Chapter Four
“A New Beginning”
Discord stood alone on the cliff side, gazing down at the dark forest below. The hurt and the sudden loneliness he felt choked his throat. He could feel his whole body tense up in anger. He tried to remember back to the old times when he truly felt like his mother loved him. He tried to destroy the boiling furry in his heart that wanted to erupt. He didn’t want to feel this way, but how she betrayed him…how she walked out on him…how she abandoned him...left him here like he was a worthless piece of garbage, just broke his heart. No…it shattered his heart. How could she?! How could she stoop so low as to run out on her only child?! He didn’t understand. The very fact that he couldn’t understand it, because it was inexcusable behavior on her part just made everything worse.
There were still so many questions deep in his heart that he himself couldn't answer. Who could but her? One of them was "why?". Why did she do this? No....how could she do this? All these questions continued to burn in his mind as he stared at that dark forest. Hot tears filled his eyes as he turned away from it at last. He stared at the ground in silence. The heartbreak and pain enveloped his heart and created an erupting volcano of anger inside him. He knew then, he never even wanted to know who he was. He never wanted to hear another word from her or see her face again! He hated his mother. HATED her! He lifted his face to look at the king and queen. They were talking to each other. If they hated Eris as much as Discord himself did, perhaps he could find a good life with them somehow. He looked on with a small glimmer of hope in his heart.
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Celestia couldn’t help but stare again at the draconequus standing still and silent on the cliff’s edge. She felt an overwhelming wave of sympathy come over her. She felt that she needed to speak to him. It would be for the first time that day. She felt a bit nervous. After all…she could also sense a small form of darkness inside him. There was a certain stillness in the air that made her feel uneasy. It was the way she felt around Eris, except it was stronger around her. She glanced over at Star Swirl the Bearded. He was standing by her parents awaiting orders. He looked a bit restless as well. He had a strong connection to the magic realm. She knew he could sense the growing flame of darkness. However, Celestia did not believe it was something to fear but rather something to try and accept. Could Discord really help it? His mother abandoned him and probably broke his heart. He had a right to feel anger, even if it made him gain just a little more dark power in his heart. She slowly approached him. She stopped in her tracks when she felt a presence beside her. Luna nudged her gently.
“Tia…” she said softly. “Is she going to come back?”
“No,” Celestia replied. She more or less hoped Eris wouldn’t come back, but she didn’t know for sure if she would or not. “I don’t think she will, Luna. It’s okay now. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m okay,” Luna replied. She looked over at Discord and leaned even closer to her older sister. “Tia…why does he look like that?” she said without whispering.
“Shhh! Luna!” said Celestia glancing up nervously at Discord. She hoped he didn’t hear. She didn’t want his feelings to be hurt. “You shouldn’t ask questions like that. It’s just the way he was born.”
“But…he’s different…” said Luna cocking her head curiously. Being only seven, she was too young to fully understand such things.
“I know…” said Celestia quietly. “He seems very sad. He’s here all alone, you know. We should talk to him to make him feel better.”
“Okay,” said Luna nodding. She and Celestia trotted over to Discord. He was looking over at the king and queen. His eyes looked wet with tears. When he saw the two alicorns approaching him, he quickly turned away and blinked them back. He nodded to Celestia and tried to fake a smile to destroy all evidence of his grief.
“Hello…” she said quietly. She cleared her throat.
“Hi!” said Luna smiling at him. “Don’t be sad! It’s okay that you’re different!” Celestia winced and nudged her sister.
“Luna!” she muttered. “I’m sorry about her, Discord,” she said sliding her hoof on the ground nervously.
“No need to apologize, Your Highness,” the draconequus replied.
“You can call me Celestia,” Celestia replied.
“And you can call me Luna!” said Luna jumping up and down. Celestia admired how quickly she had gotten over the terrifying events of the day and had turned back into her cheerful, carefree self. She was young though, unlike Celestia herself who was growing older. She was now thirteen and had many more responsibilities. She felt she had to worry about such matters, especially if she was to rule the kingdom one day.
“Really?” Discord asked smiling a little.
“Of course,” Celestia replied. “You’re going to be staying here with us. You have nowhere else to go.”
“How can you be so sure?” Discord asked raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. “Your parents don’t like me, do they?”
“Oh, of course they like you! They will give you a home in our castle…or…when we rebuild a castle, I suppose.”
“My mom destroyed your castle?!” said Discord. “So that’s what that smoke is all about,” he said nodding to the smoke in the distance. Well…I’m glad she’s gone. I don’t want to see her again.”
“But…she’s your mother…” said Celestia calmly. She cocked her head at him.
“I don’t care!” Discord scoffed. “I couldn’t care less! Besides…if you were me…would you go in there?” He pointed behind him to the Everfree Forest in the background.
“Hmm…I suppose not…” Celestia replied nodding. She realized there was no way to make him have the compassionate and forgiving heart she did. She could only try to sympathize with him. “I’m so sorry, Discord…about what happened. But I know you can have a happy life here. Perhaps we can all have a new beginning. It will be okay.”
“I hope you are right, Celestia,” he replied sighing.
“Discord…” said Solina. She and Orion walked over to the three kids. “We want you to know that we are happy to have you here with us. We want to make your stay here as comfortable as possible. I know this must be hard for you. However…we think we can make things better here.” The queen and king turned to Star Swirl. He was still standing by, observing the scene.
“Star Swirl,” said Orion glancing around at the large mountain top they were on. “With your help, Solina and I would like to rebuild here. Our old castle was in the middle of the forest, which is now Eris’ land.”
“We must also find a way to call the other ponies in the kingdom up here too. We must build a new town for them to live in,” Solina added.
“And look at all this land,” said Orion glancing out at the wide open plains. “Ponies can migrate out to the farther regions as well, if they wish. We can have such a fresh start from all this.” Star Swirl nodded and smiled.
“Good does come from bad sometimes,” he said. He examined the mountain top. “The spell required is a strong one. It requires telepathy. I can assist you both in its creation if you work hard to send me an image to follow.” Solina and Orion nodded. All three closed their eyes. Their horns glowed bright and their manes flapped in the air. Two bright white rays of magic appeared from their horns and came together in one big ball of light. It twisted and turned in the air. Then, Star Swirl took the magic ball into his own magic grasp. He levitated it to the correct spot on the mountain top and it grew bigger and bigger. He breathed slowly and lifted his head high. His horn shot out sparks. The spell was so intense, his hat fell off. His white mane and beard flapped around. The rest of the party watched him in amazement. The intensely bright ball of light had now grown so very large, they others had to shield their eyes from it. At last, there was flash and Star Swirl’s horn stopped glowing. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. The others looked and gasped in awe. In the ball of light’s place was a grand, magnificent castle. It rested on the cliff side, with a waterfall flowing gracefully down the side of the mountain.
“Oh, Star Swirl! It’s exactly how we imagined it,” said Solina smiling brightly.
“It looks stunning. You’ve outdone yourself,” said Orion nodding in agreement.
“Not a problem, Your Majesties,” said Star Swirl bowing. “I sent out the image of the castle along with a telepathic message letting the kingdom know we are creating a new place to live up here.” He glanced off to the horizon. “I see them already forming a single file line to journey up here. I will make it easy for them to come up here.” His horn glowed again and the rocks on the mountain side morphed into a ramp.
“Thank you,” said Orion, bowing a little in respect. “You have done so much. I’m sure if we learn the basics of that spell, Solina and I can take it from here.”
“Of course we can,” said Solina nodding. “We are so grateful for your help, Star Swirl the Bearded. I’m sure the gods and goddesses will smile upon you always.” The grayish blue unicorn smiled, levitated his hat back on his head, and bowed his head again. His horn flashed as did the two alicorns’. It appeared he sent the spell to their minds, so they had instant knowledge of it.
“Good luck to you,” he glanced briefly at Discord. “…all of you. Farwell.” He closed his eyes, his horn glowed, and he vanished.
Celestia, Luna, and Discord could only watch on in wonder and amazement as they watched their parents set to work. As time passed, more and more ponies made in onto the mountain top.
“Come on, Tia!” said Luna eagerly, after she grew bored. “Let us go into our new castle!” She pranced off in that direction. Celestia smiled at Discord.
“We might as well…” she said. He turned nervously toward her. She could tell he was a bit apprehensive about this. She cocked her head and smiled a little more to try and make him feel more comfortable. He looked into her eyes and sighed. He started to walk towards her. She was glad that he was finally going to accept these changes. Perhaps there really could be a new beginning for him too. She smiled bigger and started to walk away. She did, however, look into the corner of her eye and catch him glancing at the Everfree Forest one last time. That little hint of darkness had never really left, but she didn’t care. She ignored it. And she would regret it.
TO BE CONTINUED...