The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 73 – The Moral Debate

“Gguaaaacck! STT-FFT! Staawllppp!!!” Rayne choked out as Discord was strangling him. The black stallion hissed and scratched at the hold around his throat with his hooves. As he bucked and twisted he didn’t even care at the moment that his wounds were tearing and spilling blood into his bed sheets.

“If you want me to stop choking you then I suggest you make me.” Discord growled as his grip tightened. “No more playing dumb! No more holding back what you’ve become capable of! Something tells me my otherworldly friend, that without me using magic you could easily throw me off of you if you weren’t pretending to be so weak!”

Rayne continued to kick in the bed but now held an eye open as he looked to the Draconequus while his lungs started to burn. Seeing that Discord was not letting up Rayne swiftly changed into his panther form. From there it took very little effort to throw Discord off of him and clear across the room into the wall.

Outside Starlight looked up curiously as she felt a bang and saw some placards on the wall seemed to shake. “Umm, hello? Discord? Rayne?” She called softly. Then a moment later panic set in for her. “Wait a minute! Why is this door locked?!” She shouted. “HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE?! LET ME IN!” Without delay her screaming alarmed the hospital staff as nurses Sweetheart and Snowheart both came running to investigate. The frantic mare turned to them and shouted, “Help me! Discord is in there and he was upset! Now I can’t get this door open!”

With eyes wide Sweetheart turned to the other nurse and shouted, “Go get an orderly and Nurse Redheart quick!” Then she rushed over to try the door handle. “This is the hospital staff! Anypony in there open this door immediately!” She called as she began to bang upon the door with her shoulder. It only took a single push before Starlight fell in line behind her to help.

Inside the room Discord grumbled as he picked himself up off the floor and looked back to the small crack in the wall which his back had made. “Well… somepony has been eating his Wheaties.”

Rayne’s eyes wore a piercing gaze as he leered at this friend with a dire expression. “So, you finally figured it out huh? Tell me, what was it that gave me away” Rayne growled but it was not to Discord. His wounds had not healed and the thrashing he had done now left blood dripping down through his fur.

After popping his knuckles and cracking his neck Discord snapped his claws becoming extremely buff with an emblem of ‘SD’ upon his chest. Rayne did not have to ask to guess that it stood for ‘Super Discord.’ “You were ratted out my friend.” Discord said as he postured ridiculously to show that Rayne had no chance of throwing him around a second time.

“You lie. It is true that somepony out there knows all about what I’ve been up to. But they would never have been so careless as to tell you.” The panther licked his fangs defiantly of the Draconequus.

But then Discord tapped his chin and sneered, as if Rayne wouldn’t have caught what that meant. “Then you know all about it.” Discord made their side of the wall see through to show Starlight and three nurses struggling desperately to penetrate into the room. “Look here at your precious Starlight Glimmer. She how so struggles to reach you so that she can apologize for telling me all about your foul deeds.”

That was when Rayne settled down. His ears relaxed and he disrespectfully turned his back to Discord as he started to literally lick his wounds. “Oh good. I’ve managed to fool you after all. You don’t know a single thing. You had me worried for a moment.” At the clearly dumbfounded expression on Discord’s face Rayne said, “Oh Starlight? You think I told Starlight what I was up to? Don’t get me wrong, I’m crazy about the mare. But she is the pupil of the Princess of Friendship. You think I’m going to take that chance?”

“Well,” Discord began as he changed back into his normal self, “now that the Master of Chaos knows that you’ve been up to no good, what is your plan for stopping ME from telling Twilight?”

Rayne winced, hardly showing any attention at all. Turning to see his injuries for the first time he frowned seeing just how deeply the trees has actually cut him. “Ouch.. Oh, you? Well nothing. Hsssss, wow this hurts. Ahem, as for you Discord I don’t plan to do a thing. I’ve already ‘taken care’ of your loose end.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” He asked while snaking his head around Rayne several times.

“Why, we’re friends!” Rayne emphasized strongly. “I would NEVER do anything to hurt you. I care about you too much. Likewise, I trust that you would never do anything to hurt me. Like say, by ratting me out to a princess. Heh, trust me… Twilight would have me turned to stone for only HALF of the stuff that I’ve done alrea- oww, oww… stupid shoulders!” He whined as his back paw almost slipped on the ground across a small smearing of his own blood.

But then Discord made his claw tips stretch to wrap around the panther to lift him up off the ground. “You stand accused of MURDER Rayne! Trust me when I tell you that while a few shared dance steps might be amusing, friendship has it’s limitations!”

“Oh… I see.” He stated as he suddenly shifted into shadow and rematerialized back on the ground.

“Wait a minute, how did you do that? I didn’t teach you to do that.” Discord said with a quirked eyebrow.

“That’s right. You didn’t. You also didn’t teach me how to do this...” Rayne spread his jaws open as a white light shined within. Slowly all of his wounds began to heal closed on their own until he was left bloody but without a scratch on him. “Ooohhhh that is sooo much better. I was going to hold off and try to heal these naturally but with you rushing in here like the inquisition and making me bleed all over the place I just couldn’t wait.”

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! There isn’t a pony in Equestria who has mastered healing magic!” Discord screamed.

But knowing he was going to black out now, Rayne was not in the mood to play twenty questions. “Oh well I wouldn’t say I’ve ‘mastered it.’ But you haven’t answered my question Discord. How did you catch on that I had been up to anything at all?! I’ve been keeping so careful. If I slipped up, I would at least appreciate knowing what my mistake was.”

Now Discord just scowled but then replied, “Technically I guess it wasn’t a slip up of yours at all. You were just caught. As I said, you were ratted out but it wasn’t actually by a friend. In this case it was by King Aspen who lives in the Everfree Forest. Apparently all the little critters you’ve been harassing in there complained to him about you. Then yesterday he caught you himself, hence… your gardening mishap that landed you in here.”

As Discord explained though, Rayne was looking to him as if he did not understand. “King Aspen? Who in the heck is King Aspen? King of what? What is there to be a king of in there? I thought that everything in the Everfree Forest was wild.”

“Umm… King Aspen, heart of the forest, king of the deer? Did you really not know? He’s got a whole city with wood bridges and soldiers and it’s all very lovely really. You should see it sometime when he doesn’t want your life for crimes against the forest.”

“What?! There are no deer in that freakin’ forest! Is that something new to season eight that happened after I came here?! And why wouldn’t I have seen any deer while wondering around in there since coming to Equestria?!”

Now Discord stopped to smack himself in the face. “Are you serious? Is that really what this is about? This is a whole WORLD Rayne! Do you think that our planet just drops off at the edges of Equestria because some Saturday morning cartoon artist never drew that far out for a Television show?” Rayne faltered as he was about to answer ‘yes’ until Discord screamed. “Of course not! There is a lot more that exists both within and beyond Equestria that the show never portrayed! And the leader of one such settlement wants your head on a stick… if you hadn’t noticed from when he missed and pierced your shoulder instead.”

“Huh… So, it was some forest deer king who attacked me?” Rayne asked as he considered the possibly. “And… these deer are sentient and advanced like ponies are?” To this Discord nodded. “Well at least now I know who those green eyes belonged to. Time for me to come up with a new plan and get revenge for the blood spilled on this floor.” He hissed. But that was when the Draconequus swooped forward in a wave leaving Rayne with iron cuff links locked around his panthered wrists.

“Not so fast. I’m not done questioning you yet. I want to know what you did to that Timberwolf. King Aspen was less than clear on the details but he was more than upset about how you… ‘abused it’ I believe he said.”

Then Rayne just looked to Discord in wide eyed disbelief as a smile crept up over his face. “Wh-haha. What?! Are you serious? Hahaha!”

“What’s so funny?” Discord growled as again the panther shifted into shadow causing the cuff links to fall to the floor.

“What I did to the Timberwolf? Really? ‘That’ Timberwolf… Everything I’ve done and you are concerned about ‘THAT TIMBERWOLF?’ AHAHAHAHA!” The panther actually fell onto the ground in laughter now as Discord had no idea as to the lengths that Rayne had gotten away with until now. “S-sure… Here, knock yourself out. You wanna see what happened to it? Take a look...” He almost cried as he was laughing too hard.

Slowly collecting himself now Rayne stood back up and outstretched a paw. Discord’s eyes almost popped out as he watched a shadow waft from beneath Rayne before the half stone half billowy canine rose from the white tile floor. “What… is that?” Discord huffed out in amazement and horror. “What have you done Rayne? THIS used to be a Timberwolf?!” He looked it over as it looked back and then snapped at him when he got too close. “Rayne… Equestria isn’t really the sort of place where words like ‘heresy’ or ‘abomination’ are uttered often. But what you have made here seriously pushes that limit!”

“Well… all the more reason for me to have been keeping my activities to myself then.” Rayne replied as pulled the bloodied bed sheets off of the hospital cot and then sat down. “So the real question is what happens now? What’s the plan then? What are you going to do now that you know?”

“PLAN?! There is no plan! You are becoming a menace Rayne! We might be friends but this…” He stated while gesturing toward the hound. “I don’t even know where to start for what this is. There has never been magic like this before and how you managed to create a whole new form of magic without me noticing is something that I definitely plan to investigate! Right after I turn you in that is...”

To this Rayne just yawned as if he couldn’t be bothered. “Oh, well. Oh my oh dear. It would seem I am in quite a pickle. Whatever will I do?” He grinned sarcastically.

“Har, har, I’m glad you find this so amusing. If you think that being able to phase shift out of cuff links is going to save you from being frozen by MY magic then you’ve got another thing coming. I am bringing you to Canterlot where the princesses will decide what is to be done once all of your past deeds are brought into the light.” Then Discord raised a claw to snap Rayne into a frozen state.

Or that had been his plan until the twisted vine of a rhododendron plant weaved between his claws pulling them apart. “Finally getting serious I see. I’ll just have to do something about that.” More shadows emerged from Rayne as various creatures filled the room. Two more Obsidianwolves bit the Draconequus by the shoulders and pulled him to his back. An Obsidian-Cragadile bit down upon each of his left and right claw and paw holding his digits away from each other between their sharp teeth. An Obsidian-Manticore and an Obsidian-Chimera pounced to pin each of his legs down. All the while the vines wrapped around him more and more.

“Rayne...” Discord called out in surprise as he looked to the variety of creatures. “How… Have you gone mad?! All these too?! You are beyond saving. How could you possibly have done this without me knowing?!” He squeaked in honest dismay. But then that bountiful curiously from the Draconequus was replaced with stoic rage. “You do realize that my finger snap is only for style right? That no matter how you bind me, I still remain as powerful as ever.”

“Heh, yes I do.” Rayne said as the panther dropped from the bed and sauntered over to place a paw upon Discord’s chest. “That is why I plan to deal with the heart of the problem.” Then Discord’s the smirk was ripped away in place of pained surprise as through his mouth a rush of swirling plaid magic was pulled out. Rayne’s eyes darted side to side as if searching for something as he took the Draconequus’ powers into himself. Then he grinned as Discord tugged and struggled with all the creatures holding him.

That was when everything stopped. Time itself seemed to stop. Nothing moved, not even the glow of magic shifting from Discord to the Rayne. That was when from off to the side another Discord appeared while holding a giant pair of scissors. He cut the line of magic like a ribbon which caused it to fall like a piece of cloth. Then he rolled it up and shoved it back into the frozen Discord’s mouth. Following this he pulled out a feather duster and brushed away all of the shadow creatures that held him.

“Nice try Rayne, very sneaky. You were almost powerful enough to get away with that… somehow.” Discord said as time resumed and now the only Discord in the room stood up looking furious. “But you just crossed the line! You are beyond Celestia’s judgment! Thinking that you could pull one over on ME?! THINKING THAT YOU COULD CHALLENGE THE MASTER OF CHAOS?!!!”

The panther was kneeling upon the ground with his head down low. He did not look up, did not respond, did not react. He only knelt while licking the taste upon his lips as Discord screamed at him.

“Ohhhhh Rayne, buddy boy! I am going to turn you to stone... Then I am going to break you apart… Then I’m going to scatter your pieces across so many dimensions and timelines and different planes of existence that even I won’t be able to pull you back together again!”

That was when the panther looked up and smirked, “You talk too much… do your worst.” Discord’s eyes burned red and he extended his claw grow so large that it almost filled the room. Bearing down upon him now he growled before finally snapping his clawtips.

SNAP!

Then the two remained there looking up at each other.

Snap!

Discord then leaned back in confusion looking at his claw making sure there was nothing wrong with his claw placement.

Snap! Snap!

“Well.. that is very strange I...” Snapping three more times a goat, a car, and a talking clown fish fell from the ceiling and onto the floor.

“What’s going on?! Where’s Nemo?!”

Snapping his claw again all three objects vanished back to wherever they had come from. “No, my magic still works. Hmm, how very strange.” He said as he snapped his claw toward Rayne again and nothing happened.

“Well you know Discord, performance anxiety is on the rise. It’s nothing to be ashamed of if you can’t-”

“OH YOU SHUT UP! TELL ME WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Discord screamed as he shifted forward and towered over Rayne. “How are you even able to steal magic at all in the first place?! How did you create those shadowy creatures?! How is it that I cannot disperse you into the void?!” This frustrated voice became squeakier and squeakier by the moment.

Now the panther gently pushed Discord back away from him. “Well to answer in reverse order, it’s because of this...” He said as he opened his jaws revealed a small stripe of plaid magic that now danced around in front of him. “I wasn’t after ALL of your magic Discord. I was only after a piece of it. This piece. Which I managed to acquire just before you froze everything.”

“And what piece?! I pulled everything you took back away from you!” Discord grumped like a petulant child.

This however made Rayne roll his eyes as he grumbled, “My friend, please. Really now... This is going to take SO much longer to explain if you keep interrupting me.” Discord frowned and materialized a stood for him to sit upon. Then with a pouty nod he waved for Rayne to continue. “Yes, you did take all of the magic that I got from you back. But you did not take away the magic that I copied from you.”

“WHAT?!” The Draconequus screamed once more but as Rayne frowned he quieted down again to listen.

“You see this shiny little sliver of your essence here?” The panther asked while gesturing to the magical plaid stripe. “This is what I call ‘Chaos Begets Chaos.’ It’s a shield if you will. A protection which I just got from you, for protection FROM you. I may not be entirely magic proof… yet. But haha, Discord I just used your very own magic to make me immune to the magic of chaos!” Rayne explained with a hearty laugh. “From this point on I cannot be transfigured, transmuted, transmogrified, or transplanted by you. Your magic no longer affects me!” He cheered with a toothy smirk.

Discord sat there absolutely slack jawed before he thought to himself and snapped his claw tips again. Suddenly a pig with wings materialized and was sent flying right into Rayne’s face like a battering ram. “Well, I’m glad to see that still works at least.” He grumbled as he snapped the pig away. “And the explanation to all this?” He asked bitterly but politely.

After picking himself back up, Rayne sat upright looking very pleased with him. “Oh simple, I’m surprised you can’t put it together yourself. To give you the short summary… I just played on the fact that no one in this world is really very smart. I knew I could trick Tirek into giving me his ability to steal magic in exchange for his freedom. But being free comes with it’s price. There are so many violent and dangerous creatures out in the wild. It’s a shame that Tirek’s freedom was short lived… And I never lied, I gave him the freedom I promised… and once he was no longer under Ceberus’ watchful gaze he tasted sooo good going down my gullet.”

Now a bit grossed out as well as horrified he said, “So that WAS you then. Tell me why... Why eat him?”

“WHY?! Haha, why do you think I wanted this alternate form to begin with?! I was a human before coming to Equestria! And I was no vegetarian in my life back there. Now I love a good salad or some mixed nuts and berries from time to time. But I don’t want to be trapped with a life of having only leafy greens and never being about to enjoy a nice fresh steak.” He said while sucking on his fangs.

“That’s it? Really?! You wanted to be able to change into a carnivore just to satisfy your own selfish culinary appetites? I always thought it was something deeper than that. Some desire to live out a juvenile fantasy in a form greater than your own!”

“Oh, it is. And the muscles and speed help too. But besides that, nope. It was just because I knew I would get hungry and I wanted the ability to hunt. That’s really all.” Rayne admitted while not feeling the least bit back about it.

“Alright, alright. Continue on.” Discord growled.

“Well, once I gained the power to steal magic the next obvious goal of mine was to seek magic out. So I sought after Sombra in the Crystal Empire and he was my next victim.”

Now Discord stared at him flat faced. “You… took down Sombra? And how?! I thought he was already defeated!”

“Oh he was. I found him in a weakened state. Otherwise I never would have been able to succeed at my goal. But...” He said as he shifted into shadow from one end of the room and back again.

“Oh… so that’s how you did that. You have HIS magic.” Discord sighed.

“Anyways… I’ve been quite busy since then. So far I have acquired the magic of almost every mare and stallion in every small town in Equestria. From Ponyville, to Dodge City, Appleloosa, Rainbow Falls… I’ve even hit Cloudsdale already. There’s a few mares here in Ponyville that I haven’t gotten to yet but that’s really about all. Not to mention all the monsters and magical creatures in Equestria. I’d say there are probably less than a dozen races left who I haven’t stolen the essence of.”

Now Discord raised his paw as if sitting in class and waiting for the teacher to call on him. After Rayne nodded he said, “Okay so while current events force me to believe you that you’ve actually done all this… How have you kept quiet about it so far? Wouldn’t every pony in Equestria be crawling around listlessly if what you said was true? Not to mention, I can detect whenever there are great magical shifts of power.”

“Well that is because there never was a ‘great’ shift.” Rayne pointed out. “Every single pony, animal, or monster that I drained I did so individually. With the exception of a cloud of Flash Bees, I never once stole the essence of more than one being at a time. That way I could keep my magical foot print small and beneath your radar.” He sneered proudly. “As for your other question, that is because I have been returning the magic I take after receiving it. I’ve mastered the ability of copying any magic I take. Then I just return the original back to where it was from.”

“It that a fact...” Discord grumbled sourly more of as a statement to whine about than as a, actual question.

“I’m sure that you don’t particularly care about what the process is.” Rayne surmised.

“No.” Discord scowled feeling disappointed that he was duped so extensively. “I suppose knowing how it works doesn’t change the fact that it is very clear that you can. In fact I think I am able to put the rest together on my own after all. It’s your massage parlor business or whatever it is you do. Isn’t it? That’s how you’ve been getting ponies alone.”

“Correct.” Rayne said.

“I also can tell that every creature of the wild you’ve drained also becomes another one of your shadow thralls. Or at least a copy of it does.”

“You would be right.” He admitted.

“And where it seems you went wrong was assuming that quietly going after monsters and critters wouldn’t land you into any trouble. You thought they would just forget about the experience after it was over, or at worse have nobody who they could complain about it to.”

Now the panther nodded. “Also correct. If I knew that the Everfree Forest had a king or some kind of guardian then I would have been as careful hunting beasts as I had been in stealing magic from ponies.”

“Now before we go any farther… Is that is?” Discord asked. “Is that all you have been up to, aside from sleeping your way through the mares of Equestria?”

With a chuckle Rayne said, “Well that is about as far as I’ve gotten so far. Since draining the magic of the dragon in the forest, just before Aspen attacked me, I can now devour physical objects as well. But that doesn’t mean I’ve reached the end of my goals however. In fact you just gave me my newest ability.”

“Oh? How so?” Discord asked him.

“Well while I was working at manifesting a protection to your chaos magic… I happened to find your spiritual empowerment along the way. I don’t have our magic Discord,” Rayne pointed out as he snapped his paw three times with nothing happening, “and quite frankly I don’t want it. But whenever there is chaos, disharmony, or discord between sentient creatures I now get the same strengthening to my powers that you do.” The panther almost giggled as he explained that fact. “I could never replace you as the Master of Chaos and I wouldn’t want to. But I now feed off of chaos same as you.”

Discord was not pleased by this but at the same time he was growing bored of all the banter back and forth. “So do I even have to ask? Or are you going to make me state the obvious?”

“Heh, you want to know why? Big picture, master plan why?”

“YESSSSS!!!” He hissed dramatically.

Now Rayne looked out the window and chuckled as the entire room shook from Starlight trying to blast her way through the door. “The things we do for love...” He whispered.

Now Discord was brought to slapping a paw over his face a second time. “What?! Are you seriously telling me that you have gone through THIS great of lengths just because you have a crush on somepony?”

“Well, you have that half right.” Rayne said as he turned back from his panther form into a stallion. “Look again at my cutie mark Discord. You see it as more than just a blue and green heart made of two mares. You can see that it shows me destined to love Luna and Chrysalis. It is their silhouettes that I wear and no other. Now tell me… are either of them truly safe in this world?” Rayne’s voice had fallen to a much lower tone. No longer was he prideful. Now he was seeming heartfelt and sincere.

“What kind of question is that?! Is anyone really safe in any world? What is this really about Rayne?” Discord spat.

The stallion sighed before looking up to say, “Back when the Storm King’s forces attacked, Luna was turned to stone and then fell through the air. If Twilight hadn’t caught her she would have shattered. Also when I found Chrysalis who has been in hiding all this time she was already shattered but in a different way. Just not physically but her mind, her heart, her sanity… She has been devastated after losing her hive Discord. I have to help her. I have to be able to protect them both.” He stated in a determined tone. “...Oh, and one more thing. I also murdered the Storm King who I found shoved into a closet in Canterlot. I almost forgot about that.”

Now Discord was forced to once again slap himself over the face with a paw a third time. “Really now… the more you explain the more ridiculous you become Rayne. So you are doing all this just because you flipped out seeing Luna almost get hurt and it made you sad seeing Chrysalis so distraught?”

“Yes… I will protect them Discord. I will acquire all the power in this entire world if I have to until there is nothing left that I can’t keep them safe from.” Turning away to look out the hospital room window how Rayne said, “I love this place. I love living in Equestria. Everything is so happy here. I don’t ever want to see it destroyed. So I will watch over it with all the power that I amass. I may not be the Pony of Shadows… but I will be the ’Shadow of Equestria’ who stands to defend it whenever it’s safety is challenged. As per my personal desires though, Equestria be damned I will keep Luna and Chrysalis safe even if I have to stand up against Twilight and her friends to do it.”

“Wait, wait… So you want to be a hero? You aren’t trying to take over?” Discord asked while sounding a bit flabbergasted.

“What?! HAHA! NO WAY! That is WAY too much responsibility. I don’t want to rule! I just want to be Equestria’s secret and silent protector. While of course putting Luna’s and Chrysi’s well being above all.”

Discord grumbled while sorting through the facts. “Rayne, Twilight and the others know what happened to Tirek. They just don’t know who or what was responsible. And you kidnapped Chrysalis right in front of them while she was disguised as Derpy Hooves. They believed until recently that you have been hunting villains. Am I to assume she was right?”

“Indeed you can.” Rayne admitted proudly. “Tirek, Sombra, and the Storm King were all still potential dangers to Equestria. But now thanks to me none of them will ever threaten a pony again.”

Hurriedly Discord looked out the window and glanced around at the sky. “But Rayne… that’s three murders! Three cold blooded murders! There will be consequences of which you cannot understand for this! Not to mention all the woodland creatures you’ve slain to satisfy your appetites.”

“Actually...” Rayne pointed out. “I didn’t actually kill Sombra. Tirek and the Storm King yes. But Sombra I just rendered completely helpless and trapped. I will dispose of him later when the time comes. As for the creatures I’ve killed… those have been few and far between. I wouldn’t really call those murders. I’ve been strictly keeping to the law of the jungle. I haven’t so much as harmed the feather of a Cockatrice unless I were planning to eat it. And I do that any more often than once a week. I have to sleep in panther form after doing so or it’s hard on the digestion as a pony.”

“Rayne...” Now it was Discord’s turn to soften his tone as he actually placed a gently paw on the stallion’s shoulder. “I will admit this is a much different situation than what I originally expected. But you can’t keep this up or else King Aspen will be the least of your worries. I’m telling you, if you don’t stop now then you will be brought to regret it. And not by me. I’m just the friend who is trying to give you safe advice.”

“So… does that mean you aren’t against me anymore?” Rayne asked and Discord sighed.

“Well seeing as I can no longer turn you into a field of daisies to run you over with a lawnmower, my participation in this is now questionable at best. I’m not about to resort to physical violence, it just isn’t in my character. However this mess with Aspen is YOUR doing and I WILL make you be the one to fix it, one way or another. You either go out there and take responsibility for your actions or I shall be forced to report you to the princesses so they can sort you out!” Rayne just scoffed as if he wasn’t worried but then Discord added, “That includes telling Luna!”

Now the stallion froze as he hadn’t really thought that over before. “Oh… alright then. Threat received.” Clearing his throat he then said, “Don’t worry. I planned to settle things with Aspen one way or another. Believe it or not I still need to recover more from the injuries I sustained. I’m seriously about to black out any second here and I have been using the last traces of your magic I snagged just to stave it off until now.”

“Rayne!” Discord shouted. “Haven’t you heard a word that I’ve said?! You MUST stop this violence! If you commit even one more murder then you do not understand the situation that you will put yourself in!”

Waiving it off Rayne said, “It’s not murder when I’m fighting for a cause. This Aspen has threatened not only me but mares that I care about. He will answer for what he’s done.”

A fourth and final time Discord slapped his own face. “You just aren't getting it Rayne...”

But that was when the stallion wobbled just on the verge of collapse. “Discord please… Let me calm Starlight’s fury before I pass out. Please...”

Rolling his eyes Discord put up a glowing shield in front of himself before snapping his claws to remove his barrier around the room. Instantly the door was blasted open as a beam of destructive magic focused right toward the Draconequus.

“DISCORD!!! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN HERE?!” Starlight screamed with rage as tears of worry streamed down her face.

Once her blast finally subsided she huffed and looked around inside. Discord yawned in slight annoyance but Starlight’s gaze looked down to the stallion on the ground, out of his medical supports, and covered in his own blood. “Starlight… Please help me… take me out of here. Please let me stay with you Starlight...” Rayne whispered before his eyes closed as he could not have timed blacking out from his healing magic more perfectly if he had tried.

“Oh that was dirty Rayne… no fair.” Discord complained as the mare rushed to Rayne’s side while now looking up at the Draconequus as if he had been responsible for the stallion now laying bloody on the floor.

Author's Notes:

For those of you who haven't seen it, I started a blog which I've been updating continually to let you all know how the progress of my story is going. Feel free to take a look at it at any time.

So this chapter had a good bit of back and forth debate. How did everyone like it? How do you like Rayne managing to swindle Discord yet again? Yes so that means Rayne can now absorb magic from living things, physical things, and also absorb magic from chaos now. What do you feed the man who can eat anything? You feed him everything Haha.

So Super Discord is as loosely a reference to Superman as any other "super character" is anywhere. Not sure if this needed the credit citation or not but I decided to be thorough.

For anyone who may not know... 'Twenty questions' is a game where you ask someone... twenty questions about themselves lol. But it can be used as an expression to mean someone doesn't want to waste time talking about unimportant details.

The 'Eat their Wheaties,' is another old expression just meaning a person is very strong, with the implication that eating wheat cereal will do that to you.

Yes, yes, I did add in a Finding Nemo reference Haha. I do not own that movie or Pixar, etc, etc.

So count those slaps with me! One! Two! Three! Four! Haha! I could have just as easily called this chapter "The Great Discord Dumbfoundment!" Hehe.

Okay so finally... Rayne lives to see another day. Not without some pain involved but he has managed to bypass Discord putting an end to all his schemes. Now he just has to keep the ponies from finding out. But once he recovers you can bet that Rayne is going to be ignoring Discord's warnings. There is some vengeance to exact and Rayne will be eager to go deer hunting once he wakes up.

But Discord's warnings... what could he have meant? And why did he suddenly rush to look out the window?