//------------------------------// // Homecoming // Story: Metal Gear Spark: Peace Zero // by GreenS21 //------------------------------// Princess Celestia sat on her throne in Canterlot Castle, her magic guiding the Sun to the edge of the horizon. What had so long ago required the magic and coordination of many unicorns to perform was now done nearly effortlessly by the white alicorn. Nearly effortlessly; while a small amount of concentration was still required on her part, Celestia had done it so many times that she could think of other things while doing it. And that’s what she was doing now. She thought of how another day meeting with her little ponies and making public appearances as scheduled by her advisor, Kibitz, had gone. She thought of how the day was coming to an end and her sister’s night would soon follow. She thought of how the day just seemed to drag at times. And she thought of how Equestria was between day and night; they were truly in the hour of… “Twilight,” she sighed softly to herself, her eyes moving to look at one of the stained glass windows in the room, the one showing her faithful student’s ascension. After Tirek had banished her, Luna, and Cadance to Tartarus, he had ruined the window, essentially melted it with his magic before leaving Canterlot to claim what he believed was his. Upon returning to Canterlot and finding the window as it was, she requisitioned for a new window to be made, especially in light of the news she had learned that day. Upon her, Luna, and Cadance regaining their magic and cutie marks, they quickly left Tartarus, Celestia suspecting that they would find Twilight and her friends in Ponyville. What they found instead was basically a ghost town, the streets of Ponyville still empty due to Spike and Twilight’s friends telling all of the ponies earlier to stay indoors at Twilight’s request. Speaking of which, the three alicorns were soon surprised by all of Twilight’s friends (sans Discord) suddenly approaching them and fearfully telling them that Twilight was missing. Celestia had been shocked and confused by this news to say the least, quickly probing her former student’s friends with a memory spell when none of them could explain what happened. She couldn’t gather any clues as to what exactly might’ve happened from what she saw, but she did hear Twilight’s scream and immediately suspected Tirek had something to do with it. She quickly returned to Canterlot afterwards and, in addition to requesting the new stained glass window, ordered the Royal Guard to start searching for Princess Twilight. If she was anywhere in Equestria, her guards would surely find her. The one place she didn’t order them to search was Tartarus; she couldn’t order them to search there, and as much as she didn’t want to go back there, she was the one who would have to, especially if… The Sun Princess was jerked out of her thoughts by a familiar voice asking her, “Your Majesty? Are you feeling well?” The Sun Princess looked down to her left to see Raven, her white unicorn aide, looking up at her in concern. Celestia was silent for a moment before answering, “I’m fine, Raven. I was… a bit lost in my thoughts just now. I’m sorry if I worried you.” Raven responded, “I understand, Your Majesty. I was just going to tell you that we’ve finished up everything for today.” Celestia rose and said, “Thank you, Raven. Enjoy your evening; I’ll see you tomorrow.” Raven nodded and walked down the dais, heading for the throne room’s double doors. Celestia silently watched her until she left, at which point she did the same. Her guards followed her out and took up their posts at the sides of the doors as she closed them. After exchanging some short words with the guards, Celestia began making her way down the hall, heading for her chambers. As she walked, her thoughts once again turned to Twilight. She thought about the last time she’d seen her former student’s face and realized, “One month… She’s been missing for a month now.” She turned her head to look out one of the windows at the stars outside and silently prayed, “Wherever you are, Twilight, I hope you’re at least safe…” In one month, they’d come no closer to finding out what had happened to Twilight. The lavender alicorn’s friends and family had been contributing to the search for her as much as they could every day, but it was still turning up nothing. It was still early, though; perhaps it was going to take more time before a sign of Twilight’s current whereabouts would turn up. Tartarus was the one place they could rule out, however. The Princesses, along with Shining Armor, had gone there together to search for Twilight, but they had found no trace of her there. Questioning Tirek had also yielded no answers, as the centaur didn’t know or care what had happened to the princess, and even went so far as to taunt them that he hoped she was dead. They’d had to leave then, before Shining Armor and Luna got any angrier and tried to break down Tirek’s cage and kill him. Celestia found herself pulled hastily out of her thoughts once again, this time by the sound of her sister’s voice, “Good evening, Celestia! I’m so glad I caught you before you retired to your chambers for the night!” Celestia looked in front of her to see that, indeed, while she had been lost in thought again, her body had gone on autopilot and had taken her to her room. She turned to look behind her and found Luna standing there, seemingly cheery about taking over for the night shift if the smile on her face was anything to go by. “Oh. Hello, Luna,” Celestia said. Not seeming to notice any change in her sister’s demeanor, Luna spoke, “I am sorry if I startled you, sister, but I really wanted to see you before you fell asleep. Our time together in between the changing of the Sun and Moon has felt so short as of late. I was hoping you would be willing to share some tales about your day with me before my guards and I started our patrol.” Celestia smiled, willing to comply with her sister’s request, but it faded as she realized her mind felt so addled at the moment that she couldn’t recall the details she figured Luna would want to hear about. She settled on saying, “I’m sorry, Luna. Today wasn’t all that exciting, to be honest. Having to settle disputes between ponies, signing lots of paperwork, making public appearances… You remember what I usually go through in my day, yes?” Luna replied, “I do. I should after having to do it before, but…” She stopped herself as she took notice of how Celestia was glancing down at the floor. After a moment, she softly asked, “Were you thinking about Twilight Sparkle again?” Celestia nodded slowly. “Just a little while ago actually, as I was lowering the Sun. It was just an idle thought, but…” Luna said, “I’m worried about her too, Celestia. Are the search efforts still proving fruitless?” Celestia nodded, prompting Luna to ask, “You don’t suppose Tirek…?” Celestia looked up at Luna and softly but firmly said, “No. I saw it; his magic was losing strength when he tried to attack Twilight and her friends. There’s no way he could’ve killed Twilight as he was at the time.” Celestia’s eyes shifted downwards, “I hope that the magic strain she had been going through merely caused her to teleport when she was struck. If I knew more, I’d have a better idea of what happened to her. I can only speculate at this point.” Luna stepped over to her sister and held a hoof under her chin, prompting the older sibling to look down at her. “I’m sure she’s doing well, seeing as Tirek didn’t capture her. And my guards and I will look for her during our patrol tonight, as we have done since she disappeared,” Luna reassured. Celestia gave her a small smile, “Thank you, Luna.” She stood up straight and Luna lowered her hoof. “Have a good night,” Celestia said. “Pleasant dreams,” Luna nodded before turning and walking away. Celestia turned after a moment and used her magic to open the doors to her chambers, closing them behind her. Inside, Celestia crossed over to her bed and climbed on it, lying down and tucking her legs in underneath her, starting to relax as she used her magic to light a fire in her fireplace, creating a relaxing atmosphere. For a while, she just laid there, waiting for sleep to come to her, but even when it finally seemed like she was nodding off, sleep seemed to elude the white alicorn. Finally letting out an irritated sigh, she looked around the room for something to help her fall asleep. Her purple eyes soon fell on the scrolls Twilight and her friends had sent before the former became a princess: the friendship reports. She levitated them over and began to read through them again. Even if Twilight was missing, being able to read the lessons she had learned during her time in Ponyville was therapeutic in a way. It brought her some solace being able to read the letters that had been written by Twilight and her friends, keeping her hopeful. The time was unknown to Celestia as she continued to reread the lessons her little ponies had sent her. Eventually, however, her reading was interrupted by a sound coming from her balcony. It was a soft sound, like a swish or a scraping noise, but it did cause Celestia to look up. After waiting several seconds, she returned her attention to the scroll being held up by her magic, only for the noise to sound again a moment later. Celestia looked up and asked, “Who’s there?” A dramatic, familiar voice came from the balcony, “Anywhere there’s peace, wherever silence rules, anytime you think you can relax,” a flash of light appeared in Celestia’s room, a familiar draconequus wearing a superhero costume appearing from it and posing, “Captain Chaos will be there to liven things up!” Celestia deadpanned. The costume Discord was wearing looked very much like the one worn by his alternate counterpart, Sir Discord, that time she and Star Swirl the Bearded had met him when he was being Captain Goodguy, only the colors were swapped and he had ‘CC’ on his chest. Despite what her own feelings towards the draconequus may be now, she hadn’t particularly wanted to see Discord prancing around in a cape and leotard back then and she certainly didn’t want to see it now. “Discord. What do you want?” she asked calmly, but with a barely noticeable edge to her words. The draconequus looked offended. “Really, Celestia? That’s all you’ve got to say? And after all the time I spent coming up with this idea!” he complained. Celestia replied, “I could say so many things to you right now, Discord, and I’m certain you would not like most, if any, of them.” Her tone softened as she went on, “You’ve always had a flair for the dramatic and unexpected, but all things considered, this isn’t like you. I have a feeling this did not take you a month to think up.” Discord huffed, “There you go again, Celestia, being a know-it-all.” He snapped his fingers and his purple and red costume vanished. He then turned to look off to the side, seemingly sulking. Celestia stood up and stepped off of her bed, moving closer to Discord as she spoke, “I’m being serious, Discord. Spike has been sending me letters from Fluttershy saying that you haven’t been responding to the letters she’s been sending you. She’s been worried about you; why haven’t you been corresponding with her?” Discord didn’t respond, so Celestia continued, “Talk to me, Discord. Yes, I was not happy when I found out you decided to side with Tirek, but I don’t hold it against you anymore. I can understand if you’re upset about betraying Fluttershy, but she told me she forgave you. Or does it have something to do with what happened to Twilight?” Discord glanced at her, “I’m surprised you can say her name without getting all emotional, considering how you reacted when you heard the news.” Celestia continued to stare at him, and soon Discord grunted and said, “All right, fine! Yes, I’m upset about Twilight disappearing off the face of Equestria! There! Are you happy now?! Is that what you wanted to hear, Celestia?!” Celestia softly replied, “I don’t take pleasure in forcing you to admit anything, Discord. I’m just trying to understand…” Discord growled and brushed up the fur on his lion arm with his eagle talon like it was a sleeve, looking ready to cause a storm of chaos or ruin something, but he soon relaxed, letting out a sigh as he hung his head, sitting down heavily in front of the fireplace. “Dumb Princess Twilight… Thinks she’s so great, so high and mighty…” he growled to himself. “Discord…” Celestia murmured, her voice a little firmer as she narrowed her eyes, looking at his back. Several long moments passed before Discord sighed and said, “You know, until all this happened… I never thought I wouldn’t enjoy unexpected things happening.” Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but he continued, “Everything involving the Elements of Harmony was one thing, but this… I never expected this would be the way I’d have to learn about… about…” He trailed off, looking down at the flames. Celestia’s gaze softened and she moved up behind Discord, standing slightly off to the side as she placed a hoof on his back and said, “You were usually the only one when it came to causing chaos. How could you have known what Tirek or others who have threatened Equestria’s peace were willing to do?” Despite her touch and words, Discord continued to mope. “Did Twilight actually mean it when she called me one of her friends, or was it something else? Would she have been willing to accept me after Tirek was stopped?” he wondered aloud. Celestia spoke, “I don’t think Twilight would say something so important if she wasn’t sure of herself.” The memory of her niece’s wedding briefly flashed through her mind, but she quickly shook it away, remaining focused on Discord as she continued, “I’m sure she meant it.” Discord looked back at her and asked, “How can you be certain of that, Celestia?” The Sun Princess replied, “When she found out about you and Tirek, she mentioned that she was starting to trust you.” Discord, however, said, “That was then. How do you know she didn’t feel the same sting of betrayal that I did? It’s not like you can ask her, and I do wonder if you’ll ever be able to ask her.” Noticing the look on the white alicorn’s face, he added, “Don’t tell me the thought hasn’t crossed your mind yet.” Celestia backed away a few steps and glanced down with shame on her features. “It has, at times. I… I’ve never been as worried about Twilight as I am now. I have no idea where she is or what she’s doing… or if she’s even alive. And, you’re right, that does scare me… But…” Before she could say more, she was surprised by Discord suddenly shaking and wiggling in place for several moments before flopping down onto his side. Celestia looked down at him with concern, “Discord?” The draconequus rolled onto his back and looked up at her before saying, “That was my magic sense going off. That was a lot stronger than the other times its happened this last month…” Celestia looked at him in confusion, “It’s been happening a lot recently?” Discord sat up and said, “Yes. That’s actually why I decided to come see you, and that’s also where I got the idea to dress up as a superhero. It was a rather ravishing costume, wouldn’t you say?” Celestia gave him a serious look at that, so he decided to stop joking and simply continued, “Anyway, yes, my sense has been going off quite a bit recently. Like I said, though, it was a lot more intense this time; before, it felt like I kept getting poked all over.” Celestia raised an eyebrow, “Poked?” Discord nodded, “Yes, poked. Like ‘pins and needles’ poked, like somepony’s magic was trying to reach out to me. This felt more like when you, your sister, and your niece transferred all of your magic to Twilight.” Celestia said, “Hm. I suppose you would’ve felt that since you could sense when Tirek was stealing magic from other ponies.” Discord shrugged, “Well, it’s not like I told him! I WAS trying to build up a bit of suspense, you know!” Celestia glared, “Suspense for what?” Discord huffed, “Please, Celestia. I suspected what you had done, but I wasn’t completely sure at the time. Besides, I still like surprises, even if Tirek never did, and I expected the look on his face when he found out you alicorns had no magic to be priceless. And of course, as we all know, it was.” Celestia shook her head and said, “So what did your magic sense tell you now?” Discord replied, “Oh, just that a lot of magic was generated in one place just now. Like I said, it’s very similar to when Twilight gained all of the alicorn magic in Equestria.” Celestia deadpanned, “So it told you nothing.” Discord said, with his eagle talon on his chin, “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I don’t know who used a lot of magic, but I can still sense where it came from. So if we go there, I’m sure we can…” The draconequus was interrupted by the door suddenly bursting open, Celestia and Discord looking over to see one of the earth pony Royal Guards standing in the doorway, panting. He soon looked up and said, “Your Highness!” He soon noticed who else was in the room and awkwardly asked, “And… Discord?” Discord crossed his arms and looked back at the fireplace as he sulked, “Oh, right. I can’t just appear wherever I want anymore. It’s not like I haven’t done that before, right?” Celestia shook her head and addressed the guard, “Come in. Is something the matter?” The earth pony took a few steps forward and bowed; as he was doing so, he spoke, “Forgive my intrusion, Princess, but I have urgent news.” Celestia asked, “Yes? What is it?” The guard stood up and removed his helmet, holding it in the crook of his foreleg as he said, “It’s Princess Twilight. …We’ve found her.” Celestia’s eyes widened at this news and Discord stopped sulking and looked back at the guard. The former hesitantly asked, “W-Where?” The guard answered, “In the castle gardens. My fellow pegasus spotter and I were about to trade shifts with the night watch when we all saw a flash and went to investigate. When we got there, she was there.” Celestia murmured, “A flash… It must’ve been from a powerful teleport. That would account for Discord’s magic sense going off…” The aforementioned draconequus sulked again, “Hmph! A whole month of worrying about the bookworm princess – all for nothing!” He mostly said it because he didn’t want the guard to see anything that would seem unusual. He kept this appearance up as he summoned a glass of chocolate milk, though as he began to drink the glass, he thought to himself, “I need this little bit of comfort before I see Twilight again…” Suddenly, Celestia looked up and spoke to the guard, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’m sure the rest of the Royal Guard and my sister will be relieved when they hear that they can call off the search. Now, where is Princess Twilight?” The guard placed his helmet back over his head, but as he brought his hoof down, he seemed to get nervous. “Well… she… she’s…” he stammered. Celestia began to look concerned, and even Discord slowed down his drinking when she asked, “Yes? What is it?” The guard began to rub his hoof against the carpeted floor, not saying anything. Celestia looked down at his hooves and noticed something on his shoes that she hadn’t noticed earlier. “Is that… blood?” she questioned. The guard looked down at his shoes, knowing full well he had drying blood on them. “I’m afraid so, Your Highness, but it’s not mine. You see… What I’m trying to say is…” He couldn’t keep it in any longer and burst out, “It’s from Princess Twilight! She’s being taken to the hospital right now!” Celestia gasped and Discord did a spit take at this revelation. Soon, at the Canterlot Hospital The receptionist on duty and a unicorn nurse (who was on her break) were abruptly jerked out of the conversation they were having by a white pegasus guard suddenly bursting through the hospital’s front doors. Not breaking his stride, the guard ran over to the nurse and said, “Get a stretcher and a doctor in here! It’s an emergency!” After a moment, the nurse started, “What are you…?” She stopped short when the pegasus shifted to show what, or rather who, was on his back. It was Princess Twilight, unconscious and clad in a tight-fitting uniform of some sort, but that wasn’t what caught the nurse’s attention. It was the fact that the right side of the lavender alicorn’s face looked badly burnt, and it looked like she had bandages wrapped around her left foreleg that were stained red. Quickly taking all of this in, the nurse told the guard, “Please wait here for a minute!” before rushing through the doors past the reception counter. The guard shuffled in place anxiously, starting to wonder if it was a good idea to bring Princess Twilight to the hospital rather than the castle infirmary. He looked behind him at the hastily wrapped bandages around the alicorn’s foreleg, noticing that it looked like they might start leaking any minute. He had no idea what had happened to her; he and the other guards hoped that the hospital staff would be able to figure it out. Before he could lose his composure completely, the doors in the back were roughly opened and the nurse came through them along with a stretcher and a unicorn doctor. The doctor ordered him to put Twilight on the stretcher, which he carefully did with his wings to avoid injuring her further. After questioning him on what he knew about what happened to the alicorn, the doctor and the nurse wheeled her into the back. The time for relaxation was over; now it was time to get serious about their jobs. Not long afterwards, while the guard was trying to get the blood off of his coat with the tissues on the reception counter, the hospital’s front doors opened again and Princess Celestia quickly trotted inside while Discord peered in from the outside. The Princess of the Sun walked right up the reception desk and asked, “Where is Princess Twilight? I must see her!” The receptionist shakily replied, “I-I’m sorry, Your Highness, but Princess Twilight just came in a short while ago. They’re probably treating her right now.” She looked off to the side at the guard sitting on one of the waiting room’s couches, “H-He can probably tell you more than I can.” Calming herself slightly, Celestia walked over to the guard and addressed him, “Guard.” When he looked up at her, she said, “If you are feeling up to it, please tell me what Princess Twilight’s condition was when you and the other guards found her.” Meanwhile, in the Operating Room Twilight lay on the operating table, surrounded by several doctors and nurses. They had managed to expose her legs and were busy reapplying the bandages the guards had put on earlier to try to contain the blood leaking from them. Although they were waiting for the X-rays to come back from the lab, they were already starting to work on some of her other injuries so she wouldn't die on them. Aside from the right side of her face, the left side had burns on it as well (though they weren't as severe), as did the upper part of her neck and her horn, and both of her wings showed signs of burns as well, with some doctors starting to remove some of the more burnt feathers. Her right wing was bleeding in several places while the left wing was bent at a wrong angle, indicating a broken bone. Aside from the blood coming out of her hind legs and left foreleg, it appeared that her clothing had protected the rest of her from suffering more burns or other serious injuries. Still, none of the doctors or nurses had ever seen holes like the ones on the princess’ legs, and a closer look revealed that something was lodged in them. And her breathing pattern was irregular as well… Suddenly, a nurse came in carrying a folder in her mouth. “Doctor, here are Princess Twilight’s x-rays,” she said, one of the unicorn doctors, a radiologist, coming over and taking the folder from her with his magic. As he walked back to the operating table with the nurse, he opened the folder and pulled out the images, looking them over. “Hmm… It appears she has bits of some sort of shrapnel buried in her legs. We’ll need to remove them or the wounds will heal around them,” he informed the others. He looked at another image and, after a moment, his eyes widened, “Sweet Celestia… There’s fluid in her lungs!” Setting the folder and images down on one of the carts, the doctor hurried to the side of the operating table and began to perform CPR on Twilight. With a mask, he breathed into her mouth several times before he began to pump his hooves on her chest, trying to force the liquid out. After a series of chest compressions, he went back to her mouth to give her more air. He continued doing this routine several more times until, while he was pressing on her chest, the lavender alicorn’s eyes shot open as she coughed up water, the edges of her eyes tinted red. She lay still for a second, panting before she began to writhe in a blind panic, her legs and wings flailing around as she sputtered. The doctors and nurses quickly rushed forward, grabbing her and trying to restrain her before she could hurt herself further. While helping to hold down her right foreleg, the first doctor looked at her and said, “Your Highness! Princess Twilight, please, you have to calm down! Breathe!” She didn’t seem to hear him, but it looked like she was beginning to tire already, so he decided to try a different approach. He got closer to her face and said as calmly as he could, “It’s all right, Princess Twilight. You’re in the hospital in Canterlot, being treated by the best doctors and nurses available. You’re safe now.” Twilight’s movements began to slow, her breathing becoming a little more manageable as she uttered, “Canterlot…? Safe…?” The doctor nodded, “Yes.” A second later, Twilight’s eyes slid closed and her head fell back onto the table, the rest of her body going slack. For a moment, the doctors and nurses were afraid she might have died, but the sounds of the heart rate monitor and her now steady breathing told them she was still with them. Sighing, the doctor addressed the rest of the staff, “All right, everypony, let’s finish up here. Somepony get the anesthetic; we’ll get the shrapnel bits out of her legs first and wrap them up so she doesn’t bleed out on us and then finish treating the rest of her wounds.” Everypony nodded and they all got to work, all of them working together like a single unit. Soon, in the lobby Luna sat next to her sister on one of the couches, occasionally stealing a glance at her. After the pegasus guard had told Celestia what he knew about Twilight and mentioned that the saddlebags she had been wearing had been taken to the Twelfth Precinct along with everything she had for storage, she’d told the guard to find her sister and tell her that Twilight had been found. Upon hearing this, the Lunar Princess had sent him back to the castle and cut her patrol short so she could be with her sister. She had returned to Canterlot a short while ago, and now they, along with Discord, were waiting for any word on Twilight’s status. Thinking about Discord, Luna glanced away from her sister’s anxious expression to look at the draconequus. He was literally pacing all over the room, his legs carrying him across the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. “Evidently, being concerned, if that is really what this is, isn’t enough to make his antics stop,” Luna thought to herself as she watched him begin to walk up the wall on the other side of the lobby again. As Discord reached the middle of the ceiling, he came to a stop as the back doors suddenly opened, the nurse from earlier stepping through them into the lobby. Discord watched as the two sisters stood up on their hooves and looked at the nurse expectantly. The mare knew what they were here for and answered the unasked question, “Princess Twilight is stable, Your Highnesses. She just got out of the OR.” Celestia, Luna, and Discord looked relieved at that, Celestia asking, “Can we see her?” The nurse replied, “She is currently resting and visiting hours are over, but the doctors said that if anypony was waiting to hear about her condition, it would be okay for them to see her. Come with me; I’ll show you to her room.” The mare turned and walked back between the doors, Celestia and Luna following after her with Discord following them at a distance after a few moments. As they walked down the halls of the hospital, Celestia asked the nurse, “How badly was she hurt? I heard a little about her condition while I was waiting, along with something about her wearing some sort of clothing, but…” The nurse answered, “I don’t know what she was doing, but Princess Twilight’s condition was not as severe as we first thought. Still, it’s likely that she would have died had she not gotten treatment when she did. You can be thankful to your guards for that. And yes, she was wearing some sort of uniform when she was brought in. I believe they placed it in her room with her.” Celestia nodded, her worries having been quelled somewhat. After a few minutes of walking, the nurse came to a stop past a door and turned to face Discord and the princesses. “She’s in this room. I must ask that you keep your voices down inside; she woke up once while she was in the OR, but right now, she needs her rest.” Celestia nodded and then pushed the door open with her magic, Luna and Discord following her in. Inside, in the room’s dim lighting, they could see Twilight lying in a bed against the wall to their right further in. Stepping closer and gathering around the bed, they could see the upper part of her body sticking out of the blanket on the bed. She was wearing a green hospital gown and had bandages wrapped around her left foreleg. Her wings were extended to their full length, her right wing wrapped in bandages and her left wing having a cast around it to help the broken bone heal, both wings missing a lot of feathers. She had a bandage patch taped to the right side of her face, just under her eye, while the left side of her face had smaller bandages across it, as did parts of her horn and neck. Her eyes had a bandage wrapped around them and her right foreleg had wires attached to it from a machine that was monitoring her vital signs. Celestia stood at the foot of the bed looking at her former student’s face. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle… What has befallen you?” she wondered softly. While looking at Twilight from the alicorn’s right, Luna murmured, “Despite whatever has happened to her, she looks so peaceful… I suppose she could, considering all she’s been through before.” Celestia looked at her younger sister and said, “But she’s never been through anything like this before, Luna. Yes, she has been through much, but I’ve never seen her get hurt so badly it might leave her scarred for life.” Looking back at the lavender alicorn, she again wondered, “What could she have been doing…?” Discord, who was standing at Twilight’s left, looked over to his right and noticed something sitting folded atop the nightstand. Next to the folded object was a pair of dark navy blue gloves, and a glance down at the foot of the nightstand revealed a pair of dark and light navy blue boots the draconequus missed earlier. Discord guessed, based on looking at them, that both were long enough to cover up most of Twilight’s legs… and be very tight. Ignoring the gloves and boots, Discord reached over and grabbed the folded up article of clothing, the garment unfolding as he held it up. It was mostly a light navy blue and it had many straps on it, likely for holding small pouches. The place where Twilight’s sternum would most likely be was represented on the suit’s chest. It looked like it would reach the parts of her legs that the gloves and boots couldn’t reach, and it also looked very tight-fitting as well. It had multiple tears and burn spots on it, the latter especially prevalent on the front. “Maybe she got hurt while being a superhero,” he said aloud. Both Celestia and Luna glared over at him, the former saying, “Discord!” Discord looked back at her and shrugged, “What? Look at this and tell me you don’t see it!” He used his lion paw to toss the outfit towards Celestia, who caught it with her magic. As she looked it over, her glare eased off and she glanced around the bed to look at the gloves and boots that went with it. Looking back at the odd garment, she said, “Well, I suppose I can see where you would think that, Discord. Still, this doesn’t look QUITE like that kind of, um… costume.” Luna asked, “What sort of costume is it then, sister?” Celestia shook her head as she looked it over again, “I’m not sure, Luna. Perhaps…” She stopped short as she took a closer look at where Twilight’s left shoulder would go. “What is it, Celestia?” Luna asked. The Solar Princess continued looking for a moment before saying, “Look, there’s something here.” Discord and Luna came over and gathered around her. On the shoulder was a yellow and black circular patch that had what looked like a primate’s skull in the center of it. Strangely, the top of the skull looked like it had a continent on it and the right eye seemed to have an eye patch over it. There were some small black spots from burns around the skull, but the edges of the circle were where most of the burns were concentrated. Turning it to look at the right shoulder, the three of them found a black circular patch that was almost the exact opposite: the center of the patch was badly burnt, the black marks almost completely obscuring whatever was there. However, on the bottom of the patch, they could make out three white letters: ‘FOX’.