Seeds of Discord

[Author's Note: In this Equestria, humans are born with the abilities of the ponies (i.e. wings, magic) and the eye/mane colors of the ponies, but they are human. I humanized everything simply because the idea of writing something this graphic about my adorable ponies squicks me something awful. Feedback is always welcome, flames will be ignored. :) Thanks for reading!]

Prologue:

            He wandered aimlessly , his black wings flying him without direction as his mind wandered. He’d been in love with her for so long, and in his daydreams marriage with her was sheer perfection, but the reality of the present was twisting his fantasies miserably. He wanted to marry Celli because he loved her, and she loved him, not because their parents wanted to forge an alliance! He had never told her the secrets he kept in his heart, and since their parents had entered negotiations for an arranged marriage, she’d locked herself away and hadn’t responded to any of his letters. He knew it was customary, but it was frustrating beyond belief!

            He wasn’t blind, nor was he deaf. He knew what everyone thought about him. His eyes were totally mismatched, one a rich sable and the other a brilliant ruby. His face was a myriad of features, as if a mad sculptor had wrought it. It should have been hideous, but instead his face was generally touted as quite handsome, if a bit stern. Long, dark hair and an impressive set of wings only added to his reputation. He was a quiet young man, preferring his own company to that of others, and as a result a great many stories had sprung up about him. They ranged from the semi-accurate to the ridiculous, and it seemed the only person who tired of them was himself. There were whispers that he was a vicious, cruel brute and that the princess was terrified of him. He’d also heard that she didn’t care for him at all, or found him hideous, and had locked herself away in protest of the marriage.

         “Monster”, they called him. Those narrow-minded fools. His mind worked differently, he saw different paths and solutions. Sometimes they were kind, sometimes they were cruel, but there was always at the heart of it a calculating logic that he lived his life by. They couldn’t understand, and people always feared what they couldn’t understand, so he’d been reviled from the moment he arrived in Canterlot by nearly everyone. Everyone…but her. They had met in the royal gardens during some dull event or another, and he’d been struck dumb at the sight of her. He had never dared to dream of such beauty, and watching her walk among the roses in starlight, his heart had given a painful squeeze before tumbling at her feet.

         He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, remembering her lovely voice, her kindness, the way her cheeks pinked when he’d complimented her, even the alluring scent she’d left behind. They had met many times after that, and had forged a tentative friendship…and he’d hoped, perhaps something more. Unfortunately, rumors of their “relationship”, such as it was, spread quickly and now their parents had quite possibly ruined everything. Frustration gnawed at him, and he felt a headache coming on.

         Looking down, he realized he was above a forest, and an odd one at that. It looked strange, almost overgrown and wild. There was a small castle towards the center, and he recalled Celli mentioning a retreat for her and her sister, Lulu, somewhere in the Everfree Forest. Swooping down, he landed in an tangled clearing, shaking a few errant leaves from his wings as his feet touched the ground. He would never understand why he chose that clearing, or why he didn’t take wing immediately after landing and feeling the utter wrongness of the place.

        The sun shone brightly everywhere else in Equestria, but not here. The light was dim and gray, and the ground was cold. It almost felt like it was trying to steal the warmth from his body. The headache that had been a nagging annoyance began to throb horribly, and he winced, dragging a hand through his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose.

        Such a logical creature you are, Noble Heart. How utterly boring! No wonder dear little Celli doesn’t want you. The voice slithered over his mind like ice, freezing him in place while it chuckled darkly.

       “W-who are you? Show yourself!” he demanded aloud, though he knew that the voice had sounded in his mind, not his ears.

       Show myself? You’re adorable. Perhaps I will. It’s been so long since I’ve shown myself to the world, and I have been longing for a little chaos. Something about the sly tone in that voice chilled him to the core, and he was very much aware that the clearing was getting ever colder and darker.

      His headache exploded into an unfathomable amount of pain, and he doubled over in agony. He felt a presence, a dark, chaotic thing, clawing its way into his mind, and as much as he wanted to fight, he had no defense against this. He struggled, willing himself to remain in control, and then it was over. He could see, and hear, but he was now confined to a small corner of his own mind. The voice laughed triumphantly as it twirled in it’s new body.

      “I’d forgotten how wonderful it is to be in corporeal form! Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Discord, spirit of disharmony and chaos, and you, Noble Heart, are going to be my host for a long, long time. We’re going to wreak some glorious havoc together!” He shuddered as Discord’s words poured from his mouth, in his own deep voice, and growled to himself. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.