Immediately the connection between Tia and her father was broken. The princess fell a few feet and crumpled on the floor. Ignoring the pain that flared up in her hooves, she bolted back to her feet and stared at the spectacle before her, unable to believe what Disc had just done.
It was obvious that the contact with the king’s magic was different with Disc than with Tia the instant he touched it. The magic held him in the air as he screamed and writhed as though his coat had caught fire, his hooves scraped at his body as he began to glow with the same green hew as Tia had before him. His eyes grew wide as the blue irises spread wide in fear and pain.
“Father!” Tia screamed, “Stop! Stop now!”
“I’m trying!” Cried the king, his brow furrowed and sweat beading down his face as he fought his own spell’s hold on the stallion. When nothing happened, Tia unfurled her wigs ready to fly up and save him. “NO!” her father ordered. Tia looked at him, her heartbreak obvious in her eyes. “We don’t know what’s going to happen! Keep back Tia!” Tia did as she was told, and with her heart shattering at the sight, she turned her gaze back to her screaming and flailing beloved.
Disc felt as though he was dying. The constant stream of magic burned his insides; he could feel it lapping up at his stomach as though he had swallowed boiling water. Through a haze of red pain, he looked at his hoof which was fast beginning to burn. Before his eyes, his foreleg was beginning to warp; the fur began to malt away leaving his skin bare and red as it burned beneath the magic. Disc gave out newfound screams as four small long something’s began to sprout from his hoofs tip, four small long digits. The hoof itself began to crumble away as his foreleg’s calf began to pinch and become skinnier.
“TIA!” Disc screamed as his body began to distort out of its usual shape. His neck grew long and slender, from his skull erupted two horns. The pain was excruciating, as his bones reshaped themselves and new found body parts erupted from his body, tearing his skin apart to make way for them. His armour’s straps snapped, and they fell down to the ground with an ear shattering clang, leaving the stallion bare. His body’s fur began to taint, discolouring into a dark reddish brown.
“FATHER!” Tia demanded of the king, “STOP THIS!”
“I can’t Tia!” The king protested, his eyes staring at the screaming stallion in horror. “I-I can’t...” He echoed hollowly. The glow around Disc began to intensify, building to a climax which burnt the eyes of the two alicorns, forcing them to turn away with cries of anguish. Suddenly, without warning, the screams ceased. Tia turned back to and stared at the spot where Disc had hung in the air. There was nopony there.
The princess’s vision fell to the ground, and saw the creature. It had a long, snake like build, its hind legs looked like those of both an alligator, and a goat. As her gaze travelled up the creature that lay before her on the ground, she saw a large red lizard like tail sprouting between his legs which curled into a deadly tip. On its back lay two wings, one the bright blue of a Pegasus pony, the other a large black leathery bat wing. She couldn’t see its face, or anything behind the two wings that covered his upper half like a blanket.
Tia looked to her father, who stood there with horror in his eyes. “H-he...” Tia choked. “He tried to stop me...” the king nodded his mouth remained closed and his eyes fixed on the creature between him and his daughter. “What happens?” Tia asked, unable to stop the tears as they began to seep from her eyes and fall to marble floor of the hall. Her father carried on staring at the creature.
“H-he isn’t an alicorn, he’s a normal pony, his body isn’t meant for such power...”
A gasping breath began to seep out from under the wings, as the creature began to come out of whatever slumber he had been in. Tia took a step towards it, her father tried to protest, but was shot down by the glare his daughter gave him. “Disc?” She asked; her voice shaking as she took a trembling step towards the mismatch limbed figure.
“Tiaaa...” came a low growl from beneath the canopy of wings. “T-Tiaaa.” The wings began to unfurl from around the figures head. Pulling back towards his back and tucking themselves back in. From beneath his stomach, the creature pulled out his arms to try and push himself up. Tia jumped at the sight of his hand, it was yellow and taloned like a griffon’s, this was horrible!
“Disc, I’m here!” cried Tia, as she rushed to his side and fell to her knees beside him. The altered stallion raised his head, only to reveal two horns, one a dear’s antler, and the other the twisted blue horn of a goat. Tia breathed deeply, trying to stay calm for the sake of her beloved Disc who lay before her. At least his face looked the same, though slightly more curved; his face still resembled that of the Disc she knew. She reached down and took hold of his face. “I’m here...” She repeated.
Slowly, the lids that covered his eyes, fluttered open. Tia had to bight her tongue to stop herself from jumping. His eyes were a shocking red, set into orbs of dark yellow. The eyes f a demon. One pupil was smaller than the other, adding yet again to the unbelievable mayhem that was Disc’s body. As his eyes met the soft pink of his beloved, Disc’s lips parted, showing a forked tongue of a snake and a long singular fang. “Tia...” He whispered weekly. “You’re ok!” He sighed in relief and tried to push himself up.
As his hand searched for a place to push from, his eye’s caught sight of the large lion paw he now had. He screamed in surprise, collapsing back to the floor as he swung his arm away in fear. He rolled onto his back and held his arms up to examine them! Yet again he let out a terrified scream. “Disc! Please calm down, we can sort this out. Just give us a minute.”
“WHAT HAPPENED!” Disc cried, scurrying across the floor away from Tia not wanting her to see him like this. He pushed himself to his mismatched feet, and stumbled back until he fell against one of the pillars at the side of the hall. He threw his hands out to catch the solitary stone column as he fell. He slammed hard against it, the slam echoed out across the cavernous room. Tia stared unable to believe what she was seeing.
“Disc...” She whispered in a doleful voice.
Disc was panting hard, his chest heaved hard as he stared down at his limbs, horror spreading his across his face. “W-W-What’s happened to me!” He whispered. In answer of his question, the king began to approach the tainted stallion. The creature’s eyes snapped towards the approaching black monarch, glinting with anger and dislike that terrified Tia to see, a look she had never seen him use.
“You have taken the magic meant for an alicorn.” The tall black king explained. “You have been tainted, your race has never been meant to hold that much power. Now that you have taken it instead of Tia, the magic has tried to make you evolve to a spirit state.” He scanned the creature’s body, “You cannot reach that level of evolution, so now your body has changed and warped itself to accommodate the magic that flows through your veins...” The king’s voice died for a second, as he prepared his next words carefully. “The magic of a god.”
Disc’s eyes shot to Tia, who looked on miserably as the two most important men in her life spoke. “B-but...” Disc whispered, Tia’s eyes seemed to shine as he looked at her. He tore his eyes away and looked to the king. “But Tia is still here, so it didn’t work?” The king looked angered at the former stallion’s defiance.
“I suppose so.” His eyes shot to his daughter and he sighed. “I cannot gather that much magic again, it would take years before I’d be ready to try once more.” Disc’s twisted heart soared. He shifted his weight ready to embrace his beloved. But as he moved, Tia took a step back in instinctual fear. The sight made Disc stop.
“T-Tia?” he asked, his voice quiet and worried. Tia tore her gaze away and looked to the ground. “Tia! I-It’s still me!” Disc smiled, and felt the long knife like fang prick his lip. He gave a startled cry and his paw shot up to his lip. When he pulled it away, the yellow fur was stained red.
“You may believe you’ve succeeded Disc.” The king boomed. Disc’s eyes shot back to the king, his temper rising quickly. This was his entire fault; if he hadn’t wanted to send Tia away then Disc wouldn’t have needed to save her. Disc would still be the stallion he once was, Tia would be happy, Tia would be able to look at him without fear or disgust! “But believe these words, for they are true!” The king’s voice began to rise. “It will take a few years until I can cast the spell again, but when that time comes, I WILL help my daughter ascend, and YOU!” he came to a halt before the twisted form. “Will not interfere a second time!”