Awake: 28
Why does it smell like chocolate milk? Andrew thought to himself, his eyes still closed as he slowly came back to consciousness. And why aren’t I in pain? Shouldn’t I be in a lot of pain?
Andrew opened his eyes, and was greeted by the dull ceiling and walls of the now familiar hospital. He groaned and tried to sit up, his arms sore as he slowly managed to push himself upright, sliding back to lean on the headrest of the hospital bed. As he was leaning back he froze, his eyes drifting to the closest corner. There, in a recliner Andrew was pretty sure wasn’t standard hospital furniture, was a large… creature. It was haphazardly shaped, with a long midsection and mismatched parts that left it looking very unsymmetrical. The creature slowly thumbed through a magazine as Andrew stared for a long moment before finally finished his movement. Beside the creature on a small floating tray was a tall glass of chocolate milk.
“Uh… hello.”
“Just a minute, I want to finish this article.” The creature said, adjusting his glasses.
Andrew opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn’t quite force himself to say anything. Instead he just stared at the creature, waiting for him to finish. As he watched he realized that the magazine depicted a human on the cover, but the words were just gibberish, like some sort of movie prop. The amalgamation threw the magazine across the room, finally turning his head to look at Andrew.
“All done!” He said with a grin, the magazine disappearing before it even hit the floor. “Now, I’m guessing you want to know who I am?”
“You’re Discord, right?” Andrew answered, leaning back and closing his eyes, trying his best to seem calm. “Luna described you pretty well.”
Discord visibly drooped, before crossing his arms and huffing loudly.
“Everyone’s a party pooper these days.” He mumbled. “It’s bad enough that no one jumps and screams anymore”
“If it makes you feel any better I would have jumped if I could.” Andrew assured him, stiffly gesturing to the bandages and casts on his body. “I only just recognized you.”
“It doesn’t, pity just makes it awkward.”
“Well… what can I do for you Discord?” Andrew asked, moving his arm around to test its mobility. “Are you meeting Fluttershy here?”
“No, she doesn’t even know I’m in Ponyville.” He explained. “I’m here for personal reasons.”
The creature, the draconeous Andrew remembered, stood up from his chair and stretched, the tray following him. He walked to the door, jiggling the doorknob before pulling it off the door completely. With a snap, the door itself disappeared, replaced by a painting on the wall. He tossed the knob onto the bed between Andrew’s legs.
“Personal huh?” Andrew asked emptily, watching the door disappeared with a shocked and worried look. “What kind of personal?”
“Well, personal followed by official business.” Discord explained, snapping his fingers, a pitcher of chocolate milk appearing. “Something to drink?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Discord poured the pitcher into nothing, the chocolate milk filling up an invisible cup. The draconeous handed the glass to Andrew, who tentatively took it, taking a small sip. He coughed, the invisible glass spilling slightly as he regained his composure.
“Grape soda?” He asked, flabbergasted and still coughing. “What the hell?”
“Delightful isn’t it?” Discord said happily, chugging the rest of the pitcher. “Fizzy and refreshing.”
“Do they have grape soda here?” Andrew asked, taking another sip. “Where did you get this?”
“Probably.” He answered. “And I have no idea!”
Andrew sighed and looked down at the remaining liquid, draining it in one gulp. He then looked at his seemingly empty hand, suddenly concerned with what he would do with a glass he couldn’t see. Before he could do anything though, Discord took it, threw it in the air and caught it in his mouth, crunching loudly and swallowing before sighing contently, patting his stomach.
“Now that we’ve had some refreshments, let’s get down to business.”
Discords demeanor changed quickly, his body dropping into the chair nearest Andrew’s bed. Gone was his usual smile and the glint of mischief in his eye, replaced by a solemnity and seriousness that surprised Andrew.
“You beat the snot out of Nightmare” He stated with absolute seriousness. “Pretty good for the Prince of Punishment, you didn’t even have the title yet. She’s lucky though. If I had found her she would be dead.”
Andrew rocked back slight, wide-eyed in surprise. His mind struggled to understand where Discord’s sudden brutality was coming from. Finally, a few bits and pieces of that night came forward.
“Order?” He asked tentatively “She killed Order?”
Discord nodded, stroking his goatee. He turned to look out the hospital room window and the adjacent woods.
“It’s one of the first things she did when she started her twisted path.” He explained, pausing for a moment, still watching the slowly swaying trees. “Does that mean you remember your brief stint as my brother?”
“Bits and pieces I gu-“ Andrew stopped, finally connecting the dots in his head. “So you’re a royal blood guy?”
“We tend to go by ‘All-Mother’s Children’ but yes, I am.” He confirmed, his gaze finally returning to Andrew, smirking at the humans skeptical look. “What? Don’t believe me? Why do you think Celly was so Tartarus bent on rehabilitating me rather than just keeping me as a statue?
“I don’t want to hear about her right now.” Andrew said with an annoyed shake of his head. “She lied through her teeth every time we talked.”
“She does that.”
“Do you think Luna…” Andrew trailed off, worried about what the answer might be.
“Poor little Lulu had no idea, she was as in the dark as you were.” Discord assured him. “She was banished when we first caught wind that you would be coming. Granted I was still encased in stone but a few of my brothers and sisters came to talk to me while I was imprisoned.”
“Wait, you guys knew I was coming?”
“There were visions, hinting that the next addition to our ranks would be a strange creature.” Discord explained. “But it’s not like we’ve got the script or anything.”
“Right… So you were saying?” Andrew prompted, rubbing his face. “About... Order?”
Discord nodded, taking a deep breath and releasing it. “She was my other half. We were inseparable and pretty reliant on each other, as are every pair. ”
“I’m sorry…”
“It was a very very very long time ago.” Discord said, his eyes blank as he relived ancient memories. “And I had a grand old time grieving. Nearly destroyed the planet if the sisters are to be believed. Went a little crazy after Nightmare got away.”
“And that’s why you were locked up in stone.”
“I couldn’t be reasoned with.” He said with a shrug, as if he was describing something trivial. “They did the right thing, and I had time to grieve in peace.”
“The way Luna told it you came out a bit crazy too.”
Discord snapped his fingers and two pears appeared, one in Andrew’s hands, the other in his own paw. He took a bite absently, chewing a bit before continuing.
“Are you telling me you wouldn’t try your hand at world domination if you had been locked up for that long?”
“Not judging.” Andrew said, before shaking his head. “Though we should probably not meet when I get my deus ex machina back.”
“You’ll learn to control it.” Discord assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “And it’s more of a useful curse than a cheap plot device.”
“God… it’s all so jumbled in my head.” Andrew complained, rubbing his temples. “Parts of it are crystal clear, and others are foggy and confusing.”
“Considering the circumstances I say you're handling it pretty well” Discord pointed out, taking another bite of his pear.
“Yeah, I guess…” Andrew agreed begrudgingly, taking a bite of his pear, only to scrunch his face in surprise. “Lemon? Really?”
“Not a fan of citrus then?” Discord asked, a smile curling his face. “Oh well.”
The tall prince threw his pear into his mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing before snagging the second pear from Andrew.
“Anyway, back to the point. First off… Thank you Andrew, for catching and depowering Nightmare. You did a good job on her punishment too, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Prince of Punishment and all.”
“I guess I was just doing my job?” Andrew responded, not entirely sure what to say. “She earned that punishment through her actions I suppose.”
“That she did.” Discord agreed, taking a bite of the second pear. “So, that’s the personal out of the way. For business, I’m here to answer any questions you might have about everything. We figured that you might not trust Celly very much right now and Lulu is… well she isn’t very impartial when it comes to you.”
Andrew nodded, rubbing his temples as he thought of the many questions he had. Eventually he dropped his hands and looked at Discord.
“I remember understanding everything that was going on, like it was crystal clear. Now it’s all fuzzy and a lot of it doesn’t make since. ”
“Tell me about it.” Discord suggested, waiting patiently. “How did it make you feel?
Andrew looked over at the Prince of Chaos, shaking his head when he saw that he was now wearing glasses and was jotting down notes in a binder.
“It was like a huge amount of knowledge was dropped into my head.” He started. “It felt natural at the time but now it all feels foreign and alien. I’m glad most of them are fading.”
“An instinctual knowledge about the balance of the world, certain aspects of your brothers and sisters that share similar tasks is normal.” Discord explained. “Well, normal for the final stages of your growth into a Child. The problem is that you skipped all the way to the end, got all the perks and the draw backs, and then cut off your connection completely. A lot of us were worried you would wake up crazier than me.”
“Jury is still out.” Andrew joked. “Who knows, maybe-“
Andrew stopped talking, his eyes growing wide as another memory flooded his mind. He grew pale, suddenly looking like he would be sick.
“Trixie! Oh god what did I do to her?” He asked, looking at Discord pleadingly. “Please tell me she’s alright?”
“Lulamoon is… surviving.” Discord answered, his somber look returning. “She struggled for the first week, but she found a purpose in helping to repair the town. After that, she’s been helping Sparkle at the library.”
“So… no one reversed what I did?” Andrew asked, not sounding very hopeful.
“I think you already know the answer to that.” Discord responded. “In forty, maybe even fifty years, you’re going to be the absolute final word on punishment. Not Celestia, not Luna, not even I will be able to break or change any punishment you decide to dole out. That night was like a preview to that.”
“That’s… that’s too much power…”
“It sounds like it, but you’re forgetting a few things.” Discord assured him. “For one, your eventually gonna have another half, and they will be able to undo anything you do.”
“Right… I remember knowing that… I think.”
“Second, ‘punishment’ is a very specific concept. You can’t punish someone before they do something. So you won’t ever be able to use your powers during a conflict, only after. ”
“That… that’s right, I remember knowing that I needed to stop Nightmare completely before I could… you know…”
“Exactly. And finally, the Elements of Harmony will be able to undo anything any of us will ever do. It’s why they exist after all.”
“Wait… the elements? I thought they just banished evil or whatever?”
Discord laughed, shaking his head and snapping his fingers. A board appeared, covered in drawings of the elements and a rather crude stick figure drawing of Andrew, an alicorn and a draconeous. They were grouped separately, on either ends of a see-saw. He stood up and pulled out a long extendable pointer, suddenly wearing a lab coat.
“The Elements of Harmony are the balance against us.” He explained, tapping the board with the pointer. “They were created so that normal ponies, and occasionally other Children could fight against a Child. Celestia and Luna used them against me, then Celestia used them to banish Luna, so on and so forth. They were even used before that against other Children that grew out of control. Checks and balances kid. Mom loves them.”
“So we can use them to undo Lulamoon’s punishment!” Andrew said excitedly. “… Right?”
“Of course…Right after we find the seventh bearer.”
Andrew rubbed his eyes, wincing as his braces fought his movement. He groaned loudly before taking a deep breath and looking back at Discord, who had somehow lost his lab coat.
“Why is there another element?” He asked, exasperated. “I’m pretty sure there was only six.”
Before Discord could open his mouth to respond, a dull thrumming echoed in the room. Andrew cocked his head, watching as the doorknob that Discord had thrown onto his bed floated up, hovering midair for a moment before making its way to the wall. With a dull thump the non-handle end stuck into the wall, causing the door to suddenly re-materialize. It was flung open, immediately letting in the sounds of a hospital into the room. On the other side of the door stood Luna, looking very cross.
“Discord, what is the meaning of this?” She asked, walking into the room, her eyes focused on the Prince of Chaos. “I told you that you could speak to Andrew once he is…”
Luna’s stern words trailed off when Andrew waved to her, a smile on his face. Her eyes widened in shock, frozen in place for a moment before rushing to the bed bound human. She stopped by the side of the bed, looking at the many casts and wraps on his body in concern before Andrew lifted his arms. She pushed into him, her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his casted arms around her neck.
“Andrew! You’re finally awake!” She half shouted, excited, still leaning on her student. “We were all so worried!”
“I’m sorry about that.” He apologized, his hand rubbing her neck. “What do you mean finally?”
Luna pulled away and looked to Discord, seeming to have missed Andrew’s question. Her eyes were wary, worried what the Draconeous had been doing while he and Andrew had been alone.
“Could you really not wait until he was fully awake Discord?” She asked accusingly. “Surely you didn’t need to ambush him the second he awoke?”
“Come Lulu, you know this is important-”
“Do not call me that!” Luna said, her annoyance slowly growing into frustration.
“I kinda like it.” Andrew said, only for it to be missed in the growing tension. “And what did you mean by ‘Finally?’”
“You know I’m here on the request of the others.” Discord reminded, his smile only getting wider. “They wanted him to learn some of the basic facts. And since your sister decided to hide his arrival from everyone else we didn’t exactly trust her to do it.”
“She had a good reason for doing that.” Luna countered, before mumbling to herself. “Though she has yet to explain it to me.”
Discord laughed, shaking his head and standing up from his chair. He snapped his fingers and ruler appeared in his hands. He passed it to Andrew before heading to the door, still giggling to himself.
“Well Andrew, it’s been fun.” He said with a wave. “If you have any questions, just snap the ruler in half and I’m sure I’ll get around to stopping by eventually… probably.”
Andrew nodded dumbly, not sure what was going on and a bit stunned by the sudden escalation of the argument. Discord disappeared through the door, only to pop his head back around.
“Oh and you’ve been unconscious for a bit over a month now. Tata for now!”
Andrew’s eyes opened wide and Luna looked angrily where Discord had been before returning her look back to Andrew. She winced when she saw his flabbergasted look.
“A whole month?” He asked, more than a bit dazed. “Holy hell…”
“I’m afraid so.” Luna nodded, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “While I was hoping to break the news with a bit more finesse, Discord spoke the truth.”
“How… Was I in a coma?” He asked, rubbing his head.
“I’m afraid so.” Luna explained. “After the seizures ended and the muscle damage was healed you-“
“Seizures!?” Andrew shouted. “The hell was I having seizures for?”
. “The runes that you carved into your stomach.” She explained, putting her hoof on his abdomen gently. “They forced magic into your muscles, making you extremely strong, tough and gave you reflexes that rivaled my own at full health.”
Her hoof slowly slid up until it was gently on his chest.
“The ones you carved here lit the spark that wasn’t meant to burn for a very long time.” She explained. “The magic in your muscles caused tissue damage, magical searing and micro tears in almost every muscle in your body. The runes on your chest caused the seizures, as your brain wasn’t ready to handle all the information and connections you forced it into.”
Andrew sat in silence, looking down at his hands and the bandages over his body. He looked to Luna with a blank face, his eyes filled with fear.
“I almost died again, didn’t I?”
“You came very close.” Luna answered quietly, studying her students face. “We weren’t sure if you would ever wake up, and if you did we weren’t sure what would be left.”
Andrew nodded, before looking down at his hands again. They shook, the seriousness of what he had survived pushing everything aside. Luna pushed her head against his, putting her leg around him as best she could.
“Thank you Andrew.” She whispered. “For coming back.”
For a long moment it looked like Andrew hadn’t heard what Luna had said. Eventually he nodded though, and he leaned back into her. He closed his eyes, putting a shaking hand around the alicorn, a few tears dripping down his face as he held her back.
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An update? Dam, must be mah birthday or sumthin'
lol
Hoo boy... Looks like this just got more complicated....
So short
I'm guessing from Discord's little speech that for every set of Children there is a corresponding Element of Harmony. In this case I'm expecting something like Justice or Redemption. In all honesty I expect his other half to be Redemption and Justice to be the Element.
I think the word "retribution" sounds better than 'punishment' and they mean basically the same thing.
An update! Yes!
7658114 Isn't retribution something you do when there was a wrong inflicted to yourself? While Punishment can come from other sources than those directly involved?
Was it a request or a commission?
Woot! Updates!
7658390
He volunteered, so I suppose request?
well dang this is getting deep fast. and I am loving it.
Just finished rereading your story. I'm guessing Dike's pair (who I'm guessing would be his missing sister? I hope it's his sister. It'd be a huge dick move if it wasn't.) would be something along the lines of absolution?
So you would have us believe.
No, it pretty much is a cheap plot device and every chapter since it was introduced has been horrible.
Oh for fuck's sake. Seriously? Are you gonna pull out all the bad clichés for this? It's going to be Alice, too, I just know it.
That's actually pretty fitting for Discord and a clever idea, I'll have to give you that.
For God's sake I hope this will be the last time we ever hear of that "prince of punishment" notion. You said back then that 'this wouldn't come up again' and 'not be a major part of the story'. And guess what? Here we are, listening to an entire chapter about literally absolutely nothing but Mr. Justice Gary Stu being told about how awesome he's gonna be.
Seriously, why can't you just start a new story if you want to do this kind of thing instead of completely throwing one I actually liked into a massive mess?
Actually. This chapter has some pretty clever ideas. Its almost like the beginning of a new story arc though. You'll need even more clever ideas. Let me help.
Jesus shows up. He's mad that his job of judging people has been stolen. Huge battle. Jesus loses because walking on water and multiplying loaves and fishes are lame powers. But he cant be killed permanently so it turns out OK.
He says "I'll be damned!" one day when he is surprised by an article in the newspaper. He suddenly finds himself in Tartarus for 1000 years as a result of his powers to punish. He wishes he had said "Fuck me!" instead.
His secret fetish with spanking becomes apparent as the punishment he always seems to choose for hot mares seems to involve bare bottom spanks.
Prince Blue Blood is sentenced to stand with his nose in the corner until he feels sorry for what he has done. He never does and instead rules the countryside from the corner... Which is wheeled around on a cart. Mainly he just presents his butt to the world.
While camping, he encounters a sasquach. He shaves her and is quoted as saying "Close enough, I guess." and then marries it in a grand Canterlot ceremony. Luna heads back to the moon.
Well then, yay new chapter.
I would laugh if he's with Celestia or Luna, has a question they won't answer, breaks the ruler, then when discord doesn't show up throws it at Celestia/Luna, breaking them in half, and ta da discord appears.
Ruler is god slayer.
If you can make that scene but have it look better I will love you, no homo.
Bye for now.
Holy cheesy-comic-book-reference, Batman! New updates!
(it's only cheesy because I ripped this joke off from Gilded Tome, rather than think of my own super-special-awesome jokes.)
I'm not sure if "coming back" means "coming back to save me from Nightmare", or "coming back from unconsciousness" (as opposed to dying). I'm going to take a guess and say the answer is both.
7658312 How about "Punishment and Forgiveness"? It sounds poetic, and it seems to imply what Andrew's other half will likely do.
7666529 What if by "ruler", DIscord meant she who rules? Didn't think of that, did ya? Mark my words, Celestia will be broken by this time tomorrow. I'll see to it personally. **Laughs evilly while lightning strikes in the background**
More please. This is good. New reader by the by.
Whoa, this story somehow slipped under my radar so I haven't read it since chapter 17. Well, what could I say, stuff changed, his sister is here and is going to Ponyville and is probably not recognized as another Children in the making because of amnesia, and Andrew gonna meet her soon-ish. So far so good, and even those pairs make sense, kinda. But if another in the pair can cancel anything one do, isn't is kinda pointless? Like, "okay, I forgive you" "nope, you gonna suffer, asshole" deadlock?
7679637
The idea is that they have separate "jobs" that are more or less opposites. Their jobs aren't to counteract their opposite, but they can.
God I love this story. Keep it up!
I just realize something. If the Children had vision about the upcoming Andrew, does that mean Rainbow also one of the Children (or destined to be one) too? Since she dreamed of something strongly similar to Andrew even though she never heard of human before.
Luna and Andrew..., I ship it.
8631814
Hey yeah that hasn't been brought up since their little talk