> Can You Keep A Secret? > by The Pony of Lost Legend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter l - A Hunger to Satisfy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Where is she, Rarity?” A mare growls darkly, looking to an elegant unicorn sitting across from her. Rarity shifts nervously. “I-I’m not sure, Mistress…” Rarity replies softly. “She left hours ago…” She adds. The mare frowns and grits her teeth. “So she left without you seeing her? Any of you didn’t see her?!” The mare growls as she slams her hooves to the table in front of her, making several in the room wince as it cracks with the impact. “Well?!” The mare demands. A stallion steps forward and bows as he begins to speak calmly. “I saw her leave my Mistress…” He says smoothly. The mare raises an eyebrow. “Where did she go, Double Diamond?” She asks, lowering her tone. Double Diamond rises and looks back to his mistress, his cool blue eyes locking on hers. “She went into forest ma’am,” He replies. “Hunger eating away at her senses.” He adds. The mare grits her teeth again. A creature of many animals sitting beside her rubs her back to comfort her. “Now I’m sure it’s not as bad as we think dear, we all know Rainbow has a grip on her...hm hm, urges,” He says softly. The mare huffs. “The last time this happened, she drained over seven ponies, Discord! This isn’t okay!” The mare growls stubbornly. Discord chuckles. “Fine, I’ll go fetch her, Double Diamond, come with me,” Discord says, gesturing to the stallion. “Of course, Master,” He says with a bow before heading for the door. Discord lays a soft kiss on the mares forehead. “Just relax, I’ll make sure nothing happens,” He whispers. The mare sighs heavily. “Alright…,” She whispers. “Do be careful.” Discord dips his head with a sly grin and heads for the door. “Away we go!” He shouts before zipping out the door, Double Diamond on his tail. Rainbow Dash had taken down a deer, but it hadn’t been good enough. Her hunger still nagged at her gut, sending sharp pains through her dry throat. Locking her crimson eyes on another deer she prepared to pounce. Then behind her came a loud rustling that scared away her prey, making her spin around in a fit of rage. “How dare you make me lose m-- Master!” Rainbow stopped in her tracks as she realized whom had done it. Discord stood in front of her, his grin not dropping even an inch as he chuckles. “May I ask why you are out here?” He asks. Rainbow frowns. “I was starving, there was no way I could have made it even another second before I went insane!” She huffs, stomping a hoof to the forest floor. “Just let me--” “Master, there is somepony near us,” Double Diamond says, interrupting Rainbow Dash. Discord nods. “I know…,” He replies softly. “Hurry and get back to the cottage, Rainbow Dash...I’ll take care of this.” Discord says in a low whisper. Rainbow, not daring to disobey and order, nods and zips away. “It smells like the Princess,” Double Diamond says softly to his Master. Discord nods. “Twilight.” He mutters, signaling for Double Diamond to hide in the bushes behind them. The earth pony nods and quickly does as he is told. Twilight Sparkle then appears, walking out of the bushes and trying to get leaves from her mane. “Discord? What are you doing out here?” She asks as she spots him. Discord chuckles and snaps his fingers, instantly popping a glass of chocolate milk into his claw. “I could ask the same to you,Twily,” He says, placing the glass onto her head. Twilight takes it off with her magic. “I saw Rainbow Dash come in here, I came to make sure she was alright,” Twilight says.Discord raises an eyebrow. “Rainbow Dash? I haven’t seen her, and I’ve been here all night,” He lies smoothly. Twilight taps her chin. “Oh, I must have just thought I saw her…,” Twilight mumbles. Discord chuckles. “Must have,” He says. Twilight shrugs with a sigh. “Well I best get back, Spike may start to worry if I take to long,” Twilight says, turning away. “Yeahp,” Discord says swiftly. “Goodnight, Discord,” She says with a yawn, lighting her horn. “Nighty Night,” Discord says with a wave as she disappears, His face falls immediately after she leaves. “Well played, Master,” Double Diamond says as he walks out from the bush, cleaning the leaves and twigs from his mane and coat. Discord gives him a devious grin. “Indeed,” He purrs. “Welp let’s get back, they may start to wonder where we are.” Double Diamond dips his head. “Yes Master,” He says, standing beside Discord as he snaps his fingers and teleports them away. "Explain yourself." The mare addressed as mistress demands. Rainbow Dash bows her head, her rainbow mane falling in her face. "I was starving my Mistress...," Rainbow says softly, wincing as many in the room growl. "You don't think all of us are?" The mare hisses, gesturing to all the others whom sat around them, their blood red eyes locked on the rainbow maned mare. "I-I..." Rainbow tried to push the words from her throat but as she looked back to her mistress, the words faded. The mares eyes no longer remained their normal, gentle color... they now were a scary shade of red. Darker than the ones of her loyal servants, the mare pierced Rainbow with them as she locked them on her. "You cannot and will not go unpunished, Rainbow Dash," The mare says, rising from her seat and stepping forward slowly, her eyes never leaving off of Rainbow. Rainbow felt her hooves tremble with each step the mare took. "I have a feeling you know that all to well." "P-Please, I-I--" "Silence!" The mare hisses sharply, causing Rainbow to shut her mouth immediately. The mare raises Rainbow's chin with a hoof, making her meet her eyes. "I didn't want to do this, Rainbow Dash...but you leave me no choice." Suddenly, the mare hardens her stare and Rainbow couldn't look away. She itched to run from her mistress, wished to free herself from that stare. "Fall." The mare orders darkly, making Rainbow fall to the floor sharply, starring ahead without life in her eyes. "You will stay this way until I say otherwise," The mare says smoothly. "Rarity, take her from my sight." "Yes Mistress," Rarity says, taking Rainbow away. The mare sits back into her seat. "You all are dismissed for tonight, learn from what you have just experienced," The mare orders. The ponies in the room stiffly nod and leave. Discord pops back in with Double Diamond, with a swift bow, the earthpony leaves with the rest of the ponies. "You used it didn't you?," Discord asks softly. The mare nods. "I had no choice..." She whispers."I can't have her hurt again." He wraps her in a soft hug, petting her mane softly. "Shh, it's alright," He whispers. The mare sighs and relaxes. "We'll see....we shall see...." > Chapter ll - Why so Afraid? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity found herself starring into Rainbow Dash's blank eyes. She had been tasked to watch over the rainbow maned mare for a few hours, after her, Double Diamond would take over. "What does it feel like...?" Rarity whispered, knowing she was only speaking to herself, for Rainbow couldn't hear her. Rarity rose from her seat and walked to her friend, softly placing a hoof on her head. "To not have to worry about starvation...or the lust to kill. Even if for such a short time, it doesn't seem like a punishment...but a blessing..." Rainbow still couldn't hear her, but Rarity continued to speak to her, petting her mane softly. Rainbow would have never let Rarity be this close to her if she was conscious, she never let anypony near her in all honesty. Rarity's train of thought stopped as a soft knock came from the door. Blushing as she yanked her hoof away, she turned to see Double Diamond in the doorway. "I-I um...I..." She tried to explain but he just raises a hoof to silence her, smiling softly. "No need to explain," He says. "I know how you feel..." He adds with a sigh. "Wishing you could be like her..." Rarity blinks as she looks to him, his attention on Rainbow. Double Diamond was, without a doubt, the most silent pony of her Mistress and Master's coven. He never spoke endless he was called upon or spoken to. Rarity could do nothing but nod in agreement. "Well, go ahead and leave Miss Rarity, I can take over," He says, looking to her. "O-Okay...Thank you," She says and walks out of the room. Double Diamond settles into the chair that Rarity had left. He sighs and lays his head against the wall. Keep your patience.. A voice in his head told him as hunger stabbed his gut. Double Diamond would never doubt his Mistress or Master, but his hunger grew by the day. He was always the last to feed on the food Discord managed to catch without getting caught by the towns ponies, and it was beginning to take affect on him. "You're seeming to have trouble." A voice said from behind him, startling him as he whips around to see Discord. "N-No, Master, I-I'm not," He stammered as he tried to regain himself. Discord frowns, no doubt it was the most serious Double Diamond had ever seen him look, and it scared him. Discord walks to him and lifts his chin with a paw. "How about I help you out so that I don't lose my favorite of this lot," He says with a small smile. Double Diamond tilts his head. "What do you mean Master?" He asks. Discord leans forward for a moment. "I'm going to let you do something, something that cannot and will not leave this room," He mutters in Diamond's ear. "Do I make myself clear?" He asks, pulling away with a raised eyebrow. Double Diamond nods. "Yes Master," He says softly. Discord then lifts his paw to him. "You know what to do," Discord says. Double Diamond blinks in shock. "M-Master you couldn't possibly mean t--" "I do, now do it before I change my mind," Discord says sternly, leaving Double Diamond on the edge of his words. Taking a deep breath Double Diamond nods slowly. "Go on, we don't have all day pretty boy." Double Diamond moves forward, feeling himself close to Discord's lion paw, he shivers slightly as his lips brush against it's fur. Relax The voice said, and he did. Taking a deep breath, Double Diamond carefully leans all the way in and sinks a pair of his own dagger-like teeth into his Master's paw. Discord didn't seem to even flinch as he did so, like he'd done this many times before... But Double Diamond did not dare to ask...For right now, he was by no doubt the luckiest pony in this coven. ~Later~ Discord had finally managed to grab a bear out of the Everfree forest, but the mare feared it wouldn't be enough to feed the whole coven. Her mate must have noticed her distress because in a matter of seconds, he appeared beside her. "What's wrong my dearest?" He asks softly. She looks to him, frowning softly before turning back to the feeding coven. "Where should I start?" She asks softly. "At the beginning of course," He said, earning a small giggle out of her. "Of course...," She mutters. "Well first off...I fear that they aren't getting enough to eat..." Discord follows her gaze. "Ah, I can see why you fear that..." He mumbles, looking down to the set of fang marks that Double Diamond had left. Discord quickly hid it as she looked to him. "So you fear it as well?" She asks. He nods. "I do," He says softly. "I do not wish for any of them or us to go out and kill anypony..." She nods, it was as if he had read her mind... "Exactly, and Twilight keeps wandering so close to the cottage...I don't want her hurt...or turned..." The mare says softy. Discord sighs. "I promise you that she won't," Discord says, knowing that he may not have much faith in his own promise. The mare cuddles close to him, laying her head on his chest. He smiles softly and runs his paw softly through her mane, comforting her. "I'm happy I have you, Discord," She whispers. He chuckles. "Good."