What Bound Them

by Headless

24: The Heart Whose Woes Are Legion

Spike was vaguely aware of the fact that a whole crowd of Discords had appeared around them, all cheering wildly and shouting for an encore. He ignored them and continued to stare at the blank canvas, willing the images to continue.

They didn't.

He felt the anger welling up inside him again and spun on the spot. When he spotted Discord standing in the middle of a crowd made entirely of himself, taking bows and signing photographs from the cheering clones, he forced his way forward, elbowing them aside until he reached the center.

"That's it?" he bellowed. He reared up on his hind legs and swung one taloned hand around, clutching the chimera around its neck. "That can't be it! There's got to be more!"

Someone coughed meaningfully behind him, and he turned his head to see another Discord, indistinguishable from the now-silent crowd around them, frowning at him. "Hands off the stunt double, please," it said. "I understand the impulse to harass celebrities, particularly after a successful film debut, but still, this is going a bit far."

Spike snarled at him and, ignoring the protestations from his body, swung the Discord copy in his hand around like a club, trying to smack the real one away with it. He never connected. Instead, there was the feeling of reality screaming, and Spike stumbled, landing badly on his injured leg, as Discord danced away. He sprawled full-length onto the stone and attempted to force himself upright again.

"Spike, no!"

He felt hooves pressing down on his shoulders. Both Compass Rose and Tailspin had rushed to his side and were doing their best to hold him down. Ordinarily, he would have had no issue with shrugging them off and continuing his charge, but the surge of anger that had carried him thus far was fading, and taking his strength with it. As it went, it left behind the feeling of absolute exhaustion.

He stopped trying to pick himself up. Just now, it wasn't such a bad thing to have somepony close.

"Very good," said Discord. The thing was sprawled lazily in midair as if it were seated on a particularly comfortable couch and watching Spike with an expression of vague disinterest. "Is everypony finished with their hysterics now? Can we get on with things?"

The dragon shut his eyes. While the story had played out in front of him, he had been able to focus on that rather than his injuries. Now that it was over, all the aches and pains were coming back. The bandages that Discord had magicked into existence around his wings were all done correctly, so far as he could tell, but he was still pretty certain that he had other bones that had broken and which remained unset. Even breathing hurt.

He forced himself to lie still and take steady, even breaths. Compass was still standing next to him, one hoof on his shoulder. She was stroking his scales gently, which made them ache even more. He considered telling her to stop, but decided against it. At that moment, the contact was worth the pain that came with it.

Tailspin, on the other hand, had pulled away. He could hear her walking slowly across the floor towards Discord.

"No," she said flatly. "We're not done. That... show was supposed to give us answers, but all it did was show us things we already knew. Celestia and Luna died, and Twilight is missing."

"Oh, no," said Discord. "Not missing. We know precisely where she is, remember?"

Spike's good eye snapped open again. "Where?"

Discord rolled his eyes again. "Well, if you haven't figured it out at this point, I'm not feeling particularly inclined to tell you," he said with a huff. "Aside from the fact that it really should be obvious where she was sent, if you actually make me say it, you're just going to try and attack me again. Not that it would work, mind you-" he waved his clawed arm dismissively "-but I worked hard on those bandages, and you need strict rest. Doctor Dizzy's orders."

Spike ground his shattered fangs together, growling, but the pressure of Compass' hoof on his shoulder kept him still. He looked instead to Tailspin, who was giving him an odd look. Before he could ask her what she was thinking of, though, Discord spoke again.

"Besides, like I said, this was about the lesson." He twisted in midair until he was hanging upside-down, grinning at the rest of them. "'Why' isn't a particularly meaningful question when applied to yours truly, I'll admit, but for everypony else, it's important. Tia was pretty smart, but she tended to overlook the why when it came to her little sister."

"Discord," Spike rumbled, "I already sat through your show. I've been through changelings, spells, mountains, storms, and windigos to get here. If you really are here to help, then get to the point."

The chimera glowered at him for a moment, then rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. Just for you, Spike, because we're friends." And then he was upright again, standing by the fire with both of his arms folded behind his back. Pith Helmet tried to scoot away without moving his splinted leg. Discord ignored him.

"Tia," he began, "couldn't let go of her relationship with her darling little sister. Even after things went bad the first time, when your precious Elements of Harmony were able to take all of Luna's anger and block it off for a while, when she had proof that her sister wasn't cut out for life as a pretty pony princess, she persisted." He paused, blinked, then quirked a slight smile. "And it's a mark of how serious I am attempting to be right now that I didn't even plan that alliteration beforehand."

He brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a pair of crude sock puppets in the likenesses of Celestia and Luna. "So, naturally, this resulted in... well. You saw." The Luna hand puppet bit down on the Celestia one and shook it back and forth violently as he continued. "And all because Luna couldn't let go, either. Both of them did truly love their subjects, you know, but Tia was always better at remaining detached. So, eventually, Luna lost her mind when she couldn't let go of all the poor ponies she watched die, and decided to engage in what was essentially an overly-dramatized murder-suicide."

A third puppet came into view. This one was on the tip of his tail, and was unmistakably meant to be Twilight Sparkle, despite the shoddy craftsmanship. "And then we have your poor purple princess," he continued. The Luna puppet had ripped its Celestia counterpart off of his other hand and was chewing on it lazily. As the final puppet approached, though, it burst into violet flames and withered away. "Who lost her parents, older sibling, best friends, younger sibling slash son, and finally her beloved mentor. And, of course, when I offered her my own advice, she reacted poorly."

He plucked the last puppet off the tip of his tail and tossed it carelessly into the fire. "All because they were all attempting to hold onto things that couldn't last," he said. "Tragic. Truly tragic. And, of course, that resulted in your dear Twilight being banished to the moon."

Spike blinked.

He was vaguely aware that Tailspin was scowling and had raised one hoof to cover her face. Compass Rose and Pith Helmet just gaped.

A little voice in the back of his head told him that he should be feeling something. At the very least, he should be attempting to throttle an actual explanation out of Discord instead of listening to him ramble on for hours and trying to coax him into giving a straight answer.

He didn't. His brain had just... stopped.

"Princess Cadence," he said slowly, in an absolute, even monotone, "banished Twilight Sparkle to the moon."

"Well, yes," said Discord, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Because she was apparently trying to, and I quote, 'recreate the past'-" he waggled two claws and two stubby, furred digits expressively "-and 'abusing her power'. And before you ask, no, I don't know exactly what she was doing, because I was barely capable of looking out of that throne room for more than a few seconds at a time at the, hah, time." He lowered his arms and shrugged. "But I can make a pretty good guess, and I'm sure you can, too. Even you were never that thick."

Spike felt his jaw muscles clenching involuntarily. "Then tell us your guess."

Discord sighed. "You really do want everything spoon-fed to you, don't you? Well, no point in delaying it, I suppose. Even annoying you begins to wear thin after a while." He clasped both hands in front of him. "Twilight Sparkle goes rushing off to the Crystal Kingdom, Elements of Harmony in tow. When she returns, she has Cadence in tow, sporting a spiffy new horn and eye color, and she won't shut up about how the Elements of Harmony have left her. Then she and Cadence have a little chat where Cadence berates her for something, she cries about not being able to do this alone, and then... voom."

His hands parted, and a tiny purple orb of light floated between them for a moment before rocketing up and disappearing into the rafters. "Cadence leaves to the Crystal Empire, the nightmare mist springs up, and on the anniversary night of dear Twilight's banishment every year thereafter, a mysterious alicorn appears in what used to be Equestria, rampages about for a few hours, snatches up a few ponies, and then vanishes in a flash of black, red, and green. Rather cut-and-dry, wouldn't you say?"

Spike stared at him, waiting.

After a few seconds, Discord sighed. "Fine." He snorted and tossed his head. "I'll put it in terms that even a foal could understand, since you don't seem to be catching on. Your precious Twilight has gone battier than Luna, become the Mare in the Moon, and started kidnapping ponies to experiment on, probably to try and do something with the Elements of Harmony. Meanwhile, Princess Cadence is using dark magic to try and keep her out of Equestria. Happy?"

Spike blinked, once. Then, very slowly, he turned his gaze to each of his traveling companions in turn. There was Pith Helmet, still sprawled on the other side of the fire and watching him with the same stony expression that he always wore when he didn't have anything to say. Tailspin was sitting back on her haunches, wings drooping listlessly to either side of her body, and looking as though she wanted to try and offer him some form of comfort, but couldn't think of any way to do so. Rarity's necklace glinted in the firelight as she shifted nervously. And, finally, there was Compass Rose, still standing next to him with one hoof on his shoulder and looking thunderstruck.

He took a deep breath, released it, and took another. He shut his eyes, took another breath, opened them, released it. Again.

Nothing came. There was no sadness, no anger, not even the barest hint of confusion. His mind was simply empty of any thoughts, completely unable to respond.

Finally, he looked back to Discord, who was still standing across the fire with an expression of impatience, and opened his mouth to speak.

The only word he could find was "No."

---

A few hours later, Tailspin set off into the castle hallways again.

Compass and Pith remained behind in the entrance hall with Discord. The monster had, eventually, been persuaded to summon a hospital bed for Pith to lie on, so at least his leg wasn't being disturbed, and Compass had assured her that the two of them would be all right.

For all that Discord was a nuisance, Tailspin believed her. If the chimera had wanted to cause them harm, it would have done so long ago. None of them could use magic, and as far as she could imagine, there was no other way to defend themselves from such an entity. But it did seem set on helping them instead, even if it was extremely odd in doing so, and even if its help only came after a dozen attempts to get it to speak plainly.

She wasn't surprised to find Spike in the throne room. The dragon had limped off into the shadows, alone, not long after Discord's story had finished. Now he was curled up next to a small fire created from another of the tapestries that decorated the walls.

He didn't look around as she entered. He was just staring up at the statues that lined the hall, his expression completely blank.

"Hey, big guy," she said gently as she trotted up to him. "Figured you would need some food and water. We've still got most of that, thankfully." She pulled a few cans and a large canteen out of one saddlebag, then pushed them towards the dragon with one hoof.

"I'm not hungry." Spike just kept staring upward. His eyes were fixed on a statue that, even in the dim, flickering firelight, Tailspin knew depicted Rarity.

She sighed, dropped onto her haunches, and pushed the small pile towards him again. "I didn't ask if you were hungry," she said. "I said you need food. Eat."

"No."

Tailspin sighed, set her jaw, and pushed her helmet back slightly. "Right," she said. "I know where this is going, and I've had enough of beating around the various bushes for today. So listen up."

She jabbed him in the side with one hoof, which provoked a snarl and turned the dragon's gaze towards her for the first time. She recognized the anger there, and part of her realized that she had just put her hoof dangerously close to one of the gaping rents in his scales from Queen Chrysalis' attack, but she didn't flinch.

"Got your attention? Good." She straightened up and spread her wings slightly, frowning. "You're hurting right now, and I know that. But wallowing in it isn't going to get anything done. Remember, we're on a mission here. Queen Chrysalis is still a threat. There's whoever this Cadence is to deal with as well. Even Twilight Sparkle still needs your help. It just isn't the type of help you expected it to be."

His glare didn't waver. She returned it stolidly. "Right now, there's a unicorn a few rooms away who lost her horn just a few days ago and still volunteered to come with you. In fact, she still managed to find the way through all that magic to get you here. And there's an earth pony who might never walk again because he stuck by you and found you a safe path through uncharted mountains. They aren't the only ones who've made sacrifices for you, either. Even Colonel Reveille did everything he could to help. You don't get to just turn away from that, no matter how hopeless you might feel."

There was the metallic sound of Spike's scales moving against the stone floor. He was drawing himself up into a sitting position, facing her. The firelight lit him from below, made it impossible to read his expression. All she could see was his one open eye reflecting the blaze.

Slowly, he lifted one claw and set it against the ruby necklace she wore.

"You've made sacrifices, too," he rumbled.

She snorted. "No," she said. "I just got put in the wrong place at the wrong time and lost something as a result. I won't pretend I've done as much as they have. But I will say this." She lifted her right foreleg and draped it over his claw. "You don't just get to stop now because you're feeling hopeless."

She was acutely aware of the fact that a single twitch of his hand would kill her before she could react. His talons were inches away.

Above her, that single eye still blazed.

He lowered his head. When he spoke, his voice was shaky. "I don't know what to do next."

"We go back to the fort," Tailspin said simply. "We deal with Queen Chrysalis and her army. Then we figure out a way to help Twilight or talk to this Cadence pony, or anything else. It isn't hopeless, even if we didn't find the Elements here. We did find someth- someone useful, and at least we know that we can use the Elements now. We have a chance."

Spike let out a long breath, then lifted his head again. He didn't look at her, though. Instead, he turned to look up at two of the statues. One of them was the frizzy-maned earth pony that she assumed was Pinkie Pie. The other, standing to the left of the first, was another earth pony mare. This one was wearing a hat.

"Right," he said. She noted with some relief that there was a bit of energy entering his voice now. "Right. We do have a chance. It's not much of one, but we do."

She nodded. "Glad to see you're still alive in there," she said. A small smile played around her lips as she stood. "I'm going back to the entrance hall. Discord doesn't seem dangerous, but he's also not particularly helpful, and the other two need some watching. We'll be waiting for you there."

With that, she turned away and began to trot off towards the doorway again.

Spike's voice stopped her after a few steps. "You have, you know," he called.

She glanced at him over one shoulder and raised an eyebrow, confused. "I've what?"

Spike gave her a sheepish smile. "Done as much as they have." He paused, sighed, and finished, "I'm just glad you're here, is all I'm saying. Thank you."

She grinned at him. "If you say so, big guy. Just eat, and come back to us when you're ready. I'm going to go see what sort of candy apocalypse that maniac has whipped up."

And she strode away, smiling to herself.

Author's Note:

For those who haven't picked up on it yet, the overly-ornate chapter titles I've been using are actually snippets from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Dream-Land". If you haven't read it yet, you really should, because it is excellent. You can find it here.

Comments

[TheMessenger]

For all that Discord was a nuisance, Tailspin believed her.

And then Discord was a girl.

[Headless]

3889468 all you silly people

Pretending my unedited text is not perfect

When will you learn

EDIT also the her in that sentence refers to Compass Rose. I would punctuate this post better but screw my phone keyboard so you all get this mess

[TheMessenger]

3889503

Since she isn't mentioned at all in that sentence, it's really unclear that the her refers to Rose.

Also:

When will you learn

Missing a question mark.

[asdf3011]

3889468 Would not even surprise me.

[Blaze Song]

3889468

You never know, He/she might be..

[MustacheMerlin]

For all that Discord was a nuisance, Tailspin believed her. If the chimera had

Discord is a draconequus.
This is a chimera, from the show and everything:
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140311124917/mlp/images/6/6f/Chimera_thumb_S4E17.png