Canterlot Ahoy!
-*-Diamond Tiara-*-
It had been a long time since Diamond Tiara had been to Canterlot. The last time she had been to the glorious capital city of Equestria was when they had returned to get the very last boxes of their belongings, finishing the process of moving to Ponyville the very next day.
That was roughly four and a half years ago. On the outside, Diamond Tiara had changed. Even if she was, by some mad twist of fate, going back to her old school, she wouldn’t have been the meek, timid foal who was ignored and looked down upon. The mask she had forged while living in Ponyville made sure of such.
Of course, such would have been true on any normal day. Today however, like the last few, was not normal.
“Get ready dear, we’re nearing the city.” Filthy Rich said as he read the morning paper. Her dad was currently giving off an uninterested, distant air that normally would have bothered her. She knew Filthy Rich didn’t always know how to deal with, or help her with her problems, but he could at least be honest about it.
“Actually… we might be a bit… something is up.” Silver Tongue murmured, looking past the window and frowning at something she saw.
“What is it Mamma?”
Before Silver Tongue could reply, the end of the train car glowed, and then a thin wall of magical energy swept over everypony. This elicited several gasps and a scream or two., while a young filly who had been playing with some blocks while her mother watched started to bawl.
Diamond shivered after it had passed her, feeling no worse for the wear, though a little tingly. She saw that Filthy Rich was no longer reading the paper, his nose twitching like he was about to sneeze. Mamma in the meantime had become rather tense, a worried look creasing her muzzle.
“That was a protection spell… a pretty powerful one too. Why on Equus would there be one covering Canterlot…” She heard Silver Tongue murmur softly to herself.
Protection Spell? Does it have something to do with why we’re here? Diamond thought to herself, wishing for a moment that Cain wasn’t asleep so he could provide some info.
A train conductor passed through a minute later, assuring everypony that things were fine, that it was the Royal Guard conducting their annual security test. This seemed to soothe the other passengers, but not Silver Tongue.
“Is something the matter honey?” Filthy Rich asked, clearly showing that Diamond wasn’t the only one who had noticed.
Silver Tongue was silent for a moment, before gesturing for Diamond and Filthy to lean in. “The only time the Royal Guard is supposed to cast a spell this powerful is when a direct threat has been made to the city.” She whispered, before adding
“Its supposed to be powerful enough to keep anyone from directly attacking the city. Nothing short of a High Dragon or Discord should be able to crack it without a great deal of effort.”
That wasn’t very reassuring… although that did rule out the possibility, to Diamond at least, of this involving them and their problem.
After all, since it was Discord’s fault she was carrying around a hairless ape’s mind (and his darker half), raising a force field around the city his statue was kept in would be silly.
It wasn’t much longer before the train pulled into the station, a loud whistle signalling their arrival. The other ponies were quick to disembark and go about their business, while she and her parents waited for the crowd to thin.
“Come on, let’s not keep Princess Celestia waiting.” Silver Tongue said, grabbing the few bags they’d brought along and leading the way out.
As they stepped onto the platform, they saw that the train station was rather busy. Soldiers were moving about, checking passengers and their baggage before letting them head further into the city.
A Pegasus who had a red plum on his helmet stepped forward as soon as he saw them. “Are you Miss Tongue’s party?” When Silver Tongue nodded, he returned the gesture. “I am to lead you to the Royal Palace, though first I need to perform a security check. Orders from the Princess herself.”
The soldiers horn glowed, and that tingling feeling returned for a few seconds. “Alright, you’re all clear. Make sure to stick close to me and we’ll be at the Palace in no time.” He turned about, clearing his throat with a deep cough before shouting “CLEAR A PATH!”
Instantly, soldiers and civilians alike dashed to the side or stopped where they were as he lead them out of the station and to a chariot awaiting them. Once they were all aboard, he made a clicking noise and the two guards tethered to it quickly took off.
Diamond’s mind wandered as they went sailing over the roofs and spires of the great royal city, thinking about what might happen when they reached the Palace, what the Princesses might do to try and get Cain out of her.
She also found herself wondering about the dream she had last night, of the flight with Princess Luna and the talk they’d had with each other. She didn’t remember everything, but she did recall that Luna had told her she needed to let go of her past, to not let those foalish bullies turn her into one of them.
I don’t know if I can do that… I don’t want to feel like that again… but as she thought about it, in a way, she was already beginning to experience such yet again. Ever since the Cute-Cinera, she had started to feel isolated again… it almost seemed like she couldn’t win.
Maybe… maybe I could try to be better. Ponyville, its not like the school. The ponies there… are different. The Crusaders certainly prove that…
Her pride told her doing such would be a huge show of weakness, but she wasn’t sure about that anymore. The last few days were making a lot of things come under scrutiny.
“Look Diamond… we’re nearing the Palace.” Silver Tongue murmured, leaning down as a hint of a smile made itself known. Diamond shook her head, clearing it of all the thoughts she had been considering as she gazed at the majestic sight of Celestia’s home.
She had been here before with her class for that field trip, when they saw what they had all thought was nothing more than a silly statue before being rudely shown the truth just a day later. It was a hard reminder that appearances could be deceiving.
Still, it was a rather impressive sight, and she found herself staring at it in awe. She could see a similar, if muted glimmer in her mother’s eyes, while her father was apparently trying to keep the contents of breakfast in.
Rather than landing in the front courtyard like they had when they were here for the field-trip, the chariot was instead taken around to a more private garage, where Princess Celestia and Luna were awaiting them.
-*-Cain-*-
I awoke after DT passed through the forcefield, but I felt tired, and I also decided it would be wise to not startle her or try to take control until we were in front of the princesses. I didn't want to get my… our flank kicked by an overzealous guard, thank you very much.
I must admit that the first thing I did was look myself over, and I was somewhat relieved that while I still looked like a young pony, at least it was a male one.
I could also feel some of the emotions Diamond Tiara was dealing with. It wasn’t like I could read her thoughts or anything, but if I focused enough I could get a grasp of what she was likely thinking about.
Considering the visit Luna had given both of us last night, I figured it would be better to let DT sort through them herself.
With a sigh, I got up from the couch and looked around, the room having turned more girly than last time. The TV that let me see what Diamond was seeing and hearing was bigger, while Strife was nowhere to be seen.
"Strife? Are you there?"
For a moment, I didn’t hear anything. Then, I heard some mumbling from a corner of the room, but no one was there. “Come on Strife, I’m not in the mood for whatever game you’re up to now.”
"Strife isn’t here right now, please leave a message after the beep."
I rolled my eyes, ears turning this way and that as I tried to pinpoint his voice. “Yeah sure you aren’t. And I’m the Queen of America.”
"Really? I didn’t know royalty was going to be visiting, otherwise I would have spruced the place up a bit."
"Strife, where are you?"
"Little ol’ me? Oh, nowhere important."
"I sincerely doubt that" I muttered to myself, glancing around, finally spotting a small blue door only a foal could use. I walked to the door and tried to open it, ignoring the fact that with hooves I shouldn’t be able to do so, but the knob wouldn’t budge.
"You can't come in, this place is mine!" His voice shouted out, though it was starting to lose the snarky edge to it.
Well, that answered the question of where he was… though I wasn’t exactly comforted by such knowledge. "Strife… are you hiding in there?"
"NO! I don’t hide from anything or anyone! I just don’t want to be in the same room as you mister goody two shoes!"
Strife sounded a tad… different. Which was really starting to bug me. "Can I come inside to talk?"
“Sorry, try again.”
I rolled my eyes, hoof palming as I snarked back “May I come inside to talk you?”
"Hell no."
“Listen Strife…” I ground out, trying the door handle and considering trying to give it a good bucking, “You can’t hide in there all-day.”
“Sure I can!” He shouted back… followed very quickly by a mumbled “Crap!”
I laughed, head pressing against the door as I grinned victoriously at Strife… or at least the door he was hiding behind. “I knew it! Well, too bad for you, you’re not allowed to hide.”
“Says who? I can do whatever I want!”
I shook my head, groaning as I said “Of course you can. But that whole tough guy thing you like to try and pull off isn’t gonna work if you’re in a closet… or whatever it is your in.”
There was no immediate response, but after a few seconds, the door opened and I carefully walked inside. My body was tensed up, fully expecting some sort of surprise from Strife.
What I wasn’t expecting to see was Discord with a badly made Diamond Tiara sock puppet over his lion paw. Without any warning, the door closed behind me as he cackled.
"Oh Cain, Cain, Cain, do you honestly think they can help you? There are places in Equestria I messed up so much that they still haven't been fixed, and that was over a thousand years ago! I am the only one that can help you and deep down you know it!"
“Go away Discord, you’re wasting your time.” I replied, turning my eyes away from him and ignoring him as I looked around for Strife. Which wasn’t easy, considering the room was a hodge podge of all the room’s I’d ever lived in.
"Get out Cain! I don’t want anything to do with you!" Strife's voice echoed out, but it sounded weird, like another voice was trying to merge with it.
Eventually, after trading a few barbs with him while Discord chortled in the background, I traced his voice down, finding him underneath the bed of all places. But that wasn’t all… like me, he wasn’t in human form, but now what had been a blue coat was covered in splotches of a familiar pink, and he seemed to be sporting a tiara on his flank.
“I SAID GO AWAY!” He roared out at me, eyes flashing with anger and rage even as tears streamed down his face. The Woona plushie was tucked underneath him and he clung to it as if his life depended on it.
Seeing this, my own anger flared up as I whirled to face Discord. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"Me?” He asked, placing a talon over his heart as he feigned ignorance. “I did nothing. This is nothing more than the results of your choices. After all, Diamond Tiara isn’t being repressed anymore… so her spirit is starting to assert itself." He chuckled darkly, adding “Strife’s just getting the most interesting bits.”
"No." I murmured, not liking where that was going. Strife was who he was in part because of the environment I’d grown up in, not simply because he was my ‘evil’ half, as much as I sometimes thought of him as such.
There were times where Strife had served as my defense against bullies, and even as a way to deal with my lack of friends. Having to deal with even a small portion of Diamond’s own life… and believing it was his own… Strife had to be positively livid.
"Oh yes! And as long as you keep this silly ‘faith in friendship’ instead of caring about yourself, it’ll only get worse. You’ve already started to get it too." Discord flicked my face with his tail, laughing at the glare I sent his way before vanishing in a flash.
Growling and muttering about Discord’s no doubt messed up lineage, I turned and crawled under the bed, ignoring the hisses and attempts to push me away as I hugged Strife.
“Don’t listen to him Strife. You should know more than anybody that he’s trying to mess with us.”
Strife’s eyes glinted dangerously, even as he choked back a sob. “I want to tear his horns off and shove them where sun don’t shine.”
I offered him a smile, chuckling as I stroked his mane. “Hey, I won’t stop you. I ‘d even help you. Now come on, hiding under here isn’t doing you any good. Its just amusing Discord… and you don’t want to give him anything to laugh at do you?”
Strife seemed to consider this, and was able to regain some control as he brought an end to the waterworks. Together, we crawled out from under the bed and walked back to the big screen room. Then I noticed Diamond Tiara arriving to a garage where the princess were waiting for us.
“We’re at the palace already? Huh… I thought that would take longer.”
Strife rolled his eyes. “Yeah well, when you’re having SOOOOO much fun, time flies.”
I shook my head, even as the smile started to widen. Strife was starting to sound so much more like himself.
Then I suddenly remembered something very important. It was probably because Strife wasn’t locked away anymore, or maybe it was because Discord had left?
"Hey DT, I need to talk to the princesses about something important. And… Strife is starting to remember the bad years you had at school like it had happened to him. He is kinda… traumatised, so try to be nice to him, okay?"
Strife harrumphed, looking away from me and the screen. "I am not traumatised! And I don’t want anything to do talk with a loooser like her! Wait… is that the best I can do? Grr...I’m gonna chase that foal up and down the walls if she comes in here."
I felt a bit sorry for Diamond, as I had a feeling Strife was going to take out some of his frustrations on her. Nevertheless, I needed to talk to the Princesses, so with a bit of work, I felt the sensation of being in control of the body again and blinked, feeling a little disoriented this time around.
"Your majesties,” I began, looking up at them as Filthy Rich and Silver Tongue stepped off the chariot, “May we talk in private without anypony else? I got information that I think you two might find interesting." I said, looking at them expectantly. A part of me nagged me that I wasn't acting quite in the proper way to address royalty, but I ignored it. Was probably just Diamond anyways.
Celestia and Luna horns glowed, and the tree of us were teleported to what I guess was a secret room. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sensation, and my head spun for a few seconds afterwards. “Warn me next time will you… jeez…”
"What's is this matter you want to inform us off?" Luna spoke first, sounding rather awake for being up in the morning. This briefly distracted me, as I wondered whether either of them really needed much sleep.
Focus Cain, you saw the setup of things on the way in. Let’s get this over with.
"Princess Cadance has been replaced by an imposter, and is currently imprisoned within the caves below the City. The Imposter is Queen Chrysalis of the changelings."
The two looked to each other for a moment… before Celestia smiled. “Oh yes, we already know that.”
I nodded my head, saying “That’s good to-wait what did you just say?”
“During the Mind Delve, I saw what, at least according to the show, was going to happen soon. I looked into it, and indeed discovered that my niece had been replaced. Chrysalis is currently in the dungeon, and the Royal guard is sweeping the area around the city for the rest of her invasion force.”
My mouth hung open for a moment as I just sat there, not sure what to say. A smirk slowly worked its way onto Luna’s face as she leaned toward Celestia, murmuring “I think you rendered him speechless.”
“It would indeed seem that way.” Celestia said, a warm chuckle flitting out of her lips as I shook my head about, regathering my thoughts after having been caught off guard by this revelation.
“W-Well, that’s not all. I’m afraid we need to get to work on splitting me from Diamond Tiara… things seem to be going faster than we thought.” I then explained what had just happened, making sure not to leave out a single detail.
“I was worried about this…” Celestia said, shaking her head and moving to gaze out a nearby window… where the statue of Discord was plainly visible. “I suspect Discord is at fault for the increase of your souls merging, now doubt using his connection with Strife to accelerate it.”
“We will need to get started immediately then. I will send word for Twilight and her friends to make all due haste.” Luna declared, gathering a quill and ink as she scratched out a letter and sending it off in a glimmer of smoke.
“Indeed. We are not as prepared as we would have liked, but such is life.” Celestia said, turning back to me and taking up a spot to my left as Luna sat opposite to her. Their horns glowed, and I felt the air around me thrum with magical power...
-*-Diamond Tiara-*-
"Hi Queen Mean!"
Diamond Tiara looked annoyed at the offending colt named Strife, who was carrying that doll he was so obsessed about in… was that a foal seat over his back?
"Why do you like that plushie so much?"
Strife rolled his eyes, looking at her like the answer should be obvious. "Because Princess Woona is my best friend ever!"
She watched him as he pulled her out of the seat, hugging her to his chest. It reminded her of a few of the younger foals back home. "Oh, I get it… she’s a safety blanket."
"No she isn't! Don't listen to her my princess! Your black knight Strife will keep you safe from the bullying forces of Queen Meanie!"
DT ignored Strife and sat on the couch, flipping her head down and closing her eyes as she tried to block his weirdness out... only to have her tiara stolen and put on the doll, which she noticed instantly.
"Here you go my princess, a cute tiara for a cute filly!"
Diamond Tiara then touched her head, her tiara was gone. Anger started to well up within her at this, even though she knew it wasn't the real one, it was a matter of principle. Besides, it was hers!
But... she had promised Princess Luna to try to be more polite to the two of them… especially Strife.
"Please give me back my tiara Strife." DT said, standing up on the couch as she gave Strife a look that suggested it was in his best interest to do so.
"No, my princess needs it!"
Well, she had already tried being polite at least.
"Do it or else!"
“Or else what? You’ll hit me?" Strife said sticking his tongue out, then laughing. “You know for a fact you can’t hurt me. I’m much, much worse than you could ever be.”
Diamond growled, but held her tongue as she tried to keep her word to the Princess. She’d already had a ‘makeup war’ but Strife didn’t seem to care about that. She remembered the other advice Luna had given her last night...
'If you are awake in a dream, and you are aware that is a dream, you can, with time and practice, control it.'
Well, this might not be a dream, but she was awake, and it was her head, not that of a stupid monkey's evil side.
DT stomped her hooves on the floor, and there was a white flash. When it cleared, Strife looked just like Silver Spoon.
'Try with easy changes at first, like making things and ponies you know well.'
"What did you do?" Strife shouted only to notice he sounded like Silver Spoon, and didn't seem to be a colt anymore. He tried to repeat what she had done, but he seemed unable to do so.
“Look, you stole from me, I politely asked you to give my tiara back and you refused. Well, this is your punishment. So enjoy being a filly." DT then picked back the tiara since Strife seemed to be in shock, and went to sit back to the couch and put her tiara back on.
"So what? I can change back. I can I can I can!" Strife stomped her hooves repeatedly on the floor, and this time she seemed to have some success… but only some. She managed to change her coat and mane color, returning them to the blue and dirty blonde they had been before.
She tried again but while she was able to do several small changes that made her not look like a Silver Spoon recolor, she was unable to change back into a colt. Diamond watched her as she growled, snorted, and stomped some more.
'Its strange, I should be war angrier with him than this. But… he is made of negative emotions. He deals with all the stuff Cain doesn't want to deal with, and now it seems he also remembers being bullied like I was. If he is all darkness and no light, could I really expect him to act any different?’
Talking with princess Luna really had been an eye opener.
'The more you deny your fears, the stronger they become in your dreams.'
What if that worked for more than dreams? The control trick had worked even if this wasn't a dream after all.
She shifted about, not sure if she wanted to try what had just popped into her head. But after some thought… she decided it would be better for both of them to go ahead with it.
Plucking her tiara off her head, she walked over to Strife, who was stubbornly still trying to change back and said "Here, take the tiara, you seem to need it more.” She even went as far as to place it on the woona plushie, but she gave him another glare as she added “I’m still not changing you back though. Think you can handle that?"
Strife mumbled something nasty but seemed disinclined to argue the point, moving over to a corner and chattering with the doll as Diamond shook her head in amazement.
It was quite strange, since that dream with Luna it felt like she was calmer, more focused. She wondered why that was, and if the presence of Strife or Cain had anything to do with it or not.
Both young ponies failed to notice how the tiara shrank to fit the plushie better.
-*-Cain-*-
'Somehow... I got a bad feeling about this.' Was the only thing I could think before I was hit with both princesses combined power.
At first, everything was fine. I felt their magic flowing around and within me, and it felt like they were searching for something first. They must have found what they were looking for, because I could feel the power gathering...
And then everything hurt, pain lancing through my body as I fell down, screaming and flailing about in agony. I could distantly feel that I wasn’t alone in this, for Diamond Tiara and Strife were screaming too.
Then I blacked out, darkness taking me and all sense of the world beyond fading away…
When I eventually came to, I found myself in sitting in the town square of Ponyville, Luna’s moon high in the sky above me. The most interesting thing was that the place looked totalled, as if a Marine battalion had come thru and decided the place needed some… ‘redecorating’.
I wasn’t alone either. A small filly, which looked a lot like a Silver Spoon recolor, was sitting nearby, eyes focused on the moon. Her mane was a little messy, but otherwise she seemed fine.
“Well congrats Crusader Cain, look what those oh so great Princesses have done. Quite a mess if I do say so myself.” Strife said, turning his eyes away from the heavens above and glaring at me. “This is all your fault.”
"Strife?" I called out, running over to him and looking around, jaw open as I surveyed the scene before me. “What the heck happened here?”
"Really, you don’t know?” Strife asked, sounding rather irritated as he look from me to the ruined town. “What do you think happened! The Princesses spell backfired! It didn’t work! Your stupid optimism that the Princesses would be able to help us isn’t exactly looking all that great right now.”
"The princesses tried to separate us… and this is what happened?”
Strife rolled his eyes. “No, me and Diamond just felt like redecorating. We figured Ponyville would look sooooo much better in the Bombed Rubble style of architecture.”
Strife’s attitude was starting to irritate me, but it was understandable. We were slowly being absorbed by Diamond Tiara’s soul, Strife more so than me at the moment. Unlike him though, I wasn’t going to give up hope in the Princesses.
“Just because the first attempt failed doesn’t mean a second one will. Anyways… where’s Diamond Tiara?”
“She’s in a lot of pain right now, so she’s hiding in the only place that hasn’t been knocked to the ground.” Strife said, pointing to Ponyville's hospital, the only place around town that was left intact.
“Just how bad is she doing?” I asked, not quite believing that she would have gotten the worst of it considering we were the invaders.
“I don’t know, maybe because we’re slowly merging with her, whatever brilliant spell the Royal ass hats decided to use had to try and pull what’s already joined her mind out, forcibly?” Strife suggested, his tone telling me that he was amused I hadn’t figured such out.
That… wasn’t a good thing though. It meant we needed to hurry things up. “Shouldn’t we go check up on her, make sure that nothing else is bothering her that could make things worse?”
"Dont worry, I left Princess Woona guarding her."
I blinked, confused on two levels by Strife’s decision. The first was because… it was just a doll, and thus incapable of really stopping someone like say Discord from bugging her, or any of her past memories.
But most importantly, Strife had shown himself to be VERY possessive about that doll. Him leaving it with Diamond Tiara didn’t fit with his character.
"You left the doll with her? But you love that doll!"
"Yes, but I love to live more, but the doll is making her feel safe, and if something happens to her, what do you think will happen to us, genius?"
Right, of course Strife would think on himself first.
"Lets go and visit her then."
Strife shook her head vehemently. “No way mister., I’m just fine staying out here and enjoying the scenery.”
"Why?" I asked, glaring at him… her… whatever as she sat back down, not even giving me a glance.
"For starters, I don’t want to be near her. Secondly, we need to talk."
"Now? When we need to be telling the Princess its getting worse?"
"Do you really think they aren’t already aware? We’re probably in some hospital wing in the palace, with all sorts of old bearded pointy hatted quacks casting all sorts of spells on us to try and figure out how to get us out."
His insults aside, he was probably right about that. That spell must have really done a number on me if I wasn’t figuring these things out on my own.
"Fine. What do you want then?"
She turned around then, staring me directly in the eyes as she declared "Change me back into a colt. Now!"
Considering I didn’t even know why he was a filly right now, it was like asking me to bring the moon down here for him to touch. "What makes you think I can do that, I don’t even know why you’re like this!"
"I am part of you, if you want it to happen, I should get enough power to change back. And it was Queen Meanie who did it. She must’ve thought it would be funny."
Hearing that Diamond Tiara had been the one to do it… I felt my sympathy for him vanish. "Oh, well then, I have no problem leaving you like that.”
"What? Why?" She snapped at me, looking furious
"You know why." I glared back, not in the mood for his little spat with DT. “You tortured her in her own mind, for who knows how long from her perspective. Frankly, she deserves to enjoy a bit of payback.”
"Oh, so thats it? I get all the blame ? What about you partner? Can you honestly said you are completely innocent in this?"
"No, but I wasn’t trying to inflict more pain on her. If nothing else, I deserve the same treatment because I allowed you to hurt her for so long, not to mention being more worried about myself to bother seeking help as soon as I could have."
As soon as I said that there was a flash of white light, I looked myself over and noticed I had changed gender again… which at this point was nothing really.
“Now, maybe if you behave yourself, I’ll think about changing you back. Right now though, I’m going to go check on Diamond. You’re free to come along if you want.”
Strife sat there for about a minute as I slowly trotted on towards the hospital, before giving out a disgruntled sigh and following on after.
The hospital may have been intact, but there wasn’t a soul walking about its halls, giving the darkened halls a very, very Silent Hilly type atmosphere. Nevertheless, I seemed to know where I was going as I turned this corner and then another one, stopping before a room that had Diamond’s name on it. Opening it, I slipped inside and called out “Diamond? You okay?”
Muffled sniffles atop the nearby bed was my answer, and I hurried over, lifting the covers up and spotting Diamond, who didn’t look all that good as she held onto the Woona doll. She didn’t actually have any visible injuries, but she looked like she hadn’t slept for days.
“It hurt… it hurt so much…” She murmured, staring out into space and not seeming to really register my presence right then. “It felt like something was trying to tear my brain apart, only it couldn’t do it. It just kept trying… no matter how much I begged it to stop…”
I grimaced at this, Diamond had gotten it worse then. I had felt pain all over, but my head hadn’t felt like that. Just a really, really bad headache was all I would compare it to. Not knowing what else to say, let alone do, so I just threw a hoof around her neck, cuddling up next to her and laying my head over hers protectively.
Strife came in, saw us, and gagged, before stomping over to one of the chairs in the room and plopping himself down in it. We all sat in silence, until eventually sleep overtook us, and the world once again went black…
-*-Celestia-*-
Celestia felt very tired as she walked back into the Medical Wing, rubbing a hoof against her head as she worked to compose herself. This was proving to be one heck of a day, and as much as she hated to admit, she’d be happy when she could flop down into her bed and drift off for a few hours.
After nearly killing Diamond Tiara with that first spell, she and Luna had vehemently agreed to try a different approach. A very different approach, seeing as the direct route had failed utterly. Thus, they had enlisted the best of Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns and given them the task of finding something else they could try.
When Twilight had arrived, she had immediately jumped into the project, especially after hearing the earlier results. Her friends offered moral support, but couldn’t do much to help yet. One of them had already asked if using the Elements would be a good idea, but Celestia saw those as a last resort.
After all, with some of Discord’s magic being within Strife, using them could turn Diamond Tiara into a lawn ornament. And she had no wish to inflict such pain onto anyone… not even Discord. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t resort to it in case there was no better choice.
However, Diamond Tiara and Cain were not her only problems. Hunting down the Changelings was proving to be both time consuming and bothersome, since they seemed determined to at least attempt a fight to the death whenever a guard found one hiding somewhere.
If it wasn’t for Shining Armor’s work leading the search, they’d likely have had more than just the single casualty so far, and he was being tended to in the Royal Guards infirmary.
And as the icing on the cake, her nephew had spent an hour of her time explaining why the Grand Galloping Gala needed to go off without a single ‘incident’ this year.
Sometimes, she wished she could hand the throne and all its responsibilities to someone else. She had Luna now to share the burden, but there were still times when she dreamed of letting it all go, and living life as a normal pony, rather than that of a Princess.
Shaking such thoughts off, knowing that now was not the time to humor them, she opened the doors, walking towards the only bed that was currently occupied. One of the nurses was busy checking her vitals, but she nodded when she saw the Princess stepping forward.
“She is recovering rather well Princess. She might even wake up in a little while… she’s been sleeping normally now for a good hour.”
Celestia nodded her head in gratitude. “Thank you Nurse Red Clover. I can watch over them for now.”
“Of course Princess. Just call for me if anything changes.” She replied, bowing again before heading off to her office to take care of her other duties as Head Nurse. Once the door closed, Celestia set herself off to the side of the bed, gazing out one of the many windows, and then sent a glance towards the pink filly nestled within the sheets.
“So, how long have you been awake?”
Diamond Tiara stirred, opening her eyes and looking up at her. “About an hour or so. I didn’t feel like getting out yet though, and I had a lot of thinking to do.”
Celestia had only to look into the filly’s eyes to know who was currently behind the wheel, though it wasn’t necessary in this case. She had already noticed the differences in tone and phrasing between Cain and young Diamond Tiara.
“And what were you thinking about Cain?”
Cain shifted about for a moment, his eyes moving to look out one of the nearby windows. Celestia said nothing, allowing him time to gather his thoughts.
“To be honest, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things… but mostly, I’ve been thinking about what happens if we can’t get me out in time.”
An eyebrow quirked up when Celestia heard this, and she asked “Do you not have faith that we can find a way? From some of the memories I saw, you hold both myself and Luna in high regard, as well as Twilight and her friends.”
Cain nodded. “Yes. I do. But I’ve been thinking… maybe drawing a bit from Strife here…” He went silent for a moment, before letting out a tired sigh.
“I come from a world where magic is not accessible to humans. Where miracles are rare, and debatable. Where sometimes… the good guys lose.”
Celestia nodded in understanding. Comparing what she had seen of his world with what little the humans had seen of Equestria, they were a veritable Utopia.
“I know it was optimistic to think that the first attempt could save me and Strife. But the merging process seems to be picking up speed. Strife says we have, at best, two days before he and I become merged with Diamond Tiara.”
Cain rose one of Diamond’s hooves, turning it this way and that, though Celestia wasn’t exactly sure if he was looking at it, or imagining something else in its place.
“So, I’ve been wondering… will I really die? Will I really cease to exist as Diamond’s soul absorbs me and Strife, or will we continue on? Its a rather interesting thought, even if its rather morbid.”
“Well, I suppose that depends on how you see things, doesn’t it?” A voice called out from the other end of the room, one that caused Cain’s ears to twitch as his eyes widened in recognition.
Celestia smiled a bit as she turned her gaze towards the double doors, where a pink alicorn stood with a warm and loving smile on her face. “Cadance, I thought I told you to spend some time recovering.”
Cadance rolled her eyes as she strolled over to join her aunt, sitting opposite to Celestia. “I’m tougher than you think Celestia. A good soak in the royal baths and some time with Shining was more than enough to leave me feeling better than ever.” She glanced over to Cain, who seemed to be frozen in an expression between awe and...something else.
She tittered a bit, smiling down at him as she said “I heard it was thanks to the memories you possess that I was rescued so soon. I wanted to come down and thank you in person.”
Cain gulped, a blush slowly forming on his cheeks as he stared directly at Cadance’s face. “N-No p-problem. Though you can thank Celestia for it… I didn’t actually do anything.”
Celestia was again gazing curiously at him, while Cadance seemed to be trying to hold back laughter, though her face certainly didn’t give it away. “Even if you played a tiny part, its still thanks to you that I am free from the Crystal Caverns now, rather than at the end of the week.”
“Not to mention it had kept Canterlot from dealing with all of the damage the Changelings would have caused to both its inhabitants and the city itself.” Celestia added.
“Exactly.” Cadance declare, her smile widening as she scooted closer, which only served to cause Cain’s blush to increase. It soon became a glowing crimson when Cadance wrapped her hooves around Cain’s body, placing a soft kiss on his forehead as she said “Thank you Cain.”
Cain shuddered, eyes getting a dreamy look as a silly grin appeared on his face. “C-Cadance is hugging me… and gave me a kiss… I think I can die happy now…” He then proceeded to mutter softly to himself as he became overloaded by the loving feelings he could feel coming from Cadance.
A moment later, his eyes closed shut, and Celestia shook her head in bemusement. “Cadance, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you did that on purpose.”
Her nieces wide smile only confirmed it as warm laughter peeled out of her. “Yes, and I enjoyed every second of it.” Her mirth quickly slowed though as she looked back to him. “Besides, I think it did some good… I don’t think it’ll help him or us if he’s having such dreary thoughts.”
Celestia could only nod as a guardpony stuck his head into the room, informing her that Twilight wished to speak with her. “Very well, tell her I'll be along shortly."
The soldier nodded, leaving Celestia and Cadance alone as they gazed down at Cain, both of them thinking about the nearly impossible task of saving his spirit from oblivion.
-*-Diamond Tiara-*-
Diamond Tiara woke up in the bed in her room, but once she pulled the covers away she knew it wasn’t really her room. The fact that the Woona plushie was there and that Strife seemed to have fallen asleep next to her bed hugging it was a big clue.
Strife no longer had Silver Spoon’s cutie mark. The filly looked around, and noticed the room had the decorations it used to have when she was much younger, before she had to go to that horrible school.
She remembered those days, they were happy days, when her mother was around a lot and Daddy wasn’t so busy running his business.
Diamond Tiara wondered if she should wake up Strife or not, but soon decided against it. She moved a pillow to hold Strife’s head up, pulling one of the covers him up.
Neither her nor Strife noticed the plushie eyes glowing white for a brief moment.
Once she was done, Diamond Tiara decided to explore the place. For some reason she felt full of energy and curious, and though she was worried about she might find, she didn’t really feel like sitting in bed with Strife.
Leaving her room, she tried the first door she found in the hallway, which turned out to be the bathroom. Stepping inside, she went up to the sink and looked into the mirror, noticing that she looked a lot younger and that her cutie mark was missing.
Seeing the absence of her cutie mark nearly sent her into a panic, but then she remembered where she was… and that worse had happened in this place. Instead, she thought about how the bedroom she had woken up in looked, and then glanced back to her blank flanks.
Was this a memory of the past? Was that why she and the room looked different? If so, then why Strife was there?
Leaving the room, she wandered the halls for a time, seeing no one. She noticed though that this wasn’t her home in Ponyville, but the one she grew up in back in Canterlot. She stopped when she reached the kitchen, her stomach growling softly. She didn’t exactly feel all that hungry, but she decided to go ahead and grab something. Opening the door however revealed the form of someone she had no desire to see.
"Oh, look who we have here!" Discord declared, hovering behind the little island in the middle of the room, chomping down on a wax apple. "A little filly, all alone and without her parents!"
"What do you want Q?" DT asked, not bothering to question why she called him that as she moved towards the fridge, trying to ignore the spirit's’ presence.
"Q? Oh, you’re finally getting some of Cain memories now. Wonderful just wonderful!" Discord snapped his claws and with a flash he was wearing a Starfleet Captain uniform. "I was getting a tad tired that no pony but Pinkie Pie gets my pop culture references!"
Diamond rolled her eyes, not sharing his amusement. "Why are you bothering me? Why are you doing all this?” She let out a huff, whirling around and stomping her hoof. “What's the point?"
"Oh It amuses me, that's all."
Diamond Tiara sat there for a moment, eye twitching. THAT’S his answer? That can’t be it… she thought to herself, mentally counting to ten as she worked to keep from venting too much anger at him. Such emotions would only make Discord stronger. “And what, pray tell, is so amusing about what you’re doing to us?”
Now it was Discord’s turn to roll his eyes. “Oh, haven't you figured it out yet? I thought you were a smart filly, how disappointing!”
Diamond Tiara tried to glare at him, but his condescending, 'better than thou' smile was messing with her. “Figured out what?”
Discord smiled, wagging a finger at her like she was a misbehaved pet. “Oh no, I’m not telling you, that would ruin all the fun.” He pressed a talon to his chin for a moment, frowning as he said “Although I suppose it couldn’t hurt to give you some hints…”
He snapped his claws, and suddenly they were back in the classroom she had gone to when in Canterlot. Discord was wearing a professional looking jacket as a piece of chalk hovered near the chalkboard.
“Alright, now, why don’t we start simple. Why do you think I would be doing all of this?”
Diamond Tiara tried to focus despite the memories the place had over her. 'This isn't real, this isn't real, and even if it was, I am not alone anymore. Don't get nervous.'
"You like to play games with ponies, to break their minds, it amuses you. And you are also a bad loser, when Fluttershy wasn't falling for your tricks you just cheated."
She frowned at that last bit, not having heard of such from anypony. It must have been one of Cain’s memories… which wasn’t a good thing.
'But… maybe I can use this? Maybe I have enough of Cain memories to throw Discord off his game?'
“Partially true. I don’t really care for breaking Ponies, it means one less toy to play with.” Discord said, smirking as he recalled some of them to himself “Some Ponies just have weak minds is all. But you’re close enough.”
What Diamond had said appeared on the chalkboard, rearranged at random and sitting next to what looked like a bad drawing of Celestia without her mane. “Next, what would I have to gain from doing all of this?”
"Well, it can't be getting free, or you would have waited until after you got free to start catching the attention of Twilight and her friends. Maybe you just want to see what happens when no matter what they do, they can't save everypony? That they have to chose between me or Cain, or end with someone who is not me or him? To see what happens when you take someone greatest wish and twist into a nightmare?"
Diamond Tiara’s brow furrowed at that. Greatest wish? How sad was Cain's life that even being an adult, he would have preferred being a pony in a completely different world than staying with his loved ones?
“Correct! But your thoughts there are a little off the mark. Cain never wanted to end up STUCK here you know. Guess he hasn’t merged enough for that tidbit to float in.” Discord commented, adding what had been said to the board. “Oh, and I do intend to break free, but that’s just the bonus for me.”
Diamond shuddered, not liking the idea that Discord could hear her thoughts. “So… how does doing all this to us help you any?”
“Well, here’s a hint. If just having the three of you arguing with each other and being discordant was all I need to break free, I would have done so by now. I need something bigger… something truly disharmonious.”
'Yeah right, like that is a real clue, what could be that disharmonious? Insanity? No, just an insane filly would not do it… last time he broke Twilight and her friends to break the elements. Maybe he wants Twilight Sparkle to fall into despair? Luna and Celestia are too old and experienced to lose it just because they could not save somepony.'
"You want to break Twilight Sparkle with something a few friendship lessons letters won't fix."
“Well, that’s a good guess, but not the one I want to ‘break’. Try for someone a bit… closer to you.”
"You… you want Cain as your minion?"
Discord smacked a claw to his face at that. “No… ugh, must I spell it out?” Discord frowned at Diamond, thinking for a moment. “I guess you need another hint. Well, how about this one.”
He then slithered over to her, his muzzle inches from her own as he said “Cain want’s to get back home. But what if he couldn’t go back home? What if there was something that would prevent him from doing that, hmm?”
Diamond Tiara didn’t get what Discord was wanting… until… a memory that wasn’t hers flashed before her eyes. She saw Discord, Twilight, and Cain on a rocky platform in some weird mindscape.
“Anyway, this pink little filly was nearby, so I sent a bit of me into her mind. And, inadvertently, I created this thing.” Discord lazily pointed to the peach-creature, laughing at Twilight’s gobsmacked expression. “So why don’t you help her out?”
DT blinked, then opened her mouth wide, then closed it as the memory repeated itself several times, before she found herself again staring at Discord, who hadn’t moved.
That memory… Discord had said in it that he created Cain… was that what he was trying to get at?
"So… are you saying that… Cain… he’s not real?”
Confetti exploded around her and Discord took her a hoof in his claws, shaking it enthusiastically as he shouted “Congratulations! You figured part of it out! Now if you want the ten million bits, you need to connect the rest of the dots!”
Before Diamond Tiara could do so, a thought passed through her, and she stood on her two hind legs, looking at him defiantly "You are the worst dad ever!" She then gasped a hoof over her mouth. Where in Equestria did that come from?
Discord fell to the floor, laughing at her reaction. “Ahhaha… that’s not important, but it was fun to hear.” He picked himself up off the floor, literally, and then went back to the chalkboard, turning his attention back to her. “Come on now, you’re getting warm. You’re almost there.”
"You want Cain to… " At that Diamond Tiara drew a blank… she nevertheless tried to figure it all out.
So, Discord did not want a minion, didn't plan to break Twilight Sparkle again, he wanted to escape but it wasn't a priority. Oh and Cain was Discord's creation.
Wait… if… if Cain was created by Discord… then that meant Cain could never go home… because he was already home...
But that alone would not be enough chaos, unless…
Having Cain in so much denial he would break? What? It was hard to think on something logical when your enemy did things even the alicorn princess or the element of magic couldn't do.
Then… she remembered something. Cain wasn’t alone. It wasn’t just the two of them inside her body… and the third one was full of discordant emotions...
And that’s when it hit her. Cain and Strife were two parts of a whole. Light and darkness, good and bad. Strife dealt with everything Cain didn't want to. If Cain broke, then Strife would…
"You want Cain to break so Strife gets you free?"
The smug look on Discord’s face was all the confirmation she needed. “Yes. You’ve got it. Imagine all the anger, the hatred… all those negative feelings being directed at Cain, and the Princesses. At Twilight and her friends… this world even. And me for good measure.”
That...was actually a good plan. Disturbingly so in fact. But… "I admit, that's quite a good plan. Brilliant, but you are forgetting something important."
"Oh really? And what could that be?" Discord asked, seemingly interested in hearing what she had to say.
"Cain and Strife might have originally been two parts of a whole, but now… now they are part of me too."
Discord hummed at that, leaning back on nothing for a moment. “Hmm… and you think that’ll stop what I’m doing? Do you think the mind of a little filly will be enough when Cain snaps and Strife takes advantage of it?”
The landscape changed, turning into a dessert as Discord grew bigger. He took on a giant and monstrous form that towered high over her, casting a long shadow across the shifting sands. If Cain was here he would probably do a joke about Godzilla, whatever that was.
“Just face it little filly… your way out of your league in this.”
Diamond should have been intimidated… but strangely she wasn’t. "Maybe, but this is still my head and my body."
While Cain, or probably Strife, would have tried to go giant himself and battle Discord, or something silly like that, Diamond Tiara remembered Princess Luna’s warning about conflict making Discord stronger.
"Besides, my body is in the castle, and that Celestia, Luna, the elements and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are probably here by now, right? It won’t be much longer before your plan is ruined!”
There was a poof of smoke and Discord was back to his regular size and appearance, "Oh, I don't think so. As they say, is not over until the fat flanks sings!" Discord snapped his claws again and DT found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be. That accursed classroom.
"Now lets see if you are so smug about this, Ta Da!" Discord left in a puff of pink smoke leaving her alone to deal with her fears. The room soon filled with the many foals who had ignored, or tormented her, and they all grinned maliciously at her.
Diamond Tiara closed her eyes and tried to focus once more. 'This isn't real, this isn't real, and even if it was, I am not alone anymore.'
Luna words played in her mind, soothing her greatly as she recalled all they had talked about. Her words had been helpful so far… now it was time to see if her most important advice was up to snuff.
'Do not deny your fears, if you never face them, your subconscious mind will keep bringing you nightmares about them. And remember that since you are the dreamer and is your mind, If you keep calm and focus on happy thoughts, you will be able to overcome the nightmare.'
Diamond Tiara opened her eyes, and grinned. This time, she was ready.
-*-Strife-*-
Strife woke up and noticed the pillow under his head and the blanket covering him. He yawned, pulled the blanket off and looked at Woona.
"Hi my little princess, did you sleep well?" As usual, the doll said nothing. Strife then looked at the bed and noticed Queen Mean was gone. A gleeful smile broke out across the filly face at this revelation.
"More for me!" Strife shouted and jumped upon the bed a few times, quickly growing bored.
"Hey Woona, do you know what we could do for fun?"
The doll said nothing.
"That's a great idea!" He declared, quickly snatching up Woona. Placing her back in the foal seat, he jumped off the bed and went looking for Queen Mean.
As it turned out, he didn’t need to waste the time getting up. A flash of light, and a moment later, Strife was next to Diamond Tiara in a classroom he found familiar. One that, thanks to their continued merging, was a painful place for him to be.
Before Strife could start to panic, or try to set the place ablaze more likely, DT hugged him. He glanced down at her in confusion, not understanding what she was doing. Or why she was so small.
"Its okay, we can face this… together."
Strife looked out towards the snobby faces of the little monsters some would call foals. He felt Diamond’s fear of them fading, and with it, his own fear of them was swept away… though the hatred remained.
“You're right… let’s show these bozzo’s who is the boss round here!”
"No."
"No? What?"
"There is a better way to deal with this."
Strife harrumphed at that. "What? You are gonna run scared and cry to your mommy and daddy like a loser?"
A smug grin came upon Diamond’s face, which in this case, Strife found to be a tad disturbing. "No. I am gonna take this up with the proper authorities."
Strife’s jaw fell down "But… but… that's so boring! And dull!"
"And Discord will hate it."
Strife had been about to say something snarky… but then he smiled "Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?"
“So we’re agreed?” Diamond asked, watching as the other foals tried to draw closer to them.
“We are indeed.”
They shared a nod to each other, and then, drawing in a deep breathe...
They dashed out of the classroom, racing down the halls as the foals gave chase. Eventually, they rounded a corner and saw the door for the School Director's office.
When they entered it, they were surprised to find…
Princess Luna?
"This might not be a dream, but when I told you we were going to take care of that school, I wasn't ‘kidding’.” She said, even as Strife fell to the floor laughing his plot off. "In real life I plan to become the Director there, so what do you think?"
"I think you have what it takes princess." Diamond Tiara bowed and forced Strife to do the same. He wasn’t there for long, as he heard the sound of the foals coming after them.
“Right, if you excuse me, I’m going to be sitting here with popcorn. I think I’m going to enjoy this.” Strife said, managing to conjure such up as he watched the foals try to turn tail when they saw Luna, their true forms quickly being revealed to be nothing more than scary looking shadows.
“Sorry, but none of you are going anywhere.” Luna declared as she grasped them all in her magic, but rather than dispelling them… she brought one toward the two of them.
“They are your nightmares Diamond… you must be the one to banish them, to no longer let them hold you back. I can only help you.”
Strife smirked darkly as the shadow was dropped in front of them. He placed a hoof on Diamond’s back as he said “Go ahead Queen Mean. Don’t hold back.”
"Fine."
Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and stared at the shadow "I don't care if you can do magic or fly, I don't care if you call me a mud pony, but I do care if you keep insulting my family for being Earth ponies. If you keep doing it, you will not like the results, understand?"
Strife chuckled in delight as the shadow nodded before poofing away, leaving not even a wisp of smoke. “Right then Princess, bring on the next one!”
Luna did so, and Strife sat and watched as Diamond finally faced her fears, basking in every single moment of it...
That was until she brought the last three shadows, for some reason, she could not just grab one of them so it got the three together, and once in front of the filly, they took the form of the cutie mark Crusaders.
"Ah, um...hi..." Diamond Tiara murmured, glancing away for a moment before steeling herself, looking at the shadow CMC, accepting their gazes full of hatred and meeting it with hope.
"Look, I will make peace with you three, but it will be in the real world, okay?"
The fillies smiled, nodding in understanding as they faded back into the hall disappeared.
"What was that?” Strife asked, curious.
"My fear of them hating me forever for being a bully."
"Ugh, so you do have a heart! How droll."
Diamond rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Strife before letting out a yawn. “Ohh… who knew letting go of the past could be so tiring… I think I’m going to take a nap.”
"Very well, I will leave you to rest then." Princess Luna murmured, shifting into a shadowy mist and floating off through the nearby window.
With that, Diamond laid down on her hooves, another yawn escaping her lips before she faded away, slipping into blissful unconsciousness… leaving Strife all alone in the room.
“Well, that was fun…” Strife muttered, turning to get Woona’s opinion… only to find a Discord's doll in its place.
Strife was about to scream out, anger coursing through him, but then remembered what Queen… no, what Diamond Tiara had said. How solving things in a friendly way would annoy Discord. She put the Discord doll in the trash can and returned with a flash of white light, back to their bedroom. Unlike before, now there was two beds, Strife saw that Woona was guarding a sleeping Diamond Tiara.
'You will have to try harder than that… Dad.' He thought as he moved over to the same bed, clambering up and settling in next to where Diamond Tiara rested. He gagged a bit, but then moved the plushie so it would be between them, sighing contently as he rested his head there.
The eyes of the doll flashed for a moment, before returning to normal, even as a pair of red eyes glared at them from the shadows.
Stats
Page generated in 0.047 seconds
Total duration
980 users online
1,844,210 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Great chapter! One question though: how far into the show has Cain seen?
5273147
He's only seen up to Season 2's ending. That's as far as the show had gotten back when I started this.
Recurrent alternate spelling for Cadance: I tried finding my place on my computer from my tablet by CTRL+F, and you only spelled her name with the "A" once.
5273169 I still love your avatar.
Ha, Discord! Take that you mealy-mouth bastard!
The first attempt may have gone down the drain with a vengeance, but seems like there's still good hope for a solution if the three cooperate.
I just don't understand what Cadance did to Cain. Was that magical influence, or just her pandering to his fanboyism?
5273963
She is the princess of love, I think it was a bit of both.
So...
A) Every memory of Cain and Strife is a lie
or
B) Discord lied...
I think is too much work for Discord to create two characters and a whole set of memories inside of Tiara. Is not like he could not do it, but he could be bored easily, and the Princesses could catch a couple of errors.
5273525
Fixed
5273955
I'm not always good at coming up with Chapter names :p
5273963
As Pinklestia says, its a bit of both.
5274288
All shall be revealed in time.
5274770 I can wait, no problem... Maybe Im wrong thinking Dissy is too lazy to do that
Why do I get the impression that DT's mind is splitting up even more now? There's DT and Cain and Discord, and now Strife, and Woona maybe even, and that thing in the shadows, and the CMC and uh... yeah that's a busy little brain she's got there. I wonder if Discord is just using Cain as a decoy when his actual goal is simply to divide her into too many personalities, until her mind shatters and she can't manage to have even one personality, the total ego death driving her irrevocably insane, and Cain's just the first step in that.
I found an error.
It was only thanks to the reference to shifting sands that I was able to catch it. You meant 'desert'.
Add that second 's', and suddenly Discord turned his surroundings into cakes, pastries, puddings, milkshakes... anything that falls under the category of 'dessert.'
...On second thought, maybe you should keep that error in. That's really funny!
5275842
Woona gets explained in the next chapter.
5276446
That was totally an intentional mistake I'll have you know! The shifting sands are obviously made out of cinnamon sugar!
images.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2379-99229_-_animated_applejack_Applelie_liarjack_what_.gif
Rule 1. Discord lies.
I hope. I really want Cain to be a real human.
5274288
Lying is not Discord style because is just too easy and boring. However, maybe there was a real Cain Discord copied the memories from? Or maybe he copied Cain memories from more than a human then mixed it together?
5285502 Or maybe is not a lie, but a half-truth
5285796
Yes, of the Will Not Tell a Lie variety and Jedi Truth. Also Exact Words and Double Speak.
Aw, I was kind of expecting the changelings and Discord to interact with.
A fantastic story that I am enjoying immensely, and I hope very much to see more of it.
I think I'm enjoying Strife's mental changes a tad too much... and oh that Discord... I have so many things I could do to pre-reformation him. Isn't that right, Insie?
Insaadomkro: Firstly, do NOT call me that! Secondly, I'm still serving my prison sentence, remember? For breaking nearly all inter-dimensional laws and all that shenanigans? Yeah, can't help you right now.
Me: Ok... well... you're up for it, right, Davy?
King Davy: Nope. I'm still recuperating from my vomiting earlier. No one told me I can't eat meat as a pony! Who the hell does that kind of thing to someone?! This is so... argh, they should have executed Insaadomkro so I could adorn his head atop a pike!
Me: Oh. Um... Runasl?
Runasl Wolf-Arm: Recuperating as... *turns green* well!
Me: Ugh. How about you, Thatus?
Thatus: I might be done recuperating after eating that meat... damn dragon and his transformation shout... but I ain't in the conditions right to do that sort of thing. Waiting for the Nicurians to get that cure made, or Celestia to uncover some body-restoration spell that can nullify the effects of Insaadomkro's shout.
Me: I'll just go find someone who didn't get turned into a pony, then.
i love that part ok so i have it out for Diamond on the show and in most fanfics here shes ok any others i would say let her die just my opinion of her from the show and i watched all the episodes
Look! A wild q reference appeared!
team-pandeponium.horse/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/q_and_disocrd_meme_by_thegreenmachine987-d86429v.jpg
Thank you for making my day! I give the upvote, the fav, and this other pic!
img08.deviantart.net/b090/i/2014/276/e/c/mlp_comic_discord_as__q__by_dnftt2014-d81ijik.png