twilights castle In the darkest corners [Completed]

[RexDraco]

It was never particularly comforting when a creature who was, at its base, predatory and was, on the whole, a hunter. He was not one that hunted for need, but instead for sport. Taking pace after beings of all walk of life if only to test and drain them at their lowest points. He often claims it is all for their benefit: a means to an end. It was claimed his actions are what allowed ponies and their ilk to climb the ladder of evolution through concentrated revolution. The spirit was one of those beings who either impeded on progress, or encouraged it. It was difficult to tell on which side of the fence the chaos god was at times. He was not evil though…

 

It left him in a grey area that ponies could not categorize. With all their ingenuity, inventions, and progress… when came around somepony outside of their labels they were not sure how to handle it, control it. The lack of control was, more often than not, stood as the greatest weakness. It was an inability to compromise on how to compensate for the aberration in a timely matter. When his language, while modern and poised with intelligence and wit that it was incomparable he spoke in such a contrary fashion. Every word had a second meaning, each meaning had a second thought. Pushing and pulling, twisting and turning: Discord was truly and undoubtedly the god of chaos and confusion. Focusing on one thing was not his strong suit, given the possibility the spirit was in more than one mindscape at once.

 

Or just easily distracted by entertainment. When you lived your life over a thousand times you find fun in the simplest things!

 

He held out his claw, that large paw pressed into his feathered coat. While a bizarre creature, at best, and a terrifying one at worst: the spirit seemed to emulate many familiar mannerisms despite his foreign nature. He moved when he spoke carrying with him the contextual clues that made his words both obvious and contrary. “And a friendship without culpability is just as meaningless, the most Equestrian sense of the term.” He reflected to the unicorn. “Be it from Maretonia, or Canterlot -- friend, at its very core, is the same everywhere. But stack on top of that personal need, greed, and expectations: ponies can certainly paint for themselves a different sort of friendship from place to place. But let me ask you fair minister of magical affairs….” He would insist on the teasing title. The chaotic snake was suddenly in front of the stallion unicorn and leaned his muzzle closer….. “Do you hesitate because of the ideal friendship in Maretonia being naught but a political date on the agenda -- or do you hesitate because of your own inability to handle a real life, burdensome friendship with Equestrian ponies and their local god of chaos? What have you to lose?” His grinned seemed to widen. “Selflessness is a must as is plucking that idea of self-preservation. Like a group of bugbears defending their queen. A mindless swarm that lives their day to day lives working -- collecting -- and searching for those chosen few destined to surpass their mettle and become the next queen.”

 

The way he tried to convince himself that it was somehow -- a joke did seem rather paranoid on his part. Spoken aloud there was no doubt of that. Discord rest his paw against his chin as his claw came to cup his elbow. Floating there he glowered at the unicorn for his most undeeded personal observation. No he was not afraid of Twilight. He wasn’t afraid of anypony. He chuckled. Daedalus has managed so far.

 

“Thus far you’ve seen but a speck of the surface of Equestria. The longer you stay here the deeper that knowledge becomes and if you are not mentally and physically prepared or have the right friendships you are sure enough not going to last. Just a warning. I’m not threatening you or anything and I certainly am not suggesting something may happen, but better to be prepared, hmm?” He crossed his forearms over his chest and grinned: eyes pinching up in the process. “Oh there was never a question of you surviving. I would never cause such an incident. It was just a question of how fast you’d accept your fate and realize that nothing was as it seemed.” His ears twitched at Daedalus’ acceptance. “See! That’s much easier. Better to swim with the tide!” He snapped his claws and manifested a life preserver around his waist, cackling delightfully.

 

A demi god as a friend, huh?

[Dio]

“All interpersonal relationships have some modicum of culpability attached.” Daedalus said dryly. “As much as we’d like to leave no hoofprints, it is inevitable that we do.”
 
Daedalus tugged at the mithril brace again, the skin beneath beginning to itch uncomfortably after radiation exposure and temperature extrema. Discord had since shown himself to not hold malicious intent, but it was difficult to shake an ingrained physiological response. There was still no ready means of removing it. Daedalus sighed.
 
“What have I to lose?” he echoed. “That’s the wrong question to ask. Let me frame it this way. Would you not be wary of one who could visit harm upon you without opening themselves to retaliation? What if you were confronted with someone exponentially more powerful than you, at first offering friendship, then suddenly reneging upon it and inflicting grievous harm upon you. Would you not be skeptical when offered friendship by another such being?”
 
The bands seemed to tighten. Daedalus took a deep breath. The band would not spring blades and maim him. Discord’s actions thus far and his gift had given plenty of evidence for his kindness, even if reasonableness was out of the question. He continued.
 
“Equestrians deem this a problem of petty narcissism. But not everyone is so blessed with a cultural disposition toward altruism. You can see that my conundrum is not with the concept of friendship, even so naive a version as classical Equestrian, but in the uneven distribution of power. To borrow a turn of phrase from an old parable, it is the sword that dangles over one’s head, suspended by a maiden’s hair.”
 
Finally, Daedalus sat down on the porch furniture Twilight had arranged on the balcony. A final round of fiddling with the gauntlet uncovered something he had missed before. A quick press of the switch rapidly disengaged it, allowing it to fall away with a clunk. Daedalus gave Discord a sidelong glance. His bad leg was still weak, as evidenced by the spontaneous shakes that began when he leaned upon it, but searing pain it was not. Relaxing had made it easier to deal with. Guarding was what had given the impression of blades preparing to strike to begin with.
 
Visual metaphor was not lost upon Daedalus. “That said, I am not the Assembly. My means of winning friends and influencing others does not involve knives in the dark and poison in the night if I can avoid it. Perhaps it is naive to adhere to that code, but I much prefer wine and olives to hemlock and garrotes as it were.”
 

He finally turned to Discord. “In fewer words, thank you, friend.”

[RexDraco]

 

 

Hoofprints in the sand. As such was the inevitability of life. Ponies, while admittedly were less woeful in their wasting, it was still the nature of an intelligent being to leave their mark. Be it in monuments marking their grand achievements or manuscripts detailing their reckless youth: it was assured that the pride of a mortal would overcome their bitter resentment of egoism.  In the end those that were able to accept the fate of their short lives could reach treasures that far outdo the efforts they had put into life. A humbling prospect and pitted against the fiercely competitive nature of survival. Like animals fighting over scraps of food sometimes the altruism of a pony was consumed by this desire to survive and gain.

 

However rare in Equestrian society, it was still documented in ponies less fortunate in the way of friends and comrades.

 

Daedalus’ wariness of the spirit's approach was only given. He knew there were those he companioned to easily and others who held obstinate views towards change, steadfast in their responsibilities that it was he who snubbed his muzzle at the chance of new company. It was in its own ironic classification seeing the spirit turn away something new and as interesting as a relationship with a thinking, living being more excelled at rapid change that even he himself could be held accountable for.

 

The spirit gave a grin as he twisted and turned in the absence of his localized gravity. Equus had as little pull on his ways than his own nature. Despite his erratic manners: there were glimmers of mortal conditions such as worry, desire, and hunger that kept him tethered just above the very beings he felt too contrived in their ways to accept their simplicity. Discord's ears pricked forward as his grin spread ear to ear. His snaggle tooth pressed against his lower jaw as he tensed as to hold at bay the fang-filled grin which was the nature of the predator. The thank you filled his ego to the max. As the spirit began to chuckle pieces of the mythril brace began to float up and crumple down, twist around until it formed a chain that would loop onto the crystallized star giving Daedalus a means to carry it from here to there.

 

“Oh, you're quite welcome.” He cooed. “Besides, consider it my pleasure to assist Twilight’s plucky little assistant.” He smirked giving a little snap of the claws to set the star pendant around the unicorn's neck. “Besides why dine on piano wire and partake in poisons, or fraternize among barrels of wine and the bittersweet touch of olives on your tongue when you could, evermore: dance in the maelstrom?” And with that the spirit would vanish.

F I N