//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 ~ Twisted Secrets 
// Story: The Matter Of Friendship 
// by HeartShieldFiM 
//------------------------------//

'You are actually going to Canterlot... for me?' Discord said surprised.
Pinkie clapped her hooves and bounced up and down. 'Oh, most certainly! I'd LOVE to!'
'We'll take the train, next week. We will stay there for a day and a night and then we'll come back, WITH the book,' Twilight said. She had planned the whole trip already.
'And all six of you guys will go?' the draconequus continued.
Dash nodded. 'Yup. It's one heavy book, you know.'
'How far would it be to fly?' Fluttershy asked.
Dash shrugged, though Discord knew the answer. 'With my speed, it'll cost an hour or four.'
'I could fly that,' Rainbow Dash said.
'Oh, by the way,' Pinkie interrupted. 'Discord, we have another surprise for you. Since you were planning on staying in Ponyville... wait, you were, right?'
The draconequus nodded.
'Well,' the pony continued. 'Applejack and I have found a very nice cave, close to the edge of the Everfree Forest. It's between here and Canterlot - which would make traveling a lot easier - and it's safe for you to practise your magic!'
Discord seemed to be a bit concerned. 'But what about Screwball?' he asked.
'The cave has different rooms, we all wil help with decorating and furniture and stuff.'
Discord grinned. 'You... have found a safe home for me and Screwball?'
Pinkie nodded in agreement.
The draconequus couldn't speak for a moment, so he didn't.
'Good,' Twilight finally said. 'Now that's out of the way, let's continue with planning our trip.'
'I thought you had planned it all out 'ready,' Applejack replied. 'Ah mean, we go to Canterlot, we visit the Library, we take the book, we sleep somewhere, we go back home. Right?'
'Right,' Twilight muttered. 'That was indeed practically the whole plan.'

'Oh my goodness, this is lovely!' Discord said as he and Pinkie entered the cave. 'Oh look, that'll be my bedroom!'
'I know, it's awesome!' Pinkie replied. She bounced up and down all 'round the cave and said, 'Look, Screwball sleeps there.'
Discord grinned and hugged the pony. 'This is great, Pinkie Pie. Thank you so much.'
'Don't worry about it,' she replied. 'As long as I can come and visit whenever I want!'
The draconequus smiled. 'Anytime.'

'What color do you want the walls?' Rarity asked.
Discord shrugged. 'I don't know. I guess I like the stone walls here, though I think Screwball would like to have her walls and ceiling painted.'
'Oh yes Daddy, I'd love to!' Screwball yelped. 'Oh, Rarity, can you paint small stars all over my wall?'
Rarity smiled. 'I think we can do that, dear,' she said.
After Screwball had gone out to walk around a bit in her new living space, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Discord sat down at a table the Apple family made him. The chairs also came from them, by the way.
'Oh, isn't she a cute little pony,' Rarity sighed.
Discord looked proud. 'She surely is, Rarity.'
'Was it hard for you to raise her?' she continued.
Now, Discord's look changed from proud to slightly hurt. 'Only days after she was... you know, 'born', Celestia and Luna turned me into stone. I haven't seen her for so long...'
'Wait,' Pinkie said, and squinted. 'Before the Mane Six did beat you, you already had been a statue for... what is it? Hundreds of years! Then WHY is she still so young?'
Discord, happy that Pinkie had slightly changed the subject, said, 'What a good question. Moments before I got trapped in my stone prison, I managed to put one more spell on Screwball. Some sort of anti-aging spell. As long as I would be a statue, she would not age as well.'
'That's genius!' Pinkie cried. 'And... what happened to her, then?'
'Well...' the draconequus continued. 'I... I actually have no idea. I mean, I was a statue... a garden ornament. I couldn't even move! I could see, though. And feel stuff. It was terribly cold in the Canterlot Gardens. I have missed a great lot of important things, you know. Though I saw the Princess, almost every day. And despite the fact that she imprisoned me, that was practically the only think keeping me sane...' Discord sighed. 'I was at the wedding, though. Not entirely, but I could see the drama. Chrysalis and her changelings, and Pinkie Pie pulling out an emergency DJ...'
Pinkie rolled her eyes. 'Oh, yeah. She's epic. 
'You saw Chrysalis and the changelings attacking Canterlot?' Twilight asked surprised. 'And THAT chaos was NOT enough to let you escape and... you know, save us, for a change?'
Applejack opened her mouth for the first time. 'Ah don't wanna make our big friend feel uncomfortable, but indeed, why could mah sister and her friends cause your outbreak, though an evil queen and her army could not?'
Discord smiled. 'Good question and no, I do not feel uncomfortable at all. Let's make one thing clear: it was not the Cutie Mark Crusaders' fault that I broke out. I actually wás breaking out already, which caused the disharmony between your sister and her two friends. And that disharmony, again, helped me with my outbreak. It's like a chain reaction.'
'Ah get it,' Applejack replied. 'Sounds legit to me...'
'Yup, same here,' Rarity said, but Pinkie still looked puzzled.
At that moment, Screwball came back in and was completely soaked. She shook her head, causing the muddy water to fly all over the room.
'Goodness, sweetie, now we have to clean this all up!' Discord said.
Screwball looked at him with her derped eyes, causing Discord and the rest to 'awwww' and nopony could really be angry at the little mare who was actually older than almost all of them.
'By the way, Discord,' Pinkie said while Rarity used her magic to clean the room (Yes, I was surprised as well). 'Does your daughter know about that spell?'
'I do,' the purple pony said. 'Most ponies do not expect that from me, since most things I say don't really make sense... but what fun is there in making sense, actually?'
Pinkie saw tears welling up in the draconequus' eyes.
'You probably are smarter than most ponies think you are,' Rarity said. 'Though you really have to clean yourself up a bit.'
Screwball pointed at somewhere outside. 'I found a nice stream with clear water over there,' she said, and ran off.
'Screwball!' the four other ponies yelled, but it was too late. They heard a loud splash and this time an even more soaked Screwball entered the 'house'.
'Better?' she asked.
Rarity dried her mane with a towel. 'Eh, better than mud, at least.'