The next morning Harry was up bright and early. He ran down the road to the train station checking his brand new watch. He had ten minutes before the train was to take off. It appeared that he didn't wake up bright and early enough. It didn't stop him from trying to make it to the train though. By the time Harry had gotten to the station, the train was blowing steam. Harry was about to jump on before a conductor stopped him, demanding a ticket.
"He's with me," Twilight said.
The conductor shrugged and Twilight pulled Harry onto the train. They were barely able to sit down before the train started. Talk about cutting it close. Twilight was certainly not amused with Harry's tardiness. That was one nasty sneer.
"If this is so important, you sure have a funny way of showing it!"
"Sorry, I just slept in. Jeeze, you don't have to bite my head off."
"You could have worn a suit."
"What does it matter what I'm wearing? You don't even wear clothes!" Harry snapped.
"You'd better clean up that attitude if I'm going to let you talk to Princess Celestia. She doesn't take well to shouting. I told you the story of Nightmare Moon, right?"
"Yeah, it's just—"
"And that was her sister. She barely knows who you are."
"Sorry, I'm just a little crabby in the morning. Speaking of which, why did you have me get up this early on a Saturday?"
"Princess Celestia is very busy. She had to reschedule so much just to have this one conversation with you. You'd better thank me for this."
"Yeah, thanks. Twilight, you sound upset. You've been under the Princess' wing for what, more than twenty years now? She really shouldn't make you nervous. Wait, that's not it, is it?"
"You're almost as smart as I was your age," Twilight said, and then she looked out the window. It took a few minutes before she decided to talk again. "I thought we all made you feel welcome and happy. We've been taking care of you ever since you were a baby and doing the best we could. Does it really matter what you are?"
"Yes Twilight, it does. You don't know what it's like, having each and every one of your hopes destroyed because you were different. For what it's worth you ponies are the only thing making my life worth living. Without you, I don't want to think about what I'd do."
"Harry, that's a horrible thing to say!"
"But it's true. If I'm feeling alone with such a wonderful family, then there's no telling how messed up I'd be without it."
Twilight and Harry walked up the large chamber that was Celestia's throne room. Harry stepped slowly behind Twilight, just taking the whole room in awe. All the stories he had heard about this place did not do it justice. He had never seen something with so much grandeur, until he looked upon Celestia herself.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, you requested a talk with me?" Celestia asked as Twilight stopped before her.
"Not for me, but for Fluttershy's son Harry," Twilight said, lowering her wings to reveal him. "I've written much about him in my letters to you. Now he wants a conversation with you."
Harry walked up close to Celestia and bowed until she told him to rise. They were silent for some time. Harry was told that Celestia was always to get the first word in any conversation, so he waited, hope burning for the conversation to finally being.
"You are... such a strange creature," Celestia began.
"Thanks, I didn't know that," Harry said. Twilight nervously gritted her teeth in the background.
"Fluttershy is not your birth mother, is she?" Celestia asked.
"No, she found me on her doorstep one winter night, twenty years ago. She had no idea had I was or where I came from—she still doesn't—but she decided to take me in and raise me as her own. That is why I am here. I am told that you know everything."
"That is perhaps an exaggeration," Celestia replied, smiling. "My knowledge is expansive, yes, but not infinite."
"It's a good thing that I don't need you know everything. I only need you to know a few things. What am I? Where did I come from twenty years ago? Why am I here now?"
"Did you say twenty years ago?" Celestia asked, her expression changing.
"Yes. Why? Is that important?"
"I am sorry to tell you that I do not have the answers to your questions," Celestia said. Twilight gave a sigh of relief. Harry tensed up. Then Celestia continued. "But I do know someone who might. Follow me."
Celestia walked past Harry across the expanse of the throne room. Harry got off of his knees and followed her. Twilight was about to as well before Celestia stopped her and told her to wait. This was a private matter for Harry to explore by himself. Twilight wasn't happy about it, but she obeyed her ruler's wishes and stayed put.
Harry followed Celestia through many of the castle's hallways. She didn't say a word. She didn't even occasionally look back to see if Harry was still following along. Harry didn't speak either. He wanted to ask where they were going, but he was becoming increasingly afraid of offending her as the silence continued for longer and longer. He even began to think that he already had and she was now messing with him. His suspicions grew when they entered a very dark room.
"Discord, arise!" Celestia demanded in a surprisingly booming voice.
From out of the darkness two red eyes glowed, surrounded by circles of yellow. Below them were a smile of fangs. Then appeared a face that seemed to belong to a goat. Blue fires lit on a giant torch in each corner of the room, giving it an eerie and ominous glow.
"Well, that was a nice nap. Is this my life Celestia? You keep me trapped in this room until—hey, Jason long time no see," said the strange creature, presumably Discord. He slithered up to Harry and put his hand forward going in for what seemed to be a fist bump. "Oh come on, don't leave me hanging man. Wow, you've really lost some weight."
"Who's Jason? My name is Harry."
"Oh that's right," Discord said, and then he fell down laughing. "I almost forgot about that one. Not one of my better pranks, that's to be sure, but it's still hilarious."
"What are you talking about?" Harry demanded. This creature was making no sense whatsoever.
"Do you want me to tell him Celestia, or should I?" Discord asked.
"Tell me what!?" Harry seethed. His fists were clenched. He was so close to an answer and this... this thing was just having fun.
"Tell him how she had me tear into other worlds and get to know the inhabitants within. Oops, did I make the choice for you Celestia?"
"This is not my fault," Celestia said, slightly annoyed but nowhere near as angry as Harry was. "Tell him the whole story."
"Why are you always so boring? Come on, it's fun to keep them guessing. Where is your sense of humor? Alright, fine killjoys. First, I want to hear the story from 'Harry's' end. Tell me a little bit about yourself."
Harry began to tell the story of his life, how Fluttershy had found him, how he grew up in Ponyville, and even some of his more depressing memories. He told Discord the whole tale leading up to his journey to Canterlot, and Discord began his response—and it was anything but what Harry had expected.
"By Celestia, no matter which life you seem to get you can never be happy, can you? This is the second sob story I've heard from you. So—"
"What the flying feather are you talking about!?" Harry demanded. "I've never met you before in my life! And hopefully, I'll never meet you again!"
Discord face-palmed and chuckled to himself. He apparently remembered something.
"How could I have forgotten? You don't have your old memories, do you? You must have lost them when I made you younger. Look, do you really want to know the story? Sit back, get yourself some popcorn and a nice cold drink, and get ready because it is a long story.
"Twenty years ago Celestia had need of my powers, so she had somepony named Fluttershy turn me to the side of good. And for some reason I let her befriend me and their little plan worked. I had no idea what Celestia wanted with my powers, but I decided to let her have use of them regardless. It turned out that she wanted me to reach out into other worlds—I think we've already established this—and make contact to the creatures within.
"The first few worlds I went to had next to nothing in them, or at the very least no creatures worth making contact with. Then I came to a strange world that the inhabitants called Earth. They also called themselves humans. This is where you come in, so prepare for a mind screw.
"In this world, they had a television show—it's like a movie, except shorter—called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It showcased the world we live in now, so many of the creatures within knew about me and my latest adventures. It fascinated me, and I decided to have fun with these creatures.
"I met a fanatic of this show, his name was Jason Elowitz. He was a miserable pile of filth who barely had anything to live for. He was pretty much you with about seventy extra pounds. He saw the episode where I was converted to good so he was both shocked and delighted to know of my existence.
"He told me how miserable his life was. He told me that he had no family, a terrible job, and practically nothing to live for. And he wanted me to take him to Equestria, and personally get to know the mane six—their fan name for the group of Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. And being good, there was no way I could turn down such a humble request.
"But I was still Discord—the spirit of chaos and disharmony. I wasn't just going to take him across the threshold. I needed to twist the wish, so I cut this creature a deal. I offered to take twenty years off of his life for a one-way trip to Equestria. He simply thought that I would make him die twenty years earlier. Instead, I took twenty years off of his age and turned him into an infant— hilarious, isn't it?
"Now that I crossed the threshold back into Equestria I was worried that Celestia would punish me for resorting to my old tricks so I knew that I had to get rid of the infant. I remembered my friend Fluttershy, her caring nature, and everything came together. The rest is history Jason."
"What kind of bogus story was that?" Harry demanded.
"He is... telling the truth," Celestia said, to Discord's defense. "And I already punished him for messing with other worlds; however, I had no idea how far his pranks went and how thoroughly they damaged another creature's life."
"If he brought me here," Harry wondered aloud, "then could he send me back?"
"Did you not hear my story!?" Discord snapped. "You were worthless back in your world, an overweight slob with no family. It looks to me that Equestria has been doing wonders for your health. I'll tell you, Fluttershy has done more wonders raising you than... hmmm, that gives me an idea. Do you believe that Fluttershy is your mother?"
"Of course I do, she raised me since I was an infant. What kind of question is that?" Harry asked quizzically. This was getting confusing.
"How do you think she would feel if I tore you from this world and she would never be able to see you again? Fluttershy is still my friend and I wouldn't hurt her in such a way."
"Just what are you getting at?"
"I do have the power to send you back to Earth, but I am never allowed to go into other worlds now. As soon as you have returned to Earth, there is no way I can send you back. You can never come back to Equestria. However, it would be awfully selfish to tear you away from your loved ones. So here's the deal: you convince Fluttershy to let you leave, fully knowing that she'd never see you gain."
"She would never do that," Harry mumbled to himself.
"Then why do you want to force that choice on her? Simply because you don't belong in this world? Because you're not happy here? This would simply crush her. And they called me evil."
"Th—this is one of your tricks. I've heard stories about you, how you changed ponies and made them believe lies about themselves. You're doing the same thing to me."
"I suppose I have the reputation of such mischief, don't I? If you believe that this is a trick to turn you against your mother, then believe that. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. The deal, however, still stands. You still have to ask Fluttershy to let you leave, and she must believe that she will never see you again afterwards. Then and only then will I take you back to your world."
"You should think about this," Celestia said.
Harry was thinking about this. He was thinking of every bit of grief that living in a world not built to house him had caused. He thought of every rejection from every single filly. He thought of all the wasted time even thinking about getting his cutie mark. He thought of why the only job he could get was a janitor at his friend's bakery. He couldn't live here any longer, even if it meant that his mother would never see him again.
"You have a deal," Harry said, holding out his hand. "I'll get my mother to allow me to leave."
"Even after a thousand years things still surprise me," Discord said, shaking Harry's hand. "I'll be waiting, but I won't be waiting forever."