//------------------------------//
// What is Love? Troublesome and Crazy 
// Story: Deathwing in Equestria 
// by SoaringCoal 
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"Excuse me, sir!"



Neltharion turned around to see the pony from before running towards him. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. What does she want? She stopped in front of him and gave Neltharion a look he couldn't decipher. "Yes?"



She stepped closer but looked away from his eyes. "I-I never got to thank you. You know, for saving me."



Oh, it's just that? Neltharion rolled his eyes. Sure, he had saved her, but he would have preferred to not intervene at all. But after the first attack punch from Neltharion hadn't caused the Timberwolf to stay down or run away, Neltharion had been forced to take further action, which had slightly irritated him, some may even say it had made him mad. So much in fact that he had invoked his magic through his magic restraining runes and literally told the Timberwolf to burn in Azerothian Draconic. It was weird that the runes hadn't burst or disappeared, but Neltharion dismissed it as him being lucky. He would have been getting a complicated conversation with Twilight if he showed up at the castle with the runes gone from his plating.



"Don't mention it." He replied and went back to his walking. The pony mare trotted up beside him.



"U-uh, what's your name?" She asked nervously.



Neltharion kept a serious frown. "Why do you care?"



"W-well, I would like to know the name of the handsome stallion that saved my life."



Her reasoning was logical to Neltharion, so he answered. "If you must know, my name is Neltharion." He kept his current tempo as he spoke, then a thought came into his head and he slowed down. Wait, did she just call me handsome? He could clearly remember the last time he had been called handsome and the word was still weird to him. Last time, he had been in human form, manipulating mortals into going against each other in his corrupted state. He had been called it several times, mostly by females who thought he couldn't hear them talking. He shook his head. No, I must have heard her wrong.



"What an interesting name. I’m Roseluck, but my friends call me Rose." Roseluck said, trying to keep the conversation going.



They had just entered a slightly more crowded area and ponies were staring at them, especially at Roseluck who were looking dreamily at Neltharion and he who was completely oblivious to her looking at him in such a way.



"So... I haven't seen you around before." Roseluck said while keeping a close eye on Neltharion, who were now lazily looking at the road ahead. "Have you just moved here, or are you on vacation?" To Roseluck's surprise, Neltharion stopped walking. His face looked a little sadder than before.



"I... Well... I guess you can call it a forced vacation." Neltharion shook head free of his oncoming depressing thoughts and got back to walking.



"Okay..." Roseluck said, assuming it was a sensitive topic, and walked closer to him. "Would you mind if I asked you a personal question?"



Ugh, what is it this time, another plating question? Or maybe she's interested in my age? Neltharion groaned in annoyance. These ponies and all of their questions. His thoughts was mostly referring to Twilight. That pony could ask him questions till his ears fell off. "Sure, ask away."



"Are you married?"



Roseluck's question stopped Neltharion on the spot. "What?" He had not expected her to ask about something like that.



"Are you married?" She repeated.



Why would she ask such a silly question? The idea of marriage was not unheard of to Neltharion. He had almost gotten himself married once himself, to a mortal, but that was to increase his political status. The idea of him being married was, to him, downright ridiculous. Dragons don't get married, they get a mate. When that mate dies, they find another. Of Course they care about their mates, but loving and caring for them like they are the only things that matter is just not what dragons do. Dragons don't love like mortals do. "Uhh, no?" he answered with a raised eyebrow, looking back at Roseluck.



Roseluck seemed to beam a little at his words, but then it looked like she remembered something. "What about a special somepony?"



Now Neltharion was getting confused. "What is a special somepony?"



Roseluck looked confused back at him. "You know, a marefriend, or coltfriend if you're into that sort of thing."



Neltharion understood her meaning and looked almost disgusted at her. "What? No, I don't have a marefriend, or coltfriend for that matter." This conversation was getting uncomfortable.



Roseluck beamed at his words and wore a ridiculously big smile. "Great!" She moved uncomfortably close to Neltharion, pressing her side against his.



Neltharion was confused to say the least. Why did this mare think it was 'great' that he didn't have 'partner'? He moved away when Roseluck's side touched his. "Miss Roseluck, what are you doing?"



She seemed to blush slightly at his question. "Oh, I just... Want to get to know you better and since you don't have a marefriend, we don't have to worry about any complications about me spending some close time with you."



What does she mean by 'close'? Neltharion thought to himself. This mare was creeping him out. They had only just met and she was already getting uncomfortably close him. Maybe this is just a way ponies befriend each other? Neltharion was completely clueless and even doubting his own hypothesis. "What do you mean by 'close'?"



Roseluck's face turned into a look Neltharion didn't recognise. Her lids were half open and she wore a small smirk. "Oh, you know what I mean." She replied in a seductive tone.



Neltharion shivered at her tone and started to sweat. What is happening? He felt embarrassed and he didn't know why. It hit him like a ton of bricks to the head. It had been ridiculously obvious. She wants to...  I have to get out of here. He thought, slightly panicking. Females had shown him attention before, but never in such a... ahem, Open manner. "Ugh, it was nice to meet you, Roseluck." He said, backing away slowly. "But I have to go now." He looked to the sky and saw the sun was on it's way down. "I have to be home before the moon rises."



Roseluck looked a little saddened by his words, but her smile came back almost instantly. "It's alright, I'll just go with you, I would love to see where you are staying. Then I can also visit you in the near future." She walked closer to him, again.



Oh brother. He backed away. "I don't think it is such a good idea, Roseluck." She walked closer, He backed off, they continued this dance until Neltharion had backed himself against a wall. Out of sheer panic, Neltharion started to run away, Roseluck following close behind. "Leave me alone!" He yelled behind him, getting all nearby ponies to stare in confusion at the unknown stallion running away from a pretty mare.



Roseluck came closer and closer. "Oh, but I can't, handsome! I need to be with you!"









Meanwhile in the Canterlot gardens.



"AAAGH!" Discord screamed as he dodged another beam of alicorn magic. "Celestia, don't hurt me!"



"YOU FOUL IMMATURE FOAL!" Celestia yelled back at Discord while chasing him, shooting the occasional magic beam after him. "GET BACK HERE AND RECIEVE YOUR PUNISHMENT!"



Five minutes earlier



They had both just come back from their 'adventure' three hours too late. First Discord had teleported them to the ancient underwater ruins of Marelantis where they got attacked by a kraken. After that fiasco, Discord teleported them two-thousand eight-hundred years into the past for Celestia to experience Marelantis before it was sunk, but, of course, Discord had forgot to mention that he was the one who sunk Marelantis after he was banned from the city for doing... Chaotic things over a long period of time. So naturally they got chased of the island before they could experience anything. Then they went to Anugypt five-thousand years into the past, where they got arrested by the jackals. After each trip, Celestia got in a more and more sour mood.



When they finally got back from their little adventure, Celestia was tired and slightly mad, but she was willing to forgive Discord, even though they had a horrible trip and had returned three hours too late. Celestia had politely thanked for the eventful, if not stressful, trip. Then Discord made a joke about the jackals while Celestia patiently waited for her 'reward' for going on the trip. Eventually Discord had started rambling and it had made Celestia annoyed. So much that she had interrupted Discord's rant by saying firmly "I demand my reward, Discord." To which Discord had replied with a shrug and granted Celestia her reward. It just wasn't the reward she expected.



He summoned a piece of paper and Celestia snatched it from him before he could even grab it himself. The note contained nine infuriating words.



Just think of chocolate before you go to sleep. It also contained a picture of Discord giving thumbs up.



Celestia stared at the piece of paper in disbelief. "This isn't the recipe for chocolate dream..." She muttered while staring at the paper.



Discord grinned mischievously. "Sure it is. I promised you the recipe for having a chocolate dream and here you have it." Discord could literally feel the temperature around Celestia rise. He saw the paper she held burst into flames. Oh, horse apples. Celestia looked up at Discord with fury in her eyes.



Present



"Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" Discord yelled as he continued running away as fast as legs could carry him. Most of his fur was singed off from Celestia's high temperature magical attacks. He snapped up anything he could think of to slow Celestia down in her hunt for roasted Draconequus. Jell-O walls, gum balls to make her trip, oversized lamps shaped as himself to block line of sight. He finally managed to hide behind a hedge.



"SHOW YOURSELF, YOU LOUSY TRICKSTER!" Discord heard Celestia yell angrily as she looked around.



Think, Discord, THINK! What can I do to escape? He thought to himself. I can conjure up a fog! but she can just evaporate it... He heard Celestia groan angrily and he saw a nearby hedge get incinerated. He gulped. Okay, I don't have much time. Maybe some chocolate rain could calm her down! The hedge right beside his got incinerated. He began to sweat. Maybe not... What can I--. He realised something and facepalmed. Unfortunately he did it so loudly that a nearby enraged alicorn heard it. I can teleport... Why didn't I think of that before I got most of my fur burned of? I can just teleport to Pony--



"THERE YOU ARE, YOU FIEND!" Celestia shouted from the other side of Discord's hedge.



Discord jumped at the sound of her voice. Better do it now! He snapped his talon and disappeared just as his hedge got incinerated.









Neltharion the earth-warder. The great and wise dragon that fell to become one of the most monstrous beings to ever walk Azeroth. Deathwing. Even the name sowed terror in the hearts of everyone who heard the name of the great dragon. He who had almost destroyed Azeroth many times over. Him and his dragonflight being responsible to some of the most horrific things ever committed in Azeroth's history. Oh, how the mighty fall.



Neltharion peeked out from his hiding spot. No sign of her, good. Neltharion didn't know how long that crazy mare had been chasing him, but the sun was almost down so it must have been a long time. He was about to crawl out of his hiding spot, being a oversized trash can, when he heard the sugar sweet voice of the mare chasing him and instantly dove back into it.



"Nelly~!" Roseluck sang, looking for said stallion. "You can't hide forever~!"



Neltharion resisted his urge to yell at the mare. He sighed. As if 'Nel' wasn't undignifying enough. Neltharion peeked up again. Roseluck was scanning some nearby bushes. He could try and sneak away, but she would hear him exiting the can, as his plating would scrape against the cans metal. No, he needed a way out. He needed a distraction. Neltharion heard a *pop* coming from nearby and looked in the direction of the sound. The sight surprised him to say the least.



It was Discord with smoke arising from his back and his tail end was on fire. Discord noticed the tail and looked panicked as he shook the tail and patted it to put the fire out. It looked as if all the fur on his back had been burned off.



Neltharion didn't want to admit it, but he needed help. Urgh, let's get this over with. "Discord." He called in a hushed voice to avoid attention from Roseluck. Discord looked around with a raised eyebrow, searching for the voice. "Discord!" the voice called again. Discord directed his attention towards a oversized trash can, a hoof sticking out from the lid urging him to come over.



Discord began to walk, nearby ponies looked at him in fear and confusion at his appearance as he walked over to the trashcan. Discord's expression became even more confused when he saw who had called him over. "You?" Discord asked. "Why are you in a trashcan?"




Neltharion looked at Discord with a serious expression. "That is not important right now. I need your help getting away from here."



"Why should I help you?"



Neltharion had not thought this through. Of Course it wouldn't be easy to convince Discord of all people to help him, Neltharion had almost killed the guy.



"Nelly~!" Roseluck called again.



Her call sent shivers up Neltharion's spine and for a second his face shifted to one slightly panicked. Unfortunately, Discord noticed. "Look, I just need you to help me. We can discuss my previous actions and whatever you want after you get me away from here."



Discord put his lion paw to his chin in thought and slowly his face twisted into a smug grin as he came to a conclusion. "Alright, I'll help you."



Neltharion sighed in relief. Thank the titans. "Great, I just need you to--"



"But first you have to tell me why you are hiding." Discord interrupted him.



"What?"



Discord kept his smug grin. "Tell me why you are hiding." He repeated



You have got to be kidding me. Neltharion had hoped he could have gotten out of this with his pride intact, but it seemed that Discord had no intention of letting him. "Fine." He growled. "I am hiding from that pony over there." He pointed in the direction of Roseluck who were now asking nearby bystanders about Neltharion's location.



"Why?"



"Because... Because she has been chasing me around Ponyville for, I don't know, how long! Apparently in her eyes i'm 'handsome' and she wants to be my 'marefriend' from what I can understand."



Discord's eyes widened a little. He began to snicker and then he fell to the ground laughing while holding his stomach.



Neltharion's face flushed red in embarrassment and his expression quickly turned into a furious scowl. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Hahaha, yes it is very funny. Now get me out of here!"



Discord's laughter slowly died out and he got up on his legs again. "Sure thing." He snapped his eagle talon and the trashcan Neltharion was occupying started to float in the air. "Where to?"



Neltharion noticed Roseluck was starting to pay attention to Discord and the trashcan he was talking to. "Anywhere but here!" He yelled from within the can. Discord nodded and started to float himself and Neltharion into the air and away from Roseluck.









Neltharion peeked up from his floating trashcan. They were over the Everfree forest, seventy feet in the air. "Wait, what are we doing here?"



Beside Neltharion's trashcan floated Discord, relaxed, on his back. He yawned. "I thought this would be a good opportunity to take you up on what you said earlier. You know, about 'discussing' things."



Neltharion raised an eyebrow. What did Discord want to talk about and more importantly did he want a rematch? There was something about Discord that reminded Neltharion of himself. It was something in his eyes but he couldn't place it.



"And also I found this a good opportunity to get some payback." Discord added and snapped his talon.



"What do you mean by thaaAAAGH!" Neltharion didn't get to finish his sentence as his trashcan flipped upside-down, making him fall towards the ground. He could feel the air beating into his face, the same way it did when he was flying. It would have made him feel relaxed, that is if he wasn't falling towards the ground. As Neltharion fell, he noticed he was falling towards the ruins of a castle. The same castle he had run into on his way to Ponyville.  Unfortunately it being a castle also meant that instead of falling into the ground, he was falling towards hard stone floor. He tried thinking of something to get him out of his situation but he didn't have enough time. He estimated he would survive the fall, but not without injuries. Neltharion curled into a ball, closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. This is going to hurt.



Everything seemed to slow down and eventually stop for Neltharion. What the? He hadn't hit the ground. He opened his eyes only to discover himself incased in a big purple Jell-o cube two feet above ground in the throne room of the old castle. He could hear Discord laughing behind him.



"Oh, now that was fun!" Discord landed beside Neltharion's Jell-o cube with a mischievous smirk on his face. "I had expected a little more panic from you, maybe some pleas or some swearing, but it's nice to see that not everypony is that predictable."



Neltharion scowled at Discord. "Your sense of humor is distasteful." He muttered through the Jell-o. "Now, dispel this disgusting pastry. You wanted to talk then let us."



Discord rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Spoilsport." He snapped his talon and Neltharion's Jello prison disappeared in a white flash, making Neltharion fall the last two feet and landing with a thud.



Neltharion got up, displeased with the whole situation. This world was really testing his boundaries. If he didn't need help getting home, he would probably have burned a lot of these ponies to cinders already. Especially his appointed guards. Even thinking about their lack of respect and sense of superiority gave Neltharion the urge to violently dismember them just for the sake of it. Discord were trying his patience as well. But Neltharion let slide. The better relations he got with these ponies, the more trustworthy they would be of him and that would probably increase his chances of getting home, but did he really want to go home?



"Okay then." Discord snapped up his throne and a chair for Neltharion. "First off, I want to let you know that if you hurt my friends, i’m going to turn you into a chocolate bunny and feed you to Fluttershy's animals." Discord's tone had never been more serious. "Am I making myself clear?"



Neltharion rolled his eyes. "Yes."



"Great!" Discord was about to continue when Neltharion interrupted him.



"Before you continue, I have a question."



Discord raised an eyebrow. "Okay, shoot."



"Why does your back look like it has been roasted over a fireplace?"



Discord's eyes widened and he shrugged. "Well... I might have ticked off Celestia after which she chased me around Canterlot gardens, wanting to barbecue me." He waved his talon dismissively. " But that's not important."



Neltharion snickered. "Glad i’m not the only one getting physically abused by these ponies. I find it astounding how violent this race of colorful equines can be."



Discord put his paw to his chin in thought. "Hmm... Now that I think about it, im pretty sure they have always been like this."



"Really?"



"Yes. In fact I think they have gotten less violent over the past few millennia. I remember them being much worse when I ruled Equestria."



Neltharion raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You? Ruling Equestria?"



Discord smiled smugly. "Why yes. In the words of dear princess Sunbutt 'I ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness.'"



"Sounds somewhat similar to what I did on my world."



"Interesting." Discord replied in a dull tone and snapped up a glass of chocolate milk. "Im actually curious. You mentioned your ten-thousand year war, but you never gave us any details. Did you ever come close to winning?"



Neltharion nodded with a grim expression. "A couple of times, yes."



"Do you regret going to war?"



Neltharion froze. Do I? It was a difficult question. On one hand he regretted everything that had happened and wished that he, at the time, had had the strength to resist the corruption growing within him. On the other hand, he regretted nothing and wished he had done more damage. "I-Im not sure."



Discord stepped down from his throne. "And why is that?"



Neltharion had caused so much pain and misery in his time as Deathwing and yet, the more he thought about his actions the less regret he felt. The guilt and regret inside him was starting to turn into anger. If his siblings had joined him, he wouldn't be where he was now. If they had joined him, they could have forced the mortals to stop their destructive actions instead of forcing Neltharion to eradicate them. But they hadn't and Neltharion had become a monster. "Let me answer your question with one of my own." Neltharion replied. "Do you regret your previous action?"



Discord's eyes became wide and he took a step back. "Well, I've never really--"



"Do you regret causing unhappiness and making ponies miserable?" He asked angrily. Neltharion's eyes flashed fiery for a second, his runes began to glow white and the earth beneath them shook slightly. "Don't you miss the satisfaction, your sense of superiority and watching them squirm beneath you in fear?" Discord looked away, completely oblivious to Neltharion's magic acting up. The glowing from Neltharion died out.



"Y-yes I do." Discord replied, still looking at the ground. "Sometimes I do miss it, but that doesn't make the things I did right." Discord snapped up a picture with him and the mane six in it. "If I were to begin doing those things again, I would lose my friends." He stroked the picture affectionately.



Neltharion snorted. "Friendship and family... Those things are nice to have, but nothing lasts forever." He looked grimly at Discord. "You are immortal, yes?"



"Indeed I am." Discord replied. "But what has that to do with anything?"



"You are going to outlive your friends. They will die while you live and then all you have given up for friendship will be for nothing." Neltharion looked around the ruined castle. "Look at this castle. I reckon it was once the place most ponies wanted to be, yet now it has crumbled. It's time of greatness is over, never to return." He turned his eyes back to Discord who had been following Neltharion's gaze around the castle. "And now I ask you, Discord. Is it worth it? To go through the pain of loss that will follow you for the rest of eternity in trade for companionship that won't last more than a few drops of sand in the desert that is your immortal life? To make yourself prisoner to your painful emotions and those precious memories of a time long past?



Discord held a painful expression. "I-I don't know..."



Neltharion sighed. "I have lived for a long time, Discord. I have lost countless friends, sons, daughters and now i’m most likely the last black dragon there is left." Neltharion's face shifted to a painful expression as well. "And what I have learned from all of this is that getting attached is like getting chained."



Discord shifted to a curious expression. "What about your so called 'siblings'?"



"Until now, I thought they cared about me, about us, but I have recently learned that they could have turned on me at any moment. Even if I had not been corrupted."



Silence followed Neltharion's words. Discord shifted uncomfortably.



"I must say, I had hoped for this conversation to be a bit more cheerful." Discord said.



"We both have dark pasts, what did you expect?"



Discord stroked his beard. "I’m honestly not sure. I had just hoped this conversation wouldn't remind me so much about my conversation with Tirek."



"And who is Tirek?"



Discord shrugged. "A centaur that manipulated me into betraying my friends and then betrayed me."



"How did he manipulate you?"



"He told me Friendship is just an alternative form of imprisonment, that true freedom is achieved by having no emotional ties."



Neltharion walked up to Discord, who were looking at Neltharion cautiously. "Just because Tirek betrayed you does it not make him any less right." Neltharion looked at the hole in the ceiling above. The moon was high in the sky.



Discord seemed to ponder Neltharion's words. Perhaps he needed to rethink some things. He yawned. "Well, as fun as this has been, I have to go back to Canterlot. Hopefully Sunbutt has calmed down." He held out his lion paw. "I actually enjoyed this conversation, believe it or not, even though it was..." Discord waved around his eagle talon, searching for the right word. "Depressing."



Neltharion snickered. "Yes, I guess it was." He shook Discord's lion paw with his hoof.



Discord gave Neltharion a grin. "I will see you soon, Neltharion." Discord snapped his talon and disappeared in a white light.



Neltharion was momentarily blinded from the light. When the white dots stopped dancing in front of his eyes, he saw there was a big green present where Discord had stood. Neltharion raised an eyebrow. "What is this?" The second he touched it, the package opened up and out came a cotton candy cloud swarming around Neltharion. "What the?" It kept swarming around him until all of his body was covered in cotton candy. The cloud stopped in front of him and spit out a postcard into Neltharion''s face. He groaned in anger and picked the sticky postcard of his face with great difficulty.



The postcard contained a picture with Discord smirking into the picture. He was in some deserty land, wearing a hawaii shirt and sunglasses running away, from what looked to be, bisons in ballet skirts. The card also contained the words. I couldn't resist.



Neltharion looked furiously at the cloud in front of him. He groaned and in that moment he heard something break, like glass shattering on the ground. The cloud and the cotton candy on Neltharion burst into fire without warning, leaving only ashes. Weirdly enough, his cape was unscathed by the fire. Neltharion realised what had happened and pushed away his cape, revealing his plating. It had a red hue. The rune on his left side plating was gone. Oh no. His runes were breaking. He sighed Looks like im going to have that conversation with Twilight after all.



He began walking towards Ponyville. It was in the middle of the night in a dangerous forest, but Neltharion didn't care. He cared more about his conversation with Discord and the possible consequences of Neltharion's words if Discord decided to tell anypony about their conversation.



Neltharion could hear the trees rustling and a faint sound of insect-like buzzing. He heard a crash. Something's wrong. He could see flashes of green through the woods in Ponyville's direction and hear faint yelling and hissing. Neltharion began to run as fast as he could towards Ponyville.



He came through the woods and gazed, mouth agape, at the mayhem in the village. Neltharion could see many insect-like black creatures crashing into the village from high in the sky like meteors surrounded in green magical auras. There were hundreds of them. Ponies in the village darted around, trying to avoid the creatures.



"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"