The streets of Thornfall were busy as per the usual. Creatures from all different sorts of life were walking around the local marketplaces, mostly the various outcasts of societies from around the entire world. Abyssinians, gryphons, dragons, yaks, diamond dogs, goblins, rogue changelings and many other races called this hodgepodge of a town their home. As it was located in the Badlands, the city was a haven for crime, and there were many various crime families who called Thornfall their home.
Through the crowds, a pony with a hood covering her head made her way through the streets, eyes peeled. She was a unicorn, and because there was a market for unicorn horns here, she knew that she couldn’t let her horn be seen. She was trailing a black abyssinian male through the crowd at a safe distance so she wouldn’t be spotted. She’d been spying on him for a while, knowing he was a part of a two-team mercenary group called Shadow Dawn.
She knew how good they were, and while they weren’t the very best mercenary group thanks to their small size, one thing about them made them stand apart from the rest: when they took a job on, no amount of money could cause them to change sides. She respected that in her own way, and she wanted in. However, she had only ever seen this member of the team, an abyssinian named Tobias. The other member, a mysterious individual named Revan, always eluded her. She’d heard about Revan, but could never find him.
It was why she was following Tobias. She hoped that he would eventually lead her to wherever Revan was. She’d been at it for days and so far, Tobias had only gone to his small run down shared apartment complex, the market for food, and the seedy mercenary guild building near the center of town. She’d tried sneaking in after hours and searched through their mismatched files to find Revan, but there had been very little in said files. All she found was that Revan could only be reached through Tobias.
She had some hope today, however. Using a small scrying spell that she’d developed that circumvented the mercenary guild’s magical defenses, she’d seen Tobias speaking to the guild master, a fat pig faced goblin. He’d handed Tobias a piece of paper, explaining that the job on it was something Revan had specifically asked for. She thought she heard something about expanding their business as a guild up north, but that seemed a bit far-fetched. She knew Equestria didn’t normally employ mercenaries as it was considered a dirty profession in the so-called land of harmony and friendship. Since mercenaries only worked for money, the consensus among Equestrians were that they were untrustworthy, which is what made this Shadow Dawn team stand out more.
When Tobias came to side road, he stopped and leaned against an old building. She saw him take out a large brown stick of sorts, only to realize moments later that he was lighting a cigar. He let out several puffs of it. The unicorn mare watched from a safe distance, never taking her eyes off of him. However, when a small group of variously shaped goblins passed between them, he suddenly vanished.
Alarmed, she ran through the crowd, making her way through the various creatures towards the alley where he’d been leaning. She couldn’t lose him! Not today! She had to force her way through several groups of creatures who shouted angrily at her. All sense of stealth was gone. She needed to find this abyssinian immediately!
The alley was dark, with fabrics stretching between the buildings on either side to protect anyone walking through them from the heat of the desert sun. It stank of garbage and dirty water, something rare in the Badlands save for the one week a year where it poured nonstop. She pulled her cowl over her muzzle to block out the smell and pulled her goggles over her eyes. She touched the side of them with her hoof and the alley brightened. Said goggles had been enchanted by her to enhance her vision in this place, something she knew she could use to convince this Shadow Dawn mercenary team to let her join.
She crept through the alley, all of her senses on alert. Her goggles glowed a slight cyan, just like her eyes. She looked around, the enchanted goggles over her eyes enhancing her vision. She could see nothing, however things were too quiet in this alley.
She continued looking around, searching in every nook and cranny that she could find. The alley had no exit, and she wasn’t sure if the abyssinian could have climbed up the walls that quickly. However, her question was answered about five minutes later when she felt something sharp being pressed against the back of her neck. Even through her hood she could tell this was a dangerous blade. She froze and waited. Finally, a voice spoke. “You’ve been a busy little unicorn, haven’t you?”
She didn’t move, instead she only waited until the voice spoke again. He did a few moments later. With a sigh, the voice said, “What do you want? Why have you been following me?”
Without making any sudden moves, she simply replied, “I’ve been trying to find your companion.”
The abyssinian scoffed. “My companion doesn’t like to be disturbed unless it’s important.”
“This is important,” the mare said. “I want to join Shadow Dawn.”
That seemed to catch the abyssinian off guard, because he went silent for a few seconds before saying, “And just why would we want you in our ranks? We’ve been doing quite well on our own.”
“I’m a powerful unicorn,” she explained, “I have skills in magic that most don’t have. I’ve traveled the world longer than Shadow Dawn’s been around. I’ve made some good allies around the world that could be useful to you.”
“But why would you want to join us?” Tobias asked. “What’s your angle? Everybody’s got one.”
The mare frowned. “Do I need a reason to join a new and upcoming mercenary party? I’ve just said I can be of big help to you.”
“We don’t go traveling the world,” Tobias said, “we don’t make enough talons here to move-”
From out of nowhere a large bag of coins appeared, landing on the ground with a loud jingle. Tobias paused and the mare took the opportunity to speak. “In that bag are several large amounts of money from all over the world, along with some rare gems that’ll fetch a hefty price. With this, you can move your operation somewhere else. Maybe even start your own mercenary group and keep all the profits instead of having to give up half the reward to the guild.”
There was silence for another few seconds before a distorted, almost mechanical sounding voice said from the shadows ahead of her, “So, you think you can just bribe your way into the Shadow Dawn?” As the mare looked towards the source of the voice, a pair of glowing sky-blue eyes appeared. A hooded bipedal figure stepped out of the shadows, approaching slowly as his footsteps echoed through the alley. “You think just because you offer us money you’re automatically accepted into the group? Many have come before you wanting in, and we turned them away for less. What makes you so special? Make your case.”
The mare then understood why Revan was feared. The mask on his face was terrifying to look at. The glowing eyes elicited no emotion and unlike hers, the mask’s eyes faced forward like those of an apex predator. The two glowing vertical lines on what had to be the voice modulator only brightened and dimmed with each word he spoke. The clothes he wore were all black as were his boots. He even had his claws covered, although a part of her noticed that there were five of them, something she hadn’t seen in many bipedal races with claws. She couldn’t even hear him breathe, but she knew he was judging from the way his chest moved up and down.
The mare looked up at Revan, showing no fear as she said, “It’s hard to speak freely with a pussycat aiming his blade at my neck.” Revan looked over at where Tobias stood and slowly nodded. When the mare felt the blade be removed from the back of her neck, she sighed in relief before removing her hood, goggles, and cowl. She knew if she wanted to earn their trust, she had to show them who she was. Her vivid crimson and bright yellow mane popped out and her fierce cyan eyes locked onto the masked figure that was Revan. “My name is Sunset Shimmer,” she explained. “I was once the student of Princess Celestia until I left Canterlot when I was thirteen. I’ve spent years exploring the world, making a living and connections all over the world, including places you’ve probably never even heard of.”
“You’re not answering my question,” Revan said.
“If this is supposed to impress us, it’s not,” Tobias added, stepping to stand beside Revan. “Titles like student to a princess mean nothing here.”
“Of course they don’t,” Sunset agreed with fire in her eyes, “but I know I can be of use!”
“I’m sure you can be,” Revan said, “but what do you want out of this? That’s what we want to know.”
Sunset looked at Revan and Tobias, and a smirk formed on her face. “Fine, you want the truth? I want to join to repay what you did for me a few months ago. I hate owing favors to anybody, and I like to repay debts.”
Both continued to look down at the pony mare in front of them, but she didn’t back down. Tobias spoke. “Wait…I remember you now.” He turned to Revan, who didn’t take his gaze off of Sunset, at least if the lack of motion from him was any indication. “She’s that unicorn we found almost dying out in the Badlands a few months ago, remember?”
Revan didn’t say anything for a bit. Instead, he only continued to look at Sunset, who continued glaring at the menacing figure. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly nodded. “You don’t owe us anything.”
“We did the right thing by bringing you to someplace that would help,” Tobias added. “You were beaten up pretty badly, and that brand you got is the brand of the Blue Dragons. You should consider yourself lucky that they just beat you up and didn’t rob you.”
Sunset snorted. “They took all my talons, but the other money they called fake and useless out here.”
“Not surprising,” Tobias said as he crossed his arms. “Talons are the only currency they accept out here, and the Blue Dragons only have business out here. Your money is useless here.”
“But not in the rest of the world,” she replied. “I have Equestrian bits, Gryphonian claws, Dragon Lands coins, and more. There’s enough from each to build a business.”
“Equestria won’t see us as legitimate,” Revan said.
“And the other nations don’t exactly need mercenary work, nor could they afford it most of the time,” Tobias added.
“So don’t use the word mercenary!” Sunset said, starting to sound desperate, “You could be a business with multiple areas of expertise!”
“And just why would ponies want to hire us?” Tobias asked with a growl.“We’re not exactly what they would consider hirable. Just ask Jason. Oh wait…”
Sunset’s scowl returned in full force. “Those ponies are fools,” she said, “but I guarantee that if you have me with you, they’ll be more likely to hire you for work!”
“I don’t know…” Tobias said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Revan?”
Revan looked down at her, arms slowly crossed. The strange masked creature and pony mare stared at each other for a long while before he said, “Very well, we’ll have a trial run.”
“Trial run?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion.
“It just means you’ll come with us on an assignment,” Tobias explained. “The profits will be split three ways, but I will warn you, it won’t be much. It’s a job from the guild, and they take a piece of the action before we get anything. The job will be something simple and it will give us time to know you better.” Sunset felt a bit relieved to hear it, until she heard Tobias say, “I have just the job, too.” He brought out a piece of dirty paper from his coat pocket and gave it to Revan. “It’s the kind of job you asked the boss for specifically.” Revan looked down at the paper, then turned and looked at Tobias, who simply chuckled and shrugged. “Even he was surprised that it came in!”
“What kind of job?” Sunset asked, feeling a bit worried now.
Tobias and Revan turned their attention back to her. “It’s an escort job,” the abyssinian explained, holding the paper out for her to see. “The pay isn’t too much, but it’s the perfect job for this little test of ours. It’s also in Equestria.”
Sunset read the paper, and her stomach dropped. The client party was the Apple family. She despised all of Ponyville for what they did because during her travels around the world she’d seen and had even experienced the same sort of treatment from other races and had a great deal of sympathy for what Jason had done. She always thought so highly of her race, but to know that they were capable of such xenophobia and hatred made her stomach crawl. And to hear that they were going to be helping the family of one of Jason’s most constant abusers made her stomach turn. She looked up at Revan and Tobias. “W-Why would either of you want to take this job? And for that matter, how did it get all the way down here?”
“You know the clients,” Tobias said, “and I’m going to assume that nobody, or should I say nopony, wants to help them. Seems as if they’re getting desperate if they’re reaching out for outside help. But here’s the thing you should know about us.” He leaned down, his yellow eyes now completely serious as he looked into Sunset’s eyes. “Once we sign a contract for a job, we never betray the clients. Most mercenaries will sell their soul to the highest bidder, even during the middle of a mission, but we don’t. We either fulfill the job or are released from it from our clients.”
Sunset nodded in understanding. It was one reason why she wanted to join them after she’d heard more and more details about their exploits around the Badlands and in other lands nearby. “I won’t betray any clients we have,” she promised, “but I don’t have to like the jobs. Especially this one.”
Tobias grinned and smacked her on the back, laughing. “That’s the spirit! Now, we leave in an hour. Pack up whatever you need and meet us at the north gate. We’ll need to walk to the nearest Equestrian town to catch a train. That is, if they’ll let us on.”
“I’ll be there, and I can help get us on a train,” Sunset said before she turned and galloped away back to the inn where she’d been staying to gather all of her belongings. She would prove herself worthy of being a part of the Shadow Dawn team! She could do this!
Tobias watched the unicorn galloping away down the darkened alley, turning when she reached the street and vanishing into the crowd of various creatures. He turned to the masked human beside him. “She certainly has a flare for the dramatic. Like you.”
Gregory reached up and grasped the mask. There was a hiss and then he pulled it off, revealing his face. He looked over at his companion. “How so?”
“Oh, the whole glowing eyes thing with her goggles,” Tobias grinned. “Similar color, too.”
Gregory simply nodded and looked back at the end of the alleyway. “I just wonder if she’ll be like all the others,” he said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.
“It takes a lot to survive in the Badlands,” Tobias said. “You should know better than anyone.”
Gregory turned back to Tobias, the two business partners and friends locking eyes for a bit. Gregory then smiled ever so slightly. “You’ll never let me live that down, will you?”
“You were drinking dirty water out of that vehicle of yours when I found you!” Tobias said, “and all of your food was gone! Honestly, I’ve never seen someone so unprepared for the Badlands.”
“It’s not like I intended to drive there,” Gregory said with a frown.
Tobias made a “Tch!” noise and then looked back at the entrance to the alley. Several second later, he looked back at Gregory. “Is that really the mare you told me about and showed me on that device of yours?” he asked. Gregory nodded. “So…why is she still here? Shouldn’t she be in the other human world you told me about?”
“Either history played out differently here than in the show,” Gregory replied, “or the human world or Star Swirl’s mirror doesn’t exist here. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that she will be coming with us on our next job.”
Tobias clapped his paws together, rubbing them. “This is going to be one of the more fun adventures we’ve had, eh G?”
“If you say so,” Gregory replied.
“Hey, at least there’s less of a chance of you being knocked around again,” Tobias said in a teasing manner.
“That hasn’t happened in a while,” Gregory replied giving Tobias a sideways glance.
“Only because the jobs we’ve taken haven’t been as dangerous as before,” Tobias said. “Just use those guns you brought with you. Dengal said she could make those bullets of yours if she had access to one.”
Gregory shook his head. “They’re too advanced for her,” he said, “and besides, she’s already working on making guns of her own.”
“You know that goblin blacksmith girl has the hots for you, right?” Tobias asked as they began making their way back to their office.
Gregory put his mask back on, the hiss audible as the black coverings hid his human features. The glowing eyes returned and the distorted voice of Revan replied, “She doesn’t know the real me.”
“Hey, you said she was attractive by human standards,” Tobias said, “so why not give her a chance?”
Gregory didn’t reply, instead he walked out into the main street, pulling his black hood over his head. Tobias only sighed, following his companion into the crowd. Sometimes, his companion was a bit too serious for his taste, but he was still a good man deep underneath that hardened exterior. Still, the abyssinian smiled. He anticipated that this next journey would be fun.
“Ah wanna thank y’all fer comin’ and helpin’ with all of the packin’,” Applejack said to the three members of the Apple family who had come and helped pack things up for their inevitable move.
Albemarle Pippin, Merry Way, Blue Pearmain and Golden Russet, two earth pony stallions and two pegasus and unicorn mare twins respectfully, sat nearby with mugs of some of the last of the zapp apple cider in their hooves, drinking to quench their thirst. Merry was married to Blue and was the best friend of Ablemarle Pippin, who normally went by Pippin or simply Pip. Pippin nodded and raised his mug. “Glad to help,” he said in a deep voice.
“You’re still family, even if the others don’t want to see it,” Blue added. Her husband nodded in solidarity.
“We’re just sorry that you have to leave this place behind,” Golden added, looking around sadly. “I’ve had a lot of good memories here.”
Applejack looked around and sighed. In the time since she’d managed to get a request sent off to anypony willing to help, two weeks had passed. It had only been three days before when the only three extended Apple family members who still talked to them had arrived. The house was all boarded up and empty. The normally bright red paint of the house and barn was peeling, there were no more barn animals around as they’d been sold off to help pay for farming supplies. Their cow and sheep herds had gone to other farms around the kingdom when the family couldn’t afford to feed them.
The rot had only taken hold of more trees by that time. Not knowing how it spread, the family didn’t want to uproot any trees for replanting just in case the rot spread through the roots, so they sadly had to burn the entire orchard. That had been one of the darkest days for Applejack. Not the darkest, but one of them. Nobody had really spoken that day, and the smoke had apparently reached Canterlot according to the newspaper they received the next day. Apple Bloom had cried openly, and so had Big Mac, the strongest and toughest stallion Applejack knew. She knew she would cry, but she hadn’t expected any tears from Big Mac. She hoped, however, that with the destruction of the trees that the rot wouldn’t spread anywhere else.
Applejack raised the mug of cider in the air. “A toast. To family. May the memories we made never die.”
Everyone raised their mugs in solidarity and drank. The rainbow colored liquid tasted as sweet as ever. They all drained their mugs and set them down on the carriage nearby. While Big Mac collected them and rinsed them out with a nearby water pump, Merry spoke up. “So,” he said, “Granny tells me that y’all are hiring some mercenaries to keep an eye on us.”
Applejack felt herself tense up. She immediately turned to the dark orange stallion. “We wanted tah keep ourselves safe,” she said quickly, “it ain’t safe fer us out there anymore, especially since-”
“We’re not judging what you’re doing,” Pippin said, “after all, this new Maretime Bay isn’t exactly close to friendly territory.”
“Isn’t it near the Undiscovered Lands?” Merry asked.
Applejack nodded. “It’ll take us a while to get there by carriage,” she said, “unless we can get a train ride to the nearest station, but the train doesn’t stop in Ponyville no more.”
“Hence the need for mercenaries?” Golden asked.
Applejack nodded. “Sure nuff.”
“But what if somepony pays them off to just abandon us?” Blue asked. “I hear that’s what they do in the Badlands.”
“We’ll just have to hope tah high heaven that they won’t or that we don’t run into somepony who’ll wanna rob us,” Applejack said. “Now come on. Let’s make sure everythin’s all ship shape and ready tah go. Check to see we didn’t miss anythin’ either.”
At that, everypony scattered off, looking around the farmhouse and the barn to make sure things were in order for whoever would be using this place after they were gone. They had to sell it well below market value because of the rot and the damage to the house. About a half hour later, everypony was back, a few of them having found boxes and other random items that they had missed in their last sweep.
As they were tightening down the caravan and covering their belongings with tarps and blankets, Apple Bloom suddenly paused, her ears perking up. Applejack noticed this and walked over to her. “Apple Bloom? Everythin’ alright?”
“Somepony’s comin’ up the road,” Apple Bloom whispered, pointing to the east.
Everypony turned in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, in the distance they saw three individuals walking up. One of them looked like a pony, but with the hood on, nopony could be sure. The other two were taller, bipedal. One looked like a cat, while the third was dressed in all black, their features obscured by a hood. Everypony watched as they grew closer. The features of the catlike creature became visible first, since the others were wearing hoods over their heads. He had black fur with a white patch on the forehead. He had black hair as well which was cut short and he had yellow eyes.
The pony’s features were visible next. The pony appeared to be a mare, probably a unicorn if Applejack wasn’t mistaken. She wore a black cowl over her muzzle along with a pair of goggles that hid her eyes. Applejack thought she saw some orange fur on the unicorn’s legs, but since said unicorn was wearing a cloak, that’s all she could see. Applejack couldn’t even see her cutie mark.
The third individual, however, made her pause. They were a little bit taller than the bipedal cat, wearing black garments that covered any fur they may have had. They had a couple of knives attached to their belt and he was holding a large metal pole, but it was the mask over their head that frightened her. It was terrifying, to say the least. Applejack felt Apple Bloom pressing her, and she could hardly blame the poor teenage filly.
When she looked down at the creature’s claws, she paused again. She’d never seen anycreature with more than four claws before. This creature had five claws, or fingers. She couldn’t see any talons on them, but then again this individual had gloves on. She wondered how hot they must be in there.
“Hello there, everyone,” the cat being said with a wave. Judging by the voice, the cat was a male. “We received a request for an escort mission for…” here he took out a folded piece of paper from the long coat he wore and opened it, “one hundred and fifty bits.” He folded the paper and slipped it back in his pocket. “Are we in the right place?”
Everypony else was silent, all looking at Applejack. This was her show, after all. She straightened and despite the fear of the masked creature beside this cat, she stepped forward. “That’s us,” she said.
“Ah, excellent!” the cat said as he took a step forward. “We’re Shadow Dawn, the mercenary party who will be picking up your job request. Now, I understand this will take a few days?”
“Ah’d say about three, maybe four days if the weather holds,” Applejack replied.
“I’m sure it’ll hold,” the cat said, “after all, it is summer still.”
“Ah suppose so,” Applejack said.
“Excellent!” The catlike creature clapped his claws together. “Now, before we get underway, there’s the small matter of some paperwork-”
“Just a moment there, young fella!” Granny Smith interrupted him with a scowl. She stamped forward and looked the cat straight in the eyes. “Ah hope yer not hopin’ tah gouge us out like them stories about yer kind say! We ain’t easily taken in, yah know!”
“I suggest you not make such hasty assumptions, old mare,” the pony (now confirmed to be a mare based on her tone alone) beside the cat said with a bite in her tone, “or did you forget that it was assumptions that led to the death of one Jason Wright?”
The third individual simply held up their hand for silence, turning to the mare rather sharply. This caused the mare to flinch. They then turned back to the cat and the two exchanged a look. The cat looked back down with his ears pinned back slightly, an abashed look on his face. “Ah, I know mercenaries have a bad reputation here,” he said, “but we’re not quite like them. Shadow Dawn honors our contracts and doesn’t break them. If Princess Celestia herself were to offer us all the bits she had, we’d refuse. It’s the principal of the thing.”
Granny stepped back, her own face a bit abashed. “Ah see,” was all she said in a diminished tone.
The cat then turned to Applejack, holding up some new papers. “We just have a few papers for you to look over and sign. They’re standard requirements for a job like this. It lists off all of our requirements. Payment up front, a signature at the end of our job to signify that the job was completed, things like that. Take as much time as you need to read them over.”
Applejack took the papers and began reading them. She was soon surrounded by several other members of her family as they too read over the contracts. Nothing about it seemed nefarious to her, but she knew that Merry was probably the most likely to catch something since he was the smartest one she knew there. He had grown up training to be a small-town politician before he married Blue and became a farmer with her. When he gave her an approving nod, Applejack looked back at the three. “Who do yah need signin’ this?”
“Whoever sent out the request,” the cat said. He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a black pen. “Need this?”
“Thanks,” she said as she took the pen in her mouth and began signing where she needed to. When she was done, she gave the pen back, along with the papers. She then trotted over to one of the carriages, grabbed a brown bag and brought it over to them. “Here yah are,” she said as she dropped it into the cat’s outstretched paw.
The cat put the bag in a pack he had over his shoulder. “Great!” he said. “Now, the only thing left to do is get you to your destination and then have you sign off on that. Now,” he clapped his paws together and looked around, “are you ready to get underway, or do you need more time?”
“Ah think we’re ready,” Applejack said, “but yah know, it’d help an awful lot if we knew yer names.”
“How rude of us!” the cat said with a self-deprecating smile. “My name’s Tobias, and this pony is a new member of our team named Sunset Shimmer, a pretty powerful unicorn.”
“Well, it’s nice tah meet y’all,” Applejack said, “but what about yer other friend there?” She gestured to the hooded and masked figure beside them. “Don’t he ever talk?”
Tobias looked back, then smiled and turned back to Applejack. “That’s Revan,” he said, “and he does talk, but not all the time. I’m sure you’ll hear him talking sometime on this trip. But we should really get a move on! Train won’t wait on us forever.”
That caught Applejack’s attention. She turned to Tobias. “Train?”
“Thank our pony companion here for that,” he said, gesturing down to the hooded and cloaked mare. “She managed to…convince…the train to stop here for the next twenty minutes. That was ten minutes ago.”
“It’ll get us to the White Tail station before nightfall,” the pony named Sunset said, “so I suggest you get moving.”
Surprised at this new development, Applejack wasted no time running up to her cart and hitching herself up to it. “Let’s get a move on, everypony!”
Princess Celestia was sitting in her room later that night after the sun had gone down, looking over the latest reports from the nurse she’d asked to be assigned to her former faithful student Twilight. Despite her immense disappointment in the young mare, she still had a hoof in raising her from a filly to an adult and thought of her like a pseudo daughter. Just as she had with her previous student before their argument and before she fled the palace all those years ago. She was pleased to learn that Twilight had been doing a bit better, but was disheartened to hear that she hardly ever left her lighthouse unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Perhaps it was a mistake sending all of Ponyville’s residents to one place,” she muttered to herself.
“Perhaps it was,” a familiar male voice said. One which sent chills down Celestia’s spine as she jumped up. “Hello there, Princess, did you miss me?”
“Discord,” she growled, “you cretin, show yourself!”
In front of her, a zipper appeared in midair. It moved down, and out stepped the lord of chaos himself. He zipped the space behind him back up, leaving nothing behind. His smile was as infuriating as ever. However, something about him was different. There was a black patch over his left eye. “Cretin, you say?” he asked, placing his paw on his chest. “Why Tia, that hurts! You’re breaking my heart!” He held out his claw, and in it a heart appeared that shattered, leaving red pieces of glass on the floor.
Celestia stood, stomping on one of the larger pieces and storming up to the draconequus. She grabbed him with her hoof and shoved him against the wall. “Leave!” she snapped.
He vanished and appeared sitting in her bed, reading a newspaper with a pair of black rimmed glasses on. “Somepony’s testy,” he said with an amused tone.
Celestia whirled around and aimed her horn at him. “Leave,” she growled, “or I’ll make you leave.” Her horn began to glow for effect.
Discord tossed the papers away, turning them into little birds which flew out of the window and evaporated into nothingness. He slowly stood, paw and claw raised. His smile was gone, and a serious look appeared on his face. “Okay, I see you’re in no mood for jokes,” he said as he snapped and two chairs appeared. He sat in one and pointed towards the other.
The seriousness of the draconequus threw Celestia off, but she didn’t move or let her guard down. “What are you up to?” she asked suspiciously.
“I swear, I’m not up to anything,” he said, “I simply came to talk. It’s been too long and things are certainly chaotic around her.”
That sent her alarm bells off and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Was Jason Wright’s death because of you?” she snarled angrily.
“Heavens, no,” Discord said, looking honestly appalled. “I didn’t even know he existed until I learned about his death. I couldn’t even detect his body with my magic even after his…untimely death. Besides, death isn’t really my style. My kind of chaos doesn’t kill. That’s a line I refuse to cross. You know that. After all, back all those years ago, did I ever once kill any of your little ponies?”
“Still, you could have influenced my little ponies like you did during your first escape,” Celestia snapped.
“No, I didn’t do anything in regards to Jason Wright and his treatment,” Discord said with a frown, “that was all you and your ponies.” He gestured to the seat and then snapped again. A small tea table appeared between the chairs with a very fancy looking tea set sitting on it. “No tricks, I promise,” he said.
Still wary of this strange behavior, Celestia nevertheless approached and scanned the tea with her magic. Everything about it seemed normal, but she knew better than to trust Discord’s magic. However, she strangely didn’t sense any deception from him, which was normal when it came to him. At least, up until Fluttershy helped reform him several years before. “And why should I trust you?” she asked.
“Your point is well taken,” Discord said, “but once more ask yourself this: has my chaos ever caused the death of anycreature? Even in my reign, did it? Even a suicide?”
Celestia’s frown deepened. She knew he was right. Discord’s type of chaos would never lead to the death of anypony. She sighed. “Okay…I get it.”
“Good!” he said, and with a wave of his paw the chairs and tea vanished. He gestured then to the balcony. “Would you care to join me outside?”
Celestia looked at the now standing draconequus, then slowly nodded. The two made their way to Celestia’s private balcony, where Discord took a seat in one of the chairs there. Celestia did the same, and the two looked out at the beautiful cliffside metropolis that was Canterlot. The stars were out in full force, and not even the lights of the city below could dim their magnificence. That was how Celestia had her balcony situated. She loved looking at her sister’s night. The moon wasn’t up yet, as it was waning.
The two sat in silence for a bit. Then, Discord said, “Be honest, Celestia, how are things going in Equestria these days? I’ve been…avoiding it lately.”
Celestia sighed. “Not too good,” she said. “Ever since the world learned of Jason Wright and his abysmal treatment at the hooves of my ponies, other nations are at my doorstep demanding I do something about the various ways nonponies are being treated in my kingdom. I’ve hardly had a day off to recover from this.”
“You were the one who had that book written, you know,” he chided her, “so this chaos is your fault, not mine.”
She rubbed her forehead with her hoof. “I wasn’t going to just hide this, you know? I knew the consequences and accepted them.”
“Other versions of you would have simply swept this under the rug,” Discord said, “or even just not punished those involved.”
She groaned. She knew about the many various versions of Equestria thanks to him and it always made her head hurt. “I’m not them, am I?”
Discord shook his head. “No, you’re not,” he said, “but you did bring this on yourself.”
“I’m already reminded about this every day,” she groaned, “I don’t need it from you.”
“Alright, alright, lips sealed,” he said before zipping his mouth shut with a literal zipper.
She looked over at him. “What are you here for, Discord? Here to mock me?”
He shook his head. “Nnmm mmmmt mmmt mmmll!” he said. Celestia sighed and unzipped his mouth with her magic. “No, not at all,” he repeated.
“Then why are you here?” she asked.
“To do something I rarely do,” he said, “and that’s bring you news about something that concerns you.”
She turned to him, scrutinizing him. “And that would be…?”
Discord leaned back in his seat, looking up at the sky. “It involves a certain orange unicorn mare and her two traveling companions.”
“Orange unicorn ma-?” Celestia paused, eyes wide in alarm as she shot up out of her seat. “Sunset Shimmer?! You’ve seen Sunset Shimmer!?” She was practically shouting in complete shock.
Discord put both his pinkies in his ears and moved them back and forth, a squeaking noise coming from them as he did so. “Anypony ever told you that you shout really, really loud?” he asked with a frown.
She was immediately in Discord’s face. “Where is she?! Don’t hide anything from me!”
Discord backed away, then gave Celestia a saucy grin. “So close,” he said, “if anypony saw us like this, they’d think you were interested in little old me.”
Celestia’s face went red, either with anger or embarrassment she didn’t know. Still, she backed off and tried to calm down. “Fine, you have my attention now,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “What about Sunset do you have to tell me?”
“Well, she’s finally back in Equestria, for one,” Discord said.
“Where?” Celestia asked with a growl.
“She’s traveling with a couple of mercenaries from the Badlands,” Discord said. “One of those mercenaries is…quite the character, I must say. You’ll find him quite fascinating, I’m sure.”
“Where. Is. Sunset?” Celestia asked, putting deliberate emphasis on each word.
Discord’s infuriating smirk returned. “Now, if I told you that, there would be no fun in it,” he said.
“This isn’t a game, Discord!” Celestia bellowed, “I need to find her immediately!”
His smile faded again. “I’m well aware that this isn’t a game,” he said in a once more surprisingly serious tone, “but I’ve only been allowed to tell you what I’ve already told you.”
Celestia’s eyes were wide as saucers at that. “‘Allowed’?” she repeated. “You mean to tell me that-”
“I do,” Discord said with a nod.
“Does it have to do with-?”
“I can’t tell you why.”
Celestia grew increasingly frustrated. “I hate you,” she said.
Discord nodded. “I know, and now is one of the few times I wish I could help, but I’m being forced to stay out of this one. I can’t use my magic to interfere in Equestrian affairs anymore.”
Celestia deflated. She hated when this happened, because it always meant a huge headache for her in the end. She could already feel it coming on as she nodded. “And of course it just to happens to happen when my country is in its own chaotic state…”
Discord stood and stretched. “For what it’s worth, Tia, I’m sorry,” he said, and to Celestia it sounded like a genuine apology.
“…Not your fault…” Celestia murmured as she herself stood. “I should really get back to work…”
“You should really get some rest,” Discord said as he began to fade, “after all, you’re gonna need it.”
“I can’t afford to rest right now,” she said, although her trudging body slowly made its way towards her bed without her even knowing.
“You’ll need all the rest you can manage,” Discord’s fading voice said, “so sleep, and good luck…”
With that, Discord’s body vanished, as did his chaotic presence. Celestia, growing more and more exhausted with each step, collapsed into bed. The blankets moved of their own accord, covering her as the ancient alicorn mare quickly fell into a deep sleep.