//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Lies 
// Story: Discord Daze 
// by IcehailFlash 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: Lies


It has been one year today since the refugees arrived from the Northern Kingdom. Now, their camp is a small town of stone and wooden structures. The refugees have begun to integrate into the society playing host to them. Some have taken up jobs and homes within the walls, and alicorns have begun to trade outside of the walls as well. A couple more strings of burglary came and went as the days passed. The days were growing shorter now, and the winter solstice was coming. The winter solstice was hardly noteworthy in the Alicorn Kingdom however, where they controlled the sun and the moon. During the winter solstice, the day is a mere hour shorter than the night.

Two weeks ago, Starry Knight and Crystal Clear's daughter was born. There was a short-lived celebration, and life went on. Starry Knight became more devoted to his wife during that time, but not a day had gone by where he didn't at least think of Moonlight. His mind is often wrapped up in fantasies, and it wears on him day by day. For the whole eleven months, he never acted suspiciously. He never put a hoof out of line far enough for Sly to catch him, or for the prince to condemn him. Silvercoat has grown impatient waiting for Starry to trip up, and he has begun to think of ways to accelerate his brother-in-law's demise.

Moonlight never went a day without thinking about Starry. Their apparent break-up saddened her more deeply than she was willing to admit, and she thinks to blame herself for it. Truthfully, she believed it was for Starry's own good, and for the kingdom's, but she wishes now to take it back. Her performance picks up, and she joins a more popular orchestra. Her career has been put on a fast-track. The king grows older. He meets with more mares, and the poison being slowly served to him by his own flesh-and-blood starts taking its toll.

Iron Sword and Copper Arrows have become better friends. Copper is now a captain of the guard, and Iron Sword serves as his lieutenant. The general has passed away now, of old age. The mission to go after Discord was forfeited with his life. The stage is almost set.

"I'm going out today," Starry says as he dresses himself one morning.

"Where to?" Crystal asks as she nuzzles their foal.

"Oh, everywhere," he says, trying to hide his intentions, "I've got some errands to run." He trots over to his wife and gives her a kiss on the cheek. The romantic high from their wedding has left, and they've settled into a normal life—as normal as can be for them.

"Okay," Crystal says with a smile, leaning in to kiss him back, just once, returning the peck. She didn't suspect anything of him. "See you when you return."

"I may not be returning until tomorrow," he admits to her.

"Why?"

"I'm going to be checking on some other towns near the border."

"Oh? What's going on?"

"Nothing," he says, "It's just a routine thing. We ought to keep everypony on the tips of their hooves is all, just in case. We can't forget that this is now the last kingdom left standing."

"Right..."

"Good-bye," Starry says as he leaves the room.





Out on  the street, Starry browses the various theaters in the city. Some small, some large. He hasn't seen Moonlight in so long. He goes by her old performing center first, but quickly finds out that she's moved on from them. A deep feeling of regret rises in him. He should have done this sooner. He thinks that she could have easily gone off to another town by now. He couldn't blame her if she didn't want to see him. Just as he nearly gives up, he spots her.

As Moonlight walks up to a theater near the city's central plaza, another alicorn stops her to talk. Starry catches this little interaction and gives the other stallion a good look over.

I've never seen this colt before. I can't help but feel jealous.

She waves the stallion off after a few moments, and nothing much seems to be going on between the two. Starry decides to make his move. He trots up from the other side of the street as she heads toward the front door. He meets her inside.

"Moonlight," he says.

She hesitates. It's as if she were hearing a ghost. She has often heard Starry's voice in some romantic hopefulness, but it has always been just that: a voice in her head—nothing more than memories and dreams. This time, he was real. It takes her a moment to process this thought, and for the moment, she remains quiet.

Starry moves up to her and gives her a hug. She hugs back, still uncertain. "It's been so long," he says.

"Starry..." she says, still in disbelief, "I thought I'd never see you again." The hug breaks soon after. A couple passer-bys pay no extra attention to them. It seems of nothing suspicious to them, merely old friends meeting up for the first time in a long time.

"Me neither," he says.

"You didn't try to talk to me again. I thought you were done with me."

"No," he says, shaking his head, "I wouldn't cast you aside so quickly."

"Then why so long?"

"Crystal got pregnant. I had obligations to her."

"Really? How many months?" Moonlight seems to spark to life. She somehow forgets about the hurt, and is only happy to be catching up.

"It's a filly. Came out two weeks ago today," he says with a smile.

"Oh," she says, and then sighs, realizing that this very nearly confirms that they will never again be with each other. "I've missed you."

Starry hugs her again. "I've missed you too," he says, "Haven't you moved on though?"

She shakes her head as she leans into him. "I couldn't..."

"After all that?" he asks, breaking the hug.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" he says, pulling back a little, "What do you mean? You were right, you know."

She shakes her head in response. "I want to see you again..."

"I do too," he confesses, "But, we both know it wouldn't work out well."

"Why not?"

"I'm married, with a foal, and I'm going to be king soon. All eyes will be on me."

"We could make it work."

"How?" Interested in hearing her out, he can't help his primal desires for love.

"If you're married, and I have somepony of my own. There would be a lot less suspicion."

"Who might you have in mind?"

"Your friend Copper Arrows has a crush on me still. I see him every now and then at my shows, and he tries to buy me a drink on occasion."

"Poor fellow . . . Will that really work, though?"

"Yes, as long as we're both careful."

He thinks it's stupid idea, but in this love-struck state, he doesn't care. "Okay," he says, "I'll send him to you. Do you have a show tonight?"

"Yes."

"Go to your usual tavern after the show tonight. I'll make sure he's there."

"How?"

"I'll tell him I talked you into giving him a chance."

She giggles a little bit at the plan. "This is so cruel to him, though."

"I know. But as long as he doesn't know the truth, he'll be happy, and thinking that he's getting what he always wanted."

"That's a terrible way to justify it," she says, "You're terrible. I hope they see that and make somepony else king."

He shoves at her playfully, and rolls his eyes, turning to go. "And tonight, after your date with him, I'll meet you here." As he turns his head back to watch his trots, he bumps into somepony who had been watching and listening.

"Oh sorry, I didn't see you there."

"My prince, how bold of you."

Starry glances back at Moonlight as she trots into the back of the theater. "Listen," he says, realizing that this pony was no fool, "I think we can work this out."

The pony rolls his eyes and holds out a hoof, as if expecting something valuable.

Starry sighs and forks over a few gold coins. "Happy?"

"Yes," the alicorn says and trots onward.

Starry Knight leaves then, in a bit of a hurry, just in case. Little does he know that his tail was still with him. Sly watches from a rooftop on the opposite side of the street. He sees the prince in a rush, and decides to investigate.

He flies from rooftop to rooftop, landing on the theater and finds a door going down. He makes his way through the building to the instrument room, and grabs a spare violin before heading off and wandering through the building, pretending to go somewhere, and listening as he trots.

"Did you see Moonlight talking to prince Starry?" he overhears after wandering for a bit. Sly stops and joins the conversation. "The prince?" he asks for clarification.

"Yeah, prince Starry Knight. Crystal's husband."

"No wonder Moonlight is lead violin. She has friends in high places," the other pony says.

Sly nods them off and trots on, pretending to lose interest in the conversation. His jet black mane and tail were shiny, and a texture that appeared akin to alicorns. This made those he met overlook his lack of a horn at first glance, and so for a short while, he could fit right into a conversation. His coat was a sandy color, but he was mostly concealed with a dark brown cloak. The color of his coat was not akin to the Northerners, or to the alicorns, and it made him stick out in some places.

As he wanders through the building some more, he notices another pony swapping a couple gold coins for silver with a money handler at a bar in the theater lobby. He casually sweeps up to the bar and requests a drink. "Anything with Vodka." A northern drink, traditionally. He counts on the alicorns to not know enough about the northerners to tell him apart from them. "Say," he says to the alicorn with the coins, "Did you see the prince in here?"

"Maybe I did," he says with a smirk, thinking he could get more money from the stranger.

"Oh, sounds interesting. A bribe?"

"I can't say," he simply says and takes a drink for himself, requesting his usual from the money handler: a spiced rum on the rocks.

"Oh come now," he says, "You can tell me. We play together, no?"

"I suppose we do," the pony responds, noting Sly's violin, "But unless there's something in it for me . . ."

"Maybe, which part do you play?"

"6th seat," the strange pony says, taking a drink. "I'm actually new as of today."

"No kidding?"

"Yes. I'm looking forward to your company."

"I should probably be going. I need to catch up with somepony before the show. What was your name?" Sly asks.

"Eight Strings. Yours?"

"Treble Clef. So long." Sly finishes his drink and leaves quickly.





Silvercoat heads down the castle hall towards the front doors when one of his trusted guards meets him, and delivers a letter. He opens it, and thanks the guard before dismissing him.

"Eight Strings. Plaza Theater, central. Need to interrogate. Bring him in," is all that is written on the paper.

"You there." Silvercoat calls back to his guard. The stallion turns around and goes back up to him. Silvercoat gives the letter to the guard and says, "Tell nopony."

The guard looks at the message and nods, stuffing it into his uniform and heading off.





Sly gives the unfortunate stallion a slap to the face. He sits there, hog tied and gagged, wings bound, and horn broken off. "This can be very simple, or very difficult," Sly says as he plays with a sharp looking dagger, "If you tell me what I need to know, I will be merciful. But if you don't, then I will not be." Sly takes the gag out of the pony's mouth. "Did you see Starry Knight at the theater?"

"Yes," the stallion nods, panicked.

"Who was he talking to?"

"I don't know."

Sly gives him another slap, a bit harder, leaving a welt on his cheek.

"I swear! I told you I was new there. I don't know anypony there."

"Fine. What did you see?"

"They were flirting."

Sly smacks him once more. "Specifics, Mr. Strings."

"Ahh, okay. They were planning something. I don't know for sure, but I think that they were planning a secret meet up. And they talked like lovers. I think they must have been together before."

"Much better. When are they meeting?"

"Tonight. She's going to go on a fake date with somepony named Copper Arrows. It'll be after he leaves that Starry will meet her."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Strings." Sly leaves and to the guard watching he whispers, "Get rid of him. He's bad evidence."

The guard nods.





Meanwhile, Starry Knight was talking to Copper Arrows. "What's up, Starry?" he asks as he approaches.

"I got a surprise for you."

"Oh, a surprise?" he says, snickering a little at the implication.

"You're gonna love it."

"What is it?"

"Moonlight Serenade."

"What?"

"I convinced her to give you a shot. She wants a date, tonight, after her show."

"Wait . . . what?" Copper was a bit shocked, "But she doesn't like me. How on earth did you manage that?"

"Oh easy," he says, "I ran into her on the street, thought about you, and gave her my word that you were decent—well not decent but not bad."

Steel shoves at him, hitting him back for the comment. They laugh and joke around. "Alright then," he says, "I owe you one, I guess."

"Oh don't worry about it," Starry says afterwards, as he's turning to leave.





Sly returns to the theater, carrying the same violin, and meets up with the money handler at the bar. The theater is slowly becoming more crowded as more ponies slowly file in. "Looks like I finally got a spot," he says.

The looks at him funny, not recognizing him. "Who are you?"

"Oh, nopony, I guess. I'm one of the stand-ins. I just heard that the new guy bailed."

"Oh," the stallion doesn't care. Sly smirks and leaves to go take a place in Eight Strings's spot. The band notices not a single thing out of place. Sly can barely keep up in his spot. He can play, but not well. He does his best to make his music inconspicuous.

After the concert, he talks to the band members, socializing with them. He finds out a little bit more about Moonlight Serenade, but most importantly, her lineage. He decides that he has just about everything now. The only thing left is to catch Starry and Moonlight in the act, just be sure of it all.





"Goodnight, Copper," Moonlight says to her cover coltfriend as they part ways. The night has grown dark. A few moments after they leave one another, she turns down an alley, and meets up with Starry Knight. Sly watches from a rooftop.

"Moonlight Serenade~" Starry says as he approaches, "How was your evening?"

She giggles and shakes her head. "He's a terrible kisser."

"Aw, that bad?"

She nods, and wraps a hoof around him, and kisses him deeply.  Sly smirks from his perch.

"Well, I'm more than happy to make it up to you, for sending you on such a terrible date."

She giggles at his joking, and nuzzles his cheek before heading off down an alley. Starry goes down another. They part ways now and take their own route to their new secret meeting spot.

"You really are clever, you two," Sly mumbles to himself, "I'll give you that." He opts to follow Moonlight some more. Maybe something new would come up. Flying from rooftop to rooftop, always careful to be quiet and out of sight, he tails her.

Soon she leaves the city walls, and heads out into open fields of grain near the refugee town. Sly runs into some difficulty, and is left to watch all the way from a guard tower along the wall. Sure enough though, Starry meets up with her, and he watches through the night, ensuring that they don't leave one another until morning. There was only the slightest doubt now. He was ready to report.





"This is unbelievable," Silvercoat says.

"It's the truth, though. Every bit of it."

"I ask you to help me bring down Starry, and you hand me the king as well? You're a genius."

"Thanks."

"Let's review though," the prince says. They are in an empty room on the edge of the city, meeting in secret. "Starry Knight has a mistress—a secret lover whom he still sees. That mistress, Moonlight Serenade also happens to be my half-sister, the bastard daughter to the king."

"How old was your sister?"

"19."

"I have more good news then."

"Spill it."

"Moonlight Serenade is 21."

"Oh, so she's also the king's first born? I could use that, for sure."

"With all due respect. I don't see how this makes a difference. Even with the evidence I've given you, we still can't prove the part about Moonlight's lineage."

"We don't have to."

Sly looks at him, confused.

"It's not about proof. It's about leverage. I bring this news to my mother, and they'll move against the king. She'd want her own blood to inherit this kingdom, after all. Besides, news like this getting out won't help me at all, it'll only solidify Starry's place. The king is the only pony in the kingdom who could provide any proof that Moonlight Serenade is actually the rightful monarch over Crystal. So my mother will certainly see him as a threat. She'll finish what I started, and she'll do so sloppily, and will be ousted quickly. Once that happens, Starry Knight becomes the king. But Starry will very quickly be forced to resign."

"That's a stretch, don't you think?"

"Yes, but it's what I've got. I suppose I ought to be as patient as ever. Sly. Keep tailing Starry Knight. If anything else surfaces, tell me." Before Silvercoat finishes his sentence, Sly is gone.




Three weeks later, the Castle is more active than usual. Medical ponies rush around as Starry wakes up and walks through the castle halls. "What's going on?" he asks one of them.

The pony stops. "The king has fallen deathly ill, mi'liege," the pony says, slowing down but not stopping, and then hurries on.

Starry quickly goes back into the room and attempts to wake up Crystal. "Crystal," he says, shaking her a bit, "Crystal wake up."

The slumbering alicorn groans and stirs. "It's too early, need sleep," she mumbles.

"Crystal, your father is ill."

After a few moments, Crystal comes fully to life, and hops out of bed. "Sick how?"

"The alicorn I stopped in the hall said it was bad."

"Stay here," she says as she leaves the room. Starry nods and trots over to their foal, and smirks as he watches her sleep. Some time passes before she returns.

"How is he?" Starry asks.

"They think he'll pull through," she says as she climbs back into bed, "But he won't be able to do much for a while."

"How do you mean."

"He's bed ridden, indefinitely. A bad fever, coughing blood. It's not pretty."

"That's bad."

"You're going to be taking charge while he's unable."

"What?"

"What's wrong?" she asks as she snuggles her pillow, "Stage fright?"

"No," he says, and sighs, thinking for a few moments, "Yes, maybe. I don't know." Starry then heads for the door.

"Where you going?"

"To get a drink, I think."






Starry Knight waits for Moonlight at their secret meeting place. She arrives a few moments after he does, approaching him nervously. "The king," he says to her as she approaches, and trots up to her, "The king is badly sick. I'm expected to start taking charge of things."

"That's good," Moonlight says back. Sly watches them both, silently.

"What? No, that's terrible. I'm not ready for this."

Moonlight brushes a hoof over his cheek and tries to calm him down. "Hush now, Starry," she says softly, "It's all going to be alright."

He calms down a little, and breathes deep.

"Listen," she says, glancing off nervously, "I have some news."

"News?" Starry asks, "What kind of news?"

"Umm."

Starry sighs and wraps a hoof around her, hugging her tight. "Please just tell me."

"I'm uhh," she still hesitates, "I'm pregnant."

Starry stops and blinks. Up in his perch, Sly goes wide-eyed and listens intently. Moonlight hugs Starry tightly.

"I . . . I have to ask," Starry says, "Did you and Copper—"

"No," she says, tearing up a little, worried about Starry's response, and growing afraid of what might happen. "Only you."

Starry hugs her and kisses her cheek.

"What are we going to do?" She realizes full-well how terribly this could turn out.

"I—" Starry can't bring the words out. Moonlight sniffles a bit on him, and he does his best to console her.

Everything's all moving so fast. I can't take this on, not any of it. That's it now, there's no one left I haven't hurt.