Alright, so this whole chapter is purely a flashback of just what happened to Discord when he was younger, and I warn you, it is more than twice as long as my usual chapter length, but hey, there was a lot to write, and I hope you enjoy.
Young Discord sat in the branches of a tree, completely bored out of his mind. He had absolutely nothing to do. He wanted to play with the little ponies that were his age, but they didn't want him anywhere near them, those stuck up stupid ponies. They thought he was too much of a freak, a monster! What did they know? So what if he didn't look and act exactly like everyone else? That would just be boring.
Or, at least, he thought it would be. But on days like this when he didn't do anything but watch the ponies have fun, he began to think that maybe being like everyone else, and accepted by them, would be funner than doing nothing by himself. Oh, how he hated thinking like that.
Fortunately, his bad mood didn't last long. The ponies had been playing tag for a while, and some of them were getting tired of it, so they moved on to their favorite and most frustrating pastime, flying and magic practice. And boy, did they need the practice, as they were terrible.
Discord giggled as he watched the young unicorns try to do magic, though they couldn't do anymore than cause sparks. His giggles became full out laughter when the pegasi flapped their small feathery wings, but they couldn't lift themselves completely off the ground. They couldn't fail anymore at what they were doing if they tried to.
His laughter did not go unnoticed by the young ponies, who quickly grew irritated with Discord. Who did he think he was, laughing it them? And what was he even doing up in that tree? Was he spying on them?
"What's so funny?" One of the colts asked Discord. "You know, other than your face." The children snickered and Discord rolled his eyes. Was that the best they could do? Really?
"Are any of you aware of how ridiculous you look trying to use magic and fly?" Discord asked. "It's hilarious." The pegasi and Unicorns faces went red with embarrassment. They knew they weren't any good, but they didn't like being laughed at.
"Like you could do any better." A bold filly called to him. Discord smirked at her and opened his wings. He jumped out of the tree and flew around for a minute, to show that yes, he could do better. When he landed, he was pleased to see the shocked faces of the pegasi. He had made flying look so easy. They didn't think it was fair that he could fly and they couldn't yet.
"So you can fly, big deal." A unicorn colt challenged. "But I bet you're even worse at magic than we are." The poor kid hadn't even finished his sentence before young Discord disappeared from in front of them, only to reappear in a flash of light behind them.
"You were saying?" He said smugly. The looks on their faces was priceless. Teleportation magic was, apparently, very difficult. Very few of the older and more experienced unicorns could teleport at all, let alone with such ease. Discord suddenly felt a sharp sting of pain in his forehead, he winced. He hated when that happened. Alright, so there were some side effects of using his magic, like it gave him a headache. Especially the harder spells. But a little pain was well worth getting the attention of the fillies and colts...wait, where were they going?
Discord didn't understand. Why were they leaving him alone again? If he were just a normal pegasus or unicorn, they would be in awe in his flying or magical abilities...Oh, so that was it. This was about him not being normal. If he were a normal pony and did magic like that, everyone would be amazed. However, if he were a pony, he probably wouldn't be able to fly or use magic either, because that's how ponies were. They had limited powers that took forever for them to learn how to use. It wasn't his fault that he was a draconequus, a creature naturally more adept at magic than ponies were.
As for his flying...well, he honestly didn't know why his wings could support him already when the pegasi's couldn't. He actually couldn't remember a time when his wings didn't work for him, even when he was young...well, younger, he could still fly. He somewhat pitied the ponies, not being able to fly until they were older. More than pity them though, he laughed at them, because they looked utterly ridiculous attempting to get their pony bodies off the ground. He giggled just thinking about it.
"What are you laughing at?" Discord yelped at the sound of someone behind him. He thought that he had been alone. He turned around to see a pretty white filly a flowing pink mane, watching him. He immediately felt wary. All the other ponies made it a point to avoid him, so why was this one coming and talking to him? What was she up to?
"I don't believe that that is any of your business." Discord said sharply.
"No, I suppose it isn't. Forgive me for prying, Discord." The filly apologized.
"Wait, how do you know my name?" Discord asked. He felt even more cautious than earlier. Just who was this filly?
"I've heard a lot about you." The filly stepped closer to him. "Everypony is talking about how much of a troublemaker you are. I came to see for myself if it was true."
"...And?" Discord was nervous. It was a new experience for him, somepony talking to him as if he weren't a weirdo, and he didn't want to lose it.
"And I think you act coldly towards others because you're lonely." She said. "I can help with that."
"You-you can?" Discord had not been expecting this. Was she saying what he thought she was saying.
"Yes, I can." She said. "I see no reason for us to try to be friends, do you?"
Friend? Discord had never had one of those before. But it seemed...nice.
"I guess not." Discord said, not as nervous as he had been before. The white filly smiled brightly and came even closer to Discord.
"I saw what you did, and may I say, I am very impressed." She said. Discord felt alarmed. What had she seen? What did he do? Was it something bad? The filly giggled at Discord's alarmed look.
"I meant your flying and magic. You're quite good for being so young." She clarified. "Even if you weren't very good, I would still be impressed."
"Why?" Discord asked. What she just said made no sense. The filly smiled and gestured with her hoof to her forehead, which had a horn. She also spread a pair of wings from her back. Discord's mouth fell open. Wings and a horn? She was an alicorn? But Discord was pretty sure that there weren't many alicorns at all, that the only alicorns were...royalty. Wait a second, why was a princess talking to him?
"It's not every day I meet someone who has the potential to fly and use magic." The filly said. For the first time since she had joined him, Discord smiled a little. She smiled back kindly. A minute passed before the filly's eyes widened in realization that she hadn't properly introduced herself.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you my name." The filly said. She stuck out her hoof toward Discord. "My name is Celestia" Discord hesitated for only a moment before he took her offered hoof with his lion paw.
"I'm Discord." He answered, though he knew that she already knew his name. Thus began their young friendship, or, so he thought.
Discord and Celestia, or, as he prefered to call her, Tia, played together nearly every day. It didn't take long for Discord to trust the young princess completely. She was nice to him, and he couldn't think of any alternative reasons she might have for doing that. Tia was always the one to come looking for him, which led Discord to think that she actually enjoyed his company.
There were a few days where Discord began to feel unsure about Celestia's intentions though. A few weeks into their friendship, she began acting funny around him, avoiding him even, and he didn't know why. Thankfully though, she was only like that for a few days before she went back to acting the same way that she had before.
All in all, those were the best weeks of Discord's life. If he had to choose one thing he didn't like though, it would be that being with Celestia meant not hiding in caves or trees as much as was his habit. It wasn't as though he loved hiding, he hated it, but more than that he hated the funny and judgemental looks that everypony sent his way whenever they saw him. With Celestia, he had to come out and face other ponies more often than he was comfortable with. But he could live with that, as long as Celestia would stand by him.
One day, Discord was happily sitting on the shore of a lake. Celestia had told him to meet her there that day, and he was just waiting for her to come. He heard multiple sets of small hoofs behind him and, thinking it was Celestia with her younger sister, Luna, who sometimes joined them, Discord began to turn around. Before he could though, he felt a hard shove at the back of his head that forced it into the water.
Discord tried to pull his head out of the water, but there was something keeping him from coming back up. He soon began to panic and thrash his body, trying to get whatever...no, whoever was keeping him under the water off of him. It took some trying, but he was eventually able to use his eagle claw to scratch whoever it was, deeply. He was relieved when the pressure that was keeping his head under was gone and he was able to surface fully.
Discord coughed water out of his mouth and gasped for breath. It took a minute for him to begin thinking straight, and when he could, his panic and slight fear left to be replaced by anger. He turned around to see just who had done that, because they were in so much trouble. Behind him were three colts who he recognized vaguely, he had seen them around sometimes, but he couldn't recall their names at all. Two of them were earth ponies, one tan and the other dark brown. The last was a teal unicorn.
Discord got an odd sense of pleasure to see that one of the ponies, the tan one, had a bad, fresh cut on one of his rear legs, which obviously hurt, a lot. Hey, that pony was asking for it. They attacked him first. He had just defended himself. The three colts glared at Discord.
"What was that for?" The brown pony asked viciously. Discord grew angrier.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe for trying to drown me!" Discord growled. "For that, you deserve worse...and I plan on making you pay." Discord took a threatening step toward the colts, and felt powerful when they flinched.
"W-we were just messing with you." The hurt one stuttered painfully.
"We were curious as to what you're doing here, in the open, rather than cowering in one of your stupid hiding spots." Brown said. Discord glowered at them. He did now cower, and even if he did, it was only because of foolish ponies like them.
"I was waiting for Celestia." Discord said. He knew that he sounded somewhat stuck-up when he said that, but he didn't care. Those colts wouldn't dare bother him now. He knew how ponies behaved around their precious princesses. And he was friends with one of those princesses. That ought to earn him at least some respect, shouldn't it.
The three colts reacted in a completely opposite way than he was expecting. They laughed. Discord retreated slightly, now a little unsure. What was so funny? Was it something he had said? But he hadn't made a joke. Were they laughing at...him?
"Oh, this is priceless." The unicorn said between laughs. "I can't believe you actually believe this."
"Believe what? What're you talking about?" Discord asked unsurely.
"That you and the princess are actually friends." The brown colt said.
"But, we are friends." Discord said with some confidence. That confidence fled when the ponies began laughing even more at his words.
"Princess Celestia is just pretending to be friends with you. It's not real, never was." Teal unicorn said. Discord narrowed his eyes. That couldn't be true. Those guys had to be lying. They had to be. He didn't like being lied to. He growled at them. He would get them to stop their laughing.
"Stop!" Princess Celestia's voice called out from above all the noise. The three ponies stopped laughing abruptly and avoided the princesses stern gaze at them. Discord froze and watched his...friend? Yes, friend. Of course Celestia was his friend. Why would she pretend? But, still, the doubt lingered.
"Come, Discord." Celestia said when things were calm. "Let us go." She turned around to leave. He younger sister, Luna, who had tagged along, followed. Discord though, didn't move.
"Tia, are we friends?" He asked her uncertainly. Celestia froze mid-step.
"Of course we are." She replied without turning around. Discord's heart immediately lightened at those words. Tia wouldn't directly lie to anybody, not even him. He and Tia really were friends.
And those three liars that said otherwise had to learn their lesson. Nobody lied to him and got away with it. Discord very swiftly brought his wings out and flew high into the air. He used some simple levitation magic to lift the the three colts into the air until they were level with him. He smirked at their startled shouts and useless flails. He clenched his claw, causing his magic to tighten around the ponies. He relished in their short screams of pain. Finally, they would know his pain.
From below, Celestia could do nothing but watch in horror. She knew that Discord had some resentment in him, but she hadn't known it was this bad. She felt dread fill up inside of her. This wasn't supposed to be happening. This had been what she had been trying to stop when she tried to befriend Discord.
"Discord, put them down!" Celestia shouted. But Discord ignored her words. He knew that she would be angry with him. That she hated it when he used his magic against ponies, but she'd have to live with it. He was sick and tired of everypony pushing him around, making his life miserable. Today was the final straw. Somepony was going to pay, and for once, it wasn't going to be him.
Celestia was now shaking. She was scared and beginning to panic. She had to do something. She couldn't just let Discord hurt those ponies, or any other ponies. Not anymore. He had to learn that he couldn't treat ponies like this.
"Leave them alone!" Celestia screamed, a beam of magic shot out of her horn. She didn't have complete control over her own magic yet, and it become out of control when she was afraid or desperate, and in that moment, she was both. Those emotions became magic which she used to do the first thing that came to mind to stop Discord. The magical beam shot straight through Discord's wings.
Discord screamed in agony. His magical hold on the ponies fell, and so did he. He hit the ground harshly, but he didn't notice any pain from the impact. The only pain he felt was the agonizing burn in his wings. It was worse than anything Discord had ever felt before. He lay there on the ground for a while, the world around him seemed to disappear. It was just him, and this torture.
A minute later, his mind and eyes were clear enough that he could see Celestia...there, with the other ponies...it looked like she was concerned about them. Them!? They were fine! The worst he had done was startle them, give them a few bruises or scratches. They would certainly survive. He was in much worse condition than they were. Why was she caring for them?
Discord groaned and attempted to stand, but the pain in his wings just intensified. He flinched and turned his head around to see just how bad his wings were. What he saw made him feel sick. They weren't damaged or hurt. They were destroyed! Discord's eyes became wet with tears which he refused to let fall. Celestia had destroyed his wings, he doubted he'd be able to actually use them ever again...wait a second.
Celestia had destroyed his wings!
He knew that that was her magic blast, which means that, she had attacked him. And as she was now with those stupid ponies, seeing if they were okay, Discord began to feel empty inside.
He didn't understand. He thought...he thought that he and Tia were friends. Why would she do that? WHY?..Wait, no, he did understand why. Those ponies weren't the liars. Celestia was, or, at least, Discord was pretty sure she was. But he couldn't be sure, unless she actually told him. Now he just had to get Celestia to tell him the truth. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw young princess Luna watching the scene with a scared look on her face, and Discord suddenly knew how he'd get his answer.
Princess Celestia hadn't meant for her magic to get that extreme, but at least it worked. The colts were out of Discord's grasp. Celestia used some levitation magic to gently lower them to the ground. She then tended to their injuries which, thankfully, were rather minor. They were terribly scared, but that was to be expected. She was just glad that everything had ended up well.
"Tia, help!" Celestia's blood grew cold at her younger sister's cry. She turned to see Luna in Discord's clutches. She thought he had looked mad before. Now though, his fierce determination was startling.
"Let my sister go!" Celestia demanded.
"Not until you answer a question for me." Discord retorted. "It's a simple enough question. I just need you to tell me, did you ever think of me as your friend?"
Celestia flinched at the question. Now things had gone much too far, and she hadn't meant any of it. She was just trying to be nice. She had just been trying to do the right thing. Her father always used to tell her that she had a kind and pure heart, and could make friends with anypony. So when she had heard about Discord, a friendless, lonely draconequus that occasionally caused troubles for ponies, she decided to become friends with him.
Except, she couldn't.
She had tried, she really had. Discord was just too chaotic. At first, she thought that if she just pretended to be friends for a little bit, it wouldn't be long before she really would be his friend. She became discouraged for a bit when it was a few weeks later, and she still didn't see Discord as a friend. A few days after that, she went right back to her old pattern of just pretending. He would never have to know that it wasn't real. No harm would come from it.
Oh how wrong she had been.
"Discord, let me explain." Celestia tried to reason with him. Discord's face grew angrier. He didn't want any of her explanations or excuses. He wanted answers.
"TELL ME THE TRUTH!" Discord screamed, his grip on Luna tightened, causing the poor pony to whimper. Celestia lowered her head. She couldn't keep up the lie any longer.
"No, I didn't." Celestia said quietly, but clearly.
Discord's chest began aching, so terribly. Celestia's word's hurt every bit as much as his wings did. He felt the tears in his eyes begin to fall, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The only friend he had ever had, and probably would ever have, had just been faking the whole time. Discord let go of young luna and teleported away, to somewhere where he could be a lonely, broken draconequus, without any stupid ponies to bother him.
Someday, someday he would return. When he had perfected his magic, he would return, and he would show them all. He didn't need them. He didn't need anyone.
Celestia's heart grew heavy when she watched Discord teleport away. She felt absolutely terrible that she hadn't been able to be friends with him. That wasn't necessarily even his fault. So he was chaotic, and that wasn't something Celestia could bring herself to tolerate. But that didn't mean that somepony else couldn't. There had to be somepony out there who would be able to be Discord's friend. Now though, Celestia feared that Discord wouldn't allow himself to be friends with anypony, and it was all her fault.
"I'm sorry, Discord." Celestia whispered. "I hope you can forgive me one day."
Well, what do you think about that? There were parts when I thought either Discord or Celestia was being too mean, but hey, they were kids, they just had bad judgments of character...at least, that's how I tried to write it. I'm not sure how successful I was.
Anyways, next chapter is the conclusion to our story, I promise.