To Save a King

by Blackdrag-rose

X: Conversation with Discord

Discord blinked into existence, not that he didn't exist anyway. He was always good at appearing in random places to get the best jokes on whichever ponies he wanted to prank, but today was different. Today he had appeared in the Changeling Hive, directly above the bed in which the fallen Changeling King was sleeping in.

The room itself wasn't too much to look at; it was a black walled room with no windows to speak of, a bed with a King, a couch with the sleeping nerve wrecked Queen, and a couple of hospital devices that helped monitor the King's vitals. Oh, and little old Discord, who sat next to the Queen without her even realizing somepony else was in the room besides her and her husband.

Why was he here? Truth be told he was absolutely bored out of his mind and wanted to see how Chrysalis' plan was coming along. By the looks of things it was working well and the King would be dead on the morning of the third day, provided his friends couldn't find the flower and save him. His little riddle had led the small group directly where he wanted them to go, directly to the one mare who could help them find the flower. Now he just had to check on the King and make sure that Chrysalis was going to fail.

He held his eagle claw out and a small spiral of energy gathered above the King's head, forming a gateway that he could use to enter the dream world. Luna would likely know of his tampering of the dream worlds structure to open the gate, so he would have to make this visit brief and get what he needed. He dived head first into the waiting portal and spun around until he ended up someplace he was not expecting.

When he imagined where the King had chosen to spend his dream time he pictured a beach paradise where he could play in the water and drink whatever he wanted. Or spending time in some forgotten ruins, learning a truth that could only be found in his head and nowhere else in Equestria. Discord wasn't expecting to find a vast desert of white sand and nothing else, not even the stallion he had chosen to meet.

"We seem to have an intruder," Dark whispered, though his voice would carry over to Rocket, "By the looks of him it seems to be none other than the Spirit of Chaos himself. I bet he's come to finish the job while you are weakened and leave no trace of his tampering behind."

"I highly doubt it."

Dark was surprised; never had he heard his harmonic half say that he remotely trusted the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Maybe dying was having an effect on his mind that was making him lose his sense of who was his ally and who was a backstabbing loser who deserved to be annihilated.

"Discord has lost that part of himself over a thousand years," the King continued, barely lifting his head as he spoke to his chaotic half, "Please, allow the Spirit of Chaos to make his way to us without delay. I would like to know why he has decided to show himself to me before I make any judgement."

"Whatever." Dark replied, tossing his mane back as his magic disabled the illusion that would have kept Discord away from them, "But if he starts to attack I will merge with you and we will teach him a lesson about attacking ponies while they sleep."

"The thought is nice, but unnecessary." the King chuckled, laying his head back down while he waited, "Discord cannot harm me while I control this part of the dream."

Discord, surprised by the fact that there had been an illusion that he couldn't detect, was stunned by what he saw in front of him; the King sleeping and his eviler half, Dark, just roaming around like he had nothing to do. As he approached the sleeping King he watched what the demon was doing, but as far as he could tell it wasn't even paying attention to the stallion. Just as his eagle claw touched the sleeping pony the demon grabbed his limb, stopping him cold in just an instant.

"Don't you dare touch him." Dark growled, his eyes staring into Discord's own set.

"Me? Touch this dying excuse of an alicorn? Please, I have better things to do than touching a dying pony while he's on his death bed."

Discord was good at making up lies, that was how he had tricked Sombra into trusting him so he could get all the details on Chrysalis' dirty plan. He expected that Applejack would be the one to tell when he was lying, but seeing how she wasn't there he knew he had a shot at fooling the dark pony in front of him. Now if he could convince him to stop gripping his claw and leave him alone he would be set.

"Nice try Discord," Dark growled, sounding like a wild animal ready to pounce on it's prey, "but I know that there is some motive for you being here, talking to us. The Spirit of Chaos doesn't visit the dreams of the dying for fun or pleasure. You usually choose to save these visits for your own personal agenda."

"Stand down Dark."

Discord was surprised; the stallion who had spoken was nothing like the stallion who had defeated Chrysalis in battle over a year ago. Now he seemed aged to the point of death itself and looked like he was going to die in his dreams before his actual body expired. The only thing that Discord could have used to determine that this stallion was indeed the King was the amount of energy that seemed to gather around him. Plus the fact that he had the body of a grown alicorn stallion, huge wings, and a long horn.

Dark was equally surprised, but he did what he was commanded to do and let go of Discord's eagle limb as he backed away instantly. Moments later Dark vanished, almost as if he had never existed in the first place.

"You must forgive him, he can be quite impulsive at times." the King continued, sounding as if he had grown to care for his darker half, "but the matter falls to you. What can I do for the Spirit of Chaos?"

Discord, forgetting the whole speech he was planning on giving the stallion, decided to go with the second and more violent option. He flew forward and grabbed the stallion by the neck, using his magic to summon a stone wall that his eagle limb pinned the stallion up against.

"I want you to live my dear King," Discord snapped, "I want you to beat this poison and live again."

"Don't worry too much about that," the King replied, locking eyes with the God of Chaos, "My friends are resourceful ponies, they will figure out how to acquire the Angels Root Elixir and will bring it back to me. Make no mistake, Discord, when I am at full strength again I will show Chrysalis the full extent of my abilities."

The words seemed to carry no threat, but Discord could feel the cold creeping past his spine as the words sunk in and he nearly faltered. But he held his magic firmly and kept the stallion against the wall, hoping to keep some distance from the nearly insane stallion.

"I know what your planning for me," the King continued, his voice reaching Discord as if the distance didn't matter, "but you might as well get it off your chest before Luna arrives."

"I am going to ruin your life," Discord growled, "When this is all over I will ruin you. Not even all of your fancy powers will help you escape what I have planned for you."

"Say what you will Discord," the King chuckled, his eyes never leaving the creature, "but you have yet to see the full extent of my powers. Where there is light there is also darkness. Where there is good there is also evil. Where there is virtue there is also sin. You have only seen my powers while I've been good, but never will you have seen my powers if darkness coursed through my body.

Pray, Discord, that my darkness doesn't come after you one day. It might be the last thing you ever see."

Before Discord could respond to the remark he was stunned to see that the wall and his magic shattered with little to no effort on the King's part. The stallion touched the ground gently and stared at Discord as he was forcefully ejected from the dream world, immediately returning to the actual world. His arrival was met by a startled Queen Rose, who was surprised that Discord was even in the room without her knowing until now. Though before she could speak he vanished without a trace, leaving her to ponder what had happened.

He could best the Changeling King, that he was sure of.