The theater began to fade as the walls seemed to close in around them. The seats sunk into the floor while the stage began to shrink and transform into a much more comfortable purple bed. Twilight sat down instinctively when she felt the familiar softness of her own mattress beneath her and looked up to see Discord standing next to the bed. He was staring at Celestia, who was sitting near the door looking anxious to leave. Who could blame her?
The past few hours had been rather awkward for all ponies involved, and Celestia was considering just lowering the sun and calling it a day. The ponies of Equestria could stick their complaints where the sun don’t shine, assuming of course that the sun was still shining in that case. The little daydream of telling off her beloved subjects and immaturely hiding under her giant royal duvet was cut short when Rarity walked into the room.
“Excuse me, your highness, but there are some guards here with a message for you,” Rarity said with as much confidence as any pony was capable of when speaking to the princess, even though they were as close to ‘friends’ as a common pony was capable of getting with the royalty.
Celestia turned to Rarity with a blank expression before her eyes shot wide. “Luna!” she shouted before jumping to her hooves and sprinting out of the bedroom.
Rarity backed away in shock, her jaw nearly broke the floor. “That seemed hardly regal of her,” she thought out loud.
“There’s a time and a place, Rarity,” Twilight rolled her eyes before working her way off the bed to follow her mentor down to the library.
Rarity could only gasp at the rudeness of her friend. First the princess and now Twilight? The nerve of some ponies! She turned to the only other living creature in the room for a look of approval to justify her own shock, but changed her mind when she realized who the only other living creature in the room actually was.
-
“Yes, your highness.” The guard saluted before turning from the library and shutting the door.
The discussion was over by the time Twilight made it down the stairs, followed closely by Discord and Rarity, who only dared to follow after a wordless agreement that being in a room alone with each other could prove rather uncomfortable. Rarity trusted her princess and her friend, but she wasn’t sure if that trust was enough to forgive Discord for the existence of Tom.
The trio stood at the foot of the stairs waiting for Celestia to finish her business with the guards at the door. None of them spoke, not even to ask how Pinkie had made it down to the library before anypony else. None of them knew that this would be the last bit of calm before the inevitable storm.
Celestia turned to the group with her mask of decorum back in place. “I am required back at the castle in Canterlot. Discord I trust you understand that I will not be leaving you here to wreak havoc on my little ponies. You will be riding with me.”
Discord gave a fake gasp. “You truly believe that I would do such a thing? I really am quite offended, Celestia,” he said, smiling.
Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You can come now, unless you wish to stay a few moments to answer questions for-”
“I’m coming!” he hurriedly shouted before she could finish. “I’m allergic to interrogations. What would they even want to ask me about, anyway?”
Twilight saw her last opportunity fading in front of her and gathered the courage to speak up and seize it. “Actually, Discord, I’ve been rather curious-”
“No you’re not!” he interrupted and teleported himself outside of the library, sighing with relief as he was so sure being 10 feet farther away makes him immune to the interview that the purple unicorn had planned.
Celestia chuckled as Twilight slouched in defeat. “Why don’t you join us, Twilight?” she said as a sly grin formed on her face. “You may ask Discord all you would like on the way.”
The unicorn brightened immediately, lifting her face to Celestia. “Really? I mean I would hate to impose,” she said still happily, as if she knew the answer would still be yes.
“It is no imposition. Now come, Twilight, our time is precious.”
-
The chariot began to take off while Twilight waved and gave her final goodbyes to her friends. Discord sat across from Celestia, staring at her for the horrible crime of bringing the purple investigator. Celestia played innocent, giving a face that suggests she has no idea why Discord was so rigid.
The air rushed past as they flew toward Canterlot, nopony had spoken since takeoff for fear their words might be lost to the wind. Discord was appreciating the silence before the storm of questions; a silence he didn’t know would be broken no sooner than he had become completely content with it.
“Discord, I wanted to ask you something,” Twilight shouted over the rushing in their ears.
“What?!”
“I just wanted to know how you and Celestia met!”
“What?!”
“I was hoping you could tell me how you met Celestia!”
“What?!”
“Never mind, I’ll ask you later!’
“Ok.”
Twilight sighed, sitting back in her seat again. The wind was making this pretty difficult, but there is unlikely to be a more opportune moment to ask the draconequus such a question. She’s in a chariot that neither can leave, and both parties are present for input.
She began idly twiddling her hooves and looking blankly at various fixtures and trimmings that made up the chariot they were riding in. Her mind wandered off into nonsensical places, incoherent internal babbling common to anypony of such high intellect; it was annoying. Wait a minute-
“If you couldn’t hear me then how did you respond appropriately to my last statement?”
Discord turned to her again, looking completely puzzled. “What?!”
“Nothing!” she shouted in frustration.
“Alright.” Discord grinned and turned away again. Perhaps this trip could be a little funner than he thought.
-
The flapping of the pegasi wings turned to a flutter as they alighted the chariot on the ground outside of the castle. Immediately after landing a trio of guards approached the chariot, opening the door for the royalty inside and bowing. Worry was visible on their faces when they raised their heads again to look at the passengers of the chariot.
“What is the matter?” Celestia questioned them softly, as though she already knew the answer and was just trying to comfort her subjects.
All three of them lowered their heads at the same time, and the one in the front was the one to speak. “Nothing, your highness. It is not my place to question the company you keep.”
Celestia saw the perfect opportunity to have a little fun. “Who, Miss Sparkle? I see no reason for you to be afraid of her.”
The guard shook his head as if to diffuse some misunderstanding. “No, your highness. I was referring to,” the guard gulped before he could say the name, as if the mere word would evoke some frightful curse. “I was referring to Discord.”
Celestia raised her brow, looking utterly confused and curious. “Discord? You must be mistaken, it’s only Twilight and myself here this evening.”
The guard blinked a few times and swapped his gaze back and forth between Celestia and Discord. “I don’t understand, your highness. Discord appears to be standing just there.”
Celestia turned to where the guard was gesturing, and gave Discord a sly grin. “I’m sorry but I see only my student, captain,” she said, shrugging her shoulders before turning back to the guards in front of her. “Perhaps you could do with some rest. Take the day off, Shining Armor.”
Shining saluted and then bowed, then saluted again. Feeling completely lost and fearing he may be suffering from severe hallucinations. “My apologies, your highness,” he said, bowing one final time before backing away and turning to leave, feeling rather foolish.
Twilight just watched silently as the princess played some form of joke on her brother. Typically she would stand up for him, but as it stands he is in no real danger and it would be unwise to spoil the princess’ fun. She would never admit it, but she was having some fun herself just watching.
When Shining Armor was out of view the princess nodded at the remaining two guards, gesturing for them to leave. The three of them began to walk in the direction of the castle, at a pace that only the larger two of the group could effortlessly keep. They had only walked a few short steps before Twilight’s insatiable curiosity became uncontainable.
“Princess, do you play these sort of jokes often?” she asked, still trotting rather quickly to keep pace with the two significantly larger creatures accompanying her.
“All good things should be treated with moderation,” Celestia responded, not slowing her pace or turning her head. “but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are.”
“But he’s your guard. Wouldn’t it be safest to keep him aware of the situation so that he can protect you?”
Celestia chuckled a little and slowed her walk considerably. “What do you know about Alicorns, Twilight?”
Twilight bit her tongue and concentrated for just a split moment, compiling the list of attributes in her head. “I know they possess substantially powerful magic, and they have both wings and horns. There are very few of them, though nopony knows why because they’re immortal-”
“Precisely, Twilight. Now why would any such creature need constant protection?” Celestia asked, finally stopping and turning to Twilight.
Twilight just stared at her, too afraid to say the name that immediately came to mind. Instead she just sighed with defeat. “I see your point, princess.”
Celestia smiled and continued walking, picking up the pace to its previous state of haste.
-
Beautiful. Twilight had such a huge vocabulary of words, but she felt that one fit best to describe the castle. She had been there so many times in her youth, she practically lived there, but it still struck her as something remarkable every time she saw it. The way the marble on the floor would play with the colored light cast on them by the stained glass windows, complemented by the high ceiling and wide space in any given room of the castle. Even the corridors were incredibly spacious. The Canterlot Castle was truly a feat of pony craftsmanship, a work of art that could never be bested. Nopony could even-
“Sheesh, Celestia. You really let this place go,” Discord teased as he playfully jabbed her with an elbow.
Celestia simply rolled her eyes, but Twilight’s shot wide open. Let it go? How could this place have ever looked any better? It’s perfect! The polished wood, the smell, the various colors that play with each other so well. There was no sight more captivating-
“Twilight, are you coming?” the princess stopped and turned to the unicorn. “You’ve been staring at the library for quite some time now. I assure you we will come back and visit it once our duties are done.”
Twilight shook her head, realizing how long it had been since she had actually moved. “Yes, sorry Princess. I didn’t mean to hold up your work,” she said as she walked toward the group, having trouble peeling her eyes away from the rows and rows of books.
Perhaps Discord was right, now that she wasn’t staring at a library the castle suddenly seemed just a little less amazing. The way the stained glass windows cast their light on the marble in the corridor, with the spacey area and high ceiling. Same traits, but somehow less magical. Lack of literature can have that effect.
-
The enormous wooden doors groaned as the royal guards pushed them open to make way for the princess, bowing as they did so. Celestia acknowledged their respect with a simple nod and proceeded through the doors, signalling Discord and Twilight to follow. The throne room was enormous, with the dais at the far end from the entrance and a long stretch of red carpeting covering the center of the floor leading up to it. Huge pillars lined the path leading up to the throne on either side.
Celestia’s complacent face contorted to one of worry at the sight of an empty throne. “Luna?” she called out to a seemingly abandoned room. She was just about to turn and question the guards when the sound of hoofbeats echoed from behind a nearby pillar.
A deafening shriek filled everypony’s ears as an indigo flash lept from nowhere and tackled an unexpecting draconequus. “I have him pinned, sister! Get Twilight to safety!” the blue blur called.
Twilight yelped in surprise at the whole spectacle, even being friends with the unpredictable pink one can’t prepare you for everything. In shock she looked toward Celestia who seemed to be suppressing laughter.
“You can release him, Luna. He’s here on good terms,” Celestia said after finally beating that escaping chuckle into submission. She glanced at Discord for a moment, then looked back at her sister and smiled. “For now.”
Luna’s cheeks flushed red as she stood back to her hooves. “I apologize. I acted without thinking,” she said, lowering her head.
“Oh yes, I’m perfectly fine. Thank you for asking.” Discord stood and brushed the dust out of his coat.
“What business do you have here, Discord?” Luna asked, ignoring his sarcastic quib.
“He was helping me with a situation in Ponyville. I released him from his prison intentionally,” Celestia answered for him.
Luna looked at her with a mixture of confusion and shock. “Helping you? Why in Equestria would Discord help you? I apologize for my suspicion, sister, but I can’t help but feel that he must have other motives. What does he gain by helping you?”
Celestia paused to ponder the question, and her mind turned up utterly blank. She looked toward Discord curiously. “I can’t help but to wonder that myself,” she started. She seemed lost in thought as if she were putting a great amount of thinking into determining a cause. ‘Why are you helping me so willingly, Discord?”
The draconequus took a step back nervously. He hadn’t expected his motives to be questions.
Good question. Why are you helping her?
You know why.
Yes. But do you?
Discord stood silently for a moment, twiddling his claw and paw. His answer had to be solid, explanatory, believable and to the point. His answer had to be a lie. It was time to rely on his quick wit and ability to manipulate others.
“I don’t know...” he muttered.
Nailed it.