Several hours later, once the sun set, Twilight had been requested to return to her master's chambers, ready to depart and do as requested. This time, without her dragon, or any company, rather. As she trotted down the hallway with her brow furrowed in concentration, she frowned while approaching and stopping before her master's door.
No matter how much she would disagree with the demands or the outcome of such a plan, the pony would have no other choice than to follow. She knew the young heiress would be involved, which raised a few flags for her well being, but Twilight knew she would be able to keep him in line if necessary.
Well, she hoped.
If Discord ended up going too far, it wouldn't be the first time. She feared the idea of his plan being...frightfully successful, but such an outcome seemed impossible, seeing as every time he got close to his goal, he would lose his grasp on their monarchy.
But why exactly did he feel so compelled to claim the Butterfly Kingdom? He had his own monarchy, including an army of warriors that, regardless of choice, followed him and did his dirty work! He had everything, including a surplus of magical power that he had learned over the centuries of his existence.
Just what exactly did he...want? More power? More riches? A mare for each arm? Those answers didn't seem to fit. What would a being of Chaos want with physical means that he could conjure? Clearly, it was rooted further than that.
She shrugged. Everyone had their own intentions in the wars that sprung between the two kingdoms. She had no right to question him, seeing as her own dedication to the chaos king wasn't as it seemed.
While she seemed to follow the monster's orders, there was far more to it than that. Her purpose was hidden and her intentions shut away so that no pony could figure her out and get her killed. Nonetheless, it seemed that plenty of ponies had their eyes on her.
Their king, however, seemed oblivious.
Suddenly, the doors rapidly swung open as a cold talon roughly grabbed her hoof, eagerly pulling her into the darkened room. His nails slightly imprinted on her arm as he released her, urging an annoyed glare from the unicorn.
The talon, to no surprise, belonged to a draconequus who seemed oblivious to Twilight's displeasure of her handling. Once she was in the room, he snapped his fingers, causing the door to slam behind her and the darkness to clear.
"For a moment there, I had thought you ended up getting lost," the king greeted with his arms locked behind his back, gazing down towards his follower. "We couldn't have that, could we?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "With you changing the castle's layout every other day, would you be surprised if I had? It's not exactlyeasyto keep up with you."
The king chuckled. "Someone has to make things around herefun," Discord replied before continuing in a serious tone. "But my decor isn't the reason I brought you here, Twilight Sparkle. I have a specific set of...orders for you.I suggest you listen carefully."
Fluttershy's hooves were shaking as she fumbled to lock her room's door behind her. She had sped away the second Rarity had finished with her, ignoring the stylist's crys to stay as the pegasus desperately searched for a mirror to try and fix what the unicorn had done.
As soon as she heard the click of the door's lock, the mare dropped the key and rushed towards her room's vanity mirror with confusion and disbelief. The face that stared back at her made the heiress yelp in shock.
Her mane, though long and pure before, was now bubbly and poofy as it curled around her cheeks, ending right above her shoulders. It made the mare look even more youthful as it gave off a warm, inviting vibe. Yet, her eyes remained pure and somewhat-fearful, clashing with the hair and making her appear extremely elegant.
Her bangs were no longer a curtain to hide her large eyes, but amplified them as they gently rested straight across her forehead, their surface bouncy and curly. The natural pink hue made her eyes pop, allowing her features to seem more lively than ever before. While her tail remained long and flowed behind her, her mane was completely different.
If such a change were on another pony, Fluttershy would have happily compliment the wearer. But, on her, it only made her features and flaws visible for the world to see;
She couldn't hide.
A gentle knock on her door snapped the pegasus out of her panic as her head whipped towards the locked entrance. She sighed as she realized she had no reason to be cautious of who would see her like this. After all, the entire ballroom would likely comment on her sudden change of style in the following hours.
A servant cleared his throat before speaking. "My lady, the opening ceremony has begun. You're needed in the ballroom," the stallion requested before trotting away.
Fluttershy's eyes wandered back to the mirror before replying. "Oh, yes, yes! O-of course," she stammered, though her company was already gone. Her voice was hushed and on the brink of panic. "I'll...be right there."
"You're gonna doWHATexactly?!" Twilight boomed with clear displeasure.
The king rolled his eyes. "Must Ialwaysrepeat myself? I swear, you ponies reallydoneed to get your ears checked.
"It's a simple plan, really," he continued while gesturing to himself. "Disguising myself as a pony should get me behind their walls with ease. They won't question my intentions."
Twilight shook her head back into reality before glaring up at her king. "My earsaren'tthe problem! You just...justcan'texpect this to work, can you?"
Discord leaned back and grunted in annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah. I don't need your spiel about numbers and statistics, blah blah…howboring."He leaned towards the mare with an arched brow. "Really, Twilight, you should get out more," he hissed with a teasing undertone.
Twilight puffed her cheeks in annoyance. He was telling her to get out more? Sure, he was above her in every level: magic and power, but the way he talked to her always seemed to frustrate her, seeing as he never left the gates of his own territory! He had no right to talk down to her.
The draconequus shrugged nonchalantly as she didn't reply. "Altering one's appearance for a short time is a simple spell. I'm sure, out of all of the mares in Equestria, you would know that.
"Besides, getting a young mare to answer a question shouldn't be difficult for the King of Chaos himself. A little prying and toying around here and there, and she'll be in my palm."
Snapping his finger, a small, yellow pegasus appeared in his paw. The pony galloped around, smiling and looking at Twilight eagerly. Twilight's eyes widened as they locked with the mirage's. She knew the tiny pony was nothing more than a condensed figure of magic, but why did the eyes feel so...alive?
However, before Twilight could question anything, the king crushed it while it burst into a puff of smoke. A small cry echoed as he did so, resulting in Twilight's ears to fall flat.
Her eyes returned to her king's, though fear now lingered. "You're insane!No...no offense, of course, but do you really think she'll even do something so ridiculous? Who says she'll even dance withyou?The lights could easily land on another stallion."
"None taken. I think we've established that I'm not exactly consideredsane," Discord interrupted with a shrug and a wide smile. "But, that's whereyoucome into play, my dear! You're a key pawn in this match of ours, and I need you to be up to the challenge." He placed his paw around the unicorn as he held her close. "Manipulating light shouldn't be difficult for you! You'll just need to...alter Luna's spell. Easy peasy."
Twilight stiffened.
"Luna's spell?I thought that was an old pony's tale! You mean, it's-"
"Yes, yes, the cheesy,sickeningspell that determines fate." Discord nearly gagged while imagining how unbearable such an event was. Why did everything ponies do have to involve something so sweetly cliched?
"You won't be changing fate, of course! That's my job. You'll just give that little mare a reason to...dance with me."
Twilight eagerly ducked under his arm and got away from his grasp as he spoke. The mare took a large gasp of air as she realized how much he had been blocking her breathing.
She stood in place for a moment as all of this crashed down on her. She would need to...alter the moon's beam? Change a tradition with her own horn? A spell like that was difficult to maintain, so she understood why she had been called to do so. After all, no other mare had ever been nearly as magically gifted as she.
Discord himself could have done such a spell with as little as a glance towards the moon, but knew his magic needed to be reserved for his facade with the heiress. Changing how he would look would be simple, but keeping up with it would drain him of magic over the course of the night. He couldn't afford to reveal his true form before his act was up.
While Discord remained in thought. Twilight's ear twitched as a realization came to mind:she was a key pawn in his game, as he had stated earlier. Did she truly mean so much in this scheme? Was she expendable? Worthless? Surely not, seeing as he had asked her for her magical assistance.
She meant something in this. She was necessary.
The mare gulped as she came to a decision: for once in her life, she would make Discord reveal his cards.
In the meantime, the King rubbed his chin in thought as he silently discussed the subtle flaws in his plan. However, the mare before him furrowed her brow as she gazed upward at Discord, who now eagerly focused on the unicorn and awaited her agreement.
To his surprise, Twilight took a step forward, gazing up at her king with a large frown. He stared at her, while seeming openly confused as to what this burst of confidence would lead to.
"I can do what you wish, but under one condition," she stated in a curious, demanding manner. "You tell me exactly why you're doing this."