CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
THE BEAUTIFUL LIE
1
It was such a beautiful lie.
Already a year had passed since that fateful die and still much of the populace would continue to repeat that same, tired story—that same tale of vengeance and love and the power of a tragic pair against the very heart of darkness.
There was a time, as odd as it may sound, when a good many petitioners even wanted to change Hearts and Hooves day to the day Sombra had been defeated, and the world lost its largest monarch. The movement was grassroots in nature and barely reached beyond a vale of whispers and conversations, but how abnormal it was that still a great many agreed to its creation. How could such a day of death and destruction become such a day of sudden romanticism?
“I love you,” star-struck lovers would say, as they’d stare longingly into their partner’s eyes. “I love you, too,” would usually be the retort, and in both of their minds they would truly hope their love could be as strong as Celestia’s and Discord’s was on the day they saved all of Equestria.
After the dust had cleared and the list of rightly answers grew short, rumors grew as deep and dangerous as abandoned wells. Did anyone know that Celestia was still courting Discord? A few would shake their heads, while inside they told themselves how much it all made sense—indeed, it must have, if it was love that prevailed in the end. And in these little circles of gossipers, usually a single voice (usually the one that would like to hear themselves talk above the rest) would gladly inform the others of the rumors they had intercepted from other rumor-mills. “You mean you didn’t know Discord was living in Canterlot?” “You mean you didn’t know Celestia and Discord had lunch just a week prior at some fancy restaurant?” “You mean you didn’t hear of them sneaking around the backs of others while they made whoopee out of sight? How else would you explain what they did on ‘That Day’?”
Since specifics had become unnecessary, the siege at the Empire had simply grown into “That Day.” King Sombra had become “He” or “Him,” and the lovers at the very center of it all turned into “Them,” usually followed by a sigh or a wayward glance, as if such poetic love could barely be uttered without gasping for air.
The dozens of ponies at the Empire that day who witnessed the inconsolable Discord firsthoof, cradling the still body of Celestia, would swear they could still hear his cries of anguish plainly. It was from their mouths that these first rumors told hold, and my oh my were they ever hard to not get swept away in.
Discord, injured from his many hours in battle, had lost sight of Celestia when she flew up into the clouds. Minutes later, she fell from the sky and landed near the center of the city. Only seconds too late did Discord arrive, as King Sombra finished off what little life the Princess had left. Discord, using his grief as well as his undying love for Celestia, willed to him a powerful magic that could barely be contained. Instantly the tyrant known as Sombra was consumed by such love, and collapsed to the floor in a hill of ash and bone.
It was such a lovely story.
Schoolhouses commissioned plays on their love (usually without all that nasty Sombra stuff); golden statues depicting an embracing Celestia and Discord began popping up in most major areas; small fillies found themselves tucked into their beds while hearing the latest adventure of the lovable pair known as Celestia and Discord, as they pummeled fictional villains and never let evil or cruelty get in the way of their love. (Some said the series was written by the same author of the Daring Do books, but no one really knew for sure.)
Honestly, the world had never seen such bright days after such a horrid time.
It was such a beautiful lie.
2
In the months spent in hospital after her fight with a winged and impenetrable Sombra, Rainbow Dash consoled herself with a single Daring Do book that she continued to read over and again. Page 344 was as far as she would reach before turning back and starting a new. There were still close to a hundred pages left in the novel but the rest of the story she cared little about. It was the Do book where Daring would cripple a wing near the start of her adventure, meaning that for the rest of the book, she’s need to rely on simply her brains and wits and cunning to help her evade the dangers. It was on page 345 (perhaps when the author became bored of writing about a stalled pegasus) that Daring Do got her wings back to help save the day. Not ever in the mood for such fantasy, Rainbow would flip back to the opening and drift back into that lackluster adventure. For as long as she could, anyway.
“You mean you won’t fly?”
One of her fillies had asked suddenly, as they lay their multi-colored head on her bedside. She had smiled at each of them during her time of recovery, expressing that notion that all was still well in the Dash family household. It was only when one of her kids became anxious of the hospital that he began circling around the room, inadvertently nudging into things with his energetic wings. When he saw the look on his mother’s face, and the shine in her eyes, he lowered himself and went back to sitting on his chair.
“It’s going to be okay, you two,” she had reassured, with that poor lump in her throat, tempting to choke off every word. “Your dad’s an even better flyer than me and he’ll show you everything you’ll need to know. Flying isn’t everything. I’ve had my time in the sun… now it’s your time.”
The last few weeks of her recovery and her children barely visited at all, not unless Soarin brought them there under force. Mom had become gloomy since the incident, they had thought in their simplistic manner. I hope mom gets better soon…
Right before a major decision concerning her care was about to be made, Rainbow had returned from unconsciousness. It was whether her damaged wing should be removed or not. After hardly a moment of deliberation, she had elected to keep it wrapped and bandaged while it remained by her side. The doctors told her it would be of little use and might just get in the way. Never the less Rainbow remained adamant and the torn wing had remained, all while a little part of her that she could never quite quell told her that maybe in time it would heal, and that someday she would fly again.
It was such a beautiful lie.
3
Twilight Sparkle and Luna arrived at the battle site not a few minutes after its conclusion as might have been expected but a full two hours after its cataclysmic end. Clean up had not yet started and most remaining guards and citizens kept themselves busy by roaming the streets with a complete lack of understanding plastered to their faces.
The enemy had been defeated, they knew. But at what cost?
Twilight had already been in near tears and when she finally glimpsed her brother did they finally escape down her cheeks. Their embrace was a short one and the smile that Shining gave her then slipped away in his deathly silent city. “Something’s happened,” he told her gravely, and then Twilight’s mind became alive with all the horrendous possibilities.
Each new blow she took as well as she could, but each one made her wish she was back at her cabin, back with a book in her face while the whole rest of the world took care of whatever they needed to. Without her knowledge, Rainbow Dash had invited every one of her old friends to the city in an attempt to possibly unite the extinct Elements of Harmony. Twilight was sent an invitation that had never arrived. And now each one of her distant friends had witnessed one of the worst battles in history and another lay in hospital, forever mutilated, forever changed.
And somehow things only got worse from there.
“I… There’s something…”
On several occasions Shining tried to communicate his next sentence, but every time he took a hurried glance at Luna, it made him dry up on sight. Toward the center of town he led their way, mindful of the bodies of guards and Crystal ponies still lying in the streets. After one more attempt at trying to explain what had gone on, he instead quickened his pace and shuffled passed a large group of onlookers surrounding the doors of the Empire tower. Once they had reached the head of the crowd inside, the slight murmuring came to a halt.
Shining muttered something along the lines of, “I’m… I’m so sorry,” but it fell on deaf ears.
A single tear fell to the red carpet and Twilight slowly became aware it had fallen from her cheek. Already her worst fear had come true. And it had happened to a friend that was never supposed to leave her side. Princess Celestia was supposed to support her forever—help deal with what it meant to be an alicorn, in all its horrifying ups and downs—and now she had left them all without a word.
She turned to her side. “Luna, I’m so sorry.”
The original displayed rage and mild confusion Luna had worn like a shield while entering the city had given away, leaving a timid creature behind. Without a word she bowed her head to the floor and left the room. A moment later Twilight tried to find her outside, but any sight of her had already gone. That had been a year ago already.
“You think she’ll ever come back?” Spike had asked, a few months after Luna’s abrupt departure.
Twilight had sighed and shook her head. “I just don’t know, Spike. Imagine loosing the only pony you’ve known your entire life. Thousands of year’s worth of memories—gone. I don’t think anyone can understand what she’s going through.”
After the cleanup of the Empire and its immediate rebuilding, Twilight returned home to continue her research. More than a few had thought she would return to Canterlot since both Princesses had left all of Equestria without a ruler, but events had already fallen into place to help remedy the situation. Twilight was not needed there, and she was all the happier for it.
And although she told herself time and time again that she could have never made it to the Empire to help anyone and that Sombra’s tricks by distracting both her and Luna while he waged war were too sly to be seen by the naked eye, a small part of her somehow knew it all just didn’t add up. How had Sombra even known where she was? Why would he have even bothered at all? Hadn’t he wanted a fight with everyone he could get?
But these questions she chose to ignore, for there were far more pressing matters at the time, such as when the next secret from her latest book would make itself know. So by flickering candlelight she read on, all the while reminding herself that others could never comprehend just how important her work would be.
It was such a beautiful lie.
4
In fifteen minutes Lord Discord could raise the sun with barely mild concentration. The moon however still alluded him, and could take anywhere from thirty minutes to a full hour to get just right. But he was getting better. Of course he was. Because who else would complete such duties without his truly?
In his large and lush office Discord sat behind an overlong desk, nearly splitting the room in two. If anyone else wanted to sit in his seat, they’d have to climb over its polished surface most awkwardly. With only the snap of his fingers Discord was in, ready for business and whatever the day may bring. Speaking of which…
“Are you ready to greet some of your subjects, Lord Discord?”
His executive eyed the draconequus tiredly while giving him the slightest of bows. While Discord had never asked the pony to perform such movements, secretly he didn’t mind.
He waved a hand. “Give me a minute. I need a break from all this planet moving.”
“Of course, my Lord.”
On that note his executive left and Discord turned his chair to face his unnecessarily high window, usually the one he’d be tempted to judge his sun and moon moving with. Today looked not bad, he later deemed, while taking long pulls from his large white mug. When he drained the rest, he snapped up another hot cup and hurriedly dived in. It was going to be a long day, he thought. Actually, everyday was becoming a long day, he grimly surmised.
“I’ll always love you, Tia.”
The moment it had left his lips—even while he still cradled the bloodied and motionless body of Celestia—had he already wanted to nibble on his knuckle from its hammyness. And yet his performance had worked—worked splendidly—just as he knew it would. Not a dry eye in the house. Every pony that had witnessed that scene on that fateful day would go on to tell of his anguish, of his longing for the dearly departed Princess.
He honestly didn’t think he had ever loved her more then at that moment, when she was gone and yet somehow fitting perfectly into his improvised game. Had he a clue things would work out the way they would? Of course not. Too many variables hovered in the air—too many small details that could have been overlooked, or looked upon by the wrong sets of eyes. But yet here he sat and yet here he controlled both the sun and the moon and yet here every pony now believed it was love and only love that stopped the unstoppable Sombra and yet here it was that the annoying Luna had miraculously disappeared and the annoying Twilight had gone away again and yet here it was that ponies even began to call him Lord!
“Lord Discord,” he whispered slowly, tasting each small word on his tongue.
It had never been his intention. Truly. It had been—almost—by accident.
His executive was about to launch into his introductory speech before announcing Discord to a group of dignitaries, but right before he got to his name a bubble had swiftly slid up his throat. “…and now I will introduce lawrd! Discord.”
His executive spun his head to face the draconequus, both wide eyes consuming most of his head, mouth agape. Later, when their guests had eaten their fill of their lovely spread and departed to who knows where, Discord’s speaker had told him it had all been some terrible mistake. That a burp had suddenly shot itself out of him and it came out sounding like ‘Lord.’ Discord had giggled it off and was surprised to note not a single pony had heard the snapping of fingers in the quiet hum of the room. With hardly a few well placed rumors to follow suit, Lord Discord came to be. And so it had remained.
But honestly, what other title could there possibly be for a creature that controlled most of Equestria with his magic? A King? He had known quite the King in his time and had considered him a fool. The label ‘King’ had become tarnished. But ‘Lord’… that would do.
“I think we need to think about this more! I think more time on the subject will do us some good!”
That was the haranguing sound from some of the more stuck-up officials when Discord finally attended his first cabinet meeting since the fall of Celestia. Luna had already been gone for some time, and now the land was stuck in a perpetual mid-day glow. Most had their own ideas of who or what should take over, but not many of those candidates had the magic to back it up.
Oddly silent in his stone chair, Discord had concentrated with every bit of focus he had to move the planets in the right direction. When they moved a noticeable distance in the sky, more than a few officials leapt for the windows.
“Luna’s returned! Luna’s come back!”
Wiping a few beads of sweat from his brow, Discord stood and faced the rest of the room. “No, my friends. That was of my doing. And it definitely wasn’t as easy as they made it look.”
Most butts found their seats after that, but still a few remained by the windows to watch the sun and moon move peacefully across the sky. Perhaps they tried to trick themselves into believing both Princesses were alive and accounted for. Even if for only a moment…
Like clockwork Discord had systematically beaten them down. Each question posed he had a repartee handy. Each disagreement, he diffused most surely. All of these naysayers (unsurprisingly) were of the colt and stallion variety. The other group of mares that made up their little governing table, had by then already heard each and every tale of the heroic Discord vanquishing the unimaginably horrific Sombra, with nothing else but the power of love by his side. A few were even curious to know if he’d ever consider another courtship with a mare again…
The beet red face of an older colt trumpeted, “Well I… umm…” He glanced around for another friendly face—another voice to add to his call. When none presented itself he stormed from the room in a huff. And oh did the draconequus just find it hard to keep from laughing.
A few weeks later and the decision had been made. Discord would rule Equestria while raising both the sun and the moon. Advisors would help along the way and his actions and decisions would be heavily regarded. But those stipulations mattered little to him. He had still found his way to the top.
It had all almost felt like a dream.
“Lord Discord,” he said again in the stillness of his office. “The creator of Chaos of the Mind.”
Because what else could this all be called? If an entire world believed in a lie of your creation; if everyone of your enemies had fallen by your pen stroke to help solidify such a lie, what other term could there be? Sure, with not a single notable power left in Equestria, Discord could have had his choice on how to destroy and rebuild the world as he saw accordingly. But if he left everything as a type of chaos, what was stopping that from becoming the new normal?
Chaos of the Mind. It might not have been as sweet or as satisfying as a mob of panicked ponies, but in some regard Discord thought he’d eventually find it to his liking. Comparable to some fine wine that takes years to discover its flavor.
But only at that very moment, deep within his thoughts, did he honestly believe that all this would be enough. Only deep within his thoughts, did he somehow believe that each and every loose thread he’d left scattered about, would just never find its way back to him.
It was such a beautiful lie.
5
Swift Flight looked at Sky Kicker across the table and for one fleeting moment forgot about his troubles. Feeling as he might, it was an easy thing to achieve—his head swimming quite gracefully in a sea of brown alcohol. If his friend sitting adjacent to him were keeping up with him cup for cup (as he knew he was), then he, too, should have been well into forgoing his sorrows.
“It still doesn’t make sense to me,” Flight said, his words tempting to smash together like far too many ponies on a couch. “Even after all this time, it doesn’t. Not one bit.”
Sky regarded him solemnly, before nodding his approval. It was a conversation he’d repeatedly brought up in the year since they’d both been sacked from the Guard, and if Sky knew anything about his friend, it was that this conversation might eat up the rest of the night.
“Simple assignment, right? Go find the Princesses.” Flight set down his drink and lifted both hooves for emphasis, as if such a worn story between the pair needed more detail. “Here’s where they are, here’s a map, now go get ‘em, and pronto. So what’s the problem? What happens? How do we botch that so hard?”
Flight let that hang in the air while he chewed on the edge of his tongue.
Sky grew tired of waiting. “We—”
“That’s right! We don’t!” To add clarity to his point, Flight lowered his hoof to the table. Realizing a cup was not held in said hoof, he repeated the motion with a real drink. “And that’s why I say… we were tricked! Same as those Princesses were!”
“No one really knows what went on with them, Flight. Only that they didn’t get to the Empire, and that Celestia died because of it. There’s… talk, but that’s it.”
Flight leaned across the table, one single throbbing eye leading along the rest of his face. “My rump that’s what happened! They were tricked and we were tricked and somehow they got off free as you please and yet we got canned! What’s fair about that? Hmm?”
Flight took another long pull from his drink and leaned dangerously far back in his bench seat. Since the bar him and his friend were currently in had housed them four or so times a week for the past year to help vent their frustrations (as well as spend whatever scrounged together bits they pooled to buy booze), Flight knew just when he’d had his limit. Now he was close.
And it was usually during these times that his mind would wonder back to that fateful day—the day that both him and Sky had somehow been flying in the clouds toward Baltimare to deliver a message, only to wakeup hours later in the middle of some field. It didn’t make sense then and it didn’t that night. From an outside perspective he had understood it must have looked pretty rough—the fate of the world depending on a message that someone couldn’t deliver because they fell asleep. So because of this, hooves became tied and their jobs became forfeited. At the time, Flight told himself he could understand—look at it from their perspective—but that still didn’t make it any less fair.
“I heard Sombra was way more powerful than before,” Sky said, shaking his head slowly, “so maybe he put some spell on anyone that got close to Princess Luna or Twilight. Seems possible. It’s just too bad that he’s dead so I can’t tell him how much I hate his guts.”
Flight drank and agreed with his friend. Although there was still something about it all that seemed to never sit right. “I heard Sombra was asking about both of them at the fight. Hoping to get a chance to gut them along with Celestia.” His source of such information was scattershot at best. Although, when someone was in their cups as deep as Flight was, a shoddy source still felt better than nothing.
Sky raised a brow. “You know how many ponies are even left from that fight? You didn’t hear anything, Flight. You’re just drunk.”
Undisturbed by the slight, Flight awkwardly clinked his cup into his friend’s. “And so are you.”
A pregnant pause later and both were laughing about nothing at all (one of the weird side effects of drinking until three in the morning). When they’d both settled down, they finally noticed the pony standing idle by their table.
“Can I sit?” he asked, glancing from side to side fretfully.
“Uh…” Flight mumbled.
“Thanks,” the unicorn said, before swinging into their little bench table.
Once seated, he hastily looked around a few more times before edging closer to the center of their table. “I heard what you two were talking about.”
Both Flight and Sky eyed each other warningly. “Oh?” Sky said.
“Yes. And I think you might be on to something.”
Flight let the air out he had been holding onto since the unicorn sat down. Then he reached for his cup again.
“I was there, at the Empire, when it all went down,” the unicorn continued. “I missed most of the action because I was running around inside, but there are things I remember that just don’t seem to make much sense.”
Sky patted him on the back good-naturedly. “You were lucky then, friend. Not many who went over there ever came back.”
“Thanks, I guess,” he said. “But I wouldn’t count myself all that lucky. I came back alive but I came back without a job, too. Everyone thought I’d gone yellow-bellied and hid inside while everyone else fought out in the open. The truth is that I can’t remember most of the battle because it’s like it’s been snipped from my memory.”
Flight abruptly spat a portion of his drink out while laughing heartily. When he viewed the two pairs of eyes scowling at him he coughed out the rest of his giggles. “Sorry… sorry! What happened sucks and I have no doubt about that, but while you were talking it just hit me that three fired guards are sitting here drinking at a bar. So who the heck’s gonna pick up the check!” That got him laughing again but it was mostly ignored.
Sky leaned closer to the unicorn. “You think Sombra might have been behind that? I heard things got pretty ridiculous over there.”
The unicorn shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think if Sombra even knew about me, he’d have just torn me apart and not have tried anything all that fancy. But one thing I do remember is talking with Lord Discord before I’d lost my memory.”
Overhearing this, Flight dried up again and set his cup down loudly. “Don’t call him that. Please don’t call him that. As far as I’m concerned he’s a placeholder until someone better takes the job and nothing more. Also, he’s just Discord in my mind. No titles for a creature like him.”
The unicorn waited a moment before chirping in. “He did save the Empire… and possibly most of Equestria.”
“How would you know? As far as I’m hearing, you were inside the whole time. So is what you’re telling me what you heard from the mouth of another?”
The unicorn leaned back in his seat and Sky placed his hooves between both parties. “All right, enough of this. No more petty squabbling, no more…” He motioned toward Flight. “…whatever it is your doing. Let’s just talk and realize we’ve all gotten the hard end of some very large shaft.”
“Fine with me!” Flight said hotly, although it appeared as though it was anything but.
Sky turned back to the unicorn. “What else do you remember? About Discord?”
“Well…” The unicorn studied the table while remembering. “I think he was trying to get me to hold some object for him. Something he was looking at all close. And all I remember afterwards is that his eyes were blue and not all weird like. Then he told me to get lost and I… kinda’ did.”
“While the rest of your allies were beaten to death by Sombra’s army…” Sky mumbled.
The unicorn rose from his seat. “At least I didn’t fall asleep on the job!”
Sky ran a hoof over his face and pulled the unicorn back down. Even though he thought he’d reached his limit several cups ago, another was sounding like just the ticket then.
He said above the other two, “All right, immature insults aside, what is it that’s troubling us? We all think we’ve been screwed over in a way, right? So how? What happened?”
Flight pointed a hoof between the pair. “Although Sombra stood the most to gain from the fight, I don’t think he’d have gone as far as some make it seem he had. Look, he was already busy with Celestia; a creepy army made of other ponies; a bunch of unhappy clouds; and, turning into a bucking dragon. I honestly can’t see him bothering with stopping a few letters or confusing you around Discord. It just seems… pointless, is all.”
“So who else then?” Sky asked. “Who else could use that kind of magic? Who else would use that kind of magic? And why?”
The unicorn lifted a hoof.
“This isn’t a classroom,” shot Flight. “You can talk.”
The unicorn pursed his lips. “Perhaps Lo… Perhaps Discord was the one. He didn’t have much power before all the Empire stuff, but now he’s nearly in charge of everything. I’m not sure exactly how it all fits together, but… it’s… it’s possible.”
Both Sky and Flight nodded gravely. On one or two occasions during their endless drunken banter the name of Discord had indeed entered their laundry list of others to lay blame on. But now an outsider had said the name for them. Could that mean they were actually on to something, and not simply venting out past grievances?
Flight said, “This is all started to sound very juicy, but I need to hit the head before we go any further.” He looked at Sky while exiting the bench. “Order us all a round. I think we have things to discuss.”
Nearly tripping over the bench he’d just left behind, Flight wobbled his way toward the back of the bar and to the bathroom, his head already blazing with the sudden fat question that had just so snuggly plopped itself there:
Discord? Lord Discord?
6
Flight entered the bathroom and let the door loudly swing shut behind him. He first eyed the stalls to his right before eyeing the trio of mirrors to his left. For close to a minute he viewed his reddened face, the added pounds that had slowly developed on his body since changing his diet to one of heavy drinks. But in the glowing light of drunkenness, he thought he looked damn good.
Giving his good-looking self one final smirk he turned to the stalls and chose the middle one, even though all three seemed empty. He shut the wooden door behind and took a seat, running a hoof through his mane while closing his eyes. Why had the world gotten so twirly-like? he wondered, before recalling the thirst-quenching activities of the last five hours.
Then, with his eyes closed and his head bent, Flight giggled to himself as something prickly brushed against his hindquarters. Being quite numb in the face, Flight barely even startled when he felt it.
“Do you mind?” A voice in the bathroom asked him.
Flight kept his eyes closed and rested his head on a hoof. “There are two others that work just as well! Get busy!”
“You even have any idea how much water that thing takes?”
“Umm… wait, what?”
It was then that Flight finally opened his eyes and saw that he wasn’t sitting in the bar bathroom at all anymore. Now he was in some concrete building, decorated to the nines and fancy as could be. But what was it that he was sitting on? He gave his head a turn and found himself seated on a plant; its thin trunk with all its little leaves and branches gently prodded his nether regions. With something closely resembling a yelp he leapt off and wobbled in place.
“I would ask you to make yourself at home but I think you’ve already done just as much.”
Flight found the source of the voice and now all the liquid that was still sloshing around inside him suddenly screamed how much it would love to escape—whether in a plant or rather on some expensive looking carpet.
Discord, seated comfortable behind his wide desk leaned forward to put his head in both hands. “Swift Flight, correct?”
“Uh… sure.” His mouth somehow felt much number than before.
“Good. I’m glad we cleared that up. And if my timing is correct—which it always is—your friends will be arriving in five… four… three...” Discord mouthed the last two numbers while pointing toward the door behind Flight.
Flight turned just in time to see Sky and the unicorn from their table wonder through the door, the conversation they might have been in the midst of drop off the moment they registered their drastic scenic change. When the unicorn crossed into the room, the door behind him slammed shut.
Flight didn’t waste anytime and trotted to the door, only to open it and find a wallpapered wall behind the frame.
“Let’s have us a chat, gentlecolts,” Discord said, as though nothing about this fazed him. He nodded towards one. “Sky Kicker?” Before the other. “Firm Ward?”
Both ponies eventually shook their heads in answer.
“Good. Then we’re all here and accounted for.”
Discord snapped himself to the middle of the room, causing the three others to shutter away.
“It’s come to my attention that all three of you have been quite the naughty little ponies as of late, spreading rumors and tales that just could never be true. Rumors and lies I have never been a fan of, gentlecolts. Especially not now… not while I’m in charge of things.”
Flight took a cursory step forward. “We weren’t talking about anything. And even if we was, how would you know anything about it?”
Flight heard Sky smack a hoof into his face but didn’t acknowledge it.
“Lord Discord,” the unicorn started, “anything you might have heard, it was just talk. That’s all. Ponies always tell stories to help pass the time… or while their drinking. It was nothing, honestly it wasn’t.”
Discord paced between the three, all three pairs of eyes following him with rapt attention. “Oh, I don’t mind that you were talking about such things. I just think it’s a shame you’ve been misinformed so terribly.” He walked through each pony in turn, his long neck allowing his head mere inches from each face. “The only reason Sombra returned to life was because of me. The only reason Celestia perished at the Empire is because of my doing. The only reason Twilight and Luna weren’t there to try and save everyone was because of me as well. Now do you understand just how wrong your facts were?”
The three terrified ponies glanced from one to the other, all hoping the other would be the one to speak out.
“Oh yes,” Discord continued. “And it’s also because of me that you all have scarves on.” He snapped three large and brightly colored scarves onto each of them. “Isn’t that nice of me?”
Oddly, it was unicorn that broke the trio’s silence. “It is?”
As quick as a candle flame blowing out did Discord’s original smile drop from his face. One more time he snapped and the office they were standing in disappeared. What replaced it was a thousand miles of white hills and blowing snow. All three ponies began to shake uncontrollably.
The draconequus said bluntly, “It’s a four day flight to civilization, if you pick the right direction to go. If you choose to take him along”—he pointed to the unicorn at their center—“that might make it six days. I’d think carefully if I were you.”
All three could only stare at Discord with widening horror as he brought his fingers to the side of his face. “Perhaps some tales between the three of you will help pass the time.” Then he snapped himself away, leaving all three of them to the bitter cold and the relentless wind, their brightly colored scarves angrily whipping around in the breeze.
Sky was the first to say anything. “We can make it. We can get out of this.”
It was such a beautiful lie.