//------------------------------// // A Meeting. // Story: Family // by FleetlordAvatar //------------------------------// "We are never going to get close," whispered Spike as he peered around the doorway. The dragon had quickly led them back to the Town Hall, where Twilight had established herself in Mayor Mare’s office. They wanted to speak to her alone, but the sheer number of ponies present, which included the Mayor and Princess Luna, made it impossible. "We need them all to leave, and quickly. Any ideas?" asked Apple Bloom. As if on cue, the ponies around Twilight, including Luna, suddenly vanished in a flash of light. The foals and Spike disapprovingly glared up at Discord, who blew smoke from the end of one claw like it was a gun. "You're welcome," he cheekily replied, before floating into the room. "Discord!" exclaimed Twilight. "I might have known you did that." "Guilty, as charged," he replied shamelessly. "Don't worry, they are all perfectly safe, we just needed you alone for a bit." "We?" Discord waved over to the doorway where Twilight saw the group of youngsters. Spike gave a nervous wave. "Um...hi". "Spike, Reiver, girls, did he put you all up to this?". "Not exactly," replied Scootaloo. “We really did want to talk to you,” finished Sweetie Belle. "Couldn't this have waited until later? We have a crisis on out hooves." "There's always one crisis or another to be dealt with," said Discord. "I'm sure the 'magic of friendship', or some other plot device, will do whatever it does in the end." "This really couldn't wait Twilight," nervously interrupted Reiver. "So...you how I'm an alien from another dimension She nodded. “...well...there was something I didn't tell you. Bedlam...you can come out now." "Umm, about that," the voice echoed in Reivers mind. "We might have a problem." The entity materialised right next to the group, causing Twilight to jump in surprise. But when he turned to his unorthodox twin, the colt gasped. Bedlam's eyes, usually brown like Reivers, were now yellow with red pupils, just like Discord. To make matters worse, there was an explosion of light, followed by the boom of the Royal Canterlot voice. "DISCORD! I SWEAR IF THOU SEND US TO THE REALM OF CHAOS ONE MORE TIME I SHALL SEND THEE TO THE FURTHEST STAR IN THE SKY!” Princess Luna stood before them, mane billowing furiously like a midnight storm, eyes furiously glowing with the limitless power of the heavens. Her focus entirely on the draconequis. “DOES THOU KNOW HOW MANY PONIES WE HAD TO CALM? THEE ARE LUCKY WE COULD SEND THEM HOME SANE!” Discord filed his claws, unintimidated by the display of power. “As impressive as this is moonbutt, there are other concerns right now.” He indicated Reiver, and Bedlam, who had were cowering behind the three fillies. "WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?!" she bellowed. "THOU WOULD BRING FOALS INTO THY GAMES?!" "As much as I would like to take responsibility," replied Discord, calm in the face of the furious Princess of the Night. "I cannot, there is alot going on here, and you really should calm down, you're frightening ponies." Looking again at what her display of power had done, memories of the last time she did such a thing surfaced. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath Luna reigned in her fury and power, her mane returning to its normal state. Slowly walking up to the group of foals, she knelt down. "I apologise for frightening you," Reiver and Bedlam nervously peeked out from behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Please, tell me what happened." "I would,” began Reiver. “But-” "We know what you do to creatures of chaos!" cried Bedlam, ducking behind Twilight. "I'm not going to be somepony's garden gnome." Luna was taken aback, she would never do such a thing to any of her little ponies. But...this foal said it was a being of chaos, her mind reeled at the implication. "I assure you," she replied, calmly. "I would never do such a thing," "Although Celestia might," muttered Discord, earning him hard looks from everypony present. "Reiver, it's alright,” said Twilight, softly. “Princess Luna won't hurt you, or Bedlam. She's just protective of her ponies, she would never do anything to harm them.” Reiver nervously peeked up at Twilight from behind the Crusaders. She smiled reassuringly at him. “Trust me, she means you no harm.” The colt looked up at the fillies, who smiled and nodded in agreement. Taking a deep breath, he stood up, Bedlam leaving his cover to join him. "Okay, I...I think I'm alright now." "That's good, now, please tell everypony what is going on." It took a while to bring Luna up to speed, but between, Reiver, Bedlam, the fillies and Twilight, she soon knew the full story. "Fascinating," breathed the Princess. "I had always wondered where Discord had originated, there is no other creature like him in the entire world." "Well, I am one of a kind," he replied with a toothy grin. "But now you know the story of my youth, Q really was ahead of his time with that spell." "But he clearly lacked caution,” responded the alicorn. “Had I or my sister known, his life might not have been forfeit." "But then you wouldn't have my charming company, now would you?" countered Discord, offering her a flower from his lion paw, which she immediately pushed away as a jet of water shot from it's petals. "But that doesn't explain what happened to my eyes," interrupted Bedlam. "They look like his, and they resemble a pair of off colour eggs." "They do not!" retorted the Spirit of Chaos, removing his own eyes and apparently studying them with the empty sockets of his skull. "Now I look at them, I’d say they were more like marbles." "Actually," interrupted Twilight. "I've got a theory about that." She turned to the fillies and Spike. "You said Discord tried to use magic on Reiver, but it didn't work." "That's right," said Apple Bloom. "He tried to separate them." "But nothing happened," continued Scootaloo. "He did it a bunch of times to, but it didn't do anything." The unicorn then turned to Discord. "You also said that the magic kept absorbing power, until it took Q's own energy." "That's right," he replied, casually tossing his eyes back into his skull. "Like a big magical sponge." "In that case, I'd say that your magic didn't work because it was absorbed. If Bedlam is another Draconequis in development, then I would conclude that his eyes have changed because your magic has inadvertently sped up his transformation." Bedlam and Reiver glared at the Spirit of Chaos, who finished repositioning his eyeballs in time to look sheepish. "Umm...oops?" "That's all you have to say?!" roared Bedlam. "You might have just shortened Reivers life and all you can say is 'oops'?!" "Well, to be fair we didn't realise this would happen," replied the Spirit of Chaos. "I'm afraid it gets worse," interrupted Twilight, her horn glowing with power as she scanned Reiver, who flinched away from the unicorn. “Hey!” he snapped. “What did you just say about me being a magical sponge!” "Sorry, but I need to be certain,” she replied, projecting a series of numbers and graphs into the air. Running her eyes over the data, she made some mental calculations. Her face paled. “It looks like the rate of absorption is increasing,” she whispered. “If we don't do something soon…” She trailed off, leaving a silence so quiet you could have heard a pin drop, which they did, because Discord conjured one the size of a sofa. "What?" he said to the glaring ponies. “You were all so serious.” "How long do we have?" asked Reiver. "I can't say, you should be okay until after the Storm of Magic has passed." she replied, looking out a window at the darkening sky. "It's not the best plan, but there simply isn't time for me to do anything now. For now, I recommend staying inside. Once it's past, we will help, I promise." "You'll be safe at Sweet Apple Acres," said Apple Bloom. "Those Waystones are going all around the farm, just sit in the cellar with everypony until it's over. Uh, we should probably get back there soon, Applejacks going to wonder where we've all been." "Good idea," praised Twilight. "The Waystones power will draw away any magic, they might even slow the process." The filly beamed as she laid a hoof over both Reiver and Bedlams shoulders. "See, y'all will be fine." Both Reiver and Bedlam looked at each other and nodded. The shadow pony disappearing a moment later. "Where did he go?" asked a surprised Princess Luna. "Still here moony,” echoed Bedlams voice from all around them. "It takes more power to manifest so I figure if I'm not present then it might slow things down a bit further. Just call me when this is all over." "Moony", chuckled Discord, now wearing a pair of glasses and holding a pad and pen. "I've got to remember that one." "Umm, not to interrupt, but we should go to," said Sweetie Belle. "With everything going on, Rarity is probably wondering why I'm not at home." "And my parents will be freaking out as well," finished Scootaloo. "We can meet up again after the storm." "Please keep this a secret," stressed Reiver to Luna. “I don’t want too many people knowing about...well, all this.” The princess smiled. "I can assure you, that this shall remain between all present and no more." "Even I can keep a secret, most of the time," replied Discord, literally zipping and then unzipping his mouth. "I must say, if we can separate you two then having another me around is going to be so much fun. I can just imagine the chaos we will cause!" He disappeared in a flash of light and a burst of confetti, his gleeful laughter echoing all around them. The group looked at each other nervously as Scootaloo gave voice to their thoughts. "Should we be worried?"