//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fourteen 
// Story: Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds 
// by Caineachu 
//------------------------------//

Discord grinned down at the blue mare in front of him, watching as she looked him over. He had to resist striking a pose. He looked just like he always looked: a chaotic mish-mash of animals, a coy and cunning look in his yellow eyes as his gaze rested on her. She looked like she felt like he truly didn't wish her harm, and that was true, at least for the moment. She gulped anyway, and her fear rippled across her face. "D-Discord?"

"Ah, you do remember my name! There was a split second where I thought you had forgotten all about me, maybe from some kind of head wound or something. My poor old heart couldn't have taken that kind of rejection." He snapped his fingers, a flowery hankerchief appearing in his furry paw. He dabbed gently at his eyes before poofing it away just as quick. "But how could you have forgotten about me? I'm...well, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm rather incredible."

Rainbow, who was visibly scared not even a minute ago, rolled her eyes."Yeah, you're a real unforgettable character, alright."

The draconequus simply grinned again. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, always the one with the sarcastic little quips. Definitely one of the more interesting of Fluttershy's little group of friends. You and that apple one, always locked in some silly competition or another." A finger tapped his chin. "What was her name...Jappleack?"

"Applejack."

"Oh, right, whatever." He closed his eyes and waved his clawed hand at her, as if his flubbing of the orange mare's name didn't matter. And to him, it really didn't. It seemed to matter to her, though.

"Where is she?" Her voice alone almost demanded an answer from him. Him, the God of Chaos, was being demanded to cooperate! But he wouldn't give in that easy. That would ruin the fun, and in this world, he could have all the fun he wanted! That was simply something he couldn't miss out on.

"Oh, Rainbow, after your long, hard journey here, do you really expect a simple answer to that? And for me to give it so quickly?" He waved his finger. "No no, my dear pegasus, you must work for it."

"Discord, I don't have time for-"

"Ah, now that's where you're wrong." He hovered over to her, wrapping an arm around her. "You see, Rainbow, you have plenty of time, because time has no meaning in this world, I made quite sure of that. No social obligations, no civic duties. Free time has been near quintupled, and that's all the more reason to throw a bit of chaotic fun into the mix!"

The blue mare next to him was about to protest, but she paused. "What do you mean you made sure of that?"

"Oh, Rainbow, come now, did you think this world just happened on its own? That it wasn't given the tiniest of nudges with a bit of chaos?" He grinned, but instead of the goofiness he usually had with it, it took on a much darker tone. "This is my magnum opus! Chaos fully realized around the globe, and everyone powerless to stop me! And it was all quite easy to do, if I do say so myself."

"What?! You mean this is all your fault?" Rainbow Dash was fuming now, it was plain to see. The draconequus laughed a little inside. These little ponies were so adorable when they were mad.

"Oh, no no, Rainbow, this wasn't all me, as much as I would love to take credit for it all." He hovered in the air in front of her, crossing his arms, looking rather smug. "All I did was make the tensions rise a smidgen. I went all out with my powers on this one, it was quite the show, even for me!"

If looks could kill, Rainbow's glare would've had Discord dead to rights. "How did you do that?"

Discord snapped his fingers, a nail file coming into existence before him. He slowly started to file his clawed hand. "Oh, well I was thinking, one day, that thousands of years of peace is incredibly boring, so I thought 'what's something we haven't had in a long, long while?' And then the answer came to me right away." He grinned down at her. "A draught. But not just some piddly little thing that dries up a well or two, no no, I went much bigger than that." He poofed the nail file away and held his arms behind him, pacing a bit as he spoke. "I spread it worldwide. Whole oceans were reduced to the size of lakes. It was a rather interesting change, I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner!"

He turned back towards Rainbow, motioning for her to come over to the window with him. "The leaders of most of the lands around and including Equestria, however, didn't find it as interesting as me. Or rather, not interesting in the same way. They were rather frightened, and their fear sadly led to some...unfortunate mistakes. I don't have to go into much detail, but their choices led to the world you see before you far more than mine." He gestured out to what could be seen from the window, mostly a ruined Canterlot, and Ponyville further away, just barely visible in the distance.

"You still...you still started all of this." Rainbow growled at him, her eyes shooting daggers in his direction. "This is still your fault, just as much as theirs."

"Oh, now Rainbow, you know that's not quite true." He scratched at his neck, completely casual as he turned his back to her. "But I suppose it's always easy to just place all of the blame on the Spirit of Chaos. Gives everyone a big bad monster to hate as opposed to members of their own species. 'Tis a curse I must carry, I suppose."

Rainbow's wrists pulled tightly at the rope still binding them together, and she looked down at them, suddenly realizing she was still holding the letter opener. Without any hesitation, she raised her arms and whipped it towards him.

Time seemed to slow down as soon as it left her hand. Or, more specifically, the letter opener seemed to slow down, because Discord turned at normal speed as the blade slowly inched towards him. He looked down at Rainbow, his expression one of intensely faked hurt. "Rainbow, I'm surprised at you! Trying to kill somepony when their back is turned." He plucked the letter opener out of the air with his paw. "And with a letter opener, of all things. A for effort, I suppose, but still..."

He strolled over to her, his entire posture one of nonchalance. Which made it all the more surprising when his clawed hand struck her across the face. She flew backwards, hitting the marble floor with a thud. When she looked up, Discord's face was inches from her own.

"I wish you hadn't done that."