//------------------------------// // 6. Not a Question but a Lesson Learned In Time // Story: Deja Discord // by Ckat_Myla //------------------------------// Teleportation was coming more naturally to Twilight than it had in the beginning, but that didn’t mean that the force needed to transport seven ponies to the edge of the forest did not at least knock the wind out of her a bit. After she took a moment or two to breathe, the others walked effortlessly across the invisible border and into the parameter of Ponyville. One of the guard ponies that had come along with Shining Armor was not far, hard at work performing the spell that was buying the towns’ ponies some time. Predictably the only one who was in the least bit hesitant to walk any further was Discord. As Twilight walked by with her friends, she looked back to see him cautiously eyeing the place where he knew the invisible line to be, but from the safety of a spot far away beneath the black mulberry tree. Twilight turned around but stayed on the Ponyville side of the line, giving him a coaxing wave of her hoof. “Come on Discord, if we don’t check to see if your restriction spell is still in affect there’s no way we can proceed.” “Come on, Dissy!” Pinkie coaxed, trying to help. Every pony gave her a look at the use of this random new nickname. “You can do it, come on.” The pink pony clapped her hooves and patted them on her knees as if she were calling a pet. “Pinkie, he’s not a dog,” Twilight said. “What if it does still shock him?” Fluttershy asked quietly from Twilight’s other side. “Well, then our task to help him will be a bit more difficult,” Twilight answered. “I have a hunch though that however Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to perform this transformation on him, the spell or spells may have canceled out ours. I don’t know what kind of power is strong enough to overpower something done by the Elements of Harmony, or at least I haven’t studied it before. If this is really something that they feel is necessary, they would have made it possible for Discord to enter a pony-populated area in order to interact with them.” “And if you’re wrong?” Discord called from the other side. “We won’t know unless you get your tail over here,” she called back. With a roll of his eyes the temporarily-ponified spirit of chaos slowly rolled back up onto his hooves, and gingerly, carefully, and cautiously made his way to the border. Discord closed his eyes and winced, bringing a hoof down practically in slow motion just a few centimeters over where Twilight knew the line was. When nothing happened, the unicorn was surprised to find that she had actually been holding her breath, for his relieved sigh was matched by one of her own. “Great, so that will make things a little easier, if you can come into town then you’ll be able to see ponies in their natural environment.” Now that he had all four hooves across, Discord was back to looking quite unhappy with this whole thing, and the others waited with varying degrees of impatience. “You do seem to forget that I have watched ponies in their natural environment.” “Yes, but that wasn’t you living amongst them, you were an outsider, now you’re just one of the stallions.” “Just?” he said. “I know I may not be able to access my powers, but I think I’m at least a little more than just one of these ponies.” “Well, you’re going to be treated like one while you’re here,” Twilight said. “It’s the only way I think you can gain something from this experience.” As her eyes caught sight of the closest unicorn performing the spell, the flash of an idea came to her mind. “And I think that should include helping with spell duty,” she added. Discord followed her gaze to where the guard member stood, then upwards following the golden beams emitting from his horn towards the sky where the massive form of Cloudsdale still floated, and still slowly dropping. “Oh,” Discord said as if he’d only just noticed the giant cloud formation over the town. “Right, that ‘state of emergency’ you mentioned. What is it you want me to do about it; I wasn’t even certain I could do anything before this happened.” They had all begun making their way into town, and Twilight could hear some pony muttering near the front of their little band. She couldn’t tell who was speaking, but she distinctly heard the words, ‘put it back’ in reference to Discord. Obviously some of them weren’t convinced that Cloudsdale’s current status was not Discord’s doing. Not acknowledging the mumblings, she walked alongside the temporary pony as he was still looking up, and then tripping over his hooves from not looking at where he was going. “I think you should help with the temporary procedure that every pony has been attempting while I continue to search for a way to reverse what’s happening to the city.” “But doesn’t this way seem - I don’t know - futile?” he asked. She took offense at that; he had said something similarly condescending about this plan before. A sigh escaped her, and she took a moment to try and appreciate that at least that had not changed. “Look,” she said, attempting to level with him. “I know that it’s not the greatest solution in the world. But as I mentioned before it was the best thing I could come up with at the time. Until I find something that can fix it, this is how things have to be. I was already planning on making a trip to Canterlot to research their library; they have a much wider selection of materials than here.” “After my stint here is over, of course,” Discord assumed. The unicorn blinked at him and shook her head. “Of course not, I need to get there as soon as possible.” “Wait, so you’re just going to disappear again, with me stuck like this?” “I’m not disappearing, I just have things I need to do,” she said, although the way he was reacting, Twilight was starting to feel bad about that decision. She did see his point, the one pony he considers a friend doesn’t visit for a while, then when she does she has to leave him on his own again. But, he wasn’t alone this time. “You’ll have every pony else here, and they can help you out while I’m gone, they’ve already promised.” “I’m sure they are just as thrilled about that as I am,” he said with a meaningful look ahead of them. There was a good chance he had heard those mutterings as well. “Time is of the essence here, Discord,” Twilight reminded him. “There’s no real way to tell how much longer we can slow Cloudsdale’s progress.” “It would seem that it’s ‘of the essence’ in my case as well,” Discord said. It was another instance of him being right. Twilight hadn’t forgotten the point of this was to help him understand why he should help, for the seals of Tartarus may be weakening just as fast as the cloud city was sinking. “I know, but… one big disaster at a time. I’ll handle the research for Cloudsdale, and you start learning about ponies. My friends will help you, and who knows? Maybe we can convince Princess Celestia to let you stay on this side of the gates.” “If you really care about that,” Discord gave a derisive scoff, mumbling as if to prevent Twilight from hearing. “Ugh,” she groaned, for the pony had heard despite his attempts. “I do care, I do. You have been doing so much better, and I certainly don’t believe you deserve to be made to enter that place.” “Do I deserve to have to be a pony?” “If it is what the princesses feel they had to resort to, then yes,” Twilight said. “I already said that this seems like a pretty big concession to me, especially considering that you should have just helped them without a fuss.” “If you’re going to keep bringing that up, then perhaps it’s not such a bad thing that you’re abandoning me.” Twilight did not respond to that. That was clearly bait to draw her into another little debate that he figured could get her to stay. But she couldn’t, not with all of this madness happening. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, he should know that already. She gave him the main reasons – or – the most obvious logical reasons. Discord needed to be here for the balance and well-being of every pony in this world, and for himself to retain some form of freedom… and so they could continue to enjoy this strange friendship of theirs. The unicorn felt it a bit selfish though to state outright that she might want him to stay for her… the bigger, more important reasons should be enough. “Just… just do what you can. Don’t make me use the T-word again,” she gave him the same slightly pleading smile that she had used on Applejack. She felt it might have been a bit much to add ‘for me’ to that sentence, even if she had weirdly enough felt like it. Before he could bring her back into this discussion Twilight had trotted ahead of him closer to the front to find Rarity. “First things first, if you could take Discord to your boutique and get him something to wear that will cover up his cutie marks, and then perhaps set him up with the unicorns to start on spell duty,” she said once she had caught up alongside her fellow unicorn mare. Rarity nodded, both mares slowing to a near-stop as the others passed while they waited for him. It was clear to Twilight even before Discord had made it all the way to them that Rarity was already at work in her mind about just what to do with him. Knowing that her friend could go a little overboard when styling ponies, Twilight added. “Just something simple Rarity, he doesn’t need a makeover.” “But Twilight, I do believe you and I have differing opinions on what constitutes ‘simple’,” Rarity said still with her eyes keenly observing his coat again as she walked around to his other side. Discord looked from one unicorn to the other – purple to white – his eyes growing wary now about what the white one had in store for him. “Pants,” Twilight stated finally. “Just give him some pants.” “…It will be a challenge just to find a color that can somehow compliment that gray of his…” the white pony mumbled, hinting for some more wiggle room than she knew Twilight was comfortable with. Eventually though, she relented. “Ok, fine. If you think you can come up with something else, by all means. Just please don’t go overboard.” “Never fear,” Rarity answered with a hoof raised, and then grabbed Discord to begin pulling him along to her shop. “We will make this work.” “Make what work, is this absolutely necessary?” Twilight heard Discord ask as he was yanked away. “Oh absolutely…” she heard Rarity answer. “Now come along.” “Have fun,” she called to both of them, taking a moment to enjoy the look on his face just a little bit. The day was waning and the rest of their group had all decided that more planning about what to do with Discord could come after they had done their daily part for the towns. It was only as she was wondering how Spike could possibly help them while she was away when the sudden realization hit Twilight. “Oh no, Spike,” her head whipped quickly around searching the immediate area for him. “I forgot to find him and tell him I was alright before I gathered you all.” “It’s ok, Twilight,” Pinkie paused from her departure to answer her friend’s worry. “When we were getting every pony together I saw him with your brother at the Corner. I told him you were fine, but I didn’t know if you wanted him to know anything about any of this.” “Well that’s a relief,“ Twilight exhaled slowly. “Though I think I’ll still need to apologize, and I certainly think he should be included.” She wasn’t certain how the dragon would react to all of this, but he at least deserved to know. Of course any remaining guilty feelings about possibly making him fret over her absence dissipated when she actually found him. For instead of full of worry, Spike appeared to be full of ice cream. An empty bag that had presumably been filled with bits and a large glass bowl that had presumably been stuffed with the mounds of sugary dairy treat sat next to his head. It seemed Shining Armor meant well, but leaving a young dragon alone in a sweet shop with money to drown his worries in ice cream was only going to lead to more trouble for him down the line. She gave the little dragon a soft tap with her hoof, the green eye facing upwards shooting open to look around. When it found her face Spike lifted his own up off the table swiftly. “Twilight, oh heyow---” his speech was halted as his eyes screwed shut again, his head in his claws. Apparently that had been much too swiftly as the impending ice cream headache put a damper on his little binge. She patted his back sympathetically, although she smiled with a light amusement. “Sorry I didn't come and find you this morning to tell you I was alright, but it looks like you were doing fine on your own.” Spike tried to smile sheepishly with a claw pressed lightly on the roof of his mouth in an attempt to ease the brain freeze. “I think though that when I've explained what's going on you might understand.” “Why, wad wowing won?” he asked, but then removed his claw. “I mean, that sounds kinda ominous, don't tell me there's more stuff going on now?” “I'm afraid so,” she answered. Spike's headache subsided slowly as Twilight filled him in, explaining about Discord, Tartarus, and what they were going to try and accomplish. “So... he's really a pony?” was the first question the dragon had. Twilight nodded. “Hooves and everything.” “Oh, this I gotta see,” he remarked with some disbelief, already rising from his chair. Twilight rose too, but slower. “He should still be with Rarity at the Boutique. Now this is important Spike, I'm going to need your help as well as every pony.” “What do you want me to do?” he wondered, her slower pace to exit the restaurant clearly halting his eagerness to see the spirit of chaos as Twilight had described. “Well with every pony else busy with their duties, they won't be able to help him or even stay with him all the time, and I don't really expect them to,” she said. “That's why I'd like to entrust the duty of keeping tabs on him to you.” “To me, do you really think that's a good idea?” Spike said. He seemed a touch unsure now, but Twilight ribbed him gently. “Considering your most recent activities, I don't really know,” she smiled. “Seems I can't leave either of you alone for too long, but you are still my number one assistant, and I believe I can trust you the most with this. Since I won't be here, you're the best one for the job, especially since you can send me updates on his progress while I'm away.” Spike's raised eyebrow wasn't a hard thing to decipher. “I won't be gone long, with hope no more than a few days. You know I need to find something that will help the towns.” She watched Spike think about it for a while as they made their way to Rarity's shop, and she noticed a strange smile appear as he gave a small nod. “Yeah, I'll do it for you, Twilight.” The unicorn was a little surprised, she had been expecting this to be a bit harder to negotiate. She figured Spike would need about as much convincing as the others, since it had been about the same amount of struggle to get her friends to agree as Discord. She could chalk up Spike's willingness to help to his loyalty to her, but it was still odd. She might have asked him about it, but she stopped herself. At least one thing in this mess had been easy, Twilight shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. “Thanks Spike, I'm counting on you,” she said once they had reached the Boutique. The sign in the window of the shop was still turned to the 'closed' side as it had been placed when Rarity had left that morning for her spell duty. Once they were inside, it took a while for Twilight and Spike to see their friend through the racks of clothes. Rarity it seemed was not heeding her words on the whole 'don't go overboard' thing. They finally caught sight of the white unicorn as she magicked one of the outfits surrounding the platform near the center of her shop closer to where evidently the unwitting Discord stood. A small flash of magic surrounded him and a few seconds later the temporary-pony was wearing some sort of red and black jumpsuit. It certainly covered much more than his cutie marks. Rarity walked around the platform, making a motion for him to turn and – when he didn't comply – turning him herself with her magical aura. “Now don't judge too harshly just yet Twilight,” Rarity acknowledged her as Twilight came to stand beside her. “This is still a work in progress.” She watched as Rarity scrutinized her work, halting in front of the less-than-thrilled Discord. In another flash the colors on the suit had reversed, changing from mostly-red to mostly-black. “No no, that won't do either,” she mumbled to herself. “This will be a while yet.” “Remember Rarity, you don't need to do much,” Twilight reminded her to which the white unicorn nodded, now actually meeting her gaze. “Oh I know, but you gave me the opportunity, and if this is to be one of my contributions to his hooves-on education I'd like to give it a real try.” Another outfit swooped in on the stallion in front of them, and in another flash a different outfit adorned him. Some sort of longer, robe-like getup covering nearly every bit of him from horn to hooves, and for some reason still red and black. “I'm happy you're taking that attitude but,” Twilight stated as she observed this new ensemble. “Do you think maybe you can try another theme? We're trying to help him blend in and this is sort of... the opposite of that.” “He looks like a really creepy playing card,” Spike said from beside them. With a sigh Rarity swept the robes away in another flurry of magic. She then disappeared into the racks of clothes, leaving Discord time to finally acknowledge that the other two had entered. “I see you haven't left yet,” he said. “I didn't say I was leaving right this minute,” she answered. “I'd like to leave as soon as I can, but there are a few things that I need to make sure are in order first. I still need to find Shining Armor and tell him about my intentions to go, and I wanted to ensure that you had some pony with you at all times.” She put a hoof on Spike's back, half to bring him to Discord's attention and half to nudge him a bit forward towards the platform. “Since Spike is going to keep me informed on how the towns are doing, he has also agreed to stick by you during the times when the others can't.” Twilight was glad that Spike wasn't snickering, gawking, or doing any of the things she'd assumed he was going to do upon seeing Discord like this. He seemed to be taking things in, though oddly enough he didn't even appear as uneasy as the majority of her friends had at seeing him. Even stranger was Discord's reaction to this new appointment. True, at first glance he appeared to be showing the same enthusiasm for having some pony appointed to him as he had when she'd tried to leave Pinkie Pie with him, but there was a bit more recognition in his expression than Twilight thought there should have been. “So you found me a foal sitter,” he said in an only half-teasing way. “Nice to know I'll have someone to entertain me once the others have grown tired of me as well.” She caught Discord's use of 'as well', but before Twilight could remark or even give a sigh, Spike answered for her. “It's only temporary, it doesn't mean anything other than she wants to make sure you're making a real effort.” “Uh... exactly,” Twilight said after a momentary pause as she blinked at her assistant. “Glad we're on the same page.” She spoke a bit slowly, puzzled that Spike had been so quick to state something similar to what she had been about to say. Twilight decided to look past it and continue, though the attitudes of the two males gave her the slight impression that she might be missing something. “I think it would do best for you to stay at the library while I'm gone. That way you won't have to go back and forth from the forest all the time. There are some excellent books on basic unicorn magic and you'll need to learn at least that much to be able to perform the group height retention spell. Spike can help you with that.” “Gotcha,” Spike said with a nod to Twilight. “Well I think it's a splendid idea,” the others heard Rarity say as she emerged from the jungle of racks and fabric. The white pony looked in much higher spirits than she had when she'd dove back in, triumphantly carrying yet another ensemble with her magic. “Little Spikey-Wikey may be a dragon, but in my opinion he can be more the gentlecolt than a good deal of ponies I could name,” As she passed by Spike she took a moment to pat his head affectionately. “Oh I'm sure,” Discord said, sarcasm evident even as he watched her approach with a clearly grim anticipation about just what she would put him in this time. “Don't underestimate him. Rarity's right, Spike does know a lot about us,” Twilight said. With another flash of her magic Discord was clothed yet again, this time in a much more understated look than Twilight had seen him in yet. Finally some actual cover for his marks that was simple, though the color was split down the middle. Brown on one leg, red on the other, along with a vest done in a similar theme though not in colors. “That's better,” she said with a smile. “Yes I assumed you would prefer something like this. Not what I would have chosen...” Rarity said, trailing off a bit for a moment to look Discord over one last time, but then choosing to continue being pleased with herself. “I suppose as we are in a pinch, functionality can take center stage. Although I couldn't help adding a bit of style.” Twilight watched Discord look himself over, turning to see himself in the mirror and finally giving a shrug. “This isn't terrible. I suppose if I must be made to wear something.” “That doesn't sound like much of a thanks,” Spike said, the temporary elation Twilight had seen on his face after Rarity had patted him gone now as he frowned up at the temporary-pony. Even though she probably should have known better, Twilight had been half-expecting for this to get a 'thank you' out of him as well. The outfit Rarity made was certainly more colorful than the drab gray coat he'd been complaining about. “Is this really that big of a deal? I mean, they're fine, they fit me, let's not dwell too much on it.” “Discord,” Twilight had the beginnings of a reproach all lined up, but Rarity waved a hoof and halted her. “Oh it's alright Twilight. I wasn't expecting much in the way of gratitude,” she said, retaining her smile even if it looked a tad forced now. She came in closer to Twilight to whisper, “That reaction actually exceeded my expectations.” “Well, I'll thank you,” said Twilight. “At least that's one more thing to cross off the list before I go.” “And since we now have the problem literally covered, I shall inform the others so we can begin planning for tomorrow. I suppose that will be when every pony will want to begin their um... help.” Twilight could assume what Rarity's hesitance with the word help was all about, but she trusted her friends, the same as she trusted Spike. They'd do their part in helping Discord just as they were doing their part with the towns. “That will be fine,” she assured the white pony. “Now I really need to go find Shiny.” The mares began to take their leave, but Twilight quickly halted when her mind – already back in her own planning mode – reminded her that she had nearly forgotten the two males still sitting there. Her head whipped back around. “Oh right, Um... Spike, if you'll take Discord back to the library for me?” “Sure thing, Twi,” Spike answered simply. Twilight brought him into a hug. She wasn't sure she would get the chance to do so before she left. “Thanks,” she said again in his ear as he returned the hug. Out of the corner of her eye the unicorn could see Discord roll his eyes while descending the platform. He didn't wander far, taking a seat near them with a slouch that read as a combination of uncomfortable with the situation, with wearing clothing, and with just sitting as a pony in general. Not finding Discord's continuing attitude very encouraging, Twilight tried to keep herself optimistic as she let Spike go and put on her best serious face, looking at both of them. “Now I don't think I should have to say this, but please try to get along,” she said. She made sure to look just as much at the dragon as the pseudo unicorn. Though when Discord met her gaze, she did try to make it a clear reminder that that was what he was there for. With that said, Twilight finally felt she could go off and find her brother. Although as she was leaving she realized that this might well be the last time she would see Discord before she left, too. The unicorn wasn't quite sure what to say to him. Her words to the both of them were important and firm, even if she sounded less encouraging and more authoritative. He could probably use a touch of both, even if the air between them remained slightly tenser and more awkward due to all of this. Glancing again over him in his new clothes, she did have to admit Rarity had done something pretty nice with them. With all that color he actually looked a bit more like himself, and that gave her a bit more of a smile as she passed him. “You do look nice you know,” Twilight said quickly as she exited. Discord noticed Twilight's smile as she flitted away from him again. He was fairly certain that this would be the last he would see of her before she left on that oh-so-important trip of hers. She'd breezed in and out so quickly that he had barely had time to say anything to her, much less any sort of goodbye. Then again, Twilight hadn't exactly given him a proper goodbye either. Obviously that wouldn't have made a difference, she was going to go either way leaving him at the mercy of her friends and whatever plans they had for 'teaching' him. Staring over at the doors, Discord knew that it was not as if she wasn't coming back, but he considered that had he said something... he wouldn't feel quite so awkward as he did now. It was a while before he shook himself out of his contemplation and remembered the creature that had also been left alone in the shop. Sitting up a bit from his slouch, Discord frowned at Spike's observing him. The dragon didn't look all that confused. He looked a tad questioning, but it was colored lightly with a slight smugness that Discord took offense to. Surely this being must know that looking smug was his job. “What are you looking at?” he asked when finally deciding to stand. His hesitance to do so until now somewhat related to wondering how much he could actually blend in outside while wearing this – arguably not bad – outfit, and somewhat related to what the dragon might have taken from his stalling at Twilight's departure. The dragon almost let out the chuckle he was clearly withholding, but shook his head and shrugged instead. “Nothing, it's just... this is kind of ironic. Just the other day you were trying so hard to get here and now---” “It's not ironic, just... coincidental,” Discord corrected grumpily. “Whatever,” Spike said as he made for the door. “You know, attitude is everything. You won't be learning anything about life as a pony if you don't try and mimic their attitudes.” “Well, you are the pony expert, aren't you Mister Dragon?” Discord meant it as a jab, but Spike seemed to take it as a compliment. “Maybe not expert, but I know enough. And since we're sorta stuck with each other for most of your stay, I'm willing to help.” The dragon had had a similarly seemingly superior stance when he'd paid Discord a visit after his attempts to see Twilight. He appeared to have not informed her about that, but it made Discord wonder why that might be. Did this little guy plan on holding that over him? Though he still didn't like the dragon's demeanor, Discord did take into account that at least Spike sounded as if he did truly want to help. He sounded a touch more eager than the rest of Twilight's friends, anyway. “Fine,” he agreed as he followed Spike out the door quickly overtaking him in stride. “Lead the way, Pony Boy.” Spike's questioning expression was enough to coax a grin out of Discord, and the two made their way through the town and towards the library. Twilight watched the wind whipping the snow across the already starkly white landscape. It sounded fierce and frigid, but being seated safely within the cozy warm train car made it easier to admire. Her plan to visit Canterlot was changed by the addition of her brother. Shining Armor - upon hearing of her want to research the archives for a solution to the towns’ troubles - suggested instead that Twilight visit the library in the Crystal Empire. It was a good deal farther to travel than she wanted, but Shiny had made a persuasive argument. Held within the crystal library was a whole well of knowledge that the unicorn had only barely dipped into, and upon further thought it made Twilight much more hopeful that she might indeed find something that could help reverse Cloudsdale’s fall. Since her destination had changed, Shiny had naturally offered to accompany her. It wasn’t so much that he was so quick to leave his post, but more so to use the excuse to go home and visit the wife he’d barely seen since she took over the ruling of the crystal ponies. Shining Armor’s lieutenant seemed capable enough, and she knew her friends were more than capable of keeping things together until she returned, but Twilight couldn’t help but still feel some amount of guilt at her departure. As she continued to gaze out the window and the train clattered onward, she tried to make the rationalization that it was for the best for every pony…. especially Discord. It was a strange and frankly infuriating thing to think about, because part of her wanted to be able to blame it all on him, she wanted to simply be mad and leave on her trip without any guilt whatsoever, because it was true that he had gotten himself into this mess. He was the one who hadn’t heeded her lessons and made that choice, apparently she just wasn’t worth it. Of course that thinking only managed to fuel the thought that it might not have been only the princesses she had let down. Her stallion sibling returned to the seat beside her, finishing off the snack he had left her to seek in the dining car. A small untouched plate of carrots floated under her nose, the sudden orange in her peripheral vision pulling her eyes off the landscape and following the magic to its source. Shiny smiled as his horn lost its glow and the plate came to rest on Twilight’s hoof. She returned the grin before politely lifting one carrot for a bite, though she didn’t feel hungry just yet. He didn’t need to reassure her that things would be fine, she knew that was what he would say, had he spoken. It was all in his face, but Shiny knew that reassurances could only be given so often before they lost their effect. Instead of allowing him to do his brotherly duty yet again, Twilight took this time to ask him about something that - during the flurry of activity that was their departure - had all but left her mind until an hour or so ago. As odd as it was for her to think at times, she did trust Discord to an extent. The whole situation concerning him really was proof enough that his words were true, but Shining Armor had also been sent to Ponyville by the princesses. If they were using their magic to keep Tartarus’s weakening gates at bay, how much of that did her brother know? “Shiny,” she began her question, watching him from beyond her still half-eaten first carrot to see his reaction. “The reason that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna couldn’t respond to me - the reason why they sent you instead - does that have something to do with Tartarus?” His double-take answered her before he spoke. “What, how did you know something was happening there, how much do you know?” “Only that the seals are weakening for some reason, and that they have been trying to keep them closed.” Another, more selfish question escaped the mare before she could restrain herself. “Why didn’t they want us to know? I mean, I realize that this is an emergency, but - my friends and I - we might be able to do something.” “I suppose they saw what was happening with Cloudsdale and figured you had more than enough on your plate,” Shining answered her reluctantly. “It doesn’t seem like anything but some seriously powerful magic can even make a dent in keeping those seals solid, at least that was how it was explained to me.” That was what Discord had said too, and of course it was fairly obvious to Twilight that the princesses would want to keep something like this under wraps for as long as possible to prevent any widespread panic. “But how do you know about that?” Shining repeated, and Twilight drooped her ears momentarily. How was she going to explain that? Her brother did know about the events that had led to her recent appointment as liaison to the spirit of chaos, and to a lesser extent her friendship with him. The whole ‘pony empathy lesson’ though… Twilight wasn’t quite sure how much to tell him about that. “From Discord,” she said simply. Twilight saw Shiny’s expression harden slightly. The unicorn didn’t think he had ever actually met the draconequus, but Twilight supposed this uneasy reaction was natural. It didn’t do much to aid her in wanting to tell Shining Armor everything about what was happening. “Oh,” he responded, but not much could be taken from that one word. “Yes, I… I think that the princesses had contacted him about it,” she divulged the half-truth. “Hmm, I wonder what that’s about. Maybe they were making sure he had nothing to do with this,” he wondered. “He said that what’s happening back home had nothing to do with him, and I’m fairly inclined to believe that that isn’t his doing either,” Twilight tried to explain without divulging exactly how she knew. “Well, things have been kind of quiet for a while since he broke out the last time, and now to have two crises like this happen about the same time?” “Don’t you think that maybe he’s been quiet because of the agreement we have?” Twilight said without thinking. With every pony else it seemed going along that line of thinking, her response was almost automatic. She wanted to lead Shiny away from this trail of pondering, even if the unicorn was still not completely in the mood to be defending Discord in this manner. She felt terrible not telling him, but Twilight was now coming to think that she shouldn’t tell him about Discord’s ‘lesson’. If Shining knew that some pony like him was in Ponyville - no matter the reason - he just might turn around and head back immediately. Thankfully Shining didn’t ask anything more about it, although his thoughts didn’t seem to stray far. “How is everything going with that, with him, I mean,” he asked. “Not...terrible,” Twilight answered awkwardly. “Not as bad as you might think.” “Really?” Shiny said, sounding skeptically surprised. “From what I hear he isn't that easy to get along with. He doesn't seem like the type to commit to something as structured as what I'm sure you're trying.” Twilight chuckled to herself, if only he knew how much of an understatement that was. “I didn't say it wasn't a challenge. He's pretty difficult to get to focus on anything that he doesn't deem important, no matter how much I try. Oh he'll appear to listen, but he's just so hard to read that it's nearly impossible for me to tell if he is really listening or not.” “What about his powers, he hasn't used them on you or anything?” “Of course not, Shiny,” she said. “Right, that was part of the whole agreement you made,” Shiny remembered, though he seemed to stall on what he seemed to want to say. “I trust you, Little Sis. If you say he's keeping his word, I believe you. Maybe it's just because it's you that is working with him, but it seems to me sort of... I dunno, dangerous.” “More dangerous than some of the things you've done for the princesses?” Twilight asked. She had heard of her brother climbing mountains, facing manticores, accidentally sailing between Scylla and Charybdis on what was supposed to be a routine three-hour training mission. “Not to mention some of the other things I've had to do along with my friends.” “Sure, it isn't the most dangerous thing,” Shining obliged. “I know you can handle yourself, but the idea of you being all alone with a being that hard to control... you can't fault me for being a tad worried.” Twilight supposed he was right, and she knew she couldn't fault him for it, even if it was sort of hard to see that way. Perhaps it was because she had spent so much time with Discord already, and how she had grown to trust him. Logically Shiny's would be the reaction some pony would have being alone with him, and it wasn't that long ago that Twilight had been afraid to be alone with him, she'd nearly forgotten. “Especially since Mom and Dad don't know anything about it,” Shining continued, a bit pointedly. Twilight caught that. “I haven't seen Mom nor Dad in a while. I mean, I send them letters, but it isn't... I mean, there's really no reason they should know.” Shining smiled a bit conspiratorially at that. “Not worth a mention because it is or isn't something they should worry about?” Since both siblings were under appointments of the crown, they both had to deal with dangerous things and at times place themselves in harmful situations. Their parents knew this to an extent, but it would never stop them from being worried for their children. This led them to make a pact with one another to save their mother and father any undo or additional worry for them by omitting certain events and 'downplaying the life-threatening parts' of their service to the princesses. If Twilight had not mentioned her appointment as liaison to Discord, she knew Shiny would assume that was the reason. “Because it isn't,” she emphasized. “He may be a lot of things, but he doesn't seem all that dangerous anymore, at least... not to me.” Shining Armor looked fairly satisfied with that answer, although she wasn't sure his worries were abated. “He tries my patience a good amount of the time, but it's really not bad. He's my friend, and there are times when I can tell he's trying, but it's difficult for him, I guess.” “Well, his probation should be over soon, and then you won't have to deal with him as much anymore,” he remarked. His words carried a sort of hopeful finality to it, like he was trying to make her feel like the worst was almost over. Like it was a chore she was nearly done with. Twilight decided to continue munching on her carrots – finishing the plate to have something else to occupy her thoughts and mouth. She didn't want to say anything more on the subject, for instead of relieved the purple pony felt the same drop in her stomach that she'd experienced after she had realized that very same fact during her argument with Discord. Suddenly the idea that he could possibly think she might be 'washing her hooves' of him didn't seem so far-fetched. It really was ending, and possibly sooner than she thought. Soon Twilight would be freed from her arrangement with Discord and no longer be required to meet with him. He might get a pass to live where he chose – and maybe he'd visit now and again – but could these be the last days of their meetings? This was silly for Twilight to realize only now, because she knew that they were bound to end eventually... however that didn't make her feel any better to make that realization. Looking back over all of those infuriating distractions of his – yet knowing now that they were numbered – It was strange for her to feel that she might actually miss them once it was all over.