//------------------------------// // If You Shave A Pony Is It Naked? // Story: Twilight at the Disco // by 6ix //------------------------------// Twilight struggled to remember when she first got into the shower as the hot water flowed over her body. After a few moments of the steamy liquid beating against her back, Twilight really didn’t care anymore. Her body was still getting used to the extra weight on her back from her new wings; which themselves were hurting from being used more and more often. Twilight noticed that she couldn’t see beyond the steam of the shower. Every direction she looked she saw nothing but white emptiness. She felt a sponge start massaging the tension in her flank, undoing the knots in her body. An approving moan escaped her mouth causing Twilight to blush. She didn’t care who was doing this; as long as they didn’t stop. “A service to my Princess,” A voice whispered in her ear. Twilight recognized the voice to be Discord’s, but she found that it didn’t bother her. He hit every sensitive spot on her body as he worked his way up to her wings. She could almost feel her muscles coming undone; causing another sound of approval to sneak past her lips. As he past her wings to her shoulders, all her built up tension melted away. He found a spot on her upper shoulder that had been threatening her ability to roll out of bed in the morning. He dug into that pressure point, opening a flood gate of pain and pleasure that washed into her spin and down her front legs. She felt him press against her rear as he reached her neck; his tail rubbing up her leg; his body warmer than the hot water running down their bodies. His long body started to press against the rest of hers as his claws delicately made their way up her neck. As the comforting weight and heat of his body climbed its way across hers; his claws went up her neck to her jaw line, gently forcing her to tilt her head back and look straight up. As her eyes adjusted she found that Discord had positioned his head right above hers. Scarlet filled Twilight’s face as he got closer and closer to her; his eyes sifting from her eyes to her lips. The water suddenly and mercilessly became ice cold, causing Twilight to wake up with a jump. Never thought a shower would make me feel so dirty. She thought to herself as a shiver ran through her body. Twilight started to get up out, the pain in her shoulders and back reminded her that it was a dream, but she stopped; she threw off her covers when she understood why her dream was so…wet. Somebody thought it would be funny to put her hoof in a bowl of water; a juvenile prank that didn’t work. Unfortunately that didn’t keep the bowl from spilling and soaking her, and the bed, with it. She got out of the bed to find a towel and discovered that her linen closet had been intentionally raided. “Only one spirit has the spine to do this,” She said out loud. Grumbling to herself, Twilight walked to the door to ask a guard for a towel so she could shower. Irritated, she opened the door with more force than she intended; slamming it into somepony. “OUCH!” Twilight poked her head around the door, a look of concern on her face; she found Discord holding his left eye. He had apparently been trying to look through the keyhole. “Ow! My eye!” Discord said while covering the left side of his face. “What do you think the other officials are going to think about that?” He asked as he pointed to his eyeball still stuck in the keyhole "The abuse of your own advisor." A fake tear fell from his good eye. The concern was gone from Twilight’s face, replaced with a glare. “First, you’re an advisor to the court, not me. Second, I shot you across Equestria the other day. I'm pretty sure I can take any backlash from knocking you over with my door. Third,” she stomped her hoof in annoyance as she remembered why she was out in the hallway to begin with. “I woke up wet!” Discord pulled his bruised eye out, spit on it, and then buffed it with his lion paw. He then put it back into his eye socket good as new. “It happens to the best of us Princess; why, just the other day I woke up with a huge-“ “Discord!” Twilight yelled, her face flushed. “I was going to say Charlie Horse,” Discord got closer and whispered. “What were you thinking?” Twilight pushed his face away from hers. “No, no, no! I mean you got me wet.” “I have that effect on mares. It’s the white fluff on my tail,” he tickled her nose with it. “It drives the mares crazy.” “UGH!” Twilight yelled, throwing her hooves in the air. “Well if you that frustrated I can get you a stallion or two, maybe,” he started tapping his chin. “Another mare?” “No! You know what I want?” she took a step towards him; as steam blew out from her nostrils. “I want to put you back in the garden and let the birds poop on you!” Discord raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re into some weird stuff Princess.” ”AHHHHHH!!!” she screamed. Discord darted down the hall laughing as Twilight chased him. A tour group was heading through the main entrance of the castle. Most of the visitors were foals and their mothers. “This will be the last tour before they change the décor to include our new Princess, Twilight Sparkle.” The tour guide said waving her hoof to the art and banners on the wall. A filly raised her hoof. “Miss, what is Princess Twilight like?” “I have actually met her before she was a Princess,” The tour guide said gleefully. “Why, I find her to be one of the nicest and loving mares I have met. She is so well spoken, gentle, and smart. She would never harm anyone, we are all very lucky to have her as our Princess.” Suddenly Discord came flying through and did a 90° angle into the next hall. Twilight was not far behind him and tried to turn but ended up slamming into the wall, knocking over a several displays. “BUUCK!” She yelled as she climbed back to her hooves and took off. “GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERTED BAG OF EXCREMENT! I’M GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE AND PUT YOU UPON MY WALL!” A few moments of silence went by; then all the foals in the group started crying. Discord was enjoying his little game of cat and mouse. He took a sharp turn again but found he made a mistake when the hall ended at a window balcony, causing him to stop. “There you are!” Discord heard Twilight behind him. She was breathing heavily as she started taking large steps towards him, like a lion about to pounce. “I’m,” step. “Going,” step. “To”, step. “Dissect you!” Discord smiled and bowed to her. His tail opened the balcony window and flew out backwards, mocking her with a wave good bye. When he got far enough away he hovered on the spot and gave Twilight a triumphant smirk. Twilight just stared at him like he was some fool and snapped her wings open. “Oh, right,” Discord said to himself. Twilight shot off from the balcony and hit her target dead center, causing both of them to fall into the garden below. Discord landed on his back with Twilight on top of him. “You put my hoof in a bowl of water to make me pee my bed!?” she yelled at him not bothering to climb off him. Twilight sat back and folded her front legs together, pinning Discord down. “Do you have any idea just how annoying, frustrating, and…and,” she paused and smirked at him. “Lame that is?” “Lame?!” Discord yelled as he tried to get up, but Twilight wouldn’t let him. He gave up and started auguring. “I'm never lame. I’m Discord. I can’t even spell the word.” Twilight rolled her eyes at him. “Oh please, I'm best friends with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Do you know how often I got pranked by them? A hoof in a bowl of water; what are you a school filly?” “If it was so lame, then why were you chasing me?” Discord said as he poked her in the nose. “I, I,” Twilight didn't want to admit what she dreamt about. “I don’t know. I was just angry with you.” Discord started to get a victorious smile, but Twilight wasn’t going to let that happen. “You’re still lame.” She told him with a deadpan look. “You got knocked out of the air by a little, pony, Princess. You’re lame, and I can’t let you get away with it.” She got up and started walking towards him, his body still underneath her as she got closer and closer. Discord tried to back up but his body wouldn’t respond. Her face only an inch from his; he could feel her breath on his face. She stopped just a fraction of an inch when her horn lit up and a daisy popped out of Discord head. Twilight sat back down, once again pinning him down, and she giggled at her work. “You look so pretty now.” She mocked him. “A flower, really? And you thought my joke was lame.” He reached up and plucked the flower from his head; as soon as he did another one grew in its place. He plucked it again, and again, and again. Then he snapped his fingers and had the same results. “Sorry, Discord, but that flower is not going anywhere until I say it does.” Twilight said with triumphant smile on her face. “I’m very sure we gave each of you your own rooms.” A voice above them said. They both looked up to find Celestia standing over them. “I never knew you were so shameless, Twilight.” Celestia teased. Her face red, Twilight jumped off Discord. “P-Princess Celestia, I'm sorry we didn’t mean to cause a ruckus. I was-“ Celestia raised a hoof. “Princess Twilight, I'm not here for that; besides this is your home now, as much as its mine. If you want to chase Discord through the halls and then frolic in the garden that’s your right,” Celestia said with a grin on her face. Knowing that Celestia was teasing her now, Twilight just stared at her with flat face and narrow eyes. Discord, however, wanted to add his own flare. “Princess?” Twilight rolled her eyes over to Discord. She raised an eyebrow and took a step back. Discord had a white dress on with a braided pigtail wig. He was still on the ground laying on his side; he brought his knees to his chest and brought his claws close to his cheeks. “Be gentle.” He said with a blush. “Bleh!” Twilight went pale while her face contorted into an indescribable look of disgust. Celestia giggled at Twilight’s discomfort. “Princess Twilight, I did seek you out for a reason.” Twilight recovered from the shock discord gave her and turned towards Celestia. “I wanted to let you know personally that the ambassadors of the zebra and the griffins would like to have a meeting with you. I set aside the conference room next to the grand hall for you. They want to meet this evening.” “Meeting? With ambassadors, of other countries?” Twilight flattened her ears to her head with a nervous look on her face. “I can’t do that yet, I just had my first court. What if I mess up and they don’t like me?” Beads of sweat started running down her face. “What if I insult them and our treaties are broken? What if I start a war? What if they take me as a political prisoner?” “What if you show up to the wrong room?” Discord added. “What if the griffin is hungry and you’re the only thing he can eat? What if-“ “Discord!” Celestia yelled, pointing at Twilight. Discord followed her hoof and saw the state that Twilight was in. A crazy smile was on her face as her eye started twitching. Normally Discord would feel accomplished when he broke a pony like this, but this time a little bit of him didn’t feel right; though only a little. “I could always attack first, hehehe” she said to no one with her head tilted to the side, her eyes wider than what should be physically impossible. “Twilight, what do you normally do to get ready?” Celestia asked in a concerned voice. Twilight’s expression suddenly switched back to normal with only a few strands of her mane out of place. “I study, Princess.” she answered her. “Well then you know what to do until this evening don't you?” Celestia gave her a motherly smile. “We can handle court today. This meeting is far more important.” Discord started to stand up when he noticed that his coat was damp, after a moment he realized that Twilight got him wet and was partially soaked from the bowl. “Twilight we should shower.” Discord said out loud, talking more to himself than anything. Twilight went wide eye and blushed. “Buck no!” She yelled and teleported away leaving the spirit of chaos confused for the first time. “Discord?” Celestia spoke up. Discord shook his head of the confusion and gave her his attention. “I want you to write to the girls again, specifically Rainbow Dash.” “Why should I?” he said giving her a stubborn look. “And what about? “Talk to her about what Twilight is doing today and what you should do about it.” He rolled his eyes at her. Celestia started to walk away, but looked back. “Nice flower.” He ripped the daisy from his head, another grew back. Rainbow Dash was once again napping away the afternoon in her cloud home when her alarm went off. She rolled over to turn it off; mumbling to herself about not setting an alarm in the first place. She hit her alarm clock multiple times but the ringing wouldn’t stop. Rainbow dash forced her eyes open and found that her alarm was not going off. Instead a folded paper next to it was the ruckus. The odd scene woke her up completely. Rainbow Dash was thankful that the ringing stopped after she picked up the letter. Without bothering to see who it was from, she unfolded the letter. As soon as she did Discord head popped out and was eye to eye with her, his trademark smile on his face. Rainbow Dashed yelped and dropped the letter out of surprise; as it fell the rest of Discord came out of the letter. “I was sleeping, ya jerk!” she yelled at him. “Wait, did you mail yourself? And what’s with the flower on your head?” Discord smiled and silently picked up the letter and handed it to her. Reluctantly, she read it as he floated around in circles above her. Dear over the top, insecure pony, I have been given the horrid task of writing you; task fulfilled. Thank you, The most handsome spirit that has graced your eyes, Discord. “Really, that’s the best you can do?” Dash asked with an annoyed look on her face. “Your last letter was waay funnier.” “I quickly got bored with writing you, so I decided to pop in instead.” “Gee, thanks.” Dash said in a flat voice. “Now get out of here! “But the Princess wants me to talk to you, surely the element of loyalty will indulge her Princess?” He mocked her as he rubbed his claws together. “Fine,” she said in a defeated voice. “I don’t like this anymore than you, but I rather not be a bird toilet again.” He joked. Rainbow Dash expression soften a little. Discord went on to tell her about this morning and the meeting. He did add that Fluttershy convinced him to try and make Twilight a true friend. “Ok, that prank was lame.” Dash then flicked the daisy on Discord. “That flower on your head is funnier than what you did to Twilight.” Discord sighed “So I’ve been told. It just means I have to get her good next time. You can even help.” “Sure,” She shrugged. “I understand why the Princess sent you to me what with me being naturally talented and stuff.” Dash puffed her chest and wings out. “When it comes to your friends you should stick to your guns. Be 100% behind your friends no matter what!” “Does it ever rain in here?” Discord asked as if he wasn’t listening. Dash followed his gaze to her ceiling. “Wait! You can’t just-“ Discord snapped his talon hand and the ceiling started raining. Luckily Rainbow Dash’s house is a cloud so the rain just got absorbed back into the structure. That didn’t keep Dash from getting soaked; causing Discord to burst into laughter. “You know you started something that’s not going to stop, right?” Dash threatened. Twilight had taken Celestia advice and picked up everything she could on the griffins and zebras. Picking up a new collection of book after a crew of cleaning mares had just returned all her others made a few of the staff more than upset. With all the books gone the design of her room could be seen. Her quarters was oval in shape. She had insisted on simplicity, but the room dotted with things that reflected the intelligence Twilight possessed; scales, models, rare books and spells, plus the telescope on the balcony. The decor that tastefully lined her wall was old diagrams whose age and style made them look like works of art. Four doors and a balcony lined her room, at least to the ignorant. Along the wall, between the closet door and the balcony was a hidden door for her protection. A few geo samples and scrolls sat on a mahogany desk that was positioned next to her balcony entrance. Twilight had to fend off Spike from eating her samples on more than one occasions. Her bed was nearly three times the size it was back in Ponyville. As conservative as Twilight can be, she was so happy about the size that she squealed like a teenage filly when she saw it. The bed had blue covers and an exaggerated canopy. Along with more pillows then one needed; most of them were on the floor where Twilight preferred to read. Her room had a large walk in closet with many formal and traditional wear inside it. Tucked deep inside the closet was a small vault for her jewelry. Most of the time she went days without wear a single piece, not even her tiara; Luna had many fits over what she called a lazy habit. Her bathroom was right next to her bed for convenience. There was both a tub and a rather large walk in shower with two shower heads. The linen closet was outside the bath room. Twilight assumed that it was that way so that the cleaning mare would not have to interrupt anything. Lying in the middle of her room, she had gone through 4 books when she heard a knock at her door. “Spike, is that you?” Twilight had not seen her dear friend all day. No answer. Curious, Twilight made her way to the door. As she opened the door to Discord a sense of déjà vu and annoyance washed over her. “My Princess!” he exclaimed throwing his arms in the air. Twilight was not amused and wore her irritation on her face like a mask. “Your Princess is in another castle,” she said sarcastically as she tried to close the door on him. Discord, however, casually placed his lions paw on the door. “Come now Princess, don’t be like that.” A pair of spears suddenly bared his way. Twilight’s guards went into action the moment Discord became uninvited. Twilight sighed. “Its fine boys; he’s a pest not a threat.” Discord let himself in and closed the door behind him. Twilight, partially ignoring his presence, walked back to her pile of books. After lying down on her belly, she resumed her studies where she left off, but kept on glancing at Discord expecting him to do something. He just stood there rocking back and forth on his heels, his claws behind his back. Despite him being quiet and still for once, it annoyed her even more. “What do you want Discord?” she asked as her temple throbbed. “What do I want?” he placed his claws over his chest, as if Twilight insulted him. “I’m here for you.” He walked up to her as he spoke. “I’ve come to lend you my paw.” He ripped his lion paw off his wrist and tried to hand it to her. Used to his antics, Twilight lowered her eye lids at the paw and then gave Discord the same blank stare. “What?!” Discord asked in reaction. “It makes a great back scratcher.” He said as he demonstrated digging into his back with the severed paw. “Discord please,” Twilight said in a defeated voice.” I have a lot to work on.” She turned back to her book trying to ignore him again. “You may not care about this land but I do, please leave.” A hint of anger glimpsed Discord’s face before he reattached his paw. “Fine, I tried.” Without another sound he flew out her balcony. Twilight was so deep into her book she was unsure of how much time went by before Spike came into their shared room. “Hey, Twilight.” Spike stopped when he saw the new pile of books in the room. “Whatcha working on now?” he asked, rather surprised that she was back to studying. Twilight was happy for a break. She started explaining as she got up and stretched her legs, allowing the blood to flow freely. Twilight also informed Spike about Discord interrupting her. “Ok, but why did you kick him out?” Spike’s inquiry surprised Twilight. “What do you mean, Spike?” “Well yesterday you tried to hunt him down after court but we never found him.” Spike gave her a shrug. “Wasn’t that your chance to talk to him?” “I didn’t think about it,” Twilight answered honestly. “However, I have more important things to do.” As she answered him she returned to her lying position with a book in front of her. “Fair enough, but you sure he wasn’t really trying to help? I mean he did rule Equestria for a long time.” Twilight’s eyes widen when she realized he was right. Discord was trying to help but she had allowed her own animosity to cloud her mind. As the wheels in her mind kept spinning she believed that Spike was onto something. Discord could do anything he wanted. He didn’t need to rule over the land to enforce his power. He did care for Equestria, in his own twisted way. “He ruled, he cared,” Twilight said to herself as she got up. “What was that?” Spike asked not sure what was happening. “Do you know where Discord’s room is?” Twilight asked him. “I'm not sure.” Spike said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Twilight poked her head out the door and asked the guards to escort her to Discord’s room. To Twilight surprise it was right in front of hers. She gave them a sheepish smile as she crossed the hall and knocked on the door. There was no answer, but Twilight was not dissuaded. She opened the door, stepped through…and started to fall. She nearly forgot about her wings and spread them just in time to break her fall. When she got her bearings straight she found an almost foreign world around her. Rolling hills of polka dots, strips, and other random patterns etched out the land as far as she could see. When she looked back at the door she saw that it hung randomly in the sky. Like a portal back to her world. “He’s created his own universe in here!” Twilight shouted as she flew through the sky. Twilight had no idea how she was going to find Discord in all this…chaos. Every where she looked something peculiar caught her eye. Flowers that were blowing bubbles, a tree growing feathers instead of leafs, an animated parchment of paper chasing a rock, a pair of boulders doing the tango, and a heard of beds with legs stampeding across the plane. Twilight nearly had enough of this and was about to turn around when she noticed somepony chasing the beds. She decided to investigate; as Twilight got closer her curiosity paid off. She could just make out Discord riding a broom while swinging a lasso in the air. “Discord!” He could barely hear his name over the wind that rushed past him. “Discord!” It was getting louder. “Disco!” Discord started to look around. He soon noticed the purple dot coming right at him. He slowed down, pulling on a strap he nailed into the broom; allowing Twilight to catch up to him. “Hello Princess,” Discord said, this time it was his turn to be annoyed. He watched as the heard of beds started to pull ahead and out of his lassos’ range. “Thanks,” he said looking up at Twilight as she flew above him. “I lost my bed again.” “You can just sleep in mine again,” Twilight said giving him a smile. Discord pulled on the strap again; forcing the broom and Twilight to stop. Twilight had a feeling she was about to regret her little joke. “Yay!” Discord clapped his claws together. “Sleep over!” Discord pounced off the broom and tackled Twilight. He hugged her, squeezed her, and thrashed her around like she was a stuffed animal. Twilight gritted her teeth together and blushed as she was thrown around like a rag doll. “We can braid each other’s mane, and tell scary stories and eat popcorn and paint our hoov-“ Discord stopped long enough to look at his talon claw. “Claws and play spin the bottle.” Twilight finally got one of her hooves free and started to push and pull her way out of his grip. “Personal space,” she grunted through clenched teeth. Finally she snapped herself free like a rubber band, flinging herself across the ground. Discord flew up to her and encircled her like a boa about to eat. “Personal space is a waste of space.” He said as he pushed his face into hers. “Discord I just wanted to talk,” She said as she pushed his face from hers for umpteenth time. “Oh, now you want to talk to Discord?” Discord’s eyes widen as an idea came across his brain. “Wait, why didn’t you knock? You can’t just waltz into someone’s room.” Twilight looked over him in the direction of the door, which was a distant dot on the horizon. “Something tells me that you wouldn’t have heard me.” She said in a dry voice. “Look I’m sorry I blew you off.” Twilight let her ears drop as she apologized to the spirit. “I actually wanted to talk to you since yesterday. Why…why are you trying to help me?” She tilted her head up to look Discord in the eye Discord stared right back at her. Remembering his conversation with Fluttershy; ‘come on, say it’ he imagined her there, egging him on like she sometimes dose. “Um…” Discord rubbed the back of his neck. “What else are…friends for?” Twilight giggled a little bit. “I think me and you would make great friends.” “Oh, really?” Discord asked with a little anger in his voice. “Absolutely,” Twilight said without hesitation. “When it comes to friendships we’re very similar. I only started having friends two years ago and you just started 6 months ago. We both spent most of our lives doing what we want not caring about friendship or what other ponies thought about us.” Discord found himself speechless, a foreign sensation to him. “I was very awkward at the beginning,” she went on. “Just like you. So, yes, I really do think we would be great friends.” A few uncomfortable moments went by between the two before Twilight broke the silence. “Well I still have a lot of work to do I’ll, um, I’ll talk to you later.” She waived at him as she flew off and left the strange world behind. After an eventful day, Twilight was looking forward to the meeting with the ambassadors. Once she got control of her paranoia, that is. Her guards opened the door and escorted her into a room that she had never been in before. The conference room sported architect and decorations that reflected the grand history and society of Equestria; much like the grand hall does. In the middle was an exaggerated table where she found the zebra and griffin ambassadors seated. “Ah so we finally get to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The zebra spoke as he bowed respectfully. His voice was deep and smooth, yet it also sounded playful. His voice reminded her of chocolate and she could make out the same accent that Zecora has. “Hello ambassadors, I hope the castle has been accommodating.” Twilight said with a smile as she joined the table “It is nice here comrade, soft, but nice,” the griffin ambassador said, he also had an accent, one the northern griffins had. “I am Lazar Kaganovich, it means Iron Bird in your tongue. Me and my stripped friend are happy you agreed to meet with us.” “It’s my striped friend and I, Lazar,” the zebra corrected. “Forgive Lazar, your foals speak your language better than him,” he gave Twilight a playful smile. “I am Jabari ambassador of the zebras.” “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you. Let’s begin.” Twilight gave them another smile to let them know that she was listening. “We’ll after your first court we wanted to speak with you,” Jabari started off. Twilight gave them a nervous laugh as she remembered it herself. “Yes we find you very,” Lazar twirled his talon in the air as he tried to think of the right word to use. “Brave.” Twilight looked at Jabari hoping he would know what he meant by that. Luckily he did. “He’s trying to say you’re willing to make changes. More was accomplished yesterday then in my whole career here in these lands,” he said to her. “Oh?” Twilight said, a little surprised. “We wanted to warn you,” Lazar said, his smile conflicted with his verbiage. “Include, Lazar, not warn,” Jabari corrected him. “Include me in what?” Twilight had a bad feeling about this. Jabari put his hoofs together, tapping the edge of his lips; a grim look in his eyes. “Our government has decided to deal with the changeling threat in the simplest way.” “We will destroy them all,” Lazar said bluntly, his accent sent shivers down Twilight’s back. “Wait, we agreed an alternative solution should be found.” Twilight became very scared of where this was going. “Your government agreed, ours did not,” Lazar told her. “If the griffins allied with the zebras a war could be won with little loss,” Jabari added. “Please understand Princess. Their hive is on our northern border.” “And in our mountains,” Lazar cut in. “Every day we read reports of families finding out their loved ones were monsters, parasites,” Jabari continued. “They are not scared to invade our lands like they are of yours. Our people cannot wait for an alternative solution to present itself.” Twilight became horrified as she lost control of the meeting. As her panic set in, she started looking around like the answer was in the room somewhere. The two ambassadors were waiting for a response—Like vultures waiting for an animal to die. Suddenly the bright room became dim and ominous. Twilight and the other two started looking around wondering what was causing the shift in the room. “Hello ambassadors,” a disembodied voice said from nowhere and everywhere. Twilight saw Discord’s body fly through the windows, like he did when they first met. The ambassadors, however, had their backs to him. “Forgive the intrusion, but the stink of hypocrisy was hard to ignore. During my rule and even after, griffins would snatch ponies right off the ground for dinner. All of Equestria feared the monster birds from the mountains.” Discord’s theatrics were making the ambassadors nervous, but Twilight had seen this trick before. She should be mad at him for showing up uninvited; instead she felt more confident than she had when the meeting started. Discord came out of the windows. Only now he was far larger and more snake like than before, his feature have taken a more animalistic look than that of the goofy face Twilight was used to. His altered form reminded her of the eastern dragons she read about. Discord encircled the table with his long body before he sat next to Twilight. He rests his claws on the table digging into the wood. He leaned forward towards the two, his head nearly the size of their bodies, and bared his teeth. With fangs in front of them, an oversized body behind them, the ambassadors were trapped. At this point the ambassadors weren’t nervous anymore; they were pissing themselves. Twilight had enough and was about to kick him out, but then an extra head poked itself out of the neck of the oversized Discord; only it was the Discord Twilight was used to. The head smiled at her and wink before being sucked back into the neck. Twilight understood and decided to let him stay. Now she knew what this meeting was really about; how well Princess Twilight Sparkle could be pushed around. With Discord at her side, her confidence swelled. “P-p-Princess c-call him off, please! Jabari cried out. “No. I rather like him where he is.” She said with a smirk. Jabari finally was able to take his eyes off of Discord and look at the Princess. She was standing, her wings open and her head held high. He couldn’t read her face any more. It was just a flat emotionless face; and she was much larger then she was before, she didn’t grow in size but Jabari now felt smaller in front of her. This is not the Princess that walked in here a few moments ago, Jabari thought to himself. Princess Twilight scared him now more than Discord. “Lord Discord is right; the griffins use to be the monsters feared in these lands. I once read that, in the early years of Celestia’s rule, there was a horrific war that ended in the treaty that our two lands live by to this day. After that it was the zebras over cultural differences. Now it’s the changelings. Each time was the same; war or conflict then we learned about one another and then an alliance. We plan to skip all the death and destruction and go right to the peace part." “They don’t want peace!” Lazar yelled. Discord growled at him. “Neither did your people,” Discord said, the size of his voice matched the rest of him. “Something about ‘ponies are just food’; your own king at the time said that.” “Now we are the prey of the changelings,” Twilight added. “It’s now obvious to me what we have to do.” Twilight paused and looked the ambassadors in the eyes. “We need to broker an alliance with them as we have with each other.” Lazar suddenly stood up. “But our armies are already on the move.” “Then stop them,” Twilight said, her voice rose just a bit as she spoke. “If they attack the changeling while we are negotiating a truce, it will harm our own alliance.” “Threats, Princess?” Lazar retorted. “No,” she said defiantly. “It’s in our treaties. We agreed not to interfere with diplomatic relationships outside of our own. Therefore, if your government attacks the changelings while we are negotiating peace, you will break our treaties.” “I however,” boomed Discord. “Will turn you into a fish and feed you to your children, if you fail the Princess. Same for you, Jabari, I'm not sure what zebras eat, but I'll find out. That was a threat.” “Do we have an understanding?” Twilight asked. The two nodded. Suddenly Discord retracted his body to his head, like rope on a pulley. With a loud pop his body was back to normal and so was the room. He smiled and waved at the ambassadors. “I believe you two have work to do. Have a wonderful day.” Twilight said before she and Discord left the room. Right before Discord shut the door he blew a raspberry at them. Lazar turned to Jabari and said, “Did Lord Discord have a flower growing out of his head?” “Thank you Discord,” Twilight uttered softly, once they were in the hallway. “I studied the history of griffins, thinking it would be useful, but I don’t think I would have thought to use it that way if you hadn’t shown up.” She gave him a warm smile. “I know, I’m a saint.” Discord responded making a halo appear above his head while attempting to look innocent. “Well I wouldn’t go that far, but thank you,” she started to walk away but Discord followed her. “You're smart. Well... at least you claim to be. What do zebras like to eat?” Discord asked Twilight. “Well my friend Zecora likes cupcakes.” She answered ignoring his back-handed compliment. “Then I shall turn him into a cupcake with black and white frostings.” He joked. Discord randomly started doing a backstroke in the air to keep up with Twilight. She raised an eyebrow at him but decided to ignore his antics. “You should tell Pinkie Pie that joke,” she said wanting to keep the conversation going. “She may find turning a zebra into a cupcake amusing.” “Yeah, she would get a kick out of that.” He mused. Suddenly Pinkie Pie dropped her bowl of batter mix and looked like she was about to cry. “Pinkie, are you ok dear?” Mr. Cake asked her out of concern. “I just felt so many ponies cringe over a cupcake. Cupcakes shouldn’t make you sad, cupcakes are happy.” She looked up at Mr. Cake, eyes filled with tears. “Cupcakes are happy.” Mr. Cake looked alarmed and confused. “Pinkie, did you take your meds this morning?”