Discord's Return

by The_WolfGirl

Chapter Five: Nightmare

Chapter Five: Nightmare

“Rose... ROSE! I... Discord... Rose. Where are you Rose!?” I hear Celestia’s voice fade in and out of my mind as the dream world solidifies around me.

A labyrinth takes shape in front of me, the silhouette of a pony standing in the entrance. The figure takes a step towards me and I flutter my wings in panic and paw nervously at the ground. My wing moves with ease and I realize that it is not broken in this strange world.

“Hello, Broken Rose. I have missed thee.” The form takes on shape and color as a solitary tear trickles down my face. I hear my hooves beat against the earth as I gallop towards the familiar pony.

I stop right in front of him, my momentary joy turns to anger. Anger at myself, and anger at the dream pony, “How dare thee. How dare thy torture me. How long will thee stay this time? Until I wake up, or just long enough to give me a taste, before dragging thyself away?”

My brother puts his horn on my shoulder and displays his wings, “I never wanted to leave, don’t thee remember? Thou couldn't send my spirit on, couldn’t fully kill me. So thy let me stay, and now I wander the world, trying to keep mine little sister safe.”

“A poor job thy have been doing so far, Ash.”

“Thou try taking care of someone thy can only see when they are dreaming, or when the entire world is seeing ghosts or stillborn foals.”

“I see thine point. I am sorry, Ash. `Tis mineself I am angry at, not thee.” My wings extend, but freeze only partway off my body. Ashen Tree reaches forward and hugs me tightly. I hug him back just as fiercely.

When we are finally able to pull ourselves away from the warm embrace I look at Ashen Tree, and he looks at me. Both of us trying to imprint the other in our minds before we are forced apart once again. I am the first the look away, staring at the enormous labyrinth.

“What is this place, Brother?” He turns to stand beside me, staring at the large, green structure as well.

“`Tis a labyrinth sister, a labyrinth designed out of the twists and turns that form thy mind, Broken Rose.”

“What is in the middle though?”

“Thy heart, and the answer to the riddle.”

“What riddle?” I look at my brother, stunned to notice that I can look right through him. “Brother, thou art fading!”

“I have very little time left. The riddle!” Ashen Tree’s face gets scared as he begins to flicker in and out of existence. I run up to him and try using magic to hold him in place. It does not work, my brother fades into naught but a shadow, “Engraved… Stay true… thyself…” My brother’s voice begins to fade in and out of my dreams, scarily like Celestia’s. As his body fades almost completely, I hear his voice say two last, treasured words, “Remember… Solstice”

“NO, BROTHER!!” Tears pour out of my eyes, some part of me knowing that this is the last time I will ever see my beloved brother. My hoof grasps at air as my brother vanishes into the Ether World, that place of in-betweens.

I sit down, unable to move as a puddle forms between my hooves. I cry, and cry, I feel as if I have shed more tears than the oceans could hold. When the ground in front of me is completely soaked in saltwater, I stand. My legs shake, my voice breaks as I whisper my brother’s very last words.

“Remember solstice?” I have no idea what my brother was talking about. I search through ever memory I have. Nothing came to mind. Ashen Tree had been to many a solstice, both summer and winter. No special memory was in accordance to any of the ones I could remember.

My head low, I drag my hooves towards the entrance of the labyrinth. I look up when I reach the archway that marks the beginning of the maze. I stare at a stone set into the ground, words are carved onto it. I read aloud:

Path through labyrinth, there is one.
Choose wrong and you shall perish,
Choose correct, and ancient heart, shall yours be.
But test shall come, and mystery may,
forget not your past, or Death will come.

I laugh quietly at the last line, ‘Death will come’, how can I come for myself? But ‘ancient heart’ and ‘forget not your past’. They sounded important, and tantalizingly familiar, but I couldn’t place the feel of the phrasing. I put a hoof over the plate and into the maze. With a quick flap of my wings I go into the maze fully. A slamming sound echoes around me, I turn around and stare at the green hedge that has risen up and blocks the exit of the labyrinth. My path chosen for me, I step forwards.

~

My hooves pound down a freshly beaten trail, walked by myself only moments before. I turn my head to look behind me, staring at the ghostly image of Discord, chasing me in a desperate attempt to disconnect my head from my shoulders. As my head is turned from the path in front of me, a large tree root looms up in front of me and trips my hooves. I stare at the horrifying replica of the Spirit of Chaos. As his eagle reaches down to claw out my eyes, my horn powers up and shoots a beam of bloody light at Discord.

It hits him in the chest, an enormous crumbling sound echoes around us. A gray shape begins to show out of Discord’s chest. It hits the ground, almost crushing one of my legs beneath its weight. I recognize the shape as Discord falls backward and turns into many floating gray feathers. It is a stone heart. I stand up and levitate with my magic. Glancing around to make sure there is no danger coming at me again I relax slowly. I spin the heart around steadily to see every angle of the heart. Towards the back of it I see a pale, glowing, pink light shining out of a crack in the stone. I press one green eye close to it and look inside of the stone. Images race past my vision, images of me and Discord. Of Celestia and my brother, of times before Discord was turned to stone. I rear back in surprise, almost dropping the stone.

When I have control of my senses again, I glare at the stone, as if it is the cause of all my problems. I take a deep breath and return my eye to the crack in the stone. This time, images of the present appear before me. I see myself, in a prison cage, crying. I see my cottage, me in the window sitting down to a good book. I feel my heart begin to speed up, hear another heart beat in time with mine. The vision warps in front of me, turning into Discord, when he was turned to stone. However, I can hear him, see his thoughts. Years race by as Discord thinks of only one thing in his stone prison. What he thinks of brings tears to my eyes, because what he is thinking of, is me. Discord thinks of every party, every stolen kiss and every time I almost gave in and admitted to him, admitted to Discord, that I loved him.

The stone falls from my grasp as and I stare at a newcomer to the maze. She looks disconcertingly like me. The only differences are her cutie mark, a dying rose, and her eyes. Where my eyes are filled with light and hope, hiding a deep hatred and pain, hers hold only agony and anger.

“Hello, Rose.” The mimic steps towards me, I back into the hedge wall desperately.

“Wh- who art thou?” I am shaking, fear coursing through my veins.

“Don’t you recognize me? I am you. At least, what you were supposed to be if you hadn’t killed our brother and taken responsibility for life as well.” Scorn drips from her voice and I back away in terror.

“What art thou talking about. I would never be thee!”

The mysterious ‘me’ laughs wildly. She steps forward and lifts my chin up with a sickly white wing. “Don’t you know child. You were always supposed to be nothing but a stone cold killer. What do you think a dead rose stands for, kid?”

“But I wasn’t, so thou hath no place here!” My horn begins to glow red as I prepare to blast the beast with my magic.

“FOOL! You think you can defeat a better you?” The mimics horn begins to drip what looks like black blood, streaked with dark red. I falter in surprise and tendrils of the black liquid wrap around me, cutting into my flesh and making me cry in pain as they sap my lifeblood. The world around me shimmers and the other me vanishes along with the tendrils as I reappear in a bedroom filled with dying plants and black and red furniture.

I get but a brief reprieve before the darker version of me reappears and sends her tendrils at me once more. This time however I am ready and my horn gives one quick blast of red magic, throwing back the enemy alicorn and dissipating the tendrils.

I stand over the weakened me, “Thou art a fool, jealous of the Broken Rose who now holds dominion over this body. BEGONE!”

The only response my threat has on the alicorn is to make her laugh, “You are the fool. Stuck in old ways, with old traditions. You do not even realize the intentions of those who once were closest to you.”

Somehow this creature knows exactly which buttons to press and how. I stagger backwards, stunned that this thing might know anything about how I felt for Discord. “How doth thou know my feelings?”

“We are the same pony, you’re just weaker. I feel the same things you feel, your love at Discord and your hatred. I know how you want to love him again, you want to so much. But you’re afraid he’ll just hurt you again.” She gets up and walks towards me, her movements slow and deliberate. “I can make sure he never hurts you again. Make sure that he does anything you tell him to, give you all the power in the world. Power enough to do anything, fulfill your every wish. I can help you bring back Ashen Tree.”

That does it. My brother’s name, being spoken by a creature as despicable as this. Rage fills my body and my horn glows, redder and brighter than it ever had before. My voice echoes around the room and makes the walls and windows vibrate with its weight, “THOU HATH NO RIGHT TO SPEAK OF MINE BROTHER!!” The windows shatter and glass rains down upon us as I drive my magically reinforced horn through the heart of the wretched creature in front of me.

She gasps and blood gurgles through her mouth as she speaks, “You… can’t kill… me.”

I lean in, my horn dripping her blood onto her pale face, “No, I can’t. Thou art mine past, but not mine future. I choose balance, not senseless death,” I lean back out again. My head arches high and proud, “I DENY THEE!”

The mimic screeches as it fades into shadow and mist, leaving naught but a splattering of blood and a last writhing shadow. I step on it and twist my hoof, crushing it into the ground. I look up as the walls fade into mist and shadow, revealing a pedestal with a scroll on it. I take a step forward, wincing as a shallow gash on my foreleg weeps blood. Opening my wings I fly forward and land softly, letting out a small cry of pain before lifting my wounded leg off of the ground.

Using my magic, I levitate the scroll and open it in front of me. I read:

Hello Broken Rose,

If you are reading this, then that means I have finally passed into the ether world. Perhaps I will be reborn, maybe as your foal, sister. That would be nice, then we would still be together (and related).

I laugh gently at my brothers informal style of writing before continuing on.

Please know that I tried my hardest to stay with you as long as I could. I apologize for leaving you to find a way through the labyrinth on your own. I only hope that I was able to tell you what the poem means. I managed to figure out this maze in the years that I have been here. This is where I was trapped whenever I wasn’t visiting you. The first part is pretty simple, if you choose the wrong path you die. I assume that was obvious to your discerning eye. If you have made it this far, I assume you already know the purpose of the maze. It is a reflection of your heart, at the end is knowledge. Knowledge that will let you do the right thing. To get here you will have had to face the you from before, from when you were jealous and cruel. However, I know that you can defeat her. I will try to pass on to you a memory before I depart to the ether world. A memory of Solstice. Do you remember her? She was Luna and Celestia’s mother. She taught me a spell that can replicate the Elements of Harmony, a spell that I hope she taught you as well. If she didn’t, I buried it in your subconscious that day we met when you were in Discord’s dungeons. I am sorry for not being here today, I should have fought harder.

Love,

Your brother Ashen Tree

“NO, No Ash. Thou shouldn’t have had to have fought harder. I should never have fallen for Discord’s tricks. It’s all my fault!” My voice shatters on the last word and dies to a whisper, “I can no longer blame Discord for my shortcomings. I killed thee Ashen Tree, and I am ready to take responsibility for thy death.”

My head bows, my wings extend and I feel peace. I see a faint image of Celestia and Luna, visiting me through some lingering magic of my brothers. They smile and Celestia nods her approval at my admittance. I stare at Luna and smile slowly before the world around me shatters into a million different pieces and I wake.

I look around a room, familiar and yet strange at the same time. I swing my hooves over the bed, only to crash, screaming into the ground as I realize that my battle wounds from the other me somehow traveled into the real world. I whimper slightly and attempt to flutter my wings, only to realize that one of them is still broken. I curse under my breath and look up at my bed, seeing a scrap of white paper, I levitate down to me. I take one glance at it, my sides begin to heave as tears roll down my face to splatter on the nearby ground. It is the letter that my brother left me.

I hear the door open but can see nothing but a blurry shape through my tears. It steps towards me and asks quietly, “Rosie, are you okay?”

The painstakingly familiar voice sends me into another bout of tears. Discord lays down next to me and reads the letter over my shoulder quietly. I make no effort to hide it from his yellow eyes until he slowly takes it from my magic and lays it on a table. Then, he merely holds me, letting me cry until my throat is raw from screaming and my eyes red from the tears. As the night drags on, my eyelids get heavy and I rest my head against Discord’s serpentine body.

Discord lays his head down on mine and heals my wounds with a snap of his eagle claw. He whispers in my ear, it takes a moment for me to process the words, “Rosie, I… I love you.” I stare into his eyes, remembering the stone heart with the small crack in it. I whisper quietly, “I love you too”. I imagine the crack getting a little bit wider.

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoy. I am trying out the romance part of the book and I don't know if you guys will like it or not. Please leave a comment! :)