Love & Entropy

by DraconequusMaximus

In The Lost City

Spike quickly snapped out of his delirium & opened his wings to slow his descent, he didn't know who had pushed him but he decided that he might as well see what was down here. As he continued his trek downward he began to see lights lining the hole's walls, sickly green lights emanating from crystals he couldn't identify. He slowed as the crystals grew more numerous brightening the hole better, then he saw it. At the bottom of the hole was a city, a strange & beautiful city with buildings of all shapes & sizes all seemingly lit with the aforementioned crystals.

As Spike flew lower he could see the inhabitants of the city, minotaurs, diamond dogs, changelings, zebras, various bovines, goats, deer, & many chimerical creatures Spike couldn't identify. He landed in an alleyway hoping not to draw much attention to himself. The city wasn't quite as bright as it would be from the sun but the numerous crystals dotting the city kept it just as well lit as anywhere above would be at sundown.

He had never seen such a diverse population anywhere before, & everyone seemed friendly with one another, chatting & waving just as ponies would. He decided that he was in no immanent danger & removed himself from the alleyway. Spike quickly found himself wondering why he hadn't been aware of such a beautiful place before now. None of the creatures he passed gave him looks of distrust or fear as went by, in fact he received several smiles or waves from some. He decided soon that he wanted to know more about this place so he stopped a changeling he passed.

"Excuse me, I'm new in town. Could you tell me where I am? I've never even heard of a place like this before." Spike told the changeling who looked at him with raised brow before answering.

"This is the lost city, it doesn't have a real name. Anything troubled or in need that passes by will eventually find themselves here where everyone is welcome." The changeling stated in a voice that Spike assumed was male.

"If everyone is welcome why haven't I seen any ponies down here?"

"Ponies have their princesses & each other for guidance & protection, other species like us have no benevolent gods to aid us so many wander from our homes in search of better things. Several years ago the chasm appeared & with it the city. We all owe much to the king, he used his might to open the earth & build a home for all who needed it. New faces show up often enough that the city grows each year. My entire hive migrated here after the Canterlot fiasco left us crippled. He came to us & offered us sanctuary here when Queen Chrysalis starved to death." The changeling explained this with joy at first but sorrow toward the end. Spike thought about it for a moment & decided on his next course of action.

"Can you tell me where the king is, I'd like to meet him. I know the princesses personally & I think they'd wanna know about this place." Spike asked the changeling.

"I don't get involved in politics but the king lives in the palace over that way, he sees anyone if he's free." The changeling motioned with it's holed hoof to a tall building that almost looked like a tree, a tall column with several protrusions along it with a large top. The top of the building was covered in the light crystals making it green, adding to it's tree impersonation.

"That's the palace? I don't think I've ever seen a weirder building before." Spike said looking at the bizarre structure.

"The king is rather... eccentric I admit but he is a very powerful being."

"I suppose he must be, this place is incredible. I'm going now, thank you for the help." Not waiting for a reply Spike took wing & was off. He noticed many other winged creatures flying through the city, several changelings, manticores, & a few of what appeared to be giant snakes with feathered wings.

Not long after take off he found himself close to his destination, the flight hadn't taken long as the city was only a bit larger than Canterlot. As he landed he saw a large opening before the structure it was some sort of square that housed a gigantic light crystal surrounded by a pool of water with small upward jets. Going around the decorative fountain Spike walked up to the strange palace to find it's doors wide open. Spike was unsure about this strange seemingly almighty figure he had yet to meet, the princesses were immortal but they still kept their palace heavily guarded & the doors closed tight.

"Who could be so sure of himself to leave themselves wide open?" Spike thought to himself as he stepped through the doorway into the structure. The inside of the palace was more well lit than the city itself as it had torches spaced evenly along it's walls. Spike immediately understood every odd thing he had encountered when he saw who was upon the throne in the wide open chamber he entered. There sleeping across the arms of a tall horned throne was Discord the god of chaos, the being that defined entropy. Spike didn't move for several minutes while he processed everything, the impossible forest, unnatural chasm, chimeras, ridiculous palace, it all clicked together. Spike actually wondered how stupid he was to not put everything together himself.

"Discord?" Spike said drawing nearer to the throne.

"Who is it, I'm kind of busy sleeping right now." The draconequus in question asked without opening his eyes.

"I'm Spike from Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle's assistant?" Spike answered unsure if the mad god would remember him. Apparently the crazy spirit did remember him as he shot upright & examined the newcomer carefully.

"Well now, I never expected to see you here Spike! You were always the voice of reason amongst the ponies, how did you find your way to my home for troubled youths? My how you've changed too! You used to be such a pudgy little guy, the last time I saw you you didn't even have your wings yet." The god said in a chipper tone that Spike thought was a bit odd to hear from someone powerful enough to take over the world in a few hours.

"What do you mean troubled youths? I saw creatures out there way older than me." Spike said ignoring the actually sincere compliment.

"Oh, Spike. When you've seen entire species crawl out of the muck & fade into legend everyone seems young to you. Though I suppose you'll learn that eventually given your situation." Discord's expression fell considerably as he spoke these words, as if he had just reminded himself of something terrible. Spike realized that he most likely had done this after thinking about it. But decided to press on with the questioning.

"Is this where you've been all this time? After we solved all the big problems in Equestria you vanished without a word. Fluttershy was really upset you know?" Spike said pointing a claw accusingly at him. At this Discord's expression deflated & he sunk down low in his throne.

"I'm well aware that Fluttershy was worried but I couldn't go back to her, or any of you. She was the first one who ever showed me any kindness but I knew she wouldn't be around forever. I offered her Immortality once, she declined saying that she wanted nature to run it's course. So I helped her & the others until there were no major evils left to shoot with love & tolerance. Then I ran away so I didn't have to see her die in front of me like everything else. I made this place to spread the kindness she taught me about to whomever needed it." He said with his head hung low.

These words hit Spike hard, he knew deep down that he had done the same. Discord had seen everything there was to see & made much of it happen but had outlasted it all. Spike couldn't imagine seeing so much pass him by. But Discords words had made him realize that he could be the same in a few thousand years.

"Discord, I know we're pretty different & all but I'm a dragon, time doesn't mean a whole lot to me ya know? I could be your friend if you want. We wouldn't have to be alone forever, sounds pretty good right?" Spike said tears in the corners of his reptilian eyes.

"You'd spend forever with me?" Discord asked uncertain if he should believe such a claim.

"Who else would keep things interesting for me for eternity?" Spike asked forming a smile. Discord thought about it for a moment before answering:

"Alright then, but I hope you can stand the boring legal junk I have to deal with being a kind king." Discord said with a small smile.

"I lived with Twilight Sparkle for 18 years, I have an astonishingly high tolerance for boring." Spike retorted leading them both into a laugh. This was the beginning of an interesting friendship & eventually more in the years to come.

Author's Note:

Ok so Discord rules a utopian underground city with tons of diversity & subjects that like him. Who saw that coming?

Comments

[John The Dragon]

It took Spike ten years to find out he was gay, even though we know he has had crushes on mares before?

[beirirangu]

3632097 two things: 1. there is such a thing as bisexual... and 2. he did eat from discord's strange fruit before arriving (you never know what discord's power is capeable of)

but regardless, I didn't read anything about romantic love... so far I only saw a friendly love between companions... and I'd much rather he spend his immortal life with a princess rather than a prince...

[DraconequusMaximus]

3632097 You can find your preference can change over time. I had girlfriends before I figured myself out & Spike is only 21 which is incredibly young for his species so is still finding himself. Plus being nearly immortal probably lowers some inhibitions.

[DraconequusMaximus]

3632242 first off, that sounded like innuendo. Secondly you can't just expect them to be instantly attracted to one another in chapter 3 after not seeing each other for years. it'll get there.

[alarajrogers]

3632763

I had a friend who was 30, married with two kids, and flat out *told* me she wasn't into women except for Sigourney Weaver, when she fell in love with another woman, came out as gay and also as a submissive, and left her husband to become her new girlfriend's sub.

I had another friend who was in her 30s and married when she fooled around with another woman. She still identifies as straight.

My gay brother had girlfriends as late as college.

So yeah. It is totally normal for gay humans to not figure out that they are gay for some time. I've known plenty of humans who didn't realize it until they were much older than 21. Also, yeah. bisexuality exists. Also it's honestly weirder to want someone who is not your species than who is not the opposite gender from you; if Spike's xenophilic enough to want a female pony, falling in love with a male pony-dragon hybrid with weird extras is not that much of a stretch. Discord's closer to being Spike's species than Rarity is.

I'm not generally in favor of shipping Discord and Spike because of the lack of canon interaction and Spike's age, but having there be a jump in time where Spike and Discord haven't seen each other in years and now Spike has grown up fixes the age thing (since Discord is older than everybody, the issue with Spike's age is only that it's creepy to be with someone who you knew while they were growing up, and if it's been years since they saw each other that's not an issue), and the setup fixes the canon interaction thing by letting them re-meet each other and develop a friendship before it goes anywhere else. It does seem reasonably plausible that Discord and Spike might find mutual interests in that they were both parts of pony society without being ponies, and that Spike, while probably not immortal as Discord, is a lot more immortal than Fluttershy.

One thing I would like to see. Discord's a spirit of disharmony, but disharmony can in fact be channeled to produce a positive result. If the reason all the different species get along in Discord's city is that it's perfectly accepted that sometimes beings disagree with each other and even have arguments and it doesn't mean the end of the world, and it's commonly accepted that beings can be adversarial with one another without hating each other, they have a framework in their society for accepting disharmony and difference without society falling apart. It's not plausible for Discord to create a la-la everyone loves each other and gets along land; he's a lot more likely to create New York City, where everybody's different and whattya lookin' at? You talkin to me? Da hell's your problem, buddy? but regardless of how much conflict there may be in everyday interaction, they have a shared identity as citizens of the city and if you attack one of them you got a problem with all of them. Basically, a framework where not getting along doesn't actually mean you can't get along. :-) Seems to me that Discord's idea of a utopia would be where you can fight with your friends all day and then go out for beers with them and hang out at night, where conflict doesn't necessarily disrupt friendship.

[Bad_Seed_72]

Good start so far!

[spike the mustache]

Not me

[BlackPowder]

Author's Note:
Ok so Discord's rules a utopian underground city with tons of diversity & subjects that like him. Who saw that coming?

For the record, I saw that coming