//------------------------------// // Interlude: Celestia Confronts Discord // Story: Discord's Parting Gift to the CMC // by silvadel //------------------------------// Princess Celestia stared at the chariot flying next to her. The cargo, one statue of a draconequus, seemed to stare back at her. If any pony had told her just three weeks ago that she would be giving him a shot at freedom, she would have had the pony's head examined. Of course if any pony other than Twilight had told her that three new alicorn fillies had sprung up out of nowhere, they would have met the same fate; three stubborn, precocious alicorn fillies; the same fillies whose quarreling in the stone garden served to release Discord almost two years earlier. Her sister just encouraged them. When she was supposed to see how things were going and show them the process of her raising the moon, she gave them a constellation of stars. When she was to show them some of what it was like to sit in court, she put them on the throne. She even took them into other ponies' dreams. Luna always seemed to have a connection with young ponies, and was almost smitten with the three new alicorns. Celestia was concerned from the beginning that the fillies might recklessly or unintentionally damage Ponyville, or harm some pony with their new abilities, but thus far they hadn't shown any evidence of abusing their powers. Maybe her sister was right and they could grow into Princesses. The problem was that they were not going to have time to grow into that role. This was evident from a letter she received from King Piercing Crest of the griffon empire ten days ago invoking clause #4 of the Treaty of Claw Falles. The right of the griffons to discuss affairs of state with the alicorn of their choice was meant to give them the ability to choose between Luna and Celestia, not allow them to negotiate with Scootaloo. She had laughed at the prospect, replying that Scootaloo was only a filly, not an adult mare. Not being of age, she could not negotiate for Equestria. She did not laugh when the reply came three days later that they considered Scootaloo an adult mare in the eyes of griffon society. The proof given, that Scootaloo had requested and consumed a meat dish in the presence of a griffon, shocked Celestia. Unfortunately it was a legal rite, duly completed with no going back. Scootaloo was an adult in the eyes of the Griffon Empire. It would definitely be easier if they would just agree to go back to being normal ponies. Celestia sighed knowing that was unlikely to happen. The wild card in all of this was Discord. It was his magic that turned the fillies into alicorns, and especially if they were going to end up speaking for Equestria, it was necessary to find out if he had any control over them. She needed to know why he had done this and what his intentions were. Discord was hard to deal with under optimal conditions, but here she needed to take a firm stand. Her thoughts were interrupted by the chariot coming down for a landing in Ponyville. She dismounted from the chariot and watched as the one carrying Discord came in for a landing beside her. Six obviously anxious ponies were there to meet her. After a humorous outburst by Twilight, she explained to the elements some mumbo jumbo about them reforming Discord. It wasn't like they had any chance of success, but it would give her the chance to talk to Discord muzzle to muzzle. As expected they rapidly acceded to the task. Next she calmly relayed that Fluttershy would be the best one to try to reform Discord. From the reaction of the other elements to Discord's reform potential, she figured this was the best bet for Discord not being turned back to stone before she could confront him, as well as providing an out of the way place for Discord to be. Surprisingly, Fluttershy gave her little trouble and accepted the job readily. She gave her excuse about the royal summit and boarded her chariot, which took off into the sky. When the elements turned their attention to the statue of Discord, she hopped off the chariot and waited on a nearby cloud. The elements flawlessly conducted a harmony event and freed Discord. After he produced a suitable display of chaos, she watched as Discord followed Fluttershy into her cottage. She waited and waited. After a couple of hours Fluttershy finally left the cottage but only momentarily to bring back some supplies. Celestia sighed and went back to her stake out. A few minutes later, the house rose into the air and started to rotate. She saw Twilight and Spike walk up the path and call out to Fluttershy. Fluttershy left the cottage and joined the pair in conversation. Princess Celestia saw her chance and deftly flew in through the moving window. "Care for some tea?" asked Discord. "Actually we hardly have time for tea, but that is easy to fix." Discord snapped a claw and the velocity of the rolling cottage slowed to a crawl. "What do you have up your sleeves, Discord?" asked Celestia. "You want to know what I have up my sleeves? The answer is nothing." Discord rolled up his sleeve revealing nothing underneath. "The tea is quite good you know. Fluttershy has an excellent herbal blend." "What are your plans with Scootaloo?" clarified Celestia. "Miua, you cut me to the quick Princess," replied a bowing Discord. "I did nothing more or less than grant the filly a boon. She deserved it." "Scootaloo is an alicorn, Discord!" exclaimed Celestia. "Whoa, I figured she would use it to fix her wings or something but using the boon to become an alicorn," replied Discord. "Got to admire that one." He chuckled, "Hmm, I wonder how would that turn out: rival, secret love interest, some pony to keep Luna company?" "Actually, she and her two friends became alicorns," added Celestia. Discord looked confused for a moment. "But it wouldn't have had the power for that unless..." Discord boisterously laughed. "An earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus — this is just rich." Celestia blankly stared back at Discord. He flew into the air and did a stationary cartwheel while touching nose to tail. "They each shared some of themselves with each other." "But then how could they be safely..." started Celestia. Discord interrupted and with a sad look on his face replied, "Yes you are correct. I feel sorry for you Celestia but it would be impossible to reverse." He smirked and gave Celestia a quick nudge, "unless you want to kill them, that is." "Why would you think..." started Celestia. "How did I know you wanted me to turn them back into normal ponies?" wistfully countered Discord. "Well, why else would we be talking right now? You certainly didn't let me out in the name of friendship. You have spent thousands of years crafting your perfect little society and a few new alicorns potentially threaten to upset your apple cart." Discord pulled a weighty tome out of thin air. "I can read you like a book." He faced the book towards the princess, a white alicorn dominated the cover. "But you know as well as I that it is about those ponies out there. Fluttershy has ten times the heart that you ever had, and while you once had the fire of Rainbow Dash, her mane has more color than yours today. Between them and three new alicorns, the world will change without me lifting a talon. So I will tell you what, I'll put on a good show for the elements of harmony, and for the length of your reign I will play the part of Discord reformed, keeping my chaos mostly to myself. All I ask in return is to be able to watch as events unfold with no other restrictions beyond not doing anything where I deserve to be petrified." Celestia watched as Discord presented his foreclaw but made no move towards it. "This is a better deal than you will otherwise get," added Discord. "Fine, I will not order you petrified so long as you keep your part of the bargain." Celestia presented her forehoof, and a small glow manifested when they touched. Celestia took one last look back at Discord, and flew back out the window in the direction of her waiting chariot. When it came time for her to officially leave, she complimented the elements on their good work with Discord. She couldn't resist whispering a statement to Twilight about leaving the elements with her in case they needed them. The shocked look on Discord's face was priceless.