Duties

by Hiver


Chapter 38

Opening my eyes, I yawned and stretched before rolling out of the guest bed and stretching my wings as well.

We had all stayed up late last night, mostly talking.

Both about us and of course about the griffons. Unsurprisingly Sparks wanted to know everything.

I’m actually surprised I didn’t hear much after Twi and ‘kitten’ went to bed. But their dream portals didn’t appear until late so I very much suspected more than cuddling went on.

Grinning to myself at that idea, I started down the stairs, keeping quiet. Not that Luna and I didn’t spend most of the time in similar activities. In the dream realm, of course.

I moved carefully, not wanting to wake either of them.

Now for the real goal… tea!

Heading for the kitchen, I quickly brewed myself a cup of black tea I found in one of the cupboards. Sparks wasn’t much of tea pony so she didn’t have much variety home.

We were going to stay here for a couple of days and then all head to Canterlot for Hearth’s Warming so that meant I needed to go find a source of tea. Rarity should have a source, I needed to visit her anyway to find a present for Luna. Kind of short of time this time around which I kind of felt bad about, but things had been a bit hectic.

As I poured my cup, I headed out into the main room, the library. Grinning, I looked around. There are some massive pros to living in a library!

Smiling to myself, I walked among the shelves until I found a copy of the latest Daring Do book before heading to light the fireplace with a spark of magic.

“I don’t understand, how do you do it?” a sudden voice asked behind me. I give changelings all the credit for me not jumping and screaming like a little filly, after years with them I’m basically immune to jumpscares. Seriously, my tea didn’t even spill.

I turned to look at the mismatching pile of parts in the general shape of an elongated eastern dragon laying across the back of one of the armchairs, “What do you want, Discord?”

He looked at me before he slipped down from the chair, “I’m curious. You are spread chaos, yet they love you. Why?”

I blinked at him, “Chaos?” I asked before I frowned and glanced down at my tea.

Maybe should have asked before picking something from Sparks kitchen to drink. For all I knew, this was ‘special’ tea from some experiment or whatever.

Discord shifted, flowing to peer at me from centimetres away, “I’m a being of Chaos, you shine of it. You always have. You Change Things.”

I frowned at him as I sat down, sipping my maybe tea, maybe something else as I looked at him. He didn’t seem here to cause trouble, at least not intentionally, so I wasn’t about to antagonize the most omnipotent being around just because I didn’t like him.

“…You’re talking about the timestream,” I finally said as the maybe caffeine got my brain in the game, “Me arriving in Equestria changed things in unpredictable manners.”

Discord disappeared in a flash before reappearing again, this time with his arm around my shoulders, “Indeed, my prime primate. You were not meant to be here. I can feel the world changing, has changed.”

I glanced at him, “Without me, Tirek would have won. I hope you realize that he would have betrayed you in the end. Equestria, the rest of the world would have been his playground.”

Shrugging, Discord shifted back, “Perhaps. Wanna find out?”

“Not particularly, no,” I admitted.

Discord laughed and floated into the air, “But I do! And I know how! Something is coming, and it can show you.”

With that he snapped his fingers. The air in the middle of the open space in the middle of the library started to shimmer before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Oh fuck.

Setting the cup down, I readied myself, “Sparks! Sunny! Get your tails down here!” I yelled quickly.

There was a snap of displaced air and suddenly there was a massive round crystal table sitting there on the floor, tall enough to reach my neck and maybe four pony lengths across.

I blinked in surprise.

What?

What did a crystal table have to do with me not being in the timeline? Why did he… what did any of this have anything to do with me spreading chaos?

Frowning to myself, I slowly approached the table.

This didn’t make any…

Suddenly the air above the table crackled, a blue portal snapping open. I quickly took a step back and charged my horn as I spread my wings, ready to throw myself out of the way of any danger.

The portal stabilized and out fell…

Twilight Sparkle and Spike.

I blinked in surprise. The Twlight on the table rubbed her eyes and sat up before startling when she spotted me, “Wha…” she started to say.

Amber jumped in front of me, wings buzzing as she hovered, “Sir, get ba…”

That’s about as far as she got before the alicorn on the table screamed and cast a spell. Amber threw up a green shield, but it was like tissue-paper against a firehose.

Before I could reach, the beam of force smashed Amber backwards and into and through the closest bookshelf.

Motherfucker!

Casting myself to the side, I spun illusions in all directions before returning fire with a spear of ice.

Dupli!Twilight scrambled and shielded before throwing another spear of force towards one of my illusions.

The fight was on, spells going all over the place and I did my absolute best to not be where those spells hit. She was strong, as strong as the real one. But worse, she didn’t have Sparks training.

Ice spell towards the left, she’ll shield and then…

I charged a teleport, teleporting onto the table before throwing myself forward, tackling her as she reappeared from her teleport and I quickly hit her with my strongest sleep spell.

She threw it off like nothing, sending me flying with a shockwave of force and I hit the closest bookshelf, knocking it over.

Ow.

Okay, that’s it.

I started to pick myself off the bookshelf, spreading my wings for balance.

No more mister nice pony.

“WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON HERE!?” Sparks yelled as she charged down the stairs, Sunset close behind her.

Dupli!Twilight paused and picked herself off the floor, looking between us all, “What?”