The Lost Ones
Discord
“You're not going to help us any if you keep asking pointless questions,” said Discord, glaring over his shoulder at Twilight. The filly stood in another streak of grass, except this had begun to turn gray and a dull mist wrapped about her.
“You obviously know something about her,” said Twilight, refusing to relent. “The Pale Mare... it's not like she could have always existed. All this must have come from somewhere.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “I suppose it came about whenever you silly mortals needed somewhere to go once you've done your thing.”
“Is that also when you started speaking in annoying riddles?”
The draconequus-turned-pony chuckled. “I can't even remember that far back if I try. But you really must occupy yourself with much less somber thoughts. It's beginning to have an effect on... well, everything.”
Twilight blinked and looked around herself, to find that she had been standing in the center of a gloom that radiated outwards over the golden plains. Plagued by thoughts of death and loss, the very air around her took a chill and skeletal outlines seemed to form in the place of the spirits. The sky above them even tinted black.
“This place is reading my thoughts?” she wondered, suddenly spooked. She watched as Discord paced and brushed the ground with his tail, dusting away the deathly landscape into nothingness.
“If you keep dwelling on them,” he said, flicking a little bit of grayness from the tip of his tail, “but then, if you get stuck on something long enough, it shapes the world around you. The only difference is that now everyone else can see it, too.”
Twilight turned, looking all around at the lilies that had sprung up. “Fascinating! It can't be permanent, otherwise this place would be a total jumbled mess. Or maybe everyone agrees on what the afterlife should look like. Or maybe this is how I see it...?”
Discord sighed softly. The filly thinks too much, and this little pony brain seems to be prone to headaches. And he didn't want to admit it, but she was getting dangerously close to certain conclusions about him she should very well not.
“Ah, yes,” he said, lifting a hoof upwards. “I wonder what this place would look like if you found yourself thinking about some pony you totally had the hots for? Oh, I bet it would be downright tropical.”
Every little rail of thought in Twilight's head bent into a cat's cradle of embarrassment and she let an exasperated groan. “Let's just find Celestia and get it over with,” she said, storming forward. The wind gusted after her and she looked away as quickly as possible. “I think my spell was pointing this way.”
He trotted after her and continued to chuckle to himself. She's so easy! I wonder what sort of pony an over-organized bookworm like her gets all twitterpated over... I bet she'd go completely out of control.
And if it had been her thoughts dominating the landscape, he would have to admire her force of will and its ability to affect her surroundings—whether she liked it or not. Golden grains gave way to shrubs. The ground, though eternally flat, began to lead them on a downward slope. The endless stretches of plains faded into a place far away, and they found themselves, as if they'd walked there at length, descending into thick forest.
A certain anxiousness accompanied the tranquility. Twilight seemed to move forward without noticing it, even when the path before them stretched only a few hooves wide. She bent branches as she went and Discord had to duck not to be bowled clean over as they whipped back at him.
“Watch it, would you?” Discord sighed and lifted a hoof to shield his face from another assaulting branch.
Twilight looked back over her shoulder. “Oh. I didn't think you felt pain or anything.”
“I most certainly do,” muttered Discord. This seemed to give Twilight pause, but again, he pushed her on. “At least when I'm pony shaped."
“I just sort of figured it would explode into confetti or something,” Twilight admitted, hanging her head a bit. “I'll be more careful.”
Silly filly, mused Discord. Although that isn't the worst idea.
They continued on, leaving a few trees erupting into party favors behind them. The undergrowth seemed to grow thick with hoof-grasping moss and vines, and roots all about. Twilight managed to step over them all without moving her eyes from the dim purple light on the horizon.
“If you're trying to lose me, there are better ways,” scoffed Discord. “Or are you just so strung up that you're making this difficult?”
“It's not me,” said Twilight, brushing her hoof over a root. “And if it's not you...”
The two of them stopped and looked around for the forest for the first time. The path that they followed seemed to blend entirely into the undergrowth, if there was, indeed, a path to begin with. Now that they looked, though, they thought they could see shadows of ponies at the edge of their vision.
Twilight circled a few trees and Discord followed, but they could never seem to quite catch up to the figures.
This is a total waste of time, thought Discord, sighing. Why do I even care? Why do I care about anything these stupid ponies care about, for that matter? It would be easier just to stay here and watch the cosmos pass me by...
Discord shook his head violently, though the malaise still clung to him. He hastened to Twilight, who has stopped at a depression in the roots of a tree. He gave her a fierce nudge.
“Wherever we've wandered, it's enchanted or something. And we'd best get out of it, one way or another.”
She made no reply, though. Her attention had been absorbed by two of the shadows that they had been chasing. The moment that Discord looked upon them, though, they came into focus. They were ponies all along, just ponies, a couple years out of school, curled up together in the hollow of the wood under a light dusting of snow.
What is this...?
Discord turned about. The woods existed no more, though a sparse amount of pines rose from the snow-covered hills. A haze still hung over his head in spite of the invading chill, and he scooted just a little bit closer to Twilight.
“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked the young ponies.
The two stirred and looked upon them with drooping eyelids. “We got sleepy,” said the younger. “We were looking for mom and dad... but they're not anywhere. I hope they find us soon.”
“Well they've got to be out there somewhere,” said Discord, waving a hoof, “being that you're all dead and all.”
“Discord!” snapped Twilight, glaring back.
Discord shrugged. “It's not the sort of thing you care about when it's true.”
The ponies did not seem stirred by the fact. For that matter, they seemed completely unable to comprehend the idea, too deep in their haze of depression to linger on that thought—or any, for that matter.
“It's cold,” muttered the filly, snuggling up to her sibling.
“Not for long.” Discord lifted a hoof and tried to snap his fingers. It perplexed him a moment, having only a hoof at his disposal. He sighed and tapped it on the ground. A plume of flame erupted between them all, and beneath that a stack of wood, the very essence of a homely campfire. The snow around them slipped back, revealing the shivering green edges of the buried grass.
The two ponies yawned and slipped out of the nook of the tree and curled up instead in front of the fire. Their weariness seemed to leave them, though, and though they laid down they looked with great curiosity upon Twilight and Discord. All of them moved in closer to the fire.
“So what are your names?” asked Twilight. The unicorn seemed overtly concerned about the pair, given that they were well and safe in the realm, regardless of its current state. Her urgent mission all but forgotten over the plight of two ponies. Discord, fortunately, was never one to complain of an unexpected distraction.
“Charm,” said one, finally.
“Chime,” the other filly said.
They might not have even been children, for all they knew. Bodies and minds were so malleable there. It could have been a matter of minutes or thousands of years that they waited there, finding no one. Discord shook his mane. Pondering the plight of mortals always left him feeling a little unclean.
“I'm looking for someone, too,” said Twilight. “You should come with us. We might be able to find your family.”
Tufts of snow fell almost like feathers around them, though most melted up when they neared the flame. The two ponies rubbed their eyes and shrugged their shoulders half-heartedly. Twilight turned to Discord.
“Well, we can't just leave them here,” she said.
“And why not?” said Discord. “They'll find their way eventually. It's not like they're in any real danger.”
“It doesn't bother you? Watching them lay here for what could be forever. Never seeing their loved ones again. Never changing.”
“Ponies always change,” said Discord. Just not quickly enough for my tastes, he thought, looking Twilight over. Let's see what we can't do about that.
He plucked a few of the chilled blades of grass up and stretched them out until they were no longer grass, but sticks, and blew a breath on the ends of them. Soon he held four marshmallows primed for roasting and handed them out. Chime and Charm took them with surprising interest and dipped the white rounds of sugar over the flame.
“You remind me of a couple ponies I once knew,” said Discord, leaning his head back. “A long time ago. There were a couple of fillies in a town called Trottingham. Now, this was back before Princess Celestia and her sister had to show up and ruin everything. So it was a bounteous landscape of color and sound. Sweets and treats as far as the eye can see.”
“That sounds really fun,” said Chime.
“I know,” chuckled Discord, ruffling the pony's mane, “but don't interrupt me. See, back then, no one had to worry about where their next meal was coming from or getting to work on time. It was all play. And if you wanted something to eat you just ate it.” He munched off the end of his stick, which tasted remarkably like cinnamon bark, as a matter of point.
“Of course their parents didn't want anything to do with it. Tried to keep them inside all the time, and well, you know how that goes! Even if they bolted up all the windows and locked the doors these ponies could find a way out. One night they snuck out to find that the hill they liked to play at was no longer a hill, but a giant cake.”
Discord produced a cake in miniature, several layers of buttery fluff frosted heavily in white buttercream, and sat it between the fillies. It did not survive long. “They couldn't decide whether to snarf down the cake or play on it, so they did both! For an entire day. They made such a mess, as you might imagine. And they were so full of sugar and joy that they forgot to clean themselves off when they went back into their rooms. So later, when their parents came to tuck them in for the night, do you know what they saw?”
“What?” asked both of the fillies around mouthfuls of marshmallow.
Discord smiled. He glanced over at Twilight, who stared at him. She too had been drawn into the silly tale, at least enough. The land around them seemed to blur, no longer hill and snow but a faint white, except for the fire and the tree and the little circle they carved out.
“Well they looked a little like this,” said Discord. He wiggled his hoof and lifted a copious amount of that snow, turning it just enough so it had the consistency of cake frosting, and then dropped it on Twilight.
“Agh!” yelled the pony-shaped pile of frosting, squirming beneath it.
"Well their parents were horrified, they thought I'd turned their kids to cake or something," chuckled Discord. "But as you can see, just plain fun."
Chime and Charm burst into giggles and pointed at Twilight, who was the only one there not amused by the spectacle. At the corner of Discord's vision he could see more of the shadowy figures they'd followed earlier, slipping from around trees and knolls and little bits outside their vision to form a small circle around the fire.
“That's it,” huffed Twilight. She flicked a tiny bit of magic from her horn and lifted half of the snow-frosting in the area. “Let's see how you like it.”
She flung it with all her might and it hit Discord with an icy-hot splat. The children laughed again and he couldn't help but laugh as well. He retaliated, and she retaliated, and soon they'd made a complete mess of themselves. They all broke into an easy laughter and groomed themselves a little, thought Twilight was the only one who took the time to clean herself completely.
Discord smiled. “You ponies are best when you're young. You enjoy all the chaos. You play and you fight and you don't do that thing grumpy adults do where they get all bent out of shape for days and weeks and years. You just get over it! And you're changing, always changing. There's at least a little chaos bubbling in every baby pony's head.”
“What?” said Chime, tilting her head. “I don't get it.”
“Oh, don't mind me,” said Discord, examining a hoof. “Just thinking aloud.”
“Tell us another story,” said Charm, and Chime nodded in agreement.
Discord looked at Twilight. “Well, we probably shouldn't stay too long...”
Both fillies immediately pouted. “Aww.”
Twilight bit her lip. “We are in a hurry, aren't we?” she said, then looked at the young ponies. They put on the strongest pleading looks they could. She didn't stand a chance. “But I guess it's alright. Just a little longer.”
Chime and Charm and the other shadow ponies cheered. The air continued to warm, and not just from the fire. Discord leaned back and recalled another story. He had thousands of them, if he could be bothered to remember any of them, and always found himself a little surprised at the things he had done.
They laughed and joked and feasted on sugary goods for time longer than any of them could know. A brighter moon lit the area and the shaded ponies became a little more visible, little outlines of each and every one of them filling out. And one by one they turned, looked around, and wandered off, looking no different than the spirits that they had met before.
When Discord could take no more, he laid his head on his hooves and sighed. “Well, we have an eternity to enjoy ourselves. I think it's time for something else.”
Chime and Charm looked like they could have partied forever, though. Chime stood up and shook her mane out, and her sister imitated her.
“Are there other ponies like you?” asked Charm.
“Like me?” Discord laughed. “Well, no. Not really. But there are a lot of ponies who are interesting enough. Just waiting for you to meet them.”
“Cool,” said Chime, leaning in to whisper something to Charm.
By now the hills, the forest faded into all but an echo of its former self. Only the one tree remained, and the golden plains now stretched out before them in all directions. The sun had settled in and dusk came upon them, but this did not seem to dampen the sisters at all.
“We had a lot of fun,” said Charm, nodding to Chime. “We want to go and see if we can't find other ponies.”
“You run along and do that,” said Discord, waving a hoof. “I'm sure we'll meet again sometime.”
“I hope so,” said Chime, licking a bit of frosting off of her face. “Thank you for hanging out with us.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
The two ponies trotted off as if suddenly seized by another purpose. Their bodies dwindled into moonlight and a pair of sparks that wandered out into the fields to join the rest of their kind. Soon Twilight and Discord sat alone in front of the fire, in a landscape now so familiar.
“How did you do that?” said Twilight, tilting her head. “How did you know what would...”
“It could have been anything,” said Discord. “They'd become so obsessed with finding their families that it was all they could think about. And when they couldn't find them, they started to feel hopeless. They felt tired. And this world changed to reflect that. All they needed was to be stirred up a little. To let go. Enjoy themselves for whatever reason.”
Twilight looked into his eyes, searching. Then she hung her head. “If you hadn't come along, they might have been stuck here forever,” she said.
Discord stuck his tongue out. “You're making too big of a deal out of this. They had time enough to get over it. And if not, well, I'm sure that stuffy white mare would probably show up sooner or later to shoo them along. Never can stay to her own business, that one.”
He felt quite pleased with himself, though, for shoving in where he didn't belong. With any luck, those two fillies would talk about him at length, and the ponies they told would tell other ponies. And the golden lands would know him, and there would be a little place for him there.
“That's why we ended up in the forest, isn't it?” murmured Twilight. “Because I was...”
“Don't think about it too much,” said Discord. “Seriously. I don't want to have to deal with it a second time.”
Twilight blinked, then laughed. “Right. Well. I guess we can carry on now. No telling how far we'll have to go before we get there. Not that I doubt we'll get there! Nope.”
Discord brushed a bit of falling snow off of his nose and sighed. And a great haziness seized him, and a weight took his eyes. He was tired. Tired of Twilight...? No. Well, maybe a little. Just the thinks-too-much part. It has to be this place. I feel so... heavy.
“Discord?”
Discord opened his eyes, though he could feel they did not want to stay that way for long. “Actually,” he said, “we should probably stay here for a spell. You still need to sleep now and then, and no one is going to bother us.”
“But we can't waste...” Twilight started, and then yawned. He didn't have to manipulate her, only remind her body that it was tired. Even with the invigorating nature of the plane she still had been pushing herself for what must have been days. She felt the warmth of the campfire washing over her and settled down against the grass. “Just a little sleep then,” she agreed.
But Discord was already well onto his way, hooves tucked up against his belly, head on a pillow made of grass and some fluff he'd conjured up. Between the eternal comforts of the afterlife and his own little flame, he couldn't be more ready to sleep. He barely had the consciousness to be excited by the idea of something he hadn't experienced in thousands and thousands of years. But he did manage a little smile before he fell asleep.
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Then they slept for a thousand years.
Great chapter! Interesting how the landscape turns into whatever one pony is thinking about based off of emotions and what not.
- Super-Brony12
1492123
or three seconds.
you can never tell in the afterlife.. wibbly wobbly timey wimey and all that.
he gets to sleep after a thousand years.
good job twi you actually made discord tired.
Oh no! That means that they'll wake up cuddled together, causing a wild awkward situation to appear!
And now Nightmare Moon can enter their dreams and mind control them?
1492848
No. They wind up unconsciously banging, yet wake and think it's just a dream.
This sounds like it could lead to some wonderfully awkward situations, I approve.
I wonder if Discord will realize that Twilight was embarrassed because she thinks Pony Discord is at least cute if not hot.
You're making this one big roundhouse kick of redemption. I'm not yet sure if I like this. But carry on.
Count me in as another vote for a delightfully awkward awakening.
Awkward situations I approve of.
Discord has all the best scenes.
1499521
He's the Ponyverse version of Q. You speak as if that wasn't already a given.
1494811
What is wrong with redeeming Discord? Compare early TNG Q with his depiction in Voyager. While it is true this author is condensing the character growth of three different series into one fic, the end result is still going to be recognizably Q.
I admit it: a first I was skeptical about this fan fiction. I almost didn't read it, but now, I'm really loving this fan fiction! I would never of expected half of this stuff to happen, but then again ... we're dealing with Discord here so anything is really possible except complete order of course. It's humorous, well-written, and while I find some of the stuff a little odd—even for Discord—I find it ... How else to say it? Believable!
I love the vocabulary you use by the way, and your spelling and grammar are top notch. I have noticed a few minor errors, but there they are few and far between. There are a few blips that I have a few problems with—like everypony knowing who Twilight's brother is for instance, and ponies do not always use 'everypony' and often fall back on 'everyone'—though they don't really detract from the story itself. I'm just being picky.
I must admit as I delved further in the story there were a few interesting things that have not been addressed again like what is happening in Cloudsdale for instance, but that could very well come in later. I nearly expected some type of conflict among the three types of ponies (or at least the pegasi and unicorns) for awhile, but that seems to have simmered down. They way you handled the Canterlot and 'who's gonna be regent' arc went well by the way in my opinion. How you handled Night Mare Moon I found fascinating, and I wonder how you are going to further that.
With the current chapter, I find it amusing, and I like the realm changes to one's inner-self. Discord seems almost mortal in this realm, and I find it interesting too. Kudos to Twilight for wearing the ponified draconequus out. If anypony is obsessive and stubborn enough to do it, it's her.
Anyway, enough said, I applaud you on your work and eagerly await the next chapter!
1503992
Point of Order: Discord is not Q, he is not another member of the Q-continuum and MLP is no continuation of anything Star Trek. Discord's character was inspired by Q, but unless the author puts up a [Crossover] tag, the draconequus is the malevolent god of chaos who mindraped the mane6 and terrorized Equestria.
To answer your question: There is nothing wrong with redemption-fics per se. But it's not only Discord, Nightmare Moon too gets her share of "it's not all bad", too. And, like I said, I'm not sure about it.
1504531
Counter point: I never said Discord was Q. I was merely comparing the two, as they have so much in common. (IE: Jon DeLancie playing a Trickster God.) If I had meant for Discord to be Q, I would have refereed to him as Disqord, as is the naming convention for that particular crossover.
1504782
You made the comparison, now you'll live with it. Or don't. It's not as I cared about hairsplitting naming conventions.
1504796
Yes. A comparison. Namely that Discord is like Q, not that Discord is Q. I have clarified my stance on the matter, and yet you still seem to be taking offense with it, and possibly taking it out of context. Let me sum up my stance here: "If Discord transitions from a Jerkass Manchild Trickster God playing with his toys, into a Likeable yet Annoying Trickster God messing with people's lives in order to get them to improve said lives (or, you know, just because he's bored), I would be fine with it."
1504861
As you seem so eager to press this discussion on me, I'll humor you.
Discord is not Q and Discord is not like Q either.
Q is looking for entertainment, but he cares about the big picture of the universe. He sees it as one of his tasks (and pastime) to take humanity down a peg.
Now Discord has no such intentions. He is all about his own fun and stops at nothing to get it. As Celestia states: "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony." If you still have some doubts about his character, watch the Fluttershy scene in the labyrinth. That is nothing short of a mindrape. Discord is as amoral and evil as they come.
So don't you start with "Jerkass Manchild Trickster God playing with his toys", you start with "evil elder god, bent on subjugation of the realm".
Before you hit that reply button:
We can go at this for hours, I will not change my opinion on this and I get the feeling, neither will you. Let's just agree to disagree, ok?
1505160
*Rolls eyes* I'm not trying to keep this conversation going. I trying to end it. I'm not even going to finish reading this post. Can we just say "You have your opinion of Discord, Q, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis; I have mine", and let it drop, ok? *Goes off to rewatch the Blueblood Vs Big Macintosh Rap Battle*
1493191 You'd think the sound of pots and pans bashing together would wake them up.
1523850
Not with a soundproofing spell, or something like that.
1524292 ...I can't tell if you got the joke or not...
1492123
Tempting.
1492148
Hopefully a detail that won't backfire on the protagonists, either. ^3^
1492388
Good thing this story will NEVER END. ... er wait I'm not really one of those writers.
1492597>>1493415>>1495783
Argh I've been trying really hard to avoid making this a shipping fic but I guess I've been kind of asking for it. Still. . . I'm not sure if this is the sort of thing we want.
1505160>>1505346
Don't make me come in there, you two. But um. Discord is not Q, although they have some similar quirks (and I think a line or two directly ripped from TNG... or at least eerily close). The story can exist with him being evil, but complicated. Or just complicated, and not actually possessing a moral center. And I won't give away exactly what's going on, but, well...
I know people are worried about everything being swept under a happily-ever-after all-around love fest. The one forecast I will ever make is promising this won't happen. What that means is up for you to speculate.
1504318
Thank you for reading this! Even I have to admit that there is a LOT to 'sell' in terms of believability. . . though I guess I'll save all the inside scoops for when this thing is done. (And boy, will I be glad when that time comes around..) And maybe give it a good clean polish. I guess the only thing I'd scramble over in terms of style is the ponyisms... even in the SHOW, the ponies don't always say 'everypony' and such. There are other things I need to suss out. At this point all we can do is see how things fall together.
Cloudsdale will return, though it is more of a plot point than a backdrop. I haven't forgotten about it... definite Chekov's Gun for a lot of things.
1499521
Partially because it was entirely conceived as his fic to begin with, hehe.
1492388 and the doctor is your profile pic...
Very nice, but I suspect the Pale Mare has something to do with it. Then again I have been reading a lot of Harry Dresden.
Uh oh... sleeping now is not good. Still, a good development and it shows that there is more to Discord then what first appears.