What Lies Beneath

by fic Write Off

Duality

The dark room was empty, save for the simple wooden table that lay at the centre; the only source of illumination provided by the light crystal hovering above.

“They’re late. Again,” the solitary figure sitting at the table grumbled. Her starlit mane whipped to and fro as she sighed heavily. Her cyan eyes glanced again at the closed door. “Why do I put up with these fo—”

A burst of smoke on the other side of the table cut her words short. The familiar sight of Equestria’s one and only remaining dragonequus materialised before her with a bright flash, accompanied by several birds flying free. The dragonequus snapped his misshapen claws, magicking an armchair into existence behind him, before plopping himself down and helping himself to a drink that also appeared with the chair.

“Why do you put up with us, hm?” he said by way of greeting.

“Discord. It would be good if you actually used the door like we all do,” Nightmare Moon said, glowering at her counterpart.

“And miss the priceless look on your face every time I do this? No thanks,” Discord said airily, stirring his drink.

“Ugh. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Speak for yourself. My last plan would have succeeded if you haven't allowed yourself to be thrown off by a stray pie.”

“It was a bloody accident! How the hay should I know Pinkie Pie would have a Pietapult set up right in the middle of Ponyville’s Town Hall?” A small smirk crossed her face. “You didn’t do so well yourself. Psh, getting turned to stone twice? And without the Elements of Harmony as an excuse to boot.”

Discord snorted. “Please, petrification spells don’t do any favours to your skin complexion, you know?”

“Excuses. Let’s face it, your plans always fail because you’re more interested in fun than actually winning.”

“Feh, party-pooper.” The dragonequus leaned back and smirked. “No one said you can’t have fun while making chaos. Otherwise this job would have been a bore a long time ago.” He flicked a paw and studied it as it was enveloped by a green flame.

Nightmare Moon slammed her hooves on the table, rattling the ancient oak. The light crystal suddenly dimmed. “This is not a game, Discord. Eternal night will be mine!” she huffed.

Her counterpart yawned. “Right after I plunge the world into eternal chaos yadda, yadda, yadda.” The flames on his paw twisted into a distorted representation of the Elements of Harmony. “But of course, none of that would happen unless we get rid of this first.” The flames danced as they morphed into each of the six that represented the elements in turn.

“But how?”

“You see, my dear Nightmare Moon, sometimes even the best of us aren’t perfect.”

“Explain yourself.”

Discord’s reptilian lips curled upwards. The flames on his paw settled into a familiar figure of Twilight Sparkle. “Little Miss Perfect here bested us each in turn. I’ll admit friendship is quite the weapon.” The paw closed, snuffing out the fire. “But what happens to friendship if their friend isn’t what they think she is?”

“Discord, I have no time for riddles.”

He sighed. “You just don’t get it, do you, my obtuse alicorn friend? Have you ever wondered what lies beneath her studious personality?”

Nightmare Moon blinked. “You mean...” Her eyes widened as her voice trailed off.

Discord grinned once again as he leaned back. “I see you finally get the idea. With Miss Queenie Changeling finally returns from her unexpected vacation to the underworld, we can start working on how break Magic itself.”

Comments

[Ezn]

A little odd. Seems like it was written for an alternate version of the show were Discord and NMM are typical Saturday Morning Cartoon villains. Still, points for applying some inventiveness and connection to our three villains.

[Grif]

Whelp. I don't know what to say about this except that it seems to be an alternate universe.