Unforeseen Consequences - Chapter 39

>It is true that it was Discord who rescued from the orphanage and the sure beating that you’d have received from a bunch of the company’s patrols. It is also true that it was Discord who had brought you to Equestria, and basically introduced you to the wonderful mares that took you in as their son.
>However, and as much as you deeply appreciated these previous displays of grace and compassion, it is also true that you were absolutely terrified of him at this moment. How could you not? He was keeping you immobile with his tail while holding your mouth open with an iron grip.
>“Performing chaos medicine can be a… unique kind of experience, young prince. It is necessary for both patient and doctor to fully embrace the nature of chaos”. Discord calmly said as he adjusted a face mask over his forehead, “So please, hold on tight but also do your best to relax and go with the flow! That is, if you want to come out in a piece from the operation!”
>You tried to say something along the lines of “That doesn’t make any sense!” however, all that came out from your mouth were incoherent gurgles.
>Surprisingly, Discord seemed to fully understand your attempts of communication, “I know, I was simply messing with you!” He let out a belly laughter that echoed throughout the room and tapped your muzzle with his paw, “Honestly though, there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll get rid of that pesky gastrogall in the blink of an eye!”

>Discord snapped his talons, creating a bright white flash that left you seeing little white spots. After rubbing your eyes and recovering your vision, you realized that not only he had released you from his grip but also, and much more importantly, you were finally free of that frickin’ horrible pain.
“Well dang, Discord! You’re one heck of a creepy guy, but that magic did some wicked work on that stupid gastro-watever!”
>Discord snapped his talons once again, this time to only remove that silly costume. He then let out a chuckle as he checked his paw with an air of arrogance, “Well, what did you expect? There’s absolutely no disease in the wide-wide world of Equestria that can…” He cocked an eyebrow as he adopted an annoying expression, “Why’re you doing that funny face?”
“I-I dunno… what… ah…!”
>You couldn’t really respond, it was like someone had stuffed your nostrils with an entire bottle of one those terrible spicy caramel that the company sold at every single grocery shop. Before you could notice, your entire face scrunched to a painful level, and your whole throat felt both itchy and warm as all heck.
 “Oh man…! AH…AH… AH… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>Discord looked at you with a thousand yard stare before shrugging everything off and going for the door, “Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Isn’t that right, young prince?”
>Is not like you have never been struck with the flu, but the sneezing felt like your muzzle had become one of the automatic blaster that the company’s patrols used. Only that instead of shooting bullets, you sneezed a lot…. Needless to say, it also sucked.

“AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Yeah, man! Can’t do anything about it… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! But before you go… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Lemme tell you how to get a meeting with my moms before supper!”
>Immediately, Discord turned back to you with a huge smile on his face, “That sounds like something right up my alley. Tell me more, young prince!”
“You gotta come closer, man! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Never know who could be spying on us… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! And this is sort of a big secret the ladies told me last week AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>“How curious…” Discord smiled with this air of odd wisdom, “It almost sounds like you are tending a small trap here, young prince”.
“Listen, man! I just wanted to give you some helping hoof… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! After everything you did with me back at the orphanage… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! If you don’t know hear how to get that meeting by today… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Then that’s your problem! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>“Oh…” Discord scratched the back of his head, as a hint of embarrassment appeared behind his eyes, “That’s not something I hear every day… Thanks”.
>In a both awesome and grotesque display of physical impossibility, Discord stretched the upper-half of his body and leaned his head so close to you that you could feel the tip of his thick eyebrows touching you, “Very well, young prince. I’m all ears!”
“Okay, listen well because I ain’t going to repeat myself… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! The secret is… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! GET RID OF MY STUPID SICKNESS, MAN! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>You turned around and bucked his head with whatever strength you could gather. It was not only a direct hit, but it managed to cave his entire face in. This of course made all of your built up confidence to crumble like a house of cards.

“Oh, man… I’m sorry! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! I didn’t mean it! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>Discord reeled his body back to his original form and used his talons to pull his face out. He then let out a sigh and pointed a talon at you, “I suppose that I deserved that for being so naïve. Well played, though. Not many can say that they have hit my beautiful face”.
>A red flag was raised in your mind, as a small sensation of fear started beating deep within your brain. You had realized for the first time that Discord was not… natural. Forget about the guy not shedding even a drop of blood after being bucked like that, faces aren’t supposed to cave in and being pulled out like if they were made out of rubber, and the way he stretched his body…
>You lived with Eris for a darn long time and she still bled and felt pain, and obeyed all natural laws like you. Discord however… this guy was something else.
“What the heck… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Are you, man?”
>There was a passing sensation of surprise of Discord’s face that lasted less than a second. Then, he raised an eyebrow and scoffed at you, “Excuuuse me for answering a question with another question, but shouldn’t you be aware of what a draconequus is? Don’t tell me you have forgotten about…” He stopped mid-sentence and looked away with a meditative expression on his face.
“About what?”
>“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all!” Discord turned to you with a sly grin on his face and shrugged, “Well, it’s just that I realized that, it would have been impossible for you to know about chaos magic considering that Eris didn’t awake to her own abilities until recently”.


>Your heart started beating at a thousand miles per hour. Before you knew it, you had jumped at Discord and were clinging and pulling his chest like a giant tick.
“Eris? Oh man, you found her?! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Is she in Equestria now? How is she doing? Is she alright? Did she get cool magic too? AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! What about Scrappy? Do you know anything about him? Come on, man. Don’t keep me in the dark like this! Tell me about my sister! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>Discord pulled a giant spatula out of nowhere and used it to pull you from his chest and place you on the edge of your bed. He then let out a small chuckle as he tapped your muzzle, “Exciting news, don’t you think? I knew that would help to lift up your mood”.
“No kidding, man! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! C’mon, tell me everything you know about Eris and Scrappy?! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!”
>A wide grin appeared on Discord’s face as he started to coil his tail around your body, “I would love to do just that, young prince, but I’m afraid nothing comes for free. If you want to know about how our lovely rascal is currently fairing, then you’ll have to give something else in return”.
>You were taken aback to say the least. Did he forget what he told you back at the orphanage? Regardless of that, your confusion quickly gave way to pure anger.
“Screw you, man! We had a deal!”
>Discord shook a talon and pinched your cheek with his paw, “Ah-Ah! That wasn’t the deal we made. Our original terms were that, if you accepted to be adopted by the princesses on your own free will, then I would make sure that Eris and the little changeling would be safe. We need agreed on me providing any sort of update”.

>So that was his game plan all along, huh? Establish a vague sense of trust, and use it to lay out a deceptively friendly deal. You were actually very familiar with this sort of scam, you did many times back in the slums. Heck, it was Eris who taught you how to do it.
>Unlike all of those suckers that you and Eris scammed outta their bits, you couldn’t just roll over and accept defeat. First thing first, you needed to buy time to think on a way to turn the tables.
“Oh, c’mon! You can’t just pull that conpony speech… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! And pretend you’re not doing one heck of a scam. Its frickin’ nasty, man!”
>Discord crossed his arms and let out a fake laugh, “Oh-hoh-hoh, that’s quite rich coming from you, young prince! I could almost taste the irony there!”
“M-My… business strategies are different from your scam! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! And stop calling me young prince, is getting on my nerves!”
>Discord rolled his eyes and pinched your cheek, “Well, that’s literally what you are, but why don’t we skip the trip to denial town and go back to business?” He materialized a set of figurines that were modelled after your parents and Eris. Then, he started to use them as a sort of visual aid for his explanation, “Here’s the new deal, young prince:  You help me to get my meeting with the princesses as soon possible, and in return, I will tell you everything that you need to know about Eris and her promising upcoming in chaos.”
>With a victorious look on his face, Discord stretched his paw over to you, “Does that sounds fair to you?” Your mind raced as fast as it could in a desperate attempt to find something, anything that could give you an edge over him.


>Luckily, you realized that Discord´s love for his own voice had actually given you the key to his defeat in a silver platter. All you had to do now was to put up the right act.
>You remembered the way Celestia stood immovable like a mountain a few minutes ago. How despite Discord’s imposing figure, she still remained unflinching and stern. While you might not be even close to her powerful aura, you could at least take some inspiration and not give Discord any ground.
“Before I say anything, I wanna add a couple extra things to our deal… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! On top of what telling me everything you know about my sister… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! You also gotta get me back to health, AND tell me about Scrappy too.”
>Discord tapped his paw and talons together as he raised an eyebrow, “I’m afraid that comes with an extra price, my young prince”.
>Taking inspiration from Celestia once again, you calmly shook your head and gave Discord a smug grin. That glorified tapeworm was gonna get a taste of the slums.
“Sorry man, but lemme make something clear… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! You don’t hold the cards here, I do! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! So you either take my terms, or we’ll see how that reformation of yours holds up when I tell the ladies you used your magic to make me even sicker”.
>Discord’s left eye twitched before exploding into a gigantic raging fire. The guy was probably twice as big now, and his eyes, now glowing with a yellow light, glared furiously at you as he started speaking with a thundering, and almost super natural voice, “You dare to threaten the lord of chaos!?”

>You were actually frickin’ terrified of the whole scene. Who couldn’t be? Discord had morphed into something out of a horror flick. However, you couldn’t back up now, because if he was this angry then it means that he fell for your bluff. You had to up the smug, and finish him off.
“Think about it this way… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Who are the ladies gonna believe?”
>In the blink of an eye, Discord shrunk back to his original, yet still enormous side and scratched the top of his head, “I’m being extorted by a little colt, huh?”
“You can bet that beard you are!”
>Discord stared at you with a mix of bafflement and surprise and then burst into a loud belly laugher. After wiping some tears from his eyes, he sighed and energetically shook your hoof, “What a wonderfully delicious twist! You’re more fun than I expected, Resonance. Just for that, I accept your terms and conditions”.
“Cool… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Now that we’re on the same page, I’ve a quesion… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Why does my chest… AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO!  Feels like is set on fire and frozen in ice at the same time?”
>All energy simply left your body in a single breathe, making you collapse from the bed. Inhaling suddenly became much more difficult, almost as if there was something stuck in your throat and every exhaling was an exercise in pain.
>Discord held you tight and opened your mouth, “That’s exactly what I will find out!” His right eye expanded to comical proportions as he pulled your tongue and did a full inspection on your body, “Purple spots on the tongue… star-shaped lumps on the chest… breathe smells like cauliflowers…”



>After a couple minutes, Discord stopped his inspection. You felt a bit… uncomfortable by all the touching, but not willing to give any ground to him, you looked at Discord right in the eye and tried to put a smug grin… only thing you got was a weak grimace.
“Well…? AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! What’s your diagnose, doctor?”
>Discord leaned back with a slightly worried expression. He caressed his white beard and murmured to himself, “Hrm… I did not see this one coming”.
“Aw come on, man! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! Why the heck is that always…! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! AHCHOO! The frickin’ answer I get?!”
>“Well if my assumptions are correct, then you have a pretty bad case of the hay flu”. Discord pinched the wide bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes as he let out an annoyed groan, “Why would you even be infected with it, though? That disease is stuff from way before my time”
>“Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Let me get rid of that aggravating sneezing and be done with this chore”, Discord snapped his talons… and nothing really happened at first. It was until your curiosity got the best of you and leaned forward that a stupidly bright flash exploded from his talons. Of course, you fell on your back and rolled over in pain.
“MY EYES! MY FRICKIN’ EYES!”
>Unsurprisingly enough, Discord found amusement in your suffering. He let out a small chuckle and flicked your horn before putting you back on the bed, “Consider it a small payback for that cheeky buck of before”.
>Once you were able to recover your vision, you jumped back on your hooves and frowned at Discord. You might not have something to bluff with, but maybe you could try and bit his tail or something like that.

“Oh, so you wanna play like that, huh?! Okay, I can play the same game too! Get ready for…”
>You had to stop your plans of revenge, at least for now. Not only was the stupid sneezing gone, but you were basically back to normal. You hopped and turned to Discord with a bright smile.
“Yo, I think you actually fixed meeeeeee!”
>Suddenly, your hooves simply gave up, making you fall flat on the floor. No matter how hard you tried, getting up was absolutely impossible. Everything below your neck had gone numb. At this point, you simply closed your eyes and sighed.
“Know what? I probably should have expected something like this to happen”.
>Discord scratched the top of his head and started to poke your body with his paw, “Hmmm… No reflexes whatsoever and yet the muscles are incredibly tensed. I know you’ve heard this one a lot but, I didn’t see this one coming. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know what you have this time!”
“YOU DON’T SAY? I would have never ever expected to hear that from you, man!”
>You were actually surprised he even knew what you had before. Didn’t change the fact that by this point, you had become completely numb about these stupid diseases.
“Seriously, though. Could you lend me a paw here?”
>“Why, but of course I can! In fact, I have more than enough to spare!” Discord pulled off his entire paw only for another one to grow in its place, “Here, you can have it as a small gift from moi!”

“Man, I didn’t know you were a professional comedian.  C’mon, help me get back up!”
>Discord threw the now withering paw away, rolled his eyes and held you by the head with his newly grown paw, “You’re starting to sound an awful lot like our lovely princesses, you know?”
“Now that you mention them, the ladies should’ve been here by now. What did you do, Discord?”
>He dropped you on the bed and crossed his arms as his eyes shot you a judgmental glare, “Pray tell, young price. What exactly makes you believe that I have anything to do with their tardiness? For all you know they had some royal business to attend… for example, cancelling critically important meetings that were scheduled weeks in advance”.
“…”
>Discord coyly smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Fine! I might, and I repeat MIGHT, have created a small spatial distortion that trapped our dear Luna and Celestia inside a continuous loop disguised as a very confusing set of gaudy hallways. This is all wild speculation, of course”.
>As much as you wanted to keep a more or less leveled playfield, this was way too frickin’ cool to keep the tough guy act. That was not something out of a wild sci-fi novel, but it admittedly was a pretty funny joke too.
>Given your current inability to move your limbs, you had to settle for the next best thing which was excitedly flail your head around like one of those inflatable dancing pony that electronics shops used to attract attention.
 “ARE YOU FOR FRICKIN’ REAL?! THAT’S THE MOST AMAZING THING I’VE EVER HEARD!”

>Discord put his talons and paw over his non-existent hip and leaned closer to you. Besides the obvious pride, you could see a hint of genuine happiness and relief in his face “I know, right?!” He then picked you up and raised you to his eye level, “Hah, hah! I knew that you could appreciate some fine chaos magic! Too bad our lovely princesses won’t feel the same when they realize what’s going on, but I suppose that you can’t please everyone”.
 “… How long do you think is that gonna take?”
>Discord raised a talon and tapped your muzzle, making you sniffle a bit, “Excellent question, my young prince! By my estimate, I’d say that we have about…” He then took a rusty clock from his beard and gave it a quick glance before tossing the thing away, “Twenty seconds left!”
>Just as he finished saying that, Luna’s raging voice thundered on the distance. It was so powerful that you could’ve sworn that her voice produced a small quake throughout the castle, “DISCOOOOOOOOORD”
>Discord smacked his lips and looked at the door with a thousand yard stare. He then turned to you with shaky smile and clapped his talons and paw together “Guess I was wrong!”
“No, really?! Honestly, I think the situation is actually worse that it looks. If Luna is coming here, then that means Celestia is on her way too, and that also means that the entire castle is probably mobilizing already. Guess it was sorta nice knowing you, man”.
>Discord didn’t reply, instead he picked you up and held you close to his chest before snapping his talons to reinforce the windows and door of the room with a thick metal barrier.

>After fortifying the entire room a couple more times, Discord lifted you up to his eye level and gave you a shaky smile, “Listen very well, Resonance. I might be the all-mighty lord of chaos, but right now I’m terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. So you better come up with something to get us out of this one right now, or I can guarantee that you that our deal will be postponed for the next thousand years!”
>Part of you wanted to point out that it was him, not you, the one that was about to be grinded to dust by Luna, Celestia, and most likely Moonlight as well. However, the moment you saw all of the thick metal plates starting to buckle in under the sheer force of Luna and Celestia’s powe… well, you also panicked beyond the capacity for rational thought.
“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MAN?! Just use your frickin’ magic to teleport to some place that no one would ever think to look-up for us!”
>Discord frantically nodded before picking you up and holding you tight, “Excellent thinking, young prince!” He snapped his talons, and in a brief flash you were no longer in your room.
>The adrenaline rush was way too high for you to notice anything, especially when Discord started to dance and yell around while forcing you to be his partner, “Ta-dah! No one will ever think of looking for us in here!”
“HOLY…!”
>The room that extended in front of your eyes was not only gigantic, but it was so unreal that it belonged to a fantasy book. You seriously struggled to understand how anyone could have thought, let alone actually build, the incredibly complex architecture of the vault that served as the room’s ceiling.

>Canals of pearly water flowed in flower-patterns through both of extremes of an ivory floor so polished that it could’ve been the most expensive mirror you’ve ever seen. A thick and puffy velvet carpet was placed in the middle section of the floor. The thing was so amazingly crafted that it kinda felt like you didn’t even deserve to set a hoof on it.
>The walls of the room with their imposing ivory pillars adorned with beautiful star patterns didn’t, and their banners made of silk didn’t disappoint in the slightest. However, what truly caught your attention were the collection of meticulously crafted stained glasses that covered the walls.
>While you couldn’t see much of them due to your position and Discord’s body, it was crystal clear that they weren’t random patterns but rather depictions of events. Whether they were myths, or pivotal moments in Equestria’s history remained a mystery to you.
>Crowning everything were two masterfully crafted thrones sitting atop of a complex system of fountains feeding the canals with their pearly, crystalline water and overseen by a mural depicting the sun, the moon and the cosmos itself.
>Sure, the castle was beautiful and all that, but this particular room was on a whole different league. If you could’ve moved you limbs then you’d have slapped yourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming.
“Discord… what the heck is this place?”