//------------------------------//
// Learning History and Awkward Propositions 
// Story: Discord's Final Wish 
// by BaleonRosen 
//------------------------------//

Discord leaned back, his story finished. Celestia sat solemnly while Luna comforted a crying Titian. 
Kinda forgot she was here, he thought, oh well, she would have faced worse at one point or another. 
“I apologise for my actions, Discord,” said Celestia, bowing her head, “I was too quick to believe Azure Magister and I didn’t listen to you.” 

Discord waved away her apologies with his paw. 
“I really don’t care anymore, Celestia. It happened and it is over. Nothing can change that now.”  
Titian looked up at him as though she was about to say something, but decided against it. 
“Still,” said Celestia, “my actions caused you pain, and I will right those wrongs.” 
The Sun Princess stood up and turned to her sister. 
“Luna, please come with me.”

Luna nodded and rose. Celestia turned back to Discord before speaking again. 
“We will help you, Discord. You remain here and talk to Titian while we discuss what needs to be done.” 
The two princesses walked away, leaving the spirit, the changeling and the cake behind.

Titian hovered over to the chair near Discord and slouched back in it. 
“Classy,” murmured Discord, but Titian didn’t seem to notice. 
Cake, who was now asleep at Discord’s feet, stirred a little before settling back down. 

Well, this is awkward, thought Discord, trying to find something to talk about. 
Discord shifted nervously. 
“So, Titian. Do you think you could fill me in on what has happened while I have been asleep?” 
The changeling sat up more correctly before answering Discord’s question. 

“Well, I can give you a bit of history. I wasn’t around for most of it, so I’ll have to tell you what I know from books and from what the Princess has told me.” 
“That’s fine by me,” Discord told her, happy just to have a conversation topic, “just tell me what you can.”
Titian smiled and got herself comfortable.

“Well then, where should I start? Soon after your imprisonment, Fluttershy fell ill. The cause of the sudden malady is still unknown, but many believe it to have been caused by an infection from her injuries. It wasn’t long before she passed away, and that was when Equestria ran into one of its first major problems. The Element of Kindness turned to dust. Not just stone, dust.”

“Why would the Element of Kindness turn to dust?” asked Discord. 
“No-one knows,” replied Titian, “no-one knows about it mind you. That information was hidden from everyone but those that needed to know.” 

“Please continue,” said Discord. 
“The princesses and the other Element Bearers searched for answers, but all the ponies that know anything about the creation of the Elements are gone. There is literally no record of where they originated from. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia even spent many months- no, years, poring over Starswirl the Bearded’s notes, even his predecessor’s, and still couldn’t find anything.” 

“Ah yes, Danny wasn’t always the best at keeping record of his research,” laughed Discord, “He committed most of it to memory.” 
Titian looked at Discord with a confused look. 
“Danny?” she asked, trying to discern who he was referring to. 
“Dante the Forgetful. He was Starswirl’s mentor. Ironic really. He wasn’t a forgetful unicorn, quite the opposite in fact. He was called that because people around him used to have lapses in memory thanks to a spell he once cast on himself. Starswirl was the only one who could ever learn from him without forgetting too much. Probably because he was diligent at keeping notes.”

Titian listened, fascinated with Discord’s knowledge of the past. 
“You have to tell me more about these things some time,” she said, “Princess Celestia doesn’t know much about Starswirl’s mentor, or anything before that.” 

Discord smiled smugly and pretended to inspect his claws. 
“That’s because she wasn’t around before then. She and Luna were born after Dante passed away. Starswirl was already gone before they started their reign.” 
He glanced towards Titian, who was eagerly awaiting his next sentence. 

“I’ll tell you more about Danny and Starswirl later. You are teaching me at the moment.” 
Titian sighed unhappily and continued. 
“Anyway, about fifty years after your imprisonment, Queen Chrysalis and her changelings came to Princess Celestia for protection. They began to integrate into Equestrian society and after another few years everyone had mostly accepted them. That was around the time that Princess Celestia asked for the word pony to be removed from the end of words like everypony and anypony, and to replace them with 'one'. ” 

“To make it less discriminatory, right?” asked Discord. 
“Right,” said Titian, nodding, “Not long after the changelings entered Equestrian society, many other creatures did too. In fact, you may have seen some on your way here.” 
Discord hadn’t seen anything bar changelings and ponies, so he shook his head. 
“Well,” started Titian, “there are approximately two-hundred boars, one-hundred and fifty elk and three-hundred griffons living in Equestria as citizens. Not many, but there are probably more that evade the eyes of the Canterlot government. Most live in more remote areas, and more often than not they prefer solitude or the company of their own kind, but I believe that eventually all the races of Equestria and beyond can live together in harmony.” 
“That’s a good belief,” said Discord. 
Wouldn’t make my world that great though.

“About five years ago I was born, and four years ago Princess Celestia took me on as her apprentice. She said I showed talent not seen since Twilight Sparkle first became her apprentice, so I have studied here ever since.” 
Discord tried keeping track of all the numbers she had given him, but he got confused. 
“So how long since I was imprisoned?” he asked. 
“I’d say it has been about fifty years since you were last at Canterlot and about one-hundred to one-hundred and fifty years since you were imprisoned. All up I’d say that you have missed just over two-hundred years of Equestrian history, though it is hard to tell.” 

Well, that isn’t too long, he thought to himself lifting his legs up onto the table in front of him. 
“Oh, that’s right,” he said, opening his eyes again and looking at Titian, “you looked like you were going to say something earlier, when I was talking about the past being unchangeable. What was that?”
Titian tensed before looking over her shoulders. When she was sure that neither of the princesses were in sight, she turned back to Discord and leaned closer to him. 
“I shouldn’t really be telling you this,” she whispered and Discord had to lean closer to hear her, “but I was reading some of Twilight Sparkle’s reports on advanced magic spells and I found one that could help you.”

Discord nodded in acknowledgement, intrigued. 
“It was a spell created by Starswirl the Bearded that Twilight Sparkle once used herself. The spell allows the caster to travel backwards in time, but only for a certain amount of time. I was reading over the spell, and I noticed a few mistakes made by Starswirl when he was creating the spell. I could change it so that you could go back and fix what happened.”

Discord sighed and leaned back into his chair. 
“While that might work for some things, this situation is a vital point in Equestria’s history. It wouldn’t just affect me; it could change the whole of Equestria in the process. What if preventing Fluttershy’s death causes the integration of changelings to never occur. You might not exist anymore. I could return to a future that was marked by war and suffering.”

Titian looked crestfallen and relaxed into her chair. 
“Don’t worry!” smiled Discord, not wanting to see the changeling cry, “If I ever have need of a time travelling spell I will come straight to you.” 

Titian cheered up at this and Discord relaxed inside. 
“Anyway, I promised you a lesson on Dante the Forgetful did I not?” 
The changeling nodded and smiled, a quill and notepad floating over towards her. 
“Well,” began Discord, “Dante was a great unicorn, but about 30 years before Starswirl became his apprentice, he tried to forget about a mare that he loved. She had died because one of his experiments with life magic went awry and he wanted to forget it. Instead, he cast a spell that made others around him forget small things, such as the date or what they were doing. Because of this he lived alone, believing that too much exposure to the spell would cause others to forget everything.”

Discord began telling all sorts of tales about Dante and Starswirl and Titian scratched notes while she listened.

-----

“I just don’t know Luna,” said Celestia, “should I do it? I can’t see any good coming from this, though it would be fun to try.”
Princess Luna nodded and said, “We must, Sister. We promised that we would help him and this is the best way to do that.”

Celestia squirmed. 
“I just think it would be weird, for both of us. I have never seen eye to eye with Discord, and this could just cause more tension between the two of us.” 
“You won’t know unless you try, Sister,” said Luna, “If you don’t, then Discord might choose to plunge Equestria into eternal chaos, because we didn’t help him.”

Celestia sighed. 
“You are right,” she groaned, “it will help in the long run. At least it will keep Discord preoccupied for a while.” 
Luna nodded in agreement and hugged her sister with her wings. 
“It will be fine.” 

I hope so, thought Celestia. 
The two made their way back to the room they left the others in. Discord was bounding across the tops of the chairs, telling a story, and Cake and Titian were watching with glee. 
At least if this doesn’t work he could spend time with Titian, she said inwardly. 

“I hate to interrupt this story,” she said, walking towards the trio, “but I have a proposal for Discord.” 
In one fluid movement, Discord had sat back down, grabbed a cup of tea, and was drinking it casually. Two more cups appeared in front of Cake and Titian, who both took it happily. Another two were offered to the princesses, but waved away. 

“What did you want to ask me?” asked Discord, taking a sip of his drink. 
Celestia took a deep breath. She turned to Luna, who nodded, and she stepped forward once more. 

“Discord. This may be awkward, as we have never gotten along well, but both Luna and I agree that this is the best thing to do.” 
She looked back at Luna. Luna gave her a warm smile and nodded again. Celestia took another deep breath and continued. 
“This is hard for me to ask, as it is not something that I would do for anyone else, but since I have wronged you, I must right it. I am also intrigued by the possible outcome of doing this, and it could even be fun if we got over our discomfort around one another.” 

“Just say it,” complained Luna, tired of her sister’s avoidance. Celestia scowled at her and then continued.

“Fine. Discord, while it might be awkward for the both of us at first, would you like me to help you make a foal?” 

Discord raised an eyebrow and lowered his cup, unable to hide his smirk. Titian couldn’t understand what Discord found so funny about her teacher’s comment, and Cake sat drinking his tea, oblivious to the situation. 

Princess Luna face-hoofed and walked over to her sister. After Luna whispered something in her ear, Celestia’s face turned a bright shade of red. 

“That’s not what I meant! I meant to- let me explain! I- no I wasn’t trying to ask if- !”
Celestia’s rambling was cut short by Luna covering her mouth with a hoof. 

“Now that Sister has completely embarrassed herself, maybe we should explain this properly.” 
Discord nodded in agreement, still smirking, and the two princesses sat with the others around the table, though Celestia wouldn’t look directly at Discord. 

I have the feeling that this plan is going to cause a lot of chaos, he said to himself.

Perfect.