//------------------------------// // Cunning plan // Story: The Second Return // by Narim //------------------------------// It was almost time for Celestia to raise the sun, as she does for her entire, incredibly long life. Some ponies outside already started going to work. Celestia once again asked Discord about the time. "Well," he said, "this story took longer than I've expected, I skipped the half of what I intended to say and forgot to say some other details, but we can't waste any more time. I have a plan on how to counter her, the one I told you about. But I am not sure how long will it take. You can buy some for me. Do not raise the sun yet, my sister. You can not overcome Helia's summoning command, but you can slow it. Try to keep the sun as far from Equestria as possible. And you, Luna. Position the Moon between Equestria and the sun. It will reduce Helia's energy income, buying us once again more time," he ordered, or rather asked, his sisters. "It will be dangerous task and should you feel any danger, don't hesitate to stop. It would be futile to lose the Moon and your life just for a time advantage." As the both princesses prepared for departure, Celestia made her speech to everypony. "Listen, my little ponies, I trust Discord in this matter. I am sure he will do his best. Follow his lead, he will protect you and with his help, you will be able to finish it before she breaks out. May your friendship guides you," she gave them her blessing. "We will be at the Astrological Tower in Canterlot," said to Discord before Luna and her departed. "So, what are we going to do?" asked Twilight. She had tens of questions, just like everypony else, but she knew there were no time for them. The time to speak is over, now is the time to act. "I need a workplace," stated Discord. "There is no such nearby, the closest is in the Everfree forest. Or, rather under the forest. You sure remember the ruins where you encountered Nightmare Moon. That used to be one of my residences. It was prettier during my time, of course. But enough talking here, we can chat on the way there," he shut himself. Twilight and her brother lead the others to the door, but Discord halted them. "No, no," he said. "We won't go that way. I don't want to draw the attention. Helia still thinks I am imprisoned just like her. I don't want to taunt her, not for now. And you sure don't want to be seen with me, despite what you have learnt about me. We will go underground." Ponies had to agree on the attention part. "But we still need to go outside," mentioned Twilight, "the nearest cave is still far away from here." Discord smiled. Twilight quickly realized that she's probably wrong and he will be happy to prove it. "I would not be so sure about that. Come with me," he ordered them to follow him. He led them to the Library's cellar, filled with Twilight's research equipment. There he crouched, with his head touching the ground and knocked on the floor several times. He was listening to something inaudible to ponies, since in a few seconds, he smiled again and his snake tongue made some sort of vibrating sound. The floor cracked up and revealed a staircase leading into darkness. "This oak, planted by one of my dearest companions," he explained, "is one of the twelve places I intend to use as ley focusing points. This is a potent place for magic, as Twilight can confirm. She has no problem to practice it here, as this place enhances unicorn's magical abilities. Follow me and stick closely. I ask the unicorns for some light, since unlike me, you will need some to see in that darkness." The group started descending into the underground caverns. Twilight told Spike to stay there and watch the library. Spike was too tired anyway, since he was awake the entire night. Everyone was, but the ponies knew they had no time to rest. Twilight and Shining Armor followed the Discord on the lead, Applejack and Big Mac guarded the middle and Rainbow with Soarin' kept watching the rear. The air was heavy, the ceiling wet and ground dirty. From time to time, they heard some inexplicable sound. A roar, maybe a cry? Fluttershy was not that afraid as you might have guessed. She was encouraged by Discords words about her and she wanted to stay true to them. Pinkie giggled from time to time when she saw some funny shadow or her bizarre reflection in the puddles. Rarity was silence, thinking about what have Discord told them. She wondered what the previous Ages looked like. And how Discord have looked as an alicorn. Applejack discussed the crops with her brother and Rainbow Dash described her flying techniques to Soarin'. He seemed impressed by her sister abilities. Shining Armor silently watched every corner, every turn and suspicious shadow. "Are you sure we are heading the right way?" worried Twilight, "I tried to keep the track, but I've got lost almost immediately." "No worries," assured her Discord, "I know every inch of Equestria. I used to be Equestria, remember? I am, to this day, to some degree. I know the underground just as good as you know your home," said and kept walking into the never ending net of tunnels. From time to time, he stopped, waited on the others, and then certainly lead them onwards. "When we reach your workplace, what are you going to do there?" couldn't resist asking Twilight. She wondered how Discords hideout could look like. But she doubted it will be as weird and chaotic as his version of Ponyville. It will be probably dark room, full of equipment and books, she guessed. "I need to create a device that would connect the elements' energy into one point. You could call it the Thirteenth Element, if you wish. It will help me to imprison Helia once again." "Why do you need our help then?" asked Twilight, since she knew Discord wouldn't go with them without a reason. "To perfectly forge it, I need a life essence from each of you. Your hearts would be perfect. Just kidding," quickly added when he saw Twilight face turn grey and Shining's into fury. "A drop of blood, even a hair from your mane will be enough. It needs to be fresh, however." "I've got an idea. Why don't we use the time travelling spell? I could warn us, and then we would have enough..." proposed Twilight, but Discord interrupted her. "I don't like time travelling. What power have your actions, when you can undone them? None, I tell you. You will start being careless, not minding the consequences. Anyway, after the Second Age, the time travel was severely limited. You, the Element of Magic, could travel about a week in the past. I, in all my powers, could travel for a year. Even so, it would be too little to reach our past selves. The time travel is out of the options," rejected her idea. "So, let say that after we defeat, I mean imprison Helia," said Twilight, "what are you going to do? Do you still intend to throw the world into chaos?" asked with worries. "Yes. That is my goal, and I will not step back from it. We need a permanent solution. What are we doing now is only temporary. It will made Equestria safe from her for the rest of your lifetime, but the future generations would had to repeat this again. It's not responsible." Discord found his path blocked, but he simply turned back and took them into different tunnel. "Seems like the earthquake blocked that path, we will have to use that way. Anyway, when I am done with all the work, I probably return upon the throne of Equestria. I used to be a king, you know? King Terran was the name. I wonder where my throne is buried..." got lost in his memories. "Equestria needs no king," objected Shining Armor. "Two princesses are enough. Having a king and princesses would destroy the equality of all." "Equality. It is funny you mention that. For those same ideals ended the Third Age. I wish you knew how much effort did Celestia have to make to ensure this equality. Even though she taught all of you about it and friendship, there are still kings and queens. Celestia can deny it as much as she wants, but there are ponies she cares about more than the others. You know I am talking about you," explained. "She is strong, yes. But inside she's more fragile than anyone else. You know nothing about her..." "That's not true," objected vigorously Twilight. "I am her best student and I have spent so many nights with her, talking about..." she stopped herself. What were they talking about? "Talking about you, your accomplishments, your studies, your everything," knew Discord very well. "You only see her as a princess and teacher. Not as a close friend. That is something she desires the most. To have fun, just like you. To be free, from all those duties. I can simply go to hell, for all I care. But I want them to enjoy the living. Just try to make her talk. She needs somepony else than just Luna to open up with her feelings. The problem is, the more she loves you, the bigger wound you cause her when you die. It is inevitable and something that happened countless times." The party moved into vast cavern with a lake. Discord stopped for a moment, and used his magic to fully enlighten the place. The lake was dark, silent. Cold. In the distance, they could see an island in the middle of the lake. It almost looked like a ruined... tower? "You see that?" pointed at that ruin. "The relic of the past. Once a beautiful city, filled with happy ponies. Then the war came, and the city was gone. The war was terrible everywhere, but this city, in this city it was the worst. Only this tower remains from the Third Age, along with the ghosts of the dead. The horrors are still fresh every time I remember its name. Stalliongrad. The turning point of the war. Maybe Lunagrad was even worse, but that is not something I want to speculate about." Ponies could not imagine how terrible it had to be to leave even Discord in silence. Applejack took off her hat to honor the dead and watched together the ruins for a moment. Thank Celestia we live in peace, was everypony's thought. "And we will follow the dead if we stay here any longer," reminded Discord their mission. It had to be almost noontime, guessed Twilight. The tunnels' walls began to be covered with roots. Discord told them they are close, as those roots are from the trees in the Everfree forest above them. He told them a story about the forest. "The Everfree forest in one of the many reminders of my experiments. As Pegasi know well, you don't need to take care of clouds above this place. The animals are taking care of themselves and trees and plants are growing by their will. It is a home to many creatures from the previous Ages I was proud of and was sorry to leave behind, extinct. It is frightening place to you, because you don't understand its beauty. This place is free, forever. Everfree." If the Everfree is beautiful, then I am a fashionista failure, thought Rarity. It is only appealing during the Nightmare Night maybe. The ponies could hear a river somewhere beneath them. Girls wondered if that river serpent was still around. But hearing the river would mean they are close. They reached a dead end. There was no going forward, only back. "Hey," shouted Rainbow Dash at the back, "don't tell me you've got us lost," accused Discord. He ignored her and studied the wall in detail. "We are here," told to everypony. "Step back a little, I'll open the door." He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. His breath was sparkly green smoke, revealing the marks on the wall, now shining clearly with the green tone. An ancient language, known only to Discord. He ordered in commanding voice the doors to open. What a way to lock your room, thought Twilight. This could help her not to be disturbed during her studying mare-a-thons. Nothing happened. "I, Discord, order you to open," commanded again with noticeable irritation. Still nothing. "Let's go, bro, we'll buck our way through," suggested Applejack to her brother. With their powers combined, the wall would stand no chance. Discord thought otherwise. "No," he rejected them, "there is no force or magic in this world that could break through. This spell is similar to the one I used to build the prison for Helia. Only this time, the goal is to keep others from getting in, not out." He focused, calmed himself and spoke in an ancient language, probably the same as on the wall. "Narž, étar Discord, tsúké ittír palúr." To Twilight, is seemed similar to the ancient chanting spells. Instead of the door opening, a chilling laughter came from behind the wall. "Wait a minute," realized Discord, "I know this voice..." The laughter came closed and in a moment, the wall started glowing in blue, with blue fog coming out of it. A small foggy cloud shaped itself into a pony. "Ghosts!" screamed, to everyone's shock, Rainbow Dash and quickly fled behind the corner. The pony ghost, emitting blue aura, big as Macintosh, with a wild mane and large Pegasus wings, gazed into everypony's face. "Who dares to disturb my slumber?" questioned them with his fearsome voice. "Me, Discord, you know me as Terran, Terran the Greenmane, the All Knowing, the Wise One..." introduced himself to the ghost. "I know of no Discord, nor Terran," the ghost refused him. Discord knew he lied. "Stop horsing around, Neklan," he named the ghost, "I know it's you. The same voice, the same look, the only one with the good reason why to be here from all the others," forced him to show his colors. The ghost, likely called Neklan, stopped his fearsome performance. He began smiling and his voice changed from cold to cheerful one. "Damn it, Terran, you have no idea how glad I am to see you here," he welcomed him and wanted to brohoof with him, only to realize he's a ghost and Discord has a paw and a claw instead of the front hooves. "Oh, I forgot, well, I hoped you could play along with me for some time. I have you know, I had some great lines prepared," he turned to other ponies. "And you must be our successors. I recognize some of you. And where's my favorite mare, with her rainbow mane and her Element of Loyalty?" he asked and started searching for her. Rainbow Dash covered in the corned and chewed her hoof in the mouth. "G-g-ghost!" she said in scared voice when Neklan approached her with the rest behind him. "You sure grew up since the last time, Rainbow. But your mane used to look better, almost as good as mine." It was true; his ghostly name resembled her mane when she was just a filly. "Still trying to impress the Wonderbolts, I guess. It has to to be true, since every time you do one of your epic crashes, the ceiling in these caverns shakes so hard, it scares me to death. Oh wait, I am already dead," he laughed out loud at his own jokes, and Pinkie joined him. "What are you doing here?" asked Discord, dead serious. "Well you see, I saw one bottle of the Roseblood wine in your lab here, and I thought I might take a sip. The best wine is the blood of rose, there can be no better for heroes, we used to say. And to think it aged here for five thousand year, in the perfect temperature. You have no idea how much I want to be alive to taste it," he day dreamt about his passion. "Funny," said Discord, but with tone meaning the exact opposite. "Now the real reason, if you don't mind." "Pff, have you forgotten, Terran?" asked him Neklan. "I've, we all have, made an oath. And I remember you warning us that even death won't release us from it," he reminded. "I was being ironic." "And I was being moronic," admitted with pretended honesty. "But this is so great you are finally here. You would never guess, but it's pretty lonely down here. However, I wasted no time, and for the past four thousand years, I composed poetry. I have about several hundreds of them. Which one do you want to hear first? Something epic, something romantic, I have some good tragedies, inspired by my lifetime experiences. So, which one?" asked sincerely. "None," Discord strictly refused his offer. "We will talk, but the work comes first." "Right!" agreed Neklan, "First make heroic deeds, then sing about them at the feasts. To the Discord's cave!" he led them. "And by the way," mentioned Discord, "surely you had to notice that place being under the Time Lock. It will be exactly the same as it was when I suddenly left it five thousand years ago." Who exactly is this Neklan and how is he related to Discord? Will Discord be able to forge the Thirteenth Element in time to stop Helia? In the next chapter of The Second Return, find something interesting about Rainbow Dash and get ready for another unexpected visitor.