//------------------------------// // 25) A Farewell to Hooves // Story: Learning ABCs - Adorable, Bothersome, Chaotic // by Isopod //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle's whole body seemed to slam on something - oddly without pain - and she gasped. Her eyes shot open. She was standing. She was back on her balcony. The horizon was the only place in the sky that wasn't completely dark or covered in stars, marking the first signs of the Sun that would rise in a couple of hours. Time had passed. She was back. They were back. Though her body was tense and her head bothered by a sudden aching caused by all the commotion, the feeling of excitement she felt as she joined Discord into controlling his Chaotic self was still there. Headache and body tension were forgotten as quickly as they came. Even though she had no idea how would she go about the search, Twilight suddenly made her way down, deciding to look for the Spirit despite having the slightest about this whereabouts. It just wasn't a problem right then. Nothing was, she realized with a smile. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Discord reappeared back in the White Tail forest. The first thing he couldn't really help noticing was that his whole body felt like it was being pricked by countless needles. It prompted the draconequus to rapidly move, trying to locate the source of the awfully painful feeling, not realizing right away it was the effect of him having used his powers against himself. Sadly, he had forgotten he was on a tree, so he found himself tipping over and soon after, loudly crashed into the ground. "I'm OK, I'm OK!" He informed the non existent conversationalist before struggling to get his muzzle out of the hole it made in the ground upon the impact of the fall. Once he managed to get himself free, he shook his head violently. As if the impact with the ground helped, the awful feeling in his body finally started to fade away. "Much better." The Spirit was just standing idly, for a moment or two, regaining his composure. Then, knowing exactly what to do all along, he transported into Twilight Sparkle's library, right to the spot in front of the fireplace he came to love so dearly and though he wasn't absent for long, it felt as if he hadn't been here for years. Figuring she was in bed, he was about to fly up the stairs, when a purple blur descended from above at full speed and knocked him to the floor. All he could hear as his back hit the hard wooden floor was a surprised call for his name. Twilight had to quickly get off him to let him catch his breath, apologizing as she did. Moments passed as both of them just stared, not processing right away that they didn't need to look for each other anymore. Then Twilight squealed in joy, Discord yelped in delight, and they gave each other a firm hug, like two long lost old friends. They stayed like that for a long time. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "So basically, what you're saying," Twilight started to clarify for herself, "is that your conflicts were so strong and so heavy for your own well being, that they prompted a subconscious spell that sent both of us to your mind?" "Something along that scenario, yes." "But why me along with you?" "Several reasons, I believe." Discord yawned, "One was that you had to do with those conflicts in a lot of ways. But the main reason, I think, was that I needed a... ugh... a friend to help me subdue myself - even though I wasn't aware of that, apparently a subconscious part of me was. As my emotions ran wild, so did my power." "That makes sense... I think." Twilight shrugged, before drawing another sip of hot chocolate milk from her cup. The two had been sitting on front of the fireplace, wrapped in a fuzzy, warm blanket and discussing what had happened - Twilight had lots of questions considering it was a branch of magic she genuinely knew nothing of. The Spirit didn't seem to mind answering them, though. He summoned a whole pot of tea and some biscuits for them to munch on as they talked. Discord had explained to her that, since his powers of Chaos had ran a bit wild back then, she was sent to a small realm of her own, where, as he concluded by what Twilight had told him happened (naturally, she didn't tell him all about the dialogues she had with Pinkie), her own bonds to the Elements of Harmony were tested. "So what would've happened if I were to, uh... bow to the Chaos, as they asked?" Twilight chuckled before sipping her tea. "While I like to think that nothing I couldn't fix would occur, it is quite possible you'd become the new host to the Elements of Chaos." He casually said, never noticing Twilight choked on her tea. "It does seem to consider your magical skills enough to be able to carry the burden, so to speak. Furthermore, If it were to somehow subdue one of us, the other would be in quite the trouble... luckily, we make a great team." He pushed a fist into her shoulder lightly, misinterpreting her concerned grin for a genuine one. "But who knows, maybe you'd be 'twisted' the way you and your friends were during my last breakout. Seeing as my many powers were blocked while we wandered my rich fantasy-land, I would probably have to use some more 'mortal-ish' methods to help you." "Oh, like what?" Twilight asked as she foolishly took a another sip of tea from her cup. "Oh you know, cheesy stuff that appear in fairy tales and such, like um...," Discord span his finger in air, "Speeches of our wonderful growing friendship, or memories of good times we had, a true love's kiss, tears of regret..." Discord continued to count the ways, either ignoring or not noticing the baffled Twilight, who nearly spat out the contents of the cup. "... or perhaps the self sacrificing act that proves my devotion to magic of friendship, yadda, yadda, yadda, so on and so forth. The list is pretty much endless." The Spirit concluded and or a moment, all was silent. "... so, which method would you pick?" Twilight had absolutely no idea why she had asked that; she knew only that she was both strangely calm and nervous, both serene in Discord's vicinity and startled by it. She was aware of how challenging she made the question sound and all of a sudden became too painfully aware of it. Judging by Discord's strange look he gave her, he got her question loud and clear, as well as caught the change in her voice. The mare never had so much difficulty staring back into his eyes, and yet, she simply couldn't turn her head away. I am Twilight Sparkle, the honourary student of Celestia. I'm carrying and wielding one of the Elements of Harmony. I'm the student of Friendship. And I, on this day, flirted with my good friend and embodiment of Chaos. Suddenly heavily concerned about whatever had gotten into her right then, she swore to herself she wouldn't make the same mistake again, if only he were to completely miss her tone and start rambling on the pros and cons of different methods. No such luck. "... Whichever method is most comfortable with me, I suppose." Discord started off innocently enough, after a long pause. He took a moment to carefully comb through his small beard with his fingers. "That is, whichever method I would enjoy the most." He continued slyly, a wide, very wide smile spreading on his face. There was something in that smile she knew she wanted to see, to draw it out, to experience it, yet she was so frightened of it, so sickeningly excited about it. She wanted him to know, but then again... Once again, her mouth ran ahead of her thoughts and started talking against her will. "Which one would that be?" Shut up! Shut! Up! What is wrong with you!? This is not how you usually behave! What would your mother say if she saw you right now?! "Hmm, well, I'd probably have to think about it...," Much to her surprise, Discord expertly slid one of his arms around her in what she hoped was a friendly manner but what she wanted to be something more. She glanced at the eagle claw hanging over her shoulder nervously. The fingers were gently touching her, lazily making circle patterns in her coat and her eyes rose to meet his again, noticing with quite a discomfort he was still staring into her own eyes intensely... and from a distance far too short, a closeness that has already broken the private space she used to occupy by herself, "...but if I were to just-- blurt one out, you know, of the top of my head..." Twilight felt her heart lifting into her throat, bumping strongly, almost louder than his own voice that was so audible, so near. Discord's eyes stared straight into hers still, not leaving for a moment. He was so close. She knew she wouldn't be able to resist closing those few inches by herself any second now, "...it would probably have to be-" "Twilight? Is that Discord with you? He is back? Are you OK??" Twilight never felt more grateful and more furious for having the small dragon live with her. "Spike, did we wake you up?" She swiftly got up, feeling both the blanket and Discord's warm hand sliding off her. "Oh, Spike, we have so much to tell you!" "Twilight... it's five o'clock in the morning! couldn't you have kept it down for like, five more hours?" She gave him a deadpan look. "Well, since you're up already, we might as well start telling you." Twilight insisted despite Spike's groan, that clearly announced he was ready to go back to bed. Still, he was curious about what happened. Taking up a place between Discord and Twilight, he made himself comfortable before Twilight started talking. Twilight and Discord had told Spike everything, about Discord's growing powers, about their fight, about how he ran away and at last about their battle in the realm of Discord's mind. Spike just sat there and listened, mostly shocked to hear all of the ne ws. Twilight made sure to cover everything so the little dragon wouldn't have to crack his head with questions. By the time she finished her story, the first ray of Sun already peeked out on the horizon. "Wow... so you actually had your original powers all this time? And if you knew better you could at any time totally turn Ponyville into the chaos capital of Equestria once again?" "Right!" Discord replied cheerfully. Spike shook his head. "Twilight, you need to inform Princess Celestia of this! This is huge! I will go right now to make a reservation on the tickets--" "Slow down, Spike. We'll buy the tickets tomorrow. As well as for my friends. We'll all go to Canterlot and tell the Princesses of what happened - together!" Twilight gave him a smile. Spike's expression of excitement melted into a friendly smile as he nodded in understanding. "I see... Umm... do you guys want breakfast or something?" "Truly, you have a more important role these days than that!" "Role?" "Ah, forget it." Discord grumbled. Having gotten used to his strange ramblings, Twilight ignored it and nuzzled Spike. "It's alrightSpike, we're both very tired ourselves. Just go to sleep - in honor of this event, we'll have a day... or three, off from work." "Well. Don't mine me, then. Good night Twilight, 'Cord." Spike greeted before going up to return to his slumber. Twilight herself felt quite worn out, so she lied down, warmed by both the fuzzy blanket and thick rug beneath her. She smiled into it. "What are you so happy about?" She heard the Spirit ask. "Just... everything." Twilight smiled as she further snuggled into the rug. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind and she raised her head abruptly, drawing a confused look from the draconequus. "I-- I never apologized to you properly." "Oh, goodness." Discord chuckled. "What?" "It is all right. Dandy and fabulous. A-OK. Nothing to worry about." He pinched her cheek. She backed away with a frown. "But I still feel terrible about it. I mean you were so angry and... well, I assume, felt betrayed." Discord sighed. "Yes, I was quite, as you say, 'angry' but a draconequus of my greatness realizes that sometimes, just as pure Chaos means constant trouble, Harmony means doom." "Wait... what do you mean?" "Well, had you been honest with me back then, I'd either be free and producing Chaos or back in my statue-y form. And I have a feeling you wouldn't like either of those options, while I'd have quite a problem with the latter one." "Um... no I wouldn't. So what you're trying to say is--" "Life is a path full of mysteries, Twilight Sparkle." Discord said with seriousness he himself probably wasn't aware of. "Had there been only Harmony, with nothing to disrupt it, life wouldn't be worth living. Imagine a predictable existence, where you know exactly what and how and when everything will happen. It would be so--" "Boring." Twilight ended as realization hit her. The word he had been repeating the most ever since the day she first saw him dancing on her head on those colorful windows of Celestia'a palace. She looked over to him. "You had been present here... even while you were in stone; weren't you?" The draconequues laughed a mysterious laugh before he descended into the rug much like she did before and closed his eyes, offering his last words for the day before he'd drift off to sleep: "Chaos, like Harmony, is a natural force just as much as it is magical. Not easy to subdue, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight decided not to discuss that statement... she had no doubt in her mind that he was in fact telling it the way it was. So she returned back to snuggling the warm rug and felt the overall warmth putting her slowly to sleep - her skin may have been warmed by the blanket but she couldn't tell if her insides were so hot thanks to Discord's tea or something else. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The next day, Spike had immediately bought eight tickets for Ponyville Express and sent the Princesses a letter to inform them of their urgent arrival. The clock tower didn't even strike nine and all of them were already riding a train to Canterlot. Twilight didn't want to tell her friends right away what was the matter - in her words, she wanted it to be a surprise for when they all gather together - but she said it was an 'urgent happy occasion'. "So what is this important thing you two must tell us?" Fluttershy decided to try asking. Twilight was about to tell her it was a pleasant surprise, when Pinkie interrupted it with a guess. "Oh, oh, oh!" She raised her hoof as if she wanted to be given permission to speak, but spoke anyway with an excited, wild glint in her eyes: "Are you two finally getting married?" Discord arched one of his hairy eyebrows and Twilight let out a deadpan 'what?' while the rest of them just laughed - with the exception of Rarity who looked slightly mortified by the idea. "Oh, I gotta see that!" Applejack exclaimed as she wiped a tear from her eye, hardly catching her breath. Still giggling, Rainbow Dash went in for the most childish reaction she could have possibly though of. "Twilight an' Discord, sittin' in a tree~" "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Pinkie finished happily, clapping her hooves. Discord lowered his face into his palms in disbelief, muttering 'mares' into his hand. Despite the eventfulness of the ride and the jokes they continued to crack, traveling to Canterlot had never been so slow for all of them - even the Spirit, who always had something to entertain himself with and was hard to surprise or excite, was a bit silent in expectation. Just as the Sun reached its peak, they finally reached the capital of Equestria. The citizens gave them strange looks as they made their way to the palace. The surprised guards let the bearers of the Elements and the Lord of Chaos through the palace gates without a word, slightly startled by the unusual sight. Several guards inside nodded to them as they told them they were expected, gesturing for them to follow them. Soon, they were brought before what Twilight recognized as the door to Princess Celestia's chambers. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were both in there, sipping tea and awaiting their guests, when Discord barged into the room, prompting Luna to jerk and spill tea all over herself and the rug. He laughed loudly, stopping only when Applejack kicked him in the flank and mumbled 'show some respect' - she was obviously not familiar with Discord's behavior around the Princesses. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!" Twilight excitedly hopped to her mentor and affectionately pressed her cheek against her neck, a hug Celestia eagerly returned. Rarity still had the need to bow before her, even though such formalities were long since needless for them around the Princesses. "Celly, Lunny!" Discord, for reasons that were known only to him, threw a bunch of flower petals around the room as Celestia rolled her eyes, then pulled both of the royal sisters into a group hug and cried fake tears of happiness. Pressed somewhere into Celestia's fur, Luna let out an audible sigh and a chuckle. "Same old you, I see." Celestia noticed when he finally allowed them to get free of his crushing hug. "Not entirely. Did you know I can control the Sun and the Moon again?" "Very amusing, Discord." Celestia wisely smiled. The smile slid off her face in an instant when dracnequus clicked his finger and for several moments, day and night rapidly exchanged before returning to normal. Luna seemed quite surprised but didn't seem half as shocked as Celestia. "Well." "It's alright!" Twilight happily interrupted before Celestia had a chance to do anything. "Please, just sit back and relax - we have quite a story for you!" As elegantly as she could, Celestia sat down on a nearby cushion, eyeing Discord with quite a careful and observant eye. "We hear you two have a lot to tell us." Princess Luna finally started as she took a place next to Discord - he wasted no time in giving her an affectionate noogie that she didn't acknowledge as much as he had hoped. "You have no idea, Princess Luna!" Twilight laughed as she sat down and started the long story. She was regularly interrupted by Discord, who was more than eager to tell most of the story to still concerned Celestia - he seemed to enjoy in every surprised look she gave him and in every gasp Luna emitted as he got into it with so much joy that Twilight let him tell the rest. He put on quite a show as he used his magic to portray their little adventure with small replicas of himself and Twilight made of light and smoke. Once the final 'scene' of the story dispersed into nothingness , Discord looked around, with a look of an author expecting his first critics. A long, grave silence ruled the room. Rainbow Dash looked like she just received a marriage proposal from a Wonderbolt, her thoughts most likely at that moment made of such words as 'awesome' or 'fantastic' and Appejeck seemed to share her sentiment, though seeming perhaps a tad nit confused about the whole magic bit. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked genuinely happy about the situation, with sensitive Fluttershy even letting out a tear of happiness as they were done telling. Rarity looked just as much in shock as Celestia was. "I must admit," Celestia finally spoke, "I did not expect such a development. Definitely not so soon and definitely not of such..." She trailed of, but her meaning was clear. "I don't think anyone was." Rainbow Dash added blunty - once again, Applejack's hoof had something to say about the matter, thanks to her friend's bluntness. "Well, I am sitting in the same room with the Lord of Chaos, without having to worry about Equestria crumbling over us... it is something I'll hardly get used to but I can promise I'll try." Celestia finally gave way to a smile. Next to her, Luna simply looked content. It was hard to read what she had in her mind. "Indeed, I gave Celly enough trouble back when she was young." Discord sneered. "I might use this to my advantage. It'll be so much fun to stress you out everyday." "Oh stop it, you." Twilight scolded him cheerfully. The two laughed. Pretty much everypony in the room gave them a weird look. "You two resemble an pair of very old friends." Celestia noticed, a hint of pride in her voice. "I can not even express my amazement, with both of you. To think that Discord, our ages old enemy agreed it was time for truce... to think my student successfully showed him why it is worth it... I couldn't be more proud of you two." She gave them a soft smile. Twilight looked as flattered as any time Celestia would say something like that, while Discord simply rolled his eyes - he himself though, had trouble with keeping the happy smile off his face. "So, my protegé, do you have a friendship report for me?" Celestia suddenly asked. Twilight at first blinked, then thought about it for a short moment of two and smiled. "Dear Princess Celestia..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It was already night when mostly empty Ponyville Express rushed back towards its home with six ponies and a draconequus sharing a wagon, most of them either sleeping or about to fall victim to the land of dreams. The rest of the visit to Princess Celestia was mostly spent in celebrating - Celestia decided they should all stay for dinner and Pinkie Pie deemed it a perfect opportunity for a party, thus starting the wackiest party inside of royal castle of Canterlot that was crashed by few guards and a few of royal advisers - apparently, partying hard was something they were new to and they found themselves absolutely loving it. Twilight was still awake, though. Despite the overall awesomeness of the day, her mind was running and she couldn't stop thinking about the future with a heavy heart. Looking over to the sleeping draconequus, who found it very comfortable to sleep upside down on the train seat, she wondered what was he going to do now. His number one purpose when staying with her was simply to learn. Like he did all this time, slowly, day by day. So what to do with all the knowledge he gained? Deep inside, the selfishly attached side of herself, wanted him to stay with her in her library. For the most part he didn't really enjoy books and she figured he definitely wouldn't find much else of interest in the library, Twilight had no idea what he would do but she knew that one thing - she wanted him to stay. The rational side of her knew better. "I am going to miss you so much, aren't I?" Twilight she wondered aloud with a heavy sigh. She was happy to have gotten that out though. Oh well, Twilight decided as she too, closed her eyes, hoping to get some sleep, we had some wonderful time together... a few months? Was it only a few months? Goodness... feels like years... and years... Twilight drifted off into a light nap filled with pages and pages of her poorly filled diary, all of them dated the same, to that long, practically forgotten day when she wrote those silly, filly-aged words into her diary. Those stupid words she never knew would one day mean so much more. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life was pretty much... well, perfect from that day on, for everypony. Discord enjoyed his now full array of powers, occasionally bringing back the old tricks such as cotton candy storms (he called it an upgrade) and sometimes not being able to help himself but to do something on a more "menacing" scale; in the end however, he'd always make things right again, thus not really bothering anypony. More than anything, he seemed to have enjoyed 'decorating' Ponyville with weird things; like over sized, huge flowers that showered upon Ponyville with colorful bubbles or turning the fountain water into green colored soda and clogging it so for the whole day ponies would walk around with sticky hooves. Sometimes he'd run a little overboard and do things. Like turning most of the little town into a huge amusement park for one whole day. While it did get in the way of most ponies' jobs, those same ponies decided to take a day off upon seeing the perks of it. He was asked, however, by many of the citizens, not to do that too often, as it would interfere with their chores too much. The good part was seeing the draconequus agree, rather than turning them into inanimate objects. Every single evening, though, Discord would settle down - somewhat - and to Twilight's surprise, read a book. They all had to do, as she noticed, with either history or geography. He never read them too long, only checking a few interesting chapters or facts he was curious about. Twilight wondered what was that reading all about... until today. "Twilight?" "Hmm?" "I think I'll be leaving your lovely home soon." After a few seconds, which was how long it took her to register his words, Twilight lifted the head out of her book. The Spirit stared at her a bit excited, like he just realized what his true call in life was. "Leave?" She repeated. "What for?" "To travel." The draconequus excitedly announced. "Meet the world while it is not under my chaotic influence. Meet the ponies from all over. Perhaps find a random draconequus nest as I do and visit others like me - though I'm fairly sure none of them are as amusing." The draconequus playfully noted. "I just know there's a whole new world waiting to be discovered out there, someplace where nopony has ever even stepped close to; and who better to do that but me! After all, I can't simply dilly dally all my eternal life in your library, now can I?" He snickered. "I have at least one thousand years of catching up to do!" "You're absolutely right! You should definitely do it! I'm so happy you found something you want to do!" Twilight beamed at him. "Really? You think so?" Discord looked even more excited than before. "Definitely!" Twilight said, firmly believing it was something the draconequus needed to do - he was a curious, hyper creature, after all. If he was so interested in the outside world, she believed there was nopony better equipped not mentally prepared to do so. "Learning is the mother of good ideas, and if you want to learn of the world, what better way but to explore it yourself." "Yes, well, I never actually traveled around with a purpose - well purpose other than to bring chaos wherever I can. I think it's exactly what one needs after this long and so many changes." Twilight suddenly grew much too excited for him, as if seeing the world through his knowledgable eyes. "You'll see the world you never got to see before." She whispered. "In fact, how about we celebrate this in the evening, with a nice, big dinner? You could go on your journey tomorrow right away, if you should want so! I'll even provide you with my own map! Though," she gave him a stern look, "treat it carefully, it took me ages to make it." "... you're way too nice about this." "It's what friends do, you silly." Twilight couldn't hold it in. She should've known she couldn't. With the last restrain of hers disappearing, she cried. But she didn't wail or cry out, yell or even try to hide her tears. It was just a few small tears, pourng out, and though she was quick to dry them and even quicker to get it together, it was all the cues the Spirited needed, and he picked her up into a gentle hug. Just as their reunion after their adventure in realm of Discord's mind was followed by a long lasting hug as they expressed their joy over the happy ending they came to, the two had shared a heart ripping moment as they decided it was the time to say goodbye. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ That evening, Twilight, with help of Spike, prepared dinner for all them and their friends, all of whom were to some degree disappointed at the news of his departure. To hear she prepared food, even with help, was close to a miracle for everyone present; especially Discord, eho enjoyed her meal much more than he would summoning his own. They all stayed up long into the night, giving Spirit the last of their thoughts and words of fondness but Spike seemed to have specifically won him over when he gave his reason for why he didn't want him to leave: "I dunno. I guess... You just feel like family at this point, really." Rarity had melted on the spot. Even when everypony left and Spike went to sleep, Discord and Twilight were awake for a bigger part of night; just talking and peacefully playing Chess Mess. While it was as confusing, messy and fun as it was before, none of them were acting too amused about the game. Twilight wasn't sure since when did she have so much to talk about with him but now that he was leaving, it seemed as if they just couldn't run out of things to talk about. Judging by the fact he never once seemed bored during the course of evening, she took it as a sign that he too didn't mind spending their last evening together like that. It meant a world to her. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Twilight felt a fuzzy, big lion paw shaking her gently. She didn't want to wake up. Not yet. Well, not until he shook her again. The feeling of that soft paw was so nice and familiar. As he shook her again, Twilight finally gave in and yawned. "Is it morning already?" She groaned and he chuckled. "Indeed!" Discord grinned. "Time to hit the road!" "... you'll be flying and/or transporting." Twilight noted. "Well, you know what I mean." He grinned. While Twilight went up to the bathroom to make herself presentable, Discord summoned them a modest breakfast, like he knew she wasn't too hungry that early morning. Afterwards, they climbed up to the balcony. Breathing in deeply, Discord opened the window and observed the world he was about to fly off into. Everything was covered in a thin layer of snow and it sparkled beautifully in the sunrise. The excitement on his face was obvious. "Well, it's time." Twilight made an obvious statement. He didn't linger on it, though. "Sure is." Twilight paused. "Well... have a nice trip, I guess? Don't be a stranger." She laughed, knowing he was going to be gone for a long time. "Come on, it'll be, what...a few months before we see each other? I mean, I do have a lot of exploring to do." "True - Equestria itself is rather big; I can't even imagine what miracles you might find beyond these lands. Even you'll have to travel for quite a while before reaching its borders." "Indeed. Well, how about we make a compromise; as soon as I start missing you guys so much that it becomes unbearable, I'm coming back. Sounds good?" "Sounds great!" She confirmed. Twilight wasn't sure whether to say it or not but she found herself speaking anyway: "...we will miss you, you know. We all will." "Ah. Well, while I am not the one for cheesy moments, this old draconequus here is friendly enough to admit he will miss you all as well." He probably wasn't used to be being missed, she figured. "That's so sweet of you. Too bad everypony else is still asleep, they would probably love to bid you goodbye. Especially Pinkie Pie." "I am not one for tear-jerking goodbyes, really; so I prefer it this way, if you don't mind." The two fell silent and stared each other in awkward silence; even Discord looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well!" He suddenly chirped, "I'll see you around, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you... for everything." He vaguely gestured around but Twilight knew what it meant - for welcoming him here, for being his friend. For accepting him. "I... thank you as well." "Me?" The draconequus let out a shaky laugh. "For what? What in the world did I do?" "For being a good friend and a good person." "A good pers-- now you're totally overdoing it." He waved his mismatched hands at her dismissively. Twilight remained stubborn. "I mean every word of it." He laughed once again. "Well, thank you, again. I just don't seem to be leaving, am I?" A snicker. "Not yet, no." "... Alright, I am ready now. For real this time." "Alright. Take care, Discord." "See you later, Egghead." The two shared another short hug, before he climbed the balcony fencesill and flew over the Ponyville and towards the tops of the trees of White Tail forest. In the early morning, on a particularly sunny day, Discord had left Twilight Sparkle alone in her library to explore the world. Surprising herself, Twilight didn't shed any tears anymore. If anything, she was happy. Her friend and not-so-undefined-crush-anymore was off to do something he never even knew he wanted to do. Perhaps he was even going to make a dream or two come true on his journey. Who was Twilight to say that she wasn't glad for him? Heck if he didn't leave by himself despite his want to discover the world, she would kick him out if necessary! After all, she figured with a grin, that's what friends are for.