Chapter 7 - Dropping Those Eaves
Twilight took a deep breath, drinking in the crisp morning air as she walked down the campus paths. She had awoken that morning well rested and she made her way to the dining hall with a confident swagger in her step. She was determined to find out more about Discord that day, perhaps figure out his curse. Why would he be cursed in the first place? Who cursed him? Is he even cursed at all?
Twilight shook her head free of all the questions rising in her mind. She didn’t want to overwhelm herself, at least not before breakfast.
As she was passing a large fountain she spotted Professor Discord laying on a large stone bench. She stopped.
“Professor Discord! Good Morning!”
“Ms. Sparkle,” he acknowledged.
“Where’s your tie?” She asked. His neck was completely bare. It was odd to see him without it.
He grumbled something unintelligible then said “It’s still in my room. I’ll have to put it back on soon, I guess.”
“What?” Twilight said, noticing his disdainful tone. “You don’t like it?”
He shrugged half-heartedly. Twilight noticed that his eyes looked no less tired than the last time she saw them.
“Well, I think it looks dashing,” she said.
“Ukg-he,” it was a half groan half chuckle. “There’s one I’ve never heard before.”
Twilight smiled and shook her head at the Draconequus. “Why do you wear it, then?”
“It’s a stupid dress-code policy thing. If I had my way I’d just-” He suddenly cut off. His head shot up and Twilight to jumped a little bit in surprise. His ears swiveled around as if he was trying to place a small noise.
Then his eyebrows knit together and he groaned.
“Sparkle,” he bid.
Discord lifted from his bench and slithered off, leaving Twilight alone in the courtyard. She raised an eyebrow and listened closely to the air, but heard nothing. She shrugged and trotted off.
Twilight munched away at some morning toast and tea in the dining hall, surrounded with empty seats with a book open next to her, as usual. It was the Rune book that Mordra had given her. Twilight was finding it to be very fascinating, but personally thought use of runes in modern day magic to be outdated and inefficient.
She was studying the shapes of some commonly used Runes when from somewhere near her she heard some ponies talking.
“Did you hear? Princess Celestia is here!”
Twilight paused mid-bite and pricked her ears.
“No way! How do you know?” another pony said.
“I saw her carriage outside, and her royal guards. They were wearing the golden armor and everything!”
“Wow. What do you think she’s doing here?”
“I dunno. This is her school, though, right? She’s got to visit once in awhile.”
Twilight was already gone. The table was even emptier than before, and the tea sat alone, going cold, wondering if it had done something wrong.
Twilight scurried down the hall. Princess Celestia was in the building, and Twilight’s face lit up at the thought of seeing her beloved mentor again. It had been months since she had last seen the Princess.
“I didn’t realize how much I missed her!”
She galloped down corridors, letting her legs guide her. She found herself near Luna’s office, which was even nicer than the offices and classrooms in the lower floors. She heard a familiar, if muffled, voice coming from behind the shiny wooden door.
Twilight nearly bolted through the door, but stopped herself. It was extremely rude to barge in like that, especially if it was the Princess in there. Listening, Twilight recognized Luna’s voice as well. She decided not to interrupt the two sisters and to wait outside instead.
She stood there a moment, wondering if she could sit down somewhere nearby to wait. The door was cracked open slightly, and Celestia’s and Luna’s voices leaked through.
“Luna, I saw the night sky last night. Absolutely wondrous.”
“Thank you, sister. I was especially proud of NGC 604. He shone beautifully.”
“NGC...?”
“Um. The Triangulum Galaxy. At least part of it.”
“Ah...”
“Yes.”
“Well, it was a beautiful night, Luna. I only hope you’re getting enough sleep these days. I mean, with the nighttime duties and all these students during the day-”
“Don’t worry, Celestia. I’ve been handling over a zillion stars, nebulas, and galaxies for centuries. A few young ponies are no trouble at all. Besides, I find that I don’t need much sleep these days.”
“Speaking of sleep, how are you faring, Discord?”
Twilight suddenly went rigid. Discord was in there? She leaned towards the door.
What are you doing!? she thought. That’s eavesdropping! Get away from that door right now young lady. Now. NOW! Bad! Bad Twilight!
She couldn’t make herself leave. Instead she listened to his voice ring through the door.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Come now, Discord-” Celestia began.
“Come now Discord” he mocked her. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”
“You are my business, Discord. Or have you forgotten who-”
“What? Who what? Who cursed me?” His voice was steadily rising with anger. “How could I forget?”
“That’s enough, Discord.” Celestia said. “How long has it been? Centuries? I had hoped that you would have changed by now.”
“Neither you nor I have changed in the slightest, my dear. Our immortality does not grant us the luxury of growth. You’ve acquired more colors in your mane, though.”
“That’s not true, Discord. We’ve all grown and changed over the years. You at least seem a bit more docile than you once were.”
“Don’t think that for a second, Celestia. If I seem more ‘tame’ than I was a thousand years ago, it’s because this blasted curse you’ve put me under. It’s exhausting.”
“Well I very well couldn’t let you keep your powers, Discord.”
“You could have at least set up a spell that didn’t prevent me from getting a good night’s sleep!” There was a moment of silence. He said quietly, “I haven’t slept for...” He trailed off, then sighed.
“Perhaps you would prefer imprisonment by stone-”
“NO!” Twilight jumped at the sudden angry shout. Discord said again, more quietly, “No.”
“Then stop whining.” Celestia’s tone was firm. “You brought this upon yourself. If you refuse to become a lawful, functioning citizen of Equestria then your only choices are imprisonment or your continued service here.”
“Or,” he growled. “I could wait. Prior to popular belief I can be quite a patient creature, Celestia. Your time on the throne will end someday.”
“I don’t see how my downfall would help you. That spell will hold even after I’ve gone.”
Twilight strained her ears. She knew that she had already heard too much, but she forgot how to move. The Draconequus was silent for a long time. Finally he said, “You must be loving this. Seeing me so darn tired all the time. Powerless.”
“A little bit, yes.”
“You’ve no idea what it’s like, Celestia. I had everything, infinite power, and endless amount of abilities. I was the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony itself, for goodness sake!.” Twilight’s ear twitched.
“You still are.”
“Ha. Are you actually trying to make me feel better, or are you being sarcastic? You’re as bad as I am, Celestia. Worse. I’d never even threaten to turn ponies into stone. I’d never take somepony’s powers away like this.”
“We both know that’s not true.” Celestia replied.
“Quite. It was worth a try, though.”
“Are you at least finding teaching...interesting?”
“HA! The only thing I find remotely interesting here is the increasing stupidity of the students as generations go by. Pranks are no fun anymore. They’re not nearly as amazing without my powers.”
“We should stop talking about this, we don’t want anypony overhearing these things.”
Twilight’s heart rate suddenly skyrocketed. She got away from the door as fast as she could without making any noise. As she was sneaking madly down the hallway she thought,
Oh goodness! She knew! She totally knew I was eavesdropping! What if Discord knew too!? Oh God! How am I going to face him in class today???
Her pace gradually slowed, and when she was finally walking with a relaxed pace down a hallway that was on the other side of campus she began to process everything she heard.
So Discord is cursed. And he’s...he’s...
“The spirit of Disharmony?” She whispered to herself.
He was far more than a creature of great magical power. He was the earthly manifestation of Chaos, a spirit. Some would even say a god. At least he was.
“Until Celestia took his power away with a curse.” She took out her journal and began to write down everything she heard. “A curse using Cuig Deigon. That makes sense.”
She scribbled away at the page, but soon her quill was still again. She stared into the pages without seeing them.
What do I do now?
She wasn’t expecting this. Her little research project had gotten so much bigger than she anticipated.
“What should I do now?” She mumbled to herself. “Continue researching? There’s plenty to find out about what happened before the curse.” She began to walk, using magic to pack her journal away. “And about the curse itself. But...Princess Celestia was the one who cursed him. She must have had a good reason. She’s not the type of pony to treat curses lightly. Whatever he did...It must have been terrible.”
She shuddered. What could he have done to drive Celestia to curse him?
Perhaps it would be best if I distance myself from him. He could be dangerous.
She looked up to see the door to an Alchemy lab before her. She recognized the number as her first period classroom. Twilight had made her way to class without even knowing it.
She suddenly realized the emptiness of the hallways and muffled jargon of gossiping students behind the door.
She was almost thankful for the embarrassment of entering the room fifteen minutes late. It was a nice distraction.
Her first two classes passed in a haze. Twilight wasn’t paying any attention to the lessons, not that she needed to. She was too absorbed in her thoughts about Discord. More than once did her professors ask her a question, to which she would respond with a nonsense answer. Finally it came time to go to Alteration class.
Twilight didn’t quite register where she was until she looked up to see Professor Discord lounging by his desk like always, as if nothing had changed. Technically, nothing had changed. Twilight was just aware of what he was now.
“You’re staring at me again, Twilight Sparkle.” He said.
Her mind snapped back to reality, and she drew in a breath like she was going to say something, but no words came. She let the breath out in a sigh.
“Sparkle?”
“Um. Sorry, Professor Discord.” Does he know I was eavesdropping?
She turned away from him and took her seat as the rest of her classmates trickled in. Discord watched her out of the corner of his eye.
What’s gotten into her today? He wondered, then immediately shook the thought away. Why should he even care?
The bell rang and class began. Twilight sat at her desk, not willing to look up at the teacher.
What if he knows I was eavesdropping? What if he knows that I know that he’s the spirit of Disharmony?
Finally she worked up the courage to lift her head and face the Draconequus. Looking at him was strange now that she knew what he was.
But then every one of his movements became meaningful. A twitch of the ear, the droop of a claw. In every one she read something new by the light of her discovery.
So he did something bad. But does that mean he’s...evil? Twilight gazed at her professor, not hearing a word of the lesson. She saw again the circles beneath his eyes. Looking closely she noticed a the slightest slump in his posture, as if he was being weighed down by his exhaustion.
We all make mistakes, after all.
She looked into his gold and crimson eyes and again saw an unwavering tiredness. A sparkle of amusement flashed over the glassy surface as he teased a student who had answered a question wrong.
”I haven’t slept since..,” What he said in Luna’s office came back to her.
Since when? She thought. It must have been a very long time indeed since he slept properly.
Twilight tried to think back. She couldn’t think of a time she saw him well-rested.
Once when she was just starting out at Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, she had spent a whole night preparing for a test. She didn’t get a minute of sleep and the next day she was slow, achey, and felt like she had an awful cold.
She tried to multiply the feeling of that day a few times, and figured that might be what Discord was feeling.
But it’s not just that he’s tired. She thought. He doesn’t like it here. He doesn’t like the students, though to be fair, She glanced at some of the ponies around her. I can understand why.
“Sparkle,” Twilight shot up in her seat and faced forward to find Discord glaring at her. Oh God, he knows.
“Sir.”
He sighed in exasperation when she said nothing more. “You weren’t even listening to the question were you?”
“I uh...No. No I was not, sir.” She fought the urge to sigh with relief.
“Ugh,” he grumbled. “I had hoped the scholarship student wouldn’t be as completely dim witted as the rest of these...dimwits - ugh, I don’t have the energy to do this right now. Just pay attention, will you?”
“Y-yes sir.”
Discord gave her a weird look for the stutter, then returned to the board and continued the lesson. Twilight did her best to pay attention to what the Draconequus was saying but she always ended up staring blankly at him. Finally the final bell rang and everypony slowly made their way out the door. Before she left, Twilight paused to glance back at her teacher.
He was sitting at his desk with that incredibly bored look on his face, playing with a pencil, trying to make it stand on its tip. In light of everything, Twilight could see past what most ponies would see as idle boredom. It was more than that.
Discord was completely, utterly miserable.
Misery was never something Twilight could ignore. She stood up confidently and trotted out the door. She had a new goal.
The Princess said she wanted him to change. I think the first step to his reform is to make him feel better, and what pony better suited for a most difficult and classified task than Celestia’s most faithful student?
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
768 users online
679,184 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
go on...
please?
I do enjoy reading this story. It is fun to see the young Sparkle to look at Discord with such curiosity. That is one rather nasty curse Celestia put on him but I must admit it is better then stone. The pacing and writing is very well done. I only ended up noticing one error.
It seems you are missing an adjective that is supposed to describe how strange it is to see Discord without his tie. Maybe it wasn't strange but some other adjective. Rather good story I look forward to more.
2046666 Ah yes, I altered that sentence last minute. I must have accidentally deleted one too may words. Thanks!
I enjoyed this chapter! I can't wait to read more but take all the time you need to make more greatness!
well, this is interesting, a curse from celestia?
can wait to see how this goes for twilight
Ohh now I feel bad for the tea
Cool story , though :D
Very interesting!
It's Okay, Tea. You Did Nothing Wrong.
for goodness sake!.
Extra full stop.