As Discord walked through the halls of the castle, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to the conversation he had shared with Celestia.  He sighed to himself, unsure if he could really forgive anyone for what occurred during the War, including himself.  Both had lost loved ones during the War, but Discord had lost everything.  Celestia at least had a handful of other alicorns, including her own sister, Luna, to bring their race back from the brink of oblivion.  Discord had no such comfort.  Every last draconequus save for him was killed, and his race would never bounce back.  Cruel fate had wiped out one of the most powerful beings in Equestria, and nearly obliterated the alicorns.  Unfortunately for Discord, there would never be an escape.  If he died, reality would be torn apart.  As the last bearer of the Elements of Chaos, he helped bring stability by balancing the world with his Chaos, so that it would not be overpowered by Harmony.  Balance was essential, and he and his Queen walked a fine line to keep that balance.  It had been imbalance that brought on the War, and no one wanted that ever again.  Lost in his thought, he bumped into a pillar in his throne room, jarring him back to reality.  Feeling himself blush from embarrassment, he looked around to make sure no one had witnessed his embarrassing encounter with the stone pillar.  He heard a childish giggle come from a dark corner of the throne room, and a small, innocent-looking alicorn stepped out of the darkness and into the brighter part of the throne room, smiling.  Discord immediately recognized the dark-pelted filly as Celestia's younger sister, Luna.  

"You're funny, Discord."  She giggled again, looking up at him with wide, childish eyes.  

Discord smiled back at her, admiring how she had kept her childish innocence throughout the trials of her life.  By alicorn standards, she was extremely young, unable to fully use her magic yet.  By regular pony standards, she was about eight years old.  Even though the first years of her life were spent in terror during the war, she had maintained her ability to bring smiles to everyone she met with her shenanigans, always playing pranks of Discord and Celestia and finding the joy in life.  The draconequus envied her, her youthful outlook on life made him think back to his own son.  Immediately after remembering his family, Discord shoved the thought out of his mind.  He knew nothing good could come from wallowing in the past.

"Luna, You're up late!  What would your sister say if she caught you wandering around the castle at this hour?"  

The little alicorn frowned, obviously displeased with the prospect of Celestia catching her.  "That's why I was hiding!  I was gonna jump out and scare her!"  The frown was immediately replaced with a mischievous grin.  "That would be fun!"  

The draconequus couldn't help but chuckle, the little filly in front of him never failed to bring a smile to his face.  

"I'm sure it would, Luna, but who's to say she would come into the throne room?  Why don't you go wait in your room for when she goes in to check on you?"  

Luna's face lit up at the suggestion.  "That's a great idea Discord!  Thanks, I gotta go!"  And with that, she galloped out of the throne room and down the long main hall of the castle, leaving the bemused draconequus alone with his thoughts once again.  

Now alone in the throne room, Discord walked up the stairs to the platform containing the thrones, and sat down heavily on his.  The room was very dark, the minuscule amounts of light made by the moon barely getting through the stained glass windows.  Thinking about his encounter with Luna, memories surfaced that he wasn't quite ready to face; images of his own son began to flood his mind.  A wave of intense grief washed over him, bringing fresh tears to his eyes.  The loneliness came back, and he began to weep silently, the shed tears rolling down his face and falling on the cold stone floor in front of his throne.  Celestia had her sister, other alicorns, and the love of all the ponies.  And what did he have?  Nothing.  His race wiped out, and the ponies all view him as a time-bomb, ready to go off again at any moment.  He could see it in their eyes, a wariness that was always present.  Especially the alicorn nobles.  They made it a point to avoid all contact with him unless absolutely necessary.  

It wasn't fair.

Why must he be considered evil?  He had suffered just as much as Celestia, if not more.  Everyone had lost a piece of themselves during the War, but Discord seemed to be the only one who couldn't make peace with his demons, and he had a bad feeling about the consequences if he didn't.  He was already noticing changes in his behavior and moods, and the thoughts he had sometimes had scared him.  He sometimes caught his mind drifting to what he would do if he could use Chaos on certain ponies who were rather outspoken with their opinions about the King of Chaos.  Calling him a psycopathic murderer, schizophrenic, and other insults that didn't exactly make him feel too good.  He just felt so alone.  The loneliness of having no allies in this cruel world threatened to turn him into the monster everypony made him out to be.  The pain from his past was close to breaking his mind, the torturous thoughts of his son and mate were always on his mind, and he worried about the consequences should he snap.  As the King of Chaos, he could easily lay waste to the world if he descended into madness, which he had no intention of letting happen.  He sighed, inwardly cursing fate for his luck.  As he began to feel tired, he walked out of the throne room towards the west wing of the castle, towards his quarters.  Celestia and Luna's quarters were along the way, and he could hear Celestia give a yelp as Luna jumped out a hiding spot in her room down the hall, scaring Celestia into dropping her calm demeanor.  He smiled to himself, imagining the look upon Celestia's face as she jumped into the air.  He walked past the door to Luna's room, hearing Celestia putting her sister to bed and murmuring a bedtime story.  As he reached his room, he strolled in, feeling the pull of his bed as sleep tugged at him incessantly.  He barely got to his plush bed, slipping off into sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.   Next Chapter: Chapter 4 Estimated time remaining: 6 Minutes