Breaking Free

by Nrdygrl

Lost Memories

Chapter Nine

"Lost Memories"

She couldn't accept it. She couldn't. Celestia stared at the floor in shock after what happened. She thought everything would be fine when they found Discord. He was on one of the cliffs near the castle. His head only looked a little bumped and bruised, as if he had hit it. How could he have forgotten?! How could he not know who she was?! He looked at her like she was a complete stranger! Why?! Why did it have to be this way?!
"Princess..." said the doctor gently. She looked up at him, realizing she hadn't been paying attention to what he was saying to her, Luna, and her parents. "I know this is a shock to you, but please don't worry. We've tried to talk to Discord about what happened. He says he remembers falling. Well, the fall definitely rattled some things around. He doesn't have severe amnesia...but some. Now, what we need to do is help him get his memories back. Celestia...Luna...can you help him?"
"Yes, doctor," they both replied, nodding. He opened the door to Discord's room and the two walked in. Discord was sitting up, sipping a glass of his chocolate milk. He was smiling brightly.
"I made this!" he said showing it to them proudly, as if it were the first time. "It's called chocolate milk!" Luna giggled.
"We know! You already invented that...and cotton candy clouds! Remember?" Discord looked to the side, trying hard to remember.
"Cotton...candy...wh...what's that?" Celestia walked closer to him. He gazed up at her with the same look he had when they first met on the mountain top three years ago. She could never be sure of what was going through his mind, but his eyes had the same soft, glossy look in them.
"Luna and I are going to help you remember everything, Discord. I'm...I'm...Celestia, remember?" she asked cocking her head.
"They told me already," he replied, never looking away from her eyes. "Your Highness...it's a pleasure to meet you. I...I wish I could remember you..."
"Oh," she said disappointed. "It's okay. But...you must know, you are...were...uh...a very close friend of mine." Are? Were? Which was it? She couldn't choose. Discord nodded.
"And mine..." Luna piped in, shooting a glare at her sister.
"I...I may remember something about that..." said Discord slowly. "Everything is so...fuzzy." He shrugged. "Hey! Look what I discovered I can do!" He made a puffy raincloud appear in the air. "Isn't that neat!" Luna jumped up and down and laughed.
"You used to do this all the time," she said giggling.
"But then you stopped..." said Celestia seriously. "Because you were afraid somepony could get hurt."
"Hurt?!" said Discord, raising an eyebrow. "How could anypony get hurt?! I wouldn't hurt a fly!" Luna glanced at Celestia and raised an eyebrow. It was a look that said 'I told you so'. Celestia pinned her ears back and looked down again.
"Oh, cheer up, would you?!" said Discord smiling. "What's the matter?"
"It's nothing..." Celestia replied. Discord sighed and made the cloud go over her head. She gasped. "Don't you dare....!" She didn't manage to get it all out before the cloud poured rain all over her. Her pink mane flopped over her eyes. Discord and Luna laughed at her. Celestia glared through her hair at Discord.
"Oh, come on," he said chuckling. "I was just having fun!" He snapped his fingers and she was dry again.
"FUN?!" Celestia burst out. "You think this is FUN?! I wanted everything to be back to normal and it isn't and YOU think this a time for GAMES?!" Her cheeks turned red and her eyes welled up.
"Hey! You don't have to be all grim and serious and mad," Discord replied, crossing his arms. "I was trying to lighten things up!"
"Well this isn't the time for that!" said Celestia emotionally. "I just want you to remember! I want you back! Now you're your old chaotic self again and it's not going to make anything better!" She turned and stormed out of the room.

___________________
Discord glared at that white alicorn as she left the room.
"What's her problem?!" he asked Luna.
"Oh, don't mind her," Luna replied rolling her eyes around. "She's a drama queen. This has been a rough day for her and she's a little agitated."
"A little?" said Discord rolling his eyes. He scowled and sighed. "I wish I could remember..." he said. "I...I think I remember seeing my father before I fell. His name...is Chaos?" Luna nodded.
"Your mother's name is Eris. She's evil," she added. Discord nodded slowly. His eyes stared downward in deep thought. He clutched at his head and winced.
"Ugh. Headache," he said sighing. Luna nodded.
"Lay down. You need rest," she said, levitating the blanket up more and fluffing the pillows with her magic. Discord repositioned himself and laid his bandaged head down on the pillows. "The sun is going to set soon," said Luna, closing the curtains of the room. "Just try and go to sleep, okay? Maybe tomorrow you can remember more." She slowly stepped closer to him. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Okay..." he said yawning. "Night, Princess Luna."
"Night," she said quietly. She leaned her head down and kissed him on the cheek. Discord smiled a little and Luna turned red and shyly slinked out of the room.

_______________________
Celestia walked down the hall, blinking back tears. She took deep breaths to regain her composure. She felt a little bad for snapping at Discord. She didn't want to see him again, though. She figured now was probably a good time to check up on Dream Catcher. She walked into the room across from Discord's. Dream was awake. He was writing something with his magic in a notebook. He looked a bit burned and his fur was a bit singed, but other than that, he looked all right. She was still so relieved he was all right.
"Hey, Dreamy!" she said smiling. He looked up at her and smiled back. Celestia trotted up to him and embraced him. "I was so worried about you..." she whispered.
"I'm okay," he whispered back. "Are you? You're trembling. Tia..." He looked her in the eyes. "Don't cry..."
"I'll be fine," she replied sighing. "Today...was just awful and confusing."
"Talk to me," he said stroking her face with his hoof.
"Well, Discord ran away after the...incident. Something happened to him. He fell and hit his head. It didn't do any real damage...but...he can't remember a lot. He was my best friend, Dream. Now I feel like I've lost him."
"Wait...so...he has no memory of what happened between us?" Dream asked. Celestia shook her head.
"Dream...what did happen? Why did he attack you? I knew deep down that just...wasn't him. Why?" Dream looked down.
"I don't know," he replied. "I asked him to come to the back of the school so we could talk and I did exactly what you said. I talked calmly with him about making peace. I apologized for how mean I was...things like that."
"This doesn't make sense," said Celestia, staring intently at the ground. "I wonder what set him off! I wish I could ask him. I wish he remembered."
"Something I said must've just threatened him or something...even though I don't know what," said Dream shaking his head.
"You're SURE you don't recall anything?" Celestia asked, cocking her head.
"No," said Dream shaking his head. "Of course not! Would I EVER lie to you?" He smirked and nudged her.
"Of course you wouldn't, Dreamy..." said Celestia smiling. She turned toward the doorway. "I must go lower the sun, now. I'll come back tomorrow."
"I'll wait for you, my Tia," he replied winking. Celestia smiled and returned to the hallway. She glanced at Discord's room a bit regretfully. At least Luna seemed to be caring towards him. Celestia chuckled when she saw her sister give Discord a kiss on the cheek. Luna exited the room and closed the door behind her. She walked down the hall towards Celestia. She had a smile spread across her face. She didn't even notice Celestia at first. She was staring with glossy eyes into the abyss.
"Hmm. Somepony's turning red," said Celestia giggling. Luna looked up at her wide-eyed and blushed some more.
"Shut up, Tia..."

___________________
"Discord!"
"Take this... You will find out what you need to do to become who you really are…."
"I shall call it cotton candy!"
"What are you anyways?"
"You're a Thing!"
"He can't help that he's different..."
"The greatest sign of strength is restraint..."
"It's not polite to stare..."
"Stay away..."
"You are the spirit of chaos and disharmony ALONE..."
"You're back to your old chaotic self and it’s not helping anything!"
"What fun is there in making sense?"
"You'll open Pandora's Box..."
"Just remember..."
"Discord!"
Discord's eyes popped open. He gasped and jerked upright. After this, he immediately clutched his head and winced. It throbbed on and off. He breathed steadily to slow down his heartbeat. There was complete darkness in the room, but he could feel he was in a pool of his own sweat. Were they only dreams...or memories? They were so mixed up. He didn't know what they meant; they were just flashes to him. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Why was everything so confusing? Why were there so many gray areas where he could almost remember but couldn't? Areas where he didn't even know what was a memory and what wasn't. Who was he? What happened? It was all such a blur. Just then, he thought he sensed somepony in the room, but before he could look, a candle on the bedside table was suddenly lit. Discord almost had a heart attack and jumped a mile high, shrieking a little. Luna, who was sitting in a nearby chair screamed. She immediately ceased, however, and covered her mouth with her hoof, for fear of having woken up the whole hospital. The two paused to listen, but everything was still as deathly silent as before.
"LUNA?!" said Discord holding his chest. "WHAT are you DOING HERE?! It's...the middle of the NIGHT!"
"I'm nocturnal, remember?" said Luna sarcastically raising her eyebrow. However, her face turned serious again and she cowered down, as if she realized he may have not remembered that.
"Oh, right..." said Discord raising and eyebrow. "And...why exactly were you sitting there watching me sleep?" Luna smiled and giggled bashfully.
"I had nothing else to do," she replied. "Father said no lessons tonight, so I came here. I wanted to keep you company and help you if you needed something in the night."
"Isn't that what nurses are for?" Discord replied, chuckling a little, even though he was a bit creeped out. Luna grinned sheepishly and rocked back and forth.
"I'm sorry I scared you..." she said quietly. "Were you having a bad dream? You were tossing and turning and sweating real bad."
"Sort of..." Discord replied leaning back again. Luna immediately jumped up and fluffed the pillows. She held up her hoof as if to say, "one moment" and went into the bathroom. She came back with wash cloths and mopped up the sweat. She wet one of them and dabbed it on his cheeks.
"You're very hot. What was your dream about? Was it THAT bad?!"
"I don't know..." said Discord, sighing, because the cool water felt good. "It was...different memories I think. It's very confusing, though. So many flashes...so many images...it was scary." Luna cocked her head and nodded, staring intently at him.
"Why is it scary?"
"I know you can't understand, Luna," said Discord quietly. "But...I had a life. I had so much happen to me. And...to not remember it...to see lost memories in a dream frightens me. Because, I don't understand. I can't...." His voice trailed off and he swallowed.
"It's okay, Dis," she said gently. "I know it's bad now, but soon you'll remember everything and everything will make perfect sense."
"Hm...I hope so," he replied shrugging. Luna pulled her chair closer to him and sat back down.
"Well...Celestia and I would be here for you, even if we didn't already know you," she said touching his paw with her hoof.
"Hm! Celestia doesn't seem excited about helping me..." Discord replied rolling his eyes. "She hates me!"
"She's upset; that's all," said Luna shrugging. "But I'll admit that she's always been a sour puss."
"I was just trying to have fun with a cloud," said Discord crossing his arms. "And she's the fun police. She's probably all stuck-up too and the grimmest most annoying, irritating, joy sucking, parade rainer and the very face of anti fun ever!"
"Ooooh! You LIKE HER!" Luna squealed, giggling.
"WHAT?! How did you.....uh...I mean....did you not hear what I just said?!" said Discord squirming around. "I DO NOT! I despise her! She's the exact opposite of me!"
"True," Luna replied giggling some more. "But you've always liked her. It's kind of obvious." Discord looked away, fidgeted, felt a blush prickle at his cheeks, and cursed in gibberish under his breath. "And for the most part, you two get along pretty well. She just hates your powers," said Luna rocking back and forth. "But...I for one really like them..." She smiled shyly at him and hid behind her mane.
"Thank you. At least somepony appreciates my talents," Discord replied flopping back down on the pillows again. He felt pain in his head, but ignored it. "Oh, you're right, okay? When I saw her I thought she was the most beautiful creature in the world. But who am I kidding? She'd never be interested in me..." Luna shrugged.
"She likes that Dream Catcher. And I think she's stupid for not liking you..." she said quietly. Discord smiled a little.
"Thanks Luna," he said sighing.
"I'm really not surprised you like her," she said looking down. "Celestia always has and always will be the pretty one...the smart one...the talented one...and everypony loves her. Everypony loves the sun..." Discord glanced at the purple alicorn. Her ears were slightly pinned back. She had an angered look of resent and jealousy on her face. There was something else, though. He could sense certain darkness inside her. He figured it was because he knew there was something dark inside him as well. He didn't know why. He didn't understand. He also wondered why Luna had it too. She shrugged again and stood up.
"I'll come back tomorrow evening, okay?" she said cheerfully. Discord nodded.
"No watching me sleep again, all right?" he said winking at her. Luna giggled and nodded. "Seriously..." he said raising an eyebrow. Luna smiled, magically made the candle go out and opened the door.
"Goodnight, Dis," she said quietly. "Sweet dreams." She exited and closed the door behind her. Discord smiled and pulled the blankets up over him. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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