Here's chapter 2, a little bit earlier than expected but you guys deserve it~~ ;) (Next chapter will come around October 4th. Stay tuned~~)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and its characters © Hasbro
Chapter 2
*~*~*Celestia*~*~*
Discord was still by the window of her room. She looked at him; her curiosity towards him was something that never truly left her.
He looked regal. Back straight with his hands resting there, one holding the other, eyes forward, focused. She couldn't help but wonder if he truly was a righteous king. He sure acted the part, however, she knew better than to believe the heavy expression he wore. And as if by cue, he disappeared from the window.
Having years in dealing with this man, she turned on her heels and faced him. He looked silly now, as he truly was, he had his arms held high and his mouth open, no doubt he wished to give her a playful scare. Her gaze came upon him mercilessly, he would state what he wanted and he would leave or face her punishment. She was too tired for this. Discord's mouth closed after a while and his arms dropped eventually but the expression he gave her made her eyes wide in confusion. Was it pity? No. Concern? He was worried about her? But why? Was her exhaustion that obvious?
His nervous eyes analyzed her features and he swallowed hard. Did she really look that bad?
*~*~*Discord*~*~*
Discord scanned her features as his throat dried from worry. Before he began to care less about his subjects, he was …somewhat a caring king. Nothing like Celestia, good heavens no, but he knew the immense strain that ruling over an entire world could be. And she was always trying to keep the world happy and harmonious. Even the years he spent incased in stone could not deprive him of that knowledge. Unfortunately, her motherly outlook on Equestria meant never-ending paperwork, meetings, public appearances and anything more to ensure everyone's well-being. The princess endured it splendidly yet he could not help but wonder if any of them knew how much of a toll it was being on her. No of course not. He balled his hands into fists. She would never let them know. His lips descended into a scowl, giving one deadly glance at the window where all the targets of his rage were asleep before returning to her.
Here she was before him, dark rings under her heavy eyes and an increasing difficulty to stay awake, let alone to face him properly. He knew well that if he started a fight she would end it tired or not.
Good thing he wasn't planning on starting one.
However…
"Sit Celestia." It came more of an order than a request, then again, he was getting too worried for her, far too angry at her subjects' neglect about her state and he knew her to be one of the most stubborn women he knew.
"No!" There it was! He had to use a great amount of will not to smile at the fact that one thousand years passed and she was just like he remembered her.
"I'm not leaving!" His face was uncharacteristically serious. He only used that look when he was extremely unsatisfied with someone's behavior. It was meant to scare one into submission and although it did scare her, she never would submit to him. Nor did he want it; she was so much fun being rebellious. "And you are going to sit" With a snap of his fingers she was at her bed. He sighed heavily as he shook his head disapprovingly "Tsk tsk tsk Celestia. You never knew how to treat yourself right." he raised a hand as soon as she was about to protest. She fell silent. "We could take all eternity in this as you know but one thousand years incased in stone and then some more thanks to your loyal friend/subjects have deeply shortened my patience. You will hear me, Tia! And by everything that is Holy you will, for once in your life, consider your own health! I mean look at you! You should know well that even beings gifted with immortality can fade away if they are not careful! I taught you that much!"
Sadness filled his features as his chaotic mind processed a possible life without her. He would not have it. He turned her immortal so he wouldn't have to face it. A life without her would be meaningless and too painful to bear.
He still remembered the day where he found out it was possible to lose her…
And how that simply couldn't be…
*~*~*Celestia*~*~*
Being in Discord's castle for over two months now was not without surprises. This time she woke up to the sound of his voice. He called out to her in the gentlest tone he could manage, yet he could not restrain the laughter in his tone that could mean only one thing. He was about to prank her. Sensing her limbs were free from any weird weight or magic she decided to act awake. She opened her eyes being greeted by his wide grin. Nothing was happening so she decided to sit up straight when she heard it!
When Luna was a toddler, Celestia and her mother would often be the targets of food projectiles or even her plates, so it was only natural that the older princess developed reflexes to dodge or even block the hits with an efficiency of a pro. So when a pie came flying to her face, her hand arrived to the rescue and changed the pie's trajectory to the side hitting a very surprised Discord full in the face. Princess Celestia's eyes went wide as the scene seemed to come to a halt and her head had some difficulty accessing the situation. Her hand… Pressed the pie that was meant for her…. Into King Discord's face.
She was pressing a pie in Discord's face.
Pressing a pie against KING Discord's face!
SHE was pressing a CHOCOLATE PIE right into the SUPREME RULER OF EQUESTRIA'S FACE!
She withdrew her hand swiftly and her mouth opened to utter her apologies when she saw his shoulders move up and down. She panicked! Was he choking?
To her surprise he removed the pie from himself laughing hard.
"I can't believe—I - And then you-! – And then it-! HAHAHAH!"
She stared at him and smiled fondly at the slightly older man before she gave a chuckle herself as he cleaned his face with his strange and long bi-forked tongue.
"Hmm~~ Chocolate! My fav! Well my dear~~ Well played!" He grinned "I'll leave you now to your morning routine. I trust you can find your way to the dining table yes?" She nodded giving him a challenging grin. He smirked delighted at her reaction and teleported himself away. "Don't keep me waiting now~~"
"Why?" Came her reply "For what I saw, you already had breakfast!" His laugh filled the room as she smiled. It was such a contagious laugh.
"That was merely an appetizer my dear. I need a lot more to call it a proper breakfast." A sound that resembled a loud stomach grumble was heard in the room and all she could do was laugh.
"Alright, alright. I'll be there in a moment."
As soon as she began undressing, his presence was gone. She had to appreciate his gentleman ways. Even though he would get flushed at the mere mention of such a description. She couldn't quite figure why he didn't like things as manners. He even went to the extents of ignoring her when she'd use her polite speech at him. When she'd confront him about it he would make a dramatic disgusted face at such an approach claiming it was just for strangers and that he didn't want them to be strangers. She remembered blushing deeply red at his remark but turned away before she could hear him mock her and immersed herself into training "common" speech so she could get closer to that ever curious man.
Once she was through with her morning routine she used her magic to lace and scan every part of the castle till she found his presence. There it was! Thankfully it wasn't far, then again, she had her bed and things in the kitchen. She chuckled slightly at how something like this became normal to her as the time passed in this castle.
In her first days, she woke up alarmed everyday for her bed to appear in just about every place. She appeared in the hall, the stairs, the ceiling and even in Discord's large closet where he opened its door and sleepily tried to grab a set of clothes that she practically handed to him before he actually noticed she was there. There was even one time where she woke up in the bathroom and eyed in shock as a very naked Discord entered the bathroom to take a shower. Both of them blushed intensely as she averted her gaze as fast as she could and he ran in the opposite direction tripping in the bathroom rug in the process, cursing his encounter with the floor and struggling to close the bathroom door as swiftly as the whole situation allowed.
Setting such naughty thoughts off of her mind, she set her way to the dining room where Discord awaited her leaning his rear on the table. As soon as she entered he smiled brightly at her and she reciprocated.
"Well!" He placed his hands together and rubbed them "Let's eat!"
The table was immediately filled with breakfast food and Celestia took her seat, at the end of the table in front of Discord. Today however, he quickly placed his hand near hers, steadying her chair in place. She offered him a confused look which he just pointed to the two chairs next to each other.
"I don't like the usual distance between us. You're here for two months now! I believe that gives you more than the right to sit next to me."
She smiled brilliantly at this and he went around her and pulled her chair for her. She analyzed the chair thoughtfully and he sniggered.
"No tricks! Honest!" She let one of her eyebrows rise but her smirk let him know she was playful "Awww come on!" He patted the chair hurriedly "I'm starving!"
She laughed and sat. He smiled as he set her chair in place and sat at her left side; both flushed a little red at the meaning of it. She had become his right arm.
*~*~*Discord*~*~*
They began eating in comfortable silence. He still hadn't stop smiling and occasionally risked a glance over to her. He had come to like her presence in his life. So much so in fact that his previous plans to turn her grey were unthinkable now. His Celestia, grey? He shook his head at the horror. He came to love her adventurous spirit, her laugh and her curiosity towards him and, he had to admit, he had grown to love her flowing pink hair. It reminded him of cotton candy, one of his many favorite deserts.
He was happy here with her and that fact hadn't come unnoticed to his advisors and subjects. He was giving them less attention which fortunately for them it meant less pranks. They all just assumed that the princess was going to be their queen. Not that he disliked the idea, quite the contrary; he could see them sharing these moments forever. The sad part of it all was that those assumptions would often lead his advisors and nobles to try and teach the princess or worse, gain her favor so they could manipulate her. Nevertheless he had taught them otherwise, warning them to stay away with clear threats - where Celestia's ears couldn't reach - or with deadly glares that promised hardship if they wished to pursue. She however found the art to rule a kingdom fascinating and therefore she worked hard to learn all that there could be to it. To his dismay, that meant she would spend less time with him. A thought that made him so annoyed that every subject that would cross him cowered in fear or promptly got out of his way.
She finally caught his gaze and took him away from his own thoughts. "Discord? Is something wrong?"
"Oh…um….No!" He smiled goofily as his mind was still trying to reach the "now" "I… I was just wondering that it'd be nice" 'Stupid brain what are you doing? This is so not the time to turn my mouth against me.' He thought and said "to be like this forever." 'I hate you brain! Of all the days you could be less chaotic this one couldn't be it!' he preached mentally.
"That would be lovely." She smiled. His eyes rapidly on her as he almost choked at her words. But there was sadness in her eyes that he couldn't get it. He wanted to know what it was and brush it away so it could stop staining her features but he had to be patient.
"I don't see a reason why it shouldn't." he put up a proud front as he let the very concept of patience in his mind get kicked in its rear.
"Well…" She blushed deeply letting some of her hair shield her from his gaze. He had to battle every urge he had to remove it from her face so he could see her sudden shyness fully. "It- It would be a good life to live."
"Wouldn't it?" He laughed.
"Yes." She then frowned and he stared at her expectant, his very breathing halted just so he could fully listen to what was troubling her "I'd love to be with you and my family forever. But as you know all things die."
Discord choked as his lungs reminded him he needed to breathe. The princess stared at him in concern for his health but he just placed a palm turned to her, signaling that he was ok and just needed a minute. After the choking had stopped he turned to her, with his back raised and watery eyes from the ordeal.
"Excuse me?" His voice came raspier than he had predicted. She offered him a puzzled look at his words. He interpreted as sign that she didn't get what he had said and was just about to repeat when –
"Yes. Everyone dies eventually."
He looked at her as if she was an alien. As if the very notion of death was strange to him. And in a way it really was.
He knew his subjects would die eventually. He also knew he, as a draconequus, wouldn't. Not by normal means. He always presumed that this princess in front of him wouldn't die. I mean, how could she? Her magic could rival his own, especially after they met each other and trained their magic together. It was just inconceivable that she could ever die. She was going to always be there with him, right? He would always see her smile. See her using her bright heavenly magic and play with him, right? And then, as if answering, came the worst words the king could ever hear.
"I will eventually die too."
Discord's eyes widened at the realization. His spirit fell apart at the mere thought of what those words would imply. He could vividly imagine him next to the dying princess, his helplessness as she would slip from his life forever. He would see her no more. He would no longer be able to play with her. To tease or be teased by her. He would never see her smile again… And he would live forever… He could hear someone calling him, it seemed such a far away sound as he rose from his chair and left the room. His heart ached so much he didn't even feel his own hand clenching his chest as he walked away from there, pacing as fast as he could, desperately trying to run away from that thought.
'She couldn't- She wouldn't die! She can't!' he halted as determination flared inside of him. He now knew what he had to do and where he had to go. He smiled as his before broken pace turned into firm steps into his brand new brilliant plan.
*~*~*Celestia*~*~*
She sat speechless. The scene replayed in her mind over and over again and she examined each detail trying to uncover what went wrong. Her heart ached whenever she'd remember the king's saddened face. No, it wasn't merely sad, it had been broken. It was as if she had pulled the rug right under him.
She had called out to him, desperately trying to see what was wrong yet no answer came. He just got up, supporting himself on the table as if he all his strength had left him and he could fall over at any minute. And he just left, slowly in a pace of someone that had lost everything. Maybe she shouldn't have said that. As truthful as it might have been, she realized that this is one of those truths which can be devastating. If he would die… Her heart squeezed in her chest at the thought. No. She rose from the table and set to find him, she was going to talk to him and try to cheer him up, after all, they were too young to be thinking about death. She relayed on her magic to find him, only to panic when she couldn't find any trace of him. In the time she spent there, he never left his palace and he never was too far away from her, the fact that he wasn't, couldn't mean anything good. She called out his name and there came no answer. The princess ran throughout the palace desperately trying to find him as her mind would conjure up the worst of situations for him to be in. She had to find him.
It was only at high afternoon that he reappeared right behind her.
"Boo!"
She jumped!
"Don't DO that! Have you any idea how worried I was? I was looking everywhere for you!" He looked at her baffled at her rant. She could tell he was touched by her concern for him from his body reaction to her words, he looked like a little boy whose mother just caught him doing some misdeed "I kept thinking you were indisposed or hurt or- I don't know? With some grave food-poisoning and dying!"
His eyes widened and his brows rose at how her mind worked. She calmed herself and rested her hands on her hips demanding an explanation.
"First of all" He started and pointed at himself "I cannot die." She eyed him suspiciously "True story! Second! How about we play a game?"
She couldn't believe it. She was all worked up and now he comes all smiley and cute and not only dumps major news to her face, he also just nonchalantly asks to play a game! She huffed still trying to recover her breath.
"You know what? I don't feel like it right now. The scare you gave me took all my energy away. I think I'll just go find my bed and lay there."
As soon as she turned away she felt his hand on her arm forcedly griping her in place. It didn't hurt, just enough for her not to leave. He could never hurt her, or so she thought, there was something very strange here and she wasn't sure she liked it. Her violet eyes studied his face. He offered her a dark expression full of hidden meaning.
"Please! This game means a lot to me."
His grip was as fierce as his gaze. She had never seen him like this and it intimidated her, she knew he wouldn't take a "no" so she nodded and the grip immediately released her. He smiled now, no more traces of that heavy atmosphere.
"Great!" He chirped "Let us get started then!"
And with a snap of his fingers they were outside in the palace's gardens. Were this any other day, she would've looked around, marveling herself at the beauty in front of her. However the sight before her wasn't pretty.
In front of them at their right, there was a beautiful fountain. Celestia's eyes weren't on the fountain though, at their left there were a couple, crying and hugging each other while they walked slowly into a precipice. Something was controlling them to move forward, they cried for help, their hands white from the desperate grip they were having on each other.
She turned desperately to Discord, her eyes searching for some kind of sign that this wasn't real. That he wasn't doing this!
"Here's how the game is played" He walked in front of her, his reptile grace almost mocking her in a sadistic manner. She followed him, begging for this to be some kind of joke. He cleared his throat, summoned a glass cup with a flowered move of his hand and began –
Drink this water and don't stall
So that this couple doesn't fall
Time is ticking, can't you tell?
Hurry up if you wish them well.
This wasn't like his usual rhymes, usually she had to guess their meaning but here, he was being straight to the point. She only had two choices, drink the water or let the couple fall to their deaths. Discord looked at the princess with great interest, she could tell through his smile that she'd better hurry or he'd let them die. And they were getting so close to the edge. Angrily, she took the cup from Discord, ran desperately to the fountain, prayed for it to fill the cup faster and drank it all in one swing. She didn't feel like it was anything different than plain water but as she glared at Discord she realized by his victorious expression that it must've been something more.
"I drank the water, release them now!"
Discord smiled widely and with a snap of his fingers the couple was released from his hold. The couple fell opposite to the edge and squirmed together to run away from that place as fast as possible. She allowed herself to breathe in relief as short lived as it was, for Discord started laughing gleefully. He came to her and embraced her spinning her around. Baffled by his strange behavior, she confronted him about it and all he could do was smile of genuine joy.
"Oh Celestia let me tell you then~~" He never lost an opportunity to boast, he wasn't going to start now "The water you just drank, well it only works its magic when you drink it willingly from that cup. Now I knew that if I asked you, you would have said no, if I forced you to drink it wouldn't work so I came with this brilliant plan to make you want to drink it by risking the life of others. I knew you wouldn't let them die. You're just not the type."
She couldn't believe her ears. There he was boasting and laughing at the situation as if it was just some harmless prank when it almost ended the life of two of his subjects. Did he really not care? What was in that water that was so important for her to drink it?
"What was in the water, Discord?"
He smiled broadly and placed his hands on her shoulders lovingly.
"Eternity, Celestia. That water grants eternal life!" His boasted laughter filled his voice "You will live forever! Isn't that great?"
Her strength left her, she let the cup go and it fell on the grass. Tears came down her face and Discord panicked, unable to understand what was going on and desperately wiping them clean. She couldn't hear him as her thoughts moved forward into the future. Eternal life meant that she would see her family die before her, generation after generation; it would mean that she would see everyone she knew perish and fade away while she would always be alive. She ripped herself apart from a startled Discord and ran inside the gardens. Her thoughts screamed in her head at each hurried step until her knees finally bent and she let herself cry bitterly.
*~*~*Discord*~*~*
What was wrong with her?! She had eternal life! Did she know how many crave to never meet death? And yet there she was. Crying!
He let the garden light up wherever she stepped so he could make sure she wouldn't get hurt in her escape. He watched her curiously but faintly for her magic was whipping at his own, meaning she needed some time alone. He couldn't understand. It's not like she was alone. He would always be there with her. Didn't she realize this? Or, was this not enough for her?
Well, that thought angered him. No, anger wouldn't do right now.
He searched his mind to find an answer. Any answer that would leave her out of that sorrowful state… He paced around for hours trying to find some clue in his mind but when nothing he could use came around he huffed in frustration.
He turned to his magic and noticed hers had finally stopped pushing his away. With some relief, he took the opportunity to teleport himself right next to her.
She had cried herself to sleep. Such a heartbreaking picture…
He gingerly took the strings of hair that covered her face and gently caressed her, wiping away any undried tears. It took him quite some time watching over her and asking her what did she want from him. He couldn't bring himself to watch her die. His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers when realization finally hit. He caressed her face once more before moving to carry her in his arms. He took her to her bed and gently tucked her in, seizing the opportunity to kiss her forehead lovingly. He turned his back missing the small smile that played on her lips.
Yes, he was going to fix this. The grin formed in his lips could not have been wider.
*~*~*Celestia*~*~*
She woke up and prepared herself alone. Without Discord's presence it was harder to find the dining table but once she did, food displayed itself there with a note from the king telling her to start without him. She complied. After all, she had skipped dinner the day before.
She sorrowfully remembered the events in her head as she ate. All she could think about was to see her small sister old and dying without being able to stop it.
"Tia~~~~ I'm HOME!"
He burst the doors open, his smile wide and triumphant.
"And I bring a guest!"
The princess let her spoon fall at the surprise. There, just behind Discord, was her little sister Luna. The little girl ran happily to greet her big sister and Celestia took her in her arms, embracing her while happy tears emerged from her eyes. She had missed her so much. She backed her head so she could look at her little face and was received with a cute smile with some baby teeth missing.
"Siste' siste'! I'll be stayin' here!"
"That's right!" Beamed Discord "She'll be here forever with us~~!"
Celestia grimaced and her head snapped towards Discord that instantly gave a step back.
"He said i' I drinke' the wate' he'd le' me live wi' you!"
"He did, did he?"
Her eyes became volatile and he could only bring his hands up defensively as if not grasping what was wrong in the situation. Oh but she would tell him. Right after Luna would be asleep; she would let him know in detail what he had done wrong.
