//------------------------------// // Chapter 25 - Sludge // Story: Magic on Sweet Apple Acres // by Blade Star //------------------------------// “I don’t know what it is, lad,” Mum was saying. “There’s just something about her that rubs me the wrong way.” I set my cup of coffee down on the table. “Mom, she’s not in your class. Heck, she ain’t even in your school. How did ya even find out about this kid anyhow?” I’d decided to stop by to say hi to Mum and Dad. The old man himself was still up in Canterlot, hard at work, but with today being a Saturday, Mum was home from school, and all the foals had once again been set at liberty. We’d been chatting about odds and ends, catching up on what was going on in each other’s lives and so on. I’d been talking about how Applejack had been getting along in her new vocation, when Mum brought up this student. You see, the School of Friendship is more like a high school or university really. The students are still legally kids, but most of them are nearly full grown. There were some exceptions though, with a few young foals having been sent to attend as well. A few of them were about Apple Bloom’s age and had their own classes. It was only natural that students from the two schools would cross paths. And that was where Mum had come into things. There was this one foal, named Cozy Glow, and for whatever reason, my Mum had a serious problem with her. I’d not met her myself, but AB and the other Crusaders had crossed paths with her. Apart from having a somewhat sickly sweet personality, I couldn’t see that much wrong with her. She was a pegasus as well, with no direct access to magic beyond that which would eventually allow her to fly. Mum on the other hoof, assured me, in no uncertain terms, that there was something deeply wrong with the filly, the sort of thing you get Social Services involved in. “I ran into her when she came to hang out with the Crusaders after school,” she went on, still adamant about her point. “There was just something...off about her. Like everything she did was just an act. Everything she said just made your skin crawl. A kid couldn’t tell, but an adult could see she’s seriously manipulative.” I finished off my cup of coffee and looked across at Mum. “So you’re saying she’s bitch? So what? Ya do get them in schools.” “Language, Bones!” Mum scolded me sharply. “And it’s more than that anyway. I think she might have some sort of condition.” I barked out a laugh. “What, like she’s a sociopath or somethin’? Mom, Ah’ve looked through all sorts of medical textbooks; conditions like that don’t seem to exist in Equestria, outside of some of the monsters and villains Twilight and the others have butted heads with.” “I think she might have something though, Bones,” Mum persisted. “I’ve been teaching kids twenty years and had Year 6s twice my size. But I’ve never felt scared of them. This Cozy, she makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.” I frowned at that. As evolved as we like to think we are, as humans or ponies, we all still posses basic animal instincts for survival. And that includes ways to spot people who want to kill us and eat our faces and lower orders. It seemed daft as anything. But if Mum was really serious about this, then there was no harm in looking into it. I could get AJ in the know, and if she figured anything was off, we could bring in Headmare Twilight. “Okay,” I said, leaning back in my chair a little. “Let’s say you’re right, and this kid is a nut job. If Ah remember my ‘Criminal Minds’ correctly, there’s three key indicators; cruelty to animals, fire starting, and bed wetting beyond the age of four. You get those, you got the unholy trinity and a psychopath in the making. Or...” I got up from my chair in the kitchen and trotted through into the living room, where there was a decent sized bookcase containing books from back home. With just a twinge of embarrassment, I fished out an old copy of Catcher in the Rye, from when I was in high school. I levitated it over to Mum. “Give this to her and see what she makes of it. Psychos tend to identify with Holden instead of seeing him as a jackass.” Mum smiled as she looked it over. “Wasn’t this that book that got you into trouble back in high school?” I grimaced and felt a blush creep up my neck. “You remember, me and your Dad had to go to that meeting?” “Yes, Mom,” I replied in an annoyed tone, trying to repress that particular memory again. “Can we not talk about that?” Mum however, continued. “That was when you got sent to that head shrinker. She said that she thought that you might be a high functioning something or other.” “High Functioning Sociopath,” I said defensively. “And Ah’m not, thank ya very much. And it weren’t because Ah identified with the character, just for readin’ the damn thing and checking it out of the library. That’s what you get when you go to high school in the middle of Wales!” Mum simply giggled at my angry tirade against my previous education and its attitude to mental well-being. I did my best to regain some dignity and levitated over my hat from the nearby stand. “Look, just give me a holler if this Cozy filly shows any of them signs,” I said. I was about to go on, when something out of the window caught my eye. It looked like a fireball or something. A meteorite entering the atmosphere maybe. But it was the middle of the day, and the flames coming off it were still plain to see. More to the point, it seemed to getting closer and closer at a fantastic rate of speed. “What the hay is that?!” I exclaimed, pointing out of the kitchen window. Mum followed my outstretched hoof and soon clocked the giant lump of space rock that seemed to be hurtling towards us. And in typical fashion, she froze completely solid. At least she didn’t scream I suppose, she didn’t completely go into the stereotype. I ended up having to drag her out of the house, partly with my magic, and partly with my teeth, pulling at her sleeve. I was honestly pretty worried that, whatever it was, it was going to crash straight through the kitchen. The two of us got outside just as it passed overhead. Luckily, it missed the house for the most part, only knocking the weather vane off the roof. The close quarters also let me get a better look at just what it was. As it turned out, it was no meteorite at all. It was a dragon. It seemed to be an adult, although fairly small by their standards, and rather fat to boot. It seemed to have lost its ability to fly somewhat, and seemed to have somehow set its own scales alight with its fire breath, which was still streaming out of its mouth in a hot orange glow. We both watched in amazement as this poor example of a dragon careered along, just above Stirrup Street, before finally running out of speed and dropping like a stone. The impact was so strong that it actually cut up a swath of road as the dragon ploughed into the dirt. While more than a few ponies had to scramble for cover, nopony was hurt. “Well, there’s something you don’t see every day,” Mum commented as we both looked on. “Yeah,” I replied with a wry smile. “Last time anything fell out of the sky it was the giant snowball after the Weather Factory nearly blew up.” After those minor calamities were over, Mum and me went back inside the house to finish our conversation. I was still fairly sure she was making a mountain out of a molehill, but I promised to talk to AJ about this Cozy Glow filly, and maybe Apple Bloom too. Kids after all tend to be more receptive to what we might call ‘bad vibes’. As I headed back towards the farm, my route took me past where that dragon had run, quite literally, into the ground. In aviation, I think they call it a CFIT incident, or controlled flight into terrain. The damage to the road was pretty substantial. The ugly gash along the road had to be at least fifteen feet long, and about three feet deep at the far end where the dragon had all but buried itself. Ponyville of course, being a bit of an out of the way town, would probably have to wait a while before a road gang could come out to properly mend the damage. In the meantime though, a few of the townsfolk were following the old British policy of make do and mend. Coming up on the crash site, I found Thunderlane, along with Big Mac, who had been at the market, and Time Turner all working away with shovels to try and fill in the hole. I had a few chores to do back on the farm, but it seemed a bit callous to simply pass by on the other side. So I stopped and lent a hoof. “Ah, thank you, Bones,” Time Turner said as I grabbed an extra shovel that was sitting nearby. “No worries, Doc,” I replied. “Ah saw some dragon crash land. What’s he doin’ here anyway?” “Don’t know,” Time turner answered. “But young Spike has taken him back to Princess Twilight’s castle to get him patched up. I just hope he doesn’t start causing any trouble.” “Ain’t that the truth,” Big Mac joined in. “Ah’ve only ever met two dragons that a pony can get along with, Spike and that Ember.” “You met the dragon lord, Mac?” I asked, in no small surprise. I knew she’d stopped by to visit Spike along with Thorax a while back, but I didn’t realise that Mac had crossed paths with her. “Eeyup,” he replied. “Was on the stall when she was in town. She came by to try some pony food, so I let her have a couple apples on the house. She seemed fairly nice for a dragon. Certainly better than that sleepin’ brute that damn near covered the town in smoke.” God, that brought back memories. “Dragons are nothing but trouble,” Thunderlane said emphatically. “Everywhere they go they break, burn, and destroy things.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mac’s face turn into a brief scowl. He and Spike were good friends after all from their Ogres and Oubliettes games. “Ya wanna tar all dragons with the same brush, Thunderlane?” I asked. “As Ah recall, a dragon saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, and helped fight off those storm creatures in Canterlot.” “Oh, you know I don’t mean Spike,” the weather patrol pony replied. “He’s not like other dragons. Heck he’s more like a pony.” Lizzie had told me Thunderlane could be an ass at times, and I was really struggling to avoid blasting him into the middle of last week. “Thunderlane,” Time Turner said, in a faux kind voice. “Bit of friendly advice; shut the buck up.” “What?” Thunderlane asked in confusion as the rest of us went back to shovelling. At least he didn’t mean to be a jackass I suppose. Spike is proud of his dragon heritage, and while he’s grown up around ponies, he still sees himself as a dragon. The only problem is, he doesn’t know that much about being a dragon. He’s learnt odds and ends, but like ponies, dragon culture and life is still quite a mystery to him, and often comes into conflict with his pony upbringing. Effectively, the young dragon is between two worlds, not quite fitting into either. I sometimes wonder that, as he grows up, particularly now that his wings have come in, he’ll one day have to make a choice between ponies and dragons. The other stallions and I kept hard at work doing our best to repair the damage this overweight dragon had done when he careened into town. It wouldn’t be a perfect job, but the hole was soon filled in. I suppose we should just thank our lucky stars that he didn’t also take out the water main that ran under the street. As we were finishing up our ad hoc repair to the road, Lily, one of the mares that sells flowers in the market, gave us a bit of information on who this dragon was. He’d been taken back to the castle, and was presently being tended to by Twilight and Spike. While Lily wasn’t sure, she was fairly certain that the dragon had damaged one of his wings pretty badly. That meant he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. Still, there was little for me to do about that. It sounded like Spike and Twilight had the whole thing well in hoof. So, with the road more or less mended, we all went our separate ways. Mac went back to the stall, Thunderlane went back to his weather job, and Time Turner headed back to his store. As for me, I headed back to the farm. I’d been meaning to have a little tinker with the cider press. It had given us a bit of trouble this season just gone, so I wanted to see if it could simply be bodged, or if some proper repairs were needed. As it turned out, I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon repairing the belt on the cider press and replacing the differential. I’m just glad I’ve got the nous these days to do it. If you’d given me a job like this back on Earth, I’d be pretty much stumped. A couple years here though, and with some help from AJ, including occasionally borrowing a few of her tools, and I’ve got a decent working knowledge of how things work. If nothing else, I apply the classic engineering flow chart. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use duct tape. If it should move and doesn’t, apply WD 40. If you ask me, every guy ought to know that. You can do half of all household repairs with just some WD 40, a set of vise grips and a roll of duct tape. By early evening, I’d got the press back up and running again. I was just taking it for a quick test drive, trotting along on the treadmill, bringing it up to speed, when the doors to the barn opened and Applejack came in. I could see from the darkening sky that it was getting late; probably nearly dinner time. “Hey, Applejack,” I said, as I continued to build up my speed. I needed to be sure the press could cope with working at a full gallop. “How’s that dragon Twilight took in holdin’ up?” “He’s gonna be off his feet for a while, Ah reckon,” AJ replied. “Who is he anyway? And what brought him this far into Equestria?” “He’s called Sludge,” AJ said. I figured that his mother didn’t like him very much then. “An’ he just said he was passin’ through when he hurt his wing. Ah figure he was on his way back to the Dragon Lands.” “So what, are Twilight and Spike lookin’ after him then?” I asked. Applejack nodded. “Yeah, Twi gave him a room in the castle until he can get back on his feet. Spike certainly seems to have taken to him too.” I nodded in agreement. “It’ll be good for him to have a dragon around to talk with for once.” I knew he was friends with Smoulder, one of the students at the School of Friendship, and of course, he’s quite close with Dragon Lord Ember too. But it would be nice for him to get some one on one time with a dragon, rather than just the odd meeting. It would give him a chance to learn more about his people, and maybe correct a few misconceptions idiots like that jackass Garble had thrown up. Applejack headed back towards the open barn door. I promised to follow her in a few minutes once I’d washed off the oil and dirt I’d picked up from tinkering with the press’ inner mechanisms. At the door however, she stopped and added one more thing. “Oh, and by the way, sugarcube. Mac told me what ya said to Thunderlane today. It was good of ya to stick up for Spike.” “Thunderlane didn’t mean anythin’ nasty by it,” I replied as I scrubbed my face with a cloth. “Still, Ah wish some ponies would stop seein’ him as just ‘that dragon that lives with Princess Twilight’.” I soon finished making myself presentable and put the press back together. Come next season, it would be raring to go. Heading inside, I joined the Apple family at the dinner table. The big topic of evening conversation was, of course, Sludge. Aside from my telling of how the dragon managed to crash into Ponyville, I didn’t have too much to contribute. AJ did most of the talking, telling us all about this odd, somewhat fat dragon. As she talked, I couldn’t help but frown slightly. While I could understand Sludge not being too active, owing to his injury, from the way Applejack told it, he seemed to settle into his new home remarkably fast; a little too easily if you ask me and all. I certainly didn’t care for the image of him stretching out on the map table for one thing. Still, Spike seemed to like him, and there always tends to be a bit of a culture clash when dragons and ponies meet. I figured that I'd just wait and see what happened over the next few days as Sludge healed up. It was some time before Sludge was even close to being fully recovered. With a damaged wing and a broken arm, he was laid up in bed for quite some time. Eventually though, with help from Twilight, and the others, including AJ, the somewhat fat dragon was ready to take to the skies again. He'd also bonded with Spike pretty well, with the two dragons becoming good friends. However, as the time drew near for him to leave, Sludge dropped a bombshell. I was in the kitchen helping Granny Smith fix supper when Applejack returned with the news. I’d just sat down at the table for a moment when my marefriend came bursting through the door. “Bones! Granny!” she exclaimed. “Y’all are never gonna guess what just happened down at Twilight’s castle!” Myself and the apple matriarch were caught off guard by her sudden arrival; we both all but jumped out of our skin. I was actually quite worried something serious had happened. “What is it, ‘Jack?” I asked worriedly. “Is it somethin’ to do with Spike or Sludge?” Applejack nodded. “It sure is,” Applejack replied as I sipped on my cup of coffee. “Sludge says he’s Spike’s dad!” With that, half of my coffee went spewing out of my mouth, and the other went straight up my nose, inducing a rather painful coughing fit as coffee went where it wasn’t supposed to. Granny Smith glared at the stains that now covered a good third of the table cloth. Eventually, I got my coughing and spluttering under control enough to voice the obvious question. “He’s what?!” I exclaimed. Spike’s origins had always been something of a mystery, both to Twilight and all the fans of the show. All we knew was that he was an orphan, with his egg having been brought to Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, where Twilight, as part of her entrance exam, managed to hatch it and then some. But I knew nothing about his parents, or even where his egg came from. To be brutally honest though, I couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened on Spike’s behalf. He may have his faults, but he was a good and noble dragon. Sludge on the other hoof, based on my encounter with him when I went over to Twilight’s to borrow some books from her, was a fat, lazy slob of a dragon. Aside from some similarities in the colour of their scales, I could see little to suggest a paternal relation. Still, while I had hoped for something more, according to Applejack, Spike was thrilled to be reunited with his father. To further prove his bona fides, Sludge also told Spike the story of his mother. According to him, she had been tasked by the then-Dragon Lord Torch to scout the next migration route; a task that would keep her away from the Dragon Lands for a few years. When she didn’t return, Sludge went to search for her. This is where I first began to suspect something was amiss. Sludge said she ended up in the territory of Scale Collectors; a group of dragon hunters that lived on a group of islands floating in the sky. That, I can assure you, is a load of horseapples. While I’m no expert of dragons, I do know my geography, particularly with the lands south of Equestria now better charted. There is no such place or people. So, I suspected that Sludge was playing both Spike and Twilight for fools. After all, he had landed on his feet after his accident, and being Spike’s father would all but guarantee him permanent residence in the castle. But I knew that I couldn’t just come out and say that, especially not to Spike. If I was right, the deception would break his heart, so I would only accuse when I had irrefutable proof. Actually, I was quite surprised that Sludge’s tale didn’t set off AJ’s own lie detector. For now, I would keep quiet and gather a bit more evidence. As it turned out, further evidence was not something I needed. While I was still digging away and considering the possibility of reaching out to Dragon Lord Ember herself through my dad, the entire situation came to a head. AJ recounted the whole story to me after the fact. At first, it was a case of Spike supposedly learning how to be a proper dragon. Curiously, this involved him giving everything soft or fluffy in the castle to Sludge to kip on, as well as providing him with quite the supply of gems to feast on. It was here that Twilight too began to suspect that something was amiss. But when she tried to confront Spike about it, he accused her of being jealous and rather callously reminded her that she wasn’t really his parent. That alone was enough to break the poor mare’s heart. With that falling out between them, Spike declared that he and Sludge would move out to a cave somewhere to live like proper dragons. And here’s where Sludge’s plan to live on Easy Street came unstuck. He’d told Spike that dragons loved living in uncomfortable conditions and with Smoulder’s help, Spike had found perhaps the least comfortable cave this side of the Crystal Empire. The imminent loss of his newfound comfort was enough for Sludge to finally come clean. He admitted to Spike that he’d made the whole thing up; he wasn’t his father, and he hadn’t the faintest idea what had become of his mother. Needless to say, the poor drake was heartbroken by the callous deception. Sludge even had the balls to suggest that he was only doing what a good dragon would do. I found myself almost literally shaking with rage as AJ recounted the story to me. “Where the hay is Sludge now?” I asked, doing my best to keep from shouting at her. “That no good sidewinder flew off,” Applejack replied. “I guess he’s headin’ back to the Dragon Lands. Ah’m just glad he’s gone.” I took a breath to try and control my temper. “How’s Spike holdin’ up?” At that AJ smiled. “Not too bad all things considered. He and Twi made up afterwards. Smoulder’s been helpin’ to make him feel better too.” That was good at least. As cold hearted as what Sludge had done was, at least Spike was more or less okay. Still, my mind was whirring away. At the moment, Morning Star’s voice was going through my mind, mainly demanding violet retribution against Sludge. It was hard not to agree with him. “What’s Twilight gonna do about Sludge though?” I pressed Applejack. AJ shrugged. “She figured that as long as he stayed far away from Spike, that was good enough.” Oh hell no! Ponies at times, can be far too forgiving. What Sludge had done was tantamount to emotional abuse, never mind blatant fraud by false representation. He ought to face some sort of punishment. My thoughts turned to Dad. As Celestia’s legal advisor, he’d have some idea what could be done about all this, legally of course, and he possibly pull a few strings. And so, a plan formed in my mind. That afternoon, after having cleared out a sizeable portion of the west orchard, which also helped to cool my anger, I set off once again for my parents' house. It had been about three weeks since I’d originally gone to see Mum on that day that Sludge crashed into town. Today was Sunday, so Dad would be home as well. I figured I could go and see him and see if there were any legal options. I wasn’t asking for Sludge to go on trial and spend time inside. I just thought that Spike deserved some restitution, if not retribution. It was a fairly short trip from the farm, into Ponyville, and to my parents front door. I was lucky enough that it was Dad who answered the door. Like pretty much everypony else in town, he’d heard about Sludge’s arrival. News of his sudden, hurried departure meanwhile, had reached him while he was still in Canterlot. “Oh, you should have seen it, Bones,” he was saying as he invited me in and the two of us walked through the hallway. “I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I’ve seen Celestia that pissed off. She just went quiet and asked everypony to leave the throne room for a few moments.” “Makes sense,” I replied with a nod as we made our way into the living room. “She’s known Spike as long as Twilight. He’s just as much her adoptive son as Twilight’s her daughter. So, is there anything you can do against Sludge?” Dad however, was already ahead of me. “I’ve already got something in the works, Bones,” he explained. “Like I said, Celestia was absolutely furious about what had happened. She sent a message to the Dragon Lord demanding, and I do mean demanding, a meeting. Apparently, she wants to haul Sludge back across the border and extradite him to Equestria.” That was a touch excessive, I thought to myself. Princess Celestia was typically a paragon of patience and level headedness. It was strange, although quite understandable, to hear that she’d been so affected by events. “What does she want to do?” I asked curiously. “Ya can’t put a dragon on trial for just lying and being an asshole.” “No, but you can do him for fraud by false representation,” Dad replied. “And the princess isn’t trying to charge him as a criminal, she’s served civil papers on him. According to the writ from the court, Sludge now owes Spike 15,780 bits in compensation and court costs for misrepresenting himself to him. And since he’s got no assets to seize over here, or in the Dragon Lands and so no way to pay it, Celestia’s offered a deal for him to pay off his debt by working in the castle.” Ah, now that sounded like the Celestia I was familiar with. There was a consequence for his actions, but it was proportionate and reasonable. And it was just enough humiliation to make sure he wouldn’t do it again, without going over the line and being cruel. “So that’s what she’s going to tell Dragon Lord Ember?” I asked. Dad nodded. “Pretty much,” he said. “From what I understand, the dragons ought to take a pretty dim view of this bugger as well. They may be a little different from ponies here and there, but they don’t much care for lying, Bones. And of course, you’ve got to remember that little Spike is good friends with Ember herself. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t as cheesed off as Celestia.” I thought for a moment, considering that fact. Dad was right, and more to the point, Ember probably wouldn’t be quite as merciful as Celestia was. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sludge came running back over the border as soon as the extradition request was sent out. He’d rather take his chances with the benevolent pony princess than his own very angry kin. “Well, it’s good to see that that no good sidewinder is gonna get his,” I said with pleased expression. “Ah hate to see Spike taken advantage of like that.” Dad now, strangely, let out a laugh. “Bones, I think you forget just how many friends Spike has,” he replied. "In addition to Celestia, Luna’s pretty mad too, as is Cadance and the entire Crystal Empire. Then there’s Ember, and of course old Thorax up in the Changeling Kingdom. And let’s not forget his friends that all meet up for his O&O games.” That raised a concerning point. “How...how did Discord take this anyhow?” I asked with no small amount of concern. If anypony was to fly off the handle on hearing of what happened to Spike, it would be him. Dad grimaced for a moment. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, Bones,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “All I’ll say is I hope some other creature finds Sludge first. He heard what had happened, as he always seems to, and he was baying for the dragon’s blood. Literally too; the idiot turned himself into a foxhound and ran, baying, down the mountain and off toward the Dragon Lands.” “Jesus, didn’t you try to stop him or something? Y’all know what Discord can be like. For pony’s sake he almost threw Treehugger into a dimensional portal just because he got a mite jealous. Celestia know what he’ll do to somecreature that hurt his friend.” “I warned Fluttershy about it as soon as I could. She’s the only one who can really get him under control.” “Come on, Dad. You’re his best friend!” I persisted. “Alright, I’ll try something,” he said. With that, he stepped out of the house and shouted up at the sky. “Discord!” A moment later, the draconequus appeared in the usual flash and pop of a teleport. He was dressed in a safari outfit, with a Stanley helmet on, complete with a nasty looking Blunderbuss. He didn’t look too happy at the moment, evidently, he was still hunting down his quarry. But at least I knew his anger was directed toward somepony else. Still, Dad was right, I’d not seen him that mad in a long time; not since the gala. I guess at least this is a step up from that. He now only flies into homicidal rages to protect his friends, rather than when he doesn’t get his way. “Roger!” Discord said, a false smile appearing on his face. He then turned to me. “And Bones too. I hate to do this to you, but I’m in a bit of a rush right now. Is there any chance I can stop by later?” “I just wanted to ask you about Sludge, Discord,” Dad replied. The draconequus’ face darkened. “Oh? What about him?” “Have you found him yet?” Discord now smiled again. "As a matter of fact, yes I have,” he replied. “And actually, you could lend me a hand if I could borrow some of your things.” Snapping his talons, he magicked up a list and a pair of reading glasses. “Let’s see. I need a chair, a few rolls of duct tape, a stereo player, a copy of a Stealers Wheels ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ single, a straight razor, a jerry can of petrol, a cigarette lighter, and some place where nopony will be bothered by incessant screaming, or small fires.” “Discord, no!” Dad said sharply. “Removing ears is not going to solve anything. And I’m not having you end up in the dock charged with Equestria’s first ever murder. Tia’s going to handle this. Trust me, Sludge will get his soon enough.” “Really?” Discord asked. “She’s actually going to punish him, or is she just going to give him a slap on the wrist like that unstable unicorn that hangs around Twilight?” “She’s actually going to punish him,” Dad reassured. “Besides, what will beatin’ the tar out of Sludge do anyway?” I asked. “It ain’t gonna undo what he did to Spike.” Discord pondered that, and sensing that I was winning him over, I continued. “Spike said it himself; even if he never finds his real parents, he’s got loads of ponies, and all sorts of other creatures, that love him just as much.” After mulling that over a moment longer, Discord snapped his talons again. And much to our relief he appeared minus his previous garb and list of torture items. He agreed to leave things alone for the moment, with the promise that, while Sludge was paying off his debt, he could, within reason, torment him to his heart’s content. That was more than enough for Discord, and he happily popped off to Fluttershy’s to spend some time with her. I too took my leave. The issue of Sludge was settled, Spike was feeling a lot better now that his many adopted family members had rallied around him, and Discord had been stopped from ripping the slimy dragon limb from limb. I couldn’t help but feel some pride at my own actions. I’d felt the desire for revenge, but had been able to set it to one side. Hopefully that means I’ve turned a corner on that front. Unbeknownst to me however, my stance on revenge was about to be challenged due to the actions of a very unusual and unexpected foe.