CHAPTER THREE: THE GODDESS

It had been around a year since I'd moved to Canterlot and met Luna, and we were in our last year of pony school. I'll admit it took me a while to warm up to the strange, quirky alicorn. Eventually it got to the point where, when I was around Luna, a new feeling of warmth emerged inside of me. I had begun to smile and laugh, sometimes for no reason at all, and she was an excellent distraction to the cynicism of the world around me. I'd found out that Luna used to live in my house with her Gran, because her father didn't want her around him- that's a thing we had in common. When her Gran passed away, she moved back with her parents, but she hardly spent time around her home, she'd much rather fly around the night sky.

"Fear me, for I am the mighty Nightmare Moon!" Luna giggled, parading about my bedroom in her cape. The thing I admired the most about Luna was her youth, how she always managed to keep her playful nature even though age was working through both of us. Luna dragged me over to my drawers, and put a strange pony dress on me, it was white with a pink furry rim.
"I used to share this room with my sister, when she came to stay. This is her dress, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind you borrowing it!" Luna laughed, rolling around the floor at the sight of me. She glowed her horn and conjured up a mirror in front of me. I laughed so hard that I cried, then something inside me snapped.
"Your sister?"
"Yeah, Celestia!"
I walked over to my bed and pulled out the framed photo of Luna and Belle that I had admired when I first came to Canterlot. It had been a long time since I looked at the photo, and I had completely forgotten it. My heart pounded in my chest as I was met once again with the beautiful Belle and her perfection. I gently stroked the image of her face with my claw and smiled to myself.
"Is this Celestia?" I asked, showing the confused Luna the photograph. Luna's eyes widened, as she took the photograph.
"My… This was so long ago!" she said, smiling at it. She laughed spontaneously, "This was at my birthday party two years ago! I look so cute." She said. "Don't you think so?" she asked me, I nodded in false agreement.
"I'd like to meet your sister someday." I'd told Luna.

-x-

"Go on Discord, show her that thing you do!" pleaded Luna, shoving me with her hoof.
I gazed in to the shimmering eyes of Celestia, and with a wave of my wrist commanded a pink cloud to appear above our heads. With a flick of my tail, the cloud began to rain chocolate on us.
Celestia raised an eyebrow at me, and tutted at her sister sticking her tongue out and tasting the rain.
"Come on Celestia, Chocolate rain!" Luna remarked, lowering her head and looking up at Celestia in the most adorable way she knew how.
"Luna, please act like a princess for once." Celestia said, flicking her glimmering rainbow hair out of her eyes.
"I can make cake too!" I told her. I wanted to make Celestia like me, no, I wanted to make her love me. I wanted to make her want me in the way I so wanted her.
Celestia let out a large huff, and started walking away. "Come along, Luna." She commanded her, spreading her wings and taking flight.
Luna let out a large sigh. "Well… bye Discord." She whispered at me. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say more, but after hearing a second shout from her sister, she flew away.

That day, the day I met Celestia, made me both absolutely ecstatic, but also miserable as I could be. I got home and held back tears from my eyes. I felt so happy that I had finally met her, the alicorn of my dreams, the reason why I learnt to make chocolate rain and turn the sky pink, but, I was also miserable for the whole time I was standing with her, she did not look me in the eye. I saw her sneak a glance at me when I was talking to Luna, but she just looked me up and down and wrinkled her nose. She was a Goddess.

And my imperfections disgusted her.

That night, as I lay curled up in my bed; I heard a knock at my door.
My mother entered.
She was frail now, down-hearted. The beautiful, young, happy pony that had once cradled me in her arms and sing me to sleep was gone, a ghost of her remained.
But two things had never changed with my mother; her kindness and her love for me.
"Discord, are you okay my sweet?" she whispered, sitting beside my bed and stroking my ears.
"She doesn't love me." I told her. "How could anyone ever love someone like me?" I remember, although I wish I didn't, tears swelling up in my eyes and streaming down my face; my ugly, horrid face.
"Of course it's possible Discord. I love you." She said, wiping my tears away.
"You and who else?"
"Your father loves you."
I laughed manically at her; it was a laugh that I had not experienced before. It was new, different and evil. Mother looked taken back by my laughter, her expression grew even sadder, and her ears wilted.

"Oh please, he doesn't love me. He never loved me. And you know what my dear, dear mother? I don't think you love me either."