//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Two Tickets to the Show // Story: Hate Me // by Vynce //------------------------------// “Discord?” Celestia asked, staring at him. He hadn’t moved since he picked up Applejack, none of them were aware of how the interrogation worked, they could neither see nor hear anything taking place inside of the spell zone. To them there was just a still draconequus holding up a frozen mare. Wake up, Discord. “Discord, are you alright?” she repeated. You picked a pretty stupid time to freeze up. I’ll give you a countdown before I salvage the situation for you, because I’m such a nice friend. 3... “Can you hear me?” her tone began to seep with traces of fear. None of the mares in the room had any idea what was happening with him. 2... The noise was beginning to overwhelm him in his shocked state. He struggled to recollect his thoughts, the confession from Applejack just moments before had shaken him greatly. 1... You brought this on yourse- “I’m fine, Celestia.” Discord forced a smile, he was beginning to miss the comforts of his prison right about now. “Better yet, I’ve got a plan.” And you can’t tell her what it is. I’ll think of something. Discord set Applejack down on the floor gently, before patting her on the head and commending her for her obedience like some form of pet. He turned up to Celestia, who was watching him expectantly. Think of it fast. “Well, Celestia,” his playful tone began to return as his mind settled. “It seems your student has been keeping secrets from you.” “How so?” her curiosity showed no signs of anger, she knew Twilight would do not lie to the princess. She would never betray her mentor... would she? Discord laughed loudly for a moment before regaining his composure, pretending to straighten a tie that wasn’t there and clearing his throat. “Just watch.” Discord walked over to the side of the room and grabbed a book that was resting on the floor near a shelf. He then walked over to the stairs that lead to Twilight’s room above. “Wait here,” he said as he began to ascend the steps and disappeared around the corner. “I wonder what all THAT was about?” Pinkie Pie blurted out, offending the silence that had veiled the room with Discord’s absence. “What did you tell him, AJ?” Applejack squirmed for a moment, scuffing the wooden floor with her hoof. “Ah reckon y’all should be seein’ soon enough.” she dropped her head almost guiltily and walked over to sit in the corner. Celestia paid her no attention. She figured Applejack deserved whatever guilt she was feeling, she had kept secrets from her princess that obviously pertained to the matter that Celestia was so desperately trying to fix. If whatever she told Discord cures Twilight, then the fact she tried to hide it made the alicorn very unhappy. She must have had her reasons, but what reason could it be that she’d keep it from me and not from him. Celestia’s inner monologue was cut short as a quiet explosion of light burst from the top of the stairs. It lasted for a brief fraction of a second before vanishing again, just long enough to be a cause for Celestia’s concern.The sudden outburst of voices in the room made it evident Celestia wasn’t the only one worried by the flash. “What in the hay was that?!” Dash was the first to call out. After which there was an explosion of noise coming from four of the six mares in the room. Fluttershy was sitting in the corner of the room, not terrified but still visibly shaken. Celestia on the other hoof, was already starting up the stairs toward the source of the bright burst. Her hooves clicked on the wood with an unsteady rhythm as she hastily made her way toward Twilight’s bedroom. As she rounded the corner into the entrance, she spotted Discord sitting next to her calmly on the bed, a book propped open with his claw while his paw was resting firmly on the unicorn’s back. He was staring intently at Twilight, his lips moving but no sound coming out. He took no immediate notice of the alicorn’s presence, and continued with his wordless speaking. “Discord, is it working?” she asked relieved to find neither of them harmed, but a tone of fear still faintly evident in her voice. Discord’s look instantly moved from Twilight to her alabaster mentor standing in the doorway. “I told you to wait downstairs!” he snapped, catching her off guard. An angry Discord was admittedly a terrifying thing. I’m so proud of you. I didn’t even have to say anything for you to do that! The praise was condescending and dripping with sarcasm. Shut up, Animos. “I’m sorry, I was worried for my student. What was that light?” she began slowly walking towards him as he spoke, “None of your concern, leave now,” his reply was short and cold, but not hateful. She ignored his orders and continued advancing, trying to get a glimpse of the book he was holding in front of Twilight. “I said GO!” he shouted, raising his paw from the unicorn’s back and holding the palm facing directly toward Celestia. Suddenly she felt herself unable to move, and noticed her hooves scraping against the floor as her body was slowly pushed away from the objects of her curiosity. Her horn sputtered in her attempt to break the grasp on her, but no significantly powerful magics came. She was sufficiently stuck, the magic pushing her away was far more powerful than would seem necessary. Her mind was suddenly filled with panic as her mind raced. What could possibly be so important that he would be doing this to me? Attempts to voice her concern were met with failure as even her lips were held prisoner to his grip. “I’m truly sorry for this, Celestia, but you cannot be-” his apology was cut short as another blast of light filled the room. He dropped his grip on the alicorn and returned his focus to the gray unicorn on the bed, resting his paw once more on her back. Celestia just stood in place, no longer trying to get nearer as she realized Discord was genuinely as concerned for the mare as she was. She felt a smile creep onto her face as she watched him care for Twilight so attentively. The flash of light had emanated from Twilight’s horn, she noticed.  A short pulse of pure unfocused magic that flared only briefly, and when it died out the unicorn was a few shades closer to her lavender self. Suddenly there was another flash, and then another. The pulses were steadily speeding up until they were strobing so fast they almost seemed like one continuous glow. Any normal pony to enter the room at that moment might have been blinded by the sheer brightness, luckily for the three of them one had their eyes clamped tightly shut and the others were nigh impervious to anything. They stared at the source of strobing magical luminescence, Celestia with surprise and Discord with a sense of prideful success. After who knows how long the flashing ceased, and the two took almost no time for their eyes to readjust to the sudden change. What lay before them now was a seemingly unconscious, but obviously alive and wonderfully purple mare. Discord looked up at Celestia with a smirk. “I told you.” Celestia’s eyes were almost watering with joy, and she resisted the urge to pounce on the both of them and crush them in a deathly tight hug. Though Twilight had only been ‘gone’ for three days, to Celestia it seemed like she was getting an old friend back from an eternity apart. “You’re welcome.” finalized Discord, and he was about to stand to walk out of the room when Twilight shifted and murmured. Her eyes drifted open and locked with Discord’s as she lay still. She took a few moments to take in the image before her, then suddenly it clicked. Her eyes shot open wider than thought equinely possible with both happiness and shock. “Discord!” she called out, not with the disdain she had the last time she had spoken to the draconequus, but rather with pure glee. “It’s you! And if you’re here, then that means it worked! And if it worked... Oh I’m so happy for you!” Much to Discord’s surprise Twilight leapt from her bed and wrapped her hooves around him, squeezing him in a hug. Celestia watched the display with pure confusion etched on her face. “Happy about what?” she inquired. Twilight’s reaction showed that she was unaware of Celestia’s presence. “Well... you know!” she smiled at Celestia as she released Discord from her crushing hug. “I can assure you, Twilight, I do not.” She wanted to sound serious, but the happy atmosphere was too much to pull it off. “What do you mean you don’t know? If you didn’t know then that means it couldn’t have worked, and if it couldn’t have worked then I wouldn’t be here congratulating you.” her smile didn’t waiver, but she was becoming slightly confused. She looked up at Discord who was simply raising a brow at her. “I know that you know, at least. It’s impossible for you to not know. How can you know but not her?” “Know what?” Celestia was beginning to grow impatient. The words being tossed around in the room obviously implied Celestia to be the only one out of the loop, and she didn’t like it one bit. Celestia’s question went unanswered yet again as Discord began speaking to the unicorn. “Secrets.” he stated comically before lifting the book from the bed with his claw. “Bonk!” he gave Twilight a tap on the forehead with it before giving it a light emphasizing shake, then the book vanished. Twilight wrinkled her nose at the belittling gesture of being treated as a filly, then sat down on her mattress in defeat. “So you didn’t?” she asked, looking up at Discord from the corner of her eye. “Sadly, no...” Just the way it should be. Funny that you claim to want to help, but at every turn you’re just trying to amplify my pain. Desensitizing. Conditioning. I’m not just going to be your shield, I’m strengthening you so that you won’t need one. Sure you are. “Didn’t what? I don’t know what? What are you both not telling me?!” Celestia was beginning to shout in frustration, her eyes narrowing down on her student as if it would pry out the answers. Discord and Twilight both looked over to her in unison, and then as if rehearsed they both called out at the exact same time. “It’s a secret.” Discord looked down at Twilight as she continued her part of the story, leaving their little duet in the dust. “I’m sorry, princess, but you cannot know. It’s bad enough that Discord found out-” she glanced up at Discord for a moment “no offense-” then back to Celestia to continue. “if both of you know then it would completely ruin it. Think of it as a surprise.” Celestia turned, barely hiding her frustrations as she stormed out of the room in a tantrum resembling something a foal might do. “So much for composure.” Discord nudged Twilight’s ribs as he laughed at Celestia’s expense. Twilight stirred a little in discomfort, she hated disappointing her mentor. She watched the doorway quietly as Celestia left, and continued to watch it long after she was gone. The room downstairs was far from quiet. The five ponies were arguing among themselves over what was going on upstairs, deciding whether to investigate, putting in their opinions on Twilight’s current situation and the like. None of them hushed their clamoring as Celestia entered the room, instead opting to give her a brief bow before returning to their shouting. As such, none of them noticed Celestia’s flustered state, which was probably for the better. Celestia walked across the room into the kitchen area, electing to clean the breakfast mess she had created earlier, if only to distract her thoughts. With a few sweeps of magic the kitchen was cleaner than before she arrived, and she sat disappointed in the seat near the island counter. It hadn’t taken as long as she had hoped, and now she was left to brew in her anger once again. Perhaps I’m being immature. Thousands of years old and I just threw a tantrum like some crying foal. It would probably be best if I head back up and apologize for my actions... Wait, what’s this? Celestia spotted a book lying on the floor in the corner of the room. It sat in the same spot as the book Discord had retrieved earlier before he cured went upstairs and cured her protege. Oh my gosh, Twilight’s better and I’ve just completely ruined her moment of recovery with my... I don’t even want to think of the words that can be used to describe my actions. She stood from her chair and began to make way for the stairs, before once again glancing at the book in the corner. It’s unlikely, but what they hay. She trotted over to the book, it was giving off a strange aura of energy. She leaned in to the book and gave it a short sniff. Yes. The electrifying and sharp smell of the book indicated it had recently been victim of a teleportation spell. This was without a doubt the book Discord had teleported down here moments prior in teh bedroom. It was only after this quick appraisal that Celestia finally decided to actually read the title of the book. It was the book she had written. The book her and Discord were reading last night as they shared their closest moment in thousands of years. The book she wrote in depression while her ‘party guy’ was imprisoned in the stone statue that she bestowed upon him herself. What could this book possibly mean? With newfound determination she grasped the book with her magic and started for Twilight’s bedroom once again, ignoring the quizzical calls of the colorful ponies in the room as she left. She was in the hall just a few steps away from the door to Twilight’s room when she heard the laughing. She slowed her advance, now sneaking in hopes that she could eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about. To her disappointment she was standing just at the edge of the doorframe and still couldn’t hear the discussion taking place in the room. They exchanged what sounded like mutters followed by giggles. She dropped her subtlety charade and stepped around the corner into the entryway of the room. Twilight was laying on her side on the bed staring at Discord, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed as happy as can be recounting tales from his past with the purple mare, who took them as humorous when she didn’t feel as though he was a threat. Celestia dropped the book as she suddenly felt a small pain in her stomach watching the two laughing together. Jealousy? No, that’s absurd. I’ve just been frazzled lately is all. There’s nothing to be jealous of. Discord looked up at her with a beam on his face. “Celestia, I’m glad you’re back. I was just telling Twilight-” he noticed the book on the floor that she had just dropped, and his smile was quick to disappear. “Oh...” “Now do you mind telling me the significance of this book?” she questioned, levitating the tome into the air again and walking towards the now silenced duo. “I can’t see any reason for this to cause such a dramatic effect on you, Twilight.” “You know I take your words very seriously, Celestia. Especially the written ones, but no it didn’t cause the effects on their own. I kinda... nudged them along.” Twilight was staring down at her blankets, nervous almost to the point of shame. “You mean you intended for this to happen?” Celestia was narrowing her eyes on her student, as confused as she was shocked. “And how did you know I wrote this book?!” she finally asked after remembering she had written it under another name and never told anypony the truth of it, save for Discord the night before. “It’s kind of a long story,” she stated, hoping to get out of this little interview the princess seemed to be putting her in. “I have time,” Celestia wasted no time in getting straight to the point, finally calming at the thought that she may at last be getting some answers. “Alright, here goes-” she was interrupted by a sudden jolt as she fell a few short inches and landed on her rump on a hard floor. Looking around she saw that her room was transformed into a giant theater. Countless rows of red seats stretched out into blackness as the only light came from dim lamps on the walls. Celestia and Discord were sitting in the front row just before her as the draconequus was eating popcorn and watching intently. A stage light appeared from above was shining directly on Twilight’s back, making her perfectly visible while the light made the audience nearly imperceptible. “This is hardly fair, you’ve quite literally put me on the spot here.” “Do it like a musical!” he shouted, ignoring her complaints at his literal theatrics. “I will not ‘do it like a musical’ Discord,” she rolled her eyes at his ridiculous request before she finally decided to stand up on her hooves. “Then do it like a dramatic adventure play!” his excitement was unwavering and palpable as he tossed some popcorn into the air and caught it with his tongue. “No!” she felt provoked as it was, and his badgering wasn’t helping. Discord was giddy despite her refusals, and decided to sit back a little more relaxed. “We gotta get this show started at some point, do it your way, then! Party pooper...” he rested his arms out along the back of the row of seats, causing Celestia to shift slightly, though not in discomfort. She looked over to see Discord smiling at her, and returned it with an unintended blush before turning back forward to the stage. They both sat quietly watching the nervous unicorn before she finally gave her response through gritted teeth, nervousness laced with anger. “Fine.”