//------------------------------//
// Consequences 
// Story: Direction 
// by Darth Link 22 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash grumbled as she walked along the Royal Gardens. “Stupid Applejack, making me do all the work. Phe."

Even as she said the words, she knew Applejack was making the best sense. There was no hope getting help on the farm from Celestia, if they wanted to keep ponies from knowing what they were doing. But why her? She had a foal, a coltfriend, important work in Ponyville...

She was suddenly spun around, a pair of lips crashing into hers. Her eyes widened, but before long she felt herself kissing back.

As their lips broke apart, she spoke, "You know, one of these days I'm going to hurt you for that."

"Promises, promises."

"You seem to have gotten your part of the problem under control."

Soarin sighed, and in a flash he went from his usual self to looking very tired. "I wish. Spitfire just got finished running changeling checks on every single Wonderbolt, from her to the new recruits, and having wards installed in every facility. Soon we're going to be interviewing every member."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "I'm glad to see you're above suspicion, at least."

Soarin actually laughed. "I wish. As soon as it happened, Celestia pulled all the top leaders of the EUP into the palace. She grilled us all so hard, I thought my brain was going to snap in two." He rubbed his head, as if some pain had just sprung up again. "Whatever's going on, Celestia isn't taking any chances."

"After what happened, I can't say that I blame her." Rainbow Dash looked out over the garden when she noticed two more ponies coming toward them. One was a Royal Guard, but the other seemed like a broken stallion. His red coat was covered in dust, and he was looking down at the cobblestones.

"Who's that?"

"Hm. Looks like his walk was earlier today."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "His walk? Wha..." She trailed off. The pony was a unicorn, she could see now, one that was wearing a horn ring. As he got close enough, he looked up at the pair of pegasi, and gave a look of contempt. "Well... if it isn't one of the lapdogs." His words came out in barely distinguishable mumbles.

"What are you talking about..." And then, she saw his cutie mark. A spring of Olives...

"You're Olive Branch?"

"My reputation precedes me," he said.

Rainbow Dash just gaped. She had never met Olive Branch in person, but everything she had heard about him was in sharp contrast to what she was seeing. He has been a boogiepony, a monster who had orchestrated all the problems Scootaloo had been through. He held his head high until he was caught, then he was a comically blubbering loser. But this...

"They let you out for your daily walk early, did they?"

Olive Branch barely shifted his head to look at him. "They could at least do that. They still won't let me near the kitchens. Afraid I might find a knife." At Rainbow Dash's shocked expression, he added, "For me, my dear. For me."

"Come on, you only get an hour of exercise time." The tone was authoritarian, but surprisingly gentle. Olive Branch didn't fight it as he was led away.

"What happened to him?"

"Bad bookkeeping."

She shot Soarin a look. "Huh?"

Soarin looked around. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah..."

"Celestia put Luna in charge of his punishment. She ended up using something called a reformation spell. It's something harsh... apparently, it made him feel all the pain he caused. Celestia freaked out when she found out exactly what she had done."

Rainbow looked at the form slowly trotting away. "Luna was allowed to do that?"

“About two hundred years before Luna got banished, it got restricted to just the princesses. When Luna left, Celestia just stopped using it. She never bothered to criminalize it, so it just sat there. Luna saw it was on the books and figured it was still game..."

Rainbow Dash looked at Olive Branch once more, not sure of what to think. "I heard what happened to Rabble Rouser... he got life for treason. Scoots’s parents apparently got off lightly since they signed Scoots away to me."

"You heard right," Soarin said. "Olive Branch had his sentence reduced to five years. They figure with the spell that's long enough. It'll be taken off of him... assuming the palace psychologist says he isn't a danger to himself or anypony else."

"Does... Twilight know that?"

Soarin shrugged. "We were told to keep it to the higher levels of the military... that includes you, since you're a Bearer. I guess Twilight knows, though I can't imagine she's happy with it."

"...I think we would have heard something if she knew." There was no way Twilight would keep quiet if the pony who nearly got her son killed was going to be walking free so soon. "I just hope she's staying out of trouble..."





"I told you this would be cool," Scootaloo said smugly as they walked into the main antechamber. This had been where the Elements of Harmony had been found here, from what all three knew,  and it had been a natural place to start.

"Great... so what are we supposed to be looking for?"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at Sweetie’s comment. “Something cool, obviously! Come on, the Princesses used to live here! There’s bound to be something good.”

“Like what?” Sweetie was suddenly shouting. “The Princesses moved out of here centuries ago! They took everything with them! There’s going to be nothing here! Nothing! Nothing!”

Both of her friends were caught off guard by this sudden outburst. Apple Bloom dared to speak. “Sweetie... come on, calm down...”

“No! You dragged me off into this spooky castle! We could have done something nice and quiet in town, but you just had to come out here were there are cockatrees, and manticores, and...”

“Hey, it’s not that bad...” Scootaloo was now sounding angry, but it did little to get Sweetie to back down.

“Yes it is! We’re right where everything bad happened and... and... urg!”

She stomped her hoof down. And then she stumbled. Because the stone she struck on the floor suddenly caved in. 

She realized she had stomped a button only a split second before she realized that she could no longer see her friends. But she could hear them, their cries of surprise and fear getting further away.

She realized they had each fallen down their own separate trap door.





Rarity finally left the Princess's chambers, feeling like her horn was going to fall off but confident that she could cast the spell that Celestia had taught her. She passed Fluttershy, who made an effort to enter the chamber before Rarity could realize she was there. She worried a little, as her friend was in a good deal of pain and likely wouldn’t have noticed Discord dancing under her muzzle.

"Fluttershy?" Celestia had been just lifting herself up when the pegasus entered. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yes. I'm sorry, but... I really want to talk to you about something."

Celestia motioned to one of the cushions. Fluttershy took her seat. "How can I help you?"

Fluttershy shifted. "Um, well... this has been bothering me since... since Discord."

Celestia tensed. "Fluttershy, did you talk with the therapists about this?"

"Yes, but... they couldn't help me. I need to talk to somepony who knew Discord... Oh, I'm sorry, Princess. I shouldn't have brought this up, I know it can be painful for you..."

"Fluttershy," Celestia said, being as gentle as she could while still making sure that her subject stopped, "I understand your needs. I suffered under Discord. I can share your pain. Whatever you wish to ask me, do so."

Fluttershy looked at the Princess a moment, then took a deep breath. "Would it ever be possible to redeem Discord?"

Celestia had been expecting many questions. That had not been one of them. Her eyes actually widened, which hadn't happened since Chrysalis’s disguise had melted away nearly a year ago.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I knew I shouldn't..."

"No, no, it's okay. It's just... you're the first pony that's ever asked me that."

"Oh, I hope I didn't offend you. You told me what Discord did to you..."

Celestia placed a hoof on her head. "Do not fret. I have wondered the same thing you have."

Fluttershy blinked. "Really?"

Celestia nodded. "Two or three millennia gives you a lot of time for thinking. I have wondered of Discord's nature in that time. Especially once my sister was banished. I spent many nights looking at the moon in pain, hoping the Elements would free her. I counted the days until I was told it would happen. And I wondered that if my sister deserved freedom even after her crimes, why not him? He killed everypony I cared about save my sister, true. But NightMare Moon likely did the same for some family, or would have if she had been allowed."

Fluttershy nodded. "Discord is the embodiment of chaos, isn't he? Doesn't that mean he can't help but be the way he is?"

Celestia shook her head. "Saying that any creature is the pure embodiment of anything is a bit of a misnomer. True, Discord was born from the Darkness and crawled from Tartarus. But the moment that Darkness gave him sentience, it gave him the ability to make a choice. Any creature who can choose can't truly embody anything. Discord is who he is because he chose to be.”

"Have you ever considered giving him another chance?"

"...Once or twice," she admitted. "You'd be surprised what a thousand years of thinking gets you to consider. But every time, I've decided against it. Discord may deserve a second chance, but not at the risk of condemning the rest of the world to his rule. And even if I had decided that it was worth it, Luna always said no, and once she left, I couldn't touch the Elements.”

"Um... are you saying it's hopeless for him?"

"The Creator is a perplexing being, Fluttershy," Celestia smiled. "If She wills, perhaps. Perhaps the Elements will see fit to set him free in due time."

Fluttershy blinked. “How did you know that his last escape wasn’t his time?”

Celestia was silent for a moment. "Let's just say... a friend told me."

“Who...”

“Never you mind.” Celestia was firm this time. “You needn’t worry about it. Just be assured that I refuse to find out. Knowing too much about the future is tricky. That’s why there are limits on time travel spells and the like.”

“Oh, I see...”

“I do not know how long the Elements will hold him, and I fear if I did, I would keep him locked up too long and ruin any chance of redemption he has... if he truly has one.”

Fluttershy nodded. She swallowed and found the nerve to speak again. “I’ve... been wanting to try, Your Highness. After it happened, I... needed to know there was good in everypony.”

Celestia put a hoof on her. “Fluttershy, listen. Do you remember what happened when you confronted Discord for the final time?”

“...He didn’t think we fixed the Elements. He thought they’d fail.”

“And do you remember what the Changeling Queen said about Cadance and Shining Armor’s love being a strength?”

“She thought it was foolish... even though she fed off of it. I never understood that.”

“You will soon. Do you know what Olive Branch believed? That I must know how to give immortality, or know the secret to it. He thought I must have had done this to myself.”

“Um, okay. Why are you telling me this?”

“To illustrate a point to you. NightMare Moon thought she could defeat the Elements by shattering them. Discord thought he could do the same by causing petty squabbling. The Changeling Queen was surprised when Twilight returned after we... walked out on her.” Fluttershy winced with her. They doubted that would ever stop thinking of that as a painful memory. “She saw love as a food source only she could access. And Olive Branch assumed that there was no true benevolence in us.

“Fluttershy, the Elements of Harmony are powerful because love is what keeps the world running. It exists in every creature of sentience. Yes, even in Discord, somewhere. The truly evil ones are the ones that try to deny the world is the way it is. They see everypony as being every bit as cruel and power-hungry as they are. That is why they fail. They refuse to see love for what it is, and they always bring about their own destruction doing so.”

“I...see,” Fluttershy said. “So you’re saying that Discord is where he is because of his own choices?”

“That’s right. Don’t burden yourself with Discord’s fate. The best you can do is put on a brave face if he ever gets free and try to convince him of the truth. In the meantime, you have more pressing matters.”





Scootaloo skidded to a halt on the stone tiles. She checked herself over first. Nothing was broken, and nothing serious was scraped. The trapdoor had led to a slide. Good.

She glanced around. She was in a strange room. Old, half-decayed banners of various house insignias were decorating it, and some old pieces of armor laid across the ground.

At first, it looked cool. Then, she remembered that she was alone in a section of an unknown castle. Then she was scared.

She gulped. “I think we should have stuck with Zecora...”