Previous Chapters
Close
Absence2,336 words
Replies2,176 words
Back Then2,685 words

Back Then

The warm scent of pumpkin spices wafted through the air, the misty aroma reaching the nostrils of the various creatures littering the tiny cottage that rested at the edge of the Everfree Forest. The smell was calming and sweet to the animals, almost as if they were drinking the tea themselves.

But that didn't mean that all of them had to enjoy it.

In fact, a certain little bunny HATED it. But it wasn’t so much the smell that angered him, but the reason it was there. Yes, Angel was a smart little bunny. He saw his mistress’s guest enter his domain, and violate his boundaries as he tread into the kitchen.

It was because of him, that thing, that Fluttershy had made the sweet smelling tea. He crept into the kitchen, his soft little paw muffling any sound that the steps could have made. With a powerful leap with his legs, he bounded up onto a counter.
His beady eyes glared at the creature as it sipped its tea, belly sickening at its cheery smiles and laughs that it shared with his mistress. Utter hatred emanated from the small fluffy creature, that it would be unbelievable to those watching him. Yet somehow, no one ever was. Except maybe a certain small dragon…

He really didn’t like this guy. He didn’t like how he looked. He didn’t like how he was in his house. He didn’t like that he was talking to Fluttershy. He didn’t like that Fluttershy was giving him attention.
Most of all, he didn’t like how Fluttershy wasn’t giving HIM attention!
But that wasn’t all.

Cold shivers ran down his spine as he remembered the first day the thing had showed up. It had treated him so horribly! Like it thought that it was better than him! It had tormented him so… and embarrassed him like hell!
More and more anger filled the bunny, thoughts only fuelling his rage.

Suddenly, he pumped his tiny legs forward, propelling himself forward at top speed. A fuzzy ball of furry jetting off the counter is what he became, leaving only a few seconds for him to leap off the counter. He aimed to pounce onto the thing, and maybe claw his eyes or SOMETHING to get back at it!

He jumped forward-

-and landed inside of a rather large, multicolored bubble.

He pounded his tiny fists against his floating prison walls, only to find that they were harder than rock. He let out a scream of rage, which entitled the creature to burst out laughing, mocking him.

Fluttershy seemed to be worried about him, and he heard her ask him to let him out. His frown turned into a gleeful smile as a from formed on the creature's face. It snapped its fingers and the bubble popped, letting Angel fall to the floor.

He fell onto his face, immediately jumping back to his feet.

Although he was full of anger, he did his best to appear helpless as he forced fake tears to pour from his eyes.

“Awww! Angel bunny!” he heard Fluttershy coo, “are you ok?” she leaned down from her chair to pick him up, and cradled the little ball of fuzz in her arms. “There you go, it’s alright. Fluttershy’s here.”

He took a quick glance at his enemy, instantly glad that he did so. It was looking at him in displeasure, obviously sickened by the care that he was receiving.

“Discord,” she began sternly, “please try to be just a bit more careful please? I’m not sure how much a small animal like Angel could take, and I wouldn’t want him to get hurt. You wouldn’t, right?”

Angel looked at him head on this time, trying his best to appear as helpless as possible. He made some gagging noises, sad something in a bored and ‘aww, why not?’ tone, and nodded his head. Oh, how he was loving this! A huge smile shone on his face, pure happiness at his foe’s ‘defeat’.

“Now see? He’s starting to trust you already!” his mistress said to her guest cheerily.

It just huffed and said something sarcastic.

“I’m just going to put him back in the living room, ok? I mean, if that’s alright with you… I’ll um, be right back…” she turned to skitter out of the room with the bunny on her back. Angel turned to the thing, a huge smirk resting across his face. Victory was reflected in his eyes as he was taken out of the room.

He caught a glimpse of a scowl before rounding the corner. Ah yes, this felt good! He’d done his part in smiting the creature, and gotten attention from his favorite pony.

Mission accomplished.

Discord scowled as the foul creature known as a rabbit left the room. How could something so sweet an innocent looking be so... demonic? Looks really were deceiving.

At this thought, he found himself laughing. He of all beings should know that! Every time he looked in the mirror, he was reminded of his strikingly odd appearance, his mismatched body part, the confusion his looks caused.

Just how he liked it.

He shrugged off the simple means of ‘revenge’ the bunny Angel had done, and decided that he’d get back at him later. He wouldn’t know what hit him! It’d have to be a harmless prank, of course, though. If he did anything more than letting the evil fuzz ball land on its face like he had earlier, Fluttershy would be disappointed in him.

He still didn’t quite understand why that mattered to him.

In some ways, he wanted her to feel that way about him. It seemed to appealing to him, so… fun.

He had to force himself to see that the benefit wouldn’t be long lasting though. He’d already learned that the hard way when he’d first arrived here.

Stupid friendship.

He’d never thought he’d feel that again. Not after being so.. gone.

Is that what he thought of it as? Gone? No, he’d always been this way at heart. He’d just been better at controlling his impulses back then.

Back then…

He thought for a moment. Had Celestia received his letter? Was she going to reply? Why did he care?

Why did he care? You know exactly why, you old fool a voice said to him. It seemed to be taunting him with the truth.

He cringed and ground his crooked teeth. Yes, he knew why. Why do you continue to believe in fantasies? the voice asked.

I am the Lord of Chaos! I need no reason, he responded, utter defiance in his every thought. And who says they’re fantasies?

I do. And so do you, it replied. Was that mockery he heard?

Fantasies aren’t as unreal as you’d like to think!

You’re talking to yourself. You think that too.

He let out a sigh. He was right of course. He ALWAYS was! His frown turned into a smirk. Who knew what he could do if Celestia began to write to him! Who knew?

Maybe he could turn her against her sister… no, too easy, and MUCH too overdone.

Maybe it was Celestia’s turn to go villain? Nah, the goody-two-shoes didn’t have it in her.

Oh! Maybe he could make her fall in love with him, so he could break her heart again!

He faltered at the last thought, breaking himself loose from the mischievous planning rant. What in the name of all good chaos had he just thought? So I can break her heart again. No, that wasn’t right! He hadn’t done that! …Had he? Of course not! Why would he even want to?

Because it would be hilarious! the voice seemed to scream, his mind echoing with its laughter.

He shook his head violently, trying to clear his thoughts. (THAT was NEVER an easy thing to do.) Why had he written her again? What had he been compelled to tell her?

“Hi! I’m so sorry if I took too long… I had to, um, get Angel a carrot, then the other animals got kinda jealous, so I had to feed them too… sorry…” she looked sideways at the ground.

He couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, Fluttershy. You never fail to disappoint!”

“Um… thanks?” she asked timidly, wondering if that were the right thing to say.

“Haha, what I mean is- you don’t need to give in so easily. This IS your cottage by the way. Or did you forget? Those animals owe it to you to listen to you, you know,”

She looked at him with shocked eyes. “But I wouldn’t want them to starve!”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course you still feed them! They’d probably starve to death without you, the pitiful souls. Just feed them when you feel you need to! I’m pretty sure that’s how it works with a mother and her foals. And that’s what these free-loaders basically are- Foals!”

Luckily, the mare had gotten used to his snarky and sarcastic nature, and wasn’t really bothered by his tone or words. She took what he’d intended to tell her from them, and acted as if that’s what he’d said all along.

An amazing skill indeed.

No wonder they got along much better than the others.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said softly, appreciating that he’d tried to help. She could tell they annoyed him immensely, but since he never said anything, neither did she. He obviously didn’t want to bring it up, and she wasn’t going to be the one to bother him about it.

She sat back down at the table, and put on a happy smile.

Discord couldn’t help but smile back. There were few who couldn’t.

He cleared his throat. “Err, um, thanks for uh, not telling those ponies where I was..” he thanked her suddenly. Her cottage had been the first place they’d checked. All they’d done was ask her a few questions at the front door- they didn’t even search the place! They were just doing a swell job at finding him, weren’t they?

“Oh, that was no problem,” she replied shyly, blushing. “They weren’t even that scary. They seemed like nice ponies… but they didn’t seem to be… all there?” she searched for the right words to fit the group.

‘Not all there’ was pretty darn close.

“Yes, well thanks anyway,” he said again, voice back to its normal sound.

They quietly finished their tea together, a friend in a friend's company. Even they didn't speak, each other's presence was welcome enough. For him, it was comforting, knowing that somepony who cared for you was near by. Even though he'd never admit it. Never in a million years!

When he was done, he snapped away his tea cup, bid his good-byes, and flashed away to only he knew where.

Fluttershy smiled as he left. He sure was changing. Well, maybe changing wasn't the right word. Understanding fit better, she was sure of it.

Content with her conclusion, she got up, cleaned up her tea, and went to work with the critters.

Dear Discord,

I am glad that you have taken it into your consideration to write to me. You are correct in your deduction that we do, in fact, know that you have gone missing, even if the tracking team was a bit slow to report this. My sister, as well as a number of other officials, believes that your current state of location is dangerous to our well-being. You wouldn't go back on your own word, would you? The others seem convinced that you will; they say that it is your nature, like they know you.

Know you better than I, Princess Celestia, who is far older than any of them, and has known you since you first came to Equestria. They seem to forget just how immortal Luna and I really are.

On a slightly different topic, Luna is more... edgy about your disappearance than I am. She is being very cautious and protective of her nation, and thinks that you may be plotting against us. Forgive me when I say that I couldn't disagree with her one-hundred percent, but that is sadly the case. And you probably know why.

But let's not get in to that now. I was wondering why you deemed it worthy of your time to write to me--and in such an elaborate way no less. I assume that it was not to tell me of your whereabouts, as you did not tell me, because you are not one to subject easily to the law, or simply those who believe that they have authority over you. Indeed, I think it humorous that the group gathered by High Chairman Dusty Scroll thought that they could keep a close eye on you, a creature who pays no dues to the rules of society. And Luna... well, let's just say that she thinks that she can make you appear to us with the threat of banishment. Oh, only the great stars truly know how you'd find a way to return from banishment if you really wanted to.

Shape-shifting? Mind altering? The simple means of appealing to my loving sister? I am not sure why I find this topic so amusing. Forgive me if it causes you any discomfort.

I realize that this letter is far longer than your own, and I apologize if you did not truly expect a reply... but here it is. I suppose you may reply if you wish--you can probably expect a reply to that one too.

Happy wishes,

Princess Celestia

Discord read the letter, hanging on to every written word as if he could not believe their existence. Had she really written back? How could she have? Why would she want to?

He gave himself a powerful slap, a hit that sent him flying upwards. Or, it had seemed to be upwards until he hit his head on the ground, landing with a thud on the floor. Or what ever it was called.

For in fact, Discord was not in Ponyville. He wasn't even in Equestria. No, he was somewhere else, somewhere where ponykind had yet to tread.

His own mind.

It was more of a realm, really. A body couldn't be inside its own brain, could it? Whether or not this was true, he didn't care. He only knew that it was a place shaped by his imagination, and that was fine with him.

Chaos was much more instantaneous here, making it much harder to control for even the lord of the power himself. That's the reason he didn't create it much when he came to the place. It happened on its own already- why make more when that took effort? Something else was doing it for him!

He kicked back while floating in the air, a non-existent couch supporting him. Yes, this was the place to think.

It satisfied his need for chaos--which was happening everywhere--and his need to concentrate. The nagging part of him that was always itching to cause some sort of mischief always seemed to be sedated here... which was a necessary evil in some cases.

Now was probably one.

So what was he to think? More importantly, what was he to do?

Should he write her back? Or should he ignore the response, and pretend he never received it? Or just acknowledge its presence, and bluntly refuse to reply? Which was the best choice? The right choice?

Stop being so serious the voice was back, as forceful as ever. You aren't about making the right choices. You make the best choices. For yourself.

1,444 views

Previous Chapters