S3 CH 27. Discord
“Discord,” Nightmare Moon said softly before turning to look at the spirit. She froze and cringed at the form he had taken. “Ew.”
“What? Too much?” Discord asked. He had the body of Celestia, though his own face. “I thought you wanted advice? Isn’t this what you ponies prefer to hear it from?”
“Please, undo whatever… that… is,” Nightmare Moon said. “Before we become any more… ill… than we already feel.”
“Very well,” Discord said before tugging on one of his hoofs and making it explode like a fire cracker. When the smoke cleared, Discord laid on a hammock made of the moon, a pair of moonglasses over his eyes. “So then, my liege, whatever can I do for you on this fine morning?”
“We wish to know how you became… this,” Nightmare Moon said, motioning to him.
“Mmmm, a deal with a gopher, you know. Tricky creatures, gophers. Nopony ever expects them.”
The alicorn gave a sigh. “We did not summon you to make wise cracks.”
“And yet I agreed to it because I desired to make them,” Discord said with a smug smirk. “Funny how that works, isn’t it?”
Nightmare Moon gave a light growl before, barely, shoving it down. “Fine, then. Allow us to be more clear. When our bard was in her darkest hour, she called to you. Not us, but you.”
“Well, she would hardly have called on you,” Discord said in a teasing tone. “After all, you were the darkest hour, no?” He held up a small sign and twirled it, stick figures of Twilight, Nightmare Moon, Spike and eventually Discord moving across it, playing out the near fatal destruction of the dragon as if the sign was a flipbook.
“Yet you came to aid her,” Nightmare Moon said. “You, a creature of vile contempt, of wicked thought, of cruelty and--”
“Yes, yes, get on with it, princess. Must you be so predictable?” Discord asked, now playing with a pair of Luna and Moondancer toys.
“You decided to help her, going against your very nature,” Nightmare Moon said. “When you first arrived, you played the role of villain, and my sister and I vanquished you. Yet this time, you play the role of hero. Why?”
“Role of head villain was already taken,” Discord said casually, an open book appearing in his hand with the words ‘Tirek’ on the spine. Twilight’s, she recognized. Though she could see two more behind him. One titled ‘Discord’ and another titled ‘Sunset’, though she didn’t recognize those. He flipped through the pages. “I didn’t really feel like playing second banana, you see. Where’s the fun in that?”
“You’re evil,” Nightmare Moon said. “Yet you just decided to stop being evil?”
“No no,” Discord said, his face puffing up to a frankly horrific size, a mockery of what she imagined was supposed to be ‘cute’ when he batted his big, puffy eyes at her. “Evil? Me? That’d hardly be what I am. I am Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, remember? Not everything has to be white and black. Or, well, I suppose sun and moon. I merely found it more amusing, at this time, to stand opposite you.”
“We see,” Nightmare Moon said, sadness filling her voice. “So it is your nature, then. To be… contrary. Not a decision, just… a thing you are.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Discord said before relaxing in his hammock once more, flipping through the book. “There are many, many paths I could have taken, your highness.” She didn’t know why, but whenever he called her that it managed to annoy her more than if he called her a mocking name. How he could sound so mocking and yet respectful at the same time she would never know. “Opposing you isn’t truly possible, even for me. But annoying you? That has been an absolute dream. However…” He snapped his fingers and he appeared in a strange changeling outfit on one of her shoulders and a copy in a strange shade outfit on the other, making her growl and struggle to not fall down from the sudden weight. “Making it better? Worse? I could do both. I just had to decide what I wanted.”
“What you wanted?” Nightmare Moon asked before flapping her wings and rearing, making both of the discords poof, only to reappear behind her. “What is it you wanted?”
“Oh, I wasn’t sure, for a bit,” Discord said. “That’s the joy in it, you see. The Spirit of Chaos, not sure what he wants to do? Hilarious. We all know how much I enjoy a good Laugh. Well, I Hope you know. Besides, I’ve always been fond of the color blue.”
Nightmare Moon gave a low growl, stomping a hoof on the roof. “Discord! Stop talking in riddles!”
“Oh, riddles, those are fun,” Discord said with a light snicker. “Perhaps we should try one.”
“I’m not in the mood for--”
“When I arrived here all was not as it seemed, for but a moment I thought it a dream,” Discord said, ignoring her objections, his tone mocking again. “While a zebra’s salve can show the truth of the matter, to my eyes by default it’s all simple chatter. A world so different from what I expected, for but a moment I desired to see it rejected. But as I learned more I realized this opportunity, with which I may act with impunity,” the grin on his lips only got wider before he snapped his fingers and disappeared, reappearing in the very moon itself, his voice echoing around her. “What world will ponies with Discord make a deal, except for one where the Nightmare is real?” He then gave a small shrug. “All I had to do was accept what was different and hope it all worked out in the end, maybe have a laugh now and again. Really quite simple once you realize the secret.”
Nightmare Moon blinked a few times, staring at him as if he was as insane as he was. “That last part didn’t rhyme.”
“No, it didn’t,” Discord said with a chuckle before reappearing in front of her.
“We loathe you,” Nightmare Moon said.
“It’s really not that hard, your highness,” Discord said in a teasing tone, making her cringe again. A small couch appeared under her and a chair formed under him. He licked a small pen and started doodling on a notepad before adjusting his new glasses, a polkadot suit forming on him. “I just left a thousand year imprisonment and didn’t wish to return. That’s the joy of chaos. What else is it, but change? You, of all ponies, should know how easy change is.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Nightmare Moon asked.
Discord snickered before holding up a small Luna and Celestia doll. “’You should be careful, I don’t want you to get a sunburn. What kind of big sister would I be if I let you get hurt like that?’ ‘Oh sister. You’d never hurt me.’ Ugh. I’ve had quesadillas that were less cheesy. Caused less heartburn, too. Don’t even get me started on that lullaby. Blegh.”
Nightmare Moon felt her annoyance only grow. “Yes, we were foalish. But--”
“But what is done is done and cannot be undone, yeah yeah,” Discord said. “You cannot go back and undo it, now can you?” he asked in a teasing tone. “No matter how desperately you desire to.” His claw reached out and scritched her under the chin, turning to smoke when she tried to bite it. He then ran a claw through his beard with a smile.
“You are no different than you ever were,” Nightmare Moon said bitterly. “You still revel in causing pain and misery. Begone, we never should have called you. This was foalish of us, why we believed you would be of aid we cannot fathom.”
“I never said I was ever different,” Discord said. “In fact, I believe I said I was the same I’ve always been, your highness. I still have my fun. Perhaps you should try looking at yourself, hmm? If my method of chaos seems so different to you than it once was, yet it makes you suffer just the same? Perhaps it is you, not I, who has changed the most.”
“So what if we have?” Nightmare Moon asked.
Discord walked towards the edge of the roof and snapped his fingers, his beard growing longer, a staff of licorice appearing in his hand and a fuzzy bathrobe appearing in his hand. “That’s the beautiful thing about chaos, ‘Queen’ Nightmare Moon. After all, it’s not about good versus evil, now is it? Chaos versus harmony is what you like. Now, I’ll admit team chaos often gets a bit of a bad reputation. But a little change, now and again, can be quite good for everypony. You changed once. Can you allow yourself to change again?”
The alicorn froze, her eyes going wide. Was he truly so daft, or was this more mockery? Her desire to change was why he called him here! “We… I… We… don’t… know. If we can,” Nightmare Moon admitted, her eyes sinking lower as the moon finally fell behind the horizon and darkness enveloped them all. “We wish to, but we are unsure if we can. It is not in our nature.”
“Ah, I see, I see. Well, unfortunately there is no simple solution. No magical rainbow here to make it all stop. Well, yet. If you cannot, then I have one final thing to say about this moment you feel. This pain you’re causing?” Discord said before turning to face her.
“What?” Nightmare Moon asked.
“It! Shall! Not! Pass!” Discord then slammed the licorice staff on the roof, causing the chunk under him to give way and for him to sink out of sight.
Nightmare Moon blinked a few times before inching over towards the edge of the roof, staring down. In the darkness of the night she couldn’t see him, yet even if she could see she doubted he was there. Finally she rolled her eyes and turned towards the horizon. It was almost time to raise the moon anew. This had been a waste of time, Discord had spoken in nothing but riddles and hidden meanings.
Change. Chaos. There was more to it, though. She knew it. Ponies were suffering, but not at his hoof. At hers. But didn’t they see how much she was suffering? How much she ached? How broken her heart was? They cried out to Celestia, to her sister. But who listened when she cried out?
When her heart was lost to the darkness, who reached their hoof out to save her?
Certainly not her sister. Not Celestia. Always so perfect. Always so wonderful. Always the light of dawn. Always the pony they turned to. The one who pushed her aside when all was said and done. The one who stood by and watched her suffer, even when she needed her most. Who never understood how--
Soft music began to play, once more. A soft, gentle tune. Her ears twitched and eyes narrowed. What in Equestria? Why would--
Her sister’s voice rang out through the night.
Another trick of Discord’s, no doubt. Did he really think she’d be so weak willed, so soft? That a stupid lullaby would…
Would…
Nightmare Moon went still and listened to the words once more. The familiar, heart burning words.
‘Never imagined I would face them on my own.’
Luna never thought she would either.
But now she had no choice.
There was no light. No hope. No fresh dawn. There was nothing more she could offer her ponies. No matter how she protected them, in the end the only thing she couldn’t protect them from was herself. She wasn’t meant to do this on her own.
Nopony was.
“Celestia… Tia…” Luna said softly, the sobs wracking her body. She looked out over her kingdom. Her home. Nopony found the love in her nights. Nopony saw the care she wove into the night sky. Nopony…
But… They did, didn’t they? Some did.
Some still did. Though she hadn’t seen them. Though she had been the ‘backup’ princess. She had been so alone for so long. Must she spend many more lifetimes alone still? Must her sky be forgotten? She wished to raise the moon, but she couldn’t. Though the darkness enveloped her like the words of that lullaby, she couldn’t pierce through it.
Luna couldn’t go back. She wouldn’t. Though this darkness crowded in on her. Though it smothered her. Though it enveloped her.
Though it choked the very life from her.
She couldn’t go back. Not now. Not after everything she had done. There had been so many mistakes. From her. From her sister. From her ponies. She wouldn’t bear the brunt of it all. She couldn’t. She closed her eyes and cowered in the darkness.
But she desired, just for a moment, to be that light for them. As her very soul was crushed under the weight of the darkness, she wanted desperately to have a single pony who would reach out a hoof to her. To pull her out. To save her.
But there were none. She had made sure of that. Everypony she had destroyed or broken in her desperate quest for notice. For attention. For love.
She had been lost to the Nightmare and now it enveloped them all.
“Tia… sister… I love… you… I miss you…” Just for a moment. She wished it could all be undone. She would have given anything to feel her warmth. To feel her love. To feel that kindness. To be enveloped in the love of her sister. She couldn’t undo this, though.
Luna opened her eyes, staring on the empty horizon. Change? How could she change? If she changed, if she relented, then it would all return as it once was. Worse than before. She wouldn’t just be unloved, she would be hated. Despised. All would loathe her. All would fear her.
They would cry out for Celestia to banish her again.
“Luna you’re loved so much more than you know…” Celestia’s voice echoed through the night.
If only she could believe that.
Luna screamed. Not in rage, not in anger, not in hatred. In pain, in sadness, in grief. She screamed, desperate to drown out the lullaby of her sister. The apology she couldn’t bear. The acknowledgments of what had been done to her. What had driven her into the shadows so long ago. She screamed to let out the pain, to try and pierce the darkness that enveloped her.
But it could not. There was nopony now. No hoof reaching for her. No elder sister to help her. No bard to one day serve as that role. No replacement. No substitution.
The darkness choked her, crushed her, there was no light for her anymore. None she could bring to herself or anypony. The only light that remained she kept trapped. She kept bottled. She kept hidden.
Luna stared at the horizon, the tears falling down her face, blurring the world out. Turning the light of the stars and the light of the city into a mass of useless, fuzzy lights.
She was lost in the darkness and there was nopony coming for her.
But she would not allow anypony else to suffer this fate. She could not undo what had been done. She could not ease her own pain. She could not dampen her own suffering. Even as her sister’s lullaby mocked her, as Discord’s foul tricks, his words of ‘change’ and ‘chaos’ rolled over her.
She was not a spirit of chaos. She was Nightmare Moon. Guardian of her ponies. Though she falter, though she fall, though she be trapped in a hellish nightmare, that would not change.
If she could not protect them in the shadows. Then she would give them hope in the light.
She closed her eyes and her horn glowed once more, reaching out across Equestria. A simple, small warning. To her creatures of the night. The vampire ponies, the shades, all who were hers. She could feel the tension in the air as, for this moment and this moment alone, she connected to all of them. Warned them of what was to come.
To her surprise, she felt not betrayal, but joy. Excitement.
Luna felt love. Not for what was to come. But for her. Care. Acceptance of what she would do. Must do. And what it meant for them all.
A belief that this was what she wanted. That, in some way, her own heart was healing. That the believed that was touching, if only it were true.
Luna stared at the horizon one final time.
Then she reached out, grabbing the sun, the first time of many, before it began to rise.
Casting its light over Equestria once more. Her Equestria. The rays of its light filling her with a warmth she’d never expected. How long had it been since she had last felt the rays of the sun? A thousand years? More? She had expected it to feel harsh. Judgmental. For it to burn her.
Instead it felt kind. Gentle. Warm. Loving. Not like an enemy that aimed to harm her. Instead, wrapping her in a warm embrace. Her sister’s warm embrace. Or, at least, the next best thing.
In that light, Nightmare Moon, for just a moment, believed that maybe she could change. She could no longer be Luna. But just as her student and bard were somewhere inbetween alicorn and pony, she could find a place for her between Nightmare Moon and Luna.
------
Twilight stirred, her eyes blinking blearily. Had she really just fallen asleep?
Yep, she certainly had. Ow, her back. Sleeping in a chair after crying yourself to sleep was definitely not something she’d recommend. Still, she felt a little better. She could hear yelling, though. Ponies galloping. Also, who turned all the lights on so bright? Buck. She glanced to Moondancer, who wasn’t moving, her eyes locked on something across the room.
“What in Equestria?” Twilight asked before glancing back.
Her heart nearly stopped. The sun was rising, casting its warm glow over the land. The window blinds open, allowing the light to illuminate the room.
It was breathtaking. It was beautiful. The greatest thing she’d ever seen. She felt an explosion in her heart, like she had felt so, so long ago.
“I think… there might be some hope after all,” Moondancer said softly.
“I think you’re right,” Twilight said before closing her eyes and letting the warmth of the sun, near forgotten, wash over her once more.
A new dawn for Equestria. One, hopefully, they could keep.
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with all this darkness and despair of Nightmare Moon/Luna and its subsequent action at the end of the chapter, I want to say that you literally filmed the phrase: "it is darkest before dawn."
Ouch, Discord doesn't pull any punches.
I like how Discord has enough self-awareness to realize he isn't the "good guy." He's just a troll who likes to mess things up. But he's using that nature for a small amount of good.
I think this represents Luna's first truly selfless act. For the first time, she's giving up what she wants to give her little ponies what she needs.
The more she does it, the more her pain can begin to ease.
11318543
I almost called it that, but felt it might be too cheesy and give things away. But I won't deny it came to mind a few times as I was writing it.
11318606
Discord looooooves every chance he can get to just grind a claw into the wound. On the up side, sometimes his advice is helpful. A bit of it. Maybe. At times. If ponies are lucky. And yeah, Luna is starting to see that... frankly... what she wants isn't necessarily what's most important.
“It’ll be your highness if you call me that again!” —Yakko
We are getting a serious hint at the world here. Tirek, Discord, and Sunset. Books of the major villains of the original show -- not sure that I'd put Discord second after Tirek there.
And, Second Banana? In Canon, Discord is "second teacher" to Twilight, "second team" with Starlight and company (seriously, how bad was the world building there? I know it was mocked by Changeling Space Program when that came out), "not really a member of team harmony" (as Twilight has to make up things to do as a spur of the moment thought), etc.
If anything, he's *always* on the B team there. Hmm, maybe that's why he doesn't want that job here?
First, the capitalization here seems inconsistent -- Laugh and Hope.
Second: It's interesting. Discord seeing the whole "Gee, what *do* I want here anyways?", something has happened that has surprised him, and left him uncertain -- like this is brand new, unknown experience.
Discord's riddle to Nightmare ... he's practically saying this is a different world, one where he has more ability to act, where the ponies will choose to work with him, voluntarily, like maybe the nightmare doesn't have to be. Trying to show her that there might be an alternative.
Ok, so, is Discord Lord of the Wings? :-)
I love how Luna finally realizes that the sun has to compliment the moon. And, sadness that she can't bring herself to talk to 'Tia.
You have gone from two episodes, to three seasons.
You have gone from unrepentant Nightmare, to actually thinking of others Luna.
We have seen all sorts of side stories and unexpected details.
Thank you for all you have given us.
("Please sir, may I have some more?")
11318680
Oh, she's definitely thinking it. XD
11318688
A bit, yes. He just doesn't like the idea of being the side villain who shows up for an episode just to get crushed by the main villain, he'd muuuuuch rather annoy the crud out of them. And the capitilization was intentional. And, oh, after making two prior 'Gandalf' references he couldn't NOT do the line everypony loves so. :P Season is allllllmost done, just one more tiiiiiiny episode left, then on pause for a lil bit.
bleh
She did it!!! Yessss!!! I hope she will release Celestia next. I cant see her taking this step, admitting she loves Celestia, yet still keeping her cruelly imprisoned. But we shall see! Thanks for coming back to this, it is one of my all-time favorite MLP fics! Looking forward to whenever you continue the next arc! (And the bonus chapter, whoo!)
I'm lucky I read this chapter in the safety of my flat, not my part time place, because I was literally crying.
I dunno how you weave words so, writer, but holy crap, it's beautiful.
So beautiful.
Oh my. Well, Nightmare Luna has realized she's dug herself as deep as possible, so the only way to go is up. Better late than never.