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The Steadfast Sky

by TheGreyPotter

Chapter 6: VI : Discord

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The Steadfast Sky : Chapter 6
The Grey Potter
http://cosmicponyfanfiction.blogspot.com/

~Discord~

I woke slowly, rolling around on my straw. Left side, right side, small turn, left side. Face down, face up… Why is it so hard to kick myself awake? This isn’t some weird hour. Well… okay, it is a weird hour, but I’ve been getting up this early for weeks now. Right side. Okay, this wasn’t working. Time for desperate measures. I slapped my back into the stone wall.

“Cold! Coldcoldcold, yeesh, that’s cold!” I muttered, shivering and rolling away. “Ah, wake up. Wake up. Okay.”

I rolled on my feet and tried to shake off the full-body chills. And the straw. Was it actually past noon? The two bullies and the whiner were asleep in their straw, or in Crusher’s case, a bare corner. So, still day. I stifled a yawn and left my bunk for the hall, ascending.

I had an idea now, how we were all going to escape.

It was only a few nights ago that Celestia told me everything. How much she and Luna had lost, how much more they stood to lose. How much they needed eachother, and me. Such a hard time of things, and Celestia, Luna, they both needed me to help. I was an important part of their group, and I would try and hard as I could to protect them.

Made me wish I had something to offer. They had far more things than me to sell, and I didn’t even know a way out of the city. I wasted time in the tunnels for a few days, but never found anything special. Of course, I didn’t try to pass the basement elders either, but I wasn’t that suicidal yet.

There was only one place that I could possibly find a decent answer. I had to find Ruin. I wasted last night wandering the streets, willfully ignoring ponies and checking rooftops for the one-winged silhouette. I found him almost by accident, while trying to avoid a fight started by two of my brothers. He sat alone, frozen still, looking the few blocks down at the roaring pair of Draconequus. I scurried over to him, gripping my claws tightly in the mortar cracks as I climbed. He didn’t even offer me a glance as I scrambled to his side.

“Discord,” he growled.

“Hey Ruin. Been a while.” I waited for a reply. He didn’t give me one, continuing to stare in the distance. “I have some questions.”

“You wish to continue our lessons?”

“Ah, no, I think I’ve got a handle on all of this magical stuff.”

“There are other topics I can teach you. For example, why are you still not using your wings, Discord?”

“I’ll um…” I shifted my shoulders, feeling my back appendages flare uselessly, “I’ll use them when I’m ready.” I eyed the stump that was once a wing on Ruin. What could he teach me about flying anyway? “I just have a few questions about, well, the city and stuff.”

Ruin sat quietly for a moment. Conversation moves at his pace, of course.

“I will try and answer,” he finally replied.

“Good! Well. There’s… more to Equestria than just this city, right?” I waved over ‘this city.’ One of the combatants yelped in the distance, “Why don’t we patrol outside the walls?”

“There are Griffins to watch other settlements. We are special. We serve our Father here exclusively. His power, his strength, realized through us.” He snorted, “Although I’m sure you understand that there are some of us who are simply unable to handle any other tasks.”

Roaring erupted down the street. Another one of my brothers had been dragged into the street brawl. Majestic and noble creatures, the Draconequus. So intelligent and thoughtful.

“Imbeciles,” as Ruin put it. I laughed, but he didn’t laugh with me. Of course.

“So, there are other settlements out there,” I continued, “Is that where they grow the food?”

“Yes.” Well that was a simple answer.

“How do they get it here anyway?”

“It is flown in by the Griffins and Pegasi. They bring carts to our towers every day.”

“Oh.” Well, I should’ve guessed that. If you have magic flying subjects, why use anything else? But there had to be other ways out of the city, right? It was just… silly to have the sky be the only point of exit and entry. “So, nothing’s brought in on foot? Like through the tunnel systems?”

Ruin’s eye flicked his head around to stare at me, the only movement he made to acknowledge me since I arrived. I couldn’t help but stare back, tensing under his eyes.

“No,” he growled. “Discord.”

“Y-yeah?”

“How often must I tell you? It is not your place to dream. It is not your place to fantasize, or to think of yourself. You exist for Father. You live to execute Father’s will. That is all you are.”

I laughed nervously, trying to look away. “Hey, who said I was dreaming anything? I was just wondering about Father’s kingdom, you know?”

“Do you have more questions, Discord?”

“Oh, I um… uh,” I fumbled, “Well why does the—“

“Do not waste my time, and do not waste your time trying to leave Canterbury. It will be astonishingly easy to find you, and then it will be made sure that you never leave again. Discord,” I flipped back to look at him. That was a weird tone in his voice. Almost like he didn’t have something stuck in his throat. “We have very little in the way of brain power here. The Draconequus need every speck of intelligence we can muster.”

“Oh, Ruin, you do care about me,” I joked, hugging his scaly leg.

“Do not touch me.”

I quickly withdrew.

Yeah, likeable guy, that Ruin.

Back to reality, to today. It wasn’t even twelve hours since Ruin told me to stay put, and here I was, trying to see what was up with those carts. I guess I’m not as intelligent as Ruin wanted me to be, but it’s okay, I can take that. I stretched out my wings, each leg as I walked, as I ascended higher in the castle. I didn’t know where I was going, but as long as I was going up, I was going in the right direction. I’d hit the top eventually.

I was half certain I wasn’t allowed to go up there, but the other half of me said the ‘oh, I’m just so young and naïve!’ trick might still work. I’ve hit an unlucky streak with my lying, but if there’s anything easy to act, it’s stupid!

The castle was dark as ever, but steadily, the torches on the walls became gas lamps. The stone became smoother, fit tightly together in carefully carved and polished rectangles. I saw fewer and fewer Draconequus, and instead encountered more griffins, more earth ponies, both wearing a sort of burnished black plate armor. I even passed two armored ponies with wings. It was the first time I had seen Pegasi alive, and I think they noticed me staring. Otherwise, most everyone thankfully ignored me.

It was somewhat random what path I would take, and which one I wouldn’t. The top was the top, right? Apparently not. Abruptly, the circles stopped, became level, and led somewhere very strange.

I was standing at the foot of a staircase, an actual staircase. The steps were carved out of a pale rock, marble I think, and carefully polished to a slippery looking sheen. Brightly burning lamps lit every other step as they ascended sharply upward, making the enclosed space glow almost like day. At the top there was an archway built of the same stone, carved in a swirling pattern, mimicking clouds.

I stepped up as if the staircase was going to explode under me. Was this what the highest towers looked like? Is this the true boundary I was not supposed to cross? Griffin guards passed by me, but none took the stairs, or came down them. None tried to stop me from going up either. Still, I waited until I was alone to scurry hesitantly upwards.

Why did my talons and claws have to click so loudly on that stone? I never really thought of it, but the main castle was a noisy place, even when it slept. There was water dripping, dogs scurrying after rats, the occasional heated argument and shouts. Even the griffin floors, quiet as they were, were still active, with the noise of passing life.

Up here, it was quiet as death. Nothing lived here but myself. Portraits of ponies twice my size stared at me. Floral vases and suits of posed pony armor stood in accusation, offended that I had invaded their sacred space. The world held its breath, judging me. I couldn’t find another staircase up. It was difficult to even find a door. It was stupid to think that I could find any exit at all from this place. Crates and barrels wouldn’t be carted through here. That would be a desecration beyond words.

Yet I continued to walk through this unwelcoming area. A look around couldn’t hurt me, right? There was no guard up here to catch me, so what was the harm?

I was instantly proven wrong, but lucky. In such a silence, the gentle pattern of hoofbeats was clearly heard long, long before any pony appeared. I carefully and quietly ducked behind a suit of armor. I wished I could weave shadows around me to hide better, but it would stand out far too much in this light. Feeling exposed, I made myself small as possible, waiting for the guard, or whoever, to pass.

At the end of the hall, there was another ornate archway, much like the first I encountered. I stared at it, feeling that was where the sound was coming from, praying whoever it was didn’t come down here.

The steps grew louder. I blinked, squinted, then carefully looked up at the lamps on the wall. Were they guttering out? It seemed to be getting darker. With how many lamps were around, it must be difficult to manage them all. My eyes were only gone for a second, but whoever that was passed by my hall. The pony continued to the left, his shadow told me. The steps faded, I heard a door open and close, and then silence once more.

I eased out of my hiding spot, and with extra care, went down the hall and turned right.

I had to find a way out of here, a way up. If I could just get to the roof, this silent and unoccupied of a place would be perfect. If they only had one guard wandering around, I’d be able to watch the carts come and go for ages without fear of being discovered.

After only a brief walk the corridor ended. I think I found where I was going.

The hallways ended in double doors but not any ordinary wooden doors. They were huge, rising far above my head, and so unlike the rest of the pale stone around it. The doors were made out of iron, and decorated with raised surfaces of gold, or bronze so shined and polished until it almost glowed. Gemstones studded its surface, and the two circular handles, splitting the door exactly down the center, seemed to be carved out of solid stone, like pink quartz, or granite.

I don’t know why, but I thought this could actually be an exit. Why not? If the sky was the true pathway out of Canterbury, then why not dress it up a little?

And if it wasn’t an exit, then really, if one finds a door this fancy, there’s no resisting the urge to see what’s beyond it.

I eagerly tugged at the bottom of the handle, up so high that I could only barely wrap my claw around it. I tugged, and the heavy door softly moved forward, inch my inch, quiet as a dream. I opened it wide enough to just barely squeeze through, and ran right in, excited to see what was beyond it.

I don’t know how the room was lit, but I could see. Black cloth, spun out of what I assumed to be pure shadow, spilled from the ceiling, folding and rolling to the floor in heavy lumps. The floor seemed to be the same cloth, but faded steadily into a light gray. It was massive room, suitably reflecting the massive door, yet it only hosted a single dais. A pedestal that seemed itself to grow out of the black cloth.

I stepped forward, and chalky dust sprung up from beneath my paw, apparently responsible for the floor’s steady fade in color. When I walked, the floor folded and gave under my feet, sending little puffs everywhere. The dust clouded my vision, clogged my nose. I gripped my mouth shut to try and stop myself from sneezing as I approached the single dais. While small in comparison to the room, the top was just high enough for me to barely be able to catch a glimpse at the top, and what was held there.

Sitting half buried in a thick pile of glittering dust was a single light gray stone, crudely carved into the shape of a butterfly.

My taloned hand moved itself forward and immediately picked it up.

I panicked. Why in Equestria did I do that?! Why did I take this clearly valuable object from a vault of Father’s? Why am I still holding it? It had a weird vibration to it, like a beat, a periodic warm breath that washed down my arm.

It was creepy, that’s what it was. A creepy, valuable, probably evil rock in the shape of a butterfly.

I waited for a few minutes for the guards to come running like I knew that they would. When they didn’t, I blew the dust off the rock and tucked it under my feathered wing for safekeeping. If they were going to make it this easy to steal a valuable heirloom thing, then it deserved to be taken. It was fate.

I remember a moment from childhood… younger childhood. I was chasing mice, it was a fun little game. Finally, I trapped one in a corner, and caught beneath my paw. For the first time, there was something alive, squirming, and very warm touching me. It never bit me, but I immediately jumped back, surprised. It was a shock, to suddenly have something so strange touching you.

That’s what it felt like holding this rock. Like I was holding a live creature. Moving, breathing, but never hurting. Just there.

I left the room thinking that this was incredibly easy. No alarm? No guards? Not even a lock for cripes sake? Did I just steal from the Shadow Stallion? From my own Father? And actually get away with it? I guess this makes my betrayal official. Weird word. Betrayal. I didn’t feel any different. I made my way down the tower, silent as I was in ascension. The only thing was that now, I was carrying a strange rock.

Finally, I reached the first and only staircase. Relieved to finally be rid of this place, I scurried down the steps.

And immediately ran into an angry band of griffin guards.

Next Chapter: VII : Celestia Estimated time remaining: 21 Hours, 50 Minutes
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