Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wind Breaker
Even as he clutched his crossbow, Wind Breaker knew in an instant who this was.
"You're that 'rattlesnake' Applejack warned us about," he said.
The creature waved a talon carelessly. "A rattlesnake, am I?" A forked tongue flicked out of his mouth and hissed, while a snake's rattle appeared on the end of his tail and shook, the noise sending a chill down Wind's spine. "Well, I suppose one could call me that... but I much prefer 'Draconequus', for my species. So much shorter than a truly accurate description, but it fits. And then there's my own name." He gave a wicked grin. "I am Discord, young Honesty."
"So you are," Gentle Step said calmly but firmly, horn still glowing. "But why are you here?"
Discord smirked. "Well, when I heard my opposite number had returned after so long, it was only natural that I return to match them," he said, spinning in the air. "And to get a look at their new Bearers... so very different from the last batch, I must say."
He swirled closer, wrapping himself around Page for a moment, and Wind could tell she was clearly unnerved by his physical closeness. "Yes, very different indeed... little Fluttershy had her core of strength under a shell of meekness, yet you are Kindness at the core under a layer of strength." He smirked, then withdrew and appeared over Night. "And Loyalty, so close to Kindness yet again. But quite the different relationship this time, I see. Are we to see little Kindness Loyalty tribreds running around soon?" He chuckled at their blushing while Wind just growled before he paled, realizing what he just said; Discord knew Page was a changeling hybrid.
Vix-Lei was next, and Discord looked quite amused by her. "Ah, Laughter, the unpredictable one," he said. "It ran in her family, I heard. Each special in their own way... but Laughter was the one least understood by them, even if she was still deeply loved, just like you and your own family."
Vix-Lei blinked. "Uh, thanks?"
"And here we have Generosity," Discord said, looking at Rex. "The one who carries beauty and understanding within their own heart, and helps bring it to the surface when they see it in others."
Rex merely nodded, saying nothing in response.
"Magic, the one who makes it all complete," Discord continued as he passed Xvital, grinning and rubbing his paws together. "And last but by no means least, Honesty." He eyed Wind Breaker. "The one who sees through to the truth. Though a bit too much; I can see somegriff has been on a long Power surge."
Wind nodded. "Making up for lost time," he said. "I figure it'll cool off eventually. But right now, I'm seeing that you haven't said anything that wasn't true yet."
"How true, how true," Discord preened. "After all, when used the right way, truths can be even more chaotic than a pack of lies," he said, shuffling a pack of cards between his hands before sending them into Wind's face, causing him to sputter and taking a step backwards.
He grinned at each of them in turn as they drew their weapons, tensing up for what had to be a big fight ahead. "You know, this is going to be so much fun. Dear Celly was quite the stick in the mud. Still is, really. And so were Twilight and the others in their own way. Always spoiling my fun, not understanding the bigger picture; warped by Celly's endless prattling about order and stability. And yet you six... you're so much like me!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Xvital demanded, with all three of her hands coated in controlled fire, seemingly having control over her magic for once.
Discord chuckled, floating on his back. "Because," he said. "I'm a Champion of Chaos, and Chaos is change, my little Opposites. Order, if taken too far, becomes stagnation, the death of all. But despite Harmony being so associated with it, instead of stalling change, you six have brought on so much more change in such a comparatively short period of time than all of your predecessors combined. Why would I not approve? Besides..." He grinned evilly. "Chaos also doesn't play favorites."
Wind frowned as he went over Discord's words in his mind. "Wait a moment..."
Discord pretended to study a nonexistent wristwatch. "Oh dear, look at the time. Must be off, so much more to see, so many Duties to attend to. Tell Celly and Lulu I said hello if they ever drop by! And do keep being fun, you would not like it when things are boring around here because then I'd see the need to spice things up." He let out a cackle, and then there was a puff of smoke as he vanished.
All of them stared at the spot where he'd been, and then Wind shook his head. "That was unnerving," he muttered.
"Hey, I'll take the fact he chose to bugger off as a good sign," Vix-Lei said, as she put her hammers away. "But still, no wonder the girls were freaked out by him. He's crazy."
"Quite," Gentle Step agreed. "That aura... it was similar to Harmony's and the Nightmare's. Still different, but similar. Nothing like a demon, though. It would have been a challenge for me to fight him." She sounded, of all things, regretful at the missed opportunity.
"The question is, what is he planning to do now?" Night asked, looking at her for guidance,.
"I don't know," Clear Back's voice came. The other pony was trembling. "We were always told that if he broke free, it would mean terrible things, until the power of Harmony re-sealed him... but he seemed too amused to do any harm this time."
Gentle Step nodded. "Yes, he was, wasn't he," she said. "Let's hope he stays amused and doesn't go causing trouble."
Then she turned to the six of them. "Just to be on the safe side though, you six might want to keep your Elements on you from now on," she said. "There's no telling when you'll need them again if he decides to try something sneaky."
She then turned back to the stallion. "If you do not mind following me, I have some further questions I would like answers to."
Clear Back nodded. "So long as you are sworn to Princess Celestia as I am," he said. "We who have sworn to follow our Lady of Day will do what we must to keep this world safe from its enemies."
Gentle Step nodded back, then left the room, Clear Back following her.
That left five Captains and the Bearers together, and finally Captain Surprise shook her head. "Well," she said. "That happened."
"Yes," Blazen Sun mused, stroking his beard. "This Discord is quite the perplexing one, I must say."
"So what do we do now?" Standing Wall asked, her hooves moving back and forth.
Captain Gaze looked around. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to do what I can to find out if we know anything more about him," he said, tilting his head towards the door the two had just walked out of. "And about Discord too. And given the hour, I think the six of you should go back to your suite for the night, and then get ready for another meeting in the morning. We can stop by the Cuanmiztlan embassy on the way so you can pick up your Elements just in case."
Captain Lulamoon nodded in agreement. "I'll go with them," she said.
The other four agreed, and then let themselves be escorted back to the skimmers outside.
As they climbed in, Wind Breaker looked up at the skies, wondering where Discord might have gone off to.
And if I was reading his words right, he thought, looking at the moon in the sky. Where are they?
Rex
Morning came once more, and the Six rose from their slumber, some more noisily than others, with Night Blade visibly grimacing at the sound of Vix-Lei's back cracking and popping when she stretched in their suite's main room.
"That cannot be comfortable," he muttered.
"To each their own," Rex replied as he looked at their friend, who was bending her torso to one side, her arms over her head now, before doing the same in the other direction. "But I agree, it does sound painful."
Vix-Lei stuck out her tongue, before chuckling. "It's just the sound of popping air bubbles inside the joints," she said. "Doesn't do any good, but it doesn't do any harm either. They'll just reinflate in a little while."
"The things you know, Vix-Lei," Xvital marveled as she came into the room, carrying her bag with her Element inside it.
"Hey, a girl's gotta know a lot of stuff if she's expected to take over the family business someday," Vix-Lei said. "Not to mention I was working in a place where accidents happen, no matter how careful you are, and everytaur was expected to know some of the medical stuff in case of an emergency. I just got off on a tangent when I was studying a few times and picked up some random bits here and there."
"Know the feeling," Xvital said as she shrugged. "Some of the books I had to read when I was learning calligraphy and copying were pretty fascinating."
Wind and Page joined them shortly, Page looking around. "Captain Gaze and Captain Lulamoon should be by soon," she said. "And they're bringing breakfast before we have to go meet the Captain-General again. She's been busy working with Clear Back last night and into the morning, and there's a lot of ground to cover."
"How much ground?" Wind asked.
"Considering that Clear Back has been able to correctly identify the Virtues by their real names as well as give precise information, he is a window to the past," Rex said. "I would imagine there is quite a bit he can tell us that can correct the misunderstandings that have been made, which should please the King to no end."
Page nodded in agreement. "And it'll please me too," she said. "I've been wishing for some way to fill in a lot of the gaps myself for years. Meeting Fluttershy and the rest helped, but this will also be a major benefit for everypony."
"Quite," Rex said.
For a little while there was not much else to say, until their visitors arrived. Captain Lulamoon was carrying some containers in her panniers, and passed them out to each of the group, which they happily accepted when they found the food inside. Captain Gaze walked in behind her, carrying several larger boxes of equipment that he began to unpack.
"I must confess to having an extra reason for coming by this morning," Captain Lulamoon said when she'd finished handing out the food. "Would you mind if I examined your Elements while you eat?"
"Be our guest," Rex said, drawing his out from one of the sealed pouches inside his vest where he'd been keeping it and handing it over.
One by one, the others also drew out their own Elements and laid them out, and examined each of the gems in them in turn. Page's light green open book, Vix-Lei's blue hammer, Wind's orange crossbow, Rex's own violet potion bottle, Night's red sword and Xvital's differently shaded violet starburst, each set in their golden necklaces and crown, gleamed as they sat together.
"I know you said the Questioning Order had been holding onto miss Xvital's," Captain Lulamoon said as she examined them, using a much more sophisticated version of his own inspection glasses, with an array of machines that took readings off of them. "But what about the rest?"
"They appeared on each of us as we demonstrated the values of our Element," Night said. "Page's kindness to a changeling foal and their mother, Vix-Lei's breaking the mood and making us all laugh when we were very stressed, Wind staying honest with himself and his desire to help the rest of us when he refused to give in to temptation on the Blas Bridge, Rex's generosity in giving up his shop to his apprentices, my... loyalty, in returning to our group to save them, when I could have just stayed away, gone back to my old life and left them to their fate..." He sighed, still clearly bothered by it. "We each had to go through our own ordeals to earn them."
"That reminds me," Vix-Lei said, looking at Xvital. "Balance or Harmony said yours would appear when we got ours but it didn't really appear; you found it."
Xvital blinked and stared at the crown, turning it in her hands. "Not really; this isn't the same thing that I put on my head. I know it looks the same but..." She trailed off, stroking the gem at the top of the stem. "The old one was kinda broken, and it was a different color too - Twilight did something to it before she gave it to me."
A paper airplane flew into the room just then, with everyone staring at it in surprise as none of the windows were open and they were very high up.
Captain Lulamoon grabbed it with her magic and quickly read it to herself before sighing. "It is from Discord; he claims that she simply passed on the torch to you, as it was her time to do so. Even in his stone sleep, he could feel what was happening as it related to his Opposites, and Harmony's return in particular is what led to his awakening fully."
They all flinched at hearing from him, looking tense with good reason.
"Has anyone managed to locate where he got off to after leaving us last night?" Rex asked with Captain Gaze sighing.
"Yes and no; we informed the Guards of him and since then, we've had numerous sightings of him performing pranks of all things," he rolled his eyes. "From what we've gathered so far, he isn't doing more as he doesn't want to push you six into stopping him. And none of what he's done has actually harmed anyone, just annoyed them at most."
"Though a greater issue resolves in us trying to deal with him," Captain Lulamoon said, gesturing to herself and Captain Gaze. "Captain-General Step tried to earlier today and... well, it wasn't pretty."
Gentle Step
Earlier that day...
Gentle Step looked around. According to the latest reports, this was where Discord had been seen most recently, and she was examining the evidence of his actions.
"Interesting illustrations," she remarked as she observed the animated painting on the wall, which portrayed a number of ponies wearing baskets of fruit and other strange headgear while pink fluffy clouds drifted overhead and drizzled brown rain onto them as what appeared to be a chorus line of fish with legs danced by.
"Ah, hello little soldier, come to stop my fun?" Discord suddenly asked as he popped into view, hovering in front of the mural with a smock and apron over his chest and a paintbrush in his paw. "I think I have done a great job so far... ah it's you, the one brimming with Order." he said, snaking through the air, coming straight at her. "I remember you; you were itching to tussle with me, weren't you?" he asked, grinning at her.
"The thought did cross my mind," Gentle Step replied honestly. "In a large part to see how you compared to some of the other individuals I've faced."
Discord chuckled. "Oh, you mean those fiends from the Pit? They're nothing like me, I can assure you. So boring; no intelligence, no finesse. All they do is break things. I've no use for anyone of that sort."
He smirked then. "Speaking of down below, I must remember to drop in there sometime and give Tirek an atomic wedgie."
"Considering he wasn't wearing pants or anything else the last time I saw him, that'll be quite a feat," Gentle Step said dryly.
Discord hooted with laughter. "You see? You get it! It's no fun doing things the obvious, easy way. A real artiste is clever in their work."
He was suddenly in her face. "Like you, I must say," he said. "Rather poetic, creating your weapons from that demon's own horn and humiliating him with them."
She chuckled at that. "It was the best way to defeat him and upset the rest of his court," she recalled the memory fondly. "Caused enough chaos and violence that I could make my escape with my comrades."
"That's exactly why I like you," he said, flying closer. "You're not like other ponies. You don't shy away from the battle, the violence."
"No, I don't," Gentle admitted, closing her eyes as she recalled her time in Tartarus.
"And you wish you could be back at it, fighting against those who actually relished the thrill instead of shying away from it," Discord said, his voice close to her now. "The iron taste of blood against you once again, the rush of enjoyment from fighting against those who are your equal."
Gentle nodded her head, feeling alive again as she was forced into tight combat with those actually able to withstand her, proving a true fight for someone like her.
"You can hear it, can't you?"
She could; she could hear the measured steps of her Guards marching out in a thundering crash, she could hear the cheering and shouting of the crowd braying her name, she saw herself fully unleashed and truly being who she was with the drums of war beating loudly in her head.
"You want it all, don't you?" he purred.
Gentle was about to agree when she opened her eyes and saw the victorious grin on his face, holding his fingers close together.
"No," she said, shaking her head, stepping away from him with her heart racing.
"No?" Discord looked somewhat taken aback. "What do you mean, no?"
"I enjoy a good battle," Gentle said, panting a bit as she tried to get control over herself. "And when it is necessary to save lives, I will join in one. But I cannot abandon my responsibilities here for the sake of mindless bloodshed and combat."
"Hmph." Discord scowled. "Well fine, be that way." Muttering under his breath, he added, "Didn't expect anypony to be able to pull that off since Fluttershy."
Gentle Step raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, nothing you need concern yourself with," Discord said, smirking at her with victory in his eyes that he nearly got her. "But you should be careful what you wish for; you just might get it. After all, I'm not the only one who might be listening in for an opportune moment to cause a little trouble... or a lot." He leaned in again. "It might not be one of my official aspects, but it still falls under my purview. I can tell that there's still a lot of hatred aimed at you, Captain-General and they might not be so kind as me. Besides, if I Discordify you, then I would be forcing Harmony to really act and I am enjoying my freedom right now without too many annoying pests looking to stop me. So kiddo, be a good blood hungry pony and leave me to my simple pranks. You might think yourself a worthy challenge to a demon king but you're nothing compared to me."
Gentle Step glared at him bringing her age, of all things, into this. It had been a complication that she was younger than most of her senior Guards and didn't have the same level of experience as them; it had been a difficult process to overcome and even now, she still had some of her most senior Guards second guess her actions from time to time. "I appreciate the warning then," she said, ignoring his insults to her. "But I have one more question for you."
"Oh?" Discord asked, appearing genuinely curious. "And what, pray tell, do you wish to know?"
"You identify as the Champion of Chaos," Gentle Step said. "But were you among those who allied with the Nightmare and affected Sunset Shimmer so she would assume a demonic form when she donned the Element of Magic?"
As she had been speaking, Discord's expression changed from curious to a scowl. "Not I, said the great granite draconequus," he finally replied, his tail lashing angrily. "Thanks to Harmony, I was still entombed in stone at the time. I could only watch and listen to what was happening, not affect the outside world in such a manner until just recently. But if I had been active at that time, I would have done something about it... because I am not amused that they decided to trespass on my turf. There is only one true Champion of Chaos in this realm, that's the Rule, and if I catch them around here again, those intruders are going to regret it."
Snapping away his clothes and paintbrush, he was suddenly looking serious. "If you'll excuse me," he said. "I need to go see a duck about a horse."
He snapped his talons and vanished, leaving only his mural behind.
Gentle Step shook her head. "The goddesses only know what he actually meant by that," she muttered to herself.
Then she looked at the mural, the contents of which were still moving, though the motions were never quite the same twice.
"I wonder what Deep Blade and his students would think of this?" she mused to herself.
Rex
"After that," Captain Lulamoon concluded, "We decided that trying to face him directly would not be in the best interests of anypony, and have just been marking those places where we've found traces of his magic."
"What did he mean by Discordify?" Page asked, looking at Captain Gaze who was continuing to place equipment across the room.
"It's something that Clear Back mentioned to us that he can do," the drone muttered as he lifted a rather expensive and complicated looking device in a far corner of their suite. "Discord can apparently flip certain morality aspects of a person with either his magic or words. He did so to the last Bearers of Harmony, according to Clear Back as well as some surviving records from the Magi of-I mean, Twilight." He grunted as he began to unpack another piece of the contraption in the room, clearly straining with his magic to do so. "He was able to turn them all into their opposites. He made Applejack into a liar, Rarity a greedy hoarder, Pinkie Pie depressed and angry, and Rainbow Dash into a selfish, self-serving mare. He had to use his magic directly-" he paused as he had to dig his hooves into the carpet to balance himself as the crate he was lifting began to shake in his thamuatic aura before Captain Lulamoon grabbed it and set it down without so much as any sign of effort. He gave her a glare before he said with a strained voice, wings vibrating in an annoyed tone. "Thank you."
"Is there a reason why you're doing that?" Xvital asked, frowning along side the rest of their friends. "I mean, it looks like she can do it far easier than you. No offense."
"I am trying to exercise and develop my own magical prowess," Captain Gaze said, reaching into his own panniers to pull out a bottle of water. "We are going to have the first full captain's exercise soon and I can for once properly attend." He let out a sigh, shaking his head as he removed his helmet and poured a bit of water onto his forehead. "I am not a Flare, and even with as much training as I have had, there is still a sizable gap between me and my fellow Captains."
"You are doing an amazing job in furthering your abilities, Captain Gaze, though it is not like you can actually catch up," Captain Lulamoon said, though with no malice in her voice. "We're all exceptional cases, but you are talented for a normal changeling."
"Still, as a Captain, it is my duty and obligation to further myself so I can truly do all I can for king and country," Captain Gaze replied. "The King may have confidence in me to deal with a certain level of threat, but I still feel I need to improve even more." He lifted a towel to his forehead and whipped off the sweat before giving them a fanged smile. "In any case, let me continue to what I was saying. During that event, Discord wasn't able to turn Fluttershy with the same trickery as he did the others because she knew her own weaknesses and agreed with what he was saying, so he had to forcibly brainwash her. Twilight was able to get through to all of them eventually though, and talk them down into being their old selves again."
"And he could do that to us, just by using his magic?" Page shivered.
"Only if he wanted to," Captain Gaze replied. "He felt it was more fun to manipulate his targets into that state rather than do it directly. And we feel he won't actually go after you six; it would lead to a confrontation and he seems very averse to that right now."
Rex tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Did Clear Back say if Discord was successful in doing the same with Twilight?" he asked.
Captain Gaze nodded. "According to their records, Discord was able to temporarily break her faith in friendship by showing her what had become of her friends, until her teacher Princess Celestia sent her back either copies or the originals of her letters detailing all of all the lessons she'd been learning on the subject of friendship during her time in Ponyville. Reading them all again helped her overcome the effects of Discord's magic on her, and she was then able to go remind her friends of their true selves and undo his effects. With their bonds having become stronger than before, they defeated Discord, turned him back to stone and undid the effects of his chaos magic on the land and people of Equestria."
"Wow," Xvital muttered.
"Is there anything that really can be done to ensure he doesn't cause harm, outside of re-petrifying him?" Rex asked.
Both captains traded looks, then Captain Lulamoon shrugged as she started to activate some of the machines spread out in the room. "I really don't think so," she said. "As long as you six keep him entertained with your actions, that should be sufficient. But as Clear Back said, Discord has a very different outlook on life than everypony else. What we see as normal, he doesn't, and what he normally sees as fun, we don't."
Captain Gaze nodded. "And for an example, according to their histories, Discord once told Princess Celestia that there was no fun in making sense, or something along those lines."
"We will call upon you six if Discord does progress to a more malicious state or starts to destabilize the land," Captain Lulamoon replied with a bitter tone. "It is wrong that we six can't risk taking him down and that we have to leave him to you, but that is the current situation, though..."
She paused, picking up the paper airplane and opening the window to throw it out, before it broke apart, half falling outside and half remaining inside. She gave a smile at that, nodding her head. "Good; Gentle was right about that."
"About what?" Wind asked, peering at the paper.
"She felt that Discord meant something when he called you his opposites and that he claimed to be the spirit of disharmony; though we don't know the exact details about it, Gentle theorized that if he meant it in a literal sense, the aura of your Elements could counteract his own magic," she said as she continued to adjust some dials and added some thaumagics to them. "This will take some time to properly attune but we're hoping we can replicate the effects of your Harmony magic for use in counteracting anything actually harmful that Discord might do, like what he pulled on the Virtues a thousand years ago."
"Do you think it might be able to counteract the effects of any other harmful magic besides Discord's?" Rex asked. "It worked to drive out the Nightmare and heal the damage that being had caused, and to purge the harmful magic that had been implanted in Sunset Shimmer, after all."
"It worked on them because of Harmony's nature," Discord's voice suddenly said. "Harmony is a healing, helpful, peaceful Power; it goes to set things right and proper and it normally cannot harm anyone." There was a wicked chuckle. "Though this Harmony is different, it seems. Balance really did a number on Harmony; and it is so fascinating."
"What do you-" Vix-Lei caught herself, and frowned. "Wait a moment... are you saying taking a new form had a bad effect on Harmony?"
"Give the 'taur a prize," Discord's voice crowed, and a pair of bracelets and a shirt appeared on her, with Vix-Lei's eyes going wide in shock and she began to actually tremble. "Balance was really naughty. Prevented this from happening to you, for starters."
"Vix-Lei, are you okay?" Night asked, moving to her side with the two Captains flaring their horns as Discord appeared in the room, smirking at the sight.
"This... this is the coat for the lead shipmaster of the entire Minos Islands," Vix-Lei said in a whisper. "All the islands have a few shipmasters each, with one that's in charge of the rest for their island, like my dad. But they all answer to one who's even higher, and this is part of that 'taur's uniform!" she said, panting as she looked at her arms. "And this is the rest. There hasn't been a lead shipmaster in ages!"
"Ah, and you weren't the only one deprived of a greater fate," Discord chuckled as a collar appeared around Rex's neck and he began to tremble now as he reached to unclip and examine it before dropping it onto the ground and leaping backwards.
"You lie," Rex said, too shocked to use his proper tone, slipping back into his natural manner of speaking. "No alpha of packs ever."
"Until you came along," Discord cooed. "Or at least, you would have been the first king of the diamond dogs and led your species to a proper place in the world until Balance caused your packmates to chase you out." Discord cackled again, clapping his hands together. "And now we come to the other would-have been great leader, miss Page Turner. Or should I say, Lamella? The first real High Queen of your people since Chrysalis herself, the one who would have brought peace between your people and the Equestrians if your mother had been around to properly raise you." He frowned, ignoring the clearly shaken Page Turner. "Now that was a move I don't agree with. I may have committed all sorts of acts in the name of Chaos, but not a single pony has ever died because of what I did."
"And let me guess," Xvital said disgustedly. "Chantico wasn't really the mother-in-law from Mictlan, that was all Balance's doing?"
"No, that was real enough," Discord replied. "She was plenty abrasive towards you all on her own, but not quite enough to suit Balance's needs. He might have encouraged her to act even more so, but he didn't get too drastic with it until near the end, when he realized she was moving too slowly for his plan and she was actually becoming fond of you. That's when he possessed her and chased you away."
Xvital snorted angrily, though there were tears in her eyes. "I see."
"And now we come to the last two," he said, stroking his beard with Night beginning to draw his sword with his left wing. "Ah the ever so perpetually angry Night Blade. Did you ever wonder how your mother at her age managed to even get pregnant?" That caused the nox pony to pause with his eyes beginning to go wide as the words began to worm their way into his head. "Balance held you back enough so you'd be their ages and all of those complex issues you've got wouldn't be an issue if you'd been born at right time."
Night dropped his sword, staring at the creature in shock with Discord grinning as he spun towards Wind Breaker.
"And now for the overreacting Honesty of the group," Discord said. "Did you know that you should have been born into freedom, from a griffon who escaped the system much like you yourself did? Except her egg was stolen by a pack of money-grubbing race traitors who'd been doing the same thing for years, and sent back into what amounted to little better than slavery. She's wished from the start she could have stopped them, and that she could come back to find you. It's always been too dangerous for her to come back to Equestria in person before now though."
Wind snorted. "Somehow, I'm not surprised," he said. "But at least now I know she cared."
"Yes, she did, though your sire was nothing like her," Discord said. "He was a real naughty character, believe me."
Then he spun around the room, with glitter and confetti falling from the ceiling. "And here is the best part. You were all only chosen because Balance knew that the Nightmare wouldn't take you seriously! You were not the actual ones to be chosen; you were just a bet that Balance took with your lives as the chips. And that's not the least of the meddling Balance did to make sure you'd all be in what it felt was the right place at the right time!"
One by one, the six looked around at one another. Then Vix-Lei snorted, taking off the jacket and holding it in her hands.
"Maybe," she said, thumbing the collar before dropping it on the floor. "But there's no sense wondering about what might have been. Balance might have gone mucking about with our lives. But we're all here now, together. We're friends 'til the end. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Discord snorted. "Optimistic to the core, I see," he said. "Just like Pinkie Pie was. Though I doubt your friends feel all that loyal to Harmony, right Night?"
Night was trembling with anger, but he shook his head. "Maybe Harmony did mess with me," he said. "And I am still furious at what they did, damaging my relationships with my family. But if they hadn't done that, I never would have met the love of my life. Or my other friends." He drew back his lips, exposing his fangs. "Not to mention, where would Regal be if he hadn't had me to watch his back back in the day?"
"Devoted as always," Discord said, sounding disgusted. Then he looked at Page, who was still looking shaken, though she seemed to settle herself quickly.
"I came from a long line of mothers unable to deal with the guilt of that terrible day," she said, taking her changeling form. "You claim I would have made peace with Equestria with her at my side but I have done so already. And it is through helping my friends and others that I had the chance to do so."
"Yes... your compassion towards the innocent," Discord said. "Fluttershy was much the same. Though you certainly don't downplay yourself like she did. A sterner Kindness for a new Age."
Then he looked at Wind Breaker. "And you? Wouldn't you have preferred a life where you didn't have to hide your true colors, where you didn't have an addiction forced on you because some ponies couldn't take hearing the truth?"
Wind shrugged. "Might have been nice," he said. "But this way, I found my grandmother, and my aunt. And yeah, I might have been forced into trying to suppress my honesty because the people at the Hatchery couldn't handle the truth, but it was always there. They tried, but they couldn't turn me into a true liar."
"Mm." Discord nodded. "You have indeed held onto your integrity and moral character, young one," he said, before turning to Rex. "And you... you could have been a leader, still holding onto the persona you have made for yourself."
Rex had composed himself by now. "I might have," he said. "But I have found myself a better place. I am still able to teach what I enjoy, maybe not to my own kind but still to students who are eager to learn. And I have helped my two apprentices to live better lives in the process."
"How charitable," Discord purred. "But would you have done so if you knew just what that little mare was hiding?"
"So long as she is not seeking to do harm, her past is her own business, and I will grant her my trust," Rex replied.
"Hmph. You wouldn't say that if you knew her full background; I am fairly certain that if word got out, there'd be a pony swinging before the hour without anyone complaining," Discord muttered to the confused stares in the room. "Then again, you might care for her anyways if you knew the truth. Hard to say with you."
Finally, he turned to Xvital. "I suppose there's no point in going on," he said. "You're already planning to go back to the life you would have had sooner, just a few years later. Or trying to, anyway. But are you sure it's what you really want? Having a new role of leadership of an entire country thrust upon you, when it was the last thing you expected?"
"Maybe I won't be the best at it," Xvital said. "But as long as I get to spend my life with the man I love, I'm willing to give it a shot. And now that I know my mother in-law had to be forced to scare me away, maybe I can give her another shot."
For a moment, Discord was quiet. Then his nose began to twitch, just a little at first, then faster and harder.
And then it spread to the rest of him, until he was roaring with laughter.
"Hah-hah!" he cackled, rocking in the air, clapping loudly. "You six crack me up! Truly, you are the most entertaining group of Opposites I have ever had! All of you, able to match me at my own games with nothing more than the power of your minds. Oh, you are already so much fun to have around, I can hardly wait to see what you pull off next..." He appeared in front of each of them, shaking their paws eagerly. "I am so glad that Balance picked you six instead of the Captains; I can see we are going to have a lot of fun with each other." He waved his claw. "But for now, toodles!"
With that, he popped out, leaving the eight still present to look around at one another.
"That," Wind said as he sat down in a hurry. "Was an experience."
"I quite agree," Rex murmured, wondering just what Discord had meant about Secured Connection. "I presume he was telling the truth?"
"Every word," Wind confirmed, rubbing his throat. "No matter how disturbing some of it got."
"We will need to relay this information and this mare he spoke of," Captain Gaze said, looking at Rex. "I understand you obviously care for her, but..."
Rex nodded. "She has my full trust," he said. "I will wish to speak to her privately about it."
"No," Captain Gaze said, shaking his head. "If there is truth to what Discord said about her, then she has committed some form of transgression that would see her hanged by a mob and that we would not seek justice for it." He sighed. "I'm sorry, but given what we know, we're going to have to take her into protective custody, for her own safety." He blinked and frowned. "That's... odd."
"What is it Gaze?" Captain Lulamoon said, looking concerned.
"I just reached out to my Guards who were assigned to her and she had managed to elude them a while ago," he said, blinking slowly. "Around the time we put out the warning about Discord in the East." He looked at his fellow Captain. "The Hidden Guard has never lost anypony they've been assigned to protect, that she was able to disappear like that... I don't know how it was possible."
"It is clear to me," Rex said with a heavy voice. "That whatever secret she was keeping, she was afraid Discord would expose it somehow."
"I already have informed Captain-General Step and she ordered a search for her," Captain Gaze said. "Whatever it is, it is imperative that we find her, keep her safe and get to the bottom of this."
Rex nodded reluctantly. "When you find her... I do wish to speak to her," he said. "Secured Connection is still my friend, no matter what she might have done."
Captain Lulamoon nodded. "We'll see what we can do, Rex," she said softly. "But I can't promise anything."
"I suppose that's all I can ask for," Rex said.
Things were very quiet for a while as Captain Lulamoon finished her work with the Elements, taking notes as well as other samples from them directly.
Finally, she and Captain Gaze packed everything up, save for some of the bigger machines. "Captain-General Step still wants to see you," she said. "So we can meet with Clear Back again and discuss what else he has to say. You might have told us what you know, but with him, we might be able to put even more pieces together."
Page nodded. "Does he know... about my heritage?" she asked.
"He at least knows that you're a changeling," Captain Lulamoon said. "Whether he knows the other specifics or not, he hasn't said."
Page let out a deep breath. "Well, he might as well know," she said. "The rest of his Order already knew about me, I confessed the truth to them when we were in their custody."
Vix-Lei snapped her fingers. "So that's what you said to them," she said. "Before they agreed to tell Xvital they had her Element."
Page nodded.
Finally, once all had finished eating and putting everything away, they rose to head out and meet with Clear Back once more. As they left the room though, Rex couldn't help but be troubled.
Where are you, Secured? he thought to himself, still worried about her. And what could you possibly be hiding that others would see as so terrible?