//------------------------------// // The Infection // Story: The Revenge of Tirek // by Matthew Stone //------------------------------// Sweet Apple Acres was completely packed all through the farm fields, including the inside of the barn, and Applejack’s house. Exquisite tents are also put up in the left side of the barn for the higher classed ponies. There is a last a half mile of tables set out for the grand feast. There are at least twenty tents close to the annual feast tables at each section that’s close, or far from the barn and house. The inside of Applejack’s barn was really zany and loud. Music arranged by Vinyl Scratch is played on the DJ machine with Pinkie Pie being the host on the stage floor. Cheese Sandwich is also there in the barn, arranging the sweet pastries on a neon colored table. They are all arranged for the pony guests who are dancing in the middle of the barn. William, however, jumps toward the pastries like a wild animal, and devours away. It wasn’t long before Cheese Sandwich loses his patience with the worm, giving him the chance to violently chase him out of the barn. “LET ALONE MY TREATS FOR THE GUESTS!” Cheese Sandwich roared in frustration. With that, he storms back into the barn, while William snorts, sticking out his tongue behind Cheese Sandwich’s back, and marching off to see what else is going on during the celebration. He heads into Applejack’s house, where anypony close to her friends and family, are welcome inside. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, otherwise known as Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are having their little club meeting at the corner of the living room, while Applejack is talking to Filthy Rich about a new business expansion to be prepared on the acre industry, and about Tiara’s discipline being raised. William knows he love to hang out with Applejack, but he’s more curious to see what Discord is up to. He heads back outside, squirming towards the buffet canopies near the chicken coops. There was a huge variety of meals being served by chefs behind the tables. The feast tables were also spread out for the ponies to sit and eat upon. William finally notices Discord entering the canopy, and strolls toward to greet him. “Hey there BUDAY!” William chanted, “Where’s Fluttershy?” “Oh, she went to catch up with the Wonderbolts’ events, for Dashie’s sake.” Discord admitted. “Yeah, always doing errands for anyone.” William mused, “You know, they’re serving roasted turkey at the buffet.” “It’s better than nothing.” Discord said while shrugging. Before William walks Discord in, and angered shout becomes directed toward the draconequus. “NO! YOU’RE NOT WELCOME IN HERE!” the head chef shouted. “Dude!” William panted in shock. “Come now, I’m only here to have turkey, that’s all.” Discord explained, “I’m not here to cause chao…” “YOU ARE MORE DANGEROUS ENOUGH THAN ANYPONY KNOWS IT!” a female grey pony raged out, “YOU BETRAYED US BEFORE, AND YOU’LL ALWAYS BETRAY US AGAIN!” Discord tried to remain calm, but his urges are almost on the edge. “Can I at least get the food?” He asked nicely, “I’ll leave the canopy then…” “NO FOOD IS GOING TO BE SERVED TO THE LIKES OF YOU!” the head chef berated, “YOU SHOULD LEAVE THE GATHERING YOU STUPID BEAST!” “Um, I don’t think you want to say thing like that…” William cautioned. “SHUT UP! I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU, INSECT!” the head chef barked. William stuttered nonsense words in disbelief, offended, yet crazy at the same time. “It’s not nice to call my friends names.” Discord snarled. With that, he snaps his fingers. The buffet food start to float in the air, having the ponies inside the canopy look up in aghast. In a sudden moment, a platter of casserole drops on the female grey pony, having her shriek in discomfort. The rest of the buffet meals then fly straight into the head chef’s face, like thrown pies. The rest of the meals then drop down to the ground. Everything is an artistic mess, with the canopy ponies disappointed and irked. Discord, however, was only looking at the angered look on the head chef’s face. “HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Discord laughed, “How does it feel to be bullied now?” “DISCORD” an angry voice shouted from behind. Both Discord and William turn around to see Twilight looking up at Discord with a raged look on her face. By Twilight stands Fluttershy, who gives Discord the look of distrust. William just stands still in silence during this awkward situation. “YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO USE CHAOS TODAY! WHAT PART OF THOSE DIRECTIONS DID I NOT EXPLAIN TO YOU?” Twilight scolded. “Hey… that chef…” Discord stammered, trying to explain. “Discord.” Fluttershy butted in, “You promised, and you were very honest about it. How do you think the other ponies feel after what you just did?” Discord is silent, and turns to see the ponies in the canopy once more, seeing the angry looks on their faces. “All the meals have to be remade and re-prepared again, no thanks to your jokes.” Twilight nagged, “And what about Princess Celestia? Do you even think she’ll tolerate what you’ll somewhat do next?” Twilight wishes to continue her dictating, but starts to slow down as she sees the depressed look coming upon Discord’s face. She has to calm down. Discord obviously has a side that can’t be explain, which in truth, is extremely unfair for him. “Can.. can I have some time alone?” Discord asked quietly. Before Twilight or Fluttershy respond, Discord turns real fast and storms off, not even bothering to continue making his defense. Fluttershy feels pretty awful when looking at Discord turning his back on her. She reassured him that the party would be better, and yet… Discord does want to please Fluttershy. But so far, that first struggle he went through…. That made thing unsuccessful for him. He doesn’t want to fail of being normal, but he doesn’t want to infuriate Princess Celestia either. What good will it do to try and behave when it’s for HER sake? Discord keeps stepping quietly through the acre grounds, passing the other ponies having conversations about political issues, and not even noticing him. Then, an unexpected harsh bump is made by the side of his deer leg. “Sorry. Excuse me…” Discord mumbled. “Excuse YOUSELF!” the angry voice said behind him. Discord’s head turns slightly to see that Prince Everest just said that to him. The armored griffon has the most aggressive face when eyeing at the draconequus. “You should have been turned back to stone ages ago!” Everest sneered. “I… I really have reformed.” Discord tried to explain. “Every beast says garbage like that.” Everest spat out, “And every time it’s said, it’s always a pathetic lie!” “Everest, please…” Discord calmly, “I’ve been through enough today, and I don’t want to fight…” Everest immediately swoops up to Discord and slaps him in the face. That shook Discord in anger. He doesn’t want to release his stress by giving back chaos, but at this verge… “When I signed that treaty, I was very assured I will get what I want. But I’m not convinced I got what I needed yet!” Everest then raises his sword from his belt, and points it toward Discord, “I demand you to leave Ponyville at once, in name of the treaty!” Those words punched Discord by strong emotion. Everest’s behavior is also gaining the other ponies attention around them. Twilight overhears this herself, and trots slowly to see what the trouble is. Fluttershy flies in to see if Discord is all right. When she sees him being confronted, it’s now obvious he’s not. Discord keeps a straight face, having a shocked snicker coming from his mouth. “I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT’S FUNNY!” Everest shouts. “That request of yours is absolutely stupid!” Discord scoffs out finally, “I have friends here in this so-like village. I just can’t leave because you WISH I could.” “You honestly think those ponies still accept you?” Everest spat at Discord, “They only are doing that by Celestia’s order, and they STILL HATE YOU! The only one that cares for you is that worthless trash Fluttershy!” Those words are now feeding onto Discord’s rage. Even Fluttershy is extremely hurt by being references as worthless. “That is not a nice thing to say about her!” Discord says in defiance, “I demand you stop talking about her like that!” “I do not take orders from someone who’s a villain! I want you to leave! NOW!” Everest screams. His guards then come in through the other ponies, taking them by surprise, and point their weapons at Discord. Now Discord has enough! “You know, I was actually looking forward to doing this.” Discord giggles, snapping his fingers. With his chaos, Discord then has grey clouds appear over Everest and his soldiers. Lighting zaps them on their backs, and they jolt and yelp in dismay. A mighty shock then shakes Everest like a ragdoll, though it’s harmless. It’s electric current makes Everest stunned however. Then the grey cloud sends out chocolate milk to cover the griffon prince completely. Discord laughs at his comeback, while Everest makes a enraged, vicious face at him. “You should have seen the look on your face.” Discord cackles. “DISCORD! ENOUGH!” an angry voice suddenly erupts. Discord turns to see Celestia coming forward to put an end to this trouble. She has her magic erase the clouds, having the griffon soldiers shake in shock from what happened. Fluttershy and Twilight then approach the situation to see what’s going on. The yellow pegasi pony then looks at Discord, very disappointed in him. Everest then storms up to Twilight who witnesses the situation as well. “I’ll be tearing up that treaty as of tonight.” Everest scowls, “Let that be a reminder to you, that it’s all because of Discord…” Everest then flies real fast out of Sweet Apple Acres, having his soldiers follow him. After they left, Celestia looks at Discord, very displeased. “Do you know what you’ve just done!?” Celestia scolded, “Now all of our efforts have been pointless because of your prank!” “Don’t scold me!” Discord yells back, “Everest started it!” “DISCORD! STOP MAKING EXCUSES!” Fluttershy suddenly said. Discord wobbles his feet when he heard Fluttershy even say that. The yellow pony frowns deeply. Fluttershy didn’t know what else to say. “For once… why can’t you admit that what you try to do… isn’t always right?” Fluttershy calmly says. Discord now looks angrily at his friend. “All right, look Discord, if you’re going to fix…” Twilight tries to say. “I’M NOT GOING TO FIX ANYTHING!” Discord screams, “LEAVE ME ALONE!” He then magically disappears, transporting somewhere away from Sweet Apple Acres. The crowd watching this commotion aren’t surprised that he wants to leave after all that. “Discord! Wait!” Fluttershy calls out. “I’ll find him!” Rainbow Dash offers while swooping in. “No, give him time to himself.” Celestia considers, “I understand that he’s stressed. Twilight, just… just have him come see me when he’s ready.” Twilight sighs, then faces her friends, Fluttershy, Applejack Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity to clean everything up. Everypony else also gets ready to leave, and Leo, Ian, and William look at the disappointment on their faces. Fluttershy too, was disappointed in Discord. But she also is considering, was he using his chaos in self-defense? She just doesn’t know right now. Discord appears somewhere near Fluttershy’s house, skipping stones at a reflecting pond. He looks at the ducks that waddle to the pegasi’s house that’s only a couple miles away, and he can see that in the distance. He looks at his reflection in the water, crying. “It’s not my fault.” Discord sneers, “Sure I had fun making others feel annoyed, but why do they want to lash out at me for being myself!?” Discord then rubs his face with his lion paw. “It’s just not fair.” He then looks at more ducks swimming at the pond, getting near white geese. Discord decides to calm himself by having a little FUN. He snaps his fingers with his talon to have the geese turn into muscular swans with ugly faces. They then chase the ducks away to scare them off and make gruff sounding noises. “HAHAHAHA! Never gets old!” Discord laughs. SPLISH! Discord heard that tiny splash enter the pond. He looks at the direction the sound came from, and it seems as if it came from the left side. He flies over with his wings, to see what object created that sound. “Let’s hope curiosity doesn’t kill me.” Discord hums. Discord then lands at the sounds location, and looks down through the water. It’s a dark blue stone, glowing with a red aura around it. A skull is also carved in the middle of the rock. “Meh. Not interesting.” Discord decides as he shrugs. He then flies away, wondering what to do next. “Maybe I should go visit Pinkie Pie to spice things up for her.” he thinks. GRRRRRR…. Discord wasn’t aware, but the rock he just saw makes a whispering sound. It wasn’t a normal one, it sounds more like a dead person moaning sad comments. Yells and shrieks also grow louder, and LOUDER. The aura from the rock carries these effects, as the deadly ray heads toward him. Discord then looks to see the ray coming from the rock. He drops in jaw in surprise. Then… SLAP! The ray simply made a strong punch on his cheek as it knocks him to the ground. The aura then sinks in deep into his body, having a painful, merciless, and wrenching feeling enter into his heart. His brain feels drained… His emotions… “What…” Discord tries to ask himself as he staggers up. “Worthless!” a voice in his head suddenly snaps at him. Discord wondered where that voice came from. He then knows nopony was there to say it in front of him. It was all in his head. But, he somewhat agreed… to whatever that voice is saying… “Are… are you addressing to me?” Discord asks the voice. “YES HE’S ADRESSING TO YOU! STUPID BEAST!” another voice shouts. Discord sank back to the ground. He then looks up at the sky. Dawn rises. He must have been awake all night, thinking about what happened at Sweet Apple Acres. “It was your fault you know.” the two voices said at once. “No, it wasn’t…” Discord protested. “After what you did to the main six, your betrayal to dear Fluttershy, your collaboration with Tirek…” the voices carried on. Discord tries to plug his ears, but then these words sound inside him. “WHY ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE DISCORD?” Discord shakes, dropping tears out of his eyes. Honestly, in his opinion, he starts to understand these voices. “EVRYPONY WOULD BE SAFE WITHOUT YOU!” “THEY ALL HATE YOU!” “FREAK!” “VILLAIN!” “MONSTER!” More of these words came at Discord like a verbal punching bag. It made the lord of chaos have his ears droop down. “WHY DO YOU EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO GET A THRONE AFTER EVERYTHING YOU DONE?” Discord then gets up. “This… this is all in my… imagination…” Discord said to himself, “Maybe I should… go to town… walk it out….” “YOU CAN’T IGNORE US! YOU’RE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH!” the voices call out. Discord only limps side to side, as he goes into town, trying to ignore these words. Ponyville was now hoping. All the pony citizens with different colors and genders open up their shops, and say good morning to their friends and families. Discord then flaps his wings slowly has he calmly flies, looking around Ponyville. Tears keep streaming from his face. His energy is suddenly… dropping…. Everypony looks at Discord as he flies through town. “Oh jeez, it’s him.” one said. “He’s caused a lot of trouble last night.” another pony added. “I sometimes feel sorry for the way he acts.” a filly said. Discord then looks at the ponies talking about him. However, the stricken magic that hit his body is not only producing the voices. The ponies he’s looking at, are turning inhuman IN HIS MIND. the hallucinations start to kick in as he cowers at their scary faces. The ponies in real life look at confusion at Discord, wondering what’s going on. In Discord’s mind, he sees the ponies starting to yell and abuse him. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” “NOBODY LOVES YOU AFTER EVERYTHING YOU DONE!” “KILL YOURSELF!” That sentence made Discord’s eyes widen. “NOBODY WANT’S YOU ALIVE!” “THE WORLD WILL BE BETTER IF YOU’RE DEAD!” “You’re right…” Discord said, “I’m still a worthless piece of… crap…” “What?” some of the real-life ponies say when observing his behavior. Discord can still see his hallucinations and hear the voices in his mind. “I shouldn’t even exist… I’m worthless… worthless…. I DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE….” Discord sobs. “Wait, what?” one pony said. The pony citizens all murmur about Discord’s behavior, wondering what’s going on. Rainbow Dash then flies up above, to see the crowd murmuring. Eventually, they get back to their daily routine, but Rainbow Dash catches up with Discord to see what he’s up to. “All right, just what are you up to?” she confronts, “You aren’t going to act out the Blu Flu like you did last time, would you?” Discord then looks at the cyan pegasi. In his mind, he can see her face distorted and enraged. “YOU TOOK MY WINGS BEFORE AND BRAINWASHED ME!” the being in his mind shrieks, “DIE! DIE! YOU SHOULD ROT IN HELL! THAT’S ALL YOU EVER DESERVE!” Discord then turns his head slowly away from the real Rainbow Dash. “You’re… onto… something…” Discord whispers, “I should… I SHOULD DIE…” “Wait, what?” Rainbow asks, confused, “I didn’t say… I would never say that to anypony.” “You want to see something really funny?” Discord asks in a serious tone. Discord’s eyes are blank, just as he snaps his fingers to create a knife in his hand. Gripping it tightly, he lays the blade against his wrist. “Discord, what…” Rainbow asks. Discord digs the blade deep down to his skin, and makes a GIANT cut slashing through his wrist. The deep cut oozes out lots of blood, though Discord still stands. “DISCORD!” Rainbow Dash gasped, horrified. “I deserve this…” he moans. He then makes another big cut somewhere at the middle of his arm, having more blood bleed out. “DISCORD! STOP!” Rainbow Dash pleads. She then grabs the knife from his hands with her hooves, and throws it to the ground. She then hugs his big neck, and looks at him in the eyes. “IS THIS A JOKE YOU’RE PLAYING ON ME? IT’S NOT FUNNY!” Rainbow Dash yells. Discord said nothing. Rainbow Dash assumes this was all a prank, but then… She looks deep down to his eyes. HE WAS SERIOUS. Something was wrong, and she now knows it. Twilight then walks down the street, to find Discord being comforted by Rainbow Dash. “Oh, Discord…” Twilight sighs, approaching him, “Celestia wants you to…” Twilight then stops, noticing the big cuts made on his arm and wrist. Her jaw drops while Discord gets up. “I know…” Discords groans, “Celestia wants to see me.” He then snaps his fingers, and slowly fades to transport himself to Canterlot. “He faded… to transport?” Twilight wonders, “What about the cuts? What happened to him?” “He… he CUT HIMSELF!” Rainbow Dash shook, “It’s no prank, he… he really did it…” Twilight gasps. Celestia was waiting for Discord at her throne room, looking over documents she made. She wants to do everything she can to make the peace treaty work again. Discord then fades into the room, appearing right in front of Celestia. The princess felt displeased to see him. “Discord…” she sighed, “What you done yesterday really was distasteful. You know how long this planning has to be once again.” Discord eyes look down on the floor. He doesn’t know it, but another hallucination is coming in, this time, having Celestia all distorted and hateful. “I’m starting to consider more discipline should be done on your magic.” Celestia scolded, “In order for that to happen…” Celestia’s real words then become faint in Discord’s mind. The new formation of her face then appears in his hallucination. “HOW DARE YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!” the hallucination being bawls, “YOU BEING A STONE STATUE ISN’T ENOUGH! YOU SHOULDN’T EXIST AT ALL!” Discord’s eyes looks down at the floor, as he sobs out tears from his eyes. The real Celestia then notices his emotion. “Discord?” she asks. “YOU’RE A FREAK! A VILLAIN! YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE FRIENDS!” the Celestia in his mind shouts, “YOU’RE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!” Discord never even heard those words… ever… Then… “You’re right…” Discord said faintly, “I AM a worthless piece of shit…” “WHAT?” Celestia asked, alarmed, “Discord, that’s not what I said…” “YOU RUIN EVERYTHING! IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT EQUESTRIA IS BECOMING A REAL HELL!” the hallucination Celestia spat, “DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!” Discord wasn’t even hearing the real words coming out of the compassionate princess. “Discord… let me reassure you, you’re not worthless.” Celestia said. “I should die…” Discord whispers, “I SHOULD JUST KILL MYSELF.” “D…DISCORD…” Celestia shakes. She then notices a drop of blood trickling down one of his ears. His eyes… they also become a little faint red. “You hate me…” Discord cried softly, “Everypony hates me… They’ll be dancing on my grave…” Discord then snaps his fingers to create a glass bottle. He then SMAHES it onto his face, having the glass dig deep into his cheek and forehead, cutting it real good and dripping out blood. “DISCORD!” Celestia cried, “WHY…” Discord then vanishes slowly, not even poofing. He transports himself to Fluttershy’s house. Celestia is now alone in her throne room. She’s now afraid. Very afraid. For Discord. Like Rainbow Dash, she knows that something has changed in him, and it’s not good at all. She cries out tears, wondering what to do. She cares for him, she really does. He’s her friend. It’s close to noon as Discord arrives at the front door of Fluttershy’s house. His head leans on the front door, making a slow rubbing sound. He then lifts his head slowly, the moment the door opens. It’s William who opens the door. “Hey there Discord.” William said acting cool, “Fluttershy just had me come visit because she…” The worm than notices Discord’s injuries on his arm, wrist, and face. “HOLY… WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?” William stutters. “I deserved this…” Discord wheezes. “Uh.. no… YOU DON’T!” William tries to correct, “What will Fluttershy say when she sees…” “See what?” Fluttershy asks, as she approaches the entrance by William. She then sees Discord is here. “Oh, Discord. You’re back.” Fluttershy said, smiling. However, her smile fades away when she sees the injuries on Discord. She also notices more drops of blood dripping out of his ears, and the red aura around his eyes. “DISCORD!” she cried, “WHAT HAPPENED?” Discord said nothing. “Discord. Please tell me.” Fluttershy begs, “You’re my friend…” “I… I don’t even have a home…” Discord whimpers, “Can I stay in one of your rooms for a while?” “What are you talking about?” William demands, “Of course you have your own…” “William, not now.” Fluttershy said, “You can come inside Discord.” Discord comes into her house, limping his feet and drooping his head down. “Is… is it fine if I get some sleep early?” he asks. “Well, of course.” Fluttershy said, “Do you…” “I know where the guest bedroom is…” Discord responded. “Maybe I should have your other friends come visit you.” Fluttershy suggested. “YOU’RE my only friend Fluttershy.” Discord shudders, “Everypony else hates me. I DON’T HAVE ANY OTHER FRIENDS…” Fluttershy gasps at what he just said. His self esteem is very low. She even tears out for him when he slowly fades to go to the guest bedroom. He doesn’t even snap his fingers. Fluttershy loved the cheerful lord of chaos who is always happy and joyful when trying to make mischief. At least that’s an effort to try and make other ponies happy. Now, he’s depressed, REALLY depressed. That’s what concerned the yellow pegasi. Discord now hugs his knees in the guest bedroom, rocking back and forth while listening to the hateful comments about himself in his head. “WHY DIDN’T YOU DIE YET?” the voices say. “NOPONY LOVES YOU!” Discord tears out faster and faster. “That… that can’t be true.” Discord tries to reassure himself, “Some ponies respect me…” “DO THEY?” the voices shout out. The hallucinations then kick in as Discord sees projecting bubbles in front of him. Each bubble shows all the wrong doings he had done in the past. He winched and scratched his arm when looking at those painful moments. He can’t believe he actually did them. He disharmonized and brainwashed the main six ponies, even Fluttershy. He flooded Sweet Apple Acres. He planted those mischievous seeds that caused the weeds to imprison Celestia and Luna. Another memory shows him faking a sickness just to get attention. Then his worst regretful memory came. The one that involved him HELPING TIREK! He betrayed his friends. HE BETRAYED FLUTTERSHY. “Why… WHY?” Discord wheezes, “Why did I do it?” He can even hear what he says the moment he explains his betrayal to Fluttershy. “I imagine they'll be your last decent meal for quite some time.” he said slowly in that memory. He then looks at the sadness on the ponies’ faces. That made him whimper louder and louder. “I AM a monster…” he said to himself. “SEE? YOU’RE WORTHLESS!” the voices progressed. Discord cowers into a ball as the voices grew loud second by second. “YOU DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE!” “DIE!” “KILL YOUSELF!” “HANG YOURSELF!” “DO IT!” Discord then snaps his fingers, holding a noose and rope. “DO IT!” Outside Fluttershy’s house, Rainbow Dash flies down to knock on the front door. Fluttershy opens it, with William standing by her. “I figured Discord might come here because you normally make him happy.” Rainbow Dash said, “I know it’s not like me, but I thought I might want to cheer him up.” “I… don’t know…” Fluttershy mumbles. “But… Fluttershy…” Rainbow Dash informs, “He needs friends to hang out with him. Did you know he actually CUT HIMSELF! This is serious!” “W…WHAT?” Fluttershy squeaks, “Discord did that? That’s not like him at all…” “What is this? Some after-school special?” William asks, confused and disturbed. CRACK! The huge sound came to the three characters in the living room. “That… that came from my guest bedroom.” Fluttershy gasps. “Discord is in there…” William said. The three of them then run up through the room and up the stairs. They turn the hallway corner and arrive to the guest room that right by Fluttershy’s. Rainbow Dash opens the door, and widens her eyes. “NO!” she shouts. Fluttershy and William then come by Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy then staggers, her voice becomes high as she cries. “DISCORD!” she sobbed. They look, trying to think of a way to save him fast. Because… HE HANGED HIMSELF. And he’s rattling and wheezing trying to loose air. The noose is tight enough on his neck, and his feet aren’t even touching the floor. It seems that the Demon Mold has begun to take effect. Can the gang find a way to change him back to normal, or is Discord doomed? Find out on the next time on MLP: Anime is Magic!!