“Umm, Princess Luna? Don’t you think you could walk just a little faster? I can’t even see them anymore.” Twilight asked as politely as possible to the alicorn trailing behind her, who was making her way down the hall at a painfully slow pace.
“I’ve been completely exhausted for the past two weeks, Twilight… Not only am I still feeling the bruises from Discord and I’s fight, I’ve been having to raise the sun and the moon every single day…” She mumbled back as she slumped her head downwards, still slumbering forwards like a creature of the night.
“What? I thought you got the Arcana council to take care of that?”
“I did, but then they refused to raise it anymore… They said some rubbish about being too busy…” She sighed as she finally made her way next to the lavender unicorn.
“Can they even do that?! I thought the Princess’s had complete control over the council!” Twilight questioned as they began pacing down the hall where Discord and Celestia had disappeared to.
Luna rolled her large cyan eyes at her. “Yeah right, those fools do whatever they please with little or no regard of us. I’ve been trying to get Celestia to fire them ever since I returned to ruling, but she insists that they’re important to the kingdom…”
“Well don’t worry, Princess!” Twilight assured her, as she shot her a happy grin. “I’ll make sure you get a nice, long rest after we handle all this, you definitely deserve it!”
“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, I’m glad at least one pony is on my side…” She sighed heavily as she returned the mare’s smile.
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“Alright, alright, scrap that plan! What if we give the child to a foster home for a few years, and then we can take care of it after? Both of us win; it’s brilliant!” Discord declared as he flew to the side of his wife.
Celestia merely continued to ignore him as she stormed down the hallway. Of course, this didn’t halt the draconequus, who still continued to pester and follow her.
After five minutes and half of a dozen ideas, she finally had enough, slamming her hoof against the stone floor as she turned to face her husband.
“That’s enough, Discord! This is your own child you’re talking about here, not a piece of meat! We can’t just give her to somepony to take care of while we sit back and relax!”
“Well why not? I think we deserve some relaxation before we enter the stressful and demanding years of parenthood. Don’t you?”
Celestia glared at him, her anger towards the draconequus rising with every passing second. “We’re taking care of the foal, Discord, and that’s the end of it!” She stated sternly.
“But why?!”
Celestia narrowed her eyes, her extremely irate expression serving as a warning for him. “Listen Discord, I’ve had absolutely enough of you and your little breakdowns! I love you, but…” She shook her head before turning away from him. “When you do things like this… I can’t even stand being around you…”
Discord stared at her with his jaw open, for once, at a complete loss for words.
“So, until you’ve sorted out all these stages, just stay away from me!” She screamed at him in a furious tone that made him cringe. He watched in bewilderment as she stormed off, her loud hoof steps still echoing through the halls.
A minute later, he was joined by Twilight and Luna, who had finally arrived despite the alicorn’s snail like pace.
“Discord! What happened to the Princess? Where did she go?” Twilight hastily questioned as she glanced around the vacant hall.
“Gone. She said she doesn’t want to see me anymore.” Discord stated before crossing his arms.
“What?! You mean you two are…” Luna trailed off as she stared at the draconequus in surprise.
“No, we’re not breaking up; she just wants me to get through these ‘stages’... whatever those are…” He rolled his eyes as he turned to the Princess and Twilight.
“The stages that you’ve been going through for the past few weeks; how have you not noticed them!? Remember when you destroyed half of the castle?!”
“And tried to kill me…” Luna mumbled in an exhausted whisper.
“Well yes, but that’s only because of all the stress I was experiencing!” Discord insisted in a confident tone. “That’s all behind me now, thanks to my vacation of course.” He paused, “Actually, that may just be what Celestia needs! A nice long vacation…”
He was just about to snap his talons when he was abruptly stopped by Twilight. “You should just leave the Princess alone for now! She’s been stressed out enough; she doesn’t need you trying to bargain with her!”
“Bargaining? I’m not bargaining with Celestia, I’m merely offering several different solutions to our little problem.”
“Problem? That’s your own child you’re talking about, Discord!” Luna snapped at him, hardly believing that the draconequus could be so inconsiderate.
“Funny, your sister said the same thing…” Discord chuckled to himself as he stared at the alicorn. “Well, this is been great and all, but I really should be going…”
“To where?! You better not bother the Princess!” Twilight exclaimed as she shot him a rather threatening glance.
“Never! I completely respect the wishes of my wife…”
Discord turned his head and frowned at her. “I was just going to my room to rest, that’s all… And maybe think up a few more ideas…”
Twilight and Luna merely sighed; finally realizing at this point that there was nothing they could do to alter his thinking. After flashing a grin to the both of them, he snapped his talons and vanished.
“So, Twilight Sparkle… What do you suggest we do now?” Luna questioned as she turned to the lavender mare.
“To be honest Princess, I have no idea…” Twilight mumbled as she continued to stare at the deserted hall. “I should probably go and find my friends though, as it’s getting late and they’ve probably seen most of what Canterlot has to offer.”
“Well then, goodnight to you, I certainly hope we’ll have better progress tomorrow…”
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“Oh wow! This room is so amazing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with glee, as they stepped into their bedroom. The first thing they noticed was the extremely comfortable velvet carpet under their hooves, and it covered every inch of the very large room. Six massive beds were all positioned at the far end of the room, the covers and sheets all composed of brilliant shades of blood red, ink black, and sparkling gold.
On their left was a full kitchen made of stainless steel, accompanied with a fully stocked pantry. On their right, were several comfy looking couches placed in front of a currently dead fireplace. Several shelves were placed against the wall, filled to the brim with dozens upon dozens of books.
Along the walls were many different paintings, some of them of simple landscapes while others depicted Canterlot or the Castle. Five of the mares were completely awestruck as they entered, their eyes happily taking in the gorgeous room.
“I… I’ve never seen anything quite like it…” Rarity gasped, as she looked around the room, her gaze soon landing on a beautiful painting that illustrated an inspiring sunrise of orange, red and white.
“Man this place is cool! I wish I lived here all the time!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she took off into the air, thoroughly enjoying the amount of space in the room.
“Well I asked the Princess for the biggest, most luxurious room they had. There are six of us after all, and I really did want to show you the best the Castle has to offer.” Twilight smiled as she paced over to the bookshelf, soon gleefully realizing all her favorite novels were there.
“Oh, oh, and we have a kitchen!” Pinkie Pie giggled like a filly as she rushed over to the appliances, clapping her hooves together cheerfully. “I know what we’re having tonight! CUPCAKES!”
“Ah thought the Castle had its own huge kitchen? Why have one here too?” Applejack asked curiously as she stared at her excited friend.
Twilight turned away from the large assortment of books to look at her friend. “Well, I didn’t really want to bother the chefs… They’re usually very busy, and besides, there’s no reason we can’t cook for ourselves.”
“Come on Twilight, how could we stay here and NOT order room service?!” Rainbow Dash questioned as she landed on her bed with a mighty crash, her body soon sinking into the incredibly soft and plush material. “I for one am going to enjoy everything I can…”
Twilight rolled her eyes at the cyan pegasus. “Come on, you guys, I know it’s great to enjoy all of this, but having fun isn’t the reason we’re here… We’re supposed to be helping the Princess and Discord, remember?”
“Oh yes of course!” Rarity exclaimed as she turned back to her friend. “But does that mean we can’t enjoy the divine food here at the castle? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with Pinkie’s cooking but…” She shot her eccentric friend a look, who merely responded with a confused pout.
“Yeah, Twilight, that dinner was mighty fine! I sure wouldn’t mind eatin’ here again!” Applejack stated as she draped a hoof along the lavender mare’s back.
Twilight sighed as she shook her head, finally caving in to her friend’s pleas. “Fine… I’ll get a servant to take our orders…”
All of her friends let out exaggerated yells of excitement, all of them except Pinkie Pie however; she crossed her hooves and pouted once more, “Fine, but I’m still making cupcakes…”
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“That was the best thing I’ve ever eaten!” Rainbow Dash stated happily before she collapsed back onto her bed, her stomach full to the brim.
“Ah’ll say, they just don’t make food like this anywhere else!” Applejack replied as she worked a toothpick through her mouth, trying to get rid of any stray food she might have missed.
Twilight just rolled her eyes again as she returned to her book. “Well it wasn’t that great… We’ve could’ve just made our own food…”
“You’re just saying that because you ate here all the time…” Rainbow remarked as she shot her friend a glance. “Sure must have been the life, living here every day…”
Twilight just ignored her and continued reading, however she was soon interrupted by the ever energetic Pinkie Pie. “Hey Twilight, want a cupcake?” The pink pony jammed a piping hot tray of sweets in front of her, the heat nearly singeing her lavender coat.
“No Pinkie, stop asking!”
She merely sighed before turning to her other friends, all of them shaking their heads as they were just too full. With a sad frown, she paced back over to the kitchen and threw her tray back onto the counter. However, quite suddenly an idea came to mind, and with a grin she picked the tray back up. “I know who will want a cupcake! Discord!”
Before any of her friends could stop her, she rushed out the door and was already half way down the hall. Before long, she was already outside the draconequus’ room, pounding relentlessly on his door.
“Hey Discord! I made some super yummy cupcakes!” She roared as she continued to knock on the door, confused when she was given no response.
“Discord?” She asked cautiously, as she turned the door knob, surprised when she found it unlocked. With a light push, it opened, and she stepped into the overly dark room of the draconequus.
“Discord?” Pinkie called out again, barely able to see anything in the pitch blackness of the room. However, before long her eyes adjusted, and she could just make out the form of a creature in the corner. Slightly worried, she took a step forward and once again spoke into the darkness. “D-Discord?”
She heard a heavy sigh, and after a moment, a single light turned on in the room. It revealed the draconequus, who was huddled up in the corner with a pale, vacant expression. “What is it?” He mumbled to her, his voice not containing a hint of his usual happiness or excitement.
“Uh, well, I just made some cupcakes and was wondering if you…” Pinkie Pie was at a loss for words, for despite all she had seen in the past few weeks, this was by far the most different Discord. He was so unlike his typical chaotic self, even his mismatched eyes had lost the spark of craziness that always seemed to inhabit them. It was as if he was a completely different person.
“Go away…” He hissed, before turning away from her, his cold brash voice causing her to cringe.
“Uh, D-discord, is this the next stage? What did Twilight say it was again…?” She pondered to herself as she put a hoof under her chin.
The Draconequus merely ignored her, finding it far better to just relish in the silence.
“Oh yeah, it was de…de… desertion? Decapitation? No, that wasn’t it…” Pinkie Pie sighed as she once again returned to her thinking.
While the pink pony pondered, Discord pulled a skull out of seemingly nowhere. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now?”
“Oh yeah, it was depression!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, having ignored the draconequus's monologue. “Well I better go tell Twilight, you stay right here!”
The pink pony was gone, leaving Discord to sigh and merely stare at the skull in his one talon. “To be or not to be, that is the question…”