The first few minutes of the train ride to Canterlot had been spent in silence. Cold Reason had, after watching the other four mares do it first, sat down on a seat next to Twilight, and since then she had only looked around at the car and blinked a few times.
“So...how do you like your first train ride?” Twilight asked her.
Cold blinked, then looked at her. “I cannot say that I like or dislike it,” she said in her quick, light monotone. “Being transported in this manner is a very strange feeling.”
“Oh,” Twilight replied. “Well, that makes sense since it is your first ride and all.”
“I agree,” Cold said, turning her gaze out the window.
There was an awkward lull in the conversation before Rarity – sitting with Applejack across from the Princess and their guest – smiled and spoke up. “So, Miss Reason, I've been meaning to say this but are you certain you wish to meet with the Princesses as you are?” Cold turned her blank stare to Rarity. “It's just that, well, your mane is a bit of a mess, darling,” she explained.
Cold blinked, then held up part of her long, tangled mane so she could see it. “Oh. I apologize,” she said. “I removed as much of the debris that got caught in it during my journey before I entered town. But I do not know how to groom it in an appropriate fashion.”
“Don't worry about a thing, darling!” Rarity replied with a smile, putting a hoof on the small table that stood between the two benches. “I'll be happy to fix it up for you while we're making our journey to Canterlot. I promise you'll be looking fabulous in time for your meeting with the Princess.”
Cold looked at the hoof on the table, then blinked again. “Thank you for your offer Miss Rarity,” she said, looking up at the mare in question. “But I cannot accept it. I already owe you all for your assistance with my mission.”
Rarity scoffed. “Oh, pish-posh,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “You needn't do anything in return for this Miss Reason. I could see you needed help, and I'm happy to be of service!”
Another pause as Cold blinked twice more. “I see. Then I will accept your offer Miss Rarity.”
“Excellent,” Rarity said with a wide smile. “Now trade seats with Applejack here and I'll get started.” Both mares in question slid off their seats, and the farmgirl paused to let Cold Reason walk unsteadily to the seat next to Rarity before she herself took the now-vacant spot next to Twilight.
Applejack chuckled as Rarity levitated a few brushes and combs and such out of her bags, then got to work on Cold Reason's messy mane. “No offense Miss Reason, but for as much as you wanna deliver that message of yours you sure don't seem to have planned a whole lot out about how to do it,” Applejack said.
Cold blinked. “That is regrettably true. There was too much knowledge that I was unable to acquire and too many possibilities that I did not foresee. I should have tried harder. My mission could have failed due to my own actions.”
“Hey now, it ain't that big a deal,” Applejack told her, her smile fading away. “I mean, everything's turned out pretty well so far, hasn't it?”
“Yes. So far. But that does not excuse my mistakes,” Cold replied, her head moving back slightly as Rarity firmly brushed out a small tangle.
“You really shouldn't be so hard on yourself,” Twilight said.
“Yeah,” Applejack added. “Everypony makes mistakes. But what's in the past is in the past. If ya can't set 'em right ya just gotta learn from 'em and move on.”
Cold turned her emotionless stare onto Applejack, forcing Rarity to pause in her grooming efforts. The four mares sat in an oddly tense silence for a few seconds, before Cold looked away again. “Not all mistakes can be forgiven so easily Miss Applejack,” she said quietly.
Another moment passed before the others shared a look, and resumed what they'd been doing. “Well, maybe you're right about that Cold Reason,” Applejack said. “But I reckon it ain't worth frettin' over some small stuff when you're tryin' to do somethin' as important as passin' on that message of yours. Folks'll understand that you didn't mean no harm by it. Especially since it's pretty obvious that you don't know the first thing about Equestria.”
Twilight and Rarity tensed up, and looked from their friend to Cold Reason as she blinked again. “Is it really so obvious?” she asked.
Applejack frowned. “Err, sorry for bein' so blunt about it, but yeah,” she said. “It was pretty obvious from the moment we met that you were a little, err, different even for somepony comin' from far away.”
Cold blinked, and she tilted her head down a little bit. “I see. I apologize for my considerable ignorance of this land. My intent had been to disguise myself as an average traveler in order to avoid attention. But it is apparent that I have failed in this as well.”
The other three shared a questioning look behind Cold's back. “Again, dear, you needn't feel so down on yourself,” Rarity said, a smile forming on her face as she began to experiment with styles for Cold's newly brushed mane.
A pause. “Are you implying that I am feeling self-pity or something similar?” Cold asked.
“Well...yes,” Rarity admitted, using her magic to put a braid in Cold's hair, only to quickly undo it.
“You are wrong,” Cold stated. “I cannot feel self-pity. I do not feel self-pity. I am simply assessing myself so that my future actions will be more effective.”
The others shared yet another look, and Twilight shrugged in silent confusion. “If you say so,” the Princess said.
Rarity tutted as she continued to to fuss over Cold's hair. “I told you, darling, you needn't put up such a front with us.”
“I am not lying Miss Rarity,” Cold replied. She paused. “Also. Where is Miss Pinkie Pie? I have not seen her since shortly after we got on this 'train'.”
“Huh, good question,” Twilight replied as she and her friends started looking around for the fifth member of their party.
“She's gotta be around here somewhere, it ain't like her to just leave,” Applejack added.
“BOO!”
Their question was promptly answered by Pinkie herself, who burst out of the overhead luggage compartment above them hanging by her hind legs and making ridiculous faces. Her sudden appearance was enough to elicit gasps of fear and surprise from Rarity, Twilight, and Applejack, but Cold simply scooted backward a few inches with her same impassive stare on her face.
“Pinkie!” Applejack scolded once she and her friends recovered from the shock, and the party pony fell to the ground giggling.
“Hahaha, sorry girls,” Pinkie said, ending her laughter and wiping away a tear as she sat up on her haunches. “I couldn't help myself! I was gonna lie in wait in case trouble happened,” she explained, shifting narrowed eyes from side to side as she darted around their otherwise-empty car, “but then you guys started wondering where I was-” she popped back up in front of the others with a thoughtful look on her face, “which is like practically inviting me to pop out and scare you, and so I did!”
Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, I guess when you put it like that we kinda brought it on ourselves.”
Rarity cleared her throat. “Yes. Well. It's all in good fun, but remember that we do have a guest with us.”
“Oh, I know,” Pinkie nodded. “I kinda wanted to see Coldie's reaction to me popping out and going all-” she repeated the series of faces she'd made previously. “And honestly, I gotta say that you've got like a super straight face!” she told Cold, who was staring at her. “Like, your straight face might even be straightier than Maud's straight face, which let me tell you is pretty straight. What's your secret, Coldie?” she asked, looking straight into the eyes of the mare that was staring at her.
Cold blinked. Then she blinked again. “What exactly are you referring to Miss Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie giggled. “Your straight face, silly!”
“Oh. Yes. As I have briefly explained two times before,” Cold said, “I do not feel. I cannot feel.”
Once more, Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity shared a confused look. “But...everypony has emotions,” Twilight said.
“I cannot,” Cold repeated.
“But...but how?” Twilight asked. “Why?”
Cold blinked. “I apologize for what I predict will be an unsatisfactory answer Princess Twilight Sparkle. But I do not wish to explain in great detail at this time. All I will say is that it is simply part of who I am.”
Twilight looked uncertain, but Pinkie nodded in acceptance. “Okay, that explains it,” she said. “Also, it's kinda sad if you think about it. I mean, no emotions means no happiness! No joy!” She gasped dramatically, holding her hooves to her mouth as her lip trembled. “No fun!”
“Correct,” Cold told her.
“No wonder you didn't want a party,” Pinkie said, drooping slightly...only to perk up excitedly moments later. “But wait! That means that we get to teach you how to be happy!”
Cold just blinked. “I do not know if happiness can be taught.”
Pinkie leaned close to her, fluttering her eyelashes with a wide grin on her face. “We won't know if we don't try~y!” she said in an almost singsong voice.
A pause. “I request that you wait until after the Oathbreaker has been contained. I do not believe I should attempt to feel happiness before then.”
“Right-a-rooni!” Pinkie said, standing at attention and snapping off a sharp salute. “Once that mean ol' Oathbreaker is dealt with, we're gonna have the biggest victory-slash-welcome party-celebration ever!” She jumped into the air with glee, a few noisemakers going off as a burst of confetti rained down upon her. “It'll be so awesomely spectacular,” she added, landing and putting a hoof around Cold's shoulder, “you won't be able to stop yourself from being happy!”
She paused, then frowned sadly. “Oh wait. You don't like parties, do you?”
Cold blinked. “I do not dislike them either. I have no feelings regarding them. But I do not wish to be festive while the Oathbreaker still poses a threat. After she has been contained I will join whatever celebrations are appropriate.”
“Yay!” Pinkie cheered, the noisemakers and confetti going off again behind her.
Applejack chuckled. “Not having feelin's about parties? You really ain't kiddin' about that 'no emotions' thing. Guess it fits your name, at least.”
“And your cutie mark,” Twilight added, looking at Cold's flank. “I've been wondering this for a while, but those three dots are a logic symbol right?”
“Yes,” Cold answered, turning her gaze towards the Princess. “They represent 'therefore'. I think, therefore I am.”
Twilight smiled. “I knew it. I guess not having emotions makes logic and reasoning easier, huh?”
“Yes. That is my understanding of it,” Cold said. “However it does make certain decisions where all options are logically equal more difficult to make. Additionally my skills do not extend far beyond my reasoning abilities. My repeated failures during the course of my mission make this clear.”
“Well, I'd say you shouldn't worry so much about your failures Cold Reason,” Twilight said, “but I guess worrying isn't really something you can do.”
“Correct,” Cold said.
“Still. Like Applejack said earlier, you don't need to be too hard on yourself for not doing something as well as you thought you should have,” Twilight said. “Nopony is good at everything.”
Cold stared at her in silence for a few moments, then blinked. “Yes. There is truth in what you speak and I will try to take it into consideration in the future. But the fact remains that there are mistakes that I do not want to risk making. I do not know enough about this land to know what those mistakes are. So I must remain careful and avoid as many mistakes as possible.”
“Fortunately you have us here to help you,” Rarity said, levitating a few small mirrors in front of Cold to see her from multiple angles. “We'll gladly help you learn what you need to learn, and we'll cover for any mistakes you make.”
A silent pause. “Thank you Miss Rarity,” Cold said. “Thank you all.”
“It's nothing, dear,” Rarity said. “Now turn around so I can get a better look at what I've done to you.” Cold complied, and the other four mares were silent as Rarity looked her over directly. After a few seconds, she smiled. “It's perfect! I decided to keep things simple and straightforward to suit your personality, dear, but even with only a little work you still look much better than you did before.”
She levitated a mirror in front of Cold, who took it her hoof and looked herself over. True to what Rarity said, Cold's new manestyle was fairly simple – still long but brushed straighter than before, allowed to hang almost entirely off the right side of her neck. In front, her hair had been let down into two locks that framed her face.
“Thank you,” Cold said after a few seconds' appraisal.
“You're welcome, darling,” Rarity replied. “I'd offer to give you a quick trim too, but I don't want to dirty the car with mane clippings. Plus,” she looked out the window,” it seems we've arrived in Canterlot.”
The whistle blew, and the train began to slow down. “Well, here we are,” Twilight said as she and the others left their seats and headed to the door. “It won't be long now before you'll be able to deliver your message to the Princesses,” she told Cold.
“Yup,” Applejack said with a nod. “I hope the others are havin' just as easy a time with their mission as we are with ours.”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy touched down on the cloudy walkways of Cloudsdale, Starlight Glimmer landing with Spike on her back a few seconds later. “Alright, Cloudsdale floats all around Equestria and is filled with tons of pegasi,” Rainbow explained. “Somepony here has to have seen Discord's place at some point, so let's split up and ask around.”
“Oh, I hope it doesn't take too long...,” Fluttershy said worriedly before she and Rainbow flew off again leaving Starlight and Spike to wander off on foot in the other direction.
“I kinda wish one of them had stayed with us,” Starlight mentioned. “I mean it's not like I know anypony up here. How do I know who I should even ask?”
“That doesn't matter. Just ask anyone!” Spike told her. A light pink pegasus mare flew by, and Spike flagged her down. “Excuse me, but have you seen any particularly chaos-y places in Equestria lately?” he asked her.
The mare rubbed her chin in thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Sorry, can't think of any,” she said. “But I spend most of my time up here, so maybe somepony else has.”
“Alright. Thanks anyway!” Spike said, waving politely as the pegasus flew off. He looked back at Starlight, and raised his brow in surprise when he saw her reading from one of the books she'd brought. “Are you seriously reading now?” he asked her in annoyance.
“What?” Starlight replied. “You clearly have a handle on the information gathering, so I don't see why we should both do it. Especially since we're sticking together. Besides,” she smiled, “why not do some research into the Oathbreaker while I can?”
“Oh. Well, did you find anything yet?” Spike asked.
“Nnnnot exactly,” Starlight admitted a little sheepishly. “Neither 'Legends of Equestria' nor 'Monstrous Myths from Before Time' mention her at all...but I've still got a few more books to look through while I walk.”
Spike gave her a stern frown. “Fine. Just make sure you keep moving,” he told her before pausing, coming to a realization, and adding “Except for when I'm trying to get information.”
“Don't worry, don't worry...” Starlight said, exchanging the book she was floating with another from her saddle bags as she resumed walking.
True to her word Starlight paid enough attention to Spike so as not to inhibit his attempts at gathering information. The two wandered almost haphazardly through the streets of Cloudsdale, heading towards any pegasi that Spike saw. Unfortunately, none of them had any information on Discord, giving the duo nothing but sorry shakes of the head and suggestions to ask somepony else. But as Spike groaned about their poor luck, he spotted a familiar form flying towards them.
“So, any luck?” Rainbow Dash asked them, Spike calling Starlight to a halt with a simple tug.
“Nope,” Spike answered.
Rainbow sighed. “Yeah, me neither. I think I got unlucky though, a lot of the ponies I asked hadn't ventured very far from Cloudsdale recently.”
“Same here,” Spike nodded. “What about you, Starlight? You've been quiet for a while now, any luck with your research?”
“Huh?” Starlight replied, looking away from the text she'd been engrossed by. “Oh, no, sorry. None of the books I brought with me mention the Oathbreaker at all, which is...kinda strange to be honest. But then I started thinking about how Cold Reason might not be quite what she seems, so I've been reading through everything again to see if I can find anything that might explain why she's so...peculiar.”
Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance. “I thought you were gonna save that stuff for after we found Discord, but whatever. Did you at least find anything interesting?”
“Hmm...maybe,” Starlight said, flipping a page in the book she was reading. “But I'm not sure yet.”
Now Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Well, you're probably gonna have time to keep researching unless we catch a break soon, so you might as well keep doing that I guess.”
Starlight nodded wordlessly, and Rainbow prepared to fly off again – only to stop when she caught sight of Fluttershy flying hurriedly towards them. “Tell me you found something,” Rainbow asked, flying over to meet her halfway.
“I did,” Fluttershy replied breathlessly, earning the attention of Starlight and Spike as they hurried over to rejoin their friends. “A mailpony I talked to said he saw something really big and really strange moving along at ground-level just outside of Whinnyapolis.”
“That's not too far from here,” Rainbow Dash said with a thoughtful expression. “Let's go check it out.” She dashed off without another thought, once again leaving Fluttershy to follow after – and Starlight and Spike as well, once the former had reluctantly put away her book and resumed her flying spell.
Nestled to the northwest of Canterlot between the Galloping Gorge and Neighagra Falls, the city of Whinnyapolis was indeed a reasonably short flight from Cloudsdale's current location. As it happened, though, they didn't need to fly all the way there – they caught sight of the anomaly they'd been told about well before reaching the city limits. All three ponies stopped in mid-air, and four mouths dropped in shock.
Before them, moving along the ground at a surprising speed, was what could loosely be described as a towering cloud of pure chaos. Though it remained a roughly constant size overall it never maintained a shape for very long; sometimes it looked almost like a castle, or a mountain, or a giant tortoise, or something else definable, but most often it looked like swirling mass of random shapes and objects and colors and sounds. It was almost painful to look at for very long, and seemed to warp the landscape it passed through – though it left no visible trail of chaos or destruction in its wake.
“Umm...I think this is the place,” Fluttershy announced after a few minutes of shock.
“Ya think?” Rainbow replied.
Upon reaching the gates of Canterlot proper the royal guards stationed there called for a pair of their comrades to escort Princess Twilight and her 'entourage' to the castle, despite Twilight's insistence that it was unnecessary. And so it was that the five mares followed two guards through the city, the Princess at the front of their sub-group with Rarity pointing out various sights to Cold Reason while Applejack and Pinkie Pie took the rear and provided color commentary.
And soon enough, the group had made it all the way to the castle throne room.
“Announcing, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends!” one of the guards announced as both opened the doors ahead of the mares, and another set of guards inside blew out a short fanfare on their long ceremonial horns.
They all stepped aside moments later, allowing Twilight to lead her friends inside with a mild blush of embarrassment on her face. Across the room sat Princess Celestia, who donned an amused smile as she locked eyes with her former student. “Hello, Twilight,” she greeted. “What brings you and your friends here today?”
“Hello, Princess Celestia,” Twilight replied, her embarrassment fading into a more serious expression. “Sorry for coming at such short notice, but a couple issues have come up and I thought it would be best to bring them to you directly.”
Celestia nodded. “I see. I take it that one of these issues has to do with the new pony you've brought before me?” she asked, looking at Cold Reason who had been staring her way since she'd arrived.
“That's right,” Twilight replied with a nod of her own. “Princess Celestia, I'd like you to meet Cold Reason.” She moved to the side and motioned to Cold with her hoof, allowing Cold to step forward. “She arrived in Ponyville this morning from a faraway land with a grave message that she wants you to hear.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” she said with interest, looking back at Cold Reason.
To the surprise of her escorts Cold stepped forward with something akin to confidence, and neither blinked nor bowed at the end of her approach. “Well met, Princess Celestia,” she greeted with a nod, her voice stronger than usual but still largely monotone, “even in these dire circumstances.”
Celestia's brow raised even further, but she returned the nod all the same. “Well met, Cold Reason. Your message?”
“The Oathbreaker will awaken soon, most likely within the week.”
Immediately the Princess' eyes widened, and she began to cough.
“Princess!” the guards flanking her throne cried out, rushing to her side as the rest of the ponies in the room looked on with concern – all except Cold Reason, who continued to watch dispassionately.
Celestia's coughing fit soon ended, the two guards standing close by with worried looks on their faces. The Princess smiled at them. “Do not worry, my little ponies. I was simply shocked to hear that she was still alive! Are you certain of this?” she asked Cold Reason.
Cold nodded. “You should know well that alicorns do not die so easily.”
“And you are certain that she will reawaken soon?”
“Yes. Most likely within the week. But know that the Oathbreaker's state is such that she will go on an uncontrolled rampage as soon as she is awakened.”
“Oh my...,” Celestia said, bringing a hoof to her mouth in a thoughtful and worried gesture. “You were right to bring this to my attention, Twilight,” she told her former student, who along with her friends and the guards were all watching uneasily. “If I'm right about what's happened to her, then the Oathbreaker will be one of the greatest dangers Equestria has seen in quite some time. Guards,” she said in a commanding voice to the two stallions who had rushed to her aide, “go and wake my sister. Tell her it's an emergency.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” the guards replied in unison, galloping off through one of the doors behind the throne.
“Umm, Princess?” Twilight spoke up, stepping forward with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. “I can tell how serious this all is, but I'm afraid none of us-” she looked to her friends- “know anything about this 'Oathbreaker' pony beyond what Cold Reason's told us. Who is she, and why will she be such a problem?”
Celestia nodded solemnly. “I understand your concerns. In fact, there's a few questions I have regarding the Oathbreaker myself,” she added with a look at the unflinching Cold Reason. “But I think it's best if we wait for my sister to arrive. Now, I recall you saying that you had more than one issue you wanted to bring to my attention?”
“That's right,” Twilight nodded. “We also came here to tell you that Discord is missing.”
Celestia frowned in thought. “I'm not surprised...”
Slowly, cautiously, the three ponies and one baby dragon landed in front of the massive cloud of chaos. The four looked at one another hesitantly as it slowly moved towards them, and after a moment Fluttershy gulped and stepped forward.
“DISCORD!” she called out, and immediately the cloud stopped moving – and contracted into a massive ball of outward-pointing spikes, spears, swords, scissors, and other sharp objects. The sudden shift caused the four visitors to yelp, and Fluttershy to cower in fear.
After a few tense moments, though, she lifted her head – nothing had changed in the ball of spikes. “Discord!” she called again a little more softly, immediately wincing in fright. When she realized nothing had happened, she continued. “Are you in there? It's me, Fluttershy!”
The chaos-cloud suddenly changed again, one of the spikes peeling backward like a banana to reveal the familiar misshapen head of the spirit of chaos, though on a massive scale and made of clouds. Discord glanced warily from left to right, then looked down – and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw the ponies looking up at him. Then, from one of his pupils, a telescope emerged and snaked down to ground level. Its lens became the familiar yellow-and-red eye of Discord, and it quickly honed in on its owner's first friend.
“Fluttershy?” the eye asked in Discord's voice, moving like a mouth. “Wha...what are you doing here?”
“Looking for you!” Fluttershy replied. “I got so worried when you didn't show up for our usual tea time!”
The mouth-eye-telescope seemed to flinch in shock. “That's...that's very kind of you, but...wait,” Discord said with a hint of panic, “did you bring anyone else with you?”
“Duh,” Rainbow Dash replied, “we're right here.”
The telescope immediately swung and extended to closely inspect Rainbow Dash. “Oh. Yes. Rainbow Dash,” Discord said tersely before moving on to the other pair. “As well as the wizard Garbunkle and...,” he faltered at the unicorn, “the new one...” Starlight scowled. The telescope swung back to Fluttershy. “Is that all?” Discord asked nervously. “You weren't followed, were you?”
Fluttershy looked around behind her in confusion. “Not that I know of,” she answered. “Why? What's going on? What are you doing out here?”
Discord paused for a moment, then the mouth-eye-telescope blinked and shifted into the upper body of the draconequus himself. He looked around nervously for a few moments, then after seeing nothing but Fluttershy and her friends looking at him in confusion he started to laugh. Awkwardly. “Oh, I'm just...moving house,” he explained. “Yes, that's it, the, uh, the view at my old place was getting a bit stale, you see, so I decided to...up and move it to another corner of Equestria.” He donned an unconvincing smile and batted his eyelashes.
“Pfft, is that all?” Rainbow scoffed in annoyance.
“No,” Fluttershy told her, “it isn't. Now Discord,” she turned to her other friend, “I can tell something's bothering you.”
“W-w-what are you talking about,” Discord replied with a nervous chuckle as his eyes darted around quickly, “there's no problem at all! Why would there be a problem?”
“I don't know,” Fluttershy told him, “but I do know that you would never skip out on tea time to move your house without telling me. So please, stop trying to hide that something's wrong. If you tell us what it is, we'll be able to help you!”
“I...that is...” Discord stammered before covering his eyes and growling in irritation. “Look, Fluttershy. I've been doing some thinking,” he said, flowing closer to her with a grim look on his face. “And perhaps it would be for the best if we just...just...” he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, and blurted out “stopped being friends!”
Fluttershy gasped. “You...you can't be serious!” she said, quivering in shock and horror.
“I...I'm afraid I am,” Discord forced himself to say. “I'm afraid you ponies just aren't fun anymore. It's time that I moved on.” He crossed his arms, and gave her a solemn and stubborn and haughty nod.
“But...but why?” Fluttershy asked, beginning to tear up. “I thought you liked being friends with me! With all of us!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash interjected angrily, flying in between Discord and Fluttershy. “After everything we've been through together, you're just gonna up and decide you don't care anymore? What gives!”
“W-well,” Discord stuttered, averting his eyes with a blatantly guilty look on his face, “I...I am the spirit of chaos, after all... Consistency is hardly my forte..”
Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to say something else before the telltale sounds of a burp and dragonfire caught her and Discord's attention.
“Uhh, it's from Twilight,” Spike read, hesitantly unfurling the parchment he'd just received. “She and the others are with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, obviously. And...” his eyes scanned the page, “apparently, they all want us to try and convince Discord to help us contain the Oathbreaker.”
Discord shrieked in terror. “Oathbreaker?! Where?! You all get out of here, now!” With a snap of his fingers he disappeared, the massive ball of pointy things replaced by a gigantic cube of something halfway between cloud and metal. Etched into each face of the cube was the same message in giant block letters:
NOTHING TO SEE HERE! PLEASE GO AWAY! NO SOLICITORS!
The ponies and dragon only had a few seconds to puzzle over it before a catapult manifested under them and launched them away to the east, screaming in shock and fear.
“Hoo-ie,” Applejack whistled as she, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Cold followed Celestia and Luna through one of the halls of the castle. “Hard to imagine a feller like Discord bein' afraid of anythin'.”
“Well, anything aside from losing his friends at least,” Twilight said almost offhandedly.
“Even those as long-lived as Discord can have trouble letting go of painful memories from their pasts,” Luna said.
Celestia nodded. “And I believe him having friends has only made it harder for him. Still, we'll need his help if we're to get through this.”
“I still am having great difficulty accepting the idea of Discord having true friends,” Cold Reason spoke up, earning a silent but discerning glance from each of the two elder alicorns. “How does such a thing even happen to one such as him?”
“Ooh, that's a really long but really neat story,” Pinkie said exuberantly, bouncing up next to Cold. “It all started back in the good ol' days, when Equestria was still young and nopony had invented the triple-layer chocolate cake yet. Which actually kinda makes it the bad ol' days if you really think about it...”
Rarity sighed softly. “Here we go...,” she murmured as Twilight and Applejack shared a bemused look.
As it happens, catapulting doesn't work especially well on pegasi. Nor does it work on unicorns capable of magical flight. Once Spike had been safely caught mid-air by Fluttershy, the three ponies flew back to Discord's slowly-moving giant unfriendly chaos cube and landed in front of it.
“Discord!” Fluttershy called out sternly.
The nearest 'S' suddenly became a pictogram of the draconequus, who turned an annoyed look to the group of ponies. “Why won't you take a hint already and just leave?” he asked angrily.
“Because we're your friends, no matter what you try to say!” Fluttershy replied. “It's clear to me that you're afraid of the Oathbreaker coming back! Now I may not know anything about her, but I do know that if friends stand together then they can do anything. Let us help you, and you won't have to be afraid anymore!”
Discord looked at her, crossed his arms, and harrumphed. “You have no idea what you're talking about, Fluttershy,” he said defiantly. “The Oathbreaker isn't just anypony, she was a living legend even before Equestria was founded! That monster was such a terrifying force for good,” he explained, his pictogram self snaking around the letters etched into the cube and giving gestures of drama and fear when appropriate, “that she was basically the bogeypony for all the ne'er-do-wells like myself when we were but wee little foals!”
“You were a little foal once?” Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.
“But of course!” Discord replied, a miniature copy of himself crawling out of Rainbow Dash's mouth wearing a comically oversized diaper and baby bonnet. “We all had to start somewhere, after all.” He flashed away, and Rainbow Dash frantically started wiping her tongue with a look of horror and disgust on her face.
Discord reappeared in front of them, hovering in the air in his usual form. “But...if the Oathbreaker was such a force for good in the world,” Fluttershy asked with a thoughtful look, “why are you still scared of her? You're reformed!”
“I know that,” Discord replied in a low voice, sprouting out of the grass with flower petals around his head and grabbing her by the shoulder, “and you know that, but she won't give me the chance before she comes after me.”
“Well, maybe if you give us the chance to explain-” Starlight began before Discord appeared at her side and cut her off with a short and mocking laugh.
“She wouldn't stop to listen to you all,” he explained. “Why should she? After all, she is the reason why I'm the only draconequus left in the world.” Fluttershy gasped in shock. “Well...that and all of our horrifically brutal in-fighting,” Discord added as an aside as he looked at his talons, “but still. She's responsible for far more than her fair share of the death of my kind.”
“Oh my, I'm so sorry!” Fluttershy said, flying up to him. “I had no idea you had lost your entire family! It must be very hard on you to have to face the Oathbreaker again...”
Discord hugged her and patted her on the head. “I appreciate your concern, my dear Fluttershy, but I'm really not all that broken up about being the last draconequus. The others were all vain, petty, spiteful, arrogant, selfish, manipulative jerks. Trust me, Equestria is a much better place without them around.”
Rainbow, Starlight, and Spike shared an odd look. “So...let me get this straight,” Rainbow spoke up with a skeptical tone. “You're afraid that this Oathbreaker pony is gonna come after you for basically being you, right?”
“Yes, that's right,” Discord said, puffing out his chest almost proudly.
“So then why are you 'moving house'?” Rainbow asked. “It only took the four of us a couple hours to find you. If the Oathbreaker's as strong as you make her out to be, she could be here in like minutes! Especially since you're pretty much making it super obvious where you are,” she said, hovering in the air as she pointed up at the giant chaos-cube.
“Oh, uh, you know,” Discord said, suddenly looking nervous and shifty again, “y-you've got a good point! I...I-I-I don't know what I was thinking!” He tugged at the collar of the brown feathers covering his torso as though they were a shirt. “You four had better leave while I find a better way to run and hide.” He gently pushed the ponies and dragon away, then turned around.
Fluttershy's brow furrowed in thought for a moment, then she gasped. “Wait a minute! You're not trying to hide at all!” she exclaimed, causing Discord to pause mid-step and wince. “You want the Oathbreaker to find you, don't you?” she asked, flying around in front of her friend. “And you don't want us around when it happens!”
Discord looked down in shame, a bowler hat appearing in his hands so he could wring it. “Fine. I admit it. I wanted to face her head-on, so I decided to hole up in my little home, shore up the defenses, and move the whole thing west to where she'll no-doubt turn up.”
“But why?” Fluttershy asked. “You're so afraid of her!”
“I...I'm stronger than I was back when she was last around...,” Discord replied, still averting his eyes. “I can handle her myself now...”
“Even so, you shouldn't face her alone!” Fluttershy told him. “We're your friends, we want to help you face this kind of thing!”
She placed a hoof on his shoulder, but he quickly brushed it off. “Don't you get it, us being friends is exactly the problem!” he told her. “I don't want you getting mixed up in some millennia-old grudge match between me and her! I don't...,” he deflated figuratively, “I don't want you getting hurt again because of me...” Then he deflated literally, air wheezing out of his now balloon-like body as he collapsed into Fluttershy's hooves.
“Aww...,” Fluttershy cooed, hugging her limp and rubbery friend. “I'm really flattered that you'd go so far to protect us, Discord. But we're still going to help protect Equestria from the Oathbreaker.”
“Y-you are? Really?” Discord asked, grabbing Fluttershy's cheeks in near-desperation has he lifted himself back up into his normal shape.
“Uh-huh,” Fluttershy nodded. “It's the right thing to do.”
“We were already looking into it before we even knew you were involved,” Starlight admitted.
“Plus, don't forget that we've whooped your butt ourselves,” Rainbow Dash added. “I'd say that's proof enough that we can handle this just as well as you can.”
“So don't worry!” Spike told him. “Like we've been trying to tell you, if we all band together we can handle anything.”
Discord sniffled and wiped away a tear. “Friends...I'm so glad to have you,” he said, bringing the other four into a group hug. “So,” he said with an air of renewed confidence as he let them go, “how are we going to do this? I suppose we should form some sort of...,” he mulled over the word in his head, “plan, correct?”
“Not quite yet,” Spike said as he penned a letter on another piece of parchment. “First, we gotta tell Twilight what's happened.”
He finished the letter, and sent it off in a burst of dragonfire.