//------------------------------// // The 6th - Chapter 4 : Discord // Story: Destiny : Twilight Voidwalker - The Misadventures // by BackroundVoice //------------------------------// Discord stretched like a cat waking up from a nap. Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack seemed to be a little on edge at the appearance of this being from legends past. Except they looked a bit annoyed that he was here as well. Twilight had told me a little of what her life was like before the golden age. In that time, she and Discord were once great friends. But after seeing him for myself, I can only sense the worst of intentions coming from his wily grin. However, such warnings were not felt by Twilight, as she jumped up and hugged him tightly. "Discord!" she cried out, refusing to let go. Discord was surprised and taken aback from such affection. But even that didn't stop him from smiling and patting her head, eventually leading into a heartfelt hug. "What are you doing here? Wait, how did you get into the Tower?" Twilight asked. And such good questions required good explanations. "Why, I've been here the whole time, Twilight!" Discord said. And then a thought crossed our minds. "You were under the hood of the Jumpship... The entire time!?" Twilight shouted. "Of course!" I said, remembering something very important. "That time we first traveled to the city, I saw words written on the icy fog of the Jumpship's window, just after Twilight had mentioned Discord! It was you!" I said, gesturing to Discord. Twilight looked at me with a puzzled expression. "When were you going to tell me about that?" Twilight questioned. "I- I thought I was seeing things!" I said. Honestly, I did. And then Discord let out a hearty laugh. "Oh! That's priceless!" Discord started the roll onto the ground, completely lost in hilarity as the rest of us stepped back and discussed things. "This is weird," Rainbow Dash said. "It's been a really long time since we all started coming back... Why did he come back now of all times?" All of us thought the same thing, what connection was there? "I think the answer rhymes with, flashlight..." Narrator, Dash's ghost said. We all turned to Twilight. She never was the one that liked too much attention. Twilight avoided eye contact from everyone. No one could deny it, things haven't been the same since Twilight Sparkle came back from the dead. It was technically our fault that the Devils attacked the city in the first place, following our slow Jumpship here and preparing for an attack. And since then the tower has been all up in talk about the princess of friendship's return. So, of course, Narrator had grounds for saying that. But I had a feeling that wasn't the case with Discord. "Are you talking about little old me?" Discord said, slivering around each of our guardian's necks. Rainbow Dash's skin crawled as he moved through them all until he had moved to the middle of us. "Because as much as I'd love to talk about the great and powerful me and catch up on old times, I have a mission for all of you." "What kind of mission?" Twilight began to say, but then Rainbow Dash pushed Discord out of the circle, flying up to his face with a glare. "You got some nerve showing your face around here after everything that's happened!" Dash said. "Rainbow!" Twilight called out. "No, Twilight! He has some explaining to do." Rainbow crossed her hooves. Apple Jack didn't seem that against Dash's reasons, even if she was being a little rude. Twilight on the other hoof flew in between Dash and Discord, halting the interrogation. "Get out of the way, Twilight!" "No!" Twilight said, "Discord hasn't done anything wrong!" "Ha! I'm sure..." Dash remarked. Her sarcasm that she slipped in agitated my guardian. "Twilight," Discord said suddenly, "It's true I have some explaining to do... But not right now." "For Fluttershy's sake, you do!" Dash stated. Discord quickly grabbed Dash by the scarf, scowling. "Don't... Say her name...!" Discord growled, pulling Dash closer with a hurt expression. Twilight and Apple Jack looked at Discord. I remember that Twilight told me of very few times Discord would get angry. Clearly, this Fluttershy was a touchy subject for every pony at the time. Discord quickly softened his expressing and let go of Dash. Then we all started to calm down and Rainbow apologized. "I'm sorry..." Dash said. Straitening her scarf with her eyes fixed on the ground. Discord looked over at Twilight. "I may not be the best friend you all have had, but I'm here now... And so are the others." But those words he said begged a question. "Others?" Twilight asked as if she already knew the answer. "Good old Rarity and Pinkie Pie." He said. Twilight's heart started to pound with excitement and she was about to turn and leave to find them, but one look at the others and she figured it would be best to resolve any problems here first. "Go on Twi," Apple Jack told her, "We'll be fine right here." "Yes, I'll explain the mission to you and the others when you get back." Discord said. "Along with everything else..." Rainbow Dash mumbled. And with that said, Twilight leaped into the air, her wings gliding her over to the next set of stairs on the corner in front of us. She galloped up that set and turned left down the hall leading back out to the plaza. And when she finally reached that center plateau of the tower, she saw them. Instantly spotting a pink armored titan and a pale coated hunter off by the vaults, chatting. She couldn't believe her eyes as she stood there watching them. "Are you going to talk to them?" I asked her. "W- What do I say?" She asked. That question just seemed silly to me. "Wait here," I said. I heard Twilight call me back, but I didn't listen. I floated up to the two ponies. Both of them looked to me with warm expressions as I said, "Hello, guardians." "Hiya, Ghost!" Pinkie Pie, the party titan greeted cheerfully. "Good afternoon, Ghost," Rarity, the blade dancer politely addressed me. It still surprised me to learn just how many ponies Twilight knew back when she was alive. I personally got to know both Rarity and Pinkie when they first arrived at the tower. Both of them I remember came here one after the other. Like with most folks who were chosen by the Traveler's light, they quickly got the hang of things as they not only took part in their assigned patrols but also gained fame in the crucible. Both were highly ranked and dedicated to the light's survival. Two ponies that I was glad to be allied with. "Did you hear? I got a guardian!" I told them. They both cheered at that but stopped as they remembered something. "That's all wonderful darling," Rarity said, "But right now we're looking for a friend of ours. You wouldn't have happened to see a tall alicorn around have you?" "I have, actually," "Really, where!?" Pinkie Pie pushed Rarity aside. And I just moved aside and they saw for themselves. I could tell from over here that Twilight was telling herself not to cry. Her efforts, of course, were in vain, as she stood there looking at Rarity and Pinkie with a forced smile. Eventually, she couldn't stand it anymore, and... Teleported, to us. Hugging her old friends to the ground. Pinkie Pie burst into tears as Rarity desperately refused to cry, but cracked under the pressure anyway, all of them were bawling for a good minute or two. Then came the smiles, like any good reunion. "It's so good to see you!" Twilight said before Pinkie Pie clung to her again, tears streaming out her eyes like geysers. "Likewise, Twilight... Likewise," Rarity said, shedding one last tear. "So what have you been doing all this time? Dash and AJ have been keeping me up to date on where you two have been! Pinkie, you were just on Mars and Rarity, you were on Venus! So, what were you doing there?" Twilight just wanted to keep hearing stories from her friends. And as much as they would've loved to, both of them looked Twilight in the eye and asked simply. "Where were you?" But as quickly as they said it, they realized that that question had more than one answer. "W- Where was I?" Twilight stuttered. She started thinking. Over thinking. I should've been here sooner, I should've been here to help... I imagined enough, was what she was thinking. Twilight started to grip her upper left arm with her hoof, squeezing it tightly as she bit her lip. There was a feeling regret within her. And I only noticed it after her friends started saying her name with no response. "She was just in Ponyville," I said, as Twilight snapped out of her stupor of thought. "I found her near the town hall. And we escaped with her trusty Khvostov!" I then queued Twilight to pull out her gun. And suddenly things became normal. Twilight posed her gun in the air as though it was the pride of her guardianship and the others laughed at how old it was. Now content with the answer I gave them. For a long time, I had known these guardians, Apple Jack and Rainbow included. As a group that went on more patrols than any in the past couple decades. Searching high and low for something. I had run into them a few times before, only in passing as I looked for my own guardian. Little did I know we were looking for the same thing. Twilight. Now, the search was over. Now was a time for enjoyment, sharing stories and showing off their gear. And as they did so, I spotted Lord Spike approach from behind Rarity and Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie!" He called out with his deep voice. Twilight and Pinkie both turned to him with interest. However, Rarity looked away with little on her mind but anger. "I've got a new assignment for you, an energy reading, the moon. You think you could check it out for me?" Spike asked. "Okie-Doki-Loki!" Pinkie Pie saluted. Taking the piece of paper from his claw, now reading it over. And at this time Rarity glanced at Spike, her eyes were cold as Lord Spike met her gaze. "Milord," "Guardian," They addressed each other. Lord Spike made one look at Twilight and I and waved. We waved back, and he left to return to his post in the hall of guardians. And watching him leave got us thinking about something we forgot. "The hanger bay!" Twilight and I shouted, suddenly. "What is the matter with the hanger bay, darling?" Rarity asked in a fright. "Discord's back!" Twilight said. And both the Titan and the Hunter gave my guardian a tired look. "We know darling," Rarity said, taking a brush out of her pack to pamper her hair. Pinkie just took the paperwork and used it as a tissue. Their sour expressions told us flat out that they didn't want to see him. "You... Don't seem excited." Twilight pointed out. "That's because he ruined my beauty sleep!" Rarity complained, "I had just fortified the perfect spot to rest, but one 'Hey Rarity! Head to the tower with Pinkie Pie,' and the obnoxious volume of his voice shook it apart and alerted every goblin and harpy to my location!" "Ditto," Pinkie said, "He scared me off a cliff..." There was nothing more to really say after hearing that. Discord was one odd character, his creativity alone makes me both worried and excited to further a relationship with him. Of course, some restraint should be expressed in order for him to stay at the tower. That is if he plans to stay. "Come on, you two!" Twilight said as she tugged Pinkie and Rarity along to the hanger bay. My guardian moved on ahead with her friends trailing close behind. No words were exchanged as we walked, but I could tell from Pinkie and Rarity's smiles, that they couldn't be happier that Twilight had returned. Discord looked our way and waved for us to come up to Derpy's workspace, although, Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack were nowhere to be seen from over here. We all thought it strange. "Where are the others?" Twilight asked Discord as we climbed up the stairs to meet him, but no real answer was given besides the obvious. Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash laid motionless on the floor with Discord frowning over them. "What did you do!?" Twilight and the others gasped. "They weren't cooperating..." he answered, clapping his claws together. And when he did, a ripple of magic hit us all. Nothing drastic happened at first, but after Rarity fell over and then Pinkie, Twilight and I both realized that the spell was meant to make us sleep. Twilight hadn't the energy to cast a counter spell, and I too saw only darkness as my eye shut. Forced by Discord's magic.