Spike did not allow Discord to sleep in Twilight's bed. Discord didn't really see the point in preventing him, it wasn't as if the unicorn would be using it for the next few days. The dragon couldn't come up with any reasoning other than it being 'just weird', but Discord did enjoy watching his new little roomie dragging out the foldable guest bed and trying to put it together using only his tiny claws.
He watched from the small balcony of the library as Spike pulled it down the stairs step by step, watching him wince each time the metal frame made contact on a step with a loud ka-chunk. Every now and then he would look up at Discord as he caught his breath; giving some sort of annoyed expression. He had been having so much fun observing the dragon's attempts that it didn't register what that look meant until Spike had already reached the bottom of the stairs and begun setting the bed up.
“Oh, did you want me to help?”
Spike halted from trying to pull apart the legs of the bed frame. “Oh no, this was totally easy, and it's not like magic would have made it any easier or that this would have made a good time for some pony to start practicing basic magic or cooperation.”
Ah, sarcasm. Something Discord was quite familiar with. “Well, you could have just said so.”
Spike looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself. In the time it took Discord to make it to the bottom of the stairs and over to where Spike was assembling the bed, the little guy had gotten one whole leg opened to the correct spot.
Discord didn't think he should be so quick to assume he would know what to do, these were things that didn't come so naturally to him, and even if he did manage to use the meager bit of magic that this body contained, it wouldn't be as substantial or really anything close to the level of fun he had with his normal power.
“Sometimes ponies won't ask for help, and whether or not they want it, you could always offer,” Spike stated as he moved on to another leg of the bed. “You're gonna be trying to help out with all the things going on around town like every pony else. You might as well practice.”
“But, what do I even do?” he asked. “I've never had to filter magic through anything before, much less a horn,” his eyes crossed as he stared momentarily up at the knobby appendage.
“Well Twilight might say something like, 'concentrate mentally on the completed structure and – using multiple steps of prestidigitation - create the desired effect',” the dragon rattled off as he struggled with the second leg.
“Multiple steps?” Discord now stood over where Spike sat, the amusement at his plight slowly leaving him.
“Yeah, since it's such a basic spell, you'd have to take something like using it for this in steps. Prestidigitation has a lot of uses, but they're all kinda simplistic. It pretty much boils down to 'picture what you want to happen, then focus until it starts happening'.”
“Why do ponies insist on making everything sound more complicated?”
“Because they can't just snap their claws and make things happen,” Spike answered, annoyance creeping back into his voice.
Discord shook his head at the dragon's impatience, but stepped forward and shut his eyes to concentrate regardless. Honestly, it couldn't be as hard to unfold as Spike was making it out to be, most likely he just wanted Discord to fix it for him so he wouldn't have to. It wasn't as if him sleeping down here so Spike would be able to watch him at all times was his idea.
Even using this limited magic, Discord was fairly sure he could set the thing up faster than it would take for the dragon to shut up about it afterward.
After an hour of trying to focus his magic through that stubborn useless pointy thing on top of his head, trying to pull the legs apart and straighten the structure piece by sluggishly-resisting piece...the bed was finally fully assembled. That was just in time for Discord to collapse face-first on top of it.
“Whoa, I think it might have actually been faster if you'd helped me set it up by-hoof,” he heard Spike chuckle.
Discord's ears drooped again and he turned over to face away from the laughter at his expense.
“Oh come on,” Spike said, losing his teasing tone. “At least you did something. Twilight said there'd be a bunch of things you weren't used to, but the whole unicorn magic thing probably won't take long for you to get. Just – you know – with practice.”
Encouragement, something else Discord recognized, but had only ever witnessed coming from Twilight. He wondered if she had taught him about that, or if that was yet another pony trait he had yet to master the concept of.
“The other part of it though – working with some pony – that you'll need to work on. We'll see what the others have planned for you tomorrow, and I'll help with the magic.”
The dragon made it sound hopeful, as if Discord shouldn't be dreading what was to come when he was placed under the tutelage of the other Element bearers.
In the time it had taken Discord to assemble the bed by what passed for magic in this form, Spike had brought down his smaller and much lighter-weight bed that had been set up at the foot of Twilight's. It appeared that he did not trust Discord to even be on the same floor as the unicorn's private inner-sanctum.
Sleep came much quicker for the young dragon than for the temporary-pony, and it did not seem long at all before the sun had risen, and he could already hear a forceful rapping on the door to the library. The abrupt sound jolting Discord out of the half-slumber he had barely fallen into.
Sitting up in the dim light of the morning, he couldn't help but notice that the knocking did not wake Twilight's dutiful assistant. Spike did not even roll over at the sound.
After the third round of knocking was not met with an answer, he could hear whoever it was shuffling around for something on the other side. A few more minutes of that – long enough for Discord to ease himself upright on the bed completely and frown still-tiredly at the door – and then he heard the pony calling out in a hushed yet still forceful tone.
“Spike, y'all up yet? I cain't find Twilight's spare key,” came the twanged voice of Applejack. Discord let a small groan escape him. The orange mare may not have been the last pony he would want to see first-thing in the morning on only his second day of ponydom, but she would certainly be in the bottom five.
Another round of knocking from the impatient earth pony could be heard before Discord moved to nudge the snoozing dragon with his hoof. At first Spike merely waved his claw at the nudge, mumbling something about his mommy. A couple more sharper pokes though finally caused his eyes to open and his head to turn upwards.
“Whaa?” came his sleepy partial-question, but it was then that Applejack called again from the door, and Spike sat up immediately to make his way to let her in.
Applejack smiled down at the dragon when he opened the door.
“Howdy, Spike. Sorry ta wake you so early, but it's my turn ta take you-know-who fer the day,” the end of her sentence lost a bit of its friendliness as she mentioned Discord, and her eyes swept over Spike to find him still sitting on the bed.
Spike stepped sideways to allow her entrance, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “That's ok, AJ. Let me wake up some more and I'll make us breakfast.”
“That'd be mighty nice of you, Spike,” she said, sounding far too awake than was really warranted in Discord's opinion. “I'll help if ya'll need.”
Spike slowly waddled for the kitchen to prepare, stretching a bit on the way. Applejack then turned to Discord, her smile vanishing.
“And what are you doin' still in bed?”
“Good morning to you too,” he mumbled as he finally rolled off the metal bed and set hooves to floor. “I'll have you know that evidently this body requires much more sleep than was previously necessary.”
“Yeah well, you better wake up fast, cause soon as we're done with breakfast I'm takin' ya ta the farm,” she stated, beginning to follow Spike to the kitchen.
So she really was going to be the first of the lot to try and show him something about ponies, was she? Well, that was just great. They couldn't at least start him off easier? Making cupcakes or something with the pink one?
“Why you?” his short question was abrupt, and came out harsh enough to stop the mare and force her to turn back to him. “Why do you have to be the first one? It's just out of all of you, I didn't expect you would be jumping at the chance to---”
“Because I drew tha short straw,” Applejack said firmly, shutting him up and turning back towards the sounds of Spike clanging around in the other room.
From the look of this morning, the rest of the day that lay before him did not seem like it was going to be much better. Then again, that wasn't the attitude that Twilight nor the dragon would find very constructive for him to have.
Three-fourths of the way through their journey Twilight had fallen into an uneasy doze, the lull of the train chugging along beneath them combined with the lull in conversation between her brother and herself appeared to be enough to coax a few more winks out of the unicorn.
That didn't stop her from being flung back out of her slumber again whenever her head spent too long against the vibrating window pane. It didn't matter if she kept positioning herself so that her head rested on the foreleg-rest, or even if she used her own foreleg wedged between head and window as a barrier. It seemed like every time she was about to drift off she'd feel another rapid stuttering beat against her horn.
They had gotten a late start, and she and Shining Armor knew that that would most likely mean a night spent on the train and arriving in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe her body was rebelling, hoping that Twilight would let it have a somewhat regular sleep schedule again after the previous evening. That night with Discord had been the first complete night of sleep she'd had in days.
Closing her eyes one more time and doubling her efforts, Twilight jammed a much-too-squishy pillow over her foreleg between her head and the window. Determined that this time she could remain comfortable-enough to allow for some sleep, she attempted to let the rhythmic sound of the engine carry her off yet again. Vague, partially-formed thoughts of cozy blankets and lumpy book couches floated past on her way out of consciousness.
After what felt like only minutes later to Twilight, the train's whistle blew and the engine began to slow. Her eyes shot open, instantly awake. Lifting her head to notice her brother massaging his neck with a similar look of instant defiant wakefulness about him, they both caught sight of their train car passing through the barrier that kept the Crystal Empire protected from the freezing climate outside.
Spires of prisms quickly grew to tower over them as they entered the train station at the edge of the city. The sun only hinting at making an appearance in the east meant that the streets would be fairly empty.
For the moment she could convince herself that this tempered rest she'd had was better than none at all. They would make a stop to see Cadance and to drop Shiny off with her, at which point Twilight hoped the library would be open. She did not plan to see much of the city, for once those doors opened she would refuse to leave until she found a book that held the answers she sought.
Morning had broken by the time they made it to the palace, and Twilight had assumed that most of its inhabitants would still be sleeping. As much as she wanted to see her sister-in-law she assumed that there would be a certain amount of waiting involved to do so. Shining Armor had even stated about how busy her days had become, which Twilight imagined made things even harder.
She was surprised therefore when they were met in the grand foyer by Cadance herself, flanked by two sparkling pink crystal mares and one silver stallion.
The princess's small entourage bowed at the sight of Shining Armor as they approached the middle of a giant snowflake design on the tiles beneath their hooves. Twilight was surprised and even a little bit embarrassed when they gave her a smaller bow of recognition as well.
“Shiny, Twilight!” Cadance greeted them with glee, raising a hoof to her mouth in slight embarrassment at her volume. Clearly she was attempting to maintain a more restrained and 'princessy' demeanor in front of her staff.. Not seeming able to help herself however, the young princess sprung from her delicate sitting pose to greet them in a way more befitting her family.
She hugged Shining Armor first, practically skipping into his open forelegs. When he'd released her she found Twilight and the two engaged in their usual greeting of 'Sunshine, Sunshine', their favorite rhyme that they had been doing since Twilight’s filly hood.
“I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon,” Twilight said once they'd finished giggling.
“Well, you won't be seeing me for very long,” Cadance answered in a half joking tone. “You've caught me in-between schedule items. I really wanted to at least meet you as you arrived, and I noticed I had a small amount of time after my morning routine and my pre-pre morning briefing.”
“Pre-pre morning briefing?” Twilight wondered out loud.
“Yeah, it comes before the post-pre morning briefing, and the pre-post morning re-briefing,” Shiny joked. “About ninety percent of Cady's days are spent in meetings these days. With a whole empire re-emerging into the world every country and kingdom around wants to talk to us.”
“I didn't think we'd be so popular,” added Cadance. “But it's just part of what I signed up for with this whole princess thing.”
“I understand,” Twilight nodded. “I can't fault any pony for wanting to keep on schedule. I'm glad I was able to say a quick hello before I start on my own.”
“Oh?” Cadance asked, with a look to Shining.
“It's about what's been happening over in Ponyville,” he said. “the whole business with Cloudsdale they sent us for the other day.”
“I've been trying to find a solution to the problem,” Twilight continued for her brother. “but my resources back home are a little lax.”
“So you need to use the library here,” Cadance correctly assumed. “I should have known. Well, I'm sure Mrs Dusthooves will be happy to help you again. I would send for her, but I think you probably want to be there already.”
Twilight's head lowered a little and she smiled a tad sheepishly. “Well, I wasn't going to just rush over there without saying hello...”
“That's fine,” Cadance gave her a playful wink. “I wouldn't want to keep you and books apart for very long.”
Twilight would have taken this as her dismissal, but then the young princess turned to her husband, playfulness subsiding.
“Any news from my aunts?” she asked, and Twilight had no trouble understanding what that was about.
“As far as I know, there hasn't been much of a change,” he answered. “Apart from the spell continuing to weaken. It's taking up a lot of power each time they trade off shifts.”
Cadance nodded, smiling again to Twilight. “I don't suppose you have some of that library time reserved on figuring out a plan for that too, do you?”
The unicorn's mind had gone back to Ponyville several times already on their walk to the palace, stuttering over Discord to avoid worrying about him too much. Cloudsdale and Tartarus were both in the plan, but the former was meant to be her focus – she had told him that – for the solution to the latter was obviously and ultimately down to Discord. She did very much want to help, and the opportunity that was presenting itself here was too good to pass up. She just hoped he was taking the initiative too.
Resolving to add that to the list, Twilight gave her a confident nod in return. “I'm on it.”
It looked as if Cadance were about to speak to Shining again when she stopped suddenly, her mouth closing and eyes flicking back to Twilight. The princess blinked a few times, and for a moment gave her an oddly scrutinizing look. Her eyes squinted and her head began to tilt, not unlike a curious dog.
The purple pony blinked too, not sure why Cadance had halted. She was about to politely inquire when the silver stallion that had accompanied Cadance gave a pointed clearing of his throat. Every pony's eyes found him looking concernedly at his watch, ears drooped with anxiousness.
“Your Highness, we will need you to oversee the latest preparations for the upcoming Unification Day,” the anxious silver stallion stated softly.
“Yes Smittey, I know,” the young princess answered with a quick glance back to Twilight that she only barely noticed. “we're on our way. Although I think we can spare a few moments to---”
“But then you will need to begin writing back to all the leaders who have requested to open trades with the Empire,” Smittey announced, pulling out a scroll with which he began to read out a list of names.
“There's the empire of Sea Serpentia, the kingdom of Cheval, the sultan of Haissan seemed particularly interested in---”
“I understand, Smittey,” Cadance politely halted his listing.
“Which reminds me, the translator from Coeur De Cheval should be arriving today to help you prepare for their princes' visit during the Unification festivities.”
“Very well” the princess tried again to interrupt. Evidently acknowledging that she was not going to be able to avoid her duties much longer. “We shall discuss all of that during my midday post-morning briefing. I do think however, I should be able to spare a few moments to say a goodbye to my husband and sister.”
Smittey stared blankly for a few moments before bowing awkwardly and beginning to slowly back away out of a side chamber. “Oh… of course, my apologies.”
Cadance smiled at him. “It's alright, I'm grateful for your diligence. Just a second and then I will be ready to go.”
Rolling her eyes dramatically as her smile lost a bit of its playfulness, Cadance brought both Shining and Twilight each into another quick hug. “Duty calls. Have a great day, and I hope you find what you need at the library.” She then looked to Twilight specifically. “I'll try to swing by later, perhaps before dinner. I want to hear about any progress you've made, and well... everything.”
Another odd pause as her eyes swept over Twilight. The unicorn tried to dismiss it though, waving her sister-in-law goodbye as she disappeared the same way her assistant had.
When the siblings were alone in the foyer, Twilight's eyes grew brighter.
“Well Shiny,” she said as her walk to the door became a slightly-bouncy trot. “That solution isn't going to find itself. To the library.”
Neither Discord nor Applejack was happy about this situation in which they found themselves. It was bad enough that Twilight – the only pony which they probably might have tolerated each other for – had up and left them with her brother to do research. Now AJ had been chosen as the first of the Elements of Harmony to ‘teach’ him something about being a pony.
This is why the former-draconequus - along with Spike - followed the earth pony off to her little farm, where she evidently was far too busy with apple picking and the like to actually have him stick around. At least that was how it appeared to Discord, since the first thing she did upon arriving to the small farm house was call for her brother to take him off her hooves.
“No offense to Twilight, but I think she’d understand that I just cain’t spend my whole day tryin’ to show you about tha honest part of being a pony when I got all this work ta do storing food jus in case Ponyville’s gotta evacuate.”
This was her excuse, but Discord merely assumed that she just didn’t want to have to deal with him. This did not really bother the temporary-pony in the slightest. It was only when she was passing him off to her Clydesdale-sized older sibling that she gave a rationalization for why she thought this was a good idea.
“Right now what we need is more stallions in tha field to buck and gather apples. Big Macintosh here’ll git ya started.”
From the look of his half-closed eyes and a frown that perfectly matched his sister’s, this stallion looked like a barrel of laughs. He was the same color as their barn and almost the same size. Only in his currently shorter, comparatively less-broad pony form would he ever feel even the least bit intimidated by this pony.
Discord looked around the four of them, he saw quite a few other ponies in the fields, there didn’t seem to be any great need for him to be doing this.
“And you think this will help me…why?”
“Honestly, I don’t,” AJ stated. Well, at least she lived up to her title. “But maybe an honest day’s work could do sumthin’ for ya.”
“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” Discord said sarcastically, then turned to Spike. “Will the assistant be coming along with me, or staying with you?”
“I think Spike'll be more help with Granny at the house,” Applejack answered, to which Spike protested.
“But I'm supposed to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't get into trouble.”
“Big Mac will make sure of that,” AJ assured him. “Plus if he does the work right, he'll be so busy he won't be able ta make trouble.”
This message was quite clear to Discord. This was a punishment in the guise of a 'lesson', something of which Spike need not have to participate. It irked him to be forced to play by Applejack's rules, but if this was going to be as long and boring as he imagined then maybe it was ok for the little guy to miss out. At least one of them should enjoy himself.
“No, you go on ahead,” he said to the dragon, earning a look of puzzled hesitance in return. “Not like I should have expected any different.”
Waving him away – though not coldly – he watched as Spike turned to try and catch up with Applejack, who had already turned and trotted away, leaving Discord with her larger, evidently quieter brother.
Big Mac did not greet him, but jerked his head for Discord to follow. They walked through the fields, passing ponies every now and then. Several minutes passed without either speaking a word. Too many minutes, in Discord's opinion.. Out of a need to break this tense silence that had swept over them, Discord tried to at least get the red pony to say something.
“So… are you a fan of apples, or does working with them day in and day out sort of ruin their splendor for you?”
The pseudo-unicorn’s joke fell flat, or perhaps it was shot dead right out of his mouth, or perhaps it was flattened underneath Big Mac’s enormous hooves.
The earth pony did not acknowledge that Discord had said anything in any case, though his frown became more pronounced as he took a side glance in Discord’s direction.
“AJ told me who ya are,” the work horse’s statement carried the same drawl as his sister, though deeper and more resonant. What he said caused Discord to blink, and his negative tone made him cautious as to what Mac was going to do about it.
“She did?” he asked, Big Mac still did not look over at him as they continued to walk, Discord having to take two steps for every one of his strides.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac gave in answer, though still not sounding happy about it. “Reckon’ she thought I should know who I’d be workin’ with.”
“Ah ha,” Discord found his lack of communication a bit more intimidating than his size. It was harder to get a gauge on this pony.
“Ya made her into a liar, and made me act like a dog.”
“Oh are you still sore about that?” he said, slightly relieved to understand the reasoning for his frankly cold demeanor. “Won’t happen again, don’t worry about that. Actually, it can’t happen again, as right now I’m not physically able to access my normal powers, and even once I have them back I can’t manipulate minds as I previously did.”
This did not seem to ease Big Mac’s behavior towards the unicorn. Perhaps the earth pony was waiting for an apology. If that was the case he may be waiting for a long time. Although it did set Discord's mind to think about that.
He hadn’t exactly thought about how his re-arranging of Ponyville and playing with the minds of its citizens had affected any of the ponies beyond the Bearers of the Elements. It had been them that he had been trying to get at with that particular trick, after all. The others had merely been his puppets… though this particular former-puppet might be able to crush Discord’s skull beneath his hoof in Discord’s current, much more fragile pony state.
Thankfully a sense of revenge did not seem to be present in the stallion, though he did seem to have a strong sense of mistrust for Discord that just kept reinforcing the family resemblance between he and the cowboy-hat adorned mare.
This exchange was the longest conversation the two stallions had during their walk to the field of apple trees, and besides Big Mac’s monosyllabic instructions on how to carry the baskets of apples to the carts they used to take them back to the barn.
The earth pony did not seem confident enough in Discord’s apple-bucking abilities to trust him to help with knocking the fruit from the trees, so Discord was stuck with the less-enjoyable looking grunt work. Again though, he shouldn't have been surprised.
“Do you think we should start on that side, and work our way around, or do you think we should go by reference?” she asked him as they entered the giant room full from floor to ceiling with books of every sort. Twilight felt her spirits lift and her hope spring up at the sight of them. Where there were books, there was the promise – or potential – of a solution.
“I don’t know Twily, I’ll follow your lead,” he answered, Twilight was so prepared to dive in that she didn’t notice his expression, but his tone told her that he found her reactions to this field of knowledge quite amusing.
Pulling back slightly from her determination, the unicorn acknowledged that very few ponies were ever as excited about doing research as she, and she knew her brother was not among them. He had been assigned to help and he wanted to help, but she didn't want him to help if she knew he would want to be elsewhere.
“Not that I don't appreciate your help, but you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. I know you would probably rather be spending time with Cadance.”
Shiny tried to shrug, but a nod came along with it. “Well, yeah. It's been a while since we've actually spent any alone time together. But hey, once this whole mess with Cloudsdale is over and the empire has been fully integrated back into the lands things will be easier.”
“Were any of those meetings she had today something you needed to be there for?”
“Nah, mostly she's going to be reading letters and writing responses. I'm usually there for the big stuff, but most of the day to day decision-making is her duty. Not that I don't contribute. I've been making efforts to get the empire's own guard back into fighting shape. If they ever need to fight, of course.”
He seemed to notice now that he was putting a damper on Twilight's book buzz. She knew that they hadn't been able to spend much time together, but she didn't know that it was to this extent. She didn't want to add to it when he was being so nice.
“Still, I know that this isn't really your thing. If you don't feel up to it – or if you get an opportunity – you can go ahead and find Cadance,” she said assuredly. “That's the whole real reason you wanted to come here instead, isn't it?”
Twilight smirked a bit when Shiny confirmed by grinning, slightly sheepishly. “Hey, it was a win-win.”
“So if you get the chance to sneak away to see your wife, I won't be mad,” Twilight stated. “You're a great brother, but you don't have to be such a great brother.”
She ribbed him playfully, and he ribbed back. “I might, but for now I'll stick with you, alright? At least to get you started.”
Twilight smiled, taking a moment to absorb the very atmosphere of the place. It had the feel of the library back in Canterlot, yet somehow it held an even older sensation to it. It might have been the crystals that gave it that solid, carved look, or the sheer size and number of the books and scrolls that were just within view, or maybe just its preservation for the last thousand years... it felt almost ancient.
Her eyes flitted from one pristine shelf to the next, lingering a for a moment on a doorway not too far from them, slightly hidden in shadow. There were surely even more things she could find to study in this place, she could spend days exploring... although she knew they probably didn't have that many days to spare.
Indeed Twilight was so distracted by her own determination and the siren call of the tomes she bumped quite literally into the librarian. The crystal pony staggered back a few steps, nearly falling over.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” she apologized to the elderly mare. She gave her a hoof to help her up, still startled as well as apologetic.
Once she was up, the mare adjusted her spectacles and straightened her mane, but didn't seem angered by the indent. “It's fine, it's fine,” she answered with a weary wave, as if she were used to these sorts of accidental bump-age.
Noticing Shining Armor standing behind Twilight, the librarian gave a surprised squeak and quickly went into a short bow.
“My apologies to you as well, I had know idea you were here Your Highness.”
Shiny gave her an acknowledging wave and smile, and Twilight began her explanation. “Hello ma'am. I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Oh yes, I do remember you,” the mare answered. “It would be hard to forget how you and your friends helped us. I don't know whether we were formally introduced though. I'm Mrs. Dusthooves, head librarian here at the Empire's largest – and only, really – library and archives. What can I do for you?”
“Where can I find your section on weather?” she asked simply. It would most likely be more complicated than that, but she had to start somewhere.
“Right this way,” Mrs. Dusthooves gestured as she led the way down a long row of shelves that ended near the bottom of a very, very tall spiral staircase. She halted at the base of it, stepping aside for Twilight and Shining Armor to begin their climb.
“Meteorology and Pegasi Studies are right up those stairs. If you need any help I should be at my desk. Also for future reference all sections are indicated with a placard above the first set of shelves.”
“Thank you, Ma'am,” Twilight said, craning her neck as she followed with her eyes the tiny crystal steps that made up the long climb they were in for. “I'm not quite sure how long we'll be. As long as it takes if I have any say in the matter.”
“I could always check on you if you like, or come to tell you when we close,” Mrs. Dusthooves answered.
“You might be closing by the time we get up there,” Shining joked.
The librarian pony bowed again and left the two siblings to their climb.
“I assume that researching typical meteorology will be worth a look, and maybe then cross-referencing it with the magical-aspects of weather manipulation,” Twilight rattled off the first part of her continuously-updating mental to-do list. As they climbed higher, she was keeping an eye out for the gold placards above each section, filing away in her memory where the next place to check might be.
“Whatever you say, Twily,” Shiny said, amusement still present in his normal helpful and brotherly tone.
It was tedious, tiresome, and frustratingly dull work, especially when working with such a stand-offish pony as Applejack’s brother. At least after a while of observing him, Discord did notice that his dislike of talking was not completely due to his presence. It appeared to simply be his nature. As other stallions would pass them and call greetings to him, Big Mac would only wave back, every now and then perhaps giving the occasional ‘eeyup’.
This would have made Discord feel better, though he didn’t get the same vibe that Mac was doing it on purpose with any pony other than him. He wondered if Applejack told him to speak even less to him than the stallion would usually, or if this was Mac’s own form of getting back at Discord.
Had he held any confidence in this body's meager amount of power, Discord might have attempted to load the apples onto the cart magically. His experience with the bed the previous night however – and what Spike had said – made him consider that doing things the earth pony way might actually be faster. He was just glad Twilight had explained some of the disgusting finer points of his new form... or he might have thought all this sweating he was doing was something like the bathroom conundrum.
After about the hundred-thousandth basket of apples was loaded onto the three-hundredth cart, the sun began to set and thankfully, blessedly, mercifully Big Mac gave the signal for the end of work.
The temporary-pony shuffled along in the back of the group of other work ponies, all heading towards the barn and farmhouse. He still figured that this was simply Applejack sending him away, for he still was in the dark as to what precisely this was supposed to teach him, unless it was to test the sheer amount of tedium and exhaustion his new body could stand before it collapsed in a quivering heap of grayish horse.
Discord had figured that Mac would be at the front of this herd of tired workers, so he was surprised therefore to suddenly see his massive red flank walking next to him. He looked a tad warily up at the earth pony, leaning a bit away from him as they continued to walk.
It took a while before Discord realized that Big Mac might actually want to say something, but he restrained himself from asking. He was too tired to really bother anyway.
Mac finally did speak again as they were near enough to see the lights in the windows of the Apples' home. The other ponies began mumbling wearily around them about supper and bed. Discord however did not think these were the topics on the red stallion’s mind.
“AJ says her friend Twilight’s been lookin’ out for ya, and y’all are friends now.”
Discord raised an eyebrow, not sure where he was going with this. “Uh, in a sense, yes.”
The short words coming from Mac were at least less unfriendly than they had been earlier.
“AJ’s tryin ta trust ya, fer her sake.”
“Could have fooled me,” Discord said. “It seems as though your sister would take any excuse to get rid of me.”
“Cain’t really blame her,” Big Mac said. Discord supposed that was more honesty from the Apple family. “Cain't say I trust ya much neither.”
“Then why did you even bother with taking me, or was this really an attempt to punish me?”
“I did it because my sister asked me to,” he answered. “You do for family, even if ya might not like it. If ya can, ya do.”
“But you didn't get anything out of it, did you?” Discord asked. “You just said you don't like me, so what was in it for you?”
“Didn't say I didn't like ya.”
“So... you do?” Discord cocked his head to the side as he looked back up to Mac.
“Didn't say that neither.”
Discord wasn't sure – he had little to go on – but he thought the stallion might have just made some sort of attempt at humor.
“But like I said, ya do for family. Ya don't always gotta expect sumthin' back,” Mac continued.
Discord slowed his pace down as they began to catch up to the others. “Well, I wouldn't know about that. Not much family to speak of.” Really the closest things he had to family were the two alicorns that had set upon him this plague of mortality.
Surprisingly, Big Mac actually stopped and waited for him to catch up, shaking his head at Discord's words as he began his own strides again.
“It ain't always the family you're born into. Ya might could consider friends as close as kin. I might could count this whole town.”
“That does sound like the pony thing to say,” Discord sighed. “You still didn't answer my second question about why I was made to be here today.”
Mac was quiet again for a moment, which by now Discord noted was much more in-character with him than the veritable chatterbox he'd been on this walk home.
“I don't think it was a punishment... you're still alive, ain't ya?”
“Barely.”
“I think AJ's doin' for Twilight tha same thing I'm doin' for her. What she can for her family, how she sees fit. She can be a might stubborn when it comes to protectin' her family.”
Discord was almost glad when they lapsed into silence, he hadn't been certain what to make of Mac's statement. It still sounded as if the stallion got the shorter end of the deal. And what was with that about considering the whole town family to him? Of course, it was a small town, he might be related to just about every pony. Discord didn't know them though, not all of them, and not enough to think about calling them anything close to family.
There weren't that many ponies Discord would ever just 'do' for, to use Mac's vernacular. It sounded a lot like a bond, but more like the bond he had with Harmony and now her daughters. Something required of one no matter what. Well, Discord wasn't putting himself through this for their benefit, he just wanted his body back. He didn't feel he had to prove anything to them... but then there was the thought of the purple unicorn who had stood by him – this current abandonment notwithstanding – would he be willing to 'do' for her?
The happy sounds of hungry, tired ponies reaching a resting place grew in volume ahead of them, and Discord was taken out of his pondering on the one bit of family he might have in the Crystal Empire.
As exhausted as they all were, the workponies seemed to regain enough energy to scramble into the house practically toppling over one another. Yet Mac still stayed back with Discord, possibly waiting for the crowd to thin out enough to allow entry.
“Cain't say you were the best, but ya dun a good job today.”
Discord took a moment before replying. “Thanks… I guess.”
With that, the quiet giant left Discord's side. It was clear that he hadn’t changed the pony’s mind completely about him, but that the stallion seemed to make a connection between doing a good job at work without too much complaining and his respect. He might have actually earned a point or two in his favor in Big Mac’s book. Discord supposed that was a good thing, although he was merely glad that the day was over, he’d ponder this conversation’s meaning at a later time.