It had been days after the incident that took place on Mount Everhoof and the departure of Albedo and those that accompanied him. The moment that they stepped through and arrived on the other side, Discord was quick to keep his end of the bargain. The creations that were made with Albedo’s guidance turned to dust, the memories of all those who had either met or seen him were changed and everything was now back in a state of how things were before their unexpected arrival on that fateful day. A clean slate, just like Albedo had asked.
Of course, the hardest part of the process involved applying the same changes to Teyvat. Yet, it was nothing that he couldn’t handle. All he needed to do was rewind the clock back to when the Traveler was only merely thinking about how to get to Inazuma and entice him and his little companion with something else to keep them busy. During his vacation, he learned that if there was anything involving the star shaped stones called ‘Primogems’ and other collectables involved, it could make the traveler do an unexpected detour for a bit. Even more so if the ‘request’ came from the little spark knight of Mondstadt, for she was so adorable that no one could refuse her.
Right now though, Discord had decided to pay both Celestia and Luna a surprise visit. However, the god of chaos was surprised to find that the two of them were talking among themselves inside the personal chambers of the castle instead of being in the hall of elements attending to their duties. As they were talking, that was when he decided to make his presence known. “Good morning, Celly. Lulu. How are you doing on this fine morning?”
“Discord!? Do you even-” the princess of the night groaned, before she looked back at the draconequus, “Is now really a good time for a spontaneous visit?”
“Why, is it better than any other time? Besides, we were supposed to be having tea today. Yet, when I arrived at our usual meeting time, I came to find that you two were nowhere to be found,” the draconequus told her, “It’s rude to ditch a guest. Not only that, but if there were any notices of you canceling, then I did not receive them.”
“My apologies,” Celestia replied, “This morning has been rather… difficult to process.”
“Sister, are you sure that you want to bring this up now? We can surely-”
“Luna, you know that if you try to hide things from Discord, he would then try to pry it open somehow,” the solar princess replied, “Besides, since we seem to be at a bit of an impasse on the matter, maybe he could help us see things from a different perspective.”
“Oh? Is something troubling you?” Discord asked in curiosity as he looked back towards Celestia.
“Well, as of now, Equestria is in a state of peace. Different species from around the world are coming together and all because of Twilight, her friends and the School of Friendship. Originally, we had considered the idea of possibly retiring and stepping down from the throne. However, after what happened with Cozy Glow, I’m unsure if Equestria is ready for somepony else to take charge.”
“So you want to hand off the reins to someone else then?” Discord asked, “Was there somebody in mind?”
“We thought that Twilight would be the best fit, since she has grown comfortable to the position of Princess for the last few years,” Luna added, “However, Celestia has doubts of whether or not she would be ready for such an undertaking. Being the ruler of Equestria is a big responsibility, after all.”
At this, an idea surfaced in Discord’s mind. Something that seemed clever to do, but he would need some assistance with it. “I see. I think I might have a possible solution, if you’re willing to hear me out.”
“What… sort of solution?” Celestia then asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.
“Nothing too dangerous, I assure you,” the draconequus insisted, “I was thinking that perhaps the best way to see if your ‘favorite student’ is ready for such a role is if we gave her a test. Not an academic one, but a test of character. Something that would go on over the course of… perhaps a season. I have it all thought out in my head and I think it would be a good way to solve this little conundrum.”
At this, both of the sisters looked to one another with puzzled looks on their faces, before Luna asked one more question, “What exactly does this plan of yours entail?”
“I’ll tell you, but I have a question for both of you first,” Discord replied as he had a book appear in his eagle talon, “Are either of you familiar with the tale of Gusty the Great?”
As soon as he returned from his ‘trip’, Albedo knew that there was a lot of work to catch up on back in his workshop in Mondstadt. Investigations to continue, reports to analyze and even tell Timaeus the results of his ‘changes’ to the Elemental Crucible that he implemented. It was a lot of work to catch up over the amount of time that he had been gone.
Then, there was a knock at his door. As he opened it, he saw what looked to be a young boy with darkened navy hair and red eyes greet him as a bag of envelopes was over his shoulder. “E-excuse me, are you M-mr. Albedo?”
“That I am,” he replied, “Though, I don’t think we’ve met before. Are you with the Knights of Favonius by chance?”
“Oh, no no no no! I c-can never see myself doing a-anything like that,” the boy replied, “I-i’m Aries. I-I work as a courier for the A-Adventurer’s guild. T-There was a letter that came in for you today and I w-was asked by Cyrus to g-give it to you.”
As the courier handed the letter to him, Albedo recognized a familiar sign on the envelope. A red four leaf clover. Something that he had only seen once before as he looked back at the boy, “Thank you. Have a good day.”
As he closed the door behind him and flipped the letter over, the alchemist let out a small breath as Albedo began to open it. “What kind of adventure have you planned this time, Aunt Alice?”
The End