He decided that, since it was nearly impossible for him to get lost - he could just follow his own footprints in the dust - he was probably safe to go exploring. But first...
He stepped back from his creation and admired it. Considering that all he had had to work with were rocks, he was pretty proud of it.
I might model my throne after this, but with softer materials of course.
The towering pile of rocks should've fallen over long before he finished it, considering how unstable it was. It sat on a narrow base, leaning to the right at an alarming 30 degrees, defying the laws of physics just to stay upright. Definitely worthy of replication, when I get that throne finally. So marvelously chaotic!
Having finished making up a place to sleep, he walked down the tunnel towards the end, examining the walls as he went. This looked like an older part of the mine, with its old-fashioned pickaxes stuck in the walls, and the mining hats scattered over the floor; and judging by the dust and the cobwebs, nopony had been down here in years. He wasn't sure whether that reassured him, or made him more nervous. Not that I want visitors down here, he reminded himself, it would be just my luck to successfully break out and escape, just to get caught because some idiot came exploring down here.
On the other hand, though, there's probably a reason they haven't.
He scoffed at their lack of imagination.
I mean, just look at this place! He froze as the ceiling above his head rumbled loudly, relaxing only when the noise died out completely.
Okay, so maybe it's not that great. Still, it could be worse.
And then he heard the voice singing. That high-pitched, chatty, squeaky voice, belting out the same thing over and over, its sound designed to drive anyone who heard it insane.
"Trollololololololol, oh-way-I," it sang, and then paused mercifully. But apparently, not knowing all the words didn't curb its enthusiasm, because it started all over again. It grated on his nerves more than anything he had ever heard, and that was saying something, considering he had to deal with those pests that called themselves ponies. He hunted for its source rigorously for hours and got nothing for it except a broken claw and a large pile of gems.
"Show yourself, you fiend!" A tad dramatic under the circumstances, perhaps, but boredom makes everyone do absurd things sometimes.
And the voice stopped singing. He reveled in the few seconds of blessed, merciful silence before it spoke up.
"Well, isn't that a fine way to greet your host," it squeaked at him, "This is my house after all."
Discord recoiled, before retorting, "Riding farther on that train of thought, isn't it rude to sing annoying songs when you have guests?"
The voice mulled that over for a while, then said, "My apologies. I haven't visitors in a while. My etiquette is a bit rusty, but if I remember correctly, this is where we introduce ourselves. My name is Starswirl."
"Discord," he answered, bemused by the voice's strange name. He was sure he'd heard that name before, but he couldn't remember where. "Does me hearing you mean that I'm hearing voices now?"
"I'm not sure myself," the voice admits. "I could tell you I'm not just a voice in your head, but then, if I was a voice in your head, that's exactly what I'd say anyway."
Discord tried to wrap his head around this, but found himself simply unable to take it all in. He finally settled for asking, "Where are you, anyway?"
"Over here!" Starswirl called - and then kept calling. It was almost as annoying as the singing, but it, at least, was helpful.
Finally, he ended up in front of the crystals he had dug out of the walls. Frustrated, and getting more annoyed with Starswirl by the second, he kicked the pile.
Starswirl squeaked loudly in indignation.
"Ow! That was uncalled for!"
He looked down at the crystal his foot had hit, and at first, he didn't see him. And then an image moved on one of the facets; a dark grey unicorn with a long, white beard, wearing a gaudy dark blue hat trimmed with jingle bells. Even the absurdity of the hat, however, was unable to mask the wisdom in the pony's eyes.
Discord stared at him, wondering if this was how the ponies had felt when he played with them, not liking the idea in the slightest. The fact that Starswirl had just started giggling insanely didn't help, either.
Discord was starting to feel like he was in a really bad dream. "What's so funny?"
"Teeheehe...just the look on your face...hahaha...priceless..."
Sighing, Discord picked up the crystal and headed back, Starswirl's laughter echoing in his ears the whole way.