Ugh, my head, Discord groaned inwardly as he came to. A faint voice seemed to be talking to him and he cracked open an eye. The first thing he saw was a worried looking Titian leaning over him.
“Discord!” she cried, causing Discord to flinch, “You’re awake! And not hurt by the looks of it!”
“No thanks to you, you annoying changeling!”
Discord’s anger seemed not to bother Titian and she moved away from him.
“Well, as long as you are fine now, that’s what matters.”
Discord was annoyed by her sudden care for his safety.
“Why do you care so much? I’ve never even met you before.”
Titian continued to smile and Discord sat himself up.
“I’ve read all about you,” she explained, “And both Luna and Celestia have told me stories about you.”
Discord looked up and saw Celestia and Luna talking to each other on the other side of the room, but Celestia’s slight blush told Discord that they could clearly hear the conversation between the spirit and the changeling.
“I’m sure that Celestia’s have all been about how,” he raised his paw and claw above his head and raised his eyebrows, “eeeviiiil I was.”
Titian giggled and Celestia’s blush deepened. Discord loved to make jokes at her expense.
“When did you become so good with foals Discord?” Luna asked, leaving her conversation.
This time it was Discord’s turn to blush.
“I am not a foal anymore!”
Titian was glaring angrily at Luna, a scowl on her face.
Luna sighed.
“Of course you aren’t Titian, I’m sorry.”
Discord could tell she was embarrassed.
The only one not embarrassed here is Titian, he thought, rubbing his eyes, and she is younger than all of us by countless centuries.
“Luna raises a good point though, Discord,” Celestia said, walking towards the trio, “when did you become so caring? Normally you wouldn’t have hesitated to scare or confuse somepo- someone as young as Titian.”
She cursed under her breath, and Discord wondered why she still had issues saying the right words.
As if reading his mind, she muttered, “Having to speak differently after so long. Whose asinine idea was that?”
Luna opened her mouth to tell her the answer but a murderous glare from Celestia made her re-think her decision. Instead she looked back at Discord with a questioning look.
“Well Discord?”
Discord stood up and shifted nervously.
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” he mumbled, looking away from the others.
They probably wouldn’t understand anyway, so it’s best not to tell them, Discord told himself, but part of him was certain that his reasoning was flawed.
Four chairs floated from one corner of the room they were in and settled neatly around a small table nearby.
“Come Discord,” said Celestia calmly, “if you want our help, you have to tell us what we need to know.”
“Okay,” he said, resigned, “but I have a few other questions first.
He clicked his claws and appeared on one of the chairs that had been set around the table.
“Like why you had to knock me out to take me here. It doesn’t seem all that special.”
Celestia put a hoof to her face while Titian and Luna shook their heads.
“We didn’t Discord,” she sighed, “that was never the plan.”
The glow of magic surrounded her horn and she pulled what appeared to be a modified saddle bag from off her back. Discord was honestly surprised he hadn’t seen it before.
“This thing did it.”
Discord face palmed as Celestia emptied the contents of the bag onto the floor. He knew exactly what thing she was referring to.
“You’re an idiot Cake,” he groaned.
“I was just so happy to see you, Master!” cried Cake, launching his frosted self at the spirit.
Said spirit removed his palm from his face and held it up, catching the cake before he was relieved of consciousness yet again.
Luna snickered and Discord scowled at her.
“What’s so funny, Luna?”
“You really named it – uh, him, Cake?”
She tried her best to contain her laughter, and Discord threw Cake onto the floor, still scowling.
Cake seemed unfazed and bounded happily over to his master, lying at his feet.
Honestly, he is more like a pet than a servant. Or whatever I made him to be.
Discord shuffled around in his chair until he felt comfortable. When he was, he looked up and saw that the others had also sit down, eagerly awaiting his explanation.
He scratched at his head nervously, took a deep breath and was ready to tell his story.
“It all started a few months after I met Fluttershy…”