Sympathy Series Side Stories

by Ckat_Myla

Copying Avengers and Browncoats

Author's Note:

These were done during NaNoWriMo 12 and 13 when I wanted to work on scenes but didn't didn't have them fully realized yet. Also I needed to get my word count for those days and I just decided to place ponies in scenes from movies and TV shows.

Completely non canon, although the Celestia/Discord scene copying the scene from Firefly helped me with a scene in Dealing in Harmony.

The Avengers scene though... Yeah that was more for fun. Notice that Harmony was always mentioned but never actually seen in any of my stories.

Discord sat on the floor of the air ship, his hands and feet bound together and his wings bound with chains, tethered to a very large post looking structure. It was taking an awful lot of effort to keep from rolling his eyes and laughing derisively at their feeble efforts. They obviously were not equipped to restrain a being more powerful than themselves by a factor of about oh... a billion percent. Surely at least one of these ponies must have figured out that he could escape at any time, but that he was choosing not to.

Amazingly to the credit of the equine races, one of his captors did bring this up. He overheard the stallion speaking to one of his fellows.

“I don't like this,” the neatly groomed blonde earth pony said in a quiet voice that still carried in the small space, even with the sounds of the air whooshing past the ship.

“What, that he's giving up so easily?” asked the crimson pegasus with the goatee (Discord hadn't known that ponies could sport muzzle hair, but he knew he'd created stranger things). “Yeah, I was wondering about that too.”

For a while Discord could only watch them and listen to their stilted conversations, still feigning capture on the floor. It didn't matter to him, this was what should be happening. He was exactly where he needed to be – away from Twilight and her friends – and he was on his way to where he needed to be – far removed from this plane. He only wondered what form of punishment the leader of this group would see fit to bestow on him before they handed him into the Order twins.

A flash of lightning lit up the gray and cloudy night sky. Discord watched the flashes from one of the rounded windows. Storm was approaching, and the thunder was beginning to roll in.

Why in the world did this keep happening? Why did he continue to offer himself up so that these ponies could get what they wanted, which was to get him out of their way? The first time it was because he hadn't seen any chance of the other options working. The second, it was because of Twilight, Spike, and those close to them. His new found respect for the ponies of the world mixed with his concern for the two of them... it just made it feel slightly unfair for them to have to pay for his mistakes made centuries before they were born.

This time though, there was one difference. In those other incidents he had held out something that resembled a hope. There was this faint glow of hope that maybe – just maybe – if he did what Twilight said, or if he just offered them something to show them like she suggested, perhaps there realy could be a place for him to live in this pony world of theirs.

They however, did not appear to see it that way Twilight had made such strides to try and educate the masses about the true nature of balance, he was grateful to her for it, so much effort. The mare always crusaded for equality in the land, even for some pony so presumably irredeemable as he. Too bad she only just figured out how crazy she was about him before he decided to just leave. His feelings for her hadn't changed, not really. He was still just as fascinated by her as ever. She was still just as much fun to pester and frazzle, but it felt like ever since she had begun to help him – begun to care for him – things just kept going wrong. It would just be simpler for every pony if he departed.

There was a flash of red, something Discord hadn't been thinking about, and hadn't seen in ages. It was a bright, magical signature, from some pony so unmistakeable that Discord couldn't have mistaken it for any one else. The only question was... how?

The flash appeared even brighter now, inside of the cabin, the mortal ponies jumped back, shielding their eyes as the light grew brighter.

From the center of the light, a voice called out to him. “Discord, I know you're not really tied down. You are not fooling any pony. Just come with me now.”

Discord's eyes grew wide, he paused as he stared directly into the blinding light without fear of injury. That voice... the voice of some pony he hadn't heard for a very very long time.

Well, this was very unexpected. He supposed if the jig was up, he may as well oblige. Besides, Discord wanted to see if this was who he thought it was.

With another flash, he followed the light and reappeared on a tall, craggy mountain side somewhere east of Equestria, close by to where the air ship had been taking him. Here the clouds were still looming, but a bright moon was clearly shining down light onto the scene. Of course Discord had no need of the moon's light to see who had gotten him to leave, she was shining even brighter than it was. He pulled out a pair of sunglasses (even though he didn't need them) to emphasize her ver illuminating presence.

“Well... I thought you were dead,” he stated in a way that only mildly gave away his genuine surprise. He crossed his arms and stood before her, as the alicorn finally turned her brights down.

Standing firm before him, looking stern with her flaming red mane flowing in an eternal breeze just like her daughters, fur with the brightness of light, was his sister and former partner in balance. Harmony.

“Well, as dead as we can get, anyway,” he added. “Didn't you do one of those 'heroic sacrifice' deals when you gave up your physical being or something to create your little princesses?”

“I did, and that still holds true,” Harmony answered, slight echo in her voice that actually sounded pretty neat. He wondered if he could pull that off. “After I created Celestia and Luna, and gave up my powers over order, I faded away from my physical form. Mort has allowed me this temporary one you see before you now so that I may speak with you.”

“You seem to have gone through a lot of trouble, all this just for me?” he asked, slipping back into his well-worn sarcastic tone. It was almost nostalgic to be speaking with her again, it brought back so many memories of their many many many arguments.

Harmony looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen her. Right down to the annoyed expression that Celestia seemed to have inherited. This could well have been just an eon ago during the old days. Back when she was the only one around for him to annoy, and amazingly she had tolerated him... to a degree.

“I have been watching you,” she said. That much was obvious to him, but he didn't say anything about tat.

“Well, who hasn't been? I hear I am very entertaining,” he couldn't help but make some form of acknowledgment. Plus now that he knew Mort and Sef were spying on him too from up on the other plane, it didn't come as much of a shock.

Harmony seemed to be fighting the urge to slip back into her old role in this relationship and start grousing at him, for her face sftened. But in more the way one would if they were wanting to show an understanding of something they did not themselves feel. Like showing sadness when hearing some pony else's sad news. Discord assumed it must have been difficult for her to try and feel sad for him after all this time.

“Discord, my daughters were right to seal you away, you know this,” she said, a hint of that sterness present, but after a moment, she tried again to sound kinder. “At least, you must understand why it is they did that now, and why I always forbade you from coming down here to the mortal's plane in the first place.”

“Yeah, I am starting to get it, did you want to hear a 'you were right,' because you know by now that is not really my style.”

“I was horrified when I'd discovered what you had done, when I had faded and before they sealed you away. Then when you broke out again, and Celestia's champions were able to put you back, I was glad. I was afraid for our ponies, since this was exactly why I never went down there myself.”

“So were you jealous that I got to live down here and you didn't?” he couldn't help but jab. He had known that this was her dream, to live with the ponies she loved from afar. The irony was not lost on him every day he spent on this plane that he was indeed living her dream. She didn't know of course... that it had been something they had in common.

Not amused, she conceded. “As a matter of fact, I was... a bit. I was more angered that you would risk their safety for your own sense of comfort and entertainment. That was, until I really began to observe you here. Until I saw your interactions with the one unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle. When you began to from bonds with others... it was something I never thought you capable of.”

“That sounds familiar, almost like every pony who has ever seen me do that has said that to me at least once,” he scratched something out of his eye, hiding the annoyance that gave him behind the snark.

“Then when you were a pony, and now... now you give yourself up to protect them. You made the conscious choice to do what you can to fix their world, even if that means your own discomfort.”

“Well, giving up all of my fun places of residence after I'd just gotten them the way I wanted wasn't exactly one of my favorite things to do with this, but I think you know – if you really have been watching me – that those are not my only things I have to give up.”

She nodded,” I was getting to that. I know you mean to leave those you have somehow managed to form friendships with. That young unicorn, Celestia's pupil... I knew she would be special. I am proud that she wields my element of magic in those weapons I forged. I had no idea though, how special she would become to you, or you to her. The way she campaigns for you, sticks up for you, and how she is willing to face such a torturous fate as becoming the next being of chaos... it breaks my heart to see you have to leave her.”

Discord rolled his yes, but she protested. “It does, Discord. It pains me deeply. Had I known you were capable of such significantly pony emotions, had I known that you were capable of real friendship, real love... I may have made my own feelings known when we were young.”

He raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant. “What, you didn't tell me you loved me or something because you thought I didn't understand it?”

Harmony tilted her head to one side, in a very pony like gesture of uncertainty. “Yes and no. You were my partner, Discord. You were my brother, I loved you as my brother, and you were the closest thing I had to a friend.”

“And isn't that just sad,” he deadpanned. “But you were mostly right. I didn't understand it then, I had no idea the strength such bonds could yield.” A pang of loss froze in his chest as his mind lingered on the last time he saw Twilight. She was sure to have figured out where he had gone by now.

“I still don't really, not sure if I ever will.”

“It is a very mysterious thing,” Harmony agreed. “But something that evidently even we are not exempt from. You were always my brother, Discord. I still care for you deeply. This is why I wanted to see you, to tell you how proud I am of you. What you do now, you do for Twilight Sparkle, for all the ponies of this world that love you, and that you have grown to love. I want to thank you, and say that... well... I am happy that you were able to stay here and live my--- our dream for me. You did what I could not, what I never allowed myself to. I only wish that there were a way for you to say amoung them, so she could still have you, and you her.”

“She's better off without me,” Discord said, letting some of his regret slip into his voice. “The nature of balance and all that... and I know now that it just wouldn't do. She was never meant to know me this way, and if I keep screwing with her destiny, she will never obtain her truest potential. A star that bright, it would be selfish of me to hold back.”

---

It was only one little button pressed, one tiny gesture of Celestia’s that closed the hatch on Discord. He hadn’t been expecting it, and there were not many time when she could get the one up on him like that.

He was now trapped in the air lock. One door lead to the safety of the ship’s temperture controlled, gravity filled, oxygen pumping, life sustaining innards. The other door directly behind him - the huge hatch - lead to cold, unfeeling, oxygen lacking space.

At first Discord thought she was merely playing a joke on him, for there was no way that could have been an accident. He smirked through the tiny window where he could see Celestia smirking right back, tracing a hoof on another button, one she just barely pressed… and that caused the air lock’s door to open ever so slightly.

Just that small opening - that tiny sliver of air escaping (the air left in the hangar that he needed to breathe) was causing a deafening wooshing sound as the ship rocketed closer and closer up into space, out of the atmosphere. It wouldn’t be long until the air ran out, and that sliver became a suction that would pull him through whether he could fit in one piece or several.

Getting slightly nervous now, he made to tap on the tiny window, only to see Celestia tapping right back, pointing to a small communicator on the edge. Evidently the alicorn had something to say, something that she could only say while Discord was in this lovely little life threatening predicament.

Clicking the talk button on the device, Discord made a little ‘kssshh’-ing sound into it since it didn't make one itself. “S... guess you heard about Twilight's idea.”

“More than that, I know now what Cadance saw,” she said through the other end. “You do recall what I said about you harming Twilight in anyway?”

Her voice through the device was muffled and crackly, but he could hear the sternness in anycase. Even if he couldn't, he could certainly see it in her face framed by the tiny window.

“Is that what this is about?” he said as the wind continued to rush out, taking with it all the breathable air in the chamber. “Come on Celestia, it is not like I actually did anything to her!” he now had to yell to hear himself over the roar of the engines and the wind gusting around. “Well, not anything she didn't already want.”

He regretted the cheek when Celestia leaned on the button that opened the hatch further again.

“This wasn't my plan and you know it! It wasn't my plan for her to take on the power either, but it was the only way she saw of us being able to stay together!”

“And you don't plan to harm her magically as well as break her heart when this doesn't work?” she asked through unconvinced eyes.

“Whose to say it won't work?” he shouted his question. “And you'd be breaking her heart if you let me die.”

She seemed to consider this, and so he added. “We'll never know if it will work or not if you allow me to get sucked out into space.”

It was a few very tense moments for Discord as they prepared to leave the atmosphere, but eventually Celestia's conscience won over, and the airlock hatch closed, giving Discord enough air to sigh in relief.

The hatch to the inside opened and he crawled out past her.

“If you do hurt her, we shall revisit this conversation where we left off,” he heard her say as he popped away to teleport to his bunk.

And none of this is actually going into she story because it doesn't fit. I just wanted to put Celly and Dissy in that scene from the Firefly episode Ariel with Mal and Jayne. It actually kinda reminds me of Avengers too, with the big glass prison made for Bruce but they put Loki in.

Then Dissy tricks Celestia into getting into the hatch, and Coulson tries to shoot him with the big damn gun and he tricks him too and Coulson gets a magic angry heart spear through the chest. We still don't know how he survived. I am guessing clone.