That Which was Lost

by LadyRFC

In Position

“Discord?”

The draconiquus sighed dramatically. “Let me guess. To the left?”

“If you please,” Rarity cooed as sweetly as she could from her relaxed position on the grass.

Discord rolled his eyes, but obliged, moving the large, sparkling blue awning towards the left, centering it in the middle of the field.

Rarity hadn't felt all that confident when she was assigned this job alongside Discord, but the draconiquus was far more docile than she had expected. Or that she remembered. She glazed at the strange creature as he bent down to listen to one of the changlings at his feet.

It's true that Discord had changed in surprising ways due to Fluttershy's friendship. But his old, chaos loving self was still the dominate side of him. She was surprised he'd been trusted to be posted on the border at all, given how much trouble he'd caused concerning those seeds... Rarity shook her head and focused on Princess Lily's question as to the food. Discord's choice was still a bit too odd, but she wasn't sure what dishes were preferred in the late evening.

“Oh, the more savory the better, with a rich desert would be best, I think,” she answered the princess. The alicorn smiled bravely and trotted over to Discord.

“Ponies change... I suppose draconiquus' must as well...” she murmured to herself as she watched Discord consider the princess' request and snap his fingers to change the food for, what must have seemed to him, to be the hundredth time. Yet she couldn't help but feel like she was missing something rather important. He looked almost... distracted.

“Discord?”

Twilight was leading her group towards him, looking around with a smile. “Wow. You've really been hard at work, haven't you?”

The once plain green field had been transformed into an inviting evening event, with more food tables than Twilight had ever seen and dark, sparkling blue fabric draping overhead in cross crossing glory. It was elegant and surprisingly sophisticated for something thrown together only an hour or so before. Not to mention that the dark color combinations complemented the changlings' eyes, making them seem to belong there just as much as the ponies.

“You have no idea,” Discord whined. He leaned down closer to her. “They've made me change the food thirteen times!”

Twilight gave him a genuine smile. “Now you know what my coronation was like. Don't worry though, you're almost done with this part. Hang in there.”

He gave another sigh as Twilight looked around again. “How long has Pinkie been out in the city?”

Rarity nodded towards the forest. “About an hour...” She suddenly gasped. “Discord!”

“What now?” he grumbled.

“The forest! How will the guests get through the dark forest?” Rarity nearly got up, she was so panicked. Sally was immediately at her side, pushing her back down.

“Don't worry, Rarity,” the changling soothed. “Some of us can go through the forest and leave glowing rocks from some of the inner caves. We'll make a path for them.”

Rarity finally relaxed. “Oh. Alright. Everything's fine then.”

Discord mimicked a forlorn look at Twilight. “I can't take much more of this Twilight. I really can't.” A large watch appeared on his wrist as he checked his pulse. “It's bad for my health!”

The alicorn gave a chuckle. “Well how about you switch gears for a bit?” She looked around at Silverline, Fluttershy, Chrysalis and her squadron leader, Sprint, whom Twilight recognized as the sentry guard she'd seen with the queen earlier. “I think we're all ready now to go to where Spike is.” She gave the draconiquus a searching look. “So long as we don't end up inside a wall.”

Discord patted her on the head. “My dear Twilight. What ever gave you that idea?”

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply.

Discord removed his hand and sniffed. “Well!”

“Discord.”

“Alright, alright,” he threw up his hands in surrender and prepared to snap his fingers. “Ready everypony? I don't stop the ride once it starts.”

They each nodded and a loud snap filled their ears before the world shifted.

–---------

“See anything?” Rainbow called down to Applejack and the few changlings that were with her.

“Uh, not really. Darn fog is getting' worse, too,” the earth pony called back.

Not able to see the fog well from her position with the other pegasus in the clear late afternoon sky, she shot down for a look. Sure enough, a light vapor was wrapping its way through the trees and bushes.

“It's not that bad,” she commented lightly as she neared her friend.

“Not that bad?” Applejack echoed with a raised voice. “You weather ponies really ought to know better. This is likely to turn real bad, real fast. And how are we supposed to have a safe, fun, peaceful event when all anypony can see are formless shadows in the fog stalking their every move?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Ah, you worry too much, AJ. It'll burn off.”

“Burn off, huh?” The apple expert tipped her hat up and gave her winged friend a raised eyebrow. “Burned off bah what, exactly? It'll be sundown soon. And that's another thang. How are we supposed ta keep this event all safe-like when it's dark out?”

The pegasus shrugged. “It's supposed to be a full moon tonight? And we shouldn't even need it. The event should kick off in a few minutes. By sun down, everypony will be friends and the emperor will surrender.”

“Just like that, huh?” The earth pony shook her head. “Ah don't know, Rainbow. Ah'm not so sure this whole thang is going to work out that well.”

“You. Worry. Too. Much,” Rainbow repeated with emphasis. She smirked and began to fly up. “Gotta check on the others! Good luck!”

Applejack watched her friend disappear into the golden tinted clouds. She sighed, putting her head down and looking around. A few changlings were nearby, eyes watching her for any orders. She suppressed a shiver. Vampire bats were one thing. At least they were small. These things could eat her alive if they wanted.

“Uh... You see anything..." -their blue eyes glittered int eh shadows of the trees- "odd?”

They shook their heads. One, who had introduced herself as Silvia, came forward, body in a rigid military pose. “Should we create a pentameter?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.” Applejack gave them a confident nod as they seemed to vanish into the greenery. Her nod used up nearly all the confidence she had.
"Please don't take too long, Twiahlight. Ah can't take much more of this."

Comments

[Starcat5]

So you are moving this from between seasons, to the middle of Season 4? Chancy. I hope it works out.

[LadyRFC]

3783580 They're talking in past tense. So it can still be between seasons (in this case future seasons). Or be an alternate path. That's the great thing about this stuff. I can do what I want and if people don't like it, they can leave. Simple.

[Starcat5]

3786354
Good answer.

[HgSpartan]

They shook their heads. One, who had introduced herself as Silvia, came forward, body in a rigid military pose. “Should we create a pentameter?”

Humourous. But not, I think, what you meant.