Chapter 53
The trip home was far better than the trip to Gurfon’s castle. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I still wasn’t completely happy with Gurfon, but I had started to, if not forgive him, then at least understand his actions.
It was dark by the time we touched down. I was met by only a couple guards and a porter, who had nothing to do because I had no luggage. That suited me fine anyway, as I didn’t know what I wanted to do about the situation with Celestia. I still loved her, very much, but that didn’t change what she did. I decided to sleep on it and deal with the whole mess in the morning.
…Or maybe now.
I had opened the door to my room to find that Celestia had decided to camp out in my bed. I could have simply taken her room, but that wouldn’t do either. Instead, I chose to visit Luna who had court at this time of night.
“Nephew, it is good to see you.”
“You too, Aunt Luna.” I walked up to the throne that was flanked by Luna’s Night Guard, whose armor’s enchantment gave them all that bat-pony look. Honestly, I always liked their look more than the Day Guard’s. “You mind if I keep you company? Mom kinda took over my room.”
“Not at all, Christopher.” Luna gestured with a wing to an open spot on the throne while she slid over a little to make room for me. “Please, take a seat.”
I sat down on a cushion that floated over from a small closet behind the throne. “Thanks. I could use a rest.” We sat there in silence for a few moments before I asked, “I thought this was supposed to be court. Where is everypony?”
“Sadly, this is an average turn out for the night court,” Luna said. “On the positive side, this allows me to focus on the dreams of our little ponies. Speaking of which, perhaps you should allow me to demonstrate.”
I leaned against her soft fur and took comfort in the warmth radiating from her. “Alright, but before I do, I need to know something.”
“Anything for you, Dear Nephew. Ask me anything you like.”
“Did you have anything to do with Mom and Gurfon’s plan to keep ne in the dark and locked away?”
Luna was silent for a moment. She seemed to want to make sure everything was spoken with no chance for a misunderstanding. “I took no action in it, but I did know of Sister’s plan.” I could see in her face that Luna was saddened by this fact. “She believed wholeheartedly that keeping you where you were and uninformed was the best way to keep you safe and out of reach of Tirek. Remember, he is a power hungry monster who would not hesitate to drain you of every ounce of magic in your body. I do not believe that Death would have given you a third chance.”
I yawned and stretched before curling up on my cushion. “Gurfon and Celestia said pretty much the same thing, *yawn* I think I’m finally starting to get it.” I rested my head on Luna’s hip. “It still pisses me off though.”
Luna laid down on the throne and spread a wing over me for warmth. “I know, Nephew, and that shows how much you care.”
*****
Breakfast was quiet, there wasn’t a lot to discuss. At least, there wasn’t a lot I wanted to talk about. Celestia was there, though there seemed to be some puffiness under her eyes I wasn’t used to seeing, so was Luna and the blonde pain. Us three alicorns were eating in a sort of awkward silence while Blueblood seemed to be very content with himself. If I wasn’t so preoccupied with how upset Celestia was, I might have noticed how this was a mirror of most other mornings.
Bunny was there as usual, but she wasn’t saying much. She always seemed to have a sense of when things weren’t quite right. Things weren’t right either, but I could try to make things right. It could take time though. Luckily, time is something alicorns have in abundance.
As the dishes were being cleared, I addressed my family. “Mom, Aunt Luna, I would like to talk to you both in private, if I may.”
“Of course, Sweetie,” Celestia agreed while Luna nodded. “Guards, maids, Blueblood, please give us the room.”
I waited patiently as they obeyed the order of their princess/aunt. Once cleared, I stood from my seat, walked over to Celestia and hugged her tightly. “First, I’m sorry I made you so upset. I hate seeing you like this.” Celestia tightened her half of the hug but didn’t say anything. “Second, you lied to me and tried to keep me locked up in another country.”
Celestia released me from the hug. “I know, but it wa-”
“Was for my own safety, I know. I know, I believe, and I understand. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. You and everypony else I know and love were in serious danger and I had no idea. Remember how you felt when I was taken by Chrysalis? That’s how I felt.” The look on Celestia’s face told me just how well she understood. “I love you, very much, but I feel like I can’t trust you to be honest with me. I’m going to go to Ponyville for a little while. At least until I get over this mess.”
Celestia was about to say something, but Luna stopped her by placing a hoof on her shoulder. “We understand, Christopher. We are both very sorry that you feel this way, but I believe you are making a fairly wise choice.”
“Gurfon helped me make it. I don’t want to spend my life filled with anger.” I kissed Celestia and Luna on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Celestia said as she hugged me again. “I love you.”
“And I love you too, Mom.”
*****
“Chris, what brings you to Ponyville?” Twilight asked after Spike showed me to the library in her new castle. She was carefully shelving books and being helped by Rarity.
“My own stupid, stubbornness. I can’t help but feel angry about Mom, Luna and Gurfon all working together to keep me locked up in his castle while you and everypony else were here, fighting for your lives.”
“Oh, Darling, I’m so sorry to hear that. Though I think ‘fighting for our lives’ might be a little much,” Rarity said.
“We were in danger, certainly, but I don’t think Tirek wanted to kill us. He only wanted to take our magic.”
“That’s right. Though if he had gotten to you, it would most definitely have meant...”
“Alright, I get it. That’s why I said it was stupid.” I sat down on the floor and picked up a random book and looked at without really noticing anything about it. “I know it was for my own good, I get that. Rather, I know that to be the truth, but I can’t help but feel like everyone was against me.”
“If that’s true, then why are you in Ponyville instead of trying to work this out with the princesses?” Rarity asked.
“So I can cool down before I do or say something I’ll regret. Gurfon told me about what happened between him and his father. I don’t want that for Mom and me.”
“I guess that makes sense. You wanna stay here with me? There are plenty of rooms in this castle and Willow has proven to be a pretty good cook.”
“Willow? Dessert Willow? She’s living here?”
“Oh yes. The dear has proven to be very helpful,” Rarity offered.
“Plus she’s been helping me develop a changeling detection system. Once I get a functioning prototype, we can start working on that changeling sanctuary idea you had.”
“That’s great, Twi. We’ve got to do something better for them than chaining them up in the dungeon for the rest of their lives. And Willow has proven that they aren’t all like the queen.”
“True enough. But do you really think that other ponies will be willing to give her… kind… a chance to join in our society?” Rarity asked.
“I think it’s possible, but old scars can run deep. To this day, Aunt Luna has issues with ponies thinking she’s still Nightmare Moon in disguise, plotting to overthrow her sister. All I can do is hope for the best. If Twilight manages to get her detector working, then maybe ponies won’t be scared. At least as scared. My plan is to set them up close enough to the Crystal Empire so they can feed of the love and joy in the atmosphere so that they no longer have to go out hunting. Poor Willow was force fed so much of the stuff that she had to be sent home after a few hours for her own health.
“Yes, then perhaps your plan has merit. I do so hope everything works out, Darling.”
“One can only hope. Alright, now that I have a place to sleep, I’m going off to see my beautiful, little pegasus.”
*****
I soon came to in for a landing in the front yard of Fluttershy’s cottage. As soon as I made contact with the ground, I could feel my spirits lifting. When I saw Fluttershy through the window, I swear I could almost float. But then I saw Him. Discord.
The monster was just sitting there, enjoying tea in tiny, pink teacups. He was sipping his tea and laughing. That traitor was right there, in the very home of the pony he betrayed the worst. She was the first one to give him a chance and he turned on her. I couldn’t handle it anymore.
“Traitor!” I roared as I lunged through the window at Discord.
Discord dodged by simply sliding his chair back and up the walls to the ceiling, hanging upside down from it as if he were still on the floor. “Oh, a party crasher,” he chuckled.
“Chris!?” Fluttershy exclaimed.
I came up on one knee with my back to Fluttershy, one arm out to shield her. “Stay away from her!” I warned as I slowly reached for my sword. I normally carried my steel sword, but because of my recent mood swings, I decided to leave it at home and bring along my wooden training sword. It wouldn’t kill anypony, but it still hurt to be whacked by it.
“You know, you could have simply asked to join our tea party,” Discord teased.
“You don’t deserve to even be here!”
Fluttershy wrapped her legs around my waist. “Stop. He’s sorry for what he did. Please, just give him another chance.”
It figuratively killed me to have this argument, or any argument with Fluttershy, but I was going to have my say on this one. “He’s had enough chances. This guy screwed up the world so bad, he had to be hit by the Elements. Twice. Then, because of him, Mom and Luna were captured by some magic plants that caused you and your friends to give up your Elements. Now, he’s allowed Mom, Luna, and Cadance to get sent to Tartarus, in chains, before giving you, his first friend, over to power hungry psycho so he could play around unchecked again! He’s had his chances!”
Discord floated down to the floor and actually touched down, like a normal pony. That in itself was surprising enough, but then, he spoke. “You’re right, of course,” Discord said with sincerity. “I don’t deserve Fluttershy’s friendship. But if she’s going to offer it, then I’m going to accept it.” He said the last part with a sad smile on his face.
“Yes. He feels just horrible about what he’s done and he hopes that everypony will eventually forgive him. I decided to offer him at least my hoof in friendship.”
I put my sword away and slowly stood up, never taking my eyes off of Discord. I reached back and held Fluttershy’s face in a single hand without even looking. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I love you, but if I spend any more time in his presence, I might just try to rip his tail out through his throat.”
“Wait,” Discord interrupted. “I believe I’ve caused enough grief for one day.” He raised his hand and snapped his fingers, causing the window I smashed through to reform itself, surprisingly without any hijinks. “Fluttershy, I look forward to our next meeting. And this time, I really will bring the cucumber sandwiches.” With another snap of his fingers, Discord was gone.
As soon as he was gone, I felt my muscles loosen up, my heartrate lower and the adrenaline slow. It made me feel tired. Tired and depressed.
I dropped to my knees and put my head in my hands. Shortly after, I felt hoof gently touch my arm. My hands shot out and dragged the soft pegasus against my chest. We were both silent for a few moments before Fluttershy spoke.
“Um, Chris, are you alright?”
“No, Flutters, I’m not. I can’t stop being angry at everypony. Worse yet, I know I shouldn’t be. You’re the only one I know I can count on.” I held her tighter to me. “Please, just let me stay like this a little longer.”
Fluttershy rested her head against my shoulder and sighed. “We can stay like this for as long as you need.”
“Thank you, Flutters. I love you.”
“I love you too, Chris.”
We stayed that way for nearly twenty minutes. After my nerves calmed and the world seemed normal again, I released Fluttershy from my grip. She looked up into eyes as if to make sure I was certain. I smiled down at her and kissed her on the nose, which made her giggle in that adorable way of hers.
“I’m sorry about that, Fluttershy. I’ve just been… off since the attack. The only thing that seems to bring me back to normal is thinking about you and that unbearably cute smile of yours.” Fluttershy blushed heavily at that. I smirked, “Yes, and your blush too. You bring me back from the brink every time I’m about to fall. I don’t just love you, Flutters, I need you.”
Fluttershy didn’t have a response for that. She simply tightened her hug around me, though I could feel some dampness through my shirt. “I need you too, Chris. You make me feel safe. Like nothing can ever hurt me. I like that feeling.”
“Hmm… I’m glad.” I picked Fluttershy up and set her aside, then stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I need to stretch my wings and I don’t want to bump a cage in here.” The feathers in my wings had gotten a little disheveled and were starting to irritate me to no end. I guess that’s going to happen to when you get all puffed up in a rage. “I’ll be right outside.”
“Alright. I’ll be in here when you’re done.”
I took a few steps away from the door and stretched, my wings extending to full spread. With just a few flaps and folds, I had all my feathers back to where they needed to be and the proverbial itch had been scratched.
“May I have a moment of your time?” a deep male voice asked. The moment I heard it, all my feathers became disheveled again. I spun on my heels and reached for his excessive throat. He wasn’t there anymore. “Can I at least speak before you resort to your baser instincts?”
“Speak,” I growled, wings flared and body tense.
“You were right.”
“What?”
“What you said inside, you were right. I don’t deserve to be here. Everypony’s acting like nothing happened, but it did. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t care about what I did to everypony else,” his grin when he said this made me want to kill him in the worst way, “but my betrayal of dear Fluttershy bothers me. I’m not used to feeling guilty about anything I’ve done. So, I offer to you the chance of a lifetime.”
“What do you mean?” I lowered my stance and readied myself for whatever was to come next.
Whatever I was expecting, I was not expecting his chin to triple in size. “You get to have one free h-”
And that was how I broke my hand the second time.
Broke his hand punching discord...
Nice chapter but Chris should just forgive discord already and stop being mad at him.
6101232 To be fair... That's pretty high on the list of reasons to break your hand.
>>drnknst
Bro nice chapter keep up the good work
That is how I would like to break my hand if I ever have to.
fronttowardsgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/falcon-punch.jpg
am not the only one right
6101267 really? I'm
Not sure I would forgive discord that easily I mean yes he is the spirt of choas and such, and well Chris does have all this anger swelled up inside him. Perhaps if he was fully human like he is to he could've forgiven him by now
another enjoyable chapter
stayclassy
And then suddenly... the world explodes.
I just see this story as the backstory to an Angry Marine....Because frankly he's slowly slipping into it.
I feel this is rather out-of-character for Discord. The season 4 premiere kind of curbed this thinking.
His anger isn't going to help much. My; I wonder where this will lead?
this song came through my itunes shuffle while i was reading, and it just fit SO well i had to post it...
6102152 are you kidding me? An angry marine would think this guy is a pussy faggot for liking tiny horses and having feelings other than anger.
Might get along with a son of sanguinius though. Whole black rage slowly consuming him, pretty boy with wings.
Also, more story please. :p keep up the good work!
6101657 but he's always angry and if he keeps it up he might ruin his relationship with fluttershy.
6102481 I can understand why he is always angry, he just has so much going on right now, I mean with his mother and uncle never lying to him before like this, he could feel betrayed, and then the fact that discord who he thought was reformed goes and do all that just for some fun?
The ponies are easy to forgive, but remember he is not a pony, yes a human alicorn but not a pony.
I know for a fact fore it's hard for me to forgive someone and if bad enough I do get and stay mad like he does. Given some times perhaps he will get better.
Chris has so much going on in side.
Fluttershy and Chris really need to just go away and spend time together to just talk things over, this will help there bond / love and give Chris a way to get all his feeling out in the open that are slowly tarring him apart from the inside.
A good chapter and the end surprised me a bunch.
Harts Fire
6101232 shoulda broke his foot.
I'm pretty sure Discord made sure his chin was as hard as steel before offering it, or at least something rubbery and unbreakable.... poor hand though XD
6102596
Remember that Chris now had the force of an alicorn, going full force will break anything. I think the author just got a bit philosophical in the end.
Just think, we are talking about Discord, the spirt of chaos, chaos can be referring to the 'unstoppable force' while Chris has the day and night attributes, but can be referring to the 'unmoving force' both are extremely strong, both impossible to stop or move, so…what happen when the unstoppable force tries to move that, that is unmoving? Yeah Chris didn't say a thing because he couldn't care less about Discord, but we can be sure…Discord is probably not faring any better
Woohoo, New chapter! Must read!
Well, at least he's starting to calm down, and all I have to say about Discord is, Ha! He let the one person who truly hates him to punch him! Not his best idea.
6101657 I'm human, and I still don't forgive him myself...and even if I did, I certainly wouldn't forget...I tend to hold grudges for a long time if someone betrays my trust.
6104203 forgiveness is a fickle thing, to some it os easy to others...well you can see from Chris
6104221 Yup, forgiveness is different for a lot of people...just like most things in life, such as hobbies, or pretty much anything.
6104252 That is what makes us unique.
6102253 With time he might eventually get to angry marine levels....Which is why I said the backstory....I will admit your choice is a wee bit better though.
I really enjoyed the story and how all the stress is starting to get to the hero. I would find it surprising if he wasn't stressed about it especially since Discord betrayed the pony the hero loves more than anything. The punch was needed but it was funny that he broke his hand to do it. I really enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to the next one.
6102253
Yeah, my mother (a retired marine) would definitely call him a sissy.
Probably whilst skinning one of the countless a rattlesnakes she's found and beheaded in the back yard, or adding a new batch of mash to her still...
...okay, now that I think about it, marines are virtually all badasses.
I've never met a marine who couldn't practically eat nails and piss lighter fluid.
(Then again, that might run in the family.)
My uncle once got his finger shot off, and sewed it back on himself (I think he had carpet thread -NOT ideal!- on him at the time) until they could properly re-attach it at a hospital (which was done well enough that enough blood kept flowing through it that they could save the finger), and even my youngest sibling has her own brand of ridiculous toughness.
She used to walk across the back yard all summer long, and she wouldn't notice or even bleed after pulling the goatheads out of the soles of her bare feet when she came inside.
6104390 Eeyup.
6106364 the guy who I responded to meant this when he said Angry Marine:
whec-assets-live.s3.amazonaws.com/2014/02/22651_95051b790d7fa1628786992b8a7304f5.png
WAIT, ONE FREE WHAT???
6104196 I'll have you know I have lots of great plans.
6109906
He extended his jaw and it started with "H" pretty sure that Chris guessed right. Trust is earned and can be squandered, Discord did so. Still maybe if given time they might reconcile..... maybe.
6126471
The problem is, I still don't know what Discord is about to say.
6127995
Context clues. They give you all you need to what he was gonna say. Either way all that happened should have.
6127995 hamburger
6128106 I think that after Chris forgives discord they should play a prank on rainbowdash. Something like putting gray hair dye in one of the colors of her mane.
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2340-so_bored.gif when I first found this story again I was hyped because it was the first mlp fanfic I ever read but it's kinda boring to sum things up go back and fix everything
6130565 'your'
6127995 "one free HIT!" that's what sometimes a man allows another man to do, when they know they deserve it, so Chris didn't even need to think and he reacted by punching him....HARD!
6132008 Good thing I wrote this story for me then. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it and may I suggest the work of GentlemanJ.
I gotta say I was really enjoying this story only until the latter chapters. At first I quite enjoyed the idea of celestia raising a child and at first it was going really good, but as the story went on Chris started to annoy me more and more, to me he just acts way too immature for the age he is suppose to be. Hes over reacting to ever thing and it's really starting to get annoying. For a supposed 20 year old he acts and thinks like a 16 year old, like 'oh mum lied to me even though it was for my own safety and I would have died I still don't forgive her and she's in the wrong' it's just real childish thinking. Sorry to come off as rude and all its just that recently the way he's been acting has really put me off the story, I know it's your story so you can do what you want with it but at least sorta see what I'm saying here. Anyway I'll keep reading it just cause I do like the story, just annoyed by the main character. Again, sorry if I offended you, just voicing my opinion.
6152125 no offense taken. the poor guy had not developed like a normal child being locked up with the worst case of helicopter mom ever. now, in the course of a year he's found out he was held captive for twelve years and denied a normal life, fallen in love, been betrayed, killed, brought back to life, jammed full of magic that he's never had before, fallen in love again, lied to, and nearly lost his whole family, again. he's had a tough year. but don't give up on him just yet, he's about to come to his senses.
6154139
Glad I didn't offend you. I guess it makes sense when you point all that out about him, ill keep reading cause I really do like your story and you're a great author :D
6155462 Thank you very much, and know that I took your words to heart and I'm going to work on making it a more enjoyable read again.
I imagine he broke the hand in the process of doing that one Mortal Kombat dick-punch.
Was bopping Discord really necessary? It wont change anything. Was funny though.
6158854 I would have hit him after what he did
6168987 you wrote all that just to say you didn't give it a chance? Too much free time.
6183471
Oh, sure. Just ruin my meme-based joke with logic.
Waiiiiit...
>> Redeemed Discord
>> Used logic
exterminatusnow.co.uk/comics/20110618-healthy-skepticism.jpg
I'm onto you, you impostor heretic casul!
6178777 No, I'm just sick of people reading two chapters and then bitching.