//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Test of Time: Arc 1: Awakening 
// by NoPonysLand 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 7 – Spring
Sunday, 23 June 1003
Spring looked at her captives coolly. One secondary power, one unicorn, two pegasi, and two earth ponies; hardly a goddess-slaying team. They looked frightened of her, somewhat disheveled, and completely out of their ken. She almost felt bad for them. They were, as far as she could tell, completely unarmed and unarmored. The only supplies they had brought, it seemed, were a saddle bag each, five necklaces, and a tiara.
“Didst thee verily think that thee hadst a chance confronting me?” Spring laughed. “Thee hadst seemed intelligent when we last met, Twilight. I wouldst hast thought that thee, at least, wouldst hast seen the folly of attempting such a thing.”
Despite their fear, Spring could still see defiance on the faces of all six of her captives. They strained against their constraints, though they did not make much progress. Spring made a note of the orange one. She was quite strong, even for an earth pony.
“Thee art here on behalf of Celestia, I assume?” Spring paused, waiting for a response. When none came, she smiled. “Oh, of course.” With a flash of power, the constraints opened up around their faces, permitting them to speak.
“You won't win!” The blue pegasus, who's voice Spring was able to match with 'Dash', yelled at her, anger in her tones. “We've beaten worse then you!”
“I seriously doubt that.” Spring said flatly. “Now, I believe I asked thee a question. Art thee here on behalf of Celestia?”
“You better bet your flank we are!” The orange one said. “We're gonna make make sure you wish you had-”
“I dost hope that she realizes that this means war.” Spring said, cutting the orange one off. “She hath violated the terms of our agreement and initiated hostilities.”
“You'll have to go through us first!” Rarity spat.
“Not much of a problem. Thee art already trapped in my grasp. The only thing keeping thee alive right now is that I hast not decided which ones I will leave alive to deliver my message back to Celestia.” Spring said aloofly.
The six became silent instantly.
“I suppose I could just kill you all,” Spring continued, “but I wast looking forward to spending the night working on my house. It wouldst be a shame to hast to put it on hold to go to Canterlot myself.” She paused. “I was thinking the pink one and the yellow one. They seem to be the most innocent among you. What do you think?” She asked Twilight.
“You...” Twilight seemed almost unable to speak. “You...” This time, it ended almost in a growl, the anger in her tone deep and powerful. “I have met some vile things, but you...”
“Oh, come on!” Spring said indignantly. “Thee decided to attack a goddess. Didst thee really think that thee wouldst come out without injury? I am being quite kind, leaving four of you alive.”
“Kind!” Twilight cried, her words suddenly filled with power. “You talk of killing like it was nothing more than an act of business, threaten and extort anypony you think you can control for fun, and cause unrest and mayhem wherever you go! You are not kind. You are one of the terrors of the night, the kind that we put down.” Her voice became steely, and her tiara began to glow. “Girls, lets show her exactly what we're made of!”
The necklaces on the other five began to glow. With a flash of light, Spring's grasp on the six shattered, though they continued to float above the ground. She really should have recognized the necklaces and tiara for what they were. It had been a long time since the Elements of Harmony had been assigned to six different ponies, but that was no excuse. Not that it mattered, really.
“Oh, do go on. I am so very frightened of your silly little-”
There was a sound, like rolling thunder, and a burst of spectral light engulfed Spring, cutting her off. Spring was shocked to find that it actually did something to her. She felt her power evaporating in waves, her flesh being torn at by a million tiny little hooks as the magical energy tugged on every hair of her coat simultaneously. She was picked up off the ground and thrown eight meters backwards. Unable to steady herself, she crumpled to the ground. Her vision cleared, leaving her dazed and looking at the six elements of harmony from inside the forest, where she had been tossed.
The elements themselves did not look as if they were having a particularly good time of it, either. They were unsteady on their hooves, and seemed completely exhausted, as if they had just got done with a marathon. Spring managed to smile. This must have been their forth or fifth use this decade; the elements were beginning to become unstable. Served them right.
Spring tried to stand up, but found the level of coordination required to be beyond her. She tried to steady herself with magic, but found that she could not. Her power seemed separated from her, locked where she could not access it. It was still there, she could feel it, but she could not seem to draw upon her reserve.
“How are you still okay?” Twilight said, exasperation, fear, and, just maybe, respect in her voice.
“I am an Alicorn.” Spring said darkly, this time managing to make it to her hooves. “I am a creature of harmony. Your precious artifacts shouldst hast hadst no effect on me. Thee shouldst consider thyselves lucky that they they didst anything to me at all.”
“Twilight...” Rarity said, looking at Spring anxiously. “We should get out of here. Now. Before she retaliates.”
“No, I don't think so.” Twilight said, taking a step forward. “She wouldn’t be speaking to us if she could retaliate. We would already be dead. No, you can't hurt us now, can you? We've drained your power.”
Spring cursed under her breath. Damn that stupid genius of an secondary power. If they just left, she was sure she could recover in a few hours.
“Dost thee want to try me?” Spring said, infusing her voice with more confidence then she felt. “Thee art welcome to if thee wishes.”
Twilight hesitated, seeming to consider the situation. Come on now, just leave me. Thou don't really want to take on a goddess, dost thee? Her expression darkened, and she took a step forward.
“Gladly.” Twilight's horn glowed, and a bolt of magical energy slammed into Spring, sending her flying deeper into the forest. Through sheer force of will, she managed to lift herself back to her hooves, and began to flee. She would not die tonight. Opening her wings, Spring prepared to take off, but after a few lack-luster flailings of her no longer magically powered tiny pegasus wings, she concluded that escape via flight was not an option. She heard crashing in the wood behind her, flashes of purple and white light following her every hoofstep. At this point, her only advantage was the fact that she had longer legs.
Or was it? She had always been famed for her prodigious wit. If there ever was a time to use it, it was now.
Spring concentrated, her pace slowing slightly as she formulated a plan. Her eyes closed, she stopped running altogether. Her breath slowed, along with her heartbeat. She drew silent, and the flashes of light grew brighter and closer as she concentrated.
Her eyes opened.
The world opened to her, time passing at a crawl. The air was filled with information, calculation, position, momentum, substance, and possibility, laid out in her vision as she preformed rapid deduction. Paths were highlighted as she worked through scenarios, hundreds of potential options and outcomes flashing through her mind. All the information she had access to floated around her, combining, optimizing, predicting. Three seconds, and she knew.
Spring wasted no time, bolting sideways as fast as she could. She heard the hoofsteps of her pursuers pause, then change direction. She changed and adapted, the entire scene playing out in slow motion for her. As soon as they moved, she bolted directly towards them, building speed. She saw a flash of light, just up ahead, saw the startled expressions of six ponies looking at her.
Spring skidded to a halt, using the momentum of her charge to fling generous quantities of dirt into the widened, surprised eyes of the six ponies. The effect was just as she had imagined. She heard strong yelps from the entire company, and saw them close their eyes and turn from her.
Before she tripped over herself, she began to run again, continuing her dash towards them. Slightly less than a second later, she smashed into the yellow pegasus, throwing her left. She bucked the orange one and Dash right, then skittered off into the forest, making as much noise as she could. Then, she stopped dead, drawing completely silent twenty meters from them.
“What the hay was that!” The orange one called.
“That was Spring.” Said Twilight.
“Why would she charge us?” Asked Rarity.
“Confusion. She blinded us, then threw us around. This is a deep, dark forest. We can't see anything that might tell us what direction we're facing. She just successfully got us lost.” Twilight sighed. “Worked on me, I'm afraid. I have no idea which direction she went. The sound of her retreat was loud enough to echo against the thick trees around us. In my confused state, I hate to say, I lost track of where she was going.”
“Um, I know where she went.” Said the yellow pegasus. “She ran directly into me, so when she turned to leave, she kicked back against me in the direction she was heading. She should be somewhere this way.”
The six followed the yellow one's lead, trailing slowly towards Spring. She smiled. Just as she had wanted. When they were only a few meters from her, she bolted upright and tore off at a right angle to the direction they were headed. There were a few shouts of shock, followed by a couple of magical blasts. Spring made sure to modulate her speed enough to miss them as they passed. Looping back around, she followed the path the six had marked on their chase, leading them back out into the open. She was very careful to make sure they were always within hearing distance. Another minute, and she was back in the field outside of the castle. She turned to the castle, and concentrated.
And now, for my next trick...
The six found her about thirty seconds later. They looked extremely exhausted at this point, nearly to the point of collapse.
“Your... trick... failed....” Twilight panted, charging up a spell, her horn glowing brighter and brighter. “You... can't... run... anywhere... now.... Spring.”
“I wast nay planning to.” Spring stood there, smiling. Twilight groaned, then fired a incredible burst of power at Spring.
In a flash, Spring's horn lit up, and she erected a barrier between Twilight and herself using the magic she had stored in the castle's lighting system earlier that day. Running towards her, Spring used Twilight's surprise to her up-most advantage, smashing her across the face as hard as she could. Standing over her, Spring reared up and bucked down on Twilight hard, knocking her out cold.
“Thee thought thyselves so clever, besting my plan, that thee couldst nay imagine that thee might be playing into it.” Spring smirked. “But thee sees, I always hast a plan.”
The five took a step back, looking with fear and worry at Twilight. Spring felt the warm trickle of blood on her hooves. She made sure to step on her body as she advanced on the others; it flinched in places, obviously not dead. She could handle that later. The surge of magic had begun to take down the lock on her power, but it was still coming slowly. It hadn’t been a fair fight, she knew. Had she been less exhausted, Spring was sure she would have been a much more difficult opponent to outsmart.
Wait. About that.
Spring turned back to Twilight. “Close, but not quite.” Spring kicked Twilight in the gut, causing her to cry out. “Thee didst nay take breath in or out when I stepped on thee. Control of breathing is something only conscious ponies can do.” Twilight coughed up some blood, opening her eyes.
“You won't win...” She said, her words garbled.
“I am sure thee hast such a plan against me.” Spring smirked. “One that involves being beat into a bloody pulp at my hooves as an integral part.”
“You could.” Twilight said simply.
Spring's mouth went dry. Of course she could. And if she could, so could somepony else. You only need to be outsmarted once.
Spring felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck, pitching her forward. Of course. The others were behind her. The orange one had likely just bucked her. For whatever reason, it didn’t hurt very much, though Spring was rather inclined to consider that a bad thing in this case. This was so like her, to underestimate her opponents. She thought herself so clever, so they took advantage of that. They gave her a plan to out think, while really relying on something so simple, it simply had slipped her mind. I am getting soft,  thought Spring.
She was falling. It was taking an awfully long time, but that was likely due to her heightened sense of awareness. The thing about having the ability to meta-analyze situations was that it tended to turn on whenever she was in danger, even when there was very little she could do. She could, she supposed, use her abilities to figure out the little things, like how to best fall to avoid additional complications and injury, but that really did not mater at this point. Given the position and force of the blow, there was 87.9% probability that her spine was broken between the fourth and fifth vertebra. She had no control over her body.
Dully, she thought she felt her body impact on the earth. It was like being in a dream. All in all, it wasn’t so unpleasant, actually. Something to do with endorphins and pain, she thought.
Never give up.
She bounced a second time.
Never give up.
She heard the ponies above her let out cheers.
Never. Give. Up. Thou wilt not loose tonight. Sure, thee canst recover(1), but thee canst nay let thyself be bested by mortals! Get thyself together, Spring. Thou art a goddess. Show them.
Instantly, her mind kicked back into action. If she could dully feel her body hit the ground, then she had feeling in her body. Despite what she had thought, it seemed that her spine was, in fact, not broken. Let us see if thee falls for thy own trick, Twilight. Her mind raced, new strategies and plans flashing before her eyes. She was still in the game. A quick check of her body told her that she was actually in quite good condition. She had lost no blood, broken no bones, and wasn’t anywhere close to being fatigued. And her power was really starting to pick up.
The six stood above her. Twilight was leaning on the orange one, though it appeared as if she could barely stand.
“Quite some thinking, Twi. Look at you, outsmarting a goddess like that.”
Twilight cast what Spring could only assume was a healing spell of some sort on herself, leaving her still injured but far less so.
“Well, to be honest, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. I was just trying to buy you five some time to escape. I had no plan after my faked unconsciousness.” Twilight said. “Still, I'll take the complement. We all did well. Who would have thought that the Elements of Harmony would not have worked?”
“Celestia, that's who.” The orange one said. “She had to have known. There is absolutely no reason she should have sent us out here. I was right all along, there is something fishy going on here.”
“Well, now that she's out, I should probably call Celestia and Luna here. We can ask them when they arrive. I'm sure they have an explanation.” Twilight said.
Spring cursed. She had hoped to catch them from behind, not when they were all standing around her, but it couldn’t be helped. Spring called on her power, healing herself quickly and violently. She was thrown to her hooves, blinded for a second. The spell had had some other unintended consequences. For one, the lights of the castle went out. For another, there was a small patch of green flame now burning where she had been laying. For a third, her magic had also healed her six assailants. They seemed to be fully recovered.
Her power was coming back to her faster now, but still not at levels she was comfortable with. Dash cursed; the yellow one squeaked, and Twilight seemed very wary.
“Why can't you simply go unconscious like a normal pony!” Yelled the orange one in exasperation.
Spring laughed darkly. “I, my dear, am not a normal pony.” She let loose a wave of magic, blasting the six off their hooves and three meters backwards. Twilight recovered quickly, returning a volley. Spring had no trouble dodging her amateur attacks, sending great bolts of aquamarine energy her way.
Much to her surprise, Twilight took the blows masterfully. Despite her obvious lack of offensive skill, she seemed to be fairly adept at defense, dispersing two of the bolts and deflecting one. It impacted the ground, leaving a small crater and tossing molten earth a few meters. Twilight seemed stunned by the force of the impact.
“Thee art playing with the children no longer, Twilight!” Spring laughed, her horn emitting a beam of aquamarine light which she arced towards Twilight. She was already forming a map of twilight's ability; withing a few seconds, she would be able to predict her movements. She dodged, leaping into the air and unfurling her wings, the dirt beneath her turning to glass as Spring's beam passed over it. Fires sprang up in the forest, lighting the field with their warm glow.
“Run!” Twilight called to her friends below. “I don't know how long-”
Spring hit Twilight from below with a quick burst, then flew into the air, summoning a fireball which trailed just behind her. “Thee mayst wish to keep thy eyne on the fight, Twilight!” Reaching the climax of her arc, Spring swept down at Twilight, the fireball slamming in to her faster then she could react. Spring leveled her flight trajectory, keeping altitude and pivoting to face Twilight again. The ball of energy had slammed Twilight to the ground, a ring of fire exploding outwards around her. For a moment, Twilight was lost from view, obscured by the flames. Then, there was a flash of purple light, and the flames cleared around her, evaporating as ghostly purple vapor expelled them. She was, unfortunately, mostly unharmed, with perhaps a small amount of singeing at the edges of her coat and mane. Her horn was alight with potent purple energy, her eyes locked on Spring.
Spring, of course, did not give Twilight a chance to retaliate, instead opting to push her over. Twilight's eyes widened in surprise, her legs kicking wildly, trying to regain her balance. The spell did Twilight no damage, but, as expected, caused her volley of attacks to miss terribly. None of the flurry of bolts managed to get closer than a meter of Spring, cascading into the air and disappearing into the darkness of the sky. Spring kept the pressure on, sending a freezing wave followed by a quick force volley and a cage of earth. There was the sound of something snapping, and a small amount of blood tricked out from the bottom. This was too easy. It seemed that the only combat spell Twilight knew was the basic force bolt, and she couldn’t even fire quickly. Spring sighed. She had hopped for an interesting fight. At least she was so unskilled that Spring could not predict her movements; paradoxically, that made this fight more challenging, through not by much. 
There was a sudden flash, and a searing beam of purple energy clipped her right wing, causing a jolt of pain through her body. Spring managed to stay in the air, just, diving to a lower altitude to escape the next bolt. Summoning great waves of flame, she bombarded Twilight. Spring drew great arcs in the air with her hooves, jets of magical fire cascading towards her. Twilight quickly erected a shield, Spring's attacks dissipating harmlessly against it. With a flash of light, Spring drew her hoof back, throwing a lance of aquamarine energy a meter long at Twilight. It shattered her shield, the magic fragmenting like glass. Spring's flaming projectiles now had no barrier, easily impacting across Twilight's flank, causing her to shriek in pain. There was a brilliant pulse of purple, and the air between them cleared, the flames extinguished by Twilight's forceful burst. There was a distinct slash of black across her coat where the flame spell had struck her.
Twilight's eyes had narrowed. She was staring at Spring with intense concentration, nostrils flaring. She sprinted straight at Spring, her horn shooting purple beams of light in all directions as she approached. Spring thew a volley of bolts at her, but found them easily shattering on  a powerful shield of purple energy which encompassed her. Spring smiled. Perfect.
Twilight drew closer at a dead run. Spring saw the light on her horn intensify, saw her change her body's form slightly to compensate for the knock-back, saw her draw her head back in preparation to fire...
A tenth of a second before she fired, Spring dived, striking  the earth. A massive shock wave radiated outwards from her blow, knocking Twilight half a meter into the air. The blast missed wildly, impacting the side of the castle and blowing a seven meter hole in it. Twilight was stunned, but unfortunately recovered before Spring could lay down any fire, extending her wings and quickly swooping to altitude. Spring followed her, a near constant set of blasts emitting from her. Twilight dodged and deflected the bolts without too much trouble, though it gave her no chance to retaliate.
“How art thou enjoying thy crash course!” Spring called to Twilight. “If thee manages to live through it, thee wilt find many lessons that wilt improve thy combat effectiveness. Thee couldst certainly use it!”
Twilight growled. “I'm doing just fine!” She unleashed two enormous slashes of energy, great purple waves of power which Spring easily deflected with a quick shield. Most of the energy missed her completely, leaving twenty meter long, half meter deep gashes in the earth where they landed.
“Not if thee thinks that wast a good plan!” Spring said, taking on mocking tones. “Allow me to demonstrate.”
Spring let loose a rapid volley of blasts, nearly three a second, Twilight barely able to anticipate their arrival. She dived and weaved through the air, managing, just, to avoid the bolts of energy. Spring considered letting her dance for a little while, then decided against it, summoning three large fireballs, one on either side and one below Twilight, then smashing them together while changing the direction of her rapid blasts by a few degrees. Twilight soared upwards to avoid the fireballs, got clipped with one of the blasts, and lost her rhythm. The blow stunned her, so much so that she took another hit, this time directly. She gasped in pain, visibly straining to pull herself out of the path of the next few blasts. Not far enough to avoid all of them, unfortunately for her. Another struck her across the side. This time, however, Twilight made no sound, bolstering herself with her magic. Spring took the opportunity to interrupt her normal casting pattern to create a more powerful arc of energy. Twilight managed to steady herself just in time for Spring's great wave of power to slice directly across her front.
Twilight screamed in agony, her wings crumpling and in flames. She plummeted to the ground, hitting it with a soft thud.
“We art each more than capable of killing the other in five strikes, or even less.” Spring said, circling down towards Twilight. “The trick is getting in those five strikes. Our power is more than sufficient to deflect any single spell another might send our way. The only way to gain advantage, then, is to cause distractions.”
Twilight stirred on the ground, trying to get to her hooves. She wasn't making much progress.
“Most spells an Alicorn uses in battle art never expected to reach their target. They exist to give thy opponent something to watch for, so that they art that much less likely to catch the next attack, that much less for the one after. In this way, eventually, something is bound to get through. Our defenses art simply too strong for direct attacks, like thee were making.”
“You talk too much!”
Spring turned just in time to be smashed across the side by Dash. The breath was knocked from her, sending her crashing into the ground. She heard a cracking noise, like thunder. She figured that might have been her ribs. Before she could land, Dash was already there; kicking up quickly, she threw Spring into the wall of the castle. There was a crashing sound, and Spring saw the roof coming down on her. With a pulse of energy, she blasted the roof away from her, violently tossing the two tonne chunk of stonework one hundred meters clear over the remainder of the castle, where it crashed into what would have been the stone pavilion if it had not mysteriously disappeared. Spring turned angrily to where the pegasus should have been, and was shocked to find her completely gone from her field of view. She picked her up a few seconds later, already having helped Twilight to her hooves.
The distance she had to travel... She must have been flying at twice the speed of sound! Spring stood up, feeling her ribs with magic. They seemed okay. The sound she heard was, in all likelihood, Dash breaking the sound barrier.
She really should have killed the others before engaging Twilight.
Spring opened her wings, arcing quickly to their position. All six were gathered together below her now. This was going to be easy.
“Thee really shouldst hast used this opportunity to flee, mortals!” She called, her horn glowing brighter, casting the field below her in strong, aquamarine light, brilliant patterns scattering wildly like the underside of an aquarium. “I am sorry to say that thee wilt-”
There was a flash of purple light, and the six disappeared.
Well. Okay then.
Spring stayed there, maintaining altitude for a few seconds, her horn still alight with terrible power. She sighed. Perhaps she did talk too much. She discharged her spell into the castle; it crumpled under the force, almost half of it collapsing instantly.
Twilight had drawn a circle of her blood around herself. It didn’t take Spring very long to figure out that they must have teleported. The location, however, was not decipherable, the section having been burned away in the flash of power she had used. Spring landed, casted a quick healing spell on herself, and sat down.
Whatever had possessed her to play with Twilight? She should have killed her in seconds. Even when giving her 'demonstration', she had been going easy. Two quick bursts when she had first hit her with the fireball, then one charge attack and she would have been dead. She knew this. She had thought of it at the time. But she hadn’t done it.
They were trying to protect what they thought was right. Thee couldst nay bring thyself to kill them, couldst thee?
Spring shook her head. No, she had had no reserves about killing them when she had had them in her grasp. She was more than willing to kill them.
Except Twilight. Thee sees something in her, dost thee not?
No. No. It wasn’t that. She had underestimated her enemy’s, again, as she always seemed to. She would be more prepared the next time. Which, in all likelihood, would be quite soon. After a short rest and recover, Spring intended on going straight to Canterlot. Celestia would be much more willing to listen to her, she was sure, when her capitol city was burning.
Spring stood up, walking away towards her new home. Yes, tomorrow Canterlot would burn. Today, however, she was tired.
She felt jumpy as she slowly made her way down her path towards her home. The little battle warm-up had gotten her blood flowing. She felt ready to spring into action at any moment. The moon was full tonight, casting more than sufficient light on her path. The forest seemed quiet, as if it were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Spring smiled to herself. Perhaps it was jumpy too, after all, it had likely not seen a goddess's wrath inside its borders for a long time.
After a few minutes, Spring calmed down. She usually was not so shaken by mortals. These particular mortals, however, seemed to be able to handle themselves well. They were obviously inexperienced, but then, all mortals were. She could see them being a potential problem later, especially Twilight and Dash. Those two she would need to watch.
Celestia and Luna, though, were a much larger issue. Combined, their power nearly equaled hers, if her senses were not mistaken, and each could output on her level. They had twice her DPS, even if they could only go for half as long. She had no doubts that she was more experienced then they were, if Celestia was such a diplomat as she said and Luna had been on the moon for a millennium. Still, they had been trained by, well, her. They knew how she fought. Luckily, she had no intention of killing them. Permanently, anyway. Though it was seeming less and less likely, she still lived in hope of a day when she and her daughters could rule the world together. It would be easier to beat them when her target was suppression or unconsciousness, apposed to death. It would still be by no means easy.
Spring paced pleasantly down the path, her mind lazily perusing potential possibilities, calculating probabilities, and picking potential paths and plans for her preferred assault on Canterlot, when she felt a powerful presence. Pausing, Spring turned a half circle, facing whatever had decided to present itself in her presence. Or, at least that was the plan. To her dismay, there was nothing there. She felt a poke on her back.
“Boo.”
Spring rolled her eyes. “I shouldst hast expected as much. Thee canst nay stay sealed for long, canst thee, Discord.”
The Draconequus hung upside down off what looked like a metal bar suspended in thin air. Par for the course. Actually, if anything, far less random than Spring would have expected. “Why hast thee come, Discord? I wouldst hast thought thee wouldst be'st less than keen for a confrontation with me.”
Discord looked offended. “Well I never! Why, pray tell, would you think I was here to confront you?” Spring gave him a long look. He sighed. “Alright, I know we're not exactly fond of each other, but believe me, if I was here to confront you, I would not have wasted my surprise.”
“Oh, I don't know. Thee dost tend to do stupid things, like even the playing field to give your enemy's a sporting chance.”
Discord looked at Spring coyly. “With you? Only one of us need handicaps for this to be a fair fight, Spring, and it's not me.”
Spring acknowledged Discord's statement with a non-committal shrug. “I wouldst nay be'st so sure. Thee art eight thousand years my senior.”
“Only fifty-six hundred if you don't count the many, many times I've been sealed in one form or another.” Discord said. “I should be about to celebrate my fifteen thousandth birthday. Instead, I'm approaching 11,500.”
Spring waved her hoof dismissively. “14,819. A bit away from fifteen thousand, wouldn’t you say?”
Discord rolled his eyes. “I haven't been counting. So I'm a century or two off. Big deal.”
Spring sighed. “All this talk is meaningless. Why art thee here, Discord?” She turned to face him. “Hast thee come to join forces with me?”
Discord paused. “Tempting, very tempting. But no. Sorry Spring, but I've been...” He paused again, making air quotes, “'reformed'. I'm one of the 'good guys' now.” He sighed. “As boring as that is.” He smiled. “I'd give it a decade or two. Just can't be helped. But, no, as much as I'd like to, I will not be helping you take over Equestria.”
“So... art thee here to confront me after all?” Spring asked.
Discord flew behind Spring and put his arm around her. “No, no, no, nothing of the sort! This is just a...” he waved his free arm in the air for a second, obviously looking for the correct word. “a social call.”
Spring raised an eyebrow. “Verily?”
“Just wanted to check up on my favorite niece.”
“Least favorite, thou mean.”
“Spring! That hurts!” Discord said, a glowing red arrow piercing through where his heart should be. “Words can stick with a pony!”
“How lucky we art, then, that thee art not a pony.” Spring sighed and began to walk away.
“Where are you going, missy.” Discord popped up in front of her. “I'm not done here.”
Spring waved him out of her face. “I art. Like always, thee hast managed to be'st a complete waste of my time.”
“I saw you fight those six.” He said at length.
“Thou didst? Good for thee.” Spring continued to walk.
“They're more skilled then they look.” Discord called, beginning to fall behind.
“I shall keep that in mind.” Spring said, drawing farther from him.
“They have plot armor.” Discord noted, pulling in closer. Spring shook her head and continued walking. She was not going to validate that statement with a response.
“Oh, come on!” Discord pouted. “Why won't you talk to me?”
Spring turned on him. “There art only two reasons for thy interest. The first wouldst be'st that thee art here to gather information from me. I know that is not the case, as thy questionings hast nay been leading nor thy conversation built to gain trust or respect. The second is very obvious. Thee art bored, and wish for something to do. I refuse to be'st thy entertainment, Discord.”
“Me, bored?” Discord said incredulously. “Where, prey tell, do you get that from?” He paused, then face-palmed. “Never ask Spring how...”
Spring smiled. “Thee hast preformed a total of two magical spells during thy time with me. The first was when thee teleported in, the second when I commented on our relationship. Thy workings hast been reactionary. Thee hast not done anything of thy own choosing and path since thee showed up. Thee must be'st either distracted or working up for something big. But thee said that thee hadst no interest in helping me, or confronting me. And thee hast nothing to be distracted by. The only other explanation, then, is that thee hadst not thought of anything else to do. Thee wast concentrated on entering conversation with me. That wast to be thy activity, then – having an interaction with another, not on thy own. I hast been less than kind to thee, but thee hast nay left nor found any other distraction to amuse thyself, suggesting that thee hast no other plan. Thee came seeking me, so that I couldst amuse thee, as thee couldst nay think of anything thyself. What dost thee call the condition in which somepony wants to do something but canst nay think of anything for themselves?” Spring paused. “Unless the definition of the word has changed, I do believe that it would be'st 'bored'.
“You're getting slow. Usually all you need is to look at the angle my tail is pointing and all of a sudden you're reading me my life's story.”
Spring rolled her eyes. “It's simple deduction. Not magic. I need some volume of information to form conclusions.” She paused. “Thee hast been staying in Canterlot, primarily. A few short trips, hours a week? To a town. An Earth-pony town. Near the Everfree. Population between two and three thousand. You're visiting a mare, with a pink mane. Not a unicorn, but I canst nay tell if she's and earth-pony or a pegasus. You spend most of your time reading(2).” She paused again. “See? Hardly thy entire life story, though not too bad for fifteen seconds.”
Discord flicked his tail self-consciously. “It was a joke, Spring. Not a challenge.”
Spring smirked. “Glad to see that is as disconcerting to thee now as ever. Now, if thou wilt excuse me, I hast an invasion to plan.”
“This won't be easy, you know.” Discord called after her, but did not follow. “These ponies aren't weak, Spring! Think before you do anything rash!” Spring continued to walk, not paying him mind.
Discord waited until Spring was safely out of earshot, before breaking into laughter and cheering. “Oh, finally, something fun!” He laughed softly. “The game is on, the game is on, and the players are taking their places on the board! Oh, what a time I chose to wake up, what a time indeed!” And with that, he disappeared.

Spring made fair time, coming in sight of her house just four minutes after leaving Discord. She was quite happy that he had declined to engage in combat with her; that was a battle that she would rather not fight. Discord was one of the few creatures on this world she was afraid of, if for no other reason than the fact that he was a god of chaos and she was a goddess of, after everything else, harmony. The fact that he had survived through every major event in recorded history, some of which were the direct result of ponies trying to kill him, likely added to that. Then again, the same could be said of her.
After fiddling with her door for a few seconds, Spring found herself inside her as of yet unfamiliar house. The torches burned lightly, the rooms softly illuminated by the glow. Spring sighed. What had she done, in her free time? It seemed that the world was only interesting when something terrible was going on.
She lay down, sticking her wing in her mouth and beginning to preen. She liked preening, it felt good and helped her think. She worked her mouth across her feathers, cleaning them, removing the dead feathers, the oils from her mouth slicking and waterproofing them. Preening, the oft overlooked secondary joy which comes with wings. If you neglected to do it, your flight would be hampered, and it felt good besides. If it wasn’t so monotonous, she might have said it was the best part of having wings. Spring sighed. As nice as it felt, it only put off the inevitable boredom which was day to day life for twenty-five minutes at best. She still had nothing in mind to do.
At least tomorrow would be interesting. She had been stupid to trust Celestia. She may not have been the brightest pony Spring knew, but she was the craftiest, or very nearly so. She never stopped thinking of how she could get advantage in a situation. She craved control, always had. She knew how ponies minds worked, and she used her kind and disarming manor to convince them to do what she wanted, even when they thought they were taking matters into their own hooves. Spring was usually smart enough to avoid her tricks, but, as they say, in a game of life and death, you only need to loose once.
Though, what exactly Celestia expected to gain from this was lost to Spring. If the elements had managed to knock her out, even kill her, what was the plan? Nopony alive, as far as she knew, had the prerequisite ability and company to cast a spell strong enough to seal a goddess, and even Celestia would have realized that she had almost no chance of permanently killing her. There was a reason real, to the death Alicorn battles could last for months, and it wasn’t because no one could hit anyone else. It was doable, sure, but the chance of them managing it on their first attempt? Next to none. And so long as they actually cared about their precious mortal ponies, the magnitude of the collateral was almost sure to be out of the question.
There really was no point in trying to figure out Celestia's motives. Unless it had been to piss her off enough to tear down her gaudy palace around her ears, her plan, whatever it was, had failed at the first hurdle.
Spring continued to preen, her wings slowly taking on a vibrant look as she worked them over. Well, Celestia, it is high time you payed for your mistake, the first, biggest, and dumbest mistake you could have made.




Never underestimate me.


End Chapter 7