way. She then cleared her throat and turned to face the Pegasi, addressing them in the traditional speak she had begun to detest so much. "LOYAL SUBJECTS, I WANT US ALL TO SPLIT UP AND EACH SEARCH A SEPARATE PART OF THE CASTLE! I KNOW NOT WHAT WE LOOK FOR, BUT IF YOU SEE ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY, ANYTHING AT ALL, TELL US IMMEDIATELY! IF OUR SEARCH PROVES FRUITLESS, WE SHALL MEET BACK AT THE THRONE ROOM IN ONE HOUR!" One of the four guards looked over to his fellow armed brethren, confused by the princess's request. "But princess, what about-" Celestia lifted one of her great wings, cutting the guard's concerns short. "Relax, Spirit. Luna and I will be fine on our own. After all, we did grow up here. I don't expect to find anything, I just want to check around, that's all." She offered him a warm smile and he nodded, trusting the word of his princess. "NOW THAN, LET US MOVE!" "YOU HEARD YOUR PRINCESS, OFF YOU GO, ALL OF YOU!" Luna cried, scattering the troops in different directions. As Luna ushered the squad away, she turned to face Celestia once again. The obvious question of 'what exactly are you doing', showing in her eyes. Celestia could only offer another shrug for an answer before turning to go her own way into the castle's depths. After all, even she didn't know exactly what she was hoping to accomplish. ***** Yards beyond the entrance of the castle, deep inside the dungeons below, a creature began to stir from its slumber. It rose from its sleep sluggish, groggy, unaware that the opening of the castle's gates had been the cause of its awakening. In fact, the beast that resided in the castle was completely oblivious to the six additional souls that had entered its domain. It tried to stand, only to have its legs buckle underneath it, throwing it back against the cold, stone floor with a dull thud. Disgruntled but unrelenting, it continued onward, crawling towards its desired location at the opposite end of the dungeon wall. At last, the creature reached its destination, a small pool of dirty rainwater and ceiling drippings that had been collecting in a wide hole since the castle's abandonment. It dunked its head underneath the water and drank deeply, doing its best not to take anymore away from its only water source than it needed to. With the water came energy, and soon the creature was able to pick itself up off the ground, and stand on its two great legs. It gazed down into the pool, analyzing the state of its reflection. The creature couldn't help but stare, captivated by the ragged sight of his body. His short mane was thinning, matted, in some areas missing in tufts. The fur that covered the majority of his body was in the same sorry shape. The scales that made up the rest of his hide were in bad shape as well: cracked and brittle, very few of them retained any of their former luster. His single hoof, claws, his fang, and horns, they too were all chipped with portions broken away. His wings had rips in them and were overall too weakened to carry his weight, and his eyes were bloodshot and wild. Even his body, tall and skinny by nature, was unnaturally thin. The longer he stared at himself, the less point there was in trying to deny the truth. Discord, the Draconequus resident of the Everfree Forest, was dying. Discord brought his eyes to a slow close, unable to bear his reflection any longer. "How long do you think you can continue living like this?" Discord opened his eyes, and peered back into the pool. A new face had taken the place of his own. It was still Draconequus, but its features differed slightly. It was skinnier than Discord, not skinnier than his face had become through his lack of nourishment, but skinnier than it would be if Discord had been healthy. This face's mane was longer than Discord's as well, and it lacked the goatee on the end of its chin. This reflection bore not the brilliant crimson eyes of Discord, but instead looked back with deep, sapphire pupils. The face that had taken the place of his own belonged to Eclipse, Discord's brother. But Eclipse was more than just his brother. Eclipse was his best friend, his voice of reason, the only creature in the world that Discord had ever attempted to confide in. When Discord had been shunned and cast out of his home by his fellow Draconequus, Eclipse was the one who had left with him, following along side his brother without hesitation, wherever the road took him. Eclipse was the world to Discord, and more. Though, perhaps most important of all, Eclipse was dead. He had been killed nearly four years ago, after his brother's exile had brought them into the land of dragons. There, Discord had gotten into a bit of trouble with a few of the race's own exiles, trouble that he hadn't been able to talk his way out of nor run away from. During their skirmish with the brutish folk, Eclipse's life had been claimed and Discord had been severely beaten. However, as Discord escaped the land and made his way into Equestria (where he at last took refuge within the castle of the Everfree Forest), he managed to take a little piece of Eclipse with him, metaphorically locking him away deep inside the unreachable fathoms of his mind. There Eclipse's spirit lived on, saving the remaining shred of Discord's sanity by keeping him company, and continuing to act as his brother's conscience. "How long do you think you can continue living like this? Eclipse's reflection repeated, his eyes staring deep into Discord's. "Every day you grow weaker. You can't keep this up any longer." "Bah," Discord stated, turning his head away from the pool. "I'm perfectly fine. Why, my future shines brighter with each passing day! Soon, I'll be strong enough to leave this hellish castle with style and continue my journey through this new land." "And just how in the hell do you plan on getting stronger?! By eating the disease carrying rats that stalk the dungeon and drinking the filthy water that comes off the ceiling? Cause that's really been working wonders for you so far! Discord grimaced, the truth of his fallen brother's words cutting deeper than any set of dragon claws ever could. "It's time to stop lying to yourself and face the facts, Discord. Your wounds are as healed as they're ever going to get in this place, but you're not getting any stronger. Our kind may be hard to kill, but you don't have a lot of time left. If by some miracle you do somehow manage to survive in here until winter, I can guarantee you won't be around to see the following spring." Eclipse was right. As much as Discord hated to admit it, there was no denying it. The past winter had been the harshest of the four he had spent in the dank dungeon. Even the fresh arrival of spring hadn't been enough to bring the bats and the rats and the other small creatures he typically trapped and ate back into his pathetic domain. By the time winter came again, there really wouldn't be anything for him to eat, and Discord knew he would starve. "Maybe you're right," Discord sighed, his weak frame slumping over the pool. "Maybe it's time I try and take my chances out there..." "Of course I am, brother. I know you're afraid, but I can't allow you to hide yourself away any longer." Afraid. Afraid! Discord was not afraid! He was a regal Draconequus! His species had been around since the dawn of time! They were both ancient and powerful, and he himself had been cast out of his tribe for being too strong to control! Discord was a lot of things, but afraid was not one of them, and he was not about to let any creature claim that he was, brother or not! "Maybe you're right," Discord began, a hateful wrath lacing his voice. "And maybe you have no idea what the hell you're talking about! Maybe I don't need the precious advice of my younger brother!" With an savage cry he sent his tail lashing into the pool of water, unconcerned with the waste of his life source as he banished his lost brother's reflection away. For a time, Discord continued to stare into the pool, huffing in anger at his returned reflection. In his fit of rage, the sound of approaching hoof steps almost went unnoticed to his ears; almost. Discord whipped around, caught off guard by the first unfamiliar sound he had heard in years. Standing roughly twenty yards away from him, still at the foot of the dungeon stairs, was a fully armored, spear wielding Pegasus pony. The two locked eyes for a single moment, before crying out. ***** Up in the castle's second story, in the hallway that led to the princess's old room from a flight of stairs, Celestia walked on. Her thoughts were on her younger sister, and of her accusations against her attitude. Celestia understood how Luna could be confused by her sudden change of mood. After all, it really did appear to have occurred overnight. But in reality, Celestia had been harboring these feelings of negativity towards the way things were being run for quite some time. In the short time that their parents had ruled Equestria before handing the throne down to their daughters, they had established many many rules that, in Celestia's not so humble opinion, were just unnecessary. Her and Luna had been in power for over three decades now, as far as Celestia was concerned, the time for a change had come. All the formalities, all the yelling, the distancing themselves from their subjects, it was time for it to come to an end. That kind of rule may work for a pony like Sombra, but it was not the way she intended her Equestria to be run. Yes, Celestia had made her decision. She was fed up with the old rules of monarchy, and she would be damned if she was going to continue to enforce them on her people. As Celestia reached the decorated door that led to her former quarters, she was already thinking up ways to talk to Luna and begin formulating a plan on getting some new decrees in place. However, just before her hoof could reach the door's handle, a pair of piercing cries rang throughout the castle. They were faint, but just audible enough for Celestia to identify one of the voices. Its owner was Dewdrop, the youngest of the Pegasus guards they had brought with them to Everfree. The second she didn't recognize, but the sound of the fear in it gave her hope that Dew was still safe. Celestia spun around, charging down the corridor towards the stairs and back to a lower level of the castle, where she estimated the cries to be coming from. Following the initial screaming, the sounds of a loud commotion continued to lead Celestia towards the source of the struggle. This, combined with the persisting cries of help from Dewdrop, helped her to determine his location. He was in the eastern dungeon, only a few hundred feet away from her. At the start of the stair way leading into the castle depths, Celestia was joined by Luna and the rest of the Pegasus guard. “Is he alright?” Celestia asked, a hushed tone taking her voice. “I'm not sure, we arrived only just before you did,” Luna replied, apprehensively looking down the dungeon steps. Celestia walked past her younger sister, sticking her head into the dark space in between them and the bottom floor. “Dew! Dew, can you hear me?” After a few painfully long seconds, the frightened soldier shouted back. “Yes! There's something down here!” “What is it Dewdrop? What's down there?” Celestia cried out again, her curiosity spiking. “I-I don't know... Do you think you could just come down?!” The fear in his voice was rising. Luna and Celestia turned and looked at each other, intrigued by Dew's answer. Finally, Celestia began to make the descent down the stone stairway, motioning for Luna and the others to follow. Celestia didn't know what she had been expecting to find when they set out on their journey to her family's former home that day, but she certainly hadn't imagined it to be anything like the scene that awaited them in the dank dungeon. Dewdrop was flustered but unhurt, his unrelenting spear pointed towards a creature that sat huddled in a corner of the room. The creature was unlike anything any of them had ever seen before. It was so wiry, and looked to be composed of parts from four or more different creatures, all spliced together to make up some grotesque, unearthly body. As if this wasn't enough, the wild look of the creature made it all the more frightening. As their hoof steps echoed off of the stone floor, Dew whipped around to confirm that it was friend that was joining him, before quickly refocusing his sight back on the creature. In the split second that Dew's eyes were off of it, the creature hissed and scurried to a more darkened corner of the room. After that, nopony said a thing, too taken by surprise to do much more than just watch the creature. Finally, Celestia broke the silence. “The hell is that thing?” She asked, looking over to her sister. “I have no idea... Never, not in any tomes I've ever encountered, nor in any of mother or father's stories, have I ever heard of any such creature that's description matches this one...” “What do we do?” Celestia asked, her curiosity far outweighing her fear. “Well, I for one think it would be most wise to strike before it has the chance to do the same.” With that, Luna's horn began to glow with a pale blue light as she took aim at the creature. “No!” Celestia screamed, pushing her sister's head hard to the side with her own. A stray bolt of energy was sent crashing into the dungeon wall, collapsing it in a flurry of dust and rock. The creature hissed again, backing up further into the corner it resided in. “What in God's name are you doing?!” Celestia's eyes flared, bright and angry. “Can't you see that its hurt?!” She snorted, mortified with her sister's quick solution of violence. “No shit Celeste, but that doesn't mean that we should give it the chance to recover!” Luna cried in defense. “Furthermore, it's intruding on our land! We don't know anything about it, how do you know it's not dangerous!? For all we know, in good health, it would kill us where we stand!" "Just because it may, doesn't mean it would!" Celestia argued, trying to sway her sister's opinion. "Okay, fine. There is no guarantee that it would kill us given the chance, but there's no guarantee that the thing is friendly either." Luna snorted, rolling her eyes. "So what would you have us do, dear sister? You wanna take it with us, huh? Nurse it back to health, make it a resident of our home?" "Umm..." Celestia looked down at her hooves, away from Luna's no nonsense gaze. It was all the answer Luna needed. "Oh my God, you can't be serious!" Luna brought a hoof up against her forehead, unable to find logic in her sister's reasoning. "Whatever, you wanna take it in, be my guest. This is all on you, Celeste, I'm just here to keep up appearances." Luna turned away, allowing her elder sister to have her way without any more argument. "Um... Excuse me... Creature?" Celestia didn't know where to begin, never before had she had to deal with a situation like this one. After an awkward pause, she swallowed, collecting herself so that she could address the creature in a manner fitting of a princess. "Creature. you are intruding on the sacred land of my sister and I's ancestors, and I request that you leave this castle immediately." Celestia's voice was unwavering and strong, yet at the same time somehow very unconvincing. A few more seconds of silence passed, broken by the amused scoff of Luna. Celestia glared at her, before turning back to address the creature. "Do you understand the words I am saying, creature? Do you speak pony?" "Discord." The sudden break of the creature's silence took them by surprise. For a moment, Celestia was unable to believe that it had actually been the creature speaking. "Excuse me?" She asked, confused by what she thought she had heard the creature say. "Discord." it repeated. "My name is Discord, not 'creature'. And I've had my nest here for quite some time now, and not once have I seen any sign of others in the area." His voice had a deep, smokey tone to it. It was surprisingly pleasant, a refreshing contrast to the creature's strange looks. "I apologize, Discord. I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister, Princess Luna. I do not know if you are aware of it, but we are the rulers of this land. We have ruled over Equestria for some time now. This was the castle of our mother and father. We have since moved the location of our court to another location, but we do not wish to dishonor our family by letting someone take residence in it. Therefore, I must insist that you leave." Discord stepped outside of the shadows. In better light, his gruesome appearance took on a whole new meaning of frightening. "And what if I don't want to?" He asked, his voice laced with the slightest quiver. Dammit! Alright, Celeste, nopony said this was gonna be easy. Time to try a different approach. "I believe you misunderstand my meaning, Discord. We wish for you to leave, but we would not simply send you into the mercy of the wilderness. Instead, I offer an alternative. Please, join us, we wish to provide shelter for you at our new castle. Until your strength returns, that is." For a brief moment, Celestia wondered if her choice of words had been poor. What if Discord was unaware of the shape he was in? Impossible, you can't be on death's door and not know it. Finally, he spoke again. "She doesn't." He pointed at Luna, still refusing to draw too much farther away from the shadows. "What?" Celestia asked, embarrassed that she was again unable to follow the meaning of his words. "Your sister, Lunar. She doesn't want me to come. She tried to kill me." Celestia looked over her shoulder, glaring at her sister. She mouthed the words 'what did I tell you' before turning back to address Discord. "Princess Luna was hasty, but she apologizes. I assure you, we only wish to properly welcome you into our land. If you hail from bordering lands, as I suspect you do, we could treat you as an ambassador to our country. Provide you with food and shelter, until you recover." Discord raised an eyebrow, taking another step forward. It was obvious that she had his attention. "Food and shelter eh? Well, some fresh meat would be nice..." "Meat..." The word fell out of her frowning lips. "Oh dear, you are... Carnivorous..." Celestia looked him over again, now that he was in better light. "Of course you're carnivorous, you do appear to be part dragon after all... And, lion... And, is that an eagle claw? Huh..." Celestia grew silent once more, finding herself captivated by Discord's strange appearance. "Yes, I'm sure our chefs can find something suitable to your tastes. So, what do you say, Discord? Will you accept my offer?" Celestia extended her hoof, waiting to see if Discord would take her offer. After a moment, Discord grinned, his single fang just visible past his lips. He stepped forward and put his paw against Celestia's hoof. "I accept." And with that, Celestia formally greeted the Draconequus, ready to lead him out of the decrepit dungeon of the castle, and welcome him properly into the land of Equestria.