//------------------------------// // Reconciliation // Story: Learning To Live Again // by Speedy Quill //------------------------------// Moving around proved more difficult than anticipated. I already had the bad leg from Everfree, but now I also had a hoof I couldn’t put weight on for a week while the wounds mend. So there I was wheeling out of the hospital. Stuck in a wheelchair for a week! I couldn’t help but mumble my frustration. “Stop that. It’s your own fault.” I looked at Rarity. She was walking beside me, using her magic to push the chair forward. Her annoyance with me was evident as I sighed. “I know that. I just feel like a useless lump in this chair.” “You can find things to do I’m sure. In fact you could help me! I’ve got a big order I’m trying to fill and could use an assistant to- No wait. That won’t work. I would need you to be fully mobile.” “Well I refuse to just sit and do nothing for a week.” That’s when a small miracle happened. “Rarity! Shade! What happened?” We both turned to find Twilight landing in front of us. I held up my bandaged hoof. “I might have stepped on some glass. That plus my bum leg makes it impossible to walk properly.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “I’m so sorry. That must be difficult.” “The difficult part will be not going crazy until I’m out of the chair.” Her ears perked up again. “You know, I could actually use your help with some work! I’ve got a lot of paperwork I’m still trying to get through.” I couldn’t help but smile. “You? Behind on paperwork?” The princess furrowed her brow. “I didn’t say that!” Me and Rarity were trying not to laugh. Twilight relaxed a little and sighed. “Okay. Maybe a little. There’s a lot of paperwork when you’re a princess.” I chuckled. “You don’t have to tell me. I could literally swim in the piles of papers that Celestia and Luna go through in a week.” Twilight smiled. “Does that mean you’ll help?” “Sure! It’ll keep me occupied for at least the afternoon.” Twilight shook her head “You don’t know how much there is.” I couldn’t help but flash my biggest grin. “And you don’t remember how fast I am.” ———————— Twilight helped me wheel into the castle. I still found myself staring at the structure in wonder. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this place.” Twilight sighed. “Yeah. I’m more comfortable than I used to be, but it’s never going to be like the library.” I smiled, remembering my first days in Ponyville. So much had happened since then. We arrived at Twilight’s study and she opened the doors. “Son of a- Twilight! Just how far behind are you?!” There were three stacks of paper on the desk. Twilight turned red at my question. “Well...a lot has been happening. I promise I’m usually more on top of it. Don’t tell Celestia! I don’t want her to think I can’t handle it!” I looked at the young alicorn for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. “Twilight! That’s barely fifteen minutes work with me! I thought you’d have a little more than this.” I couldn’t stop laughing. The longer I went, the more annoyed Twilight got. “Hey! This is what me behind looks like!” I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay Miss Exaggeration. Let’s take a look.” She wheeled me over to the desk and I began perusing the papers. The more pages I read, the more speed I picked up. Soon I was reading a page every few seconds. “Are you sure you’re getting everything?” I didn’t even look up. “Don’t worry Twilight. I don’t just skim through paperwork like Celestia.” An audible gasp made me smile. I paused to glance up at the shock on Twilight’s face. My smile grew bigger as her shock deepened. “You...you’re joking...right? Please say you’re joking!” I shrugged and returned to my reading, leaving the princess to process the imperfections of her mentor. Maybe it was a little cruel, but I knew that Celestia wanted Twilight to realize that she was just as prone to faults as anypony. So why not give her a nudge? I set the last of the pages down and sighed. “Sign off on the two petitions, talk to the Mayor about her request regarding the flags, and send an approval to the delegate in Las Pegasus.” “Okay. What else?” “That’s it. Most of this is just the details.” “But details are important!” “I understand. But taking into account your prior paperwork, I made a guess as to how you’d best judge these. So all that leaves you is to provide two signatures, an approval, and one face-to-face.” Twilight stared in shock again. This only served to confuse me. “What?” “You judged how I’d answer?” “Yeah...that’s kind of what I do. Celestia entrusted me to act as her and Luna’s voice.” “How exactly do you judge how they’d react to something?” “Well...I guess I’ve gotten a good sense of their attitude towards different things from reviewing all the logged paperwork in Canterlot. A lot of your stuff is there too Twilight. That’s how I was able to do the same for you. A lot of the more routine stuff can be streamlined, leaving time open for personal things or for bigger issues.” Twilight sat down, taking it all in. “So you help make their lives easier by taking on the more...” “Boring jobs.” “Do they really think this sort of stuff is boring?” Uh-oh. I might be overdoing the “not a perfect leader” bit. “That’s not... Look at it this way Twilight.” I turned my chair towards her. “Imagine you had to listen to the same arguments every day.” “Okay.” “That could get a bit tiresome don’t you think?” “Sure.” “Now try to settle those arguments every day for a thousand years.” Her ears fell. “Oh my... So it’s sort of a...breather for them having you take over the...every day stuff?” I smiled. “Exactly! Celestia used to handle this stuff constantly! But when she was given the opportunity to take a break from it, it was a nice change. And it’s allowed her to focus on some of the bigger dealings in Equestria.” Her ears returned to normal. “I think I understand now! So you really help ease their minds when it comes to Equestria functioning day to day!” “Now you’ve got it. And that’s what I just did for you as well. What would have taken hours out of your day will now take you thirty minutes tops. And that will leave the rest of your day open for yourself or any offer issue that might come up.” She smiled. “That’s such a great talent! You can amass huge quantities of knowledge and form a near-perfect model of how a pony thinks!” An uncomfortable chuckle escaped me. “Well...it’s not exactly new or anything. I used to do this for Chrysalis all the time. I was the only changeling who could really figure out how ponies thought. Maybe that’s what attracted me so much to the lifestyle..” “Using a gift like yours to help others is vastly different than using it to further evil. You might not see the difference, but I do. Trust me. What you can do is amazing! You should be grateful for a gift like that.” I didn’t mean to respond, but my mouth began working on it’s own. “Some gift. All the info I gathered on Cadance painted a perfect portrait of her and somehow you were left out of that picture.” As soon as the words were out I froze. My eyes were locked on Twilight, waiting for a reaction. I had never told her about my part in the Invasion. “You were the one that spied on Cadance?” I slowly nodded and Twilight took a breath. “So...all of Chrysalis’ information came from you?” I nodded again. “I...I’m sorry Twilight. I should have told you sooner. But I know how close you and Cadance are. Well I know now. I didn’t want it to be a wedge between us. You were my first friend...” Twilight stepped forward until she was right in front of me. “Because of you, Chrysalis failed. You never knew about me, so she never knew either. You’re probably the reason everything went hooves up.” My head dropped downward. “No. Really. You don’t say.” “That’s not a bad thing Shade. Not by a long shot.” She put a hoof under my chin and lifted my head back up. “I would have lost my brother and Cadance that day if you had known everything. And the fact that you’ve told me your part in those events only shows me that you feel very differently about that day than you used to.” She leaned forward and began hugging me. “Thank you for telling me. I’m so happy to have a friend like you.” I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I returned the hug. ———————— I rolled into the boutique in a better mood. The heart-to-heart with Twilight had left me feeling a little lighter. “Rarity? You in?” “In the kitchen darling.” I rolled to the kitchen and was surprised to discover Fluttershy sitting at the table. She smiled as I entered the room. “Hello Shade!” “Hello Fluttershy! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” “Rarity invited me over. She told me about your accident. I’m so sorry!” I glanced at Rarity and she shook her head. She hadn’t told Fluttershy all the details. I rolled my chair over to the table and settled in. “Well thanks for coming to check on me. You don’t need to fuss.” “Oh I don’t mind! I like checking in on friends. Especially if they might need help.” “What did Rarity tell you exactly? It’s just some stitches.” “She said you stepped on some glass and really hurt your hoof! And now you’re in a wheelchair for a week!” “It’s nothing Fluttershy. I made a stupid mistake is all. I shouldn’t have smashed that bottle to begin with.” “You smashed a bottle? Why?” I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts. “Well...it’s a long story.” She seemed confused. I glanced at Rarity, but she was busy preparing some snacks. I mulled it over and decided my course. “It involves Discord.” Fluttershy’s eyes produced about ten emotions at once. They finally settled on frustration. “What did he do now?” Rarity had stopped to look at us. I could tell she wanted to know how much I’d say. “Did Twilight or Rarity tell you that I’m a full-fledged pony?” Fluttershy perked up slightly. “Twilight told me! But she didn’t explain at all but...is that what happened? Discord changed you?” “To say the least.” “But that doesn’t explain your hoof...” “Let’s just say he went about my transformation in his own way. And that led to some personal difficulties and depression. I broke a bottle due to all of that.” I didn’t need to tell her the whole story. But what I told her was enough to make her tear up. “I’m....I’m so sorry Shade. He knows better than this.” “Fluttershy, it’s not your fault.” She wiped away her tears and sniffled. “I know. But I’m still sorry. He’s my friend. I should be working on his compulsive behavior with him.” Before I could say anything else, Fluttershy looked up and shouted. “DISCORD!!” I’d never heard the quiet pegasus scream before! The volume made me jump in my chair. Barely a second after she spoke, a flash of light introduced the draconequus to the room. “Yes my dearest Fluttershy?” Nopony said a word. Discord began looking around the room. His eyes found me and his smile disappeared. “Oh. This isn’t a social call?” I waved my bandaged hoof at him. “Good to see you too.” “Did you really smash that bottle? You could have just given it back to me!” “A-hem.” We both turned to Fluttershy. What I saw made me want to crawl in a hole and die. Fluttershy was using the Stare. I had heard about her ability, but I had no idea it was so...petrifying. Discord seemed to be frozen as well. He tried to smile. “Fluttershy-” “Don’t!” I swear I saw the mighty Spirit of Chaos flinch. Fluttershy stood up and stretched her wings. She took off and rose to Discord’s level. “I don’t know what happened exactly, but am I safe to assume that Shade’s accident was the result of you tampering with his life?” Discord scratched his head. “Well...” “What have I said about messing with ponies lives in a serious way? They're not toys for you to play with!” “Come now Fluttershy. You can’t expect me to go cold turkey! I have to pull at strings every so often!” “Pranks and such are harmless Discord. Those I can tolerate. But causing mental and emotional trauma?!” “I wasn’t trying-“ “Don’t even.” He clamped his mouth shut. I couldn’t help but stare at the sight. The Lord of Chaos was being put in his place by possibly the nicest pony I knew. “If you think I’m going to let you do this without consequences, you’ve got another thing coming mister!” Discord was beginning to shrink. With every syllable out of Fluttershy, his body compacted. Fluttershy didn’t seem phased by this at all. “I have a right mind to call off any future tea parties and never speak to you again! So you’d better start apologizing or you’re going to wish you were still made of stone!” Discord was the size of a doll now. All three of us were staring at the tiny draconequus. He slowly approached me, looking up as he grew closer. As he spoke, I could tell he was forcing himself. “Look...I’m still working on the whole...reformed thing. I...apologize for any wrong I did...and want you to know that I didn’t mean to...hurt you.” He forced a smile before turning back to Fluttershy. “Happy now?” She glared down at him. Discord turned back to me and sighed. “Okay. I think you know why I did what I did. Remember our conversation on the train?” I cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe.” Discord twiddled his thumbs and continued. “Well...you were right and I was wrong to go about it that way. I promise I won’t do it again.” I nodded. “I’ll take it.” Discord shot up to his full height instantly. “Excellent! Now we’re all friends!” He pulled all of us into a group hug. As soon as we were free, the mood changed rapidly. We began taking and laughing over the events of our day. But Fluttershy had one more thing to say. “Discord? Why did you change Shade into a pony?” Discord narrowed his eyes. “He tried to vaporize me in Canterlot.” I sipped my tea and shrugged. “I’m sorry..." Another sip. "...that I missed. I’ll aim better next time.” He scowled down at me. “There won’t be a next time! You’ll never land a hit as long as you live.” Fluttershy frowned. “Be nice!” Discord looked at her. “I am being nice!” In that moment he looked away, I let a spark of magic fly out of my horn. It jumped from me to Discord and landed right on his hindquarters. “AAAUGH!!” Discord flew up a foot or two and glared at me. I couldn’t help but laugh. It only took a moment for the girls to realize what happened and they began laughing too. Discord lowered himself into his seat and leaned over to me. “That’s your one shot. You’re not getting another.”