The Terror of Death- Chaotic Counseling
A couple of days after Haseo went to ponyville to get the stuffed Ursa Major for Sapphire as well as fix the cushions, the adept rogue found that things had quieted down a bit. With her new stuffed animal and fortified pillows, there wasn’t a need for the young shadow pony to try and steal any others that could be hiding around the empire. Which, was a bit of a relief to Haseo considering that it was one less headache for him to worry about and that she wasn’t causing any trouble with some of the other residents of the Empire Like Cadance and Shining Armor.
Of course, this morning was a bit different. Instead of somepony coming at his door and asking if they could talk with him, Sunburst had given him a report on what had been going on in the last couple of months since they established the changes to the crystal empire. Which included the job class system, chaos gates and several other systems that seemed to resonate well with that of the Empire. But there was one particular system that seemed to get his attention. Because at the time that he suggested a lot of this to Shining Armor, he didn’t really consider it given the state that they were in. But it just happened to manifest on its own.
This one in particular… was the guild system. Groups of individuals who would help one another out and also shared a common interest. In the original .hack// games, where Kite and BlackRose’s characters originated from, there wasn’t really a lot of detail as to how they functioned or the purpose that they served. But when the .hack//GU trilogy came out, there was a lot more depth to it to the point that no two guilds were the same. Guilds can have ranks depending on their status in The World and with it, they could gain bonuses to their @home, a space that’s dedicated to each guild that could only be accessed by that corresponding guild key, as well as their Guild Shop, where they can sell goods to others and gain money to support their Guild.
All of this was a surprise to Haseo, but he was also all for it. But one particular guild on the short list that was included in the report got his attention. The guild that was named Canard. It was the same name of a guild in .hack//GU that was created to help and aid new players that have just began to play in The World. And based on what he was reading, the mission statement was pretty similar. This Canard though was founded by a few of the soldiers of the Crystal Guard and their goal was to aid those who had just taken up a job class in the empire and want to understand how everything in the Crystal Empire functioned. Something which, in Haseo’s mind, was rather noble since there wasn’t exactly any kind of tutorial that could help show somepony where they could start.
Around the point where he was reading about how Cadance was going to propose having the Crystal Empire be a prime location for the Equestria Games though, the Adept Rogue lifted his head up from the table and looked around at the sound of what could be described as something, or somepony, being slammed into a wall. At first, he thought that it could have been just somepony moving some furniture, but the more that he continued to hear this noise repeat itself, the more that it began to damage his concentration. And at one point, he decided that he finally had enough and wanted to know what the hell was causing all this racket.
Of course… what he found was not quite what he originally expected. For he found both Hoofstrong siblings in the middle of the main courtyard outside the castle, with Ironwings holding her brother in a chokehold and putting her sword at his neck. “… Okay, just what are you two doing?”
For a brief moment, Hoofstrong noticed Haseo’s presence and attempted to speak. “H-help me! My sister’s trying to kill me-!” That was before his sister sent him flying into a pillar around the edge of the courtyard. Where there were visible cracks along the wall from how hard Ironwings was beating him. Which now happened to attract the attention of Sapphire as she soon appeared right next to the adept rogue.
“Ironwings, what are you doing?” Haseo tried to ask, only for his question to fall on deaf ears as the changeling used one of her wings to drag her brother by one of his legs.
Which, had Sapphire decide to speak. “Well, can’t you see that they’re doing some sibling bonding?”
“This is a matter of honor!!”
“I’m sorry that I ate the last piece of cake!” Hoofstrong now pleaded for mercy, just before one of Ironwing’s hooves hit him in the face. “I didn’t know-!!”
“Really deep bonding…” The shadow pony chuckled. Enjoying the sight that was on display as Haseo was facepalming himself in response to all of this, especially considering the fact that it was only earlier this week that Sapphire had everything that wasn’t mounted down in the castle tilted and somehow had Rarity, Twilight and almost everything else in the Carousel Boutique end up on the ceiling.
“I’m going to use your head as a doorstep!!”
“I give up! I give up!! Just stop pulling my leg that waaaaay!!!” Hoofstrong pleaded once more to his sister, while still getting dragged by the leg because of Ironwings.
By this point though, that was when Haseo decided to act. “Okay, we need to do something about this.”
“Should we?” He heard Sapphire speak as the Adept Rogue looked down to notice that she was nearby.
“Yes.” Was all he could really say as Ironwings had her brother trip and fall flat on his face again. But that response didn’t quite settle well with her.
“Okay... but, do we really-?” Before Haseo could reply back to the Shadow Pony, they both heard Hoofstrong fly into a wall that was outside that of the courtyard as Ironwings herself sheathed her blade. Relieved that this scuffle of theres was now over as she stood there, victoriously proud of herself.
“There… hopefully that will teach you a lesson next time you end up taking something that belongs to me,” She said, before forcing her brother to stand up as the two of them began to walk off. “Now get up, brother. We got work to do.”
Hearing that though only made Sapphire pout. Complaining that the little one-sided bout between siblings was a bit too short and that it was missing the dismemberment and many other things that were apparently what she believed were normal to a ‘sibling bonding experience’ as she had previously stated. Of course, in Haseo’s book, none of what they saw would ever really be seen exactly as normal. If anything, it would be seen as out of the ordinary.
“Finally, I’m glad those two are done going at each other's throats like that.” Both of them now heard another voice as they turned around to see Shining Armor not far from where they were.
“Wait… you mean that you have been standing here the whole time… and you didn’t do something in order to stop them?” The adept rogue now asked him as the stallion let out a sigh.
“They were originally supposed to be sparring against one another as a combat demonstration for the new recruits today,” Shining Armor explained to them, motioning a hoof towards the training grounds as it showed a scoreboard that was labeled as ‘Ironwings: 1, Hoofstrong: 0’ along with the recruits from earlier this week that were just sitting there. “But the two of them took it further when Ironwings said that whoever would win would get the last piece of cake back in the guard quarters.”
“And that was when Hoofstrong told her that he already had the last piece?” All Shining did was nod in response to Haseo’s question as the adept rogue looked back at him now. “Now it all makes sense,” He said to himself, shortly before deciding to change the topic. “So, how has Cadance been recently?”
“She’s been… alright. Busy with trying to have the Crystal Empire host the upcoming Equestria Games, but alright,” For a moment, Shining took in a deep breath as he looked down at Sapphire for a brief second, before turning his attention to Haseo again. “Though, there is something of greater concern that I should address to you. And it regards… Sapphire, I believe her name was.”
“Yeah, that’s her name,” The Adept Rogue replied. “What about it?”
“Well, as of recently, there’s been a couple of incidents that might have been caused by her in the last couple of days. Based on all accounts as of now, it appears that Sapphire sent a package earlier in the week to that of Prince Blueblood,” At first, that didn’t quite seem like anything out of the ordinary… but that was before Shining was able to finish and held out what looked like a box of some kind. “It had this heart shaped letter on the outside that said ‘To BB, from Rose’, but when he opened the box, he was horrified by the sight of a butchered dog with its heart torn out and it’s head dismembered from its body and the tail missing. A small collar with Bunny written on it laying to the side of the dismembered head."
Hearing that, Haseo looked back down at Sapphire, who appeared to be stroking a new fur scarf she was wearing. “Sapphire, when I was telling you about hearth's warming gifts, this was not what I meant.”
“But I don’t give things people don’t deserve~” Sapphire replied back, a hoof to her chin as she tilted her head and glanced at him with a pair of puppy dog eyes. Which had Haseo let out a deep sigh as he deadpanned at what she was talking about.
“I honestly can’t believe that we’re having this conversation.” He mumbled to himself. He remembered having to tell her about Hearth's Warming because of how the holiday was only a couple of weeks away. But he honestly did not expect for her to go out of her way in order to do something like that.
Of course, he had to toss that aside as he heard Sapphire ask something else. “Do you like the gift I made you?” When she said this, the young shadow pony was referring to the pair of hoof-stitched mittens that she had finished making for him yesterday.
To which, Haseo was wearing right now underneath the gauntlets and equipment that was around his hands as he showed them to her. “Of course I do.”
“I’m glad you like them~,” The shadow pony replied. Now beaming with positivity as she got closer to him. Enjoying every bit of his praise. “I put a lot of effort into making these.”
“Y-yes, well, as great as that seems, I would think that Cadance really doesn’t want anything like that happening if the Equestria Games are being hosted here,” The unicorn then interjected, being careful with his words. “I think she just wants to show that this is a safe place for other ponies to come visit and such. Although, that just sounds ironic considering what else is happening today.”
Now that… had Haseo raise an eyebrow as he and Sapphire looked back at the unicorn. “What do you mean by that?”
At first, Shining Armor had a startled look on his face. As if he was trying to withhold something. But one glance at Sapphire made him think otherwise as he let out a sigh. “Celestia told me that she wanted to have Twilight and her friends release Discord from his prison because she… and I quote… ‘believes that he learned his lesson now and that he can be reformed’. End quote.”
Haseo at first, was not entirely sure how to process that. But for Sapphire, she had a rather quick and witty retort in response to what Shining Armor just told him. “What lesson is there to learn? From what I heard he just sounded bored and a bit cranky from being locked up for so long. How would you feel if you were turned to stone for over a thousand years?” Sapphire stated while shrugging, wiping some drool from her mouth as she remembered something before continuing. “Just compensate him for being locked up for so long and be friends with him. I don't think you would have to do much else to get him to behave.”
Haseo just stared at Sapphire for a moment, before thinking of a proper question to ask her. “Where… did you exactly hear about Discord from in the first place?”
“From cousin and sparklebutt’s friends.” Sapphire said, before looking towards the ground as if there was something fascinating with it that caught her attention.
“That explains a lot,” The Adept Rogue sighed. “So, what exactly gave Celestia a change of heart this time around?”
“Honestly, this move surprised even me. Normally, if there’s someone who’s been entrapped in stone by the elements of harmony, you would usually want for them to stay in stone. I’m not sure what brought the sudden change.” Shining Armor just shrugged. Haseo was also puzzled by this too. Even though he was considering the fact that Cadance did say that Discord was adopted by Celestia’s parents, it didn’t quite clearly paint a picture as to what exactly got him in stone in the first place. Or for that matter, why would they decide to release him now.
Then again, this also reminded him of a particular conversation he had with Cadance and Ironwings. Just before meeting Celestia and Luna for the first time. “Maybe they want to hear his side of the story…” He thought to himself, before looking back at Shining. “Would you happen to know where they would be releasing him at?”
“Yeah I do, but why do you ask?”
“Just wondering. That’s all,” He replied back, before exchanging a glance to Sapphire. “Would Twilight be there?”
“Why of course. Celestia would need the element bearers to let him out in the first place,” Shining replied back, before looking back at the guards for a moment. “Oh, right. Sorry about that, but I think I need to get back to keeping an eye on the recruits. See you later.” With that, Shining trotted off, rejoining the other ponies who were waiting by the training grounds as Haseo looked back at Sapphire.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” He asked.
“Free cotton candy clouds with a side of crystalberry juice?” Sapphire asked, her drool escaping her mouth again.
“Not quite what I had in mind,” The Adept Rogue replied back. “I’m thinking we should go over and make sure that Discord here doesn’t try anything upon getting out. Then you can ask him about that. What do you say?”
“... Ok.” Sapphire replied, sticking out her hoof as if to shake on a deal. Haseo kneeled down to the ground, using one of his hands to shake the tiny hoof as he looked back at her. The only question that was left in his mind though… was how were they supposed to get there. Or for that matter, why she was so quick to agree on that- “Make sure to hold onto your lunch, were going to hijack one of your gates.”
The adept rogue blinked for a moment. Feeling a bit of uncertainty as he looked back at her while also hoping that he wouldn’t get sick by the time they got there.
Meanwhile…
“With all due respect, Princess Celestia, how could you bring Discord out here!?” Out of all the things that her mentor would ask for her and her friends to do, the last thing that she could possibly think of was to let out the same creature that was responsible for causing untold amounts of chaotic devastation. But that was all before she cleared out her throat and then spoke up. “Your majesty.”
Out of every one of her friends, only four of them were present in that moment. Fluttershy was busy with trying to help solve a problem at Sweet Apple Acres so that Applejack’s apple trees could be able to get fresh water and grow. Spike also happened to be there too alongside that of two royal guards, who were the ones pulling the chariot that held Discord’s statue in place. And as Princess Celestia was explaining to them what her plans were, and that Fluttershy was needed for them, there was a bit of confusion that ran among the group.
Not to mention that around the time when Rainbow Dash went to go find her two other friends, that was when they got two more unexpected guests. “Girls… is it just me or does anypony else feel a cold shiver down their back-?”
As Spike spoke, everypony around him just started as a black cloud bubbled out of his shadow till it was the size of celestia, slowly taking on a more pony like shape with glowing blue eyes but no horn or wings. “Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike…” The shaddowy being rasped in a haunting wendigo like voice before it suddenly shrunk and solidified into the small filly form of Sapphire. “I found you!” She then shouted in her normal voice as she tackled him with a predatory grin.
That was followed by Haseo coming out a few seconds later as he looked back at everypony else. “For the record, that wasn’t my idea.”
“Just how in the world did you get here so quickly?” Twilight then asked. Which led to Haseo looking back at Sapphire as she trotted back over to him and said one simple answer.
“Magic.”
That had Twilight blink for a moment, looking to Princess Celestia first before thinking of a response to say back to her. “That’s it? You mean there isn’t anything else?”
“Nope, just magic.” Sapphire replied back to her. “Geez, for being the element of magic, you should know about this by now.”
“Sapphire, be nice…” Haseo told her, before looking back at everypony else. More specifically, noticing Celestia’s gaze as she stared at Sapphire. “Oh right… Sapphire, you haven’t met Princess Celestia before, have you?”
“No, I don’t believe we have met before,” The sun princess then spoke up as she looked back at Sapphire. “Though, I have heard from Cadance that you have taken a filly under your care. I just did not expect for that filly to be a shadow pony at all.”
For a second, Sapphire just stared back at celestia, before her mane began to twitch. “And what's wrong with being a shadow pony huh!? You don't intimidate me, alicorn!” She shouted, waving a hoof in Celestia’s direction.
“I… wasn’t trying to come off as saying that it’s wrong or anything, little one. I just thought it was surprising.” The alicorn replied back, before letting out a deep sigh as she noticed that Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy were coming back now. Which could be seen as a good thing considering the fact that with all of the elements of harmony present, they could be able to finally get the spell underway to free Discord.
There was just one thing that she did not anticipate. And that came from Haseo just as everypony was getting back together. “Yeah, just as surprising as the fact that Discord’s your adoptive brother.”
“WHAT!?!” was the single response from each one of the elements of harmony as they all stared at Princess Celestia. Who in turn, stared back at Haseo in complete shock at what he just said.
“How do you-?”
“Cadance told me,” He replied back. “She told me that your mother found him abandoned on the doorstep to Canterlot Castle while you and Luna were fillies and raised him alongside you. But after Sombra took over the Empire, she said that something in him ‘snapped’ because of how you and Luna were always arguing and disagreeing with each other back then. But that’s all she knows.” As he finished, that was when he looked back at her. “I’m sorry if this was something that you didn’t want for anypony else to know, but I thought it would better for the elements of harmony to know so that way they would not think that this plan’s completely insane-”
At that moment, that was when he heard a bit of a crunching sound. Looking down, he noticed that Sapphire looked to have been eating out of a popcorn bucket. Something that she did not have a few moments ago. “Um, where exactly did you get that?”
“I brought it.” She shrugged. “Can I have my cotton candy cloud yet?”
“Is… the first thing that comes to her mind always about sweets?” Rainbow now asked.
“Please don’t try and antagonize her, Rainbow,” Twilight soon spoke up as she looked at her friend that was flying idly in the air. “Just trust me on this one. Rarity and I have seen firsthoof what she’s capable of.”
“On that note, I think we have everything that we need in order to get this complete,” Celestia said, her tone of voice sounding as if she really wanted to somehow change topics. “I’ll just-”
“Hang on just ah minute now,” Everypony now heard, this time from Applejack, the Element of Honesty. “If he’s ya brother, then surely ya know something about what happened to him that made him all chaotic, right? Ah don’t mean this as a way to disrespect ya, but ah just find all of this as a bit odd.”
That had a moment of silence from Celestia, before she let out a deep breath. “What happened to Discord was something that Luna and I couldn’t see coming. At the time, we didn’t think that our disagreements back then would have so much of an impact on him. All he wanted was for us to stop fighting. And the only time that he saw us working together was when we would be facing something that threatened the existence of our kingdom and equestria.”
Now, Haseo began to realize something. “And because Sombra was out of reach and there were no other threats around to face… He decided to make himself the threat.”
That got the sun princess to nod as she let out a breath. “Exactly… He came across a spell that was in development for the Royal Guard a long time ago. A self-hypnosis one to help soldiers in the royal guard that wanted to hide their psyche from the bloodshed of war and conflict. Where the user would adopt a completely separate personality that would mask over their own. However… at the stage that this spell was being made, there was no way to reverse it.”
“So the Discord that we saw… the one that broke out of the statue and that we encountered before.” Twilight gasped, realizing everything that her mentor was saying.
“That was the mask of the spell at work. The original spell was never finished, because it was one of the few spells that was never completed and abandoned by it’s maker, Starswirl the Bearded, after Luna and I had to seal him away,” Celestia then explained once more. “But after the elements of harmony encountered them last year, part of me saw a bit of hope. When you encountered Discord before and told me everything, part of me now thinks that the spell that he had casted on himself long ago is now beginning to crumble away.”
“So you’re saying that if we let him out now… and if he can be reformed,” Twilight pondered as she tapped a hoof to her chin. “Then he can be himself again?”
“That is the hope…” Celestia replied back. “Unfortunately though, I cannot be here to help you out anymore. I have other obligations awaiting me in Canterlot. I trust that I can leave this task in your hooves now.” With that, Celestia and her royal guards disappeared. Leaving Haseo, Sapphire, Spike and the Elements of Harmony by themselves as they prepared themselves. Beginning to release the spirit of chaos from his stone prison.
Of course though, they did not expect for him to be letting out a loud yawn though as he stretched out his arms rather wide. “Wow, what a relief! About time I got out of that stone block. My back is killing me-” Of course, just as he was about to stretch it out, that was when he began to notice a few things. For one thing, all six of the elements of harmony were by themselves alongside… two other characters that he had not seen before. “Um… just who are you supposed to be? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen strangers before, but nothing like you two.”
“I’m just here to make sure you don’t try to pull anything while Sapphire here is drooling over some of the culinary creations you can make,” Haseo replied back. “Plus, you have some sort of idea as to what is going on, right?”
“Haseo, aren’t you just assuming?” Twilight asked the Adept Rogue. However, she did not anticipate what came next from the draconequus as everypony focused their attention back to him.
“Wow, did you take a peek into my playbook while I was away?” Discord replied back, sounding kind of impressed by what the Adept Rogue was saying right now.
“No, but given your chaotic nature, all bets are off.” Haseo replied back, folding his arms and watching Discord to see if he would try anything.
“Well, to skip the monologuing, I already know that Celestia is putting her faith in you ponies to try and reform me. Which is adorable by the way,” The draconequus replied back as he blew a raspberry. “I also know that one pony wanted to have a cotton candy cloud of her own, but I’m sorry to say that I don’t take requests. Only commissions. I’m an artist when it comes to my chaotic arts and I should be compensated for it.”
That… had Haseo look down at Sapphire for a moment before looking back to the Spirit of Chaos. “Yeah… you probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why’s that now? Celestia’s going to have the shy one try to reform me anyways-”
“That’s… not what I meant,” Haseo said, before taking a seat on the grass next to Spike. “Just to warn you, you brought this on yourself.”
“GiVe Me ThE CoTtEn CaNdY ClOuD.” Sapphire said, having reverted to her shadow pony form, and giving everyone a good look of what she actually looked like. As Sapphire’s glowing blue eyes stared directly into Discord’s, her almost skeletal looking body made of midnight blue mist formed an array of crystalline tentacles each of which she then pointed at Discord as she lunged for his throat… literally.
“AGH!! Get her off!! Get her off of me!!” The draconequus panicked, trying to use some of his chaos magic. Only for his paw and talon to be held tightly in the grip of the shadow pony’s tendrils. All while Haseo just watched. “P-please, I’ll do anything!! ”
“One, agree to the reformation,” Haseo began to speak as if he was stating the terms for a negotiation. All while everypony else was watching him work. “Two, provide the cotton candy cloud that Sapphire wants. Do both of those things and then she’ll stop.”
Seconds later, the cloud of cotton candy was floating right beside Haseo, which soon caught Sapphire’s attention as she pounced for that moments later while reverting to the appearance of a normal earth pony filly. Discord himself looked to have been in a bit of a scuffle as he had bruises that made him look like he just got out of a bar fight.
“Ya know, ya seem awfully calm about all of this,” Applejack then spoke up.
“We’re dealing with a creature that can manipulate your emotions if you let your guard down,” Haseo replied back to her. “If my expression had changed only for a moment, he could’ve used that… though, I do think that Sapphire was a bit too aggressive when it came to convincing him to reconsider.”
“Wow… you can be rather serious when you want to be.” Rainbow then added on.
“Comes with a job description. I can’t be the protector of the Crystal Empire if I let my guard down for a moment, right?” All of the ponies nodded their heads, just as Discord was beginning to get back up to standing upright.
“Wait… the crystal empire? I thought that’s hidden away by Sombra.”
“Yeah, not anymore,” Haseo replied back. “Also, Sombra’s dead so…”
“The empire is back. The reject has kicked the bucket, not that anyone would bother to revive him again. And everything is back to how it was.” Sapphire yawned as she snuggled into her cotton candy cloud as it floated next to Haseo. “And that's just the tip of the iceberg of things you missed out on, Uncle.”
That had Discord look at the group for a moment, stunned by what he was hearing before looking back at Fluttershy and the others. Trying to process that he had just heard a few moments ago as he looked to be deep in thought before actually saying anything. “Um… Could somepony please bring me up to speed on everything? I know it’s not my position to ask, but… Please?”
That had some of Twilight’s friends look back at each other, deadpanning a bit at what the draconequus just said. Fluttershy was unsure of how to make of everything in that moment, but Twilight had a feeling that something like this could possibly happen. Even though he did say that he heard what Princess Celestia was saying moments ago, that did not mean that the draconequus exactly knew what had happened between the first time that he was imprisoned in stone all the way up until now.
“Called it.” Sapphire chuckled with a smug grin as she looked back at Haseo. “See what I mean Dad? Just watch as the rest of what I said comes true.”
“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy now spoke up. “I-if it’s okay with you, I can have h-him come to my cottage. W-we can talk to him about everything over tea.”
“That… would seem like the best course of action,” The unicorn herself nodded her head. “In the meantime though… Spike, you and the rest of the girls can go back to the library. I don’t think we need the elements of harmony anymore, but keep them on standby just in case.”
“Okay, what about you though? And Haseo?” Spike now asked her.
“Well,” For a moment, Twilight looked back at the Adept Rogue, before she looked back to the dragon that was her assistant. “I think he and I will need to be present to give Discord the full recap of everything that has happened. If he isn’t there, we would be missing bits and pieces that only he can tell him about.”
“I say that’s fair… as long as you get along with Sapphire and not try any funny business,” Haseo’s last remarks were towards Discord, who quickly nodded his head in response. Probably because he did not want to antagonize her anymore after his earlier remarks.
“This is going to be fun~” Sapphire purred, her eyes giving off a mischievous glint as she hooked her tail to Haseo’s shoulder.
“Alright, the kettles on now and tea should be ready in a few minutes,” Fluttershy spoke in a whisper like tone as she looked back at the guests that were in her cottage. Haseo was sitting on a floor cushion that was by the coffee table along with Twilight while Sapphire was wrestling with her cotton candy cloud like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. As for Discord, he was sitting in a rocking chair that was along the windows as he just sat there. Not trying to do anything sneaky out of fear that Sapphire would catch him. “Um… so, how do we start?”
“Well,” Again, Twilight looked back at those that were around her, before she turned her gaze to the draconequus. “Why don’t we start by asking the first few questions that come to mind and we will answer them to the best of our ability? That sounds simple, right?”
Discord himself, just personally shrugged his shoulders as he looked back at the small group. “Well, that’s one way to do it… Let me see here…” Of course, what they did not anticipate was for him to pull his brain out of his ear and start to shake it as if he’s trying to get a few coins to slip out of a piggy bank. Except that instead of coins in this particular instance, they were questions that were written on small 4x6 note cards as he placed his cranium back inside of his head. “Ah right, my first question… your friend,” He paused for a moment, looking at Sapphire as she continued to play with her cotton candy cloud. “Um… excuse me, but what should I address you by? Your name? Occupation? Species? …… Cotton Candy Filly?”
“Her name is Sapphire Rose,” Haseo answered for her. “I’ve taken her under my care, so she would be seen as my adoptive daughter. Something that you might have a bit of experience with in your position.”
“Would Little Rosey work? I’m terrible when it comes to remembering names sometimes.” The draconequus then asked, while a small little notebook was in his paw that had names such as ‘Cae Cae’, ‘Lulu’, ‘Bookworm’, ‘Skittles’ and so on. Presumably, the nicknames of Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Rainbow Dash respectively. Unfortunately for Discord… Sapphire didn't like the pet name.
“What was that~?” Sapphire asked with a honeyd voice as she looked at Discord with closed eyes and a crooked smile… her cotton candy cloud slowly floating towards Haseo.
“S-sorry!!” He said, panicking as he looked back at her. “S-sorry, Sapphire. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Good boy.” Sapphire replied, patting him on the ankle in response to him correcting how he addressed her before she sauntered back over to Haseo and leaped into her adoptive father’s lap.
“So, should it be safe to presume that you want to talk about the Crystal Empire first?” The Adept Rogue then asked him. He took this guess based on two things. One, that the downfall of the Crystal Empire was one of the first things that lead to Discord going all villainous on the royal sisters. And two, how he was caught off guard when Sapphire mentioned that Sombra was dead. It made sense because Sombra had only been defeated recently and it was more than likely possible that Discord was still in stone when it happened.
“Yeah, that’s right,” He nodded his head in response. “The last I heard of it, The Crystal Empire was hidden from the world and Sombra was still its ruler after Princess Amore was murdered.”
“Okay, first thing to note… Sombra was the one who murdered Amore. I know this because I witnessed it myself and then falsely made me look like I was a monster that wanted to destroy the Empire,” Haseo explained. “Second, the Crystal Empire’s now a part of Equestria and Princess Cadance is the one who rules the empire after I defeated Sombra myself. ”
“Princess Cadance? I’m… not entirely sure if I heard of her before. I know of Celestia and Luna,” The draconequus tilted his head in confusion, while his eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head any minute. “But that’s the first time I’ve heard of that name.”
“She’s the niece of Princess Celestia and Princess Amore’s daughter,” Twilight stepped in, before looking back at Haseo. “Oh, my bad. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” A few seconds later, they heard the whistling of a tea kettle from the kitchen as Fluttershy excused herself so she could go get it.
“That’s all I can say for the Crystal Empire right now. We’ve been slowly trying to make progress on having the Empire catch up to what society is like nowadays, but that’s a work in progress right now,” The Adept Rogue finished what he was saying, looking back at the draconequus as Fluttershy returned with a tray that had a teapot, a few cups and some milk and sugar. “Does that answer your question, Discord-?”
Of course, just as he lifted his head up to look at him, he saw Discord floating a few things from the tray around him and had one of the cups and a spoon begin moving over to him. Like it was one of the dinner utensils in the ‘Be our Guests’ song from Beauty and the Beast. All before he could be able to answer the Adept Rogue as he had the spoon stir in some of the milk and sugar. “Pretty much, yeah,” Stirring the spoon in the teacup a few times before setting it down and taking a sip. Before stopping partway through and snapping his fingers as grains of sugar began to float over and mix with the tea before tasting it again. “There we go… Oh, my apologies. My tea needed a little bit more sugar and I didn’t want to rudely reach across the table.”
“We… could of just moved the sugar closer to you.” Fluttershy said.
The spirit of chaos paused for a moment, almost as if his facial expression asked the question ‘Why didn’t I think of that in the first place?’ as he facepalmed himself with his lion paw. Something that Haseo kind of chuckled at. With all the power that he was supposed to have at his disposal, it was kind of funny to see him forget basic manners.
“Moving on…” Twilight then asked. “Do you still have any questions for us, Discord?”
The spirit of Chaos took his time with finishing the rest of his tea, before setting it down for a moment as he looked back at him. “Yeah, mainly two… First, how have Celestia and Luna been? I haven’t had the chance to see them in a long time. Did they get over the petty arguments that they would get into?”
That… was a bit of a tough question to answer. And Twilight was the one who took it upon herself to answer. She told him how their unresolved issues and jealousy towards her sister turned her into the power hungry entity that was Nightmare Moon and that she had been banished to the Moon for one thousand years, only returning just recently after her defeat by Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony.
It was something that Discord was not expecting. Especially since, as he told them, he originally decided to take on the role of villainy and place the spell that made him into who he was because he wanted for the sisters to stop with the arguing. He wanted to say to them that they could be able to get a lot more accomplished if they actually worked together instead of disagreed with one another. But because of how busy they were, he could not be able to find the time in order to be able to tell them himself without somehow interrupting them in ‘something important’.
It took a while in order for him to explain everything. Especially since he went through around three different tissue boxes that Fluttershy had. And when he finished them, he had the boxes explode after tossing them behind his head. Something that Haseo wasn’t exactly amused by. “Did you really need to do that?”
“Do what?”
“You know… the whole ‘ka-boom’ goes the box thing just now,” He then asked. “Can’t you recycle like anybody else?”
“Ponies recycle now?” Discord ask. “Back before I was first imprisoned, that was just a trend. I didn’t think ponies still did that now.”
That just had Haseo let out a sigh as he got up from his spot on the floor before looking back at Sapphire. “If there isn’t anymore questions that you would like to ask me, I think now would be the right time for Sapphire and I to head back.”
As the Adept Rogue began to walk to the door and Sapphire followed him out with her cotton candy cloud in her mouth, that was when he heard Fluttershy’s guest speak once more. “Actually… I have one more question. It’s about what I heard Sapphire said earlier. Why did she call me Uncle?”
Haseo himself was tempted to let his head just drop forward and hit the front of the door on the way out as he looked back at him. “Well, there’s no real subtle way to put this… But Princess Cadance, the one we mentioned earlier,” That had the draconequus nod as he looked back at Haseo while he was stretching his hand out for the door handle. “She’s Celestia’s niece… and since you’re Celestia’s adoptive brother, that would make her your niece as well, Uncle Discord.”
As he stepped out and closed the door behind him, Haseo began to walk away from the cabin for a moment, until he stopped and turned around. A move that confused Sapphire as she looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face.
“What are you plotting?” Sapphire asked, visibly curious.
“I’m not plotting anything, Sapphire,” He replied back to her. “I’m just waiting.”
“Waiting for what then?” The filly commented as she arched an eyebrow. To her, this reeked of shenanigans. For Haseo, all he did was point back at the cottage and smirked.
And not a moment too soon after that, they both heard what was the equivalent of Discord realizing the gravity of what they said moments ago, while also blowing off the roof of Fluttershy’s cottage for a few seconds. “OH SWEET CHAOS, I’M AN UNCLE!?!! WHY AM I ALWAYS FORCED INTO POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY?!!”
“That…” Haseo then chuckled. “I was curious about what his reaction would be to that.”
“I’m surprised he didn't react that way sooner.” Sapphire commented, pouting slightly.
“I thought that filly was just joking to mess around with me and get more candy from me!!” They continued to hear the draconequus cry out from a window that was cracked open from Discord’s original reaction to everything. “I didn’t think she was actually serious!”
“I think you did a bit of a number on him, Sapphire,” Haseo replied back, smiling as he looked down and began to pet Sapphire’s mane. “That’s my girl.”
Sapphire simply purred at the attention. Happy to be praised, but at the same time slightly confused. “So can I keep the cotton candy cloud?”
All Haseo did was just nod his head. “Yes you can. After all, I would say that with you around, you made reforming a bad guy like Discord a lot easier for that of Twilight and Fluttershy. To which, I’m proud of you.”
“So your saying I made it a piece of cake?” Sapphire smirked before looking at her cotton candy cloud and saying something Haseo didn't expect before he could say anything in response. “I’m going to name you Nimbus!”
That just had the Adept Rogue raise an eyebrow, before chuckling a little as he had Sapphire hold onto her cloud and stand by him. “Alright then. Ready to go back home now?”
“Ok!” Sapphire replied as she pulled something out of her mane and tossed it into the cottage as soon as she was ready. Something that Haseo happened to notice while they were walking back to the chaos gate that they would use to return back to the empire.
“Let me guess, a parting gift?” He asked only to get an ‘innocent’ smile from Sapphire in response. Which, in the back of his mind, he was hoping that it would not be something to torment the draconequus even further after everything Discord had gone through today.
Later that evening…
“Spike, are you sure that you made sure you put everything away like I asked?” Twilight asked her assistant as she was levitating a few books with her magic. Rearranging them back in alphabetical order before turning around as her assistant spun a ring of keys around one outstretched claw.
“Yeah, I did. But are you sure that you need this many keys on here?” He asked, pointing out all ten of them on the ring. “I mean, what are they even for exactly? Besides the key to the chest, I mean.”
“Well, one’s for the library, my room, my personal study in Canterlot, the basement, and a spare key from each of our friends for their place just in case of emergencies,” The unicorn answered his question, before taking the key ring and setting it on a wall hook that was under a picture frame of her and her family. “Besides, it’s not that hard to tell which ones which. I put a marking for each of our friends on their respected keys, and a label for the others. So the one for the chest is the one that doesn’t have any of those.”
“If you say so,” her assistant yawned, before walking up the stairs towards his bed as he began to curl up in it and cover himself in his blanket. “Good night, Twilight.”
“Good night Spike. I’ll see you in the morning.” Twilight replied back, trotting outside for a moment to blow out all the candles that illuminated her home before locking the front door. She was going to go to bed, but then remembered how hot and sticky the inside of her home would get this time of year, leading her to partially crack open a window by the kitchen counter before going to her own bed and falling asleep shortly afterwards.
Outside the library/house, Diamond sat in wait for a few minutes, breathing quietly and slowly. When she was confident that the occupants of the building were upstairs, she entered via the window, the only thing she had was a thin black box with no visible use. It was long and shiny, which meant that Diamond’s breathing fogged it over.
Upon entering, the filly found herself on the counter of the kitchen inside the tree. To her left was the sink, where there were a couple of dishes and a pan that had water soaking inside of it. While to her right were two closed trash bins that were right next to one another, with one being a bit smaller than the other. It wasn’t exactly the most sanitary way in order to get down to the floor, but it was the only other way where she could get down without accidentally waking somepony up.
Once she was down on all four of her hooves, she began to look around and head towards an opening in the wall which connected the kitchen to the living room in the center of the library. She could see tables, cushions, bookcases, a stairwell that lead upstairs and a few other things in the dimly lit room. One thing that stood out to her though was the gold plated treasure chest that was to the right of the second bookcase. In her mind, this had to be the chest that held the elements. But she was surprised that it was out here in the open. A part of her thought that it would be locked away in some kind of secret room, unless Twilight had to use them recently and didn’t have the chance to put them away properly.
She pressed the rectangular ‘box’ to the keyhole, the tiny item magnetizing like a magnet, and the metallic sound of unlocking greeted her ears. She opened the lid of the chest, where all of the elements were. Her goal in sight, she quickly bit down on the crown and galloped towards the window, careless as to if the residents would pursue her or not. She hopped out the window and crashed into the trashcan waiting just outside, and the whole thing toppled over with her on top. Without thinking, Diamond rushed to the nearest building, running past it and entered the space between it and the house next door, panting from fright… and a little bit of excitement.
Now with the Element of Magic in her possession, she would be at Ender’s side…
Forever.