Stronger than Stone 9

Discord trudged through the thick forests of the Zebra kingdom. It was bad enough that Celestia banished him, but making him mortal? Now, that is cruel and unusual punishment.

It wasn't any better that he couldn't use magic whatsoever. Not even a simple levitation spell worked. "Ugh, that Tia," Discord growled to himself. "When I get back there, I'll..." He chuckled. When he gets back. As if there was a chance he could.

And who would care if he came back? Celestia's crazy, Luna is indifferent to it all, Twilight...

"Twilight hates me," He said sadly. "She'd confront me with those blasted Elements of Harmony and put me in stone again. Or worse. Make me Immortal again, so I could watch everything die around me." The draconequus sighed.

No. He had to go back. He had to show Twilight the truth. Yes, he was using her, but there was something more, something... He couldn't understand. All these thoughts hurt his head, which could now be in pain.

Discord crouched under a tree, holding his mixed up head in his hands. After a few moments, he stood up, tall and proud. The few rays of sun beaming through the trees cast a strong glow on him.

"I'm going back."

Discord flew up above the treeline. At least he could still fly. He searched for the borderline, a quick cutoff from trees to plains. There. Discord flew off, a mighty dragon slithering through the sky. He felt alive, or at least happy. Just for show, Discord spun into a corkscrew and let out a great puff of smoke. He chuckled to himself.

Discord found the border, and landed with a powerful thud. Discord approached the line, remembering Celestia's warning. ...So much as a hoof within the border, and you're in for quite a shock.

With a smirk, Discord walked even closer to the border. "Come at me, brony."

Just as he predicted, the instant he stepped on the line, he felt as though lightning was striking his entire body. Discord groaned with pain. He smelled burnt fur and feathers. "G-g-gotta k-keeeep goo-ing..." He stuttered. One hoof. Then the dragon foot. Trudging across, fur singed all over. Discord finally got across, and fell to the ground.

He got up soon after, no longer electricity shooting through him. Discord looked over himself, laughing in disbelief. "I made it! Ha ha!" He shot up into the air and, after some victorious whooping, sped in the direction of Ponyville.


Twilight's friends stood outside the library. They had just been asked to leave to give her some time alone.  

"Wow, I can't believe Discord would do something like that," Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash huffed. "I can! He's nothing but a tricky little flutter buc-"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cut off. "Language!" The cyan pegasus huffed again.

Applejack shook her head. "Well, when Ah git mah hooves on 'im, he won't know his tail from his beard!"

"Speak of the Devil," A voice called from behind them. They all turned to see the Spirit of Chaos standing there. "...And he appears."

"Discord! What're you doing here?!" Rainbow yelled. "Here to hurt Twilight more?"

Discord held up his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm here to apologize! Plus, I have an even bigger problem. I am no longer Immortal! Celestia decided to punish me!"

Rarity ran a hoof through her mane. "Well, just as well, as it would seem."

"Not just that, but she stripped me of my powers!" Discord looked at the five. "You don't believe me, do you?" He asked. "Do you think I'd humiliate myself like this?"

Applejack smirked. "Well, if it'd served yer purpose, yes."

Discord couldn't believe this. "It's the truth! I stand before you, defraud! Condemned to bea part of this lowest of species!"

Rainbow had had enough. "What is it you want, Discord?" She asked in a hurry. Discord crossed his arms. "Your compassion," he answered.

Rainbow Dash flew up to his face. "Why don't you just snap your fingers, and poof out of here?!" Discord shooed her away. "I'm telling you, I have no powers! Discord the Ordinary!"

Rarity stepped over to him. "Discord the liar! Discord the misanthrope!"

"Discord the Miserable, Discord the Desperate! What must I do to convince you ponies?!"

"Die," Rainbow said flatly.

Discord looked over at her. "Oh, very intelligent, Rainbow Dash. Eat any good books lately?"

Rainbow growled and raised a hoof to smack him. A voice interrupted her.

"Girls, what's going on? I heard shouting and wanted to know wha-" Twilight Sparkle stood outside the library entrance, mouth agape.

"Twilight! There you are!" Discord said happily. "Listen, let me explain-"

He was hit by a powerful blast of magic. He sat up, and finally saw her lavender eyes, glossed over and stained red at the edges. She looked as though she was crying the entire day long.

"You have nothing to explain except how the hay you got here!" She shouted at him. A few ponies on the street looked in their direction, but brushed it off. Another crazy day in Ponyville.

Discord got up entirely, and cracked his shoulder. "Ah! Twilight, my dear, you must be careful! I am mortal now, and all." Twilight glowered at him. He shouldn't have said that.

"Uh, hehe, Twilight," He began nervously. "I am here because I wanted to tell you the truth." The unicorn wasn't buying it. "I heard the truth," she said coldly. "You just used me to take over Equestria again." She lowered her head, her tone softer. "And I thought you had changed..."

Twilight raised her head. "Well, it doesn't matter. I have a new stallion friend, since you apparently love Celestia so much." Discord tasted the venom in her words. Everypony looked at her. "You do?" They said in unison.

Twilight looked around nervously. "Uh, yeah I do. It's... uh, he's..." She got an idea, and suddenly Big Macintosh appeared. "He's Big Mac!"

The daft stallion looked nervous, but kept a semi-clam tone. "Uh, Miss Twilight? Why am I here?" he asked.

Twilight put a hoof around him. "Oh, you're my new coltfriend, of course!" She said with big eyes at the workhorse. Big Macintosh looked at his sister. She shrugged.

Discord raised his hands in distraught. "Oh, come on now! Don't be ridiculous!" He said. Big Macintosh gently removed Twilight's hoof from around him. "Yeah, uh, don't get me wrong, Miss Twilight. I like you," he said. He walked back to his farm. "But not that much."

Discord slithered over to the purple mare. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Twilight, please listen to me. Yes, I used you. And believe me, I'm sorry for decieving you. But I only used you to escape. After a while, after seeing what good you brought out in me...I feel... I feel happy around you.

"It's as if, there's a part of me missing, which is weird because I'm a whole bunch of parts mixed up. Sigh The point is..." He searched her eyes for the right words. There. Right in her pupils. She was hiding them in there, and he found them deep within, suppressed by anger and hatred, three words.

"I love you." Discord said. He jumped when he felt something tackle him. Is this the end? he thought. But no. Twilight Sparkle had grabbed the draconequus and tackled him into a warm hug.

Everypony gasped. Pinkie, who had kept unusually quiet, began crying. As did Rarity, though a bit more dramatically. Fluttershy let a few happy tears loose. Applejack moved her hat in front of her face, trying to stay strong.

Rainbow Dash was flying above them, watching with reddened, wet eyes. She felt a tear land on her hoof. "Oh, look at this! Now you got me acting all sappy!"

Everypony laughed, and Twilight got up from on top of Discord. She motioned into the library. "Hey, why don't we see if there's a spell in your book to get your powers back?" Twilight offered. Discord lit up, and smiled warmly.


Princess Celestia paced back and forth through her throneroom. "How is this possible? The shield should've vaporized him on impact!" She looked out a window to Ponyville. He was there. Somehow, he had made it to there. "I take away his Immortality, I strip him of his powers, I cast him out to never have another friend. My mistake was leaving him alive. For if I know one thing, it's that Mortals have a neverending will to survive and do what they want."

Celestia grabbed her enchanted mirror. "Show me Discord," she ordered. The surface rippled to reveal an image of Discord in Twilight's library. Said unicorn was casting a spell to return his power to him.

She flung the mirror across the room. It hit the wall with a crack, and fell to the ground, shattered. Discord's image still held.

Celestia glared at the shards. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!" She shouted. "WHY MUST YOU LOVE HER?! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STAY IN YOUR STONE PRISON?!" The princess fell to the ground, crying into her hooves. "Why won't you love me?"

The broken image of Discord's ear flicked. The images turned to her, a pitiful look on his face. Discord's image shook its shattered head.