The Equestrian Archives: The Draconian Curse

by Grymm BlackHeart

The Gala

entry 1

Everypony's so quaint and elegant and Eris and I simply sit there gawking at anything large or made of pure gold and ivory! The castle is quite a large place and the fact that it hangs off the base of a cliff. My first day here and yet I'm already treated like royalty! Though some of the chamberlains, maids and other residents of the castle still have to get used to my appearances. Lunch was amazing and everything tasted great. Better than the dead carcasses of little woodland critters that Stormer hunted then broiled for us and made us eat. The largest event of the season is about to come up this evening and Eris and I get to sit with the queen and the princesses. Though we aren't exactly royalty like they are, we still apparently count as part of the royal family since we were adopted. Not exactly a prince and a princess but more like Baronets. But last night I had the weirdest dream. I was in a forest with this huge That doesn't matter now all that matters is that Eris and I are finally free from a world of nothing but pain and anguish. If there truly is any deity or such out there and if he or she really did make all of this happen, then all I can do is offer you my biggest thanks.

Discord and Eris walked through the hallways gawking at the gigantic ivory structures and magnificent paintings. Discord had been given a pair of golden bangles or more over armbands wrapped around his upper arms and a white sleeve-less surcoat which draped down to his knees and had the royal family's crest printed on it matched with a dark purple cloak embroided with a silver wyrm and wyvern hugging and kissing a golden alicorn with it's wings outstretched and a halo around it's horned head, the crest symbolizing that discord was a son accepted by the royal family. He was also adorned with a pair of gray trousers matched with dark brown boots and to top it all off a golden circlet around his forehead with a three rubies spiked along it. Standard nobility-wear for barons and baronets. Eris on the other hand was wearing a regal dress with ornate golden leaves and threaded with pink silk. A tiara was laid atop her platinum silver mane.

The queen had told them both not to wear the adornments until the Gala tonight, but they were both simply too excited to wait.

"Hey discord?" asked Eris suddenly so solemnly.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Do you think we'll ever get to see Seed Apple or any of our old friends ever again?"

Discord sat there in silence for a moment. How often did baronets visit backwater towns like Ponyville? Were baronets and baronesses friends with commoners like them? Discord rubbed the back of his head and was about to open his mouth as though to answer when suddenly a serving maid with a magnificent pale blue mane crashed into him and all of the cleaning utensils she was carrying spilled on the ground.

"O-Oh my! My lord I did not see you there! I-I was too busy-" she stopped as soon as she looked up at him. For a moment she looked as though she were about to cry for help then held her tongue when she noticed the royal crest on his surcoat.

Discord could see the fear in her eyes and it honestly hurt him more than a blow from Stormer could ever hurt him.

"It's fine, I guess..." he said sighing and rubbing the back of his head as he started heading back to his room with Eris trailing behind him.

Seeing that she had upset the serving maid said, "M-My lord I-I'm sorry if I'd upset you it's just-"

"It's just monsters like me don't usually roam around the castle. It's fine I get it."

The serving maid looked even more guilty and apologetic then before and sheepishly said, "N-No it's not that it's just.. I'd never seen a real live Basilisk before." as she hurried after him.

Did she just say basilisk? Discord stopped dead in his tracks and so did Eris. "W-Wha..?"

"F-Forgive me sire..." she said. There was an awkward silence which was soon filled when the serving maid finally said, "My name is Trixie, sir." with an awkward smile.

Discord sighed and said, "Nice to meet you, Trixie." though with a hint of sarcasm that made the serving maid seem even more apologetic.

"I-If you need anything else, I'll be around the hall, scrubbing the floor." she said as she hurried back down along the hallway with then came back with her cheeks flushed red. She dropped down and started picking up the cleaning utensils that she had forgotten.

Discord chuckled slightly as though he thought it was comical, because honestly it sort of was!

"Here let me help you." he said as he bent down to pick up the utensils.

"Thank you.. my lord..." she said awkwardly as her cheeks grew even hotter.

"My name's Eris!" said Eris skipping happily to them and beaming at the serving maid.

Trixie smiled and said, "Why it's nice to meet you, lady Eris." beaming back at her. She shifted uncomfortably through about a minute and a half of uncomfortable silence and said finally, "I-I'd better get back to work, o-otherwise the mistress will get mad at me." she said trotting off hurriedly with the cleaning materials.

"Well at least not all of the people here in Canterlot are snobby and condescending." said Eris recalling their meeting with a royal chamberlain. The way he stared at them as though their very presence had irked him and how he condescendingly spoke about them with the queen as though they weren't even in the room when they were but a mere three paces away.

"Yeah." said Discord staring at the ground. He sighed and thought to himself, What did she mean by a basilisk? Eris and I are Draconian aren't we? Maybe mother was hiding something from us.. Maybe We aren't really Drac- His thoughts were interrupted as he was pushed out of the way by some colts carrying a gigantic cake roughly the size of discord's cramped old bedroom when he lived in the cabin in the Everfree.

Both he and Eris marveled at how large it was and were drooling. More food was being wheeled in and some of the men had even brought in an ice sculpture.

"My, how exquisite. Really, there was no need for anything dramatic or fancy, this is simply-" the queen was interrupted by her royal chamberlain walking down the stairs with her.

He scowled as he shoved past Eris and Discord who opened his mouth in protest but decided to just keep his trap closed. He wanted to behead the beastly heathen of a colt, unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of power.

"But my queen, this event is the largest of the season. In order to show her majesty's exalted glory, she must have but the finest assortments of delicacies." he said then turned his steely cobra's gaze towards Eris and Discord. "I trust those two beasts shan't be allowed roaming free during the Gala?" he asked loudly, not paying any mind to Discord and Eris's presence.

The queen shot him a cold, flat stare and he simply bowed and went back to his office saying, "If that is what my liege wishes."

She turned back to the food and ordered the men delivering it to put them in the dining hall near the royal garden.

Discord dismissed his hatred towards the colt and marveled at the variety of the food. Fried Noodles were being brought in sizzling as a pair of foxes dressed in fine silk kimonos brought them into the dining hall. Fresh, but unrecognizable piles of whatever was brought in by Saddle Arabian ponies. There was a plethora of exotic and delicious smelling food being brought in.

Suddenly a fox bearing foreign armor and weapons came into the castle. His armor was a darker shade of purple and the clothes underneath died a shade of red so dark, it almost seemed as though it were black at first glance. A long, slender, curved blade about the length of Discord's tail was hanging by his side.

He trotted along the ivory marble floor as the gigantic hall made the tapping of his paws echo. He was a kindly fox most likely only a few years older than Discord. His dark gray hair hung at the side of his face while the rest was messily spiked and ruffled. A scar across one of his eyes told the tale of a battle-hardened war general.

"Lord Kitsune." said the queen as lord Kitsune approached her and bowed.

"The emperor brings a message." he seemed to speak Equestrian fluently and almost seemed to have no accent. He took a scroll tied to his back and laid it in front of the queen.

She opened it and eyed it lightly, skimming through it. Discord simply sat there curious as to what the letter might be about.

"The Emperor is sending his son here tonight?" she asked. "We'd be more than happy to have him for the Gala." she said offering a warm smile.

The lord bowed and said, "By your permission, your majesty, may I stay here during the Shogun's arrival?"

"But of course." she said.

Lord Kitsune bowed once more and trotted away. "I shall find an inn right away."

They watched him leave and as soon as he was out of sight the queen turned back towards Discord and Eris. "The emperor's son will be arriving here tonight during the Gala. I expect you too to be in your best behavior." she said.

"Of course your majesty." they both said, not knowing if it was customary to bow down to her or if it was just lord Kitsune's own custom.

***

Later that night, the sun was just beginning to set and ponies were beginning to arrive. A carriage pulled up by the front of the castle and foxes dressed in similar armor to lord Kitsune's poured out. They each bowed as a young fox came trotting out gawking in awe at the sheer size of the castle.

He approached the door and Discord watched from afar. He didn't seem too impressed. He'd seen how upper nobility acted. Snobby, selfish and only ever did things for wealth or power, but the Emperor's son seemed to have a different air about him.

Discord sighed as he leaned on the wall and chomped on some fancy bits of cheese that had small toothpicks on them for whatever, useless reason.

Eris was out in the garden playing with some of the noble's and duke's daughters. She seemed to fit in with them perfectly for some reason but if anypony so much as approached Discord he'd simply stare them down with his unapproving, steely gaze until they left him alone.

Discord walked along the white granite marble and stepped by a nearby window staring outside at the gigantic moon. Queen Andromeda should've been back shortly since she had just raised the moon. He'd wondered if the foxes or if the buffalo ever thank the ponies for raising the sun and moon for them, or perhaps the dragons buffaloes and foxes believed in their own celestial deities.

He sighed and heard some whispers behind him Who is that guy? what's he doing here? Is he a dragon or a pony? Maybe he's a Chimera-Griffin crossbreed.

It all annoyed him to the point of turning around and leaving. The Queen had him dress up for the occasion but hadn't asked him to cut or style his mane. He made it very clear that nopony would touch his mane. His mane was the same it always was dark polished almost jet black with streaks of silver white. The black part must've been from the part of him that was donkey, the silverish streaks must've been the part of him that was a pony. But it was as it always was, messy, long and ruffled up, partially covering his face. Most ponies would've called him a ruffian or a messy individual, but it was a look that actually looked attractive on him, he'd heard many ponies whisper it as he turned to leave.

He accidentally bumped into somepony, or rather some fox. It was the emperor's son.

"Oh I'm sorry." Discord said. "I didn't see you there." he added. He looked up and with as much surprise as the former Alicorn, or rather Pegasus, standing behind the Emperor's son, nearly fell back.

"D-Discord..." said Lance as he staggered backward.

"L-L-La.. Lance..." said Discord likewise.

Their faces suddenly shifted, anger filled them both to the very brim as they angrily shoved past each other without saying another word.

It was quite childish, yet still they didn't care. Lance had made Discord's life a living hell and in turn Discord had taken Lance's ability to cast magic. His wound had long since healed and now he looked like nothing more than a regular Pegasus.

Discord went over to a nearby table and began angrily stuffing his face with exotic food. Mumbling angrily about how good the food was and cursing Lance underneath his breath. To his surprise, lance did the same thing.

They each ate as much as they could and went their separate ways, before they could even make eye-contact.

It was later in the night when things had started going awry. A wealthy merchant had complained about the exotic food being 'uncouth', a drunken idiot had decided to take a dip in the royal water fountain, some more drunken idiots had begun rambling about how they had once held their own against a creature called an ursa major and to top it all off, the emperor's son was beginning to get bored.

In spite of the status quo, everypony seemed to be having a good time. Discord hanged his head and sighed bored and exhausted. He wasn't exhausted physically, but rather exhausted from everything going on around him. He swore if he heard another pony say 'I say,' or 'My, how eloquent' or anymore fancy talk, he would strangle somepony.

There was a small rumbling, but everypony had dismissed it for the dancing going on in the courtyard. It was growing more powerful by the second to the point where all chatter and noise had stopped. The rumbling seemed to have rhythmic patterns, as though a large creature was advancing towards them one foot after the other. Ponies started getting scared.

Off in the distance large Scarlet creature reminiscent of a bear was using it's claws to mount the mountain top, slowly advancing towards the castle.

Ponies everywhere had begun panicking and running around. The guards were dispatched to neutralize the creature but were all instantly knocked off the mountain. The last defensive garrison was set up around the castle walls and held their position, but some had decided to run for their lives rather then stand with their bronies at arms. The strange warriors with strange armor and weapons that were guarding the emperor's son had gone off to join the castle guards and protect the castle. They had each drawn those long, slender blades they carried around and had fought, blade, in mouth. They had survived longer than the castle guard, but in the end it was futile.

The beast roared and swatteded the last regiment of guards away as though they were nothing but flies. It stood and roared at the castle standing before it.

Discord stood there and watched for a moment dazed then snapped back to reality. He had to help somehow, he had to make sure his new home was safe. He ran up the stairs and onto the balcony to find princess Luna, Celeste and even Crystal all using their magic to combat the creature. They were on the top of the castle, the tower, the highest point. They were doing perfectly until the they had struck the beast in the eye and angered it. The creature swatted down the towers then grabbed and threw Crystal away.

Crystal landed on the balcony next to Discord and laid there unconscious. He ran to her side to help her, but was separated from her when the ceiling caved on top and created a barrier between them.

In the head of the moment strength had suddenly came to his aid. He lifted the rubble and got her to safety.

Discord came back outside to see that the creature had swatter Luna out of the sky who was now plummeting towards the earth. Celestia saw this and came to Luna's aid, but was snatched up from the sky by the gigantic beast.

Discord flew up at top speed and grabbed Luna's unconscious body and put her with Crystal then returned outside. The creature had snatched Celeste and he needed to save her. He couldn't fly now, his wings where too tired. He had used up all his energy saving Luna and Crystal. He needed a way to reach even ground with the beast's gargantuan height.

He sighed and ran up the stairs cursing himself. It wasn't long until he reached the top of the castle's roof and stood on even grounds with the beast. The beast was transparent, pure magic and was covered with leagues upon leagues of stars, it's gigantic Dark purple and yellow eyes glaring down at him with it's teeth bared. It roared once more. It was an ursa major.

Somewhere in the distance, the royal guard captain was yelling at ponies to evacuate the premises. Discord then remembered about Eris. He'd been too focused on taking the beast down that he didn't check on her. The first place he checked was the castle garden. He had lost his mother, his friends and even himself, but he wasn't going to lose his sister too.

"Eris!? Eris, where are you!?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

There was another rumble. The beast wasn't just tearing the castle to oblivion, the beast was targeting something, following something that had most likely pissed it off. It was following Discord.

Discord saw the Ursa Major looming overhead ready to smash him into the ground. The last of the Guard's regiments had been dispatched. These were the elite guards. Former assassins and mercenaries. They had done well... until the creature turned them into a part of the wall, the ceiling, the ground and then smashed them into finger-paint.

Discord Scowled as the creature made it's way over to him. "Eris!! Eris where are you!?" He heard a small whimper from the far end of the hall. He ran over to the end of the large hall, now covered in rubble and debris. He scanned the area for anypony that might still be alive. From the corner of his eye he saw somepony struggling to get up. It was the Fox prince, the emperor's son as well as Lance.

Discord sighed and started walking towards both of them. Discord couldn't pick them both up and carry them both away in his current state. He lifted the Fox prince on his shoulders and yelled something like 'I'll come back!' at Lance. Lance simply grunted in protest. Suddenly a gigantic claw loomed overhead. Lance threw his body to the side before the claw could come down on him, though it had taken up all the energy he had left. The claw came up again and came down on him. He shut his eyes and screamed, but nothing had hit him. He opened his eyes to find that Discord had somehow stopped the claw with a stray spear that the castle guards had dropped as they ran off like a cur into the night. The creature reeled back more in frustration rather than pain as the ten foot pike pierced it's claw. It roared once more and pulled out the pike as though it were not more than a toothpick lodged in skin.

Discord hefted Lance up with all his strength and brought him to a secluded area, then began going off.

"W-Wait where are you going?" Lance asked.

"I'm going after that thing. It still has Celeste." he answered.

"Are you insane? that thing will crush you!" Lance protested, but Discord was already gone.

Discord went back up the roof of the castle and climbed the tower, this time with a sword dropped by the fox warriors along with a lancing pike dropped by the royal spearmen. "Hey!" he shouted at the creature. It turned towards him. Discord threw the pike at the creature's eye and it immediately dropped the Unconscious princess it held within it's claw. Discord didn't hesitate. She had broken his heart, made him nearly damned well kill himself, why was he saving her? The same reason he'd saved Lance, because it was the right thing to do and he wanted to make sure his mother didn't raise a hateful little bastard. Strangely enough even after all he went through, he still loved her. As she fell with a certain grace, he thought her almost beautiful. Perhaps it was just never meant to be. Perhaps he would simply spend the rest of his life chasing after an unattainable princess.

He hastened his speed and caught up with her. Two feet from the ground, he grabbed her by the hoof and carried her off with Luna and Crystal. He'd already used up all his energy flying Luna and Crystal to safety, after this his wings would be sore for weeks. He flew over to Crystal and Luna who were both now awake. They both took Celeste and tended to her wounds.

They both seemed to be staring at Discord dreamily as though he were some knight in shining armor. "Hang on I'll be back!" he said and flew off before they could even open their mouths to protest like Lance did.

Discord flew to the top of the roof and crashed down as his wings cramped up from all the flying. He breathed heavily as the mighty Ursa Major. He drew the long slender blade dropped by the fox warriors.

"Discord!" yelled somepony as they ran to his side. It was lord Kitsune. he had his blade drawn as well. He was planning on helping him. "Do you even know how to wield a Wakizashi blade?" he asked.

"No, but it's the best I have for now." he said with a smirk as the beast got ready to bring it's mighty paw down on them. Discord dodged barely having a scratch on him. Lord kitsune had dodged it perfectly. "Discord, leave! You've already done enough to help, I will handle this!" he shouted as he prepared to attack.

"No! This thing wants me for some reason. It's only going to go after me if I run away, I need to end this!" he shouted as he got ready to jump up at the creature.

The fox warrior simply sighed in response and shook his head then mumbled something about the youth of today being so hardheaded, which was quite strange considering he was most likely only a few years ahead of Discord in terms of age.

Discord grabbed onto the creature's hair and stabbed the blade into it's gigantic pelt and dragged it down the length of it's starry pelt. This particular Ursa Major was strange though. It was crimson red rather than violet and it had a gigantic crescent moon atop it's head. It roared as Discord dragged the blade down it's chest and crimson like material with sparkling stars and other constellations flooded it's body as though it were blood.

Lord Kitsune jumped at the creature and did the same, only to be swatted away and fall twenty feet into a wall then slide down unconscious.

I'll handle this my ass... Discord thought as he watched the young lord fall helplessly down to the ground. Discord climbed the creature's back as the stabbed it repeatedly while all the same, scaling it. He reached the top of the Creature's head and it went into a frenzy trying to throw him off. That's when Discord realized it. The crescent moon on it's forehead must have been it's weakness.

In an instant he jumped up and plunged the blade into the crescent moon, dragging it down the Ursa Major's face leaving a crescent shaped gash on it's face as well as tearing it's eye loose and having it fall to the ground. It didn't kill the creature but rather it made it really angry. It gave out another mighty roar and slashed at Discord. Discord went flying back onto the Castle roof with three slashes across his ribs and left arm. He was knocked out cold.

He sat motionless on the rooftop and for a moment he seemed dead. After a few moments he heard something. It was Eris... She was screaming.

Discord's eyes flew open and gleamed dark red with a tinted yellow. He jumped up into the air and screamed. Not my family... Not again!! There was a flash of crimson red a loud boom then there was darkness...

***

Discord and Eris sat back watching stuffing their faces with a large basket of popcorn, while Twilight watched in awe with only one word, so drab and normal, yet so fit for what was before her very eyes.

"Damn..."

Comments

[Grymm BlackHeart]

2903066 .-. shat sorreh I'll fix it T^T I haven't been getting much sleep

[Bubbabob]

bronies at arms

I couldn't help but giggle at that.
Also, Shadow of the Colossus moment.