Act IV: Climactic Collisions
Chapter 4: Development Inspiration
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The tension in the room went up in an instant. One could have easily cut through it with a knife if it were possible. And considering who Corey was currently staring at right now, that was something that could very well happen at any second. Instead, Discord just continued to look back at him with that same grin on his face. It wasn’t the exact same smile he remembered, but it carried itself the same. Corey could only sit there, not sure what to do next. Discord was still chaos personified. And Corey really didn’t want to make contact with him, least of all now, while he was still trying to wrestle with the negative emotions that had plagued him for so long.
Time continued to pass for what could have been several seconds, and before Corey knew it, he blinked.
“And the challenger goes down!”
Suddenly, Corey’s ears were assaulted by loud cheers without any visible sources and flashing lights accompanied by what sounded like camera flashes. Looking up, he saw Discord holding a trophy as confetti was thrown at him. As all this went on, the unseen announcer voice continued on, a voice that Corey now picked up as another Discord, doing an imitation of one of those cheesy sports announcers.
“It was a close match but Discord retains his title of Master of Stares for the 1,001st year in a row!” Discord blew kisses at the crowd that cheered for him, before slowly turning to an annoyed looking Corey.
If I ignore him, maybe he’ll go away… thought Corey. It had worked a few times in the past… a few times.
“Oh, don’t take it so hard,” Discord said, “Not many can matchup against a pair of globes like these!” He then reached up to his face and pulled out his eyes; a trick Corey had seen before, not that Discord would know, “Unshaken, unbeaten, unbreak—“
Mid-gloat, his eyes effectively rolled off his palm and shattered against the floor, a record scratch being heard as all sound finally stopped. There was a very long period of awkward silence as Discord simply stood there grinning, his eye sockets remaining empty.
“Nothing? Not even a chuckle?” Discord asked, Corey remaining silent, “Well, you’re no fun.” He sighed, his eyes growing back soon after. Corey finally realized there was no avoiding it. He was just going to have to deal with the bad hand he’d been dealt today.
“Can I help you?” Corey asked, trying to suppress any agitation he was feeling.
“Yes, I’ll have the double-stacked hay burger and a side of fries,” Corey blinked, and suddenly, his surroundings had changed. Now, he was behind what looked like a fast food restaurant’s cash register. Corey looked back to Discord and his eyes twitched.
Just walk away. Get out of here. Walk away. Corey’s mind told him, and that sounded like the best idea.
“I don’t have time for this,” Corey huffed as he tossed the hat from his head, turning around on his heel and beginning to make his way for the door.
Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, the props he’d created vanishing in a puff of smoke.
“I suppose you’re right,” Discord sighed, “How long has it been? Two weeks. Two weeks of nothing but silence and peace… not counting you and Celestia shaking up the castle.”
Discord chuckled slightly, but Corey remained silent, still making his way to the door. “But it’s all just the calm before the storm, isn’t it? Soon the clouds will build overhead, and something is going to come pouring down. Now everyone is preparing diligently to ensure that when those clouds clear, the sun will shine on them in victory.”
Corey paused mid-step, halfway between where he was and the door now. There was something different. Discord’s tone had changed entirely, his demeanor anything but what he was a moment ago. For the first time, Corey took a chance and spoke, turning around yet again to face Discord.
“And that’s why we’re all working so hard. That way we can have the power to fight back when the time comes…” Discord looked at Corey for a moment and let out a small chuckle.
“Power… such a strange word when you think about it,” Discord raised a closed fist, slowly opening it to reveal a small orb of magic, which strobed with many different colors, “So many want more, all for different purposes, good, evil, doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, everyone wants more of it, but only a small few have it all.”
Corey arched a brow, wondering where this was going.
“They live their lives knowing there’s nothing they can’t do, until the day comes when they are finally met with something that says otherwise. Only then will they realize it, that even if they had all the power in the world…” Discord closed his fist abruptly around the magical orb, shattering it and causing the candles nearest to him to blow out entirely, “They’re still weak.”
Again, there was silence, but Corey found his irritation going away. Was this the same Discord he knew? If it was, he seemed different…
“You don’t like me very much, I can tell,” Discord continued as he looked to Corey, “Can’t imagine why. This is our first official meeting. But you’re from another world. It’s not really me you’re angry at, is it? Tell me, is there a ‘me’ in your world? If there is, what did he do to you?”
Corey didn’t say anything, simply looking away for a moment. The answer was a bit more complex than that.
“That bad, huh?” Discord wondered, “I can’t say I’m surprised. And if he’s anything like I was… chances are, he’ll get what he deserves.”
Corey blinked. “Was?”
“These last few weeks have caused a lot of waves, resulting in some large changes for everyone involved. Though, I suppose I can’t be involved, even if I wanted to… forced to watch from the sidelines as the only ones I could dare call ‘friend’ are put in danger. With a simple snap of my finger, I could stop all this—“ Discord did so, but the candles only swayed slightly in response—perhaps he was emphasizing his point again, “But that would come with a risk. One I’m not willing to take.”
This is… The word Corey was looking for was humility. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d see in someone like Discord. And yet, there it was. Not as a façade, not as mere crocodile tears meant to garner sympathy, and not just a mask for a greater plan. This was genuine humility on display here.
“Admittedly, the old me probably would have. Chances are, there are a lot of things he would have done by now… things that probably wouldn’t have been helpful in the short term or the long term,” There was a look in Discord’s eyes as he thought about it. It wasn’t of sadness, nor of deception. He looked like he viewed the notion with severe contempt, “But he’s not me. Not anymore. I’ve had to let go of him after what I’ve seen recently. And right now, I refuse to go back. I refuse to become one of them again.”
“Then… what will you do?” Corey asked.
Discord looked up for a moment, as though wondering that himself.
“All I can do right now is wait for the right moment,” Then he began to walk, his path leading towards the door. Corey simply watched for a moment. This whole conversation had taken him for a loop he hadn’t expected.
“And when that moment comes?” Discord stopped in the door frame, having opened it manually. Now, he tapped his chin as he searched for a response.
“I’ve started to ask myself that recently, that if by some strange event I was face-to-face with my former self. I’d wondered what I’d say, what I would tell myself so he’d know there’s another way, a much less… stiff way. But after a while, I realized that I probably wouldn’t have said anything.”
Discord finally stepped out, heading through the doorway as he spoke his final words, letting the door close behind him.
“I would have just struck him down.”
Discord’s words echoed around the empty hall full of candles as Corey was left alone in the dim room once more, any evidence that Discord had been there gone. He felt no irritation at all; fact was, he’d felt his irritation had abated before Discord had stepped through the door.
He’s changed… so much… Sure, maybe this Discord was different from the one he knew prior to his entry in the world, but he didn’t have any reason to think it would have been that different. That being said, it was a substantial change—maybe not from night to day, but enough to matter, enough to see. Corey looked down at his hands once again.
His own shortcomings in the field of change came back to him, the worries it’d be impossible for him returning. But this time, they didn’t stay. The impossible had happened right in front of him—living, breathing proof that it could be done just walked out of the door. Discord had changed for the better.
“Then…” Corey’s hands tightened as he nodded to himself, making his way back over to his former sitting position towards the center of the room, “If he can do it…”
Corey took in a deep breath, now in his meditation position. He closed his eyes, gathering his focus.
“What’s stopping me from doing the same…?”
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Since the day Tartarus had been compromised, Luna had diligently remained on guard at the resealed doors. Each day, she had been unable to move from the area in fear that a second breakout was right around the corner. However, on this day, Luna finally took the chance and trusted the watch to the guards who had watched over it with her. Finally, after months of waiting, Luna finally managed to return home.
Though she hadn’t been in Canterlot for quite some time, she wasn’t unaware of what was going on now. Luna had first thought that she’d find her sister in her chambers, perhaps seeing through to Corey’s training, as she was informed via letter. However, Celestia’s throne was empty, and when Luna did eventually find Corey, he was in deep meditation. After searching through the castle for some time, Luna was left wondering where else she could search. Then, she remembered she still hadn’t checked one place, one she was sure Celestia hadn’t been to in years.
Deep within the castle’s vault, a hidden location accessible to only Celestia and herself, was where Luna went next. And it was there she finally found her sister.
“I can’t believe you’re here…”
The room was large, larger than the throne room that housed it. Within its walls were displays of a large variety of goods acquired throughout the years. From ancient relics of the rulers of the past to totems of everlasting alliances between nations. Above all else, this room was where Luna and Celestia stored the many weapons they’d owned.
In the center of it all was where the two sisters kept their armor from wars past, and it was that which Celestia stared towards now. She didn’t make a single move to indicate she had heard Luna, her gaze firmly locked onto her old armor, as though flashing back to the days she still had to wear it. Only when Luna was close enough to the case that her reflection could be seen on the glass did Celestia finally speak up.
“It almost feels like yesterday, the days when this armor and I were practically inseparable. The days when our nation needed us to be strong, to be able to stand our ground against anything that may threaten this world,” Celestia pressed her palm against the glass of the display, her gaze now locked on her reflection, as though she now saw her past self again.
“Do you miss it?” asked Luna.
“I suppose it depends on what you mean by it,” said Celestia, “Do I miss the days of war and death? No, never. Do I miss the days when I was first to enter battle, hoping to end the conflict as it begun?” Celestia let out a small sigh and closed her eyes, “Always.”
The palm placed on the glass closed, tightened into a fist. The pressure behind it was just enough to make the glass fracture.
“For so long now, I’ve forced myself to sit on the sidelines, forced myself to watch so that my student and her friends would achieve their destiny. All this, for the sake of learning the magic of friendship,” Celestia’s fist pushed harder against the glass, causing more cracks to spread around it, “Even now, I was forced to do nothing more than sit down and watch, all as a part of someone’s sick amusement.”
Celestia had to stop herself, her aura beginning to emit as anger rose from the memories of the past days.
“But there is no lesson to be learned here. There is no chance of reforming someone who has tumbled so far into the abyss…” Celestia took in a breath before standing up straight, looking over her armor one final time, “What I am trying to say, Luna, is that I’m tired of watching.”
Luna stared at Celestia for several seconds before finally smiling. “I couldn’t agree more.”
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Corey wasn’t even sure how many days had passed since Discord’s unexpected visit. He only knew that time wasn’t up yet. Whenever he wasn’t tending to basic needs he couldn’t ignore, like eating or actually sleeping, he spent his time in the dim room, trying to find it in him to finally move on. It wasn’t easy. With his new resolve, he managed to finally get some images together.
Every single one of his past mistakes that haunted him, all of the resentment he’d felt in his life before coming there, and everything in between—he’d relived all of it. But this time, he wasn’t simply a bystander in his own body. He was a bystander watching himself make the same mistakes. And each time, he’d learned to forgive himself; each time, he’d made peace with the situation. Each time, he could feel the pressures around him growing just a little lighter.
Yet, even with his successes in accepting his past, there was a sense of incompleteness he felt as he went back to his mindscape. He was close enough that he could taste it, but at the same time, Corey felt something wasn’t right. Something was still eluding him. And he had a pretty good idea what was still holding him back. He knew though, that he couldn’t force himself to revisit the moments. He had tried. When he came out of meditation that time, he found several puddles of melted wax around him, and the room was even dimmer overall.
In the end, Corey sat still in the middle of the room, floating inside his own skull as he waited for his moment.
How much longer do I need? Corey thought, How much longer do I have? I can’t keep blocking out everything I did that I don’t like forever. Really, that applies to just about everything. So what’s keeping me from finishing here?
Corey gazed around the featureless void his mind often found itself in, trying to see if anything changed, any doors opening, anything at all. There was usually a sign his mind was ready to go back to his worst memories, represented by things associated with the memory. But for this one, nothing seemed to be showing up.
In the real world, Corey continued to breathe at a slow, even tempo. His horn would occasionally flicker not unlike one of the candle flames surrounding him. Eventually, his horn slowly began to glow, a slow, steady aura enveloping it.
In his subconscious, Corey finally saw something. Although the void around him was a dark void, it was still lit somewhat by stars. But then, cutting into his vision from his right, was a black spot, one that threatened to consume him. He fully turned to face it, raising both eyebrows in alarm.
“This has to be it,” Corey realized, as he allowed himself to float over to it. The black spot engulfed him, just as he thought it would, and once again, Corey found himself falling through his subconscious. As he fell, he couldn’t help but notice the sensations that flew through him.
“I can feel it…” One of Corey’s hands went to his chest. It felt as though a large weight was pressing into it, “This imprint of darkness… It’s suffocating me, threatening to drown my rationality. Now I know I’m on the right track…”
The sensations stopped, and Corey understood at once where he was as soon as his feet touched the ground. He was once more in the palace of the Crystal Empire, where his showdown with Slayer had occurred. There was no washed-out colors this time, no scornful screaming or maniacal laughter to cloud his judgment. Everything was how he remembered it looking.
Corey looked around, and could only watch as the memory took form. Slayer, whose Corey disguise was torn a bit already, walking over to a seemingly inert... Corey. Corey looked down at himself, then back over to his double, just as his double punched Slayer in the chest hard enough to send him flying back.
“I’m watching it…” Corey realized, “Not as the me from then, but as the me from now…”
Memory Corey succumbed to the darkness, emitting the black aura and using dark magic immediately afterward. Slayer stood no chance now. That much, Corey already knew. Watching everything unfold from the angle it had, Corey thought back to everything that lead up to this.
Slayer had caused everyone untold grief. He’d hurt Twilight once already by this point. His book had so much of his essence poured into it that it poisoned Corey himself just by holding it. That didn’t even go into what he’d causing Shining, Cadance, and the others. Not to mention the families of those he’d already killed. No matter how Corey tried to look at it, he could only come to one conclusion.
“If it wasn’t me that did it, someone else would have,” Corey thought, “If I hadn’t slipped up here, and Slayer had won the battle… John probably would have been the next to go off the deep end. There’s no going around it. Slayer deserved what he got here.”
Slayer had passed out by this point, but Memory Corey wasn’t satisfied. Slayer’s disguise was slowly melting as though it were made of wax, and perhaps it was, green sloughing off to expose red fur. Corey could only watch, horrified, as his past self continued attacking someone who was already unconscious. He’d known he’d done it—the image of the bloodied, battered Slayer was etched permanently into his memory, after all. It was an image that had haunted him for a long time. But seeing it from an outside perspective? Knowing full well what you’d done to someone, no matter how much they brought it on themselves?
“This… no. This wasn’t the answer. Somewhere deep down, I knew it. But by then, all I could think about was how to make him suffer…” Corey continued, only able to watch his past self continue a fight that was already over, “The fight was over. I should have stopped. But… I was blinded by a lot of things.”
Memory Corey finally stopped, speaking to the clearly unconscious Slayer. Memory Corey turned, tossing the limp body into the nearest wall, Slayer unmoving. Memory Corey continued to speak in a monotone that gave Corey shivers, all the while as dark magic swirled into his fist. At this point, Corey looked around, wondering if Twilight was going to show up. This was about the part she called him back to reality and made him aware of what he’d done.
Where are you…? Corey looked around, confused for a moment. However, he was soon reminded of why he was even here in the first place, and locked his eyes to Memory Corey.
“I’m going to turn you into your favorite paint!” Memory Corey’s tone had changed from a monotone drone to full-on psychotic screaming as he lifted his fist, full of energy, “See you in--!”
“No,” Corey said, moving over to his double. Admittedly, he wasn’t sure if it would work until he felt his hand close around Memory Corey’s forearm, stopping him from dropping his hand and unleashing a spell, “Not like this.”
Memory Corey was physically taken aback by Corey’s appearance, no doubt. His face changed to that of a snarl. “Not like this? Not like this!? He deserves all this and more! Just let me finish this!”
Corey paused for only a moment. “Yes, he does. But this isn’t the way to do it. Kill him, and you’ll just wind up losing everything else, even the things you were trying to protect in the first place.”
“If I let him get away, he’ll just keep doing it! The only way to stop him is to kill him! Can’t you see that!?” Memory Corey roared back, “Let me go!”
“No. I can’t do that.” Corey closed his eyes, letting other, more pleasant memories come, “No. Remember what you’ve gained since coming here, me. Remember what you’ve gained.”
There was a short pause. Memory Corey had gone almost completely silent. Corey opened his eyes, now able to see his other self’s distant expression. The evidence that dark magic had claimed him was vanishing, bit-by-bit.
“Everyone…” Memory Corey finally said, after a pause, “I… But if I… I can’t let him go…”
“He and the other prisoners will be back anyway. Their leader seems to have them under control, mostly…” Corey reminded himself, watching as Memory Corey’s eyes returned to their whites. The only different between the two now was Memory Corey’s blood-red eyes, and it was clear they weren’t going away, “But even then, we can’t kill him…”
The scene around the two faded, the two Coreys now floating in a sea of black. Memory Corey—no, not Memory Corey anymore, but the manifestation of his inner wrath and anger, the emotion that for so long had plagued him—stared back at Corey.
“Then… What am I supposed to do?” Wrath Corey finally asked.
“Let me decide that,” Corey said, “You’re a part of me. I don’t know where you came from, or how you came into being. There is literally nothing in my past life that could have given birth to you. But you’re a part of me. And it’s time I quit running from that.”
Corey released his grip on Wrath Corey. Wrath Corey didn’t move straight away, still looking stunned.
“So, how about it?” Corey asked, backing up a few inches to offer his hand, “I’m willing to accept you exist. But I can’t let you control me anymore. There’s no more room for errors like that.”
Wrath Corey looked down to Corey’s hand for a moment. Corey himself wasn’t sure what would happen should it refuse. However, to his shock, his wrathful half snickered for a moment.
“You’ve finally found your answer, haven’t you?” Wrath Corey said, “Let’s see if it holds up, then!”
Wrath Corey reached out and took Corey’s hand for a handshake—up, down, back to center. Then, Wrath Corey began to glow, same with the space around them. Corey shielded his eyes with his free hand. A moment later, his other hand felt free of pressure; his wrath self had suddenly vanished. When Corey finally returned to some kind of sense, he found himself in the center of his mind.
“Did… did that work…?” Corey looked around for a moment longer. As his eyes fell upon the void in his mind once again, the void that had shown him his worst memory, he realized its color had changed from black to a yellowish-white color. Before he could start pondering on what that meant, Corey decided returning to the real world was more important. Thus, he soon found himself growing more distant from the center of his mind.
In the real world, Corey’s body slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room a bit. Nothing had changed; it was still dim and quiet in the room. Turning his attention inward, putting both hands to his chest, Corey let his mind wander for a few moments, trying to see if he could dig up anything that would normally upset him.
At that moment, however, the door opened. Corey turned around, feeling more than a little surprised to see Princess Celestia standing there. Had she already known…?
Princess Celestia stepped forward into the room. Her horn lit up in an amber glow, and the candles gained a little more strength, lighting up the room a bit more.
“How do you feel?” Celestia asked. Corey blinked a bit. This wasn’t exactly a new question, “I can feel something has changed in you.”
That, however, was a new statement. Corey turned his attention inward again. He’d never felt calmer, given what was coming up and what he still had to do before the final battle would begin. The weight that had pressed down on him again once this phase of training had started was gone.
“I feel…” Corey said, “Lighter.”