Twilight awoke slowly to a faint metalic smell. Dismissing the thought, she tried to yawn, only to discover that she couldn't open her mouth at all. Sitting up in alarm she swivelled her head left and right before flattening her ears to the sound of an obnoxious laughter she hated.
Still chuckling, Discord materialised in front of her and casually said, "Twilight, really. I would have thought you would be used to that joke by now," as he pulled the copper muzzle off her.
Free to respond, she shot back, "And I would have thought you'd at least have the decency to hold off until I was awake."
Stroking his goatee with his talon, he shrugged conceded, "I suppose it WAS rather discurteos of me... But since you ARE awake, I assume you would want to know my reason for being here, correct?"
Releasing the yawn she was denied, she gave him a flat stare.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it involves my newly apoointed house guest."
"Yes. Dearest 'Tia decide to request that I observe its reactions under the various trying situations that seem to gravitate around you and your friends. She seems deeply concerned about it interfering with some plan of hers," the hybrid creature responded, all while clapping with an exagerated slowness.
Opening her mouth to inquire about what he meant by that statement, she was interrupted by soft, heavy impacts on wood, as her human guest made its way upstairs.
When she redirected her attention forward, Discord was gone, leaving her with more than a few questions that she knew she wouldn't get answers for.
[-]
As I reached the top of the stairs, after heading down from the balcony and taking the time to explore the library, I looked at the seemingly alarmed Twilight and stared for a few seconds before silently returning down-stairs to peruse through the library's collected written knowledge.
After pulling a random book from what seemed to be the history section, I started reading absent-mindedly while listening for the sound of my designated keeper. After acknowledging that Twilight had moved past me and into her kitchen, I began to doubt the book was intended to be shelved with the history books, as it mentioned pendants and talismans and other such artifacts with 'magical attributes', though there were a few which piqued my interest.
A couple of these were the 'Alicorn Amulet', with its corruptive nature, and the 'Elements of Harmony', which while I found their whole concept utterly ridiculous, it was also somewhat amusing.
But what I was really interested in was the many seemingly useless objects, such as scepters, spheres and the like, created by an entity known as 'Discord', which I also found ridiculous, and while most were measured to have seemingly limitless magic, none of the known species could use them as anything more than a fancy tools to smack others with.
Why did I find the seemingly useless artifacts fascinating?
Because they were seemingly useless, which for some absurd reason, amused me.
[-]
Spike watched from the kitchen doorway as their guest leaned up against a wall, book in hand with an unreadable expression on his face.
There was something about this creature that unnerved him, and it wasn't just that he was able to beat Twilight and her friends into submission. It was because he seemed...off, but Spike couldn't quite place how.
He was interrupted from his ponderings by a sudden knock on the library door.
After opening the door only slightly to see who it was, he opend it wide and smiled at the mint green unicorn.
"Hey, Miss Lyra."
"Hey, Spike," The unicorn responded warmly.
"I'm here to return this," she continued, pulling out a rather worn looking tome.
"Could you please thank Twilight for me for lending... me her copy... of..." she trailed off looking past the diminutive dragon.
Following her gaze, he mentally face-clawed at his recklessness.
[-]
As the two went quiet, I turned my head in their direction to see a look of immeasurable joy spread across the unicorn's face before she gasped and ran off, letting the book she was levitating drop without a thought to it.
As the dragon slammed the door and started hyperventilating, I let a small smile cross my features and said, "I won't say anything if you don't," without looking directly at him.
I almost laughed as he visibly snapped back to the present and said, "What?"
"I said I won't say anything if you don't."
"...Okay?"
Ignoring the confused dragon, I closed the book and set it on the small table in the middle of the room.
[-]
Tripping repeatedly in her rush to get home, Lyra acquired a collection of scratches, a couple of them with thin, crimson trails.
Bursting throught the door and startling her room-mate she started frantically searching for her camera and research notes.
She'd found one.
[-]
Walking into the library's kitchen, I watched my purple host move from place to place before getting a glass of water and returning to the many books that seemed potentially interesting.
As I looked through the shelves, I heard Twilight enter the room and turned my head only slightly in her direction as an acknowledgement of her presence.
After she cleared her throat in what was evidently an attempt to get my attention, I asked, "Can I help you?"
After a brief pause she said, "It was Connor, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
You could almost feel her relief.
"Oh good. Um, anyway, Would you like some breakfast, Connor?"
"No, thank you."
"Why not?" she asked with a confused frown.
"I don't usually eat breakfast," I responded as I read the spines, sub-consciouslly following my sight with my index finger.
"Is it a human thing, to not eat breakfast?"
"No, it's a personal decision that changes on a semi-regular basis."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
pause. "Consistency?"
Somewhat surprised to have recieved a logical answer, I looked away from the books and watched the unicorn out of the corner of my eye.
"You make a valid argument, but it's not a significant enough reason for me to adjust my personal mannerisms."
"What makes you say that?" she rsponded.
Returning to the books I quipped, "Nothing makes me say it. I simply do."
"So it's pointless?"
"Pointless is an opinion. Nothing more."
"Okay... So, would you like some breakfast now?" she asked.
Chuckling, I answered, "Good try, but no. I will gladly have a cup of coffee, though."
Pleased to just have a result, she exclaimed, "Sure! how do you have it?"
"Black with three teaspoons of sugar."
With that she trotted back into her kitchen.
As she waked back into her kitchen, she levitated the book the green unicorn dropped earlier onto a shelf, giving me reason to re-evaluate my previous assumptions about some of the artifacts I had read about only a few minutes prior.
Tearing myself from my thoughts, I looked out the window to see a mint green horn barely in view.
[-]
Camera in hoof, Lyra was determined to get a picture. For years ponies had called her mad for believing in humans, and now there was one.
Here in Ponyville.
After hurrying back to the library, after recieving a talking to from her room-mate for nearly scaring her to death, she attempted to be as inconspicuous as possile and ultimately peek through the many windows in an attempt to see her prize.
Getting lucky on her first window, she saw it leaning against a wall and conversing with Twilight.
As soon as Miss Sparkle moved away from the human, Lyra raised her camera, but just as she was about to press the button, the human looked her way, causing her to duck involuntarily.
[-]
Walking over to the window, I thought over my approach to this situation and decided to try the one I felt was least threatening.
Standing to the side of the window, I announced in a casually disinterested tone, "I know you're there. You don't need to hide."
I almost laughed as the unicorn from earlier slowly lifted her head with a sheepish grin.
After an awkward laugh, she half mumbled, "Umm...Hello. Nice to meet you?"
"Yes, hello," I said quickly, "If you want to talk, come inside. It's awkward enough talking to you throught a window, but I'm concerned that you'll attract attention."
Another sheepish grin. "That might be better, thank you."
The moments that followed included an awkward attempt to climb through the window and face-planting with enough force to make me wince, but we soon found ourselves seated across from each other, but not before taking a photograph to compare to her sketches.
Me waiting for her to open dialogue and her squinting at me with her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth, like I was a puzzle she couldn't figure out.
AWKWARD SILENCE!!!
Pinkie, go home. My story.
Aww.
Yes, well anyway, when several minutes of the afformentioned awkward silence had passed, Twilight returned with what was presumably my coffee.
Upon seeing Lyra, her eyes widened and the mug dropped as both it and her horn lost their aura.
Looking at the dark, traslucent fluid spreading on the floor, I stated with my still-neutral tone, "I was looking forward to that."
Oblivious to my comment, Twilight exclaimed, "Lyra! What are you doing here!?"
"Did you honestly expect me to NOT find out you had a human here, Twilight?" Lyra deadpanned, fixing a similarly flat expression on the lavender unicorn.
Ignoring the question, Twilight rushed over and, essentially, begged Lyra to not share knowledge of my existence.
When those attempts fell short, she turned to me and asked me to reason with her.
Amused by the situation, I shot her a near-imperceptible smirk and responded, "I never agreed to hide."
She was slightly taken aback by this. "But princess ordered it."
"No she didn't. That was YOUR decision. Celestia only wanted data."
"Excuse me," Lyra interrupted, "I'll keep quiet about him for you, Twilight, so long as you share your research with me and let me compare notes on what little information I've already gathered."
Turning her attention to Lyra, Twilight answered, "While that DOES sound reasonable, I think it's no longer relevant now that Connor's decided to go out, regardless of what I want."
I frowned. "I never said I was going out."
Eye twitch. "But, you just-"
"I said," cutting her off, "I never agreed to stay a secret. But that in no way indicates any desire to venture outside. Until I find a reason I deem acceptable, I will remain indoors."
"...Why couldn't you just say that from the start?"
"Because, sooner or later, you would start to assume you would be able to predict my intentions."
Neither of us noticed when Lyra left the library around this point.
"Why do you assume that?"
"It is in nature of all sentient beings, regardless of developmental stage."
"Well, that's a little judgemental. Not to mention, mean."
"I'll give you truth, not consolation. If you want consolation, talk to a friend."
"You mean we're not friends?" Twilight asked with tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"While I feel that you will not truly understand the cynical philosophy that I live by, I will share it with you."
I released a heavy sigh and turned to face her.
"'There is a vast difference between what we know, what we see and what is.' You know friendship is valuable. You see me as needing a friend. But you fail to see and understand what is when it comes to me."
Pause.
"You're right, I don't understand you."
Smirk. "Nor would I expect you to. When you figure me out, then you might have a chance of befriending me."
"But how do I do that?"
"You're smart. You'll find the answers in due time. I'm sure of it."
There was a brief, but not uncomfortable pause as she processed everything I had just told her.
As she came out of her thoughts, she looked up at me and asked, "Would you like me to make another cup of coffee, seeing as you never got your first one?"
With a slight chuckle, I nodded the affirmative and watched her trot happily back into the kitchen.
[-]
While all this was happening, Discord was upstairs, listening in.
When Twilight went to make another coffee, he willed himself to the throne room in Canterlot, almost pushing Celestia into a cake that had just been brought out.
Noticing what he'd almost done, he bowed mockingly, saying, "My sincerest apologies, Celestia. I was unaware you were about to add more mass to your... sun."
Wiping the icing off her nose from the piece she was levitating, she replied, "While I am willing to tolerate your pranks and... 'accidents' ...I would appreciate it if you kept your comments about my sweet-tooth AND the size of my posterior to yourself."
Rolling his eyes, literally, Discord relented, "Fine. I suppose petty insults ARE beneath me, anyway."
Placing her slice on a small plate to the side, celestia gave Discord her full attention. "I assume you came here for a reason?"
"Yes, it's about your student and the human," Discord said, pickling up one of his eyes and putting it back where it belonged.
"What about them?"
"He has, for the moment, rejected her friendship while she seems to be determined to attain it."
A look af mild confusion crossed her face. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"While I may not know what you're planning, I know you intend for it to be soon. I highly doubt this human will have accepted her by then."
"What makes you so sure?"
Moonwalking out of the room through a wall, he answered, "There's just something about him. Little Luna might have a better idea though."
Looking to the stairs that lead to her sister's room, It took Celestia a whole minute to decide on a course of action.
After declaring day-court postponed until further notice, she made her way to Luna's room, ignoring the myriad of saluting guards as she passed them, and upon entry, she immediately saw the balcony doors were open and Luna just staring in the direction of Ponyville.
Concerned, she approached slowly, and asked, "Luna? I everything okay?"
Fidgeting slightly, Luna didn't turn her attention, but replied, "Yes, Sister, I am quite fine. I am, however, concerned for another."
Celestia took up a position beside her. "The human?"
"In his dreams, I saw something. Something I don't quite understand."
"What was it you saw to affect you like this?"
When no response came, she turned to her younger sister. "Luna, please tell me. What did you see?"
"I am sorry, Tia, but it is not my place to share what I saw. I intend to visit his dreams again tonight, and ask him about it."
"Very well then, Luna. I'll leave it to you for now," Celestia relented
As she was leaving the room, she turned her attention back to her sister and said, "Please be careful, little sister. We don't know what could set him off or what he could do if something does."
Turning her head towards Celestia, Luna answered, "I share your concerns, sister. I, too, am worried."
When the door had shut, the Princess of the night moved to her bed so as to conserve energy before it came time to raise the moon.
As she lay her head on the pillow, she said to herself, "But, I'm more worried about what he would do to himself before he's finished."