//------------------------------// // Chained // Story: Deathwing in Equestria // by SoaringCoal //------------------------------// Princess Celestia had just arrived at the crystal empire, when a letter materialized in front of her, wearing the crest of princess Twilight. Celestia looked curiously at the letter for a moment. Twilight's next report wasn't due to in another three days, so there was no reason for her to write. Celestia opened the letter and read it. Dear Princess Celestia Something terrible is going on here in Ponyville. Discord just assaulted another pony, throwing him through my castle wall. I'm hearing explosions outside as i’m making Spike write this letter. I’m sending this letter at the request of Discord. He told me to get you here. He told me that he had found HIM, but that doesn't make any sense. Were looking for a dragon not a pony? You should get here quick! Im not sure what's happening, but I can hear Discord screaming! Im going to go help him. Please, hurry! Your former student: Twilight Sparkle Celestia's eyes widened and her heart pumped faster as she finished the letter. He was in Ponyville the ENTIRE time? How could she not have known? "Auntie Celestia!" A pink alicorn yelled as she ran towards the alabaster mare. Celestia barely noticed Cadence, as she summoned a quill and paper and began writing before sending the newly finished letter off in yellow smoke. "Im sorry, Cadence. We will have to do this some other time. Something has occurred" Celestia said with a serious tone, making Cadence very confused. "But-" was all Cadence could say in protest before her aunt disappeared in a yellow flash. Celestia appeared at the base of Twilight's castle. Everything was silent. Not a single sound. Was the battle already over? She looked over the castle and noticed black smoke rising behind it. She spread her wings and quickly flew behind the castle. Celestia's eyes were reduced to dots at the sight. On the lawn before her were four craters, one smoking, one on fire and one containing the lifeless form of a familiar draconequus. there was crystal rubble everywhere. A few feet from Discord, a familiar purple alicorn was laying unconscious. She swiftly landed beside Twilight. Celestia noticed a very large bulge and black scorch mark on Twilight's cheek, as if she had been hit by a fiery rock. A slow rising was coming from her chest, indicating she was still breathing. Twillight was hurt, but not in any life threatening danger. Celestia then remembered her other hurt friend, and she turned around to look at Discord. As Celestia looked over the lifeless form of the draconequus, her heart began to race. She ran over in the crater where he lied. She noticed the crushed paw, the crooked tail, the blast marks and dried blood that were covering most his body. His eyes were closed. "Discord! Discord, wake up!" She yelled at him while shaking him with her hooves, starting to tear up, not bothering to check his heartbeat. There was no response. Discord just lied there with his broken body. Celestia's yelling woke up the purple alicorn closeby. "P-princess..." Twilight groggily sat up, pain rushing through her cheek. She got up, much to her body's dismay. Her mood beamed as she got eyes on her mentor and it fell even faster when Twilight saw what Celestia was doing. "I swear, Discord, if this is another one of your pranks I'll..." Celestia cried. She was now sobbing as she was shaking the draconequus. Twilight put a hoof on her former teachers shoulder, making Celestia stop. Twilight was starting to tear up herself as she realised what was happening. Five more mares appeared behind them and gasped at the scene. Fluttershy darted towards the princesses and draconequus with tears in her eyes, but was stopped by Applejack and Rainbow Dash holding her back. Fluttershy protested and yelled wildly, but it was no use. The other mares started tearing up as well. Celestia's lower lip was quivering. She picked Discord up in her hooves and held him in a tight hug, letting her tears sink into his warm fur. She noticed a midnight blue alicorn appear beside her as well with a sad expression on her face. Celestia, in her grief, felt slightly awkward and out of place. She had never been so close to Discord, never even thinking of hugging him, and yet here she was, hugging and crying on her former worst enemy. She didn't know why, but it just felt right. Celestia's eyes flung up as she felt a slow, but steady beating coming from the being in her hooves. "Uhh... Seriously. What's with all the yelling?" a groggy Discord said, as he rubbed his head with his talon. Everypony just stared mouth agape at him, completely silent before erupting in cheer of sheer relief. Celestia blushed, let go of Discord and looked away. Discord landed in the scorched ground with a hard thud. He sat up, wincing in pain as he tried to use his lion paw. He didn't sit long as he was tackled to the ground again by a yellow blur. "Don't you dare do something like that again mister! I was so worried" Fluttershy scolded the damaged draconequus with a tear ridden face, before taking him in a bone crushing hug. "DAARHH.. RIBS..RIBS!" Discord wheezed in pain. Fluttershy let go of  him. "Ah, much better" Discord sighed in relief before realising something as he looked around at the mares that had tear ridden faces. "Wait, have you ladies been crying?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Of course we have, silly. We thought you were dead" pinkie pie answered while happily bouncing up and down. Discord was taken back by this. He didn't expect that they cared so much about him. He only thought Fluttershy and Twilight cared about him, but it seemed he was wrong. "I... I didn't know you all cared so much about me..." He muttered. His lower lip quivering. "Of course we do, Discord. You are our friend" Twilight responded with a smile, the rest of the mares, including the princesses nodded. Discord looked around to each of the mares he could call his friends with a smile. Each of them returning his look with the same. Celestia returned the look with a wide smile, mist covering her eyes. Her heart leapt at his sincere and grateful eyes, but she quickly looked away. She was blushing again. Discord found this odd, but dismissed it. His thoughts wandered to his awakening sight of her holding him in a tight hug, her mane smelling like roses, and her beautiful violet eyes. His heart leapt at the memory that had only occurred a few minutes earlier. Red flashed across his face at the thought. "We hate to interrupt this touching moment" Luna started, getting everyone's attention. "But we have to get back to the task at hand. I got your letter, sister." She held out a letter with a sun crest logo on it. "Where has our enemy gone? We must smite him before he does anymore damage!" Luna shouted, lightning crackling behind her, making Fluttershy hide behind Discord. "Moohna, not so loud please!" Discord shouted back, holding his talon over his ear. "Besides, he's over there" Discord pointed to the burning crater revealing the guise of a stallion in the middle of it. Luna and Celestia looked at eachother before slowly walking over to the burning crater with narrowed eyes. Neltharion awoke with an earsplitting headache. He rubbed his head with his hoof, trying to get the headache to dissipate, but to no effect. He could vaguely recall what had happened. He had fought Discord, almost killed him, hit Twilight, gotten back his control, and blacked out in a crater outside Twilight's castle. He could hear vague voices, the voices of Twilight, another two females and the whining sound of the draconequus he had just fought with. He tried to move his legs, they barely responded. Neltharion slowly opened his eyes to a peculiar sight. He was bound in the middle of a room that appeared to be inside a castle. The room was made of white stone with different decorations and stained glass windows on it's walls. At the end of the room were three thrones. One golden, one pink and one midnight blue. The chains that bound him looked to be made out of energy, bound to four white  pillars at each corner of the room. Each pillar had a different color chain binding him. One golden, one yellow, one purple and one blue. Before him were Twilight Sparkle with a bandage on her cheek and she appeared to be in a heated argument with two taller alicorns. One with a white coat and a flowing mane in the colors of a rainbow, and another one a little smaller dark blue with a mane flowing with stars and the color of the night sky. From their appearance alone Neltharion could guess these were the two other princesses Twilight had told him about. Behind them were five other mares and the draconequus from before. The mares was watching the argument with interest, while Discord looked bored out of his mind. He recognised three of the mares as those he met while he was in ponyville. Neltharion felt weaker. He couldn't quite explain it, but it felt as if something had been stripped from him or suppressed severely. He glanced down at his body and discovered what appeared to be red runes glowing on most of his plating. Just by looking at them Neltharion could guess they were some kind of magic suppressors. "Hey, he's awake!" Pinkie pie shouted happily while pointing at Neltharion, shifting everypony’s, and draconequus eyes to him. "Uhh.. Hi?" Neltharion said with a raised eyebrow as the princesses started to scowl at him. "So.. Thou arst this dragon whom wants to destroy Equestria" Luna began eyeing Neltharion with an angry look "we had expected more." "Wait, what?" Neltharion began, now confused and slightly insulted. Why would they get the idea that he wanted to destroy Equestria? He stood up, making the princesses uneasy and they took a step back. They would not take any chances. "What gave you that idea? Im not here to destroy your world. Im here to ask for help" he said with a grim expression. The three princesses exchanged looks and shot some looks to Discord who just held his talon up defensively meaning 'don't look at me. I’m not a ruler of Equestria'. Luna stepped forward "Thou are not fooling us, fiend! Our sister had a vision about you burning Equestria to the ground and we will not allow thee to do so, Deathwi-" "Don't you DARE call me THAT!" Neltharion interrupted her angrily, his eyes flaring fiery red as they did in his true form. Luna's wings flared in fright and she took a step back from the display, nudging her sister to take over. Neltharion continued. "I am not that monster... Not anymore anyways." he muttered with lowered head, his eyes full of sadness and anger. "What do you want us to call you then?" Celestia asked with a tilted head. He reminded her of Luna. Luna had the same expression in her eyes for months after she returned from being nightmare moon, but the anger in his eyes was stronger. Neltharion regained his composure and stood at his full height in pride. "On my world, I was known as Neltharion the earth-warder. Dragon aspect responsible for the material well being of the mortals of my world." He looked to the ground in anger almost, as if expecting it to burst into flames at his next sentence. "Deathwing... Was the name I gave myself when I fell to the corruption from beings imprisoned inside the earth of my world, it made me wage a war against all living beings on my world that lasted over ten-thousand years." The mares and draconequus stood with eyes wide at his tale. Discord and Luna could relate to him a little, but not in the same degree. The rest of the mares tried to process what a ten-thousand year war must have been like, even living that long was hard for them to comprehend. "But i’m not that monster anymore, or well, I try to keep that side of me locked away, but that's easier said than done, but I swear to you I mean you no harm. I was actually going to ask you for help, getting me home" Neltharion said, hoping they would believe him. "How did you get here? How did you get to Equestria?" Celestia asked with a serious expression. "As i've already partially told Twilight" he nodded to Twilight making everyone look at her as she smiled sheepishly. "I was banished here as my siblings found out they couldn't destroy me, only transport me away from my world so I couldn't destroy it." Neltharion explained, while frowning. "Also, I have a question" Twilight started with her hoof in the air as if she was in school. "When we tried to transport you here we couldn't. Why can't we teleport you?" She asked. It had bugged her ever since the princesses had picked up the unconscious stallion, and she tried to teleport him to canterlot, but that only resulted in Twilight blacking out from the pressure of trying to teleport him, as if she was trying to teleport the moon and replace it with a new sun. Neltharion put a hoof to his chin, thinking for a moment before responding "I suspect it's something from my world that stuck with me on transport. On my world powerful beings can't simply long distance teleport from one place to another without major exhaustion." The magical users in the room looked at Neltharion with a raised eyebrow, confused. For them the more powerful you were meant that it was easier to teleport, was it the exact opposite on Neltharion’s world? Noting the confusion on the ponies and draconequus faces he explained further. "I can't teleport from place to place because it requires that I not only move my mind and body from one place to another, but also all the magic i possess. Imagine it as you have to move through a doorway with a massive boulder on your back, the boulder resembling the power you possess, the more powerful you are, the bigger the boulder. Now you have to force that boulder through that doorway, and you can only do so by making the doorway bigger, or making the boulder smaller, each one having a positive and a negative effect. Do you understand?" he asked everyone in the room who nodded slowly. "So you're only here to ask for help? Why didn't you just come to us in the first place? Why disguise yourself as a pony? Twilight questioned him. Neltharion grinned and shook his head in disappointment at the question. "Would you have believed me if I came to your castle in my true form and asked for help after your princess had a vision of me destroying your country?" Twilight blushed in embarrassment at the obvious answer and looked at her hooves "I guess not..." Celestia exchanged glances at the other alicorns and Discord who just looked at her funny. "I am not sure we can trust you, Neltharion. My sister and I's visions have never been wrong so were going to have to take a few precautions. Im sure you understand. Neltharion narrowed his eyes at the white princess before he looked down in defeat and nodded. “We have restrained your magic with runes and you will be under surveillance and escort day and night. Im sorry, but we can't let you run wildly with all that destructive power inside you. It is too much of a risk for us.” Celestia stated, narrowing her eyes at Neltharion who just gave a sly smirk back. Celestia turned away and walked towards the thrones. "You will be staying at Twilight while my sister and I find out how we are going to help you." No chains can hold me princess. If I need to, I will break your pathetic runes, and then I shall show you what true power is Neltharion thought darkly before shaking his head free of those thoughts. "Very well. I understand" He said with a smirk. He looked to Discord who were scowling at Neltharion. "And do not worry, Discord. What happened in our battle will not be repeated. I won't let it" Neltharion's face turned grim. He didn't know if this was true or not. He didn't know just how strong the corruption was and he didn't know if it was stronger than him, or that if he could even fight it. The only thing Neltharion knew was that he'd be damned before he would let it take over without a fight. After everypony had left, Discord stood in the throne room with Celestia, and he was not happy. Discord had felt humiliated by this 'Neltharion'. He had been outsmarted, outclassed and downright humiliated himself by his self blasting. To say that Discord was angry, was the understatement of the century. When Discord had looked over the being talking with his friends and the princesses he could feel nothing but spite at this newcomer. Discord was also worried. Despite the runes that were edged into the plating of this dragon in disguise, Discord could still feel his rage and the magic it fueled and it made him feel uneasy. The princesses had their concern with the runes as they weren't intended to be edged into a being with so much destructive magic. Originally, as the princesses had told him, the runes were meant for Discord in case the reformation hadn't worked, but even then, they weren't sure the runes could contain Discord's magic. After all, Discord is one of the, if not the most powerful singular being in Equestria, but the mere thought of having his magic taken away made Discord shudder. His magic was all he was, without it... He would be nothing. "Celestia, are you insane?" Discord asked very seriously. Celestia sighed "What would you have me do, Discord? Throw him in the dungeon? You know that it wouldn't be able to contain him." "It would still be better than letting him stay with Equestria's best defence against forces like him!" Discord shouted. Celestia stepped down from her throne and walked over to Discord. "I know it's a risk, Discord. But I think there's good in Neltharion, just as I saw good in you. I think this is an opportunity for us to learn from him and for him to learn from us. If we can teach him the value of friendship, then maybe he can tell us things we can learn from. And maybe we can avoid disaster." Discord rolled his eyes "Is friendship really the only plan you have or do you just like using it?" Celestia was about to answer when Discord interrupted her. "Besides. He's over Ten-THOUSAND YEARS old, I'll be surprised if he hasn't learned the value of friendship" Discord said keeping the serious expression. "It took you over three-thousand years, didn't it."   Discord blushed in embarrassment. "Yeah... Well... That's not the point!" Discord shook his head. Celestia gave him a smug grin before beginning to snicker. Discord became as red as a tomato "Hey! That's not fun-" He pointed at her with his lion paw before wincing and collapsing from the sudden searing pain that traveled up his broken paw. "Discord, are you okay?" Celestia asked with a concerned look. "I-Im okay" He stood up. "My body still hasn't healed completely, but it should be gone by tomorrow" he smiled at her. "Are you sure?" "Yes-yes, don't worry. I'll be fine." Discord glanced down at the blast marks on his body. Celestia nodded at Discord's words. She glanced outside a window. Luna was raising the moon. Celestia yawned. "I think it's time I turn in then." Discord yawned as well. "Yes, it has been quite an eventful day hasn't it?" He suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I wanted to ask, am i allowed back in the castle?" "Sure. As long as you don't prank Luna for a while. She's still pretty mad about your last prank." Discord snickered. "And who can blame her. I was a little mean. I should probably apologize... at some point." Celestia nodded. She began walking towards the door. "Goodnight, Discord." Discord watched her as she gracefully walked towards the entrance. Watching her made his heart pump a little faster, but he didn't notice. He then remembered something and a mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "Oh, and Celestia" She turned her head head towards Discord's "About my reward"