//------------------------------// // 5. Los Pegasus (Stop 4) // Story: Dysphoria, Arc 5: Equestria // by thedarkprep //------------------------------// 5. Los Pegasus (Stop 4) “You know, if you keep staring at him he might just think that you’re pining for his affection.” Rose bolted upright in her seat at the statement, causing everyone in the train compartment to turn to look at her. “Smooth,” Discord said. “Everything alright, Rose?” Timetable asked. “…yes,” Rose answered. “I’m alright, sorry about that. I was falling asleep and I jolted back to consciousness rather forcefully. I’m ok though, just startled myself is all.” The other three ponies exchanged a brief glance before shrugging, after which Timetable and Organizer went back to their conversation and Dusk went back to staring at the window, just as he had been when Rose had been observing him. “Nice save,” commented Discord, smirking as he levitated to Rose’s left. “Thanks,” thought Rose. “It didn’t come off as forced then?” “What? No,” Discord assured her. “I’m sure they all gave each other those glances because your excuse was so believable. I am curious though, why were you staring at him so intently that me talking to you startled you? Developing a crush?” “Ugh, no,” Rose thought, much to Discord’s amusement. “I’m just concerned. He’s been rather quiet and pensive through the whole ride. It’s making me nervous.” “Well, you said he mentioned that Los Pegasus was one of the cities that is most against transponies. It’s rather normal for him to be anxious, don’t you think?” asked Discord. Rose shook her head. “When we were about to head to Cloudsdale, Dusk was very irritable and jumpy,” Rose thought. “I could very easily tell that he was stressed out about what was coming, but this is different. He seems sad, kind of defeated. Whatever is bothering him, it’s something different.” Discord studied the stallion for a minute, floating closer until he was right next to him. “Well, how long has he been like this?” he asked. Rose let her mind wander through the day’s events. She remembered getting up that morning, eating breakfast, talking to the group, and boarding the train, and during all of that Dusk had been in his current state. “All day I guess,” thought Rose. “I know I shouldn’t worry. Maybe it’s nothing. I just wish I knew what was going on.” “I agree that you shouldn’t worry,” Discord said. “Whatever it is, he would warn you if it was something for you to be concerned with, wouldn’t he?” “I know,” Rose responded. “He does have a habit of keeping me in the dark, but he’s warned me every time there was a legitimate problem, like he did with Cloudsdale. The only time he did not was when we had that Q&A in Vanhoover, and that was because it took him by surprise as well. In fact…” A small gasp escaped her lips, unnoticed by her companions, as a memory resurfaced from the previous day. “Something the matter?” Discord asked. “Yesterday, after the Q&A!” Rose thought, “He apologized about not warning me about what could happen. He thought the local feminist movement would be on our side but he was wrong, and he apologized for being caught unawares. He had this same demeanor when he said it though.” Discord raised an eyebrow. “So that’s when it started? Interesting,” he commented, “So he’s just having a fit because he was wrong?” “I guess, though it doesn’t sound like him,” Rose thought. “Maybe I should ask him if-“ “We’re arriving.” Dusk said, snapping Rose out of her thoughts. Rose turned to look out the window, where she could see the approaching the Applewood station, directly below the city of Los Pegasus. “Go ahead and grab your stuff to go to the square,” Dusk said. “We’ll have other volunteers come in and take our stuff to the hotel to get us checked in, but we are going to be needed at the event as soon as possible. You have about four minutes to gather what you want to carry for the day.” The other three ponies nodded before putting their absolute essentials into their individual saddlebags. After doing so, Rose chose to sit near the door, watching as the train slowed down and arrived at the station. “Are you ready for a ‘hero’s’ reception?” asked Discord, chuckling as he did so. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” thought Rose before sighing. “To be honest though, after Canterlot and Cloudsdale, I think I’m prepared for any reception this city might give us. Negative though I know it probably may be, I’ll at least not be caught by surprise.” The train finally came to a halt, with the doors opening soon afterwards. “After you then,” Discord said smiling. Rose nodded, stepping around Discord and walking out of the train. Her steps stopped there, however, as she tried to comprehend what she was staring at. Discord, meanwhile, began laughing hysterically while levitating slightly above her, but Rose chose to ignore him. Instead, she asked the one question she had on her mind. “Where is everypony?” Rose blinked a couple of times and turned her head from side to side in order to confirm that the train station and the entrance to the town were in fact completely deserted. “Prepared for any reception, huh?” asked Discord. Rose did not respond, still scanning the station for any signs of life. “Rose, I thought you weren’t going to ignore me anymore,” Discord whined. This got Rose’s attention. “Fine…” “Fine what?” Dusk asked walking out of the train. “Fine day to enjoy the weather? I happen to agree, Ms. Rose.” Rose was startled by Dusk’s sudden appearance, but managed not to react. Instead, she turned to address him. “Where is everypony?” Rose asked. “Well, not here obviously,” Dusk responded, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you said that they were going to be just as against us here as they were in Cloudsdale,” Rose said. “You had me worried.” “Oh, make no mistake, Ms. Rose, they do hate us just as much,” Dusk responded. “There are just a lot of things regarding this city that you don’t understand. However, I would rather explain this once we’ve reached Los Pegasus proper. There’s something you need to see there anyway to understand what I’m talking about.” Dusk began walking into the city, with Timetable and Organizer following behind him. Rose stared at him in confusion for a minute before following suit. The process of actually getting to Los Pegasus, was a long and tiring one, with temporary cloud walking spells being placed on Organizer and Dusk as a safety precaution, despite the walkways and paths of the city being enchanted to support non-pegasi travelers and citizens. The group then took one of the charriots from Applewood to the receiving station in Los Pegasus, arriving slightly behind schedule, causing them to rush out of the station with a hurried step. It was then, as the group began walking through the actual city, that Rose saw a large multitude of ponies walking through the streets and going about their daily lives. However, these ponies did not take much notice of the strangers, who simply continued on their walk. “Well, this is interesting,” Rose thought. “Were you talking to me, dear?” Discord said. “Or were you talking to yourself like the sane pony you are?” “Myself actually,” Rose thought. “Which is still the more sane option of the two. In any case, I was thinking that it was interesting that there are this many ponies walking around and that none of them seem to care that we are here.” “Well aren’t we vain?” Discord commented. “I must say, I didn’t picture you as one to have an ego, Ms. Rose. I’m very impressed. In any case, Los Pegasus is a rather big city and I’m sure all these ponies crowding the streets have more important things to do than rushing to their ‘favorite celebrity’ for an autograph, meaning this doesn’t seem abnormal at all.” Rose let out an annoyed snort. “I’m sorry, but I think I have a bit more experience regarding modern big cities than you do,” Rose thought. “And I’ll have you know that there is nothing large cities like more than gossip. I know the stereotypes about the ponies here and based on what I’ve seen from Canterlot, if even half of them are true, they should be gathering in large groups to yell at us or at the very least glare at us. This isn’t natural.” “Hm... Well, it does seem like quite a few things are ‘off’ today, don’t they?” Discord said, striking a pensive pose. “First Dusk, now this town… Oh, maybe I’ll get lucky and today is the day you burn this whole harmony thing down.” Discord disappeared in a bout of laughter, leaving Rose with her thoughts. “What if he’s right?” “We’re here!” Rose looked up to find that Dusk and the others had stopped, with Dusk pointing in the direction to the square, which much like everything else in the city consisted of solid enchanted floors resting on the cloudbeds. Stepping closer, Rose could see that the event was already underway, just as it had been in previous cities. And yet, she could immediately tell something was different. “It’s so small,” she said. The layout was the same as it had been in the other towns, courtesy of Timetable’s instructions no doubt, but everything was to a smaller scale. The stage was barely there, consisting of a raised platform and some speakers. Three tables had been placed around the event to hold the information pamphlets, and the seating was confined to a small section in front of the stage. In all, this event seemed to be made to accommodate hundreds, where as all the previous ones had been made to accommodate thousands. “Each event is only as big as it needs to be, Ms. Rose,” Dusk said, standing next to her. “And this will more than accommodate everypony coming in today and then some.” Rose took a second to look around the event again before responding. “But, why?” she asked. “Los Pegasus is the only city to rival Canterlot in population. One would think that there would be more ponies here, or to see us at the station, even if just to yell at us like Cloudsdale did. Even Vanhoover had more of a turnout!” “One would think that, yes,” Dusk responded. “But, as I told you, there are a few things about Los Pegasus that you don’t understand, so what you’re seeing is actually exactly what we expected.” Rose motioned for him to continue. “What is the driving force of all social change in Canterlot?” he asked. Rose had to think for a second. “The nobility,” she answered. “Royalty and the noble houses are the ones that establish what the norm is, the rest of Canterlot falls in line with their choices whether it is in fashion, etiquette, or social reform, as you proved with my family.” “Exactly,” Dusk said. “Despite its large population, a very small group of ponies actually makes important changes happen, and because of how the city social structure is set up, this means there is hardly room for the general population to be a part of such a process. They just follow. However, such a system is unique in Equestria. In every other city, it is the general public that decides things. Are you with me so far?” Rose nodded. “Good,” he said, “Now, the other cities, those without a set nobility I mean, usually follow behind what Canterlot does anyway. However, that is not always the case, and in the cases where they stray from the set model, they do so by voting, campaigning, and other political routes. If enough of the population is behind a change or a standard, it shapes the local legislation and culture, which in turn affects the next change or standard. This causes cities to become rather independent from each other, such as we saw with Vanhoover and Cloudsdale.” “So political activism shaped those cities and the local culture, turning Cloudsdale into the rather disapproving group that we saw, and turning Vanhoover into the liberal haven that we just left,” Rose said, making sure she understood. “Exactly,” Dusk confirmed. “That means that there is a place and a need for social activism in such cities but, because of their small population in terms of the grand scheme of things, such activism tends to be a very low key event. At most, changes made affect only the city and local populous, most of which have been affected before hand through the years. This means that there is very little to gain from these political battles, and the ones that happen are few and far in between. For example, think about Ponyville’s reaction to the Summer trial before my involvement.” “No one seemed to care,” Rose said, thinking back. “Very few ponies were there to watch or report on the event, at least until you did get involved.” “At which point it became a nation-changing event, due to your involvement and the involvement of the Equestrian Equality Envoy,” Dusk explained. “Things that have the potential to change all of Equestria hold a lot more weight, politically speaking, and therefore they draw more attention, which brings us back to Los Pegasus. This city, as we’ve already stated, has the same size and population as Canterlot, but is sans nobility. This means that the same political climate exists here as in Cloudsdale or Vanhoover, but with one major difference.” “Which is?” Rose asked. “There are so many ponies living here, that a change in the local culture can and often does trigger a change in Equestrian culture,” Dusk answered. “Think about it – a major population center like this one has a lot of power. If the populous agrees with something, then the rest of Equestria tends to do so as well. Also, if both Los Pegasus and Canterlot agree on something, you can bet that every other city does as well, and the ponies who don’t tend to be national minorities. So let me ask you, if you were an activist in a random city, let’s say FillyDelphia, would you campaign, protest, and rally in your hometown?” “No,” Rose said, shaking her head. “I’d come here. A victory back home would be unimportant in the grand scheme of things, whereas a victory here would actually mean something.” “Exactly,” Dusk affirmed. “Now imagine it, thousands of ponies and groups, each trying to change Equestria to fit with their beliefs and ideals. They can do very little to change Canterlot, but here is Los Pegasus, open to be molded to their liking.” “Oh,” Rose said in understanding, “They descended on this city, didn’t they?” Dusk nodded grimly. “That they did,” he said. “There were political battles everywhere. Interest groups fought each other in elections, petitions, boycotts, protests… I must admit the Triple-E and I were involved in a few of those and they were not pretty. In any case, there’s only so much of something that a city can take before it adjusts to deal with it.” “What happened?” Rose asked. “They… They got tired,” Dusk explained. “Eventually it got to be so constant, and so much, that the local ponies learnt how to ignore it and tune it out. I guess they had to in order to survive with everypony trying to influence the way they thought. What we ended up with, then, was this: a city filled with apathy. Now, don’t get me wrong; they still have thoughts and opinions. After all, they tried rather hard to criminalize same-sex unions. However, such ideals are expressed through votes that encompass a minimal amount of the populous or through acts of violence. This city cannot be bothered with anything else.” Rose took a deep breath as she took in all the new information. “Does this work in our favor?” Rose asked. “Yes and no,” Dusk responded, halting a second to organize his thoughts. “On the one hoof, yes, because those who are against us are too apathetic to do anything about it. They have their own views and beliefs but they seldom get involved, meaning we don’t have to worry about them. As you saw, we haven’t been hassled once since our arrival despite all of Equestria knowing who you are and why we are here. However, there are apathetic ponies on both sides, meaning that we’d be hard-pressed to expect our supporters to get involved.” “You mean they are apathetic despite these efforts being on their behalf?” Rose asked. “Yes,” Dusk confirmed. “If everypony that these issues affected participated in the effort we would have a notable presence here. Despite being a minority in this city, the number of ponies involved on our behalf would be bigger than even Vanhoover. Change would be easier to come by…” “But?” “But,” Dusk continued. “We are not that lucky. These ponies see politics as a failed experiment, one that has let them down too often, and rather violently. They see it as a waste of energy, and they would rather abstain from involvement. ‘It’s just not worth it,’ I believe is the common quote.” “So what are we doing here?” Rose asked. “Well, as apathetic as the city might be, there are still a few that can be reached,” Dusk said. “There will still be a few ponies that come here to learn something new or to inform themselves. I can also guarantee that there’ll be a few transponies looking for hope, inspiration, or support, anxious to meet the one transpony to live publicly as such. There aren’t many ponies to reach here, but we have a duty to those that need us, few as they may be.” Rose nodded in agreement. “Very well,” she said. “Let’s not keep them waiting.” “Well, I must say this was dreadfully boring.” “Are you just going to float there or are you going to help?” “What? First I don’t get to see all of Equestrian civilization devolve into chaos and now you expect help on top of that? You must have me confused with a different draconequus.” Rose glared at Discord’s translucent form before returning to her task, folding chairs. “Also, why are you folding chairs?” Discord asked. “They told you that the volunteers would take care of it and that you really didn’t have to do it.” “I know,” Rose responded. “I just wanted to help, and since we got done with the event so early, I figured I might as well. Besides, it’s not like there’s that much to clean up.” “Which goes to figure,” Discord said, scoffing. “Considering, how pitiful this particular event was, I’m actually surprised the whole thing has not been packed up already.” “Hey, this happened to be my favorite stop so far,” Rose said. Discord began laughing, rolling over in the air before finally stopping, facing Rose and wiping a tear from his eye. His demeanor changed, however, after spotting the nonplussed look on Rose’s face, which cause a giant grin to slide off of his own. “Oh goodness, you weren’t kidding, were you?” he asked tentatively. Rose shook her head, causing Discord to raise an accusing eyebrow. “What can I say?” Rose said. “I liked this. It was more intimate and I got to talk to all the attendees one-on-one.” Immediately after having arrived at the event, Dusk and Rose decided that the usual format would not be applicable due to the low attendance and, instead of carrying on with what would have been an awkward series of events for everyone involved, they reworked the event to fit the crowd. As such, the chairs were re-arranged into a smaller cluster, and the speakers sat with the attendees, combining the Q&A and the speech parts of the event into a chat between the speakers and those attending the event. “I enjoyed being able to actually talk to them,” Rose continued. “I got to hear their stories rather than just tell them mine, and the back-and-forth was more of a conversation between everyone involved than is possible from a stage. I can tell you that I can barely remember the ponies I’ve seen from up on the stage, but I will never forget any of the ones I met today.” “Yes yes, that’s all well and good,” Discord said irritably. “But there weren’t any hecklers, no random outbursts, nothing forcing you to think on your hooves. No drama, no conflict, no interest, and you say this was your favorite stop?” “Actually,” Rose said, stifling a giggle. “The lack of things going wrong made up a huge part of why this was my favorite stop so far.” Discord looked at her with a shocked expression. “I cannot believe this,” he said. “An entire day wasted on inane, dull bores, and you would actually prefer every day to be like that. Well, I certainly have better things to do with my time.” Discord gave her one more contemptuous glare before snapping his fingers and disappearing from sight. “Oh come on now, don’t be like that,” Rose pleaded. There was no answer. “You’re being a baby,” she called out. “Keep it up and you’ll end up being Dusk.” Still, nothing but silence greeted her call. Rose took a deep breath and continued her work, slowly cleaning up the area and stacking up the chairs. Every once in a while she would send out messages to Discord through her thoughts, trying to encourage him to talk or respond, but each time she was met with silence. “I guess he really is gone,” Rose whispered as she finished her work. She began walking away from the square, unaware of the world outside her thoughts. As such, she almost missed the sound of someone calling out to her. “Equestria to Rose!” Rose looked around wildly as her brain registered the sound, stopping as she saw the approaching figure of Dusk. “Hey, you ok?” he asked. “I called to you four times before you responded.” “Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Rose said, blushing. “I just have a lot on my mind.” “Apparently so,” Dusk commented. “In any case, you did well today. I was afraid that having to change procedures like we did would throw you off, but if anything I think you did better. You certainly looked more comfortable, at least.” “I was more comfortable,” Rose said. “I really did enjoy getting to talk to ponies for a change, rather than at them. If anything, I hope that the event in Baltimare tomorrow will be something like this.” “Oh, that’s what I came over to talk to you about, actually,” Dusk said. “The next few days are going to be somewhat different, I’m afraid.” “How so?” Rose asked. “Well, for starters, we’re not leaving Los Pegasus tomorrow,” Dusk said. “It seems something came up with the planning of the Baltimare event, and we’ve actually been really lucky to not encounter any problems in travel or set up at any of the cities, so we’re ahead of schedule as is. Tomorrow you and the rest of our team have the day off while said problem is resolved. We’ll actually be leaving the day after next.” "Won't that get expensive?" Rose asked. Dusk shrugged. "Yes because hotels able to acomodate earth ponies here with a guarantee that we will not wake up mid-plumet are unreasonably expensive," he said. "However, we did take the posibility of an extended stay in Los Pegasus into consideration, meaning we have more than enough funds set aside to cover it." “Very well then,” Rose responded nodding. "I can't believe I get to relax for once." “I didn’t figure you’d object to having a whole extra day to explore the city,” Dusk commented. “Also, it will take a full day to travel from here to Baltimare so we won’t be arriving until the morning three days from now, which is when the next event will take place.” “So we’ll be sleeping on the train and arrive just in time for the event at Baltimare?” Rose asked. “Yeah. Not too confusing, is it?” Dusk asked. “No, I think I got it,” Rose said. “Day off tomorrow, we leave the morning after that, and we arrive at Baltimare the morning after that.” Dusk nodded. “My question now is what am I supposed to do for the rest of the day and tomorrow?” Rose asked. Dusk shrugged. “Anything, I guess,” he said. “There are movie theaters, museums, the city itself… It’s really up to you. As long as you show up at the hotel at night for both nights and you’re ready to leave two days from now, you can do whatever you feel like doing.” Rose nodded. “Oh, and if you really don’t know what to do for the rest of today,” he said. “I happen to know the princesses are in town over at the mayor’s office. They might take the time to talk to you. You seem to enjoy that.” Rose perked up at the suggestion. “Maybe they’ll be able to help me with Discord,” she thought. Rose then turned to thank Dusk, but stopped when she noticed his demeanor. The sadness she had seen in the train still surrounded the stallion, making the confident pony look very unlike himself. Normally he was self-assured, strong, energetic, and he always had a bright smile on his face. This Dusk looked tired and beaten, which broke Rose’s heart to see. “Maybe I should stay here,” she thought. “Dusk needs help with whatever is bothering him. Maybe I can do something.” She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when a vision of Discord flashed through her mind. “You’ve got to make a choice, Rose,” she thought to herself. “Talk to the princesses about Discord? Or talk to Dusk about his problems.” Dusk stared with a curious expression, but said nothing as he watched Rose struggle with her thoughts. “I should deal with Discord first,” she finally decided. “I can talk to Dusk on the train ride to Baltimare and figure out what’s wrong, but I don’t know when my next chance to talk to the princesses will be, and I need their help.” She took a deep breath before addressing her friend. “Thank you Dusk,” Rose said. “I think I just might do that.” Dusk seemed tempted to ask what had been bothering her, but he refrained from voicing his concern. Instead, he simply flashed a genuine smile before speaking. “No problem, Ms. Rose,” he responded. “Just make sure to enjoy your stay and do come to me if you ever want to talk about anything.” “I promise I will.” The first thing that Rose noticed as she woke up was the sound of snoring filling her room. The second thing she noticed was that she was not the source. Very slowly, Rose opened her eyes, scanning her room for the source of the sound, stopping when she noticed the sleeping draconequus levitating in a corner of the room. She quickly looked out the window to ascertain that this was, in fact, the latest she had ever seen him sleep in, as he usually awoke before her. “He must have come back very late last night from wherever it is that he went,” Rose mused. Taking great care to not make a sound, Rose got up from the bed and began her morning preparations, returning to the main room after finishing getting dressed to find Discord still levitating in the same spot, but awake. “Good morning,” Rose said. Discord looked at her with mild disinterest before responding. “You’re not going to ask me where I was all of yesterday and last night?” he asked. Rose shook her head. “I’ll admit I’m curious,” she conceded. “But I won’t ask if you don’t want to tell me. It’s really none of my business.” “Well, that works for me,” he said. “I didn’t really feel like telling you so that saves us both a lot of time. So tell me, what mind-numbing exercise on all things dull do you have planned for today?” “Oh, I don’t have anything planned,” Rose said. “There’s somewhere I want to go, so we’ll head there, but what happens once we arrive is kind of up on the air.” Discord raised an eyebrow at this. “No plans? No fine-tuned series of events meant to establish order?” he asked. “Nope,” Rose said smiling. “The day is ours to do with as we please, but we need to get to the place I was talking about first. Once we’re there I’ll be open to suggestions on what to do.” Discord tried to look disinterested, but he could not hide his curiosity. “Where is this place we’re going to, then?” he asked. “You’ll find out in due time,” Rose said, failing at producing a mysterious voice. “Eh, I was never good with accents. Anyway, it’s about four hours from here walking distance, although I’m thinking we can rent a chariot to get us… well, get me there faster, and to pick me up at the end of the day. First things first though, we should get breakfast.” Discord abandoned all pretense of being disinterested. “Very well, but I hope you’re not just pulling at my strings to get me to do something boring,” he said, allowing himself a chuckle. “I do hate a tease.” Rose giggled as the pair went downstairs for breakfast. Rose, having never seen the draconequus eat, was shocked to discover Discord’s ability to create cotton candy (which he used since he refused to eat any food he did not make himself). She made a mental note to ask him to use that ability in the future. After breakfast, Rose went out and bought food for lunch, which she stored in plastic bags inside her saddlebag, before finding a pegasus-driven carriage to take them to their destination, or rather her since Discord opted to fly next to the carriage for the hour-long journey. “Right here should be good,” Rose said, signaling the pegasus to descend. “You sure?” he asked. “I could drop you off directly in the town square.” “I’m sure,” she responded. “I don’t mind walking a bit and I want to take in some of the desert sights.” The pegasus looked at her in confusion but shrugged before landing. “Well, here you are then,” he said as Rose stepped out of the carriage. “Thank you very much,” she answered, giving him his payment. “Now, if you could pick me up at the town at say, 7? Would that work alright?” “I’ll be there, ma’am,” the pegasus said, saluting as he did so. He then turned around and began to fly away, with Rose staring at him in silence as he faded into the distance. “You could have flown here yourself, you know?” Discord said, appearing next to Rose. “I’m not that great of a flyer,” Rose said, shaking her head. “This trip would have been exhausting, assuming I made it at all. Anyway, do you have any ideas of where we’re going?” Discord paused to study his surroundings. “South of Los Pegasus,” he said. “That would put us in the middle of the San Palomino Desert. Not sure why you were in such a rush to come here, though. As important as I’m sure sand is, it’s not much of a tourist attraction.” “We’re not there yet,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “I just figured that walking there would give me the chance to talk to you for a bit and to fill you in on some of the history.” Rose began walking south, with Discord following behind her. “Well isn’t this rich? You want to teach me about history?” he asked, making it a point to not hide his contempt. “I’ll have you know that I myself am history. I’ve experienced the things your historians speculate about. I am even familiar with the events that took place during my imprisonment. So tell me, Ms. Rose, what do you believe you have to ‘fill me in’ on?” “Something you don’t know about,” she said, not breaking her stride. “Something so simple, that historians would never speculate about it. Something so uninteresting and ordinary that it would easily have been left out of history, let alone things you had to learn about when you re-appeared.” As she said this, the two arrived at the top of a dune, overlooking a giant city. Discord looked at the city with wide eyes, surprised to find so many buildings in the middle of the desert. Rose, meanwhile, wore a smug smile as she continued walking into the town with Discord following behind her. The two walked in absolute silence as they neared and entered the city proper, and it was then that Discord noticed the strangest thing about this city. “It’s deserted,” he commented. The streets were empty, with the only sounds being those of gusts of wind and creaking wood. The buildings looked weathered, with cracked wood and chipped stone as their construction materials. Sand moved through every surface, corroding the city further even now. The place exuded an aura of something ancient, forgotten, and haunted. “What is this place?” he asked. “I would have told you on the way here but your need to tell me how much more you know than me seemed more important,” Rose said, smirking. Discord gave her a deadpan look and waited for her to continue, which she did. “Fine, fine, you’re no fun though. Right now we are standing in the middle of New Baltimare.” “New Baltimare?” Discord asked, looking around his surroundings again. “Yea,” Rose said. “Equestria has had a love-hate relationship with the desert, meaning that Equestria loves trying to inhabit it, but it hates us being here. Appleloosa was the first southern settlement to become a city, but it was far from the first to try. In fact, many different entrepreneurs tried to tame the desert by creating lavish cities. New Baltimare was such a case.” Rose paused for a minute to ensure she remembered everything she had read about the city before continuing. “The idea was to have a city here to rival Canterlot, like Los Pegasus was starting to become. They certainly had the land and, as you can see, those funding the creation of New Baltimare had the bits and the resources to make it happen. However, the desert is a hard place to live in,” Rose continued. “Appleloosa and Dodge City are farming towns, meaning that everything there is very practical. The buildings are cheaply made, but very sturdy. Everything is engineered to work with the weather, which allows the town to withstand what nature can throw at it. This city, however, wasn’t built that way. Everything you see was very lavish and built for the aesthetic rather than the functionality, meaning that it was very easy to break.” Rose approached one of the buildings as she continued to talk. “The city was built, then it started being destroyed by the elements,” she said, “Then they began fixing it, but every time they fixed something, something else was damaged. Before long, it became too expensive to try to keep the city going, so it was abandoned and forgotten. In all, it lasted about a year and it was never fully populated. This is probably why you hadn’t heard about it, it just wasn’t that important.” “Then why are we here?” Discord asked. “Well,” Rose began, “This city is no longer just something to be ignored because it is now actively in the way.” “What do you mean?” “This city is just here taking up space,” Rose clarified. “We now know how to build settlements and towns that can withstand the desert, meaning that Equestria could finally build a town here, if this city wasn’t here already that is. Also, even if we don’t settle here, this city is destroying the beautiful landscape. It’d be one thing if this were a bunch of historical monuments and the such, but these buildings are only 40 years old. They have no value.” “That still doesn’t tell me why we’re here,” Discord said, letting his annoyance shine. “We’re here to destroy it.” Silence followed Rose’s statements as Discord processed what she had said. “What do you mean destroy it?” he asked. “Here I have a signed order of demolition for the ruins of New Baltimare in the San Palomino Desert,” Rose said, pulling a document out of her saddlebag. “Celestia wanted this place torn down anyway, so I asked her if you and I could take care of it instead. She agreed as long as we make sure that there isn’t a single thing left here by the time we’re done.” “That means tha-“ “That means that as long as we’re thorough, we can destroy this city in any way we please,” Rose exclaimed. “We can set buildings on fire, cause a tidal wave, have a tornado hit it… Meteors, us as giants rampaging through the streets, anything we want. We can have fun with this.” Discords eyes widened as he looked around the city, already planning what catastrophes would befall the abandoned buildings. “Why are you doing this?” he asked. Rose shrugged. “You were right, yesterday was probably very boring for you. It had to be done but, I don’t know, I feel bad. Especially considering… hm…” Rose said, stopping to think. “Actually, there’s something I want to talk about. Something regarding why I went through all this trouble, but it can wait till lunch time,” she said. “Besides, do you really care why I’m doing this? You have a blank check to create as much chaos as you want onto this town and we both have until seven to level it all to the ground. We can talk later, for now, let’s create chaos.” A smile appeared on Discord’s face as he began laughing. “Yes,” he said, “let’s.” The sound of crumbling stone resonated through the air, accompanied by the cracking of wood as it expanded, burnt, and splintered. Torrents of fire engulfed the land for as far as the eye could see. The sky was pitch black, due to the massive clouds hovering above the area. A few buildings levitated, in the air, spinning out of control before being struck down by manticores made entirely of sand. Chaos reigned, and it was in the midst of this chaos that two beings sat on a rooftop, watching the madness unfold. “More cotton candy Ms. Rose?” “Don’t mind if I do.” Rose extended a hoof, receiving a tuft of cotton candy cloud courtesy of Discord. She savored the treat, eating it slowly while observing the dancing of the flames that engulfed half the city. “It is marvelous is it not?” Rose turned to look at Discord, who was in turn observing the fire with much interest. “Ponies love their order and despite how bland the whole thing is, they see beauty in it. Things are always the same colors; things follow a set order of events. There are rules, and the more that things follow the rules, the better that something seems to be for them,” Discord mused with a faraway look in his eye. He then snapped his fingers, producing a painted canvas that showed an exact replica of the burning city before them. “The more the painting resembles reality, or the more the trees in Celestia’s garden are in perfect alignment, or the more in tune one instrument is with another, the higher the value each thing seems to have, and now that I’m ‘reformed’ I’m expected to appreciate how ‘artful’ order can be. Egh,” he said, ending with a gagging sound as he threw the canvas into the flames, where it was incinerated in seconds. “This is art Ms. Rose,” he continued after a while. “One cannot predict the movement of the flames or how they will spread through the city. Not even I can predict where the rubble will land, what will be left standing and what will crumble. Colors clash, standing next to each other without needing to fit in and that’s the point! Everything is random, which makes it unique, which makes it special. Anyone could build this city. They could do it a million times and if they followed the design, the spacing, and use the same materials, the city would look the exact same way each time. Replaceable, boring, unimportant.” He waved his arm over the edge of the building. “But this!” he exclaimed, “I could destroy each of those cities by using the same tricks in the same spots in the same way and we would never see the exact same scene playing before us. Chaos cannot be replicated.” Rose nodded. “I see what you mean,” she said, “There is something beautiful about all this destruction, and as fun as it was to help create it, I’m enjoying staring at it just as much. I guess it has to not be dangerous for one to appreciate it, which is seldom the case for chaos right?” “Ugh, hardly,” Discord scoffed, causing Rose to raise an eyebrow. “Do you know how much danger Equestria, or even just Ponyville, was in before I got turned into stone this past time?” Rose shook her head. “None,” Discord exclaimed. “I did not harm a single hair in any of their little pony heads. Sure what I did was inconvenient to a lot of them, but evil? Hurtful? Blah. I am far too old to care for such vanities. All I did was stray from what they considered normal, and what happened? Everypony panics and they send the strongest magical force in the nation to deal with me, justice indeed.” “Didn’t you change up the day and night cycles and mess with the crops?” Rose asked. “I may have messed with that, yes. But what was the harm? There was still a day and night, granted more often. It’s not like I tried to bring ‘eternal night’ or something,” Discord responded. “As for the crops, not only did I make apples bigger, but I provided popcorn, cotton candy, and chocolate milk, for free might I add! No being would have starved and even though it was different from the normal pony diet, I happen to know that ponies can and sometimes do live off of sweets alone. But no, it did not make sense, therefore it was not appreciated.” Rose watched the draconequus silently as he once again surveyed the area. “Sometimes I understand too well what Ms. Nightmare Tantrum went through,” Discord said before sighing. “But I guess it is too much to ask for ponies to begin to appreciate my point of view rather than asking me to change it for their sakes.” “I don’t think so,” Rose said. Discord was startled by the response, turning to look at Rose with questioning eyes. “I’m serious; I don’t think it’s too much to ask,” she repeated, “Lyra, a friend of mine, was recently telling me about this new craze called abstract art. It uses random colors and shapes and things, and I don’t really understand it, and to be honest I’m not sure anyone does, but it’s getting big in the art world.” “Hm… Maybe there’s hope for them yet,” Discord commented. A few minutes of silence passed between the two as they went back to observing the chaos in peace. Eventually, however, Discord broke the silence again. “What is your angle?” he asked. Rose tilted her head in confusion. “My angle?” “Yes, your angle,” Discord repeated, “Letting me level a town, trying to cheer me up, listening to ramblings, why are you doing this?” “No reason really,” Rose answered, earning her an annoyed sigh from Discord. “You said we would talk during lunch,” he said, “And I don’t appreciate being lied to, especially so poorly. Now tell me why you’re being so nice to me?” Rose turned her gaze away from Discord, taking a few deep breaths before answering. “I kind of feel bad for you.” “Excuse me?” “I said I feel bad for you,” Rose repeated. “Look, the way you talk to me… In fact, the way you’re always talking… it’s familiar. I used to be like that once. I always had to be smart, and clever, and funny, and I always had to be a few steps ahead and make sure everyone around me knew it at all times. If you get others to believe it it’s easier to believe it yourself right?” Discord said nothing so she continued. “I’ve met ponies who love the sound of their own voice, and who will talk to no end,” she said, “But you’re not like that. You talk all the time not because you like to, but because you need to. You need the attention don’t you?” “What makes you say that,” Discord asked, narrowing his eyes. “You got too annoyed at me ignoring you,” Rose responded, “It’s like you need those around you to acknowledge you or else you get upset. If I were to guess, I’d say you were lonely. You get upset when I don’t acknowledge you because I’m guessing I’m one of the few that do, when you’re not spinning somepony’s house in the air that is.” “Even if that were the case, which I’m not saying it is, why would you care?” Discord asked, “I have been nothing but snarky and annoying this whole trip have I not? I certainly do remember taking every chance to score a laugh at your expense.” Rose shook her head. “No, not every chance,” Rose said, “Even if that’s what you would rather believe, it isn’t true.” “Oh?” Discord said mockingly, “Do tell.” “Why did you give me the water balloon?” Rose asked, taking Discord aback. “Um.. Because I thought it’d be funny?” he ventured, “I was mad that he managed to throw off your train of thought when I had been unable.” “So it wasn’t because what he said upset me?” Rose asked. The draconequus said nothing. “That’s fine, you don’t have to answer that one,” Rose said, “Instead, how about we talk about what happened at the Q&A? Remember what that pony said about me?” “You’re going to have to be a tad more specific dear.” “She said that I know nothing about being a real mare,” Rose said, bitterness in her voice. “She hit right where it hurt most, at the root of all my insecurities, and she almost broke me right there on stage. I pulled through and told her off, of course, but not before you said something to me. What was it again?” This time Rose stayed silent until Discord answered. “What do you want me to do to her?” Discord whispered. Rose nodded. “Yea, that was it,” she said. “You wanted to help me get retribution. You cared about what I was feeling, and you wanted to defend me. Of course, it had to be by my order so that Celestia would not hold it against you, but your desire to help was still there. You showed concern for me.” Rose thought for a second, before giggling. “Now that I think about it, even right when we first met you showed concern for me,” Rose said, “Yea, in Cloudsdale! I was getting heckled and you said I should probably get off the stage and that there would be no shame in doing so. Yea, you prefaced it with ‘not that it’s any of my concern’ but it still was wasn’t it.” “You were vulnerable,” Discord said, “I do not prey on the helpless.” “But you could have,” Rose countered. “You could have made things worse. You could have stayed silent. But you didn’t. You didn’t exploit my weakness, and that’s why I’m doing this for you. Because it’s what you would do for me, granted with less water balloons.” Rose expected this to cheer Discord up, or to at least trigger one of his snarky comebacks, but the god of chaos stayed silent, deep in thought. When he did speak, it was barely audible. “It would seem I have a lot to think about,” he said. He then shook his head, his signature grin returning as he stopped. “But enough seriousness,” he said, “We still have half a city to demolish and precious little time to do so with. How about we hit that building with acid filled water balloons?” “I really wanted to be a giant and crush them under my hooves,” Rose said, pouting. Discord gave a mock sigh of annoyance. “Fine, how about we use the balloons, I reconstruct the city, and then we tear it down like giant bulls in a china shop?” “Hey, I happen to know some bulls that own a china shop, and they happen to be very graceful,” Rose said, grinning, “But as for your plan… Let’s break some china.”