//------------------------------// // You Three Must Be Guarded // Story: Renew // by lorettafox //------------------------------// At Pony Joe's, a restaurant that wasn't too far from Canterlot Castle, Apple Sweet was inside at the counter, biting into the third donut (with extra sprinkles) in complete anger about what had just happened under an hour ago. "Dismissed! Rejected!" she yelled as she bit once more into the donut, ripping it violently. "Totally humiliated! Why it's more then I can bear!" "Easy there, miss. You'll go into a sugar coma if you don't slow down." Pony Joe spoke. "I don't care! How dare the Princess not believe me about Discord!" she kept on shouting. "He's back and she's says he's no longer a mere threat to Equestria? Lies!" With her statement finished, she devoured the last of the donut. "Another donut, dipped entirely in sprinkles! Now!" she yelled as she banged her hoof on the counter. Pony Joe quickly filled her order and dipped in entire donut in sprinkles so that it was completely covered. He handed it to Apple Sweet, who quickly took it from him and took a big bite from it. "How dare she! How dare she not believe me! She'll believe once I get some ponies to back me up! Discord is back and no pony shall say no to Apple Sweet!" "Did you say that Discord has returned?" asked a mare's voice from behind Apple Sweet. "I did indeed. He has and the Princesses believes he is no longer a threat, even though he's walking around in broad daylight!" "She must be under his control then if she says he is no harm to Equestria." the mare replied. Apple Sweet turned around and looked at the mare that had been talking to her. "Y-You believe what I say about Discord?" "Of course I do. Everything you say makes sense to me. Besides, why would she defend him in the first place if she weren't hypnotized by him?" Apple Sweet's jaw dropped in surprise. "Exactly! The Princess wouldn't naturally defend a horrible monster like that unless she were under a spell of some kind!" she then took another (small) bite of her all sprinkle donut. "He probably has Princess Luna and the rest of the royal family under his spell too. That way, they won't simply go talking about his return." "He has indeed. That would explain why there hasn't been any word of him. Miss, you're a genius!" Apple Sweet declared. "By the way, what's your name?" The mare placed her hoof on her glasses and pushed them up. "I'm Bookworm, historian and author of Chaotic Reign and The History of Equestria." --------------------------------------- The guards teleported the four back into the Canterlot Castle throne room where Celestia was pacing back and forth while Luna was walking with her sister, trying to tell her that everything was going to be okay. "Princess Celestia, has something happened while we were gone?" asked Twilight. "Where are the Element bearers?" Celestia asked aloud. "Here they are, your majesty. Just as you requested earlier." said one of the guards as Twilight's friends walked into the the throne room. "Has something happened? I was working on such a lovely design of Twilight's bridal gown." said Rarity. "We may have to postpone the wedding for the time being." said Celestia as she finally stopped pacing and faced everyone. "WHAT?" Twilight almost yelled. "But why? It barely got underway just a few hours ago!" "But that is before a strange mare came to the palace insisting that Discord was back and was trying to take over." "What?" said Screwball, who finally appeared in the room. "Was it that green unicorn I saw getting forced out of the castle earlier?" "Green unicorn?" said Discord. "Did this unicorn's name just happen to be Apple Sweet?" "It was." said Celestia, amazed. "How did you know?" "I knew it! I knew she would try to come here and tell me off to you, Celestia! This is priceless!" Discord laughed. "I can only imagine her expression when you told her that you already knew about me!" "Discord!" Celestia yelled. "This is a very serious matter! She has vowed that she would get more ponies to join her and try to get rid of you and your family!" "Why worry though? I'm already protected from the Elements from being used on me again and I can protect my family with my own magic, what could she and a few friends possibly do?" Discord taunted. "I thought the little Elements were the most powerful magic in Equestria, correct?" Celestia let out a sigh. "They indeed are the most powerful magic in Equestria, but there is a similar magic that she may be able to use if she gathers enough ponies to join her in her quest." "Similar magic?" asked Twilight in curiosity. "There's a magic similar to the Elements? I've never read about it before." "It hasn't been recorded since it's been only used once and those users vowed to keep that magic entirely a secret so others couldn't use as the wrong group of friends could use it for the wrong purpose." said Luna. "It allows friends who have very similar traits to the Elements to summon their own special magic and it can be used to reverse a problem, which, if Apple Sweet discovers how to use it, she could use it to rid Equestria of Discord and he will NOT be turned back into stone again." Celestia informed them all. "What a second, dear sister." Luna interrupted. "I think I did indeed read about that special magic in The History Of Equestria." "What? But how did it get in there! It wasn't allowed to be publish in any form at all! Do you remember who wrote that book, Luna?" "I believe the author was called Bookworm Mare. She did do a great job capturing the history of our land." Luna smiled slightly. "Bookworm! I should have known it was her!" Celestia yelled. "What is wrong with her?" asked Fluttershy. "She is an author that does great research but does bend the truth about alot of subjects that she writes about, especially in small portions in The History of Equestria, mainly with the part of Discord ruling Equestria all those years ago." "She's the one who wrote that book at the Cloudsdale library!" Twilight remembered. "I believe it was called the Chaotic Reign?" "That book?" Discord said as he began to get angry. "That book is an absolute lie! I was not some sadistic ruler!" "Except for making it rain hot tea on everypony. How could I forget something like that?" Celestia reminded him. "Are you still bitter over that?" Discord laughed. "It only lasted a few seconds." "But it still hurt though!" Celestia defended. "And that's when you realized I was bad for Equestria and blah, blah, blah..." Discord taunted. "Don't make me..." Celestia started. "Enough!" Twilight yelled, grabbing everypony's attention. "The past is in the past! We have a very important matter on our hooves at the moment! Remember, we were discussing Bookworm?" "Right. Sorry." said Celestia. "I have read her book, Chaotic Reign, and it is indeed, completely untrue. Only a small portion of the book is actually true, like the parts with the hot tea storms but the rest of it is pure baloney!" "So what I read in the Cloudsdale library wasn't true?" asked Twilight. "But I thought she was a well respected author." "Oh, she is but she has been called out for writing false bits in The History of Equestria, but it was so long ago that most ponies have forgotten." "What a minute, if that book said Discord was some sadistic ruler," said Rainbow Dash. "wouldn't she believe if Discord was back, she would want him gone like this Apple Sweet you talked about?" Celestia's jaw opened in shock at the thought. "Oh Equestria! If those two manage to meet each other, that's one step closer that harm can fall before Discord, Twilight, and Screwball!" "Oh no!" said Screwball, actually worried now. "What are we gonna do? I don't wanna have ANY harm to fall on me or my Mommy or Daddy!" "You three must stay here in Canterlot Castle where you'll be the safest. My element bearers, you may come and go as you please since Apple Sweet does not know that you are residing in the castle. Shining Armor." spoke Celestia. "Yes, Princess?" asked Shining in a salute. "I need even more guards around the palace. I don't want anything to happen to the three of them." "Do you want me to cast that protection spell around the castle like I did with the changeling invasion?" Celestia held up a hoof in protest. "There is no need for that. I am afraid that the may discover that old magic, but they still are mere ponies who most likely are not experienced in magic themselves. Guards around the palace shall be more then enough protection." "Does this mean the wedding is actually being postponed?" asked Twilight. "I am afraid so. With a threat against you three, I don't know if she speaks the truth about getting more ponies or not, but I rather not take the risk. You three must stay here. If you wish to go somewhere, I want to have a guard with you just in case." "But is that really necessary..." Twilight began. "I know it sounds annoying, but you know I care for your safety and now your new family's safety. You must understand why I am doing this." "I understand well, Princess Celestia." Twilight replied. "Our safety is one of your top priorities." "Hello?" Discord finally said. "Has anypony here forgotten how powerful I am?" "I know exactly how powerful you are but I'd rather have you guarded. This will also make sure you don't cause too much chaos around my palace either. I don't mind pranks here and there, but I will not allow the sun and moon to be raised by you either!" "Fine Borelestia. Raising the sun and moon takes too much of my magic anyways, I have better things to do." he said as he snapped his fingers. "Like this." With his statement said, a cotton candy cloud appeared over Celestia's head and began raining now Cider Cola all over her. Celestia simply stood there with an annoyed expression on her face before she gave him a sly smile. "Cider Cola! I have forgotten how much I love this drink!" Celestia said as she tilted her head back and opened her mouth to catch the cola rain. "Thank you for reminding me!" Discord pouted in annoyance that she was actually enjoying it. With a snap of his fingers, the cloud was gone and Celestia was dry. "Killjoy." "With that out of the way, to answer your question is I know that you're very powerful, but it'll put my mind at ease if you were protected. I'm sure Twilight will agree with me. Do you want her or your daughter to suffer the tragedy of your death or vice versa?" Discord thought about it and realized that in death would mean he could no longer create any chaos or see his newly formed family. "Fine." he replied in a bored tone. "I'll let your little guards 'guard' me and my little family." "Glad we could reach an agreement." Celestia smiled. "Luna, does this plan sound good to you?" "It's perfect, sister. They need protection from this potential threat." Luna said when she felt her stomach growl. "We do believe it is time for lunch, sister. We can discuss more of this matter over some food?" Celestia felt her own stomach growl as well. "Well, I have said everything I needed to say about this matter. Why don't we have some lunch. Shining Armor, I need you to gather your guards ASAP to guard these three immediately." "I will go right now, Princess!" he saluted as he ran out of the throne room to go fulfill Celestia's request. "Why don't we try to eat now?" Celestia offered. "I hear lunch is supposed to be special today!"