//------------------------------// // Brought back to speed // Story: Discords renascent // by Vidhwansak //------------------------------// Brought back to speed (Discord will now be referred to as Neutrality from this chapter on, at least for the next few chapters.) Neutrality was still disoriented with what just happened, but at least he was back to his old self once more. He no longer had those random, chaotic thoughts clouding his mind, and for that, he was grateful for. He smiled uneasily at his sisters, who smiled back just as, if not more, uneasily. He shuffled his hooves awkwardly, and Luna coughed, while Celestia started to whistle softly. Apparently even though they had been separated and haven't talked to each other for thousands of years, and with the fact that he was no longer a draconequus, there was still the awkward tension that was holding them back from having a happy reunion as a family. Sighing, Neutrality decided to start making some small-talk, just to ease the situation a bit for himself. "So...How are things in Canterlot, and Equestria, for that matter, sisters?" Celestia blinked, and sighed at the same time Luna did. Neutrality smiled slightly. At least he was getting somewhere, even if the answer to his question wasn't going to be one that favored his sisters. Luna spoke up first, with an annoyed look on her face, which concerned him slightly. "Everything's been fine, at least, would be, if it weren't for the aristocracy! They're always trying to pass on the most ridiculously outrageous and most idiotic bills, and are just so...So...Uncouth! You would think after thousands of years of changes and tweaks to the education system that ponies would've gotten smarter here, but NO! We still have those ponies that go and suggest things that no pony in their right mind would vote on or live by! What's worse is that I have to go and listen or read through every single request, EVERY, SINGLE, REQUEST, and it doesn't help when 'Tia purposefully leaves behind some of them for me to go over!" Celestia snickered a bit, just loud enough for Luna to hear. Luna glared at her older sister, who managed to stifle her giggling. She then nodded at Neutrality, and gave a slightly more optimistic response to Luna's rant. "Yes, well, everything has been going swimmingly, and we've had a very prosperous rein over Equestria. Other than having a few problems with the aristocracy trying to pass on bills that will have no actual beneficial effect in Equestria quite recently, as Luna has mentioned, there is nothing else worth saying during our rule that has happened after you've been set in stone for the second time, brother, other than a few more treaties to improve relations with other nations." Neutrality nodded slowly, accepting this answer more than Luna's, and then started to shiver slightly. It was getting colder, and although he was happy to be back in his own body, that wouldn't matter if he froze to death out here in the cold. He spoke up, another question on his mind, and one he hoped would be answered just as quickly as his feathers were freezing. "Sisters, as much as I would want to continue talking, can we do it while we're walking back to the castle? I don't want my first night of being an Alicorn again be ruined by a cold." Luna nodded, and then the fact hit her that they now had to walk all the way back to the castle, and while weakened after performing a rather draining spell. To top that all off, it started to rain down. "Ugh, Celestia, you just had to place an anti-magic and flight spell over this entire labyrinth, did you?!" Celestia looked confused. Neutrality, too, was confused by this. He couldn't detect the slightest hint of a magic spell, but his sister's magic had grown over the years. She could very well be more powerful than he was, he mused, and the thought scared him slightly. "What anti-magic and flight spell?" Unfortunately for Celestia, busy as she was thinking about how the aristocracy would respond to the existence of a third Alicorn, and as such wasn't paying attention to what her sister said, managed to upset her younger set greatly. Luna, in complete and utter despair, assumed that her older sister lied about such a spell existing as a cruel excuse to walk through the labyrinth to the Alicorn that was once Discord. "I...'Tia, you said that there was a magic spell that you placed on this entire labyrinth that made it impossible to gain access to the center of the labyrinth in an instant, by either magic or flight! Are you now telling me that you were lying the whole time?!" Celestia still looked confused; then, she smiled sheepishly as she remembered what she said earlier to her sister. She had told the truth to her, but not the whole truth, something that Celestia found to be very useful very quickly when she had to rule Equestria when Neutrality was turned into stone. "Calm yourself, sister. I did say there was a spell that prevented unicorns and pegasai from teleporting in and flying inside the labyrinth. I did not say, however, that the spell is only one-way. I figured that if somepony actually went through the trouble of going through this massive labyrinth for Neutrality, then they should probably get some slack for having the patience and dedication to wander through this place for him." Luna's mouth gaped. She tried to form words, but nothing would come out. She simply stared at a now awkward looking Celestia. Neutrality watched for awhile, then coughed, snapping the gazes of his sisters towards him. He sighed. They still hadn't changed over the years, Celestia pulling out joke after joke on Luna, and Luna seething in anger at the things Celestia just happened to do casually. Yep, this was normal. "Luna, please, close your mouth before you attract flies. Celestia, don't rile up your sister like this, seriously, its been a few thousand years, don't you get tired of thinking up new pranks to play on her?" Celestia rolled her eyes, and with a mighty jump, leapt up into the sky, and opened up her wings. Luna snorted, clearly unimpressed and annoyed with her older sister. "She is such a troll." Neutrality smirked, and let out a parting shot. "Oh, like you were any better back then, Luna. I seem to remember one little Alicorn that accidently got stuck in a tree because she wanted to collect pine cones to throw at her brother." His younger sister casted an annoyed look at her brother, then followed Celestia, making a leap that was just as impressive as her sister's. Neutrality smiled, and was planning to follow up his sisters with a massive leap, when he realized that he should probably check the condition of his wings a little more carefully before flying. If he didn't, landing would be particularly painful, and he didn't think he had enough magic to teleport himself to the castle, thus forcing him to walk the whole length of the labyrinth. With that in mind, Neutrality opened up his wings, and other than dust caking his wings, they were just fine for flying. Just in case, however, he gave them a few test flaps, and they seemed to work perfectly, without any pain or discomfort. How he had missed flying around with his old wings, even if they were now all dusty and were in immediate need of preening. Finally, gathering up the energy in his legs, he leapt up into the air, and sped forward towards his sisters like a torpedo, laughing as Celestia and Luna quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the Alicorn-missile. Celestia huffed, and she smiled nastily at him. "Oh. It. Is. On. RACE YOU TO THE CASTLE!" She shouted out in the Royal Canterlot voice. Not one to back down from a challenge, Luna quickly sped off after her sister, and after making sure his ears weren't bleeding (As this was the first time Neutrality experienced the Voice in a few thousand years), he quickly catched up with his sisters and started to slowly pull ahead of them, trying to get to the castle first. He felt the air resistance try to hold him back from going any faster, but he keep on going, going, trying to break the legend that he swore he'd break for himself after seeing her sister pull one off... "Neutrality, stop!" Celestia's sudden usage of his name caused him to slow down; unfortunately, the air took this opportunity to rebound him back violently at his sisters. Celestia managed to evade the speeding Alicorn, but Luna, having her view being slightly blocked by Celestia's flank (In which she constantly proceeded to joke about her sister's weight years afterward the incident, much to Celestia's dismay) panicked at the sight of her brother hurtling towards him, and quickly put up a magic shield between her brother and herself. Neutrality pinged off the shield like a ping pong ball and started to tumble around uncontrollably in the air, but he managed to right himself up and prevent himself from taking a hard impact into the ground below. He scowled at Celestia, wondering why she just prevented him from performing a sonic rainboom, something he always wanted to try after seeing Celestia pull one off, so many years ago. "Celestia, why would you stop be from performing the one thing you can do that I can't, or at least haven't tried to yet?! Are you really that concerned about me breaking your feat when..." He trailed off as Celestia glared daggers at him. Even though he was the older sibling and probably far more powerful than his sister, his control over his magic was rudimentary at best due to not channeling magic for a long time out of his horn (When he was a draconequus, the magic just seemed to happen randomly and thus he never noticed himself using magic), and he also didn't want to get back on bad terms with his sisters again. Celestia sighed, and pointed downwards towards her right. The castle was in sight, and Neutrality winced. If he had kept going, trying to perform his own version of the the sonic rainboom, he'd have impacted directly into a castle tower, becoming grade-A Alicorn paste; not to mention the sudden sound of a boom would quickly draw unwanted attention by the aristocracy sleeping nearby. He looked up sheepishly at Celestia. "Sorry, Celestia." "Actually, I think I'd have been the one that'd be sorry for you if you had smashed into that tower and raised hell from the aristocracy for us by becoming a living missile and smashing into our castle, but seeing as you didn't, I forgive you, brother. Now, since you don't exactly have your own room, you're going to be taking one of the guest rooms. What I don't know, though, is how we're going to get you inside without the royal guards raising the alarm. You're much bigger than any normal pony, so disguising your wings or horn won't really work, and I don't think I want to explain who you are, at least, not yet." Neutrality rolled his eyes. "Sister, I'm going to be found out about anyway, why not just tell everypony in the castle right now? I'm sure there's no reason to hide this from anypony for very long. It's not like anypony knows I'm Discord the draconequus anyway." Celestia looked uneasily at her younger sister, who shrugged. It wasn't as if they had a way to hide him, short of a light-bending spell, and in their weakened state, it was very unlikely that they could pull such a complex spell successfully or for very long. Sighing, Celestia nodded slowly, reluctantly accepting the decision that this couldn't wait until her morning. The rumors were going to make her head spin when she woke up in the morning. "Alright, then. But it's best if we land in the courtyard of the castle, then, so that whatever aristocracy and guards that are around the area knows that you're with us, since that's where the highest concentration of ponies should be around this hour." Thankful that he wouldn't have to skulk around like a rat until his sisters officially claim him as their brother, the three Alicorns landed in the courtyard, surprising a fair number of guards and aristocrats who happened to either not be able to sleep that night and were taking a nightly stroll, or walking around, waiting for Luna to hold court again after storming off last time. All eyes were on the third Alicorn that came with the princesses. Luna smiled, and taking a deep breath, prepared to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. A few aristocrats that knew what she was going to do quickly raised their hooves to their ears. "PONIES OF CANTERLOT, I BRING NEWS TO YOU!" The rest of the slower aristocrats groaned and covered their ears in a vain attempt to lower the amount of volume that they were getting from Luna's voice. The Royal Guards, unfortunately, had to bear the full brunt of her voice without so much a flicker of their ears. "WE HAVE FOUND AND...REUNITED, WITH A BROTHER OF MINE AND CELESTIA'S. GIVE WARM GREETINGS AND TIDINGS TO OUR BROTHER, NEUTRALITY, ALICORN OF ALL THINGS NEUTRAL." Immediately, Royal Guards and nearby aristocrats bowed down to the brother of the Royal Sisters. Celestia smiled, and started nodding at everypony. "That's enough, now. We need to get our sleep and rest for tomorrow, as the spell required to bring him back took quite a toll on me and Luna. Unfortunately, Luna, it's still your shift." Luna pouted. "But you just said...Oh, never mind." "I'm sorry, Luna, but there are still ponies that are requesting an audience. Come, Neutrality, my brother, let me show you the room you'll be sleeping in, at least until we formally recognize you as an Alicorn prince." At this, the aristocrats in the courtyard began to talk quietly among themselves, and even the Royal Guards raised a few eyes at each other. Celestia couldn't blame them. After all, she would've questioned a long lost Alicorn that was the brother of the Royal Sisters appearing out of no where in the dead of the night. Speaking of which, she should get some sleep. Yawning, Celestia made her way to her quarters, followed by Neutrality. Luna, while equally as tired as Celestia, could not go to sleep, and she walked away, determined to play a prank on her sister later. Pointing at a room on the far right, Celestia smiled tiredly as she showed Neutrality the guest room he was to sleep in. "You'll be sleeping here, until we can get a more permanent room for you." Neutrality looked around the room. It was like a little library, complete with selves of books. He noticed all the dust that was settling in the room. "It doesn't look like it's been lived in for quite awhile, sister." "Yes, that's quite right. The last pony to have this room was...Twilight Sparkle." Neutrality paused. One of the former bearers of the Elements themselves that sealed him away in stone for the second time slept in this room? He wondered just what kind of connection she had with his sister. "The Element of magic herself? What was she doing here, Celestia?" "She was my personal protégé, Neutrality. No other pony has used this room in a long time since her." Neutrality was silent, as he couldn't find any words to speak of. He was faintly aware of his sister leaving the room. Sighing, he decided to go to sleep for tomorrow. Pulling up the covers, he immediately started to hack and cough as the dust overwhelmed him. Not lived in for a long time? Might as well been a crypt. After the dust was down to manageable levels, he climbed into the bed, and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.