Dreams Cut Short
Discord lay peacefully in the soft fabric mattress, rubbing his eyes as he gave into the urge to yawn. Still lethargic and groggy, he flipped himself over to get up - only to be greeted by the back of a tall, sleeping mare. The only mobile parts of his body were the widening pupils as he froze in place, his mind a jumbled mess of thoughts.
Why is she- Why am I- what happened last night after- … Oh. Right. The sympathetic draconequus' tense limbs relaxed as the memories came back, washing over him with a wave of understanding.
After Discord let Cassandra come in and wash up, Discord had set up a second bedding for himself to use.
"I think you need a warm bed tonight more than I do," he had told her. Falling asleep proved to be a challenge as the silent night was interrupted by muffled sobs under trembling covers, half trying but unable to conceal the runaway's worries and sorrow.
Discord came up to Cassandra from behind, gently stroking her mane as he comforted her with soothing words. "There, there. Everything's going to be fine. You can hold me to that promise." The trembling and the weeping stopped, still insecure but calm at the moment. Discord turned around to leave, when he was stopped by a weak hoof clutching at his side.
"Don't go." The meek words were hushed and frightened. "Don't leave me."
Leaning down on one knee, he grabbed hold of Cassandra's hoof with one hand as he brushed away the hair in her eyes with the soft lion's paw. "It's all right, Cassandra. I would never leave you."
"I… I just don't know what's going to happen next, Discord… My whole world is falling apart before my eyes. What am I supposed to do?" Cassandra sobbed.
Discord's gentle voice stopped her from breaking down into tears again. "Shh… It's okay. I'm right here. I'm with you. I know it looks pretty bad right now, but I promise you, it'll all work out. I'll help you get through this, no matter what."
"Discord…? Can you, can you stay here tonight, in the bed? I just need someone to calm me down. All of this, it's just too much for me to handle."
"Of course," he had replied, and the two had fallen into dreams, remaining in each other's arms until daybreak.
Seeing her resting so peacefully, it was hard to believe the pain and suffering she had gone through… but that didn't make it any less real.
Cassandra woke up from her sleep, wishing that everything had all just been a bad dream. Reality wasn't so kind to her, however, as she was still in the tree house she had escaped to last night. "Here. Have some water." Discord pushed a glass in front of her, giving a gentle smile. Well, I guess reality does have its benefits, thought Cassandra.
Staring at the changeling as she drank, Discord folded his arms in front of him. "So, what's been bugging you as of late?"
Cassandra sighed. "Let's just say I've been having daddy issues." Through stifled breaths, she gave Discord the details of the previous night, as he sat still and listened attentively.
"Invasion of Equestria… Well, I can see why you didn't like the idea." Discord commented after the explanation was complete.
"I'm not asking for him to understand right away. I know that's going to be impossible," Cassandra huffed. "But I just wish he'd listen to me for once!"
Discord was deep in thought. "Hmm… Well, I respect your privacy and all, Cassandra, but there is somepony that needs to hear your story. We'd better be off then, no time to lose!"
"Somepony? Hold on, let me just change into-" Cassandra never got to finish her sentence.
Snapping his fingers, Discord and Cassandra were enveloped in a blinding flash of light, disappearing from the scene. When they reappeared in an unknown location, the first thing that Cassandra noticed was the smell of hot stew.
"Mmm, that smells good, where are we, exactly?" Taking in the scent of warm food, her eyes adjusted to the new light to try and make sense of their location. Instead of a reply, what she heard next was the clatter of a spoon dropping to the floor. Vision regained, Cassandra looked around before her eyes locked onto a single pony in the room.
She looked familiar, somehow. Cassandra had never met this pony before in her life, but it felt like she knew her, somehow. The grand figure, the regal white coat, the long unicorn horn, the large pegasus wings, and the golden… crown… it all clicked together in her head. "Please tell me that isn't who I think it is."
Celestia sat with her jaw agape, her spoonful of stew staining the floor with a clatter after she lost her grip on the handle. She just stared at the creature that had just appeared, who did likewise to her. "What is your name, and what, pray tell, is a changeling, doing in MY chambers?!"
A cheerful voice broke the staring contest between the two mares and drew their attention elsewhere. "Well then, Cassandra, Celestia, I don't believe you've met."
The princesses of both pony and changeling harmonized perfectly, bellowing one word in unison. A single word that could be heard throughout the entire castle, filled with enough rage and fury to summon a troop of guards to barge in with pointed spears, thinking that they were under some sort of attack.
"DISCOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD!"
The guards rushed in to find their princess and a tall, white unicorn seething in rage at a rather peculiar creature, who was grinning like an idiot. Celestia motioned them away. "General, it's fine. Go back to your posts."
"But ma'am, we heard-"
Still glaring at the creature, Princess Celestia spoke five flat words of annoyance. "Go back. To your posts."
The general and other guards didn't need to be told again. When Celestia was in a bad mood, bad things happened to the ponies who were around her. One of the guards shuddered as he ran out of the room as fast as he could, remembering the scorched tail he'd gotten from one of her majesty's magic outbursts.
After the guards had cleared, Cassandra changed back to her original form. "Honestly," she stressed, "I barely had enough time to conceal myself. See, Discord, this is what happens when you do things without explaining."
Celestia still had questions left unanswered. "I ask once again," she huffed, pointing at Cassandra. "What are you doing here?"
Cassandra glared daggers at Discord. "Since I don't know the answer to that question, why don't we ask the one responsible for bringing me to the mare who looks like the only reason she hasn't killed me yet is because she wants to kill him first?"
"Well," Discord spoke nonchalantly, "I don't see what the big deal is, really. I mean, both of you seemed nice enough when I met you."
Celestia held her face in her hooves out of exasperation, still tense from the presence of changelings in the room. "Maybe the reactions sprout from the fact that Equestria is at an unofficial war with the changelings, and you've brought a unique, non-mass-produced drone changeling to meet with the leader of said country, without warning, and without explanation."
Discord raised a brow. "At war? From what I know, the changelings have stayed in the shadows for ages. Why would you be at war?"
"Celestia sighed. "That was under the rulers Glephnir and Ivaldi. The only reason for them staying quiet was because both sides deemed the other as a powerful adversary, and didn't want to suffer the consequences of a clash of powers in the world. Now that those two are gone, and weaker, inexperienced alicorns have taken their place, the changelings don't have anything to fear. They may strike at any moment."
"But, you defeated Ivaldi and Glephnir! Doesn't that kind of make you… more powerful than them?" Cassandra asked.
"That was only because of the Elements of Harmony." Celestia admitted. "Without them, we're powerless against king Obsidian and his armies. We've already confirmed that there were changeling spies present at the scene of the final battle between us four, and that the changeling king knows of our greatest weapon. If he finds a way to stop us from using the Elements, he can overpower us and he knows it. Either way, ponies have never been on good terms with changelings."
Discord broke up the discussion. "Either way, you two are going to have to put your differences aside. Cassandra has something to tell you."
"What could be so dire for changelings to conspire with ponies?" Celestia wondered.
"It's pretty bad, trust me." With grim seriousness, Cassandra told Celestia of the threat that was to come.
"Two days… is there really that little time left?" Celestia asked, receiving a solemn nod from Cassandra.
"Then, there is nothing left to do. I will call Luna and prepare the elements, while we have the rest of the town evacuated to- Aah!" the princess of the day collapsed mid sentence, thrown off balance by sudden tremors in the building. Discord rushed over, grabbing her hoof.
"Are you all right?" he asked, pulling her up back on her hooves.
"Yes, I believe so… That just caught me off guard. Nothing to be worried about." As she finished her words, a soldier ran in, saluted Celestia, and whispered a message in her ear before running back out. Celestia's pupils shrank as she whipped her head towards the east window.
"On second thought, we may indeed have a cause to worry about. Cassandra?" She motioned.
"Yes, what is it?" Cassandra replied.
"You said the invasion was supposed to be tomorrow eve, correct?" Celestia asked, her voice filled with uncertainty.
"That's right. Even if they wanted to, our troops couldn’t make preparations and travel to Canterlot in less than two days. Only the most powerful of changelings are able to cast speed enchantments or teleportation spells."
Celestia's expression was grim. "Would the changeling king fall under that category?"
"Well, he's the strongest of all the changelings. It's how the successors are chosen. In fact, he's the only changeling I know of who can teleport. Why do you ask?"
Celestia pointed a hoof towards the eastern gate below them. "Because he's outside the castle gates right now, alone and about to break down the doors."