Data Swift waited outside Canterlot castle while the others talked inside. He had no doubt everypony was talking about him, and wether or not to trust him. After all, he hadn't exactly presented himself in the most respectable of manners. Stupid!, he thought yelling and crying like that. You do realize emotional flip flops like that are a big red flag on your trust score. Oh, well. It's not like I could help it anyway.
His thoughts cleared while he lay in the grass. He felt unusually comfortable here. Too comfortable. Of course it was easy to feel that way when the draconaquus within him wasn't forcing its feelings down Data's throat.
That got him thinking again. He felt the pain welling up inside him for the millionth time. How could he have been so stupid? All he ever wanted to do was make the world a better place, but instead he wound up like this. He began running down his past, trying to find something in it he missed before. Some comfort in what he'd become.
"Ethie! It's time to go!" Data called to his little sister. She was going off to magic camp and Data had to escort her. Since the loss of their parents, Data had been the one to take care of her, and was fair at it as far as he knew. But he didn't like disciplining her, though he rarely had to, and would find the most indirect way he could when it came to it. This camp was one such occasion.
Ethie had become obsessed with ghosts. It seemed all she cared about since their parents died, and Data felt it was becoming a problem. He could never ask her to give up her false hope that she would see her parents again, and begging her to go out, at least from time to time if nothing else, was futile. She always had her book with her as she trotted around, asking questions at thin air. Then there was also the fact that Ethie would refuse to eat and otherwise take care of herself, so Data knew she needed help. She needed to be away for a while.
Ethie came trotting down the stairs. She was a unicorn, Like Data, with a silver coat and emerald green eyes. Her mane was short and combed up in a fro-hawk, and her tail was short as well, but both were black with thin, white streaks. Behind her floated her luggage encased with her green magic.
"How many ponies will there be in the camp?" Ethie asked.
"Oh, there will be lots of them," Data promised. "The poster I saw said there will be close to a hundred little unicorns there. Do you have everything, by the way?"
Ethie's eyes widened. She looked in her suit case, breathed a sigh of relief, and closed it back up. "Yep!"
"Do you have your ghost hunting book?"
Ethie was hesitant. "N-no."
Data sighed. "Ethie, look. As much as I don't think you should take it, I'm going to let you. Just, please Ethie, leave it in your suit case for most of the trip."
Ethie smiled, and nodded once. "Okay, I promise. Consider it a solid. But you know what that means."
Data rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. Now I owe you one," he said just before checking the sun dial.
"It's time to go."
"Already?"
"Yep! Let's go."
Together, they walked to their town's school house. Data thought it was a rather large building for a foal school, but they did also live in Califilly, which in itself was immense. When it was time for the class to leave for camp, the two siblings waved their good byes, and Data went home. All was well and ends well, until four days later.
Data and his three friends had worked the entire day on their project. It would be the biggest innovation since language was conceived, if they could just get it working. The plan was to create an intelligence system capable of ever expanding knowledge by combining two great arts: magic and science. The latter has since become an endangered art, but it wasn't the problem, the magic was. They were almost perfectly certain the spell was worded correctly. If it would just start, the spell would run on an equilibrium, eliminating the need for future castings, but the spell itself required vast amounts of power in order to kick start it.
By this particular day, they had tried the spell and various variations of it using all sorts of magic. Gypsy magic, magic, arcane magic, magic potions, and even dark magic couldn't get it to work. But it was today that they had put the nail in the coffin; today they tried rainbow magic.
Data was the only one of the four to actually understand how to use it, so it was up to him. But when he'd casted it, nothing appeared to be happening, so they decided to call it a day. Little did they know that in the dark of night, the rainbow magic would meld with the rest of the lingering magic to form one primal force. In the dark of night, Digitar was completed.
Cosmic Caster was lounging in his room with a book layed out in front of him when he heard the crash in the work shop. Thoughts of the failure with rainbow magic were still fresh in his mind, so he almost hadn't heard it. He got up to investigate.
"Who's there!?" Cosmic called through his bedroom window in his British accent.
The workshop was built in his back yard. A club house of sorts for him and his friends to work on their project in private. But it wasn't there anymore. Instead, a forty hoof tall, bulky, bipedal figure stood in its ruin. It's body, hidden in shadow as it was, Cosmic could only clearly make out its shape, and all he could look at was its face.
Its bright red eyes rested in the black shape of a bull's head. It had horns that framed his head in what looked like a Greek Omega.
Cosmic Caster could do nothing but quake with fear as his end approached him.
Data Swift ran to the battle as fast as he could. The whole of Califilly could hear the ruckus. Fortunately, Data wasn't far; unfortunately, Data saw what he was getting himself into. Digitar scared the dung out of him, and it didn't help that the battle was definitely in the beast's favor. Digitar simply swatted ponies away like they were flies. The description grew even more fitting as their numbers grew. But instead of overwhelming Digitar, it would simply change tactics, and continually remain untouchable.
One pony was trying to cast a sealing spell on Digitar. Data instantly recognized her as Chemi Callore. She was one of his friends who was helping him with the project. She was great with magic, and even better with potions, but neither skill seemed to be helping. Everything seemed to simply slide off Digitar, until it got annoyed with her. That was when it moved in to attack, swatting pegasi out of its way as it did. Data barely reached her in time, and by creating a force field out of rainbow magic, was able to save her.
"What is that thing!?" Data screamed over screaming ponies, Digitar's roars, and its thundering attacks. Data had to strain in order to keep the magical barrier up.
"I don't know! Nothing I do seems to affect it except to bring about annoyance!"
"Uhg!" Data grunted. The strain was too much. "Talk later! Scatter! NOW!"
The next of Digitar's strikes shattered Data's force field like it were glass. The two friends tumbled to a halt on either side of its over-sized fist. Then, as if out of the blue, a grey-blue streak crashed into Digitar's gut, actually causing it to step back. It tilted its head at its attacker. Floating in the air in front of it was the last of Data's friends, Textbook Rainstorm.
"Where have you been, Data!? And where's Cosmic!?"
"Not all of us can fly you know!"
"Thanks for the tip, commander blatant!" The pegasus exclaimed as he dodged an attack. "A little help here!"
Data and Chemi jumped into action, both of them unleashing the strongest combat magic they knew. With unbelievable speed, Digitar extended his hands outward to receive the attacks. When they hit, they gave a quick flash of light, and were absorbed into Digitar's hands.
"Astounding!" Chemi yelled.
Digitar no longer acknowledged any of the other ponies around him, instead it simply dropped one of its arms, and pointing the other at Data, began to walk toward him. Data backed away, his horn alight. He wasn't sure if it would do any good to use the magic since this monster absorbed his previous attack.
"Any ideas?" Data asked Chemi, his eyes remaining glued to Digitar.
"Obviously, directly attacking it will be ineffective."
Digitar's hand was now glowing in white, straight, and angular markings, some of which ending in small circles.
Data was frantic. "Thanks! Got that!"
Another blue streak flew into Digitar. This time Rainstorm hit Digitar in the shoulder, breaking the monster's balance momentarily. When it recovered, it aimed it's glowing hand at Rainstorm and unleashed the energy in a projectile. At the distance Rainstorm was at; however, he easily dodged it.
Watching Rainstorm gave Data an idea. "How about telekinesis?" He offered Chemi.
"I would have attempted to overload the beast with magic."
"But that's an undefined variable! We don't know how much energy it can handle!"
"Shall we compromise for plan B then?"
"Fine! Now let's go!"
The unicorns gathered as many large or heavy items as they could. Some they threw at Digitar, others they used as clubs. Swinging madly at the biped, but careful of innocent ponies, they mentally pushed their weapons through the air as fast as they could. Every time they hit it, whatever part of its body it was would flail or otherwise react to the laws of physics, but didn't seem to affect it in any other way.
"Guys!" Rainstorm observed. "I don't think it's working!"
Chemi smirked at Data. Why did she always have to be right? Data wondered. He turned to Rainstorm to shout at him. "Let's try overloading it with energy!"
Rainstorm momentarily lost his focus, and Digitar was able to land an attack on him. Rainstorm landed on his back beside Data.
Rainstorm spat. "Last I checked, magic only makes it stronger."
"Well, if you have a better plan, I'm all ears," Data complained as Rainstorm rolled onto his hooves.
"Look out!" Rainstorm screamed as he tackled Data. A large hoof replaced them where they had been standing.
When Rainstorm stood back up, he found Data wrapped around his neck, wide eyed and shivering. When Data noticed the stink eye he was being given, he returned a fake smile and climbed off his friend.
Rainstorm let it slide. "You and Chemi give it everything you've got. I'll go get some storm clouds."
Data nodded, leaped once toward Digitar, and unleashed a single ray of magic. He maintained the spell as Chemi fired a deluge of energy blasts, and Rainstorm gathered dark grey clouds over Digitar's head. Once he had them, he profusely jumped on them, causing them to strike Digitar with every hoof fall. Data thought the lightning had to have been blinding it, because all Digitar could manage was to swing its arms in no particular direction. This gave Data hope.
It was a struggle, but Data managed to squeeze a little more strength into his attacks. Through the haze of his extremely energetic horn, he could see that Digitar was now shrouded in light. To everypony around, it would look like the three of them were fueling a white bonfire, as if it were Burning Mane.
Exhausted, Data released one final pulse at his foe. His friends soon followed his lead, but that was what allowed them the quiet to hear what was happening. There was deep rumbling noise. It was quick and periodic, almost as if the earth itself was laughing at them. Then the fire extinguished, and Data knew it was indeed a laugh, but not from the earth.
Digitar's black body was now covered from head to hoof in white markings. As the monster laughed, these markings slowly grew brighter. Eventually, Digitar began to curl up into a ball, so intense was the light that five hoof long beams could be seen jutting out from the markings.
"DUCK AND COVER!" Rainstorm screamed just as he flew off.
Data didn't need to be told twice. He threw up a multicolored force field around himself, and Chemi followed suit with her magic. Neither was a moment too soon.
Digitar released the energy in a massive explosion that was more a prolonged gust of wind than a burst of force. Data struggled to uphold his bubble with the minimal energy he had left. Chemi wasn't doing much better, in fact, she had it much worse.
Data watched through one eye as the explosion stripped her force field away in a matter of seconds. With absolutely nothing to protect her, the wind began to tear away at her flesh. Particles of her body flew away as if she were made of sand, until there was nothing left. It had taken just as long as it had her force field.
Data screamed for Chemi, but the roar of the explosion prevented him from hearing his own voice. He was thankful for that. Hearing Chemi's pain would only have made it worse for him. He wished he could've done something, anything. For him there was nothing worse than having to stand by helpless as those he cared about died right before his eyes. Chemi's death only marked three times too many.
Suddenly, the explosion stopped. Data was panting, the cracks in his own force field a representation of just how close he was to blacking out. Hot tears clouded his eyes, but the unmistakable laughter told him Digitar was still very much alive.
With a shaky hoof, Data cleared his eyes to steal one last glance at his friend's murderer. What he found was Digitar kneeling right outside his force field with one of his hands held above the magical barrier. One of its fingers still glowing with energy.
Its laughter had ceased while a single word reverberated in Data's skull like it were made of rubber. Wings. Then Digitar resumed laughing and simply tapped the force field with his glowing finger. Data didn't even have time to think. Nor could he really concentrate. But the last thing Data could make out before passing out was the landscape bellow, flying by at an impossible speed.
One, single noise woke Data. It was muffled, choppy, and high pitched. Data was certain he knew what the noise was. Music? No. It was rhythmic, but there was no beat to it. Data groaned in frustration.
Suddenly, there was only silence. Data forced his eyes open. He had to know what the noise was, but what he saw unlocked painful memories. Data was lying in an impression in the ground at the edge of a forest, a barren waste land extending to the horizon in all other directions. There was no sign of the civilization that had been there not 24 hours past, no hint that even life had existed there. Only black sand and boulders.
Data drew in a breath to start weeping. A sharp pain in his sides funneled it down to a faint whimper. Pain. That seemed to trigger something, like his body suddenly remembered how to feel. Much of his body ached, save for his hind legs. Data couldn't feel those at all.
Before he could test his legs, Data heard a single question. It was in a broken voice, as if it were completely drained of hope, then some event left it in disbelief. "Data?"
It finally dawned on Data what that earlier noise was. Some pony, most likely the filly behind him, had been crying. Who was left to cry for him though? Califilly was gone, as well as every pony in it. But not every pony was in Califilly, were they?
Data tried to turn his head, but found his neck was too sore. "Ethie?"
"Oh, thank Celestia you're okay!" She embraced him which exasperated his broken ribs. Data moaned from the pain.
Ethie quickly released Data. "Sorry!"
"Ethie..." Data didn't know what to say. He didn't trust himself to speak without crying. He'd failed his sister. There was no way Data could survive his injuries, not for long. Not after having flown at such an incredible speed and landing with enough force to break his back, ribs, mar some internal organs, etcetera. Ethie will lose three guardians in her life time, and Data would only be a statistic. He was suddenly very glad Ethie still sat behind him.
No. Data had to at least say something. "Ethie. I'm sor..."
Data was interrupted by an oversized hand grasping him. Ethie screamed behind him as all non-paralyzed portions of his body demanded release. Data wriggled in Digitar's iron grip, the effort seemed only to worsen his pain, though. At least his neck wasn't broken, or he'd be suffocating too.
Digitar lifted Data to eye-level. There was no earth-quaking laughter, no glowing white markings, no words, just a piercing gaze. Data fought for freedom, pain dominating his mind. He knew he was as good as dead, but instinct drove him to fight for comfort. Then a single unspoken word worked its way in Data's brain. Father.
Data froze. He was unable to think about it earlier, but this word simply appearing in his mind couldn't have been coincidence. Last time it had been "wings" and Data was sent flying immediately afterwards. Had that been this monster, imprinting what it had to say on Data's mind? If so, was this monster listening to Data when he made his comment to Rainstorm about wings? But then there was this word. "Father". What could that mean? It didn't seem to have any context in the situation. The word was obviously directed at Data, but Data didn't have children. He wasn't even in a relationship. What could he possibly have created that would result in a living monster?
Created. The word lodged itself in his mind. "Digitar?"
Without warning, something slammed into Digitar's gut. It was moving fast enough to knock the beast clear off its hooves. The complete unexpectedness of the attack caused Digitar to let go of Data as it toppled backwards.
Data saw everything in slow motion. This is gonna hurt, he thought as he descended, the ground slowly magnifying the closer he got. Data gritted his teeth in preparation for the wave of pain that was sure to come. When it didn't, he found he had been caught by green magic.
Data breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Ethie," He managed to say, his throbbing body making it difficult to even breath.
Data turned his head to see what had hit Digitar, wincing all the while at his sore neck. Rainstorm had somehow survived the explosion and was now standing on Digitar's chest. Nothing but rage inhabiting his eyes.
Ethie gently put Data down and prepared to attack. Data stopped her. "That will NOT end well, Ethie." Data coughed, which infuriated his ribs. "Believe me, it won't get you anywhere." After a moment of contemplation, Ethie released her magic and watched the death match.
Digitar had now stood up and was facing his combatant. Rainstorm was hunched over, his wings fully extended, ready to fly off in any direction he needed to. It was a stalemate of sorts. If either of them did anything, the other would retaliate or avoid as needed. It had seemed an eternity before one of them decided to attack.
Rainstorm was first. He flew directly for Digitar's face, apparently aiming to bash its skull in. Digitar swatted him away. It picked up a boulder and waited for Rainstorm to fly back around. Rainstorm didn't slow down, but sped up, and when Digitar did throw the Boulder, he corkscrewed around it. Coming down at an angle, Rainstorm rammed straight into Digitar's face, landing on the ground behind the beast only to take off again, back in the direction he'd come.
Digitar tried catching Rainstorm's tail after he hit him across the face a second time, but in vain. Rainstorm was already high in the air, looping around vertically for a dive bomb. His speed preventing Digitar from blocking as he plowed into its head, knocking the forty-hoof monster back down to the ground.
Digitar lay on his back while Rainstorm bucked it once in the head just before taking off once again. This left a red crack in Digitar's head that spewed sparks that were square in shape.
Digitar rolled over and punched the ground as it stood up a second time. The vibrations didn't feel all that well to Data who sat in disbelief. Rainstorm was actually doing it! He watched as his friend flew back around. This time Digitar tried to catch his while Rainstorm flew toward it, but Rainstorm changed course at the last second. Sliding between Digitar's legs, he came to a stop behind the monster, who promptly turned around to find a pegasus flying directly into its face. Rainstorm flew in a vertical loop again, and came speeding downward as he had the first time. At the very last moment, Rainstorm altered his course again, but Digitar was expecting it.
Digitar finally caught the grey-blue flier, and waisted no time swinging him over its head to send him crashing into the ground. The fury must have been building in the monster because the ground shook when Rainstorm hit. He immediately tried taking off again, but Digitar was already half way through its final attack. With both hands balled into fists, Digitar had brought them down from over his head, onto Rainstorm, and several inches into the ground.
"NO!" Data screamed, ignoring his sides.
Digitar stood up straight, and turned towards the two siblings. What was Data to do? He was paralyzed, all his friends were dead, and he was soon to follow, so Data did the one thing he could think to do. If any pony was going to survive, he had to make it be his sister.
"Ethie, you have to run!"
"Not without you!"
"I can't Ethie! I'm paralyzed! I'll only slow you down!"
"But..."
"Don't stop! Just get out of here! Go warn somepony important!"
"Data." Her voice was broken.
"Please don't make this hard on me. I'm trying to save you. If I'm to do anything right, please let me have this one."
After a moment, Ethie nodded. "Just do me a solid, first."
"Anything, just say it quick." Digitar was slowly closing the gap between them, apparently amused by their conversation.
"Try to read my book." She'd brought it out of her luggage and handed it to him. "And, do shut up."
Ethie ran, oh she ran alright, in the wrong direction. Levitating boulders all along the way, she directed as many as she could at Digitar's cracked skull. She even orchestrated some sand into the onslaught in an attempt to blind the beast. Much of the effort was for naught as Digitar easily swatted most of the boulders away like flies.
Digitar slowly walked its way toward Ethie until it was close enough to stomp on her. Ethie on the other hand, simply teleported behind Digitar and chucked another boulder at the beast. This time hitting the crack Rainstorm made dead on. It, in turn, spread down one of the sides of Digitar's head. Digitar motioned a wince.
Digitar tried throwing his own boulder; however, Ethie directed it away from her and into the ground beside her. Ethie immediately bowed her head, and her body split into four identical copies, each on a cardinal side of Digitar.
Data wondered for a brief moment when Ethie had learned her magic. But then realized what was going on. She seemed to have the upper hand, so did he and Chemi, and so too did Rainstorm. At the last minute, without fail, Digitar had beat him and his friends in each battle, now Ethie was fighting it too.
Digitar looked around once, chose a target and punched it. Wrong. Another boulder hit its head. Digitar wheeled around to find all three of the other replica Ethies staring up at it. Digitar attacked another one. Wrong again. The two others teleported onto Digitar's shoulders, both keeping a large rock with them, and began to take turns hammering away at Digitar's head.
Data was watching out of unbridled fear. He wanted to help her in any way, even if it was just to give her a force field, but he was magically drained and broken. All he could do was watch in silence so his sister could concentrate. It was part of his solid after all.
"There something off about your sister," Came a voice beside Data.
Data jumped and quickly turned to see who was talking. He was a draconaquus, of all things, of which Data had no idea existed. The equine parts of his body were coated in white fur. His mane, eye brows,and goatee were all black. His dragon tail was red, his bat wing was royal blue, and his pegasus wing was cyan along with his antelope horn. Each of his four legs were different: one was a lion's for leg, the other was of a bird of prey, one hind leg was from a horse, and the other was of a green-scaled dragon. It was definitely the queerest sight Data had ever seen.
Data had so many questions that he could barely say anything at all, "Uh."
"There's an air of darkness about her. As far as I can tell, it's not dark magic, but something deeper."
"Who are... How can you... How did you..." Data was so confused.
"Relax Data Swift. I'm Stable, the spirit of balance in Equestria. I can see that the balance of this situation has taken quite the turn for the worse. It's too chaotic. If this creature wins, nothing will be able to stop it. So many will try to use magic, and well," He looked to either side, "we saw how that ended."
"Oookay," Data said slowly. "So, why are you here?"
"I'm here to restore balance, by restoring you."
With that Stable dissolved into millions of twinkling lights that drifted toward Data. He could feel various bones in his body snapping back into place as the lights were absorbed into him. It didn't hurt, but at the same time felt so strange that he still writhed where he lay. He felt invigorated. Like he could fell a mountain I one fair swoop. He felt restored. No, more than that. Reborn.
Data stood and turned in a circle as he looked over his body. What he found surprised him. Wings! I have wings! This released the flood gates to a deluge of questions. They burned in his mind. So much to take in, and in so little time. Then a sudden bang from the fight between Digitar and Ethie caught his attention.
Ethie had jumped off Digitar at some point and lost her final copy. Digitar sporadically attacked while Ethie performed some sort of ghost dance. She gracefully dodged every attack as green flames orbited and bounced around Ethie. Then with one final motion, the flames dashed to seeming random points in the ground, and after a moment, boney hooves sprout up in those same places. Out crawled countless skeletal ponies from the ground, all of whom set their flaming green eyes on Digitar.
Again, Data was impressed, but he knew the pattern would continue if he didn't help her. Even he failed against Digitar once, but if they worked together and refrained from directly attacking with magic, they might stand a chance. He was an alicorn now, after all. Few can stop an alicorn in battle.
Data immediately put his wings to use. He flew for Digitar's head, trying all the while to maintain stability and control. With all his might, he propelled himself forward. And after making final adjustments, he collided. The force of the impact caused Data to vibrate profusely. He slowly hovered away from his target, only to suddenly flop to the ground a moment later. Digitar hadn't even moved.
Data pealed his face from the dirt. He looked up at Digitar as it slowly turned to peer at him from the lower corner of its eye. Data felt embarrassed, and swore he could tell what the beast was thinking. Duh buck!?
"Data! You're okay!" Ethie shouted from the other side of Digitar.
"Yep! Though I suspect not for long!"
The element of surprise gone, the beast retaliated with its fists. Data in turn created a force field around himself with his rainbow magic, and stood up completely under its protection. While Digitar was distracted, Ethie created a fresh set of clones, and all of them threw rocks at their foe. Digitar came around with his hoof lifted high in the air, but before he could stomp on the filly, all four of her dodged. Then Data drew Digitar's attention back to him with another boulder.
The two of them continued to take turns wailing on the beast, slowly chipping away at its body. Under the pressure of a rainbow magician, his sister, and an unfathomable number of skeleton ponies, Digitar's body began to be consumed by long, red cracks. It was overwhelmed, outmatched, and it only got angrier.
Like the ending to a bad joke, Digitar raised its fists above its head and brought them down on the ground. So much fury was behind the move that fissures big enough to fall into and deep enough to give a pegasus a fear of heights, spider webbed their way out to a fifty hoof radius. The ground rumbled and quaked putting everypony else off balance and dismembering many of the skeletons. Ethie's copies puffed out of existence as Ethie tripped half-way into one of the fissures. With the loss of her concentration, the green flames in the surrounding skeletons freed themselves, leaving the now vacant bodies to crumble onto the ground.
"Ethie!" Data exclaimed as he attempted to put his wings into action. The rumbling under his hooves prevented him from using them very effectively.
Ethie fought for a good grip. She clawed at the ground with her hooves, determined to live. Digitar seemed completely unaffected by its earthquake.
"No!" Data screamed.
It simply walked up to Ethie.
"NO!"
And kicked her hooves free.
"NOOOO!"
Data fell to the ground, his force field protecting him from the eventual attacks of his creation. He had nothing. No home, no friends, and now no family. The one pony he was willing to die for, was now lost to him forever. He felt the fury burning within him. He wanted to kill Digitar so badly. He wasn't sure he could do it though.
What good was being an alicorn if he couldn't help those he cared about? What was he even supposed to represent? Celestia was the sun, the order of the universe. Luna was the moon, the peace of the night. What was he? Stable said he was the spirit of balance. Was that now Data's responsibility? If so, how could that be if evil triumphed over good so easily? That didn't seem very balanced. The anger within him increased exponentially. It was far more anger than he would have ever before known a pony to be able to handle.
If balance was unbalanced, Data was going to make it balanced. Digitar will not win this time. It will perish for what its done to him. No more mister nice pony!
Data still had Ethie's book. He could never bring himself to read it. Simply looking at it was enough to open the flood gates he called eyes. Why did she have to do it? Why did she have to come home? Would he wonder for eternity to come?
His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a presence beside him. He opened his eyes to find Discord laying in the grass to his right.
"Good evening, " Discord said with that low, comical voice of his.
"Can I help you?"
"Oh, you certainly cannot, but somepony can."
Now Data was confused. "Huh?"
"Oh, ho ho, my sincere apologies. Where are my manners? I'm am Discord, though I'm sure you've heard of me, and I've noticed something peculiar about you. I was wondering if I could ask a few questions?"
"Uh, sure," Data said slowly. He didn't trust Discord, not with his most recent blunder. Helping Tirek like that was just beyond stupid.
"Excelent!" With the snap of his fingers, Data suddenly found himself laying down on a sofa. Discord, dressed in a brown suit and square glasses, was sitting in a chair beside him with a clipboard in his hands.
"I can see something is troubling you, Data Swift. Why don't we begin by telling me what's on your mind." Discord instructed.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, just trying to help a troubled alicorn. Is that so wrong as to accusingly ask what I'm doing?"
"You didn't appear out of thin air just to do that now did you?"
"Well, if it's honesty you want, it's honesty you'll get." Suddenly he transformed into Applejack. "You scared Fluttershy so badly, I just had to see what all the fuss was about."
Data raised an eyebrow.
"Not buying it huh? Oh well." He turned back into his normal self. The sofa and chair had also vanished. He smiled and disappeared as well, but his voice echoed around Data.
"There something about you, Data Swift. A sort of feeling with origins you cannot sift. There is something inside you, I can see. Something less close to you, than to me."
With that, Discord was gone entirely. Data didn't quite understand what he'd meant. Discord obviously knew something about him that even he didn't know. That was something he didn't like. But soon after came something he did.
A guard had stepped outside. "Sir Data Swift! Princess Luna requires your audience!"