Chapter One: Request
I turned in a circle as I heard a twig crack somewhere to my right. My cloak shifted slightly as my hidden wings fluttered quietly. My black hooves took a cautious step forwards and I lit my horn to peer into the darkness of the Everfree Forest that was my home.
“Show thyself!” A large creature stepped out of the forest and stared at me.
“Rosie, don’t you remember little ole me?” I recognized the mismatched monstrosity as Discord.
Sighing, I muttered to him, “How many times must I tell thee not to sneak up on me?”
“None, it won’t make a difference!” Discord took a step forward and whisked off my cloak. “I see you haven’t changed. Except, when did you get that beauty?” He stares at my cutie-mark. It is a circle, half of it is black and the other half white, in the middle of them is a dot of the opposing color.
“‘Tis my cutie-mark. It came after thy’s last ‘request’ of me. ‘Tis the ying and yang symbol from the native lands of the Zebra kind” I retorted.
“Why art thou alwayseth speakingeth in oldeth englisheth?” Discord inquired, quite rudely I might add.
“Because, I have not been in the company of those who speak in the modern tongue as much as thou have. After thou tricked me, I fled into yonder grove,” I tipped my head to the east, the opposite of where my home really was. “Why art thou here, Discord? I want nothing to do with thee.”
Discord pretended to look hurt. He stepped closer, causing me to back up a step, “I have a request to make of you, Broken Rose.” I shivered at the sound of my real name coming off of the tongue of Discord, a creature who had never failed to call me by a most annoying nickname. He stroked his eagle’s talon across my spiraling of red fur, accenting my otherwise plain, white coat. I fluttered my wings, causing me to fly backwards a few steps.
“I want nothing to do with thee or thy requests, Discord. Last time I did one, thou had me kill my own brother!” It came out in a rapid burst, what I meant to say to the wretched beast, and what I was really thinking.
“But you never finished the job! Celestia was still alive, and managed to seal me into a stone prison, even with only the Elements of Magic and Loyalty being represented. Now, they are once again weakened.” He paused as I started to leave, not wanting to kill another pony ever again, “Wait, Rose! I’m not asking you to kill her, just to bring her to me. I’ll do the killing!”
I spun around and started screaming, “NO, you won’t! You may strike the final blow, but dost thou forget who must actually reap the filly’s soul? ‘Tis me, not some freak of nature that ‘tis jealous of a petty foal!” I turned and leapt into the air before Discord could stop me.
~
I paced the castle of my memory, I walked in the same hoofprints that I had walked over a thousand years ago. Walking the path that I had been led to believe took me to a plain gray unicorn, which had been Discord’s warped version of my brother. He had twisted my mind to make me see my brother, not as the tall black alicorn he once was, but a short and pathetic gray unicorn. I had killed him with one blast of magic. That was when Discord’s spell had broken and I saw who I had really killed, numbed by the atrocity I had committed, I helped Celestia to seal the chaotic creature in stone. A crash resounded throughout my small home and I galloped to the front of my cottage. In the middle of my living room, surrounded by confetti and other various bits of chaotic material, was the one and only Discord.
I took a step forward and glared at Discord, “What art thou doing in my home, Discord? Thou hath no right to simply barge in!” I cleaned up the draconequus’ mess with a flick of my horn.
“Oh, Rosie. We both know you love me!” Discord threw his lion paw around my neck while twisting his tail to knock over my armchair.
I wrested myself out of his grasp and levitated my armchair back to its upright position. “What is it thou wants from me? I will nay accept any more of thy’s requests for me. I owe thee nothing.”
“I didn’t come to force you to kill anypony! I would never do that.” My dark green eyes narrowed as he went on, “I simply wish you to obtain the physical Elements of Harmony. That should keep them from being used against me.”
I thought about this new request. I looked Discord in the eye, “And should I refuse, what would thy do?”
“I would get on my knees and beg you to help out an old friend, of course!” Which he then proceeded to do, somehow making his eyes twice the size of his head. I raised an eyebrow at this.
“Nay.”
Discord stood up slowly, his eyes a stormy field, “What did you say?” He almost whispered the words.
“I said, nay. In modern tongue that means, no”
“Well then, I lied.” I tilted my head in confusion before my vision went black.