The Reign of Chaos: Discord's Story

by MisterEdd

Chapter 14-N Is For Anywhere

All throughout the morning, Luna's heart was aflutter as she thought of her upcoming picnic with Discord, even if it was strictly platonic. Just being around the draconequus made her chest heat up and her head dizzy, feelings that she'd strangely grown accustomed to and looked forward to having. As something of an introvert, Luna spent much of her free time by herself, either practicing her magic, creating macramé animals or reading, which she did an exorbitant amount of. The young princess would often spend many nights pouring over many quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore, sometimes reading until she fell asleep or when the candle burned out. To spend time out of her room with an actual friend, one that she also harbored romantic thoughts for, was something so alien and yet so exciting, Luna found herself nervous but also excited at the same time. If there's not a word for it, then somepony should make one.

The Royal Gardens of Canterlot were considered by most to be one of the most beautiful in all of Equestria, rivalled only by the Hanging Gardens of Babylope. It was filled with every kind of flower known to ponykind, from zinnias and chrysanthemums to forget-me-nots and hydrangeas. After settling beneath a magnolia tree, Luna closed her eyes and inhaled the aroma of a thousand different flowers, her lungs taking in each unique scent and then exhaling them out through her nostrils again. What the young princess felt for her chimeric friend was like a flower garden: sweet, pure and beautiful to behold. It didn't matter that he was a draconequus commoner and she an alicorn princess; Luna knew that her heart belonged to Discord, even if he didn't reciprocate her feelings. As much she wanted to be Discord's special somepony, she treasured their friendship and would remain his friend if he asked her to.

"Hiya Lu-Lu!" A familiar exuberant voice shouted, flinging Luna's eyes open so that she could behold its owner, watching him adoringly as he ran up to greet her, his disproportionate eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Although Luna agreed to supply the picnic basket and blanket, Discord insisted that he bring the refreshments, having made the lemonade himself that morning. She rose to meet him and threw her forelegs around him in a gentle but firm embrace, feeling her cheek touching the cloud-soft fur of his chest as she listened to the thumping of his chest. She inhaled, making out the unique scent of cherries, banana cream and daffodils, a scent as random as the creature that possessed it.

"Hi Dissy!" Luna chirped, gazing up to meet his eyes and beholding his joyous grin. She abruptly ended the hug and cleared her throat, nervously pushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I noticed Star Swirl was showing you around the royal library. What do you think of it? Pretty neat, huh?"

Discord momentarily stared at Luna before nodding, "Yeah, it was! I've never seen so many books before!" He stopped to spread the picnic blanket out before taking a seat, with Luna shortly joining him. "Did you know that there's an entire section dedicated to textile arts alone? I bet I could really raise my knitting skills."

"You knit?"

"Uh-huh. I learned it from Miss Violet. She's says that it's an excellent way to express creativity." He then sighed and lowered his head, the fingers of his paw and claw hands intertwined as he twiddled his thumbs. Luna glanced despondently at her friend-but-hopefully-someday-more-than-friend, following his mournful gaze out past the gardens and towards the city. She scooted closer to him and placed her hoof on his shoulder.

"You really miss her, don't you?"

"She's like my mom," Discord replied softly. "She wanted me when nopony else did. She's the only family I have."

"That's not true!" They both jumped at the volume of Luna's sudden outburst. The young alicorn blushed and patted Discord's arm apologetically. "I mean, she's not. I'm here too." She followed this up with the brightest, most sincere smile she could manage, all the while hiding the pain she felt at hearing those words pour out of Discord's mouth. For so long, he's been alone and scared. Why? Is it because of how he looks? Ponies are so shallow! She yipped slightly as a pair of mismatched arms pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you, Luna. Thank you."

Luna sighed and returned the gesture, basking in Discord's warmth. "Anything for you, Discord." If she could freeze this moment and stay in it for all eternity, she would. Her eyes drifted towards a pair of gray lips and realized that all it would take was one swift movement and they'd be kissing each other. But would that be wrong? Sure, Luna was head-over-hooves for Discord but what if he didn't feel the same? Would he think less of her? And what if Celestia or her mother saw them? Queen Concordia made no secret of her disdain for the draconequui race, though it eluded Luna why that was exactly. Her mother wasn't exactly the most talkative of ponies.

"Well, I'm hungry. Who's up for cucumber sandwiches?"

From the other end of a brass telescope, Star Swirl observed the children as they sat amongst the flowers, dining on an assortment of snacks and smiling like idiots. Although he couldn't hear what was being said, it was clear that Discord and Luna were blissfully happy in each other's company and this was both heartwarming and worrisome to the wizard. Princess Luna and Discord? He stroked his beard, turning his back on the couple to finish stirring a potion that was meant to prevent split ends and promote softness in facial hair. No, PRINCE Discord. Hmm. In the short time that he'd gotten to know Discord, Star Swirl found him to be amiable, polite and optimistic, sometimes to an annoying degree. In other words, completely the opposite of what was to be expected of his species. Star Swirl knew; he'd met a few of them and was not particularly fond of the chimeric chaos-bringers.

Perhaps it was the fact that he'd been raised amongst ponies that made Discord behave more, well, rational. His magic, though raw and at times unpredictable, was still manageable and could be used in constructive ways, unlike the chaos magic demonstrated during the War. The more Star Swirl thought about it, the more of a marital arrangement between Discord and Luna seemed to make more and more sense. They were both royalty, heirs to thrones of powerful kingdoms and they already liked each other, that last fact becoming more obvious by the second. Now there was only the matter of children. Could a draconequus even mate with a pony, let alone an alicorn? If so, then what would the children be like? Would they be more pony-like or draconequus-like? Would they inherit their father's chaotic magic abilities?

He knew such concepts were inappropriate considering the two were so young but it is never too early to plan for the future. Besides, such a union would unite Equestria and the ruined Chaosverse, bringing more to the alicorn royal family and maybe even producing more powerful offspring. An alicorn or two with chaos magic could prove to be powerful rulers. He frowned. What would Discord be like as a king? Would his simple, equine upbringing give him wisdom and insight into ruling the kingdom or would he turn out to be like his father? The thought made Star Swirl shudder.

Ten Years Ago...

From up atop his perch on the stone fortress' rampart, Star Swirl gazed starkly across the carnage of the battlefield, staring unblinkingly at the piles of corpses that littered the trench-dug earth. Dear Chthonia, what has become of us? He was once a simple wizard, entrusted with instructing magic to the royal family and offering them aid in socieo-political matters. Now he was a commander of a legion of battle-hardened mages. He saw a cluster of pony soldiers marching up to the fortress, the majority of them not even old enough to drink or marry. With the demands of having a massive army and not enough nobles' sons, King Solaris issued a summons to all able-bodied stallions, resulting in a collection of farm-colts, runaways and beggars lining up to join the fight, some of which were less than willing.

The umbrums had managed to recruit many Equestrian-based species to their ranks, including cyclopes, changelings, minotaurs, bat-ponies, chimeras and sphinxes. King Solaris, on the other hoof, was limited in allies, turning to the three races of ponies-four, if you counted crystal ponies-as well as the griffons and dragons, both of whom had to be promised riches in order to even bother to show up. Then there was the issue of the draconequui. Not merely sated by the slayings of their foes, they'd taken to turning parts of Equestria into little hamlets of disharmony. He shook his head, wondering if siding with the strife-bearing serpents was even wise in the first place.

"Master? Are you alright?" A mustard-yellow stallion appeared beside Star Swirl, his tattered blue cloak billowing in the breeze as his dark green eyes pierced into the old wizard's soul. He removed his hood to reveal a short, chestnut-brown mane and a freckle-riddled snout, his face oddly soft with a bit of a hard edge to it.

"Yes Clover, I'm alright. And you can drop the formality; I haven't been your master for some time," Star Swirl regarded his former student, a small grin appearing on his face. My word, it seems only yesterday he was a colt. Now look at him: co-founder of Equestria and a powerful enchanter in his own right. Time does seem to fly, doesn't it?

"Yes, well, old habits die hard, don't they?" Clover replied, smiling nostalgically. "Remember that time I set your curtains on fire trying to do that lightning shield spell? You almost had a stroke!"

"It was a real pity that. They were a nice set of curtains. Still, you managed to conjure a lightning shield. Sort of."

"They were hideous and you know it."

"No they weren't!"

"Mas-Star Swirl, they were mauve with lavender polka dots. If anything, I did you a favor."

The two broke into a fit of riotous laughter, holding onto each other's shoulders for support until they could both breath again. Even with the macabre surroundings, it was nice for a former teacher and apprentice to share a laugh, or perhaps it was because of their surroundings that it was apropos. A break from wartime grievances, as miniscule as they are, become necessary to one's mental health. One could go mad from staring at dead bodies all day. Catching his breath, Clover wiped a tear from his eye before clearing his throat, his expression going from silly to stoic within a millisecond.

"Star Swirl, about the draconequui. I have to warn you that-..."

"Hey there, Starry!" A pair of red and yellows eyes materialized between the pair, nearly forcing them out of their skins as the eyes floated over to reattach themselves to a gray smirking face and a serpentine body. King Seth was dressed in his usual attire of a gold crown studded with multi-colored gemstones and a deep purple military coat with a high-collared, fur-trimmed cloak. He lazily paddled in mid-air, circling the two unicorns while humming an absurd little tune.

Star Swirl regained his composure and whirled on the intrusive newcomer. "King Seth, this is most irregular! Honestly, I thought that at least you, a royal draconequus, would have some degree of common courtesy or manners!" While the draconequus king and queen showed more sanity than their non-royal counterparts, they were still prone to acts of idiosyncratic behavior, such as devouring plates and washing their food or appearing out of nowhere right in the middle of conversations. This made it very hard to plan strategies with King Seth, who seemed to treat everything like a game. His solution to everything was using chaos magic, which made things even worse.

"Sorry to interrupt your little soiree, gentlecolts, but I thought that I should personally tell you that the Everfree Forest and the lands surrounding it are now henceforth the designated property of the Draconequui Empire."

"Wh-what?" Clover gasped incredulously. "Your Highness, there was no such agreement made. Neither King Solaris nor Queen Concordia would allow that to transpire!"

King Seth merely chuckled, "Spoils of war. The umbrum claimed that land by taking it from you and in turn, we took it from them. Now it's ours. After all, they did force us out of our home and now we need a new one. This one."

"Why, you...-"

"Clover, stand down," Star Swirl interjected, a blue-white aura surrounding his former pupil's horn. Clover sighed and stepped away, allowing the magic to blink out of existence. Turning his attention to King Seth, the old pony stated, "Your Highness, while it is true we offered you and your people asylum here, we never gave you permission to start claiming land. You would have to talk to King Solaris about such matters before you just start stealing-..."

"'Stealing'? Did you just say, 'stealing'?" The draconequus loomed over Star Swirl, though he refused to show even an inch of fear. "Last time I checked, the alicorns didn't own all of Equestria. They came in and took it, just as my kind is doing now. So go, go to your king and tell him that I'm 'stealing' all of 'his' land. Don't make me laugh. You ponies act as though you own the world. Well, that's going to change soon." King Seth finished ominously, fading away until Star Swirl and Clover were once again standing alone on the rampart, both of them comprehending what they'd just heard.

"Master?"

Looking once more at Clover, Star Swirl sighed, his heart heavy with resolution. "Report this matter to King Solaris. Tell him that the draconequui are getting out of hoof and must be dealt with immediately." And may Chthonia help us in whatever happens next.

Author's Note:

I just love little Discord and Luna. They're so cute together! And now that Star Swirl's seeing how closing they're getting, what's his next move going to be?

The Umbrum-Draconequus War is getting more and more intense. What happens next?!