After the fiasco with Nightmare Moon, The group seemed to be discussing something when Trixie came out of the school. She didn’t bother asking them what it was, seeing as Maestro came out soon after, and asked anyway. “So, what are you guys discussing?”
Rarity spoke first. “We were just talking about what our next move will be. Any closer to figuring out where Chessmaster went off to?”
Maestro nodded. “With a fresh sample, one that is far less encrypted than the first, I’ve narrowed down his location to near the airport. I’m going to go scout the area, if anyone wants to come along.”
Trixie responded first. “Trixie’ll go with you.” she sauntered a bit closer to him, earning her a slightly distraught Maestro, albeit not so distraught for others to notice. She inwardly grinned. So that “certain anthro” Trixie overheard about… Could it be her? She seemed pleased at the thought. She must admit Maestro’s very… alluring. She noticed that Maestro looked into her eyes, and he seemed a bit more uncomfortable. Could it be he somehow knows what Trixie’s thinking? She shook her head. That’s ridiculous!
The others, however, had vastly different responses.
Ashley said she was needed on the farm, and couldn’t come.
Janice and Servo both said that they wanted to go someplace to experiment with their magic.
Fluttershy muttered something about helping out at the animal shelter.
Rarity said that she needed time to think up some designs for her new wardrobe.
Rainbow said that she was curious if she could move clouds, and sped off.
Pinkie spoke so fast that Trixie could barely make out that she was needed at a bakery.
Twilight shook her head. “As much as I’d like to come, I have other priorities.”
Maestro sighed. “I see…” He then composed himself. “Well, there might be somebody you’ll need to meet soon anyway. An anthro of a soldier, if I recall. Don’t know when you’ll meet, but it should be relatively soon.” He then left with Trixie to the airport, leaving Twilight a bit befuddled.
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When they reached the airport, Maestro cut off whatever Trixie was going to say. “Think you have me figured out, don’t you?” He turned to face her, an unamused look on his face. “Well, let me just tell you a little something: You don’t.” He turned away, and started walking. His horn was glowing, and Trixie was certain that it was for some kind of analysis spell. “Just help me look around, and no funny business. Capiche?”
They walked in silence for a while, until Trixie could no longer stand it, and she spoke. “So, why are you acting so… cold all of a sudden? Don’t you…”
Maestro huffed, cutting her off. “Look. Those feelings aren’t mine. They belong to some other Maestro in some other reality and are for some other Trixie. They just don’t fit. That’s the other reason I came here for. Discord can help me sort out this nonsense, and hopefully things’ll be… normal. We could be friends. Just… bear with me for now, until I can get this nonsense sorted out.”
The awkward silence returned, until they returned to where they started. Maestro sighed. “It seems we can’t get a clear read on it just yet. Just as well. We’ve no true plan of attack anyway.” He then went up to a nondescript door, and knocked. It opened, and he called inside. “Hey D? It’s me, Maestro. I want to talk to you about something.”
A jovial voice called from inside. “Oh! Do come on in. I’d love some company at the moment.”
As Trixie started to follow, Maestro held up a hand. “Do you mind waiting out here? It’s kind of personal.” Trixie huffed, but didn’t object. Maestro disappeared inside. However, Trixie’s curiosity got the better of her, and she followed him inside. The first thing that hit her was how strange this place was. Then she reasoned that Discord had probably twisted its features for it to feel more “homey.” She soon reached the room where Maestro had entered. She peered inside, and gasped at what she saw. Indeed, the person before Maestro was Discord, looking exactly like he had in the show. She then picked up on the conversation, which Discord started.
“So! Something is troubling you?”
Maestro sighed. “That’s putting it mildly.”
Discord snapped his fingers, summoning forth a notepad and pen. “Oh? Do tell.”
Maestro pulled a hand through his hair, and started to explain. “Recently, I’ve started having… visions. They seem to be from the perspective of the original Maestro, the one from the Equestria this world is connected to. But that’s not all. His… feelings for a certain mare have started to also surface, forcing itself upon me. Tell me, is this some kind of side effect?”
Discord shook his head after a quick once-over of Maestro’s person. “As much as I would love to take credit for this little chaotic episode of yours, I cannot. The true reason this is happening is because Maestro, the one from Equestria, is trying to connect to you.”
Maestro seemed puzzled. “Why? Why is it only me that’s going through this?”
Discord hummed in thought. “Maestro, no matter which reality he inhabits, tends to like to keep tabs on his alternate selves. Of course, there are a few versions of him that seem oblivious to the multiverse, especially ones that haven’t reached his level of fame, or haven’t even taken up the mantle of Maestro.”
Maestro raised an eyebrow. “So what, he wants to talk to me?”
Discord chuckled. “I suppose you could say that, yes. I believe the feelings rubbing off on you was an unintentional side effect of his spell.” He readied to snap his claw. “I suppose you want me to remove them?”
Maestro nodded. “These feelings of his only stand to confuse me. I’d rather only have to deal with my own feelings, thank you.”
Discord snapped, and Maestro seemed to relax, as if an unseen weight had been removed. Discord spoke. “There you go. No confusing feelings of some other version of yourself. Now, can you tell me why you didn’t want them to integrate into you?”
Maestro sighed. “I just felt a tad too awkward around my friends, Trixie especially. The whole ‘used to be a guy’ thing among the majority of them makes it hard enough to be around them. Those feelings only stood to complicate things.”
Discord nodded. “Right, I completely understand. It doesn’t mean it would’ve been bad to keep them, though.”
Maestro scoffed. “Of course you’d think that.” He turned toward the door. “Thanks for your help, D.”
But, before he left, Discord spoke. “Oh, one more thing.” Maestro looked back at Discord, and motioned for him to continue. “Your friend, Jozhir, he’s wrong about the whole ‘humans going extinct’ bit. He’s just looking at the DNA the wrong way.”
Maestro seemed intrigued. “How so?”
Discord chuckled. “He’s coming at it with a mind of science, and not coming at it from a magical perspective. After all, the DNA of a anthro is laced with magic.”
Maestro realized something. “So you’re saying that he’d need to anthrofy to see the reason why it works the way it does? But, that still doesn’t answer how he’s wrong.”
Discord smirked. “Well, I’m in contact with someone that has seen many futures. In all the ones where all the current residents of your planet become anthros, the relationships between two anthros of opposite genders will ‘produce’ a human child about half the time.” He huffed, and continued. “Though he wouldn’t tell me what they discovered about the spell to make it act like that. Said something about ‘spoilers.’”
Maestro sighed. “I think I know who you’re talking about. Anyway, thanks for the help.” As Maestro reached the door, Trixie bolted out of there before she could be spotted.