Seeing the Light

by Animalman57

Mother Knows Best

Chrysalis was waiting for what felt like hours at the exit where Tempest told her the tunnel would lead to. It was imperative she found the princess. She didn't know how to take care of Discord, though. Even in her changeling form, Discord was a tough foe to beat. Even Celestia herself was only barely a match for him. She had to find a weakness in his power.

"I'll kill him for ditching me." She heard a voice say. She walked over to a small ravine and looked down. There was a dark brown stallion with a messy black mane and tail, obviously very annoyed. Chrysalis was about to leave him to whatever he was fuming about before he continued talking.

"I'll make Discord take the fall for stealing the crown and have the princesses use their magic to turn him to stone. Once he's up there, I'll smash his statue to bits!" Chrysalis blinked before grinning like a madmare. So, the princesses had a way of turning him to stone. If she can get her hooves on it, she can be rid of him. But she didn't know what it was. But this stallion likely does. If she can use him to get her revenge, she'll finally have her source of power back.

Pacing around in a ravine, Caballeron was very angry, assuming Discord had intentionally ditched them after the ambush. He was thinking of ways to get payback when he heard a voice above him.

"Oh, someone get me a glass, cause I found a tall drink of water."

He looked over and saw a brown unicorn mare wearing a black cloak, with dark crimson red mane and dull green eyes, standing above him.

He rolled his own green eyes and yelled, "Beat it, old lady. I have no time to deal with you."

But as he walked away, she appeared in front of him in a green fiery blaze.

"I get it, you're a very busy stallion, but I have a little something you might want to know about." She lifted the satchel with her magic and tossed it to him. He raised an eyebrow before rummaging through it, finding the very crown he was after. His eyes widen at the sight.

"How did you-"

"Not so fast." She interrupted. "I'll give the crown, but only if you help me take down Discord. I overheard you mentioned something about the princesses having a way to turn him to stone?"

Caballeron nodded. "Yeah, it's some sort of powder developed from crushed cockatrice bones made by Star Swirl himself. The princesses need it for truly troublesome threats. Surprised they haven't used it on Discord yet, to be honest." The mare gave a truly terrifying smirk.

"Get me that powder, and you'll have your crown to sell and we'll both have our revenge against the great Lord of Chaos." She laughed maniacally.

Caballeron took a moment to think it over before delivering a similar smirk to hers. "Ma'am, you are truly wicked. Let's do this."

---

It was soon nightfall. Out in the woods, Discord had set up camp to rest for the night. The kingdom was just past the hill from where they were resting, and in the morning, they'll head down and Discord said that they'll spend the whole day in town while waiting for the lights later that evening. Their stomachs growled after he explained the plan and he decided to make them food. Posey insisted on finding some food, but Discord pointed out she wouldn't know what was safe to eat and what wasn't, so he just created a small buffet for them. Although initially sadden that she couldn't help, that soon left Posey when she ate the food. It was the most delicious food she's ever had. As the two of them sat on a log and Angel slept on the moss, Posey just enjoyed watching the night sky with a full stomach and a blanket wrapped around her.

She thought about her day today. Though clearly chaotic and she nearly died, it was the best day of her life. It certainly was an improvement over her usual monotonous life in the tower. She wondered briefly about her mother, but that was a distant thought in comparison to how perfect her day was. And tomorrow was going to be even better. She almost didn't want to sleep, afraid that when she woke up, it'd all be just a dream and she'd still be in the tower with no way out. She noticed Discord looking at her with an intense look. She turned her head to hide her blush behind her mane.

"D-did you need something, Discord?" she asked. Discord shook his head.

"Oh, it's nothing. You just looked like you were deep thought." He tried to not tell her that he was just staring at her cause she looked absolutely gorgeous in the moonlight. Posey shifted in her blanket.

"It wasn't anything too important. Just thinking of our day today."

He simply smiled. "Oh, yes. The mess that was today. I'll admit, this is the most fun I've had in what felt like ages. I'll also admit that you're pretty okay…for a pony." Posey smiled at his sort of compliment.

She decided to ask him about his scars as she thought about them.

"Hey, Discord?"

"Yes, my dear?" He responded. He tensed at the feathery touch of her hoof landing on the scars on his neck.

"How'd you get these?" She asked as her hoof softly stroked his scars. Discord stayed quiet as she kept stroking him. Her touch reminded him of someone he only had vague and fuzzy memories of. He did remember how he got his scars, but it brought up deep pains he wanted to forget. He did successfully manage to mostly forget, but the most important parts of his life were something he did remember clear as day, and he did not want to talk about.

His face hardened and he stood up, making her hoof drop.

"Discord, I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories. You don't have to-"

"Oh don't be like that!" Discord interrupted her as he started to get angry. "We all know how this goes. You say I don't have talk about it, and then I feel bad, and decide to tell you my 'tragic' story and we become closer as a result. Well, I'm not doing it!" Posey felt like she should be scared at him yelling at her, but she was nothing but concerned for him.

"Discord, really, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's really none of my business. I just saw those in the tunnel and was simply curious. But now I'm concerned. Are you okay?" Posey asked him. Discord was honestly starting to get angrier at her honest concern. No one has shown him such concern before and it infuriated him. Why can't she stay out of his business?!

"Well, you're right. I don't have to tell you anything! Why would I?! You're just a flightless pegasus who never left her tower, not even to just check out some stupid lanterns!" Posey started to get mad herself.

"Well, what do you know?!" she screamed, making Discord jump in shock. He honestly didn't expect her to start yelling. He didn't think she could even get angry.

"You just look out for yourself! Have you ever had someone care about you?!"

Discord yelled, "Of course I did. My parents did, but they're dead!" He closed his mouth, realizing he said the one thing he didn't want to say.

Posey looked at him with wide eyes before looking down with tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry I said no one cared about you. I didn't know about your parents." Discord's anger dissipated at the sight of tears in her eyes. He sighed.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I insulted you." He was surprised at how easy it was for him to apologize, but she seemed to look a little better, so he didn't think too much of it. He walked back and sat back on the log.

"You want to talk about it?" Posey asked. Discord sighed.

"Not particularly, but I think you deserve to know. Just so you know, you are the only one who gonna know outside of Celestia, her sister Luna and Star Swirl, so you better not go tell anyone else about it. Promise never to tell anyone." She scooted towards him and put a wing on his back.

"I promise." She finished by gesturing with her hoof and crossed an X above her heart. He wrapped his tail around her hips for support.

He sighed as he begin his tale, "Now, I don't really remember what my parents looked like, but I loved them. Draconequus don't normally have the powers I have, but I got them after my parents died. My dad was named Disarray and my ma was Eris. They were the first, and only, draconequus that made it to the land of Equestria shortly after its establishment cause their land was destroyed. They met each other where Canterlot would stand today and they fell in love. They married each other and, a year later, my ma got pregnant and had me. Most of my life with my parents is a blur, admittedly. I knew it was pleasant and that my parents loved me, but otherwise, completely blank. But I do remember what happened to them." He looked at Posey to see how well she was following so far and all her attention was on him. So he continued.

"My parents were actually good friends with Celestia and Luna's parents, the original king and queen of Canterlot and there was some sort of threat in Equestria, which I don't remember what exactly. They were asked to join them in battle. My ma kissed me on my growing antler bud before leaving with them. I was being watched along with a young Celestia and Luna by a young Star Swirl, before he grew his beard. When the king and queen came back, my parents came back on their backs. My dad was already dead and my ma was not far behind. She picked me up, sang softly to me, and kissed me before she died. The king and queen suggested that they raise me, but I ran off, not wanting to be where my parents raised me any longer." Tears starting appearing in his eyes, so Posey used her wings to clear them, something he appreciated.

"I don't remember how I got my powers exactly, but a few years later, I got them and then, when I was an adult, I met someone named Cosmos. She claimed to be the last draconequus, though she looked too symmetrical to be a pure blood. She was a little pretty, I guess, so I dated her for a while. After a while, though, I realized she was too clingy and far too psychotic, so I broke up with her. She didn't take that too well. She attacked me." He traced his scars with his paw. "She got my neck right here. I kicked her off and was able to defeat her. But she has magic of her own, and I couldn't heal my scars no matter what. After I dealt with her, I didn't want anything to do with romance ever again. And I roamed around causing chaos ever since. That's all the important stuff, I guess." He finished his story, hugging himself.

Posey herself had tears in her eyes as she stared at him with great sympathy. He seemed to have such a carefree attitude that she'd never guess that his past was so sad. Admittedly, she felt a little jealous of Cosmos for some reason she wasn't quite aware of. But she tried to ignore the feeling as she hugged him.

"I'm so so sorry that happened to you. And here I thought my life wasn't the best." Tears rolled down her face as she spoke. "You didn't deserve any of that happening to you." Discord sighed as he patted her back.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Sure, my life didn't start out great, but I truly am happy with my life right now. I certainly don't envy you, thinking you had a better life, what with you living under the control of a tyrannical mother and being locked in a tower all your life." Posey shifted slightly.

"My mother isn't tyrannical, she just wanted to protect me from the dangers of the world."

Discord rolled her eyes. "Uh hu. Sure. Hey, what about your father, anyhow? Come on, I shared my sob story, you share yours."

Posey leaned against him as she spoke. "It's not really a sob story. I just never knew him. Mother said he left her after she told him that she was pregnant with me. She also says they were never married and that I looked more like him, but I don't really know anything about him. Whenever I tried asking about him, she'd usually start crying, so I eventually learned not to ask her about him. To be honest though, I don't think I can hate anyone, I am a little peeved at him for leaving my mother." Discord stared at her slightly in shock.

"Sorry for my language." she said blushing in embarrassment. Discord smirked at her apology.

"Hey, you can say all the nasty words you want around me. I don't mind." He put his paw over her shoulders. She closed her eyes as he stroked her mane and thought about her story. What kind of father just up and leaves their pregnant marefriend to raise their kid by themselves? As much as he missed his parents, at least they loved each other and they wanted to be together and they raise him together as a couple and he got to know both of them, even if a lot of his memories of them were fuzzy. It honestly made him really angry someone could be so cruel to his marefriend and unborn daughter. So angry, in fact, he needed to go to take his anger out on something before he hurt Posey.

He stood up, causing Posey to open her eyes. She saw him walking off.

"I just...need to go for a walk. You stay there." He called out as he walked away. Posey stayed where she was as she watched him walk off. He was being so supportive of her, more so than even her own mother was. He let him lean against him as she talked, stroked her mane, and wrapped his tail around her. She loved that comfort.

Or is it HIM you love?, a stray thought entered her mind that made her pause and turn her face red. Was she actually falling for him? That honestly frighten her. She's never been in love before, so she didn't know what to do with that thought. On that note, what would her mother think? For goodness sake, he wasn't a pony. Would she even be able to see him once she went home? Did she even want to go home? Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a familiar voice.

"Well I thought he'd never leave." Posey turned her head and saw her mother standing behind her.

"M-mother!" she yelped as she jumped off the log and hid her red face behind her mane. "How d-did you find me?"

"Oh, it was easy really. I just listened to the sound of complete and utter betrayal, and followed that." Chrysalis sneered, not really caring to disguise her voice so she can try and scold her 'daughter'. Posey looked down in disappointment.

"Mother, I'm sor-"

"You can apologize when we get home. It isn't safe here." Chrysalis commanded.

"Mother, you...You don't understand. I've been on the most incredible journey. I've seen and learned so much. I even met someone." She said the last bit with a bit too much bliss than she intended.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, the Lord of Chaos. I'm so proud of you." She said sarcastically. "We are going home. Now!" Chrysalis turned to walk off.

"Mother, wait I...think he likes me." Posey said, trying to hide her own growing feelings for him. Chrysalis looked back at the princess, as Posey scratched her left foreleg with her right one and a ferocious blush was on her face.

"Like you? Now, don't be ridiculous. Look at you, why would he ever like someone like you? Don't be a dummy and come with mummy. Mother-"

"No!" Posey yelled. "I don't wanna!" Chrysalis blinked in surprise at Posey defying her. But then she glared.

"Oh, I see how it is." She said menacingly. Posey gulped in fear, very worried about her mother's tone, being nothing like her normal sweet voice.

"So, Posey knows best, huh? Fine, if you're so mature now, go ahead, and then give him this!" She tossed something towards her that Posey caught. It was the satchel she hid before tying Discord up. Posey pulled the crown out.

"This is the real reason he's here. So, why don't you give it to him and watch him leave you just like your father did. So if he's so great, put him to the test."

Chrysalis walked backwards as she sang, "If he's lying, don't coming crying. Mother knows best!"

And in a flash of green fire, she disappeared.

Posey stood staring at where her mother disappeared. She looked at the crown in her hoof. Was her mother right? Was Discord only playing along to get his satchel back? Was she getting her hopes up for nothing? Discord came back and she hid the satchel and crown by the log and she tried to lean against the log casually. Discord raised his eyebrow.

"Hey, you all right?" He asked as Posey tried to smile convincingly.

"Yes. Just um, lost in thought, I guess." She squeaked and gave a wide nervous smile. Discord stared at her, not quite believing her, but too tired to really try and push her into saying something she doesn't want to. He yawned, which was mixed with the roar of a lion.

"Well, I suppose we should sleep. We have a big day tomorrow, after all." He said as he laid down on the log. Posey climbed onto his chest as Discord dragged the blanket over both of them.

"Good night, my dear." He said. Posey kissed him just below his eye, right on the exact same spot where his ma kissed him before she died.

"Night, Discord." She said and then laid her head over where his heart would be and closed her eyes as her breathing slowed. Discord blushed at the fact that she actually kissed him. He touched where she kissed him. Her kiss was just as soft as his ma's. His ma was the last person to ever kiss him. He never got to that phase with Cosmos, thankfully. He looked down at Posey as she looked peaceful in her sleep. Discord smiled at her before laying his head down and closing his eyes.

In the bushes, Chrysalis glared at the happy pair, feeling the love they have for one another before Caballeron appeared with the powder and handed it to her.

"Here it is. But I don't understand why we can't kill him now. He's right there."

Chrysalis smiled evilly at the powder before saying, "Patience, my good stallion. All good things come to those who wait."

---

Author's Note:

Ah, the romance is finally starting to bloom between the two, but Chrysalis' evil plot is also underway. Will their love prevail?

A reference to my OC parents of Discord and a bit on their death as he explained his backstory. Their history is slightly different and intentionally more vague compared to what I imagine happened to them and Discord in the main timeline, but it's a good hint to their ultimate fate.

Also, Cosmos, the Spirit of Malice and Discord's crazy ex from the IDW comics, is the reason for his scars in this story. I can imagine that her existence is the reason that in the series, he said love wasn't real. You'd probably have bitter feelings about romance too if this was your ex:

,

But of course Fluttershy is able to change his opinions on romance, both in this story, and the main series.

Comments

[ChubbyNia]

I always had a feeling the reason Discord thought love and all things fuzzy wasn't real was because he's never been shown love before, besides he's never had friends or anypony to care for him until he met Fluttershy, no wonder he's become so selfish. Huh! And to think they could've touched up on that in the series but no! such waste of character potential! Sometimes it's usually the silly, carefree one's that seem to be hurting on the inside

[Animalman57]

11156751
Yep. Sometimes the silly carefree ones often are hurting the most.

Also, before I heard of Cosmos, I did think the reason thought romance and other fuzzy things weren't real was cause he's never had friends or anypony to care for him until he met Fluttershy and I still do think that. Cosmos wasn't exactly a healthy relationship after all, so that might of tainted his thoughts and I think he didn't exactly love her anyway. He didn't really know what love was supposed to be, so if his relationship with Cosmos was love, he didn't want any part of it, so love became just like all other things warm and fuzzy.

To explain a bit about my headcanon for his backstory in the main timeline, I do think he lost his parents so long ago that he does think he's the only draconequss that's ever lived and he forgot that he did once get along with Kay Kay (Celestia) and Luna at a young age (and they forgot about their friendship with him too, so they just saw his as the enemy when he came to turn Equestria into his own personal wonderland). He's still never had a true friend until Fluttershy of course, and without his parent's guidance as well as the influence of chaos, he thought what he did in taking over Equestria was perfectly acceptable, if not the best thing in the world. In the main series, he isn't really hurting from his past like in my Tangled story here as he can't really remember it at all (minus Cosmos, he remembers her all too well), but he does have a tragic past that make his actions, if not excusable, than at least understandable. He never learn or understand true friendship and romance until he met his darling Fluttershy. Anything he had before was either so long ago he forgot all about it or it was such a poor experience that he didn't really get what it was supposed to be like, so he rejected it. I might explore my ideas another time in another story.

Yes, I wish the main series expanded on his history outside of a quipe about going to college, but I also do like how vague it is. Not only does it allow for fun speculation, but I don't think every villain needs a complex, tear jerking backstory to be interesting or tragic. In the main timeline, the lack of a history leaves us with someone who never understood friendship taking pleasure in all things chaotic and enjoying what he was, but secretly seeked companionship, hence why he was so touched by Fluttershy's declaration of friendship at the dinner party. So, I never minded his lack of a backstory, but it was fun making one up for him, so there it is. I think I just like Celestial-Rainstorm's world building too much to not include it into my headcanon, so I did, albeit with some minor modifications, not only to make mine distinct so I'm not copying them, but also to make it more series compatible. The existence of Cosmos in the comics definitely helped explain his feelings on romance in my opinion. If she was your ex, you'd probably want nothing to do with all that lovey dovey stuff either. Besides, I liked her and the ideas that came of it for my headcanon far more than the fan idea that he had feelings for Celestia, but got rejected, so he became evil. Not only is there no real evidence to back up that idea, but it's kinda of a stupid trope to begin with. "Someone becomes evil cause their crush rejected them." Fucking really? That's the reason they are a horrid person?

Since Eugene was an orphan in the movie, I felt like I should've added just a taste on Discord's backstory. Flutters pure heart will help him heal from his trauma, but for now, Discord is all too happy enjoying the cuddles from Flutters.

Also, I couldn't resist the idea that Fluttershy's first kiss was right where his mother did before she passed on and that it was just as soft. She was the first person since his parents to truly care about him, and that kiss will be the catalyst for his feelings to finally be released. I just thought it was cute and very heartwarming.

[ChubbyNia]

11156825
Well Starlight's backstory hardly sounded tragic

Some people had different theories to Discord's past

[Animalman57]

11156964
I'm sure plenty of people do have theories on Discord (I remember the time when it was said Discord was actually Star Swirl quite clearly. I'm so glad that turned out to be wrong), I just have my own cause it's fun to speculate about a character that I love very much. But I'm also fine with what little we got in the main canon, so my thoughts are more just fun thought experiments than me saying this is definitely what happened. I actually have a few different ideas on him cause of that I could write, depending on the story, like him truly being one of a kind that came to the world via magical forces beyond anyone's control or a creation of Grogar, since he is the father of monsters. That's the fun part of his vauge history, the possibilities are, much like with Discord's powers, endless.

[Star Hope]

This is getting interesting

[Star Hope]

11156751
You're so right, he always acts like he doesn't care and jokes around in serious situations but I think that's his mecanism to keep hidden his feelings. To bad they didn't explore that in the series, though there is a comic where he sleepwaks because of nightmares and Luna helps him find the sourse of this nighmares and it turns out he's scared of hurting the ones that care about him, but would had been cool if there had been some episode centered around him.

[Kikio3000]

Posey stood staring at where his mother disappeared. Her mother.

Nice job with Discord's backstory, how he lost his sweet parents, and the meeting of horrible Cosmos.
His parent's passing reminds me of Celestial Rainboom and Ink Rose's parental backstories for Discord. I quite like yours as well.

[Animalman57]

11160479
Thanks for the correction.

As far as Discord's parents go, I might write a story on his parents and their more detailed backstory than what was showcased here. I don't really know too much of Ink Rose's thoughts on Discord's parents, but I was influenced by Celestial-Rainstorm, including them being friends with Celestia and Luna's parents.