//------------------------------// // Transitions // Story: The Element of Kindness // by BlueHeartTattoo //------------------------------// A knock was sound on the door of the library. Twilight snapped her head, finally having reality come back to her again. She then glanced her attention to the huge cork bulletin board that was covered with images, pinned together with strands of colorful threads that leads to the center which had an illustrated silhouette of Discord that she ripped out from one of her books (she’d mentally reminded herself to repair the page when she’s done). It has been already more than a week since she and Spike came to Ponyville and already she is nowhere near into solving the whereabouts of Discord. There has been no found evidence of his activities, no occurrences that seems unusual other than the one back at Sweet Apple Acres. Even the victims who had been witness to his cruelties she can hardly get a word out anything, though it could be because they were too scared or even traumatized enough to not talk about him. The best that she had done for a few days was brainstorming how he could’ve done all of this without being noticed as well as organizing the board with the images of the ponies and places he had visited and a few testimonies and old newspaper clipping all relating to him. She knew that finding a crafty magical being won’t be easy, but she is starting to realize that ‘won’t’ and ‘easy’ was becoming more of an understatement. “I’ll get it!” Spike stepped down the ladder and walked towards the door. He opened it to see Fluttershy and Gusty Hex in front of him. “Hey, Fluttershy,” Spike welcomed, “And… Gusty.” “Hi, Spike,” Fluttershy greeted before looking up to see Twilight standing far behind him, “Twilight! Hello!” “Nice to see you too, Princess,” Gusty bowed slightly. “I thought we had talked about you over-excessing the formalities around me, Gusty.” “Oops, sorry; sometimes I forgot about that,” Gusty apologized with a toothy grin. Although it didn’t seem genuine to Twilight as she sarcastically returned the grin back. “Anyway,” Fluttershy intervene as she reached to her saddle bag, “I would like to return this book to you. I really enjoyed it.” Ever since Twilight had heard from Applejack about her learning about animals, she thought she would join the bandwagon and give her more books about both foreign animals and mythical creatures. The book she had recently given her was all about tropical birds from the lush jungles on Zebrica. “Oh, I’m glad,” Twilight said as she grabbed the book from her friend, “Did you have any questions?” “No, I don’t, thank you. But, I like to ask, do you know much about Zebrica? I know a friend who lives there and I’ve been kind of curious about it.” “Oh.” Twilight slightly squealed excitedly, “Yes, Yes! I do have a few things. Come, come inside.” Twilight stepped out of the way to let Fluttershy and Gusty into the library. “I’m so glad somepony is interested about Zebrica. You wouldn’t believe the rich culture and mythology it holds in that land!” Twilight babbled excitedly as she guides Fluttershy to a certain part of the library, leaving Gusty alone. He stood there awkwardly until he noticed the bulletin board full of newspaper clippings and a web of threads. He can pretty much guess that it was for her little ‘criminal hunt’, with the illustrations of himself and the passage of news that involved somehow involved him. He then looked at some of the ponies that he tortured in the past, along with more news clippings about them. For the first time seeing those pictures, he felt…. Awful. He still remembered those ponies and their screams when he had taken them hostage for his own pleasure. He never bothered to think about it at the time since he enjoyed it so much; but he was now starting to think of the consequences that he caused. He saw on one of the clippings right next to a photo of a stallion that he was admitted into an institute after suffering a mental breakdown. And another about another stallion just disappeared into the mist. And then another that reported a missing teenage foal a few hours after dark. It was almost hard to believe that he had almost done the same thing to Fluttershy. He didn’t want to imagine what it would happen if he still had that maniacal desire towards her. Of what it would be like if he didn’t save her from the hydra and became her friend. He cringed just thinking about it. “What are you doing over there?” Gusty snapped out of this deep thought and turned to see Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike, who is carrying a small stack of books in his arms, looking at his direction. Twilight stare at him so skeptically, as if she is thinking what exactly he’s going to do next. “What? What’s wrong with me looking over your little project?” he said as he pretend to peer at the board with interest, “I must say, the pictures looked quite authentic.” Twilight used her magic to grab Gusty’s tail and pull him away from the board, “That is delicate research, not an art piece. I should put it someplace else.” She then used her magic to move the entire board upstairs. “Spike, can you put the tools and scrapings away?” Spike saluted as he puts down the books onto the table in the center of the room and started working. “Still looking for him?” Gusty asked, “Oh, wait, I can’t really ask that you since you would’ve announced the public that, now would you?” “Gusty!” Fluttershy whispered with an apprehensive look. “No he’s right,” Spike stated, picking up investigative tools on the floor, “We hadn’t found any recent unusual occurrences or clues since that attack on Sweet Apple Acres.” “Spike,” Twilight interrupted, “I think its best that we don’t tell them anything that goes on through here. We wouldn’t want them to be involved.” “I’m just telling the basics; beside it’s not like anything has changed that’ll make it look dangerous.” Twilight paused and then sighed, “Just go finish putting the board upstairs please.” Spike quietly understood the stress coming over to her as he dropped the subject and resumed to his duty. Twilight turned to look at the pair and reassured them with a smile, “There’s nothing to worry about. I admitted that this might be trickier as I thought, but I’m not planning to stop anytime soon.” “Oh, we glad to hear that, Twilight,” Gusty stated, “I sure hope that you will find the stamina and brainpower that you have to find that villainous Discord.” “Well, I appreciate it, Gus—“ Twilight then was quickly interrupted. “But—though I may not be such a good friend to you as we started on the wrong hoof; but would it be alright if I make a suggestion to help your search?” “And what would that be?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever considered looking for the chaos flower?” Twilight looked at him confused, “The Chaos Flower?” “Also known as the Zebrican Crotus.” “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it?” “Well, for one it’s extremely rare. I have read it somewhere that draconequsi loves the Zebrican Crotus; they’re simply crazy over it. So much so that every day when they feel like they need an extra boost of energy, they can smell or drink its liquor.” “Where did you read that from?” Fluttershy asked. “Oh, some book that has been out-printed for some time now. And they also had an ability to sense a chaos flower over a thousand miles away. So if you could ever find this flower, you can use it to lure that sneaky little creature right into your trap.” Twilight stared at him with a half-panned annoyed look, “You’re joking, right?” “Are you saying you don’t trust me?” Gusty gasped, looking offended. “No, I’m not,” Twilight groaned, “I’m just not sure if I can accept this as an actual fact.” “Oh, it’s real alright. I’ve been to Zebrica and saw them myself. It was like looking through a painting; baring your beauty to the simple, elegant vision that it brings.” Gusty looked at Twilight with big, hopeful eyes, yet he found that she wasn’t convinced at all. “Unless of course, you don’t care about Equestria enough to retrieve the flower and use it as a ploy to capture him. It so happens that this zebra friend who Fluttershy mentioned earlier actually knows about this flower”, Gusty then said this to get Twilight finally taking his word. Twilight felt something off about this and she pretty much doubt if this was all true since there wasn’t any flower concerning of that name. She thought that he must’ve gotten it from somewhere like in a cult or some weird activity that she’s not interest at. But in a way that she won’t ever admit it, she was actually a little curious to know if it is truly real since it could be that it wasn’t discovered until this mysterious book that he mentioned earlier. So in a way of curiosity and getting him to leave her alone about this, she decided to play along. “I’ll…. Take you word for it,” Twilight said, “I’ll see what I do about it if I find it.” “Oh, that’s so great to hear!” Gusty exclaimed happily, “I’ll stop by at Zecora’s house to see if she can visit you.” “Great,” Twilight smiled weakly, “I’ll look forward to that.” Gusty gave her a smirk which made Twilight very frustrated inside. Fluttershy decided to interfere as to make their exit, “So, umm, shall we go then, Gust?” “Of course, my dear,” Gusty obliged, making his way to the door. Seeing the stacks of books for Fluttershy that was left behind, he used his magic to levitate them by their sides. “Thank you again for the books,” Fluttershy called out to Twilight, “I’ll return them as soon as I can.” “Oh, don’t worry; take as long as you need,” Twilight replied, “You two have a nice day.” “Likewise, Princess. Bye-bye!” Gusty waved his goodbye the same time as Fluttershy’s and they both closed the door. As soon as they left, Twilight left out a groan as to let all of her frustration out. She rubbed the temple of her head, “I really don’t like that stallion.” Gusty felt satisfied as he can hear the muffled frustrated moan from the library with his excellent hearing. He continued walking down the road with Fluttershy they make their way down to the bridge on the side of town. Fluttershy felt very uncomfortable when Gusty pushed Twilight into getting this flower that would potentially find him. But why would he want her to find him? Wasn’t he supposed to be hiding from her? “Um, Dis-- Gusty?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “Yes, Fluttershy?” he replied, looking at the scenery surrounding them. “So... You were serious about the flower? You’ve pushed Twilight about—“ “It’s not real.” Fluttershy paused as her eyes widen, “What?” Gusty was trying so hard not to burst out into laughter. “The flower’s not real.” “It’s not?” “No,” he snickered, “I just wanted to toy with her and—and her little ‘investigation’!” It was then he burst out into laughter, but stopped shortly after Fluttershy punched him in the arm. But even then, he went back into chuckling. “Gusty!” Fluttershy said quietly, hoping nopony might overheard them, “You shouldn’t have done that! You’ll make her upset!” “Hey, I can’t help it that I need to mess with somepony’s head every once in a while,” Gusty defended, “Besides, it would be stupid of me if I just tell her exactly where I am.” “Still, you shouldn’t give her false information that won’t benefit her anything,” she said sternly. “Why do you care so much about the information she gets?” Discord smirked at her, “I thought you were at my side.” “I don’t want Twilight to hurt you. But that doesn’t mean it excuse this at all.” “Oh, come on, can’t you take a joke?” Gusty chuckled. Fluttershy gave him a deadpan look, “Wasn’t it a joke when you send parasprites to eat Apple Bloom’s hair?” Discord was taken back as he realized he had gotten her point. Fluttershy smirked when she saw that. “Oh-ho, wait there missy,” He said coyly, “Since when you became so confrontational?” He then recalled a time not too long ago when Fluttershy confronted him avoiding her in his dimension, “Actually, scratch that.” Fluttershy giggled before she stated sternly, “You know you have to apologize once she realized that what you told her wasn’t true.” “Yeah, yeah; I will get around to it when she does,” he said dismissively as they finally reach a bridge that reached to the other side of the Everfree. “So you ready to come home?” He asked. “Actually, I wanted to grab some things for the treehouse. I’m thinking about putting up a bird feed and squirrel feeder at the kitchen window.” “Well, that’s kind of neat. You have the compass I gave you?” Fluttershy searched into her saddlebag and show the compass to him. Gusty relaxed for a bit as he saw it in her hooves, “Okay, good. And you’re sure you’ll be okay on your own?” “Yes; Applejack showed me around town. Plus Pinkie insisted to come with me while she runs some errands.” “Okay, well…” Gusty tried to be calm about it, though he is a little bit anxious too, “See you back in the treehouse.” “Bye,” She waved goodbye as she trotted back into down. Gusty tried to do the same towards the forest until he stopped and called out, “You do have enough bits, right? Some ponies can get greedy!” “I’ll be fine,” Fluttershy then stopped and then called out again, “Oh, can you feed Octavius when you go back? He really likes the gooseberries I found.” She referred to the piranha plant he gave her on the first day they met. It was almost surprising to him how she can turn a prank prop into behaving like the animals that always liked her. “Will do,” Gusty waved goodbye again, watching Fluttershy walking further into town until he couldn’t see her. He then walked into the direction to the forest where, when he gotten far enough, transformed back into his original body. As soon as Discord was back to normal, he immediately was caught surprised at the sight of Zecora standing right in front of him. “How very strange,” Zecora spoke, “to see you with all this change.” Discord caught confused, “You were talking about my disguise or… what? Because if you’re talking about my appearance, that’s just rude.” “It seems that Fluttershy moved you in a way that you’ve improved.” Discord blushed that the thought that she might be up to something. “I had literally no idea what you’re talking about. You probably had too much time being in that hut inhaling whatever is that stuff you kept in those bottles.” Zecora smirked, “We might’ve known each other for a long time in secrecy, but I know that your feelings aren’t much of a mystery.” He was stunned before he defended for himself, “I don’t know where you’re going with this, but I can assure you that whatever you think is going on between me and Fluttershy is not of your business.” “If that’s true, then how come there’s fret in your heart whenever you two had been apart?” Zecora pried. Discord could feel the redness of his cheeks and is again stunned with embarrassment. “Whenever you are concerned for her, something in your heart somehow stir?” “I think our discussion ends here, missy,” Discord walked past the zebra. “You can deny all this if you ought,” Zecora called out from behind, “but it is much deeper than you thought.” Discord then turned at her with the redness still in his cheeks. Zecora then winked at him before walking to the edge of the forest and making her way to town. He groaned as he walked in the other direction into the forest, “I knew I shouldn’t keep her here sane.” Light laughter and chattering teacups was being heard not too far of Spoiled Rich’s home. The elite club decided to host a lunch party at that same home, with only its aristocratic members to attend. Diamond Tiara sat quietly at the table with her mother and her peers. She stared blankly at her delicately decorated food, hardly even touching it. She sat there, listening to the mumblings of the chatter her guest is uttering, waiting for the minute this will all end. She did not like being here. Being stuck in a crowd so shallow and pretentious. Stuck being a centerpiece to a mother who hardly even notices her at all, except when it only concerns about her own interest. To stand tall in an environment where she has to strife to be somepony she wasn’t all the all while not knowing who she was meant to be. She remembered she used to love it whenever she was around Silver Spoon and her family, and she would have to play along being the spoiled princess she always played. But now with everything gone in the past, feeling more alone than she ever felt in her life and then losing more potential friends that her family wouldn’t agree, she felt more than just herself. She felt like a doll on display. “So,” said one of the guests at the table, “I’ve heard that Filthy Rich has gone yet again to Baltimare.” “Yes,” Spoiled Rich answered, “My husband thought it would be much easier for us to find business funding there instead Manehatten. Business had gotten so competitive there and he just wouldn’t risk losing his father’s business.” “Well, I must say that he did the right thing,” a stallion said, “With all that has been happening in our social class, I don’t know what I would do if I lose myshare with my business associates.” I’m pretty sure you can live without it; it wouldn’t make a difference, Diamond thought to herself, though she wouldn’t dare to say it out loud. “And—forgive me if I haven’t heard correctly—But is it true that the owner on one of our local businesses stood you out?” Spoiled Rich sighed in a dramatic sense of stress, “Yes, unfortunately. I had set a commission for a cocktail dress for our last outing at the Carousel Boutique. But as soon as my Diamond and I got here, the owner’s assistance deliberately spilled fabric dye all over my brand new dress!” Everypony at the table gasp and muttered words of sympathy. It was amazing to Diamond how her mother manages to twist the truth and automatically blamed her friends for what happened. “The worst thing about that is that those assistances were her little sister and her friends. It was as if she couldn’t afford to have any professional assistance.” “Oh, my,” said one of the guest at the table, “That was so unfair for you to experience that.” “So, what happened to the dress?” asked another guest, “Do you still have it?” “No, I threw it out,” Spoiled lied, “I wouldn’t want such a mess to be part of my collection anyway.” The truth was that she still had the dress. She was planning to have somepony to clean the dye for her and then try to make it look like it wasn’t the dress that Rarity made for her. “Though, I admit, the one thing I can say positively about the seamstress is that the dress she had was rather gorgeous, and she has quite a creative vision. But still that doesn’t excuse the treatment I was given in that shop.” “If I may ask,” one guest said, “Say that I might be interested for a commission somewhere; you would say that you don’t recommend that shop at all?” “Oh, no, if you want to investigate or commission there, you go on ahead. Just don’t expect the volunteers to be so courteous.” Having fed up, Diamond slammed the table and yelled, “Would you just SHUT UP, Mother?!” Everypony stood stunned and silent. Spoiled Rich’s face showed a face of shock before it turned to one of disapproval. Diamond then pushed herself on the chair and galloped towards the stairs. “Is something wrong with Diamond?” one of the guests asked. “Ugh, I don’t know. She has been acting like this since she ended her relationship with those…. Friends that she knew,” Spoiled Rich replied. She was reluctant to refer those four fillies other that ‘blank flanks’, but she wouldn’t want to ruin ponies’ view of her. “You mean Silver Spoon?” another gasped. “No, Diamond’s over with that already; we never even heard anything from her. She has been acquitted to Applejack’s little sister and her friends that she knew from school. They recently had a fight and I decided to end it.” “Oh, poor thing,” one guest uttered. “Well, she should’ve known better than to socialize with ponies lower than us,” another said. “Not to mention that Applejack’s little sister and her friends do seem a little odd.” “Do you must’ve think that breaking that friendship was the right thing? She must’ve felt lonely after the Spoon family left for Canterlot.” “I can’t see why not; they were a bad influence on her,” Spoiled stated as she goes back to the salad before her. Meanwhile, Diamond slapped the door behind her and threw herself into the bed to release the hot tears that’s been desperate to gush down. She has never felt this frustrated in her whole life and yet she’s never been so guilty in her entire life. Overhead, on the wall by her bed, there were portraits of her in her past life and all of her accomplishments. She could see ribbons from competitions, family portraits to when she was a baby to when her father never appeared in them and then photos of the entire class taken from the school. In almost all of them, she is always standing right next to Silver Spoon. From starring from that picture, she is reminded how much she had missed her first friend. Ever since their families started to get acquitted with each other, they did almost everything together that it was hard for anypony in their class to see one of them without the other. And while they were definitely best friends, they do have ups and downs as many friendships would. Diamond would always feel safe talking about anything to Silver as she knew she would keep them and be great company. But sometimes, as she became the dominating bully of her school, she had a few moments when she can berate Silver so that she can keep up her image. Silver fortunately had a surprisingly good amount of patience, even at the times where she privately stands up for herself after she felt being mistreated. She can still remember the day she and her family left and even before when she told her about the news. She felt her heart breaking into a million pieces when she had heard the word uttered out of Silver’s mouth. But then she felt anger rising inside her. How can one of her first and best friend get a better life for herself while she gets left all alone?It all seemed unfair to her. She remembered screaming at the top of her lungs, letting out all of the hurt and anger she felt inside, not noticing that Silver was about to tear up. Suddenly, Silver yelled in defense for herself, snapping Diamond out of her blind rage. That made her even angrier and then called her out for being a horrible friend. That turned out to be the biggest mistake she’d ever made. Horrified and full of tears, Silver explained to Diamond at the times that she doesn’t appreciate her whenever she is always around her and that it is better to be a horrible friend than to be friends with one molded after her mother. She screamed, declaring to her that she’ll never see her again before running away. Diamond said nothing. She didn’t do anything at all. She just stood there, with tears flooding in her eyes, realizing what she has done. She had stayed being miserable for days until the Cutie Mark Crusaders marched in and invited her to the clubhouse part of the newly build treehouse. She reluctantly go, not wanting to be anywhere near them but also not wanting to home to her mom who had been making things worse for her since Silver left. By the time that they got to the treehouse safely, the girls told Diamond that they’d watched what happened the previous day with Silver and then later her mother who started berating the fact for losing a valuable family aquatint without even acknowledging the loss of her friend at all. Diamond felt very defensive for a fact that someponies she hated eavesdropped at her and figured this was some way to get revenge. But when they got to the part where they wanted her to join their group, she was caught in genuine surprise before she could mask it with skepticism. And then there were also confusion. Why would a bunch of ponies whom she relentlessly humiliates them want to have their bully to be part of their little club? That was one of the questions that she still askes to herself today. But when it comes to their invitation, after they had expressed their concerns for her, she had told them that she’ll think about it and see if it’s actually worth the time. It was only a few days later that she accepted their request. She won’t admit this to anypony, but she changed. Not only that, but she secretly embraced this. Even though they had a rocky history, the girls really give her the company she needed. They kept checking on her as if her feelings and opinions really did mattered. She might’ve reply in them in a rude, sarcastic attitude that she held all this time, but she still appreciates them in a way that would hard for others to understand. She notices the changes in several ways—she started being open to them, she often volunteers to help them with their cutie mark crusading and she started to feel hopeful. Hope that maybe through them she would find the reason behind her cutie mark and be the better pony she dreams to be. But now she felt like that all that hope was lost now. By not only blowing their friendship when she confessed her jealousy towards them, but by leaving them alone in that boutique when they needed her, right after apologizing. She regretted that moment and just like when Silver left, she felt as miserable as before. The worst thing about it is that they would never forgive her again for how she treated them and there’s nothing she can go about it. Outside, the Cutie Mark Crusader were walking on the road with their bags full of gadgets and props for their next appointment to Discord’s dimension. They come to notice Diamond’s mansion. They could imagine how lonesome Diamond might be right now. They wanted to do something but even if they did, there’s no way past her mother. There might be also a feeling that Diamond might shut herself out again in favor of her mother now that she has full control on the situation. It might be unusual for them that they would run back to her each time Diamond mistreats or pulls back from them; still they hadn’t given up hope for her. Feeling nothing they can do for a moment, they continued walking down the road and didn’t look back.