Mutual/Unmutual

by Cluttermane

2. Forgotten/Unforgotten

Chapter 2: Forgotten/Unforgotten

Spring Scholar was exhausted in all ways. Physically, emotionally, and perhaps some ways he had not thought of. His captor lived up to her name, and subjected him to the thousand little cruelties that revealed her as a true tyrant. In the midst of the immeasurable journey, she had kept silent, speaking only to command and scold him. His requests were usually met with derision, and were only sometimes met.

Grazing was difficult. Rests were infrequent. The first time that Spring collapsed, he was encouraged by her withering scorn. The second time he collapsed, she merely mumbled her disgusted thoughts, and carried him on her back. It was of little comfort, though she seemed to understand the practicality of her predicament.

"If only I could have brought my subjects... this would have been much easier. I would not have even come, but the strange one told me to come quickly. To come for you. And why worthless little YOU?" she with a venomous pause. Though the question was rhetorical, he was in no state to reply, so she continued.

"Because you are an integral key part of the plan. Somehow, that chaotic buffoon knew you were special. And you are. You don't understand yet, but I will help you." Spring felt nauseous at the prospect of the queen's 'help'.

"You are a good captive. And a quick learner. Perhaps that is why your rump mark is that of a pair of spectacles and a clover. How quaint..." though it was not pleasant, the queen was making conversation in a way that was different from the scorn she was so good at giving.

She continued to speak at length, speaking frankly about her people, her society, almost as if she were trying to instruct Spring. Despite these bizarre overtures, Spring was so tired that he faded in and out of consciousness. Being draped over the chitinous back of a quadrupedal insect wasn't very comfortable either, and now he'd endure the rest of the trip without eating, as the queen had already forgotten that he ate plant matter, considering that she herself did not.

***At Fluttershy's House***

"You're being a perfect gentleman, Discord." Fluttershy said with open praise. "Everyone is having so much fun. I think they are seeing a new side of you.

He raised an eyebrow in bemusement. "New? Why Fluttershy, everything I do is new. But for you I'll pull out some old tricks. I'll have you know that I was once the prince of parties." he said all of this without any flashy transformations, sight gags, or even silly faces. Fluttershy beamed with happiness.

"You know, you are more than just your mercurial nature. I want to get to know you better. All of you. And so does everypony else." she said, touching her hoof to his hand. She was so happy that she hadn't seen the disaffected frown that Discord had grown.

"My dear, you think too much of me. I am change. There is no way to ch... ahem. I will always be that way." he retorted. It was very hard to maintain a facade of civility, as if he knew what that was. It was even harder to be thought of as anything but change. Why would there be anything more to him than chaos?

He WAS chaos. If he wasn't chaos, he wouldn't be anything at all. 'And this train of thought was going on for too long', he thought, which was a thought that he had thought far too often. He was used to being thought-LESS, not thought-FULL. Thoughts were for fun, not for dreary introspection.

He had recovered from the semi-normal thought pattern to realize that Fluttershy was speaking. With a sigh, Discord produced a remote control, rewound the scene, hit play, and listened to Fluttershy.

"You really WILL always be that way, but you are also kind, and helpful, and you appreciate friendship. I bet you would love to be friends with everyone here." she responded cheerfully.

He couldn't disagree. Twilight was his favorite, after Fluttershy of course. If nothing else, she reminded him of... something. A pony that could take a joke, despite not laughing. It was somehow satisfying to bother her, knowing that she would just act the 'straight man' and lend her dignity to a well timed punchline. But what did he know of dignity but to tear it down? The other girls were fun too, in their own way. They worked so hard at their passions. He would have to pretend to remember to get to know them better.

"Fluttershy, you bring out the best in people. Why that animal nerd..." Discord paused. It wasn't a good idea to bring attention to that twerp. Not right now. Perhaps not ever.

"Animal nerd? You mean that pony that came asking for my help. Why did you stop suddenly?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"Oh nothing. Just being random again." he said with a nervous smile.

"Discord, I know exactly what is wrong." she responded with a serious look. From where he stood, she was preparing a 'stare', though its efficacy against him had grown for numerous reasons.

"You... you do?" Discord said as he tugged at the collar of his shirt for nervous effect. Had she seen him in the forest? He couldn't be found out. Not when things were going so well. And even now he pondered what 'well' was.

"Discord?" Fluttershy asked, relenting as she gazed at her friend in worry.

"My dear?" he replied almost reflexively as he snapped back to his senses.

"You're acting... weird. Are you OK?" She reached up to feel his forehead. Sensing her intention, Discord picked her up daintily, allowing her to do so.

"You don't feel hot. But you tell me if you start feeling under the weather." she said with
concern. He had contemplated making some sort of meteorological joke, but he was mostly just happy that she had forgotten what they were talking about, and set her down gingerly.

"I will, my dear. But for now, let us enjoy the party. Lets play bobbing for Applejacks! Kidding of course..." and the party went on into the night.

***Near the entrance to the hive.***

"... and that is when I realized that romance was tastier than platonic love. Oh look, we are here." The queen had been talking nearly the entire rest of the trip. Spring was exhausted both from the physical ardor, as well as the mental strain of her incessant talking. It had really gotten to be too much since she didn't ever seem to rest. It kept him from getting anything resembling rest, and he was ready to break down completely. If this was some form of changeling torture, she wasn't indicating that she was doing it on purpose.

She cheerfully trotted towards the entrance, making a series of chirping noises that alerted her subjects to her return. They greeted her dutifully, excited that she was back, but also nervous that they would have to be vigilant against her wrath.

Spring continued to suffer as her pace jostled him just enough to wake him again, allowing him to take in the sight. He was ushered through tunnel after tunnel, and would have been lost even if he wasn't worn out. His mood was slightly improved as they reached the deepest part of the hive. A brilliant chamber made of a strange substance that shone turquoise, black, and even bright green in different places. Strange lights dotted the bizarre three dimensional chamber as creatures moved up, down, through, and throughout the chamber itself.

Spring didn't know much about changelings, but this evoked the inner workings of a termite colony, though much more ornate.

"Are you... a termite?" he said in his stupor. Luckily, the queen was too excited to pay any attention, instead turning to him and speaking.

"We are here. It is my home. And you will know it well enough soon." she spoke with glee before inhaling to shout. "MINIONS!!!"

Suddenly, a small army of changelings converged on her, keeping a respectful distance. "Take this thing. Clean him. Shackle him. He is our slave. But none had better harm him, or I will rearrange your genealogy... do you understand?!" Her words were fierce, and her threat was perhaps only slightly exaggerated, though the changelings had no innate desire to harm the creature. At least not until they were ordered to, of course.

Spring was taken, further into the depths of the complex, through tunnels so vast, and crevices so dark, that it was nothing but a strange montage. The only thing that had changed was the pressure that he felt built up as he was taken deeper and deeper, through the darkness of the world that was now his elaborate cage. He had wondered to himself if he would ever see another dawn.

***To be continued***

Author's Note:

Though this chapter seems to be more expository, and oddly shorter (it felt longer to me, though in a good way), I feel like it is doing a good job of setting things up. I wrote this story initially thinking that it would be self contained in a chapter or two, but I have a feeling that it could be quite longer. Please let me know what you think. I'm eager to continue exploring the themes of each side of this story.

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

Did... Discord tell Chrysalis to kidnap Spring? He was going to bring her up, but I have no idea what he would say because uh... she didn't really bring out the best in Spring, and I guess maybe he was going to talk about how awful Spring was in comparison, which would be consistent with the Discord that tricked Chrysalis into kidnapping someone.

[kurusagi16]

You did a pretty good job of capturing Discord's personality. Keep up the good work.

[Cluttermane]

8151169

Thank you to all who have commented. Publically, in regards to the question of Discord's deal with Chrysalis, I would like to plead the 5th. There are clues in the text that would lead you to conclusions. :)

That said, I hope to expand on that in future chapters, of course.