Chapter 1
Celestia groaned softly, everything hurt, moving hurt, even breathing hurt. It was strange, being without her magic. It made her feel vulnerable, less defended. And perhaps that was true, if Tirek's treatment of her, Luna, and Cadence proved anything. Looking up, the sun princess saw Luna and Cadence laying not far away, their coats stained with blood, making Luna;s dark blue color look almost black and giving Cadence's light pink coat a rust color. Celestia's own pure white coat was stained pink with blood from the cuts Tirek had inflicted.
"Where did you hide your magic?!" Tirek's voice boomed throughout Tartarus.
"You will never have it, Tirek!" Celestia said, standing up and walking forward as much as the shackle around her foreleg would allow.
"Still will not tell me?" Tirek spoke in a taunting manner. "Well then, I will have to continue to persuade you!"
With that, the centaur grabbed a whip from where it hung nearby, drawing back his arm, aiming for Luna. Celestia stared as the whip came down with a sharp CRACK! and the moon princess cried out in pain. Celestia moved toward her sister, but was stopped by the shackle around her leg, she could do nothing for Luna or Cadence, she could only stand and stare as blow after blow was rained upon first Luna, then Cadence. Finally, Tirek turned to her, holding the whip high and bringing the blood coated device down.
CRACK!
Pain shot through Celestia's body, every single one of her nerves was on fire, was screaming in anguish. Blood and skin was ripped away as the whip moved upward again, drops of crimson adding to the dried blood already coating the ground. Another blow came down, and another. By ten lashes, tears streamed from the alicorn's eyes, by fifteen, she was whimpering slightly, and by twenty lashes, Celestia was screaming in pain. The pain was worse than any other Tirek had put them through, but she would not reveal that they had given Twilight their magic. No matter how bad the pain got, she would not tell Tirek a thing.
The whip was raised again, scattering even more crimson droplets of blood across the floor. The cruel instrument descended, and Celestia braced herself for another blow. But the blow never came.
A brownish blur rushed past Tirek and Discord appeared, standing over Celestia. The Draconequus gasped as fire raced through his body, but he didn't move from his position as a living shield. Tirek would not hurt Celestia again as long as Discord was around. The Lord of Chaos glared up at Tirek, an angry snarl on his face as he shot a bolt of magic at the centaur.
"Discord! Still loyal to these weak ponies?" Tirek spat. "Are you really as weak as my brother?"
The centaur spat out the word brother as if it were poison and raised the whip, clearly not caring that he was betraying Discord. Discord cried out slightly as the whip tore away flesh, but didn't move away from Celestia. Glancing at Luna and Cadence, Discord shot a bolt of magic towards their shackles, releasing the two princesses before doing the same with Celestia's shackle.
"Go!" he told the princesses, muscles tense as he prepared to leap at Tirek.
Celestia struggled to her hooves and joined Luna and Cadence, glancing back at Discord before the three mares began to gallop away. But they couldn't leave their rescuer, even of he had almost betrayed them. Celestia was the first to turn around, and what she saw made her gasp.
Discord had leaped at Tirek in an attempt to keep him distracted, but the centaur grabbed the Draconequus, opening his mouth as Discord struggled to free himself. Dark blueish chaos magic streamed from Discord into Tirek and Discord's yellow and red eyes clouded as the Draconequus stopped struggling as much.
"Discord!" Celestia cried, horror filling her voice as Discord fell to the ground, panting hard.
The pure white alicorn rushed to Discord's side, but was stopped by Tirek. The centaur glowered down at her, clearly realizing how he could further torture the princess. If this didn't make her tell him where they'd hidden their magic, nothing would. Tirek took a large, cruel looking blade made of a strange black metal, its hilt carved with skulls and its blade curved. Tirek picked Discord up with his magic, an orange glow surrounding the Draconequus, and raised the sword, ready to run Discord through. He looked at Celestia, pleased when he saw the horror stricken look on her face.
"Tell me where you hid your magic!" Tirek said, pressing the sword harder into Discord's torso.
"Don't, Celestia. I'm not worth it." Discord gasped, knowing that the princesses must have given their power to Twilight.
"T-Twilight Sparkle." Celestia murmured reluctantly. "We hid the magic in the fourth Alircorn princess."
"A fourth?" Tirek looked at Discord. "You never told me there was a fourth princess!"
Discord struggled as the sword was pressed even harder into him, a small trickle of blood flowing from where it pierced his torso. He hadn't told Tirek of Twilight because Twilight was Fluttershy's friend, he could never do anything that would harm Fluttershy or one of her friends. But now Tirek knew of Twilight, and Discord knew Tirek could kill him easily now. But the Draconequus wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Tirek plunged the sword into Discord's belly hard, causing the Lord of Chaos to scream as pain consumed him like fire. Tirek removed the sword, allowing Discord to fall to the ground, where he curled up, tears leaking from his eyes as ruby liquid gushed from his wound, pooling around him.
"No!" Celestia cried, Luna and Cadence staring as Discord fell.
The three princesses hurried forward, Celestia the first to reach Discord, who was sobbing now from the pain tearing through his long, lean body.
"Discord." Celestia whispered, holding Discord's body close. "Why?"
Discord shivered and coughed weakly. "B-because...I-I l-love you. I-I've...a-a-always...loved y-you, C-Ce-Celestia."
The Draconequus shuddered, coughed weakly, blood dribbling from his mouth, and exhaled slowly, the life leaving his battered body as his yellow and red eyes closed. A tear fell from Celestia's eye and landed on Discord's still form.