> Fallout Equestria: the Jesters hanged Court > by Never-After-All-Readings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The first day..... she's coming right > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Statue of stone, A bleeding heart day of the Canterlot mega-spell Thick, dark, pink clouds rolled through the now dead Canterlot garden, having already choked every life from the soil, the cloud now seems to shift and roam, always looking for a new victim. It was at its thinnest around the outside of a now dead hedge maze, becoming thicker the closer you moved in, at the thickest point not even the dead could walk through its path. That was until you came to the center, where a small domed red magical shield sat. It was in this clearing that the statue of Discord laid half polished standing in the half panicked pose of one being turned to stone, and under his statue sat two crying fillies, hugging his legs for the protection that he couldn't fully provide. Discord scowled at himself, his own voice ringing through his head why save them at all, Discord, with the chaos that now rains in Canterlot, we had more than enough power to get out the voice was snide but no, we waste our carefully gain power on this stupid shield to protect PONIES Discord pushed back at the thought, but its words still lingered. Why did he save these ponies , why did he waste what little power he had, on such creatures, but as he looked down he knew, as much as he admitted to hate the idea. He had saved them, because he had become attached.  There, wrapped around his legs, were the daughters of a keeper that watched over his statue. It was Celestia's idea, giving him caretakers, so that he was not lonely in his stony prison. At first he hated this idea, loathed it with all of his being, but as time went on….. he found he became attached to the little things that came everyday to the little grove abd cleaned his statue, that read books to him, ponies that decorated the grove now called home, and mad it more chaotic, just for him. They were surely not friends, but they were his keepers, the keepers of Discord, and Discord now raged at his own weakness that this stone prison caused him. These two young fillies were all he could save. These TWO were all he could save. Discord remembered the explosion, the way it sounded, the near evil force that it gave off as it did so, then he sensed it, that pink cloud of dark, pony eating, necrophagic magic, and had only a second to raise a shield spell. Now many ponies thought that being in stone would weaken him, and it truly did. Discord in this state couldn't pull on the cosmic string like he could when free, but he was Discord the Lord of Chaos, he was the closest thing to a god this world had ever seen, and as such no matter what state he was in, the world would bow to him. It took control and focus that his crazy mind wouldn't even think to have, but he had done it. He was able to cast a small localized shield spell, not unlike the one that shining armor had used so long ago, but on a level that the unicorn could never hope to match. Discord only made one mistake, he let out a long sigh in his head as he cringed at the memory that was now scared into his brain for all time, he may be chaotic but he was never truly evil,and he was remind of that fact when he could save his actual caretaker, that pink mist was pure villainy. The dark blue mare had stepped out of the grove to get a new bucket and brush just before some attack on Canterlot, and only a second before this pink mist had showed up. He had raised the shield as far as he could without drawing too much of his own power, and as such the mare was caught out of its protection. He could still hear her muffled screams, he could still see that mare melt away as the bucket on her back melted and merged with her very flesh, how the brush in her mouth fused to her now locked jaw causing the mare to choke on her own bile, blood and melted flesh that got caught in her throat. It was a death that seemed quick if a little brutal, to those who saw it, but for that mare. Discord shuttered even through the stone, it must have been like going through hell. It was the noise that had brought Discord back to the present, as the two fillies hiding beneath his statue whimpered, sniffed, then cried, tears of fear streaking down their faces as they wailed for their mother. A mother that now laid dead just outside of his shield spell, he looked away from the two and eyed the body, it twitched. If Discords eyes could have widened they would have. He stared closer, the two fillies cried and the body moved once more, it was as one of the girls screamed her mother's name that the body truly moved in force. It stood, but its movements were wrong, they were all wrong, it looked more like a puppet on strings then the way a live pony would move. The, should have been very dead, mare turned her eyes bloodshot and colorless eyes, the cloud haven eaten any life they once had, to the screaming fillies under his legs. It seemed to waste only a second in trying to open its muzzle anx unluckly, for all present the brushed was still fused with their muzzle. That didn't to stop the thing from trying to open it, ripping some of it own flesh open to show her destroyed jaw to the world as mix between a moan and a scream poured from the opening it created. It was at this point that the two wailing fillies turned to see what had caused such a commotion, and saw their mother. Discord watched as the two little fillies, with no pony to truly stop them, ran to the edge of the shield spell to save their already dead mother; he knew they wouldn't be able to leave and that thing couldn't enter, but they didn't need to see what was coming next. None of them did. The melted mare turned the side showing off the bucket that had melted into her, the fillies screamed and Discord could only join as a silent observer. Parts of the mare's organs spilled out on the ground and she shifted dragging them behind her as she stepped towards the shield, towards the two fillies, the bucket that once held the soapy water that cleaned his statue, now holding the blood and pieces of the dead mare's organs. While the bucket was fusing with her it must have ripped a hole in her side, exposing to the world her blackened dead insides. She jerked forward, twitching as she slammed into the shield, spraying blackened blood, and flesh over the spell. The two fillies could only scream running back to his statue to hide under his legs. The noise only agitated the walking corpse, it backed up on its four wobbly hooves before running forward, slamming into the shield with more force. Discord could hear bones snapping as it did so, yet the only sound to leave its muzzle was a grunt of frustration, anger, it let out a crazy howl, no it was the wail of insanity driven hunger. The mare tried to stand on its broken legs, only to fall back onto its already broken face, finally it seemed to give up on the task, instead dragging its body close to the shield. When it was close enough it slammed its hooves on the red surface, and after that didn't work, it started using its head, smearing more gore. It's constant thudding was only interrupted by the occasional groan or moan that came from its now smashed head. It was the last hit that did the creature in, a loud sloppy Crack filled the now silent grove. She had killed herself. Discord could only hope that she was in a better place, as have no concept of death, he could only guess. He turned his attention back to the little fillies, he truly took a look now, the eldest of the two still didn't have a cutie mark, her light blue fur blank where one should have been, and the younger was sucking on her hoof tears streaming down her white fur. Well this was not good, he was dealing with children, Discord didn't do well with children, but he had to do something. He focused on his Magic pulling it in then forming it under him, next to the two fillies appeared two glasses of chocolate milk and a plate of cookies, hopefully enough of a distraction to keep them from completely panicking.. With the children at least a little distracted Discord turned his attention back to the shield and what was going on around them, contrary to popular belief and much to his displeasure, he was not  omnipotent. This stone prison didn't help that fact, truthfully he could only *see* as far as his little grove, which for now had his protection, but his magic wasn't unlimited, he couldn't keep this up forever. Luckily he was in Canterlot, and Discord knew for a fact that nether Luna or Celestia would be dumb enough to die in this cloud, they would come, they would recuse all of their little ponies, including these two, then he could go back to hating them. He felt it before he saw or heard it, the very ripping of reality around him, it didn't just play with the cosmic strings, this magic cut them, tangled them in a ball, tied the ends, then pulled the whole thing taught. This magic broke the very laws of the universe and not in any good way. He saw the results of the magic next, as a pink vortex of dark magic surrounded the mare, who had died not but a moment ago. He could hear as her bones reset, her flesh mended and stretched back into place, and then what you could loosely call life flowed back into her, before just dropping her back on the ground. It took only seconds for the dead to rise and throw itself against the shield once more to start the cycle over again, die, come back, attack, die. He looked down to the fillies who had started whimpering again, and thought to himself "just holdout and wait for Celestia, she would come, she always did" Yet as Discord reassured himself a nagging thought caught in his mind. S̵͉͂ḧ̴̛̬̣́ê̴̢̹ ̴͙̯̀̕i̴̡̝̓̈s̶̺͒ ̶͓͘ͅc̸̬̾͝ö̵̭́̊m̶̗̋̽i̸̛̮̚n̵̬̒̾g̵͔̺̓̀ ̸̙͛͘r̴̢̜̋̚i̴̛̫͝g̴̠̾ḩ̶̖̋̋t̵͉̊? > Day four... She isn't coming > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A statue of stone, A bleeding heart A poisoned throne, A lonely start 4 Days after Canterlot Mega-spell Discord grimaced as he released the buildup of magic that he was holding, then watched as a ball of red flew into the air, past the shield spell, and over the pink mist that he and the two fillies were trapped in. It would most likely be the last time he cast the flare spell, at first he was using it to try and get Celestia’s attention, to say that somepony was still alive, but at this point it was something that was drawing in the wrong attention. He looked out at the writhing jerking forms of other melted ponies that were now beating on the shield along with the first mare.  we should just leave them to die, a voice in Discord's mind said, in a way that he started to doubt that it was truly his own. Celestia should have come by now, these children are not our problem! We should be out there wrecking havoc while we have the chance Discord did his best to push the voice away from the front of his head, he had wasted this much time and power already, he was going to see this to the end. Celestia would be here soon, she always came. Not this time the voice pushed back with doubt, not this time. Discord mentality shook his head clearing away the darker thoughts that were clouding his mind, for once in his life he needed to focus on something other than himself. He owed the poor zombified mare still beating herself to death on his shield that much, Speaking of which, Discord turned his attention to said shield. He had to reduce its size over the past four days, reducing the already small area the children had to an even smaller one, not that they moved from the base of his statue.  He had been using too much magic making sure they had at least had enough water, food they could live without for a little, he couldn't waste his limited magic on such things. Yet no matter how he tried to what ration the magic he had, maintaining a shield spell that was strong enough to repel the mist and the zombie ponies beating on it was no easy task. It was made even worse when he had to make it a dampen sound as well. One of those things showed up with a radio melted into its leg, and the only song that played was one of death, he feared the strain it would put on him. Discord paused a moment looking to his reserves, for being trapped in stone, his magic pool was quite large, if Celestia came soon, he would still have enough power to free himself. If she didn't, well he dared not think too much down that path, he would hold out until she arrived, free us you fool, while you can Discord tried to ignore the voice but thought on it, with all the power he held now he could free himself. He would have to contrate it in one place to break free of the stone, and that would mean dropping his shield. Killing the two fillies he has been trying to protect. Luna and Celestia aren't coming Discord, free yourself while you have the chance, forget the ponies, they don't matter Discord fought back against the thought, looking down at the sleeping fillies cuddled together under his statue, why was he protecting them, did it even matter. That's it, they’re just ponies, they don't matter. what matters is getting free, what matters is our throne, and our new chaos capital waiting right in front of us. Discord seemed to think about it, why he was wasting power on the little weak ponies below him, his vision went a little green as he focused on them. H could feel the shield spell slip slightly, only to be stopped a split second. The youngest filly was struggling in her sleep. Her legs flailed as tears falling through closed eyes, it was her older sister that moved to comfort her cuddling closer holding the smaller pony. The action made him stopped instantly, pouring magic back into the shield, he thought agian on why he would do this, a memory came flooding back. He looked up the green disappearing as the memory played out across the grove, his keeper was cleaning his statue as the two little fillies ran about the green grass playing a game they only knew the rules to. Their mother smiling as she washed a large bird dropping off Discords head. He had been ignoring what most of had been said to him over the day, until one of the fillies latched on to his leg his small squeaky voice barley reaching his ears. "You can't get me now, Mr. Discord will protect me" she looked up at him pretending to be scared of her sister who from the way she was acting was a dragon, that was until the young lost her grip and fell from his statue scraping herself up on the way. Discord should have found such a thing a little amusing, but instead he found himself, worried, of course being stone ment he couldn't show it, not that he would want to of course. Their mother on the other hand had drooped almost Immediately to the crying child's side to comfort her. The same mare that had once loved her children, comforted them when they fell, was now trying to kill them as she beat her broken body against his sheild. If Discord did nothing, if he didnt save them, then who would have. If he had done nothing, they would have died, HE would have killed them, he couldn't kill, he had never truly killed. What was the point in such a thing, you couldn't have fun with dead ponies. He searched his mind, those dark murderous thoughts were not his own, something was in his head. He dug around in the empty sock drawers and inside out safes littered in his head, looking, searching for whatever darker force had hid itself way in the back of his mind. He recoiled when he found it, a piece of that damned cloud, it must have snuck in while his magic pool opened to cast the shield spell. The invasive magic was small, but for its size it was staggeringly dark, it writhed and shifted with a hungry hatred of the living. Discord snapped his fingers, a cage forming around the pink mass, it hissed as he did so, not even disguising its voice spoke dark thoughts and magic seeping from it words. Discord almost wished it had kept his voice, for now the cloud spoke in a million different voices, some of the voices speaking to early or to late, others not even saying words just screaming in the background. An eternity of pain ringing out from the very core of their souls I̸t̷ ̶s̵e̸e̵m̸s̷ ̴t̶h̸a̶t̷ ̵y̶o̴u̸ ̴h̶a̸v̵e̴ ̴f̷o̷u̶n̸d̷ ̷u̷s̸,̵ ̶D̸i̸s̷c̴o̷r̸d̴. Discord backpedaled at the sounds not ready at what had come out, his ears ringing in surprise, but quickly as it was lost, he regained his composure. He studied the dark magic closer, poking at it with a stick once or twice to see what it would do. The cloud snapped at this doing, it looked like it was on the defense, which was probably for the best in its situation. It's voice rang out again, somehow managing a bargaining tone g̷i̸v̸e̵ ̸u̵s̸ ̶t̸h̸e̴ ̷p̸o̵n̶i̵e̴s̵ ̴a̸n̷d̵ ̷I̷ ̷w̴i̵l̷l̴ ̷s̵e̷t̴ ̸y̸o̸u̸ ̵f̵r̷e̶e̸,G̵i̷v̶e̸ ̴u̸s̸ ̴t̵h̴e̷ ̴p̴o̴n̵i̶e̷s̸,̷ ̴a̴n̶d̵ ̷w̵e̸ ̶w̴i̴l̷l̵ ̵g̴i̷v̴e̶ ̵y̸o̴u̴ ̷C̷a̴n̷t̸e̵r̸l̵o̸t̷. Discord stroked his beard as he walked in circles, thinking as he did. This was dark magic, very dark magic, magic that not even he liked to openly touch, he would have to be careful. He stared at the cloud looking at it cautiously before he stopped suddenly and snapped his fingers. He was back in his statue form, the fillies were still sleeping and the shield was holding, he had time for some fun, he had time for a game of revenge. He laughed as he reentered his head. The crazy reality of Discords mind changed, The cloud and Discord were instantly placed into a large enpty courtroom, magical ethereal chains appearing around the pink cloud. It floated confused and careful its group of voices sounding concernedW̷h̶a̵t̴ ̶i̸s̷ ̸t̷h̴e̴ ̷m̵e̶a̵n̴i̴n̵g̴ ̵o̵f̶ ̵t̸h̶i̷s̶,̶ ̷D̵i̶s̷c̸o̷r̴d̵ Discord for his part said nothing, letting the cloud only guess at was going on. Discord waited a moment before he pulling off his iconic flash of light and appearing at the judges stand, he had on a powdered curled wig with a black and white checkered robes. No matter the situation, Discord would always be Discord. He slammed a gavel into the wooden stand, a duck squeak sound through the room. A multitude of Discords appeared in the stands and jury seats, some in dresses other in suits, one of them in a old potato sack attire. He stood as soon as he appeared talking in an angered tone “off with it cloud head”, before the judge Discord could even say anything the jury of Discords and the stands Discords started to mumble, ether shaking their heads in approval or disagreement. The gavel banged a few more times as the judge tried to get ahold of his fake court, each time it landed it made a random animal noise. It took only a moment for his clones to calm themselves, and for Discord to hear himself speak, he began. He turned to a smaller version of himself that using a rubber chicken to write was happening on a stone tablet, upside down, and backwards. “What are the crimes, of the accused? '' he asked, as he unfiled the papers in front of him, mixing them up in a jumbled mess, even taking a bite out of one as the did. The smaller Discord stood throwing the tablet behind him, it shattered like glass as it hit a wall “ the accused faces the charges of, mind trespassing, attempted mind control, having a stupid voice, and being an evil Cliché" the smaller Discord then seemed to get a little more serious, his eyes glowing with a the fire of hatred ”along with the attempted murder of what is ours" when he finished speaking and got the nod from judge Discord, the little Discord didn't so much as sit down as he did reverse time, repeating his action backwards so that as he sat the stone tablet reformed in his claws. The judge Discord nodded his head as he only half listened to all but the last part, looking to the cloud after he had finished “what what to have to say in defense, I̵ ̸a̴m̷ ̴g̵o̸i̶n̶g̷ ̵t̸o̴ K̵͇̦̍͛I̴̞̞̐L̴̬͐͑̕L̵͙̋̂͘ ̶t̸h̴o̵s̷e̸ ̷f̴i̷l̴l̴i̸e̶s̵ ̵d̴i̶s̷c̵o̸r̸d̵ ̵y̶o̶u̷ ̴c̵a̴n̷t̵ ̶s̶t̴o̴p̵ ̶m̴e̶,̶ ̴y̷o̶u̴ ̸a̶r̸e̸ ̶t̵o̷ ̸w̵e̴a̶k̸. The cloud started laughing at the hundreds of voices it had joined in at random times. Ï̶̫ ̷̲͝h̴̥̔ȃ̴̙ṿ̸͛ë̷̟́ ̷͓͝a̷̭̋l̷͠ͅṛ̸̋ę̷͌à̵̤d̸͓̚ỷ̴͓ ̸͕͌k̶̢̆i̸̬͑l̸͓̄l̴̡̔ ̸̼̊Ç̸̊ẹ̷͠ḻ̸͘e̶̖͝s̵͎͂ẗ̸̗ĭ̵̩a̴̻͘ ̶̺̋a̵̰̔ǹ̷̺d̴̹͌ ̵̦͆L̴̦̈́ü̴͎ṅ̵͚ǎ̸̩,̶̱̈ ̶̼͆t̶͔́h̶̗͑e̵͈͒y̴̪͗ ̸̭͆c̶̥̅a̵̘͒n̴̙͋t̵̞̽ ̶̿ͅs̶͎̀a̴̙̚v̵̬͝e̸̗͠ ̸̢͛y̶͖͝ơ̶̭ȕ̷̞,̷̥̽ ̵̛̗t̷̳̐h̶̬̒ȩ̸̿ŷ̴͈ ̶͈̉â̸͓ŗ̵̀e̴̛̥ṇ̵̚'̵̻̎t̵̢̕ ̷̺̕c̵̙̎o̷̻͝m̸̲͝i̶̝̒n̴͕̈́g̶̨͆ . Discord yawned as the rant went on taking a bite from the case file on his desk “so guilty then, and shall we had ranting and lies to the list of the danmed” he banged the gavel down this time a gong sounded. The room changed, the cloud shifting sizes as it sat in a cage on a kitchen counter, A large discord standing over it. A camera floated in front of them as Discord put on a chefs apron “hello and welcome to binging with Discord” he shook a cookbook as he spoke “on today's episode will be make evil pink cloud cake” he picked up the cage showing it off to the camera “first you will need an evil pink cloud, I know they are rare” discord spoke spinning the cage as he did so “but just check you local Canterlot, I am sure they have some in stock” Discord was about to place the cage down when his mind shook, the real world was calling, he had run out of time for games. The cloud laughed as the kitchen faded from view only leaving discord holding its cage s̵͛ͅọ̴̽o̶͙͂n̸̺͌ ̸̥̀I̵͓̓ ̵͔̌w̴̗͑ȉ̷̲ļ̶̊l̸̺̀ ̴̙́g̴͈̿ě̷̹t̴̼̔ ̸͈͋i̴͇̽n̸͇͝ ̵̣̓D̴͕̆i̷̛̱s̷͎͝c̵̫̿o̵͔̓r̵̤̈d̷̠͝,̵̬͗ ̶̠̔Y̶̠̐Ó̴͜Ū̵̙ ̵̪͛C̶͉͊Ȧ̵̰N̸͈̂T̶̝͛ ̴͖̏S̸̟̕A̴͉̚V̸͇͐E̴̪̐ ̸͓̋Ţ̵̍H̶̬̕E̵̺̋M̸͕̆,̷̭̿ ̷̲̉C̶̭̈́E̴̡͂L̵͖̍Ě̸̝S̸̭͛T̵͇͝I̴͇͐A̶̖̓ ̵͎̋Í̸̫S̶̪̕Ṅ̷̫T̷̈ͅ ̶̟̽C̷̹͒Ö̶͈́M̴͈̈́Ị̶̎Ñ̷̢Ḡ̷͕,̸̭̐ ̶͈̒I̷͓̎ ̸̧̓H̶͔̒A̴̘̐V̷̙̇Ê̶̳ ̴͔͐Å̵͈L̸͓̎R̵̙̅E̷̟̊A̵̼̾D̷͕́Y̷͚͗ ̶̣̐Ẅ̴̘Ô̶͚N̸͙̄ . Discord said nothing as he snapped, a caldron appearing before them, he dropped the cloud in then snapped again a can appearing in his hand. It was colorful and it shined with a magic touch. “harmonized pony rainbows” Discord said tearing open the can and pouring it on the evil pink mist “for all those hard to remove evils (patent pending)” The cloud screamed speaking in tongues that most would never know, Discord paid it no mind as he watched it contort and stretch, getting ripped apart as the magic did its work. That was until the cloud jerked to the right hard enough to tip the caldorn, freeing itself from the rainbows cleansing effect, the cloud started to fade as it left Discords mind screaming as it didI̴ ̴A̴M̴ ̶G̴O̷I̷N̸G̴ ̵T̷O̷ ̶B̵A̸C̵K̶ ̶F̶O̸R̷ ̶T̵H̸E̵M̴ ̷D̵I̸S̵C̸O̴R̸D̶,̵ ̶A̶N̸D̴ ̴W̵H̵E̶N̸ ̶I̸ ̷D̶O̷,̴ ̵Y̶O̶U̸ ̵W̸I̸L̶L̷ ̴W̶A̷T̴C̷H̴ ̷A̴S̴ ̵I̷ ̶T̶E̴A̷R̶ ̸T̸H̵E̶M̵ ̴A̸P̴A̸R̴T̵ ̶I̷N̷ ̶F̶R̴O̴N̶T̷ ̶O̴F̷ ̷Y̵O̸U̴ It was with another shake of his mind, that Discord pulled himself from his head to see that was the matter, it was just as he thought, the shield was cracking if only slightly. He pulled on his magic, repairing and shrinking the shield further. The two fillies were still asleep, not knowing what was really happening, just knowing that for now they were safe. Discord drew on his pride, he would keep them alive, and if. No WHEN Celestia came, they were going to have a very long discussion on what evil she had hidden and locked away that discord needed to know about, because at this point, it was making his life stressful, and Discord doesn't do stressful. Celestia would come, she always did, but with the clouds last message Discord did feel a little doubt C̶̭̈́E̴̡͂L̵͖̍Ě̸̝S̸̭͛T̵͇͝I̴͇͐A̶̖̓ ̵͎̋Í̸̫S̶̪̕Ṅ̷̫T̷̈ͅ ̶̟̽C̷̹͒Ö̶͈́M̴͈̈́Ị̶̎Ñ̷̢Ḡ̷͕,̸̭̐ ̶͈̒I̷͓̎ ̸̧̓H̶͔̒A̴̘̐V̷̙̇Ê̶̳ ̴͔͐Å̵͈L̸͓̎R̵̙̅E̷̟̊A̵̼̾D̷͕́Y̷͚͗ ̶̣̐Ẅ̴̘Ô̶͚N̸͙̄  > I̸n̷ ̴T̸h̴e̷ ̶E̷n̶d̸ ̴I̸t̵ ̴N̵e̵v̶e̸r̸ ̵M̷a̵t̸t̸e̸r̸e̸d̴ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A statue of stone, A bleeding heart A poisoned throne, A lonely start Blood flown, On imprisoned art now, Death must play his part 8 Days after Canterlot Mega-spell Discord for once in his long, long, long life, didn't know what to do. He had no more magic, he was quickly running out of hope, and the shield was starting to fail. He had done his best to keep it going, he had shrunk it as little as possible, for as long as possible, but now he couldn't shrink it any further. If he did the young fillies would have no more room to breathe. The shield was already at the very base of his statue prison, protecting himself and the two fillies, the once small area of his grove that the shield covered had been choked to death slowly as he was forced to give it away to the cloud, and dead creatures that stalked Canterlot.  He looked around the now dead grove, the once lush grass that had a bright green glow of sunny days, now sat dead brown. The once neatly tended and thick hedge maze that hid him from the world, was nothing but twigs reaching from the ground, looking more like the skeletons of the dead, then the green leaves and followers it once was. He had to look hard, but he could still see it, the remains of a picnic that had been set up in the hopes of fun times and happy memories. The ruby red of the blanket that it was set up to take place on was still visible, though barely. It was half eaten away by the acidic pink gunk that wormed its way into everything the cloud touched, the food that was to be enjoyed sat rotting never to be touched by living hooves, for all his caretaker prepared for, this event was not even a possibility. That they would die that day was never something that had crossed the young mare's mind. A realization hit Discord, it hit him with the same force that only The Elements of Harmony could replicate, a fear and pain he had not felt since his second imprisonment. Discord just realized he kept referring to her as it, or mare, did he not know her name, he racked his brain trying to come up with a name that he had never once cared to hear, let alone learn. He pulled his mind open and dug as deep as he could go, he pulled forth a memory of his caretaker as a filly, her mother only bringing her to the grove because the babysitter she had quit at the last minute. It was not a good first meeting, for her mother at least, having to drag her daughter crying from the grove when she was told it was time to leave. He remembered that fillies first words ever spoken to him dancing around his statue with a sing-song voice “Mr. Funnyface, Mr. Funnyface”. She couldn't have been no older than four, and yet she didn't fear him, no she liked him. It was everyday after that she would visit him, and everyday she would do something different, bringing with her some new story or joke, that to even discord was good, funny even, making him wish that he could laugh or even give off a small good chuckle. Yet for all that, he still couldn't bring the mare's name forth, he pulled himself from his head and looked out into the crowd of the dead to find her, he didn't have to look far, as she was one of the few that had the honor of being right up against his shield. She dragged and beat and moaned as she eyed the fillies under him, her fillies, that she once not long ago, loved more than anything in the world, and for all his power, Discord couldn't remember her name. Discord looked down at the two now panicked ridden fillies hiding under him, he wrecked his brain again thinking back to the day that he was shown to them and told their names, yet for all his will. He did not know their names, why had he ignored that mare on such things as this, why had he not just listened to the simple sentence that she sputtered at him. Discord screamed in rage at himself, even with what was going on, as the very seconds that these fillies had to live in the world ticked down, Discord argued with himself. Why did he even care, why was he saving their lives, in the end that would die from old age or some random cruelty of life he couldn't stop, and just like all the others they would die and leave him here, alone. A crack echoed through the shield, Discord took no notice still raging with himself. His magic pool was emptying fast now as the cloud and dead tore away on his shield, sensing the weakness that now spilled out into the air like a dinner bell, the shield cracked louder this time, Discord again took no notice, as he ripped apart his memories, remembering all the times that he had spent with them, those two fillies were practically raised in the grove that his statue  called home. They played games under his watchful eyes and swung from his arms on the sunny days that would allow for such things, helping their mother when something was too tough for her alone to do. He pulled up a particularly emotional memory of a time that the mare had told him of the bullying that the two fillies had suffered at school because of her position at the castle “the royal bird poo cleaner” he heard her voice clear with pain and sadness. Discord had raged at the time, it was only now that he understood why. Those fillies were his. He couldn't deny it any longer, He cared for the mare and her fillies like he hadn't in all of his life, they were his, and he would be damned if something was going to happen on his watch. Discord let out a scream, not one of anger, or madness, or fear, but one of sadness. His mind whipped and churned as he broke down, and began to beg, for any pony to come. He cared not what he was doing, if it meant saving the lives of the two fillies under him, his two fillies, he would kneel before Celestia herself and beg for their lives, but he now knew the truth that his mind had been telling him. Celestia wasn't coming, it was all up to him, he was filled with a new will. He could save them there had to be a way, then came the noise that would haunt Discord in his darkest nightmares, with the sound of shattering glass the shield had finally broken, and with it came a world of Silence. Nothing moved, not the fillies, or the dead, even the pink cloud didn't rush in as the shield gave way, this was his chance, Discord did the only thing he could do. He tried to free himself, then it hit him, he had not enough power. The cloud knew this, that why it didn't strike. Whatever dark force lingered in that cloud's sick magic, wanted to let discord feel what it was like to be powerless, to fail. The fillies were almost comatose with fear, they didn't move, or scream, the only sign that pointed to life was the tears flowing down their muzzles. Discord could only watch as one of the dead took a small, hesitant step forward, Discord once again started to beg as he watched. The mother of the two fillies was the first to approach grabbing the smallest and youngest of the two, who let out nothing but a whimper at the touch, opening her eyes to see what was happening Discord tried not to watch, but he couldn't look away, couldn't block his ears, couldn't save his daughters. He watched as the Filly opened her eyes, looking upon her dead mother. She didn't even have time to scream as the mares muzzles ripped into the fillies neck like a ravaged beast, spraying the crimson red blood of the child over Discords statue. No amount of dark magic or forced will could hold back the dead and pink cloud, they rushed forward into the feast, tearing apart the two sisters, leaving nothing but bones and blood, most of which laid on Discords statue, a reminder of his failure. It didn't take long after the act for the dead to wander away, the only thing staying being the mother, she seemed to stuck near the entrance to the grove unmoving as she stared Discord in the face, a piece of her daughters coat hanging from her rotted broken jaw, a present perhaps form the dark force that lived in the cloud. A gift of days past, of lies told, and of dreams that now only lived in the minds of the dead. It was in the silence of his grove that the smallest of cracking sounds could be heard, as the tears of a weeping god, met with its master's only true failure, the blood of innocent foals.