Lost Fate

by Fluxxdog

Chapter 14: You Can Never Have Less

Chapter 14: You Can Never Have Less

The castle was nice. Cantrip had been on a tour of the place before when he was a colt, but this time was nice. He had free reign. It was a tad lonely, but then again, when else would he get to see the throne room?

The windows were truly works of art. The ascension of Princess Twilight, the repulsion of the Changeling invasion, the removal of Nightmare Moon, the recapture of Discord… Huh. That was odd. He would have sworn Discord was smiling at him.

Now he was waving. Oh no.

Cantrip bolted for the doors. Discord was free again! He had to let somebody know! Where were the guards? They should have seen him enter… wait, how did he get in? He stopped and tried to think back.

---

“We may want to get some opinions from Canterlot, Princess.” Doctor Horse was looking at his charts. A trained eye would see that everything was fine with Cantrip, not even a head injury. His ribs had healed well these last two months, despite how badly they were broken. Part of that could be attributed to him not moving, except for breathing. There wasn’t any physical reason for Cantrip to be in this state, which only left magical.

“The only reason I don’t want them intervening is because of him.” Twilight pointed to the other bed in the room. There lay Discord. Sound asleep. He had passed out when Cantrip had been flung. Had just enough time apparently to make a small note that read “HAD TO HELP” before being lost.

It had been rough for everyone. Fluttershy visited Discord at least once a week, hoping he’d wake up. Ink Nose visited Cantrip twice that, noting his condition, any improvements or changes… and reading. Any time there were new reports or research on Cantrip Lines, she brought them for him to hear.

Twilight stayed away for the most part, and only bothered Ink Nose when she needed a book. Ink Nose was always courteous and called her Princess. Each time she did, Twilight’s heart just seemed to crack a little more. Ink Nose never noticed, but then the only thought on her mind was how Twilight kept her around just to question her.

The others would visit every so often, telling Cantrip what was going on. Apple Bloom spent more time in the Everfree, studying under Zecora, though Zecora would say she’s learning more by herself. Rarity had come up with a design for the guards that was more effective and much more fashionable. Ivy and Pinkie Pie had created the first Flower Party, where the whole party was held on top of giant flowers. Lookout had earned a promotion to weather manager for Appleloosa due to handling an unexpectedly vicious storm while Rainbow Dash was out of town, but she turned it down saying she wasn’t ready yet.

And all this was ignored by Cantrip and Discord, who had lain motionless through all of it.

---

The crumpets we very good, even if they were kumquat flavored. The butter tea worked well with it, but only because it was with the crumpets. Cantrip made a mental note never to try making tea out of butter.

It was nice to see that the famed tyrant was being civil. They were actually chatting on friendly terms. What Discord told him, other than some of the anecdotes, was mildly disturbing, though.

“So you’re saying we’re both unconscious.” Cantrip certainly thought it was a valid argument. It would explain why there was nopony else. Except this Discord wasn’t a mental projection, but the spirit himself, come to intervene. He filled in a couple blanks, namely the moment before Cantrip’s casting.

“Exactly! Whatever it was that attacked… wait, no that doesn’t seems right. More like it was protecting something. Whatever it was, I don’t like it. On instinct, I just jumped right in to help you. Unfortunately, it seems I’m trapped in here with you until we can find an escape.”

Discord wasn’t known for his helpfulness, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he would help since nopony expected it. Right now, Cantrip had another problem. “So how do we get out of here?”

Discord just shrugged. “I have no idea. It was you who was harmed, you’ll need to find the way out. I’m just here to help. … Huh, never thought I’d really hear myself say that. Well, say it with sincerity.”

“Why did you help?”

“Oh whatever it was reeked of rigidity. Unbending and unyielding. Like the opposite of chaos.” Discord seemed to shiver at the idea. “Bleh.”

“Well, we’d need to find a way around it.”

Discord snapped his fingers and settled back on a pink, cotton candy cloud. “Well, good luck with that. Let me know if I can do anything.” He plucked a piece of cloud and munched on it, only to grimace. “Asparagus? What was I thinking? Bleh.”

Cantrip chuckled. He walked over to the doors. There were no cracks around the doors, like they were part of the wall rather than an exit. In fact, there was no other entrance or exit. Just a large hall with two thrones and stained glass wind… Wait, two thrones? He knew there was only one. Despite Princess Luna returning, the throne room was never changed. It was symbolic of the two sisters sharing power, rather than having their own domains. The old castle, that had two thrones, but it didn’t have the stained glass.

“Discord? Can you tell me what’s wrong with this room?”

He blinked and looked around. “Other than no exit, not really.”

He had to make sure he didn’t bias him. “So this looks like Celestia’s throne room?”

“Well, the windows aren’t in the throne room. Not those windows anyway.” He was right. The windows depicting achievement were in a hallway, not the throne room. “And there’s two thrones instead of one. You know, this is your mind, it must be your misconception.”

“That’s just it, I know these don’t belong here. The old castle had 2 thrones, one for Luna, one for Celestia. This is more like Canterlot castle. And you’re right about the windows too. So why am I picturing it like this?”

“Don’t ask me, it’s your head. If it was mine, there’d be more Bunniraffes.”

“What?”

“Cross between a bunny and a giraffe, please try to keep up. The point is you’re the one picturing all this.”

“Unless I’m not.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? If we’re not in your head, are you saying you’re out of your mind?” Discord started chuckling and laughing.

With a face as solid as an oak tree, Cantrip replied, “That exactly what I’m saying.”

Discord’s chuckle slowly died out. “But that would mean someone captured your mind elsewhere. Oh, this is bad. Very bad. You trap a person in a riddle or a nightmare, but you never trap them outside their mind.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I haven’t always been the nice guy you see before you,” changing into a high society set of clothes, complete with monocle, “but even I learned there are some things one should never do. I liked to mess with others, but I never did any lasting harm. I considered swapping two ponies minds once, but if something went wrong and they couldn’t change back, well, that would be… I’d rather not think about it. Plus, anything you could trap them in would be fragile. Easily broken.”

Cantrip smiled. “Then let’s break stuff.” He started walking towards one of the windows.

Discord grabbed his tail and pulled him back. “Whoa there. We start breaking things… I can’t believe I’m stopping you, but we start breaking things, it won’t guarantee we escape. In fact, it might mean…” He drew a finger across his neck.

“Any better ideas?”

---

Twilight was upset. The tears stopped only because she was tired. She just wanted to fall asleep for the night. The clock on her nightstand starting ringing. She looked at it since it was too early for the alarm. It suddenly stopped. When she looked at it, it had a claw and a paw for hands and a voice that said, “It’s awake o’ clock!” In a flash, Twilight was at the hospital.

Comments

[Sunlight Blaze]

So we open this up with...Cantrip having free reign around Twilight's castle....didn't he get knocked out just last chapter?

Cantrip bolted for the doors. Discord was free again! He had to let somebody know! Where were the guards? They should have seen him enter… wait, how did he get in? He stopped and tried to think back.

.......*Processing...Processing...Processing...DING* oooooooh......he's dreaming right now.

Meanwhile, Doctor Horse (could that name be any less original?) is checking on the unconscious Cantrip, and he seems fine. (Then where'd that red spot come from on the wall?)

His ribs had healed well these last two months, despite how badly they were broken. Part of that could be attributed to him not moving, except for breathing. There wasn’t any physical reason for Cantrip to be in this state, which only left magical.

It's been two months since he got thrown across the room?...Really?...You really expect us to buy that? The pacing here is just horrible! You can't just leave us in a vague cliffhanger like that and then expect us to understand what's happening after such a long time lapse with this very brief explanaion! What we got here is a very rushed fast-forward montage briefly explaining the events that happened over the last two months, and not very well, either! It doesn't work!
I mean, what's with this seemingly-random line by Twilight?

“The only reason I don’t want them intervening is because of him.”

She doesn't want who to intervene because of Discord? What does that even mean?

And we close this scene with Twilight feeling guilty about her reasons for keeping Ink Nose around. Yeah, sometimes needing to do the right thing for the kingdom can lead to some friendships being broken.

In the next scene, we flash to Cantrip and Discord, who are both unconscious and...having a tea party in their dream? Okay, I'm coining a new phrase: "it's Discord; don't question it.".....nah, doesn't have the same ring to it as Pinkie Pie...
Anyway, so we get a brief explanation as to what happened two months ago: whatever it was that caused Cantrip to hit the wall like that, Discord felt the need to help Cantrip, so he dove into the Unicorn's mind to help him find a way to get out of the coma. That's surprisingly quick thinking on his part.

So the first thing Cantrip notices about their chamber is that it's remarkably similar to Celestia's throne room, except for the second throne and stained glass windows.

*Discord's explanation about being "out of [Cantrip's] mind"*
Huh....something that even Discord wouldn't attempt....that's ....comforting......
So who or whatever did this has them trapped somewhere outside of Cantrip's mind, and whatever they start doing to break stuff could result in the destruction of his mind. I'd say they're in quite a bind.

And we flash back to Twilight.

Twilight was upset. The tears stopped only because she was tired. She just wanted to fall asleep for the night. The clock on her nightstand starting ringing. She looked at it since it was too early for the alarm. It suddenly stopped. When she looked at it, it had a claw and a paw for hands and a voice that said, “It’s awake o’ clock!” In a flash, Twilight was at the hospital.

....................................What just happened?