Broken bridge to Chaos

by LindenDragon

No more discord

Time had no meaning in the nothingness his mind had become, interspersed with small moments of… something. Sometimes it's a dull ache, sometimes it’s pinpricks all along his body that then feel like he’s dissolving into foam, sometimes it’s distant voices whose words he forgets as soon as he grasps their meaning. He can’t seem to keep any thought for longer than a blink, in fact.

This time, he feels like he’s been submerged in jelly and thrown around haphazardly. By the time it ends, his body is stiff in a way only topped by the time he was literal stone.

“Discord?” Someone’s calling his name, but it’s still muffled in the jelly. He should try to swim out.

His arm barely moves, and that pinpricky static returns.

“Try not to move much Discord. You’re safe here.” That’s Fluttershy, isn’t it?

He wills his surprisingly heavy eyelids to open, at least. He doesn’t want to worry her much.

The light is almost blinding. And it takes him some time to adjust. When he can finally see in front of himself, Fluttershy’s face is relieved, yet crumpled in concern. Did something happen? Can’t she see he’s fine? He opens his mouth to speak, but it’s almost as if he forgot how to move his muzzle and his throat rasps with every sound he tries to make. He needs some water.

By some coincidence, Twilight- he didn’t even realize she was there- levitates a glass right to him before he can snap his claws. She gently levitates the water itself into his mouth to help him revive his throat. Good eye to notice he doesn’t trust his movements right now. He notes on the side that he seems to be lying on a simple bed.

Clearing his throat, he attempts to speak once again. “Twilight, what spell did you hit me with? It actually managed to do a number on me.” he manages to rasp, adding a small smile to lighten the mood.

Twilight’s already somber face turns grim, her brows creasing and frown deepening.

“It’s no big deal.” he assures them despite how stiff his body feels. “I’ll be fine. I just need to stretch a bit.” he says as he extends his arm to alleviate the feeling, only to wince at the lack of flexibility. This was almost like the two times he got out of stone.

“You should avoid moving so suddenly.” another voice joins in. They were in the background, but now he notices a unicorn pony doctor is in the room too. Well, no wonder Fluttershy was worried. If he was knocked so out of his chaotic balance they had to get medical help. Almost like that time he pretended to be hurt by Sombra, but it was for real this time. He was still a little sore. Couldn’t even stretch his arm a few feet properly. Just as he thinks that, something catches his eye.

“Huh.” he looks at his paw, now partially covered in scaly skin, akin to his eagle claw. Strange, and not the kind of strange he usually goes for. When had he decided to rearrange his limb structure, and in such a way too?

“Discord, the spell…” Twilight struggles to speak, voice heavy with guilt and grief, “It’s been weeks since my spell hit you. You’ve been in a coma since. We had to put you in stasis then let your body progressively stabilize.” Shocked, Discord looks towards Fluttershy, who is barely holding back tears at the reminder. It must have looked really bad then.

“Oh… I’m sorry for worrying you.” he says lamely, “But I’ll be fine, right?” He’s not sure if it was meant as a question or an assurance, or to whom.

“Your magic…” Twilight continues.

Of course, that explains why he felt so weak. “Oh, has it gotten drained while I recovered from your experiment?” he asks, ignoring how Twilight flinched. “I’ll just have to rest for ages then.” This wasn’t the first time he’s had to rest and recharge after expending a lot of his power. Even he had limits.

Twilight’s expression grows even grimmer, to the point it manages to send a pang of worry through him, one he cannot shrug off this time.

“Twilight?”

“I ran tests.” Twilight says, voice wavering, “There’s no sign of thaumaturgical presence on any of them.” the words sent a cold, hollow feeling through his entire being. It would mean there’s no magic in him at all.

“No. Maybe your tests just can’t measure chaos magic-” he tries to argue, panic starting to grip him as he pulls at his ears to try to calm himself. “I just have to rest, then it’ll come back.” It has to.

“Discord. I’m certain, your chaos magic wasn’t drained or taken.” she visibly braces herself for what she says next, “Your link to it has been severed.”

Even back when he’d had his magic drained or restrained he still felt the bridge between him and chaos, his reserves had just been empty and were refilled drop by drop. Even then chaos was still part of him. As he attempted to reach into his core and beyond, he saw Twilight was right. That connection was gone now, not a single transdimensional string to be felt. Just a hollow void with nothing to fill it.

He looks to Twilight with desperation he hadn’t even felt at the attempted takeover on the original day of Twilight’s coronation, “You caused it. You can fix it too, can’t you?”

Twilight takes half a step back before composing herself, “I can try to find a way into your dimension and connect you back, but without a lead to it… I don’t know if I can find it at all.” she hangs her head before looking back at him remorsefully, “I’m so sorry.”

The doctor decides it’s the perfect time to join in “You… may have to accept the fact your current condition is permanent.”

The chasm-like feeling in his core deepens. His chest constricts to the point of feeling as if something was crushing him. “No.” he whispers. He looks at his now trembling manticore paw again, snapping. Nothing happens.

“No no no.” his breaths are coming out shallow and quick now.

“Discord-” Fluttershy reaches out, staring at him with pity. Everyone is staring at him.

He flinches back, away from everyone. Away from their stares.

-snap

He needs to get away.

Before he knows it he’s scrambling off the bed and falling to the floor. The impact sends pain shooting through his body, a gasp stuck in his throat. He opens his eyes after what feels like an eternity of catching his breath.

They’re still here, staring at him, and he doesn’t remember the last time he’s felt so small.

Fluttershy is by his side attempting to steady him, and now that he’s on the floor, he realizes- he is smaller.

He needs to get out of here.

Somehow, he makes it through the door and into the hallway. He realizes he’s managed to break into a run on all fours. His body is screaming at him to stop, but the urge to run, to get away from all this somehow is stronger. Or is that Fluttershy and Twilight screaming after him? He can’t tell. Everything is so jumbled and he can’t make sense of it. He’s supposed to like that. But no, this kind of confusion, one he could make nothing out of, was agonizing.

His heart was beating out of his chest. But it wasn't. It wasn't. It was just thudding confined in his ribcage that felt closer to collapsing on itself with every breath he took.

Even as his limbs and lungs burn, he weaves through the hallways. Where is he anyway? Where is he going? Away. Away from all this, somehow. That’s all that matters.

At some point, he tries snapping in the middle of running, and he loses balance, barely cushioning his impact with the ground using his arms.

He gets up, whipping his head around, immediately regretting it as more pain shoots up his neck. But, it seems he’s alone.

He can’t let anyone find him like this. So small,

helpless,

cold…

-snap

…Nothing happens.

Something on the floor catches his eye- his shadow, contrasting the light streaming through the window. Something’s not right. His horns are missing.

-snap

Nothing happens.

There’s something wet on his claws, he realizes. He holds his griffon claw up, it’s covered in red- blood. When was the last time he even thought about having it?

Growing more nauseous, he turns around to avoid his new and unchanging shadow, only to come face to face with himself. Of all the places, of all the stained glass windows he could have ended up at.

-snap

Nothing happens.

He grips his ears to try to calm himself as his vision grows darker. His body is growing colder.

He needs to go home.

-snap

Nothing happens.

As weakness overtakes him and he slumps to the ground, he looks up at the window almost pleadingly, as if it’s one of his doubles that could help him. The image only stares back at him, unmoving. Nothing happens.

His heart sinks along with his consciousness as the thought hits him- that’s not him anymore.

The nothingness overtakes him.

Author's Note:

Finally, the storry kicks off properly. Next up, Fluttershy POV chapter.

Comments

[ShiroEvergarden]

good