CHAPTER TWENTY:
A TIMID TALK
1
Since unraveling the mystery behind her research of several years, Twilight had the numb sense of not quite being awake. She remembered leaving the mine, when a lot less words had been spoken between the sextet. She remembered sneaking back into her old castle, then desperately trying to fill Spike in on just what they’d found—and more importantly what they hadn’t found. Like most everyone once they’d gotten the news, Spike pulled out a chair from their large communal table and sat in silence. For the next few days it would prove a familiar sight.
Since the problem at hoof had not been solved in any regard, Rainbow Dash and Rarity stayed in town, either lodging with Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie. Everyone thought there might be a few too many questions asked if they bunked at Applejack’s family farm.
“You know I overheard someone this morning saying they’ve seen Princess Luna back in Equestria?”
Twilight finally peered from the oversized table and glanced over to Rarity, seated on her left. “In Canterlot?” she asked.
Rarity thought. “I don’t think so. I don’t think she’s completely unveiled herself, but I think she’s traveling around. You don’t suppose she’d try and take Discord out by herself, do you?”
Twilight put her head back down. It was difficult to face Rarity at a time like this. She was trying so hard to make it seem that everything would turn out just fine, just like it always had before. “She might, if we wait too long to get a plan in place. A new Elements of Harmony was my only bet in having an edge over Discord. Without it, I don’t have any notion of how to proceed, besides seeing if he could be defeated by more natural means. But about that I have my doubts.”
Rarity pursed her lips and looked downcast. Then she momentarily brightened. “I almost forgot!” She left the table and Twilight watched as she pulled something out of her saddlebag. Besides color, each item was closely identical. All seven she placed on the table.
“Necklaces?” Twilight inquired, viewing each over.
“Why yes, Twilight. After we left empty-hoofed from that ghastly mine, I thought what better way to lift our spirits than with some comradely jewelry.” She slid one over. “Here, yours is the purple one. If you hadn’t guessed.”
Twilight picked up the teardrop jewel that dangled at the bottom of a thin silver band. It was far simpler than anything Rarity had probably made in years, but Twilight was touched all the same. It was the first gift she’d received from most anyone in years, besides the occasional birthday card from her parents. “Thank you, Rarity. It’s beautiful.”
“You’re lying, but that’s all right. I don’t have any real supplies here in Ponyville and all my assistants are still in Filly Delphia, yet I thought something a bit pretty could cheer us up. I even made one for Spike!”
Spike perked up from the mention of his name. He had been standing near the window alongside Rainbow Dash, watching the town during its mid-morning shuffle. He turned. “Really?”
Rarity hovered one over. “But of course, Spike! You’re the reason we’re all here, aren’t you?”
Spike took the near-identical green necklace and slipped it over his head. On such a large creature it looked a trifle silly, but he wore it anyway with pride. It had been a long time since Twilight asked about his feelings for Rarity. If they still existed she hadn’t a clue, although she honestly thought such feelings could never completely disappear, perhaps over time only fade.
Rarity slid another one over. “And of course the blue one’s for Rainbow Dash, so—”
“Y’all are giving gifts while we’re out gettin’ supplies?”
With two saddlebags close to bursting, Applejack entered the room followed by Fluttershy, who had a much smaller bag in tow. With a thump she set them down and trotted to the table, scooping up one of the bits of jewelry. “Mine’s orange, I take it?”
“You take it right, Applejack,” Rarity said. “This wasn’t a contest for creativity. Just a little mood booster, if you will.”
The cowgirl removed her hat to put it on. “I wasn’t implying anythin’ by it, Rarity. It’s nice. It’s… ordinary-like, which suits me just fine.”
Eventually Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash collected their matching pair. Both seemed about as sullen as Twilight had been… although Rainbow had been nearly acting that way since the very start of it all. Again Twilight had wished she went to visit her friend when she could have—said a few nice words and maybe tried to convince her that life would still go on despite everything that had happened. But at the time she had her own troubles to worry about.
As Applejack was busily explaining just how shoddy the marketplace in Ponyville had become over the years, a timid mumbling undercut it all. If Twilight had been closely paying attention to the orange mare—which she sadly wasn’t—she might have missed it completely.
“You say something, Fluttershy?” she asked, regarding the pegasus awkwardly hovering by the table.
“Umm… well… I did,” she started. Her mouth formed the shape of words, yet nothing came out.
Rarity said, “It’s all right, dear. You can speak. There’s nothing but friends here.”
“Well, it’s just that…” Fluttershy couldn’t meet the eyes of any of them. “It’s just that I might have thought of a way to stop all this nastiness that’s been happening. It’s… it’s not the most complex of ideas, like some ancient book in an abandoned mine, but I think it’s something none of us have even thought to try.”
Now Applejack’s market tangent had been left cleanly in the ditch. All eyes were on the yellow mare, nearly shuffling from hoof to hoof. Fluttershy said, “You all say Discord’s done a lot of terrible things recently, and I can’t rightly disagree about that. But the only solution we seem to be looking at is destroying him, by turning him back into stone.”
Twilight pushed her heavy chair out from the table. One more bundle of nerves found her acidy stomach. “What are you getting at Fluttershy?”
In a near whisper Fluttershy said, “Why don’t we try reasoning with him?”
2
“No. No. No, no, no, no.”
That had been Twilight’s first response. And her later statements to the newly appointed discussion followed close to the same. No. Negative. No way. Opposite of yes.
“But just… just hear me out,” Fluttershy said, an odd amount of conviction in her tone. “When Celestia first wanted me to reform Discord, I thought it was some impossible task. But over time, I won him over by showing him something that he hadn’t had before—friendship. Sure, he was never perfect after that, but that would’ve been like asking Pinkie Pie to stop eating sugar because we asked her to. It just wouldn’t be right.”
Everyone halted for a Pinkie punch-line, before remembering she was working at the shop that morning.
Fluttershy continued, “I know the whole Tirek incident left a lot of ponies sore about their feelings for Discord, but afterwards I think he took a lot of it to heart.”
If he even has a heart, Twilight thought but did not say. An odd noise filled her ears. It was the grinding of her teeth.
“But then what did we all do after that?” Fluttershy asked them all, viewing each one in turn. “We left him. We all went away and did our own things, and sure he popped by from time to time, maybe to ruffle our real or imaginary feathers, but perhaps underneath it all there was a deeper reason he wanted to bother us. Maybe he was lonely. Maybe he felt left out and with nothing else to do. I know over the last decade I tried to visit him as much as I could, but whenever he would ask what the rest of you were doing, I felt I had to cover for you. To spare his feelings, I said you were all too busy to visit. I could tell he didn’t believe me when I said it.
“So how would any of you have felt if none of your friends bothered to write or simply wondered how you were doing? Maybe this is nothing but a cry for help.”
By then Twilight had had enough. Actually, she had had enough about forty-seconds ago. She got up off her chair. “A cry for help, Fluttershy?” She didn’t mean to speak so loud, but sometimes her voice just felt out of her control. “Discord has killed ponies! He’s tricked everyone! Celestia is dead because of him! My brother almost died because of him! And he even did that to Rainbow Dash!” She pointed a hoof at Rainbow seated at the end of the table. Slowly she regarded her wrapped wing before covering it with a leg.
Twilight hadn’t meant to point the poor pegasus out like some science exhibit, but it was the closest thing she had to a real example in the room.
She said much softer, “Discord’s changed, Fluttershy. He’s given up on friendship—probably did a long time ago.”
Fluttershy looked close to tears. “So does that mean friendship should just give up on him?” She took in a breath. “I’m not saying we have to forgive him. I don’t think any of us could at this point. But maybe we can still reason with him, show him the error of his ways. We might not be able to turn him back into stone but maybe we could convince him to leave Equestria for good. As you’ve said before, Twilight, Discord’s changed. If he had his victory wrapped up in such a nice little bow, why would he continue to tamper with it? Why would he continue to tell ponies what he’s done, unless he secretly wants to be stopped?”
“That… I…” Twilight was at a loss for words. Even after not seeing her for such a length of time, it was still eerie to watch Fluttershy speak in front of a group. Also with such gumption. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” she stated flatly.
Fluttershy walked over to her. “I just want the chance to talk to him, Twilight. Nothing more. We’ve all trusted you through this whole thing, now it’s your turn to trust me. And if you say he’s trying to keep his public image as nice as he’s been, then what could he possibly do, if all I wanted to do was talk?” She waited for a reply. When none was found she said, “And it’s not like we have any other ideas, is it?”
For the first time since she began, Twilight could not argue with her friend.
3
Like most things she took into consideration, Fluttershy’s abrupt plan of using words to tame the savage beast found Twilight pondering every possible type of defense. As much as she thought Discord would never risk potentially showing the rest of Equestria the true mask he wore under his deeply rooted lies, Twilight didn’t want to leave anything unforeseen.
Which meant planning. A lot of it.
“You’ll only meet him during the day. With any luck, earlier in the day.”
Twilight stood before the group, floating a clipboard just below her face. Pinkie Pie had finished work some time ago, and had eagerly been digesting the news since arriving. She rocked her heavy chair back and forth in anticipation.
“That sounds fine,” Fluttershy said at the front of the pack.
“You’ll meet in Canterlot. You’ll surprise him. You won’t tell him you’re coming, you’ll just pop in. Friend meeting a friend. You won’t mention any of us, not unless he asks. And in that case it’s only what you remember distantly. No specifics. He might believe I’d try and get you all back together while I’ve been hiding.”
“That sounds… doable.”
“Talk with him only in his office and don’t open any doors on your own. If you have to exit the room, let him open it for you.”
“That seems a little excessive.”
Twilight lowered her checklist. “My brother almost died from opening one of Discord’s doors. I wouldn’t risk it.”
“Okay then.”
“Talk for less than thirty-minutes. If nothing has come up in that amount of time, I doubt you’re going to have any sort of impact on him. If he gets mad or appears agitated, ask to leave the room or ask to go take a walk outside. If he thinks you’re just there for a friendly visit, he should have no problems with that.” She paused. “Surrounded by his own personal staff, as well as hundreds of other Canterlot citizens, he shouldn’t try anything. And although he seems chaotic most of the time, I still believe he doesn’t like to physically hurt ponies. He likes to trick them or manipulate them into getting hurt. I also think he liked you a lot more than the rest of us.”
Fluttershy added, “I did always send him a Hearth’s Warming Eve card…”
“But there’s still one last thing I want to have in place, just in case the worst should arise. While you’re speaking with him, the rest of us will be hiding near the base of the Canterlot castle. I relearned a cloaking spell since I’ve been in Ponyville, and that should conceal myself fine. But I want a unicorn in the castle with you, right outside those doors, to be able to teleport you both out of there should something go wrong.” Twilight shook her head. “It can’t be me, I’m afraid. Ponies everywhere are looking for me, and I think Discord would be able to sense my presence if I was that close.” She looked at Rarity. “Think you’re up for it?”
Rarity blanched at being called out so effortlessly. She choked on an invisible piece of food before shaking her head hurriedly. “I’m… sorry, Twilight. But I haven’t practiced any real magic in years. I levitate things… a lot. But that’s where my use of magic sort of runs out. Maybe if I tried real hard I could teleport a few inches to the left… but myself and another pony out of a building and far away? I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Not all that surprised by the news, Twilight nodded solemnly. She couldn’t blame her friend for something she had never been counting on. But if she allowed this foolhardy mission to take place, this would be the one rule she would stand on. Already far too many had been damaged by Discord.
“Oh oh!” Pinkie raised her hoof anxiously. “Right here! Right here!”
“The washroom’s down the hall, four doors to the left.”
“But that’s not it!”
“It’s not time for lunch yet, either.”
“That’s still not it! Pick me, pick me!”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “All right. You. Pinkie Pie. In the back.”
Pinkie Pie lowered her shaking hoof and composed herself. “I think I know of just the pony we should get! And they’re in town all this week!”
“Who is?” Twilight said.
Applejack turned her wide eyes to Pinkie. “Oh no. You can’t be serious.”
“But it makes so much sense, you guys!” Pinkie said. “And she’s mighty and influential! Or was that energetic and dynamic?” She scrunched her face in thought.
Twilight was getting annoyed. “Who is it, Pinkie?”
“You’re old pal, of course! The Great and Powerful—”
4
Trixie sat and watched the seven of them as they explained the plan they had crafted just the day before. The original smugness she bore for most of their meeting slowly fell away as more details of Discord’s nasty business ventures came to light right in front of her. Near the end of it all she looked like she wanted to hide inside her cape, which besides the addition of a few rhinestones over the stars, morosely hadn’t changed all that much over the years.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is finding this plan to be less and less to her liking,” she said close to the end, almost biting her tongue by her punctured response. “But she will consider it.”
Initially, Twilight had been hesitant about adding another name to the list of ponies that knew of her hiding place, as well as the fact that she was innocent of the claims handed down by Discord. Trixie had made short work of such worry.
“Not for a single second did Trixie believe Twilight Sparkle to be the attempted murderer,” she had said when they were first reintroduced. “Twilight’s too much of a goody two-hooves for such business.”
When Rarity and the rest informed Trixie of their immediate plans, Twilight pulled Pinkie Pie aside for a talk. “You saw her show, right? Has she… gotten better over the years?”
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “You bet! She did five shows this week and I saw all five! And they were all the same!”
Twilight grimaced. “You mean she did the same tricks every night?”
“No! I mean every single show was absolutely awesome!”
“Oh.” That sadly didn’t answer a lot. “Any teleporting tricks?”
Pinkie nodded again. “Yep! Trixie teleported herself from one end of the stage to the other! And then later, after the free meal, she made some colt’s pocket watch disappear from his pocket! And then it never came back!” She looked positively astounded.
Twilight oddly felt a little better by the answers. But what was that one thing she’d said?
“Her show comes with a free meal?”
“Mmm hmm. And a caramel apple for dessert! It’s a steal of a deal! There’s a picture of the food on the poster and everything!”
“How many ponies stay following the meal?”
Pinkie pondered. “Yours truly!”
Twilight decided not to push the subject further. At least not with her friend.
“You give out a meal with your show?” she asked the blue magician, cutting between the small circle of friends surrounding Trixie.
Trixie looked unfazed. “Yes. But I ask you, whose picture is above the mashed potatoes and corn?”
Twilight then left the room to laugh quietly in the hallway.
5
“All right. Test time. Move this apple from the end of the table to the other.”
Close to an hour later, when all parties were close to certain that Trixie wasn’t about to trot off and spill all their dirty secrets, Twilight had shut the windows and set candles along the large oval table. One of Applejack’s apples sat on one side. Hovering a few inches from it was Trixie’s concentrating face.
Trixie appeared miffed at the notion. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not do tricks without compensation… or with such a small audience in attendance.”
I think we might be your most interested audience, Twilight wanted to interject. Rather she said, “If everything goes to plan, Trixie, I’ll see you perform in Canterlot for every dignitary in Equestria.”
Trixie was disinterested. “And the Princesses?”
Twilight huffed. “And the Princesses. Now move that apple!”
Pfft!
The apple zapped to the end of the table. Once there Pinkie ate it in one big swallow.
“That was… not bad Trixie.” Twilight chewed on her tongue, genuinely taken aback by just how smooth the trick was. “I see you’ve been practicing.”
“You don’t become Great and Powerful by simply boasting about it, Twilight,” Trixie said coolly. “Trixie learned that a long time ago.”
Twilight said more to herself, “And yet the whole first person thing…”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Moving on.” Twilight opened a window that faced a good portion of Ponyville. Several dozen meters down was the market square, currently bustling in attendance with happy shoppers. “You see the well in the center of the market? I want you to teleport there.”
Trixie lifted her chin. “Easy.”
“You and one other.”
Trixie lost a little of that shine. “Uh. Sure, no problem.” She hurriedly glanced around the room. “How ‘bout you, pink-and-yellow one? Since it will be the two of us in the thick of danger, Trixie guesses we should practice our craft. And plus Trixie thinks you’re nice and polite. What say you?”
Timidly Fluttershy stepped to her side. “Umm. Okay. Will this hurt?”
“Only if I wasn’t an expert at this trick.”
Fluttershy’s wide eyes peered to her friends for support. All appeared nervous while Pinkie Pie said, “Have a nice trip!”
Twilight viewed the budding pair. “Ready?”
“Trixie was born ready!” Trixie said, grabbing the anxious pegasus by her side.
The rest of the group focused on the small well in the far distance. Every few seconds a new pony would gallop by, but basically the view was undisturbed.
Everyone held their breath.
Pfft!
In a huff the huddled pair disappeared and now everyone crowded the window frame. The well was still unoccupied. One second. Two seconds. The well was still unoccupied.
“Where did they—” Twilight began.
“There they be!” Applejack hollered. “And here you thought Trixie would be a one trick pony, Twilight. See? She’s ain’t so bad with all this magic junk.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes and found Trixie still pinning Fluttershy close to her side. In front of the well she waved at them excitedly, a few passersby turning to stare in her direction. Even from that distance she looked near winded. But Twilight still had to give it to her. She had done what she had asked of her.
Now came the tricky part.
6
Fluttershy’s original trepidation left the moment that smile warmed his long face. When she had knocked on his door and the answer given had been a blunt grunt of some sort, she had entered the gloomy office with the notion that she might have had the wrong idea all along.
After entering (and already forgetting Twilight’s rule of not opening doors or touching doorknobs—but then again, how would he know who it was?) Fluttershy stood on the richly carpeted floors and found the draconequus behind his desk; head studiously bend over a curving stack of documents. All of the drapes had been pulled closed; the only source of light a single candle by his side.
She approached timidly. “Hi, Discord.”
Slowly he lowered the latest page in his hand, the gruff frown pressed onto his features melting away into a genuine smile. He looked both surprised and delighted, but not in that delightful way of his that meant chaos was a-brewing. “Fluttershy…”
With a snap of his fingers every drape pulled open, letting the golden sun flow in. Fluttershy instantly felt the warmth and was decidedly calmer because of it. The next snap materialized the draconequus directly in front of her, where he knelt down to give her a hug.
“It’s so good to see you again,” he said, and inside Fluttershy couldn’t help but gloat the tiniest of bits. “You hungry?”
He pulled away from her and in the middle of his office summoned two plush chairs and a dainty tray complete with tea cart. He picked her up and set her down in one—still unmindful of basic touching boundaries. But Fluttershy thought some things would just never change. Actually, it was what she was counting on.
“That’s a nice—” she started, before remembering a very important detail. “That’s very sweet of you, Discord.” She hesitated for another jumping point. “I like what you’ve done with the place. It’s very… you.”
Discord waved a hand. “Oh this ol’ thing? It’s nothing.”
The two friends got to talking.
7
As much as Twilight was occupied with about a dozen things all at once, she couldn’t help but enjoy the sun on her skin and the gentle breeze on her face. She had been cooped up in her old, stuffy home for quite some time now, and it had been pleasant to leave its dated interior.
Behind a park bench and cloaked with a spell she had to re-administer every twenty minutes or so, she craned her head first to the left, then to the right. On another park bench to the left of her sat Applejack, busily surveying the scene. On Twilight’s right sat Rarity, fidgeting with her hair while she stared up at the Canterlot castle with the same interest as them all. In a near perfect pentagram the five friends waited, surrounding the entire castle, all the while keeping the ponies on either end of them in view. If something drastic happened, Twilight wanted to intervene as quickly as possible. She thought a three-sixty view would best serve them all.
If she had to ditch her cloak should one of her friends signal her, then she’d do so in an instant. What more of a reputation had she left to lose, anyway?
“And he’s even expanded…” she whispered. While peering over the castle over and over again, she tried to place a hoof over just what had looked different about it. Now it came to her. Another large tower had been erected into the sky, jutting off from the main building. Only this one was much taller than the rest.
“Only Discord would create such an eyesore.” That was when she realized talking to herself while invisible probably wasn’t one of the wisest of notions.
8
“Was that the signal? Was that it?”
A mere few inches outside Discord’s office was a seated Trixie, her usual star-coated garment of choice discarded for nothing at all. At the moment she felt completely naked. At the moment she was. But eventually she did have to agree that some colorful magician suddenly appearing out of nowhere in the Canterlot castle had a strong chance of raising alarm. Still, even under duress, she brought along a saddlebag with her stuffed costume in tow. If she had to perform some impromptu magic, she at least wanted to look the part. But honestly, had that been the signal?
During their hours of planning and re-planning, Twilight thought a signal phrase might work best, should Fluttershy need to make a hasty retreat. After a few discarded ones, such as “I want Trixie to teleport me out of here now, please,” and, “Oh, that’s nice,” the group settled on, “That’s a neat trick.” Not only did it nearly include her name in the sentence, but it was one of the only ones not brought to the others by Fluttershy.
Trixie strained to hear more through the doors, yet it all seemed like regular conversation to her. So, leaning back a little on her bench, she listened and she waited.
9
“And how’s Angel these days?”
Discord drank from his cup while holding his small finger in the air. Fluttershy had almost forgotten the manners he could summon once one got to know him.
“He’s good. He’s… older, so he’s not as pushy as he used to be.” Fluttershy munched on a surprisingly good cucumber sandwich while they chatted. Once the windows had been pulled open and the sun had been let in, her earlier apprehension of their meeting vanished from her thoughts. Could this friend of hers have actually done all those things they’d said he had? More and more she was finding it hard to believe.
Discord nodded. “And you’re still in Ponyville, I hear. You never wanted to venture out?”
“No. I’ve always liked Ponyville. I know everyone I need to know and things are peaceful. Besides that whole Empire thing… which I’d rather not talk about.”
Discord looked sullen. “I’m sorry you had to be there, my dear. I’m also sorry I couldn’t have protected you while I was there.”
“Oh, I understand. You saved the day, either way.”
Discord grinned. “I did, didn’t I?”
Fluttershy thought, Okay, he hasn’t changed that much.
“You still keep in touch with your friends?” he asked good-naturedly.
“Only Pinkie Pie and Applejack, really. They’re the only ones left in town.” She thought. “And I guess we get together every once in a while. But I really haven’t seen them since Celestia passed on.”
Discord glanced away to steel himself. He swallowed thickly.
Fluttershy felt like a tug at her heart. How could she have been so insensitive at a time like this?
“Not Twilight Sparkle, either?” he asked after a moment.
Now it was her turn to look away. “I haven’t seen her in years, actually. She’s mostly kept to herself.”
“And you’ve heard what she tried to do to me recently?”
She hesitated. “You mean… when you were… injured?”
In one loud gulp he finished his tea and filled it again. “Oh, I don’t know if I’d call it just that, Fluttershy. She did try and have me killed in front of close to a hundred of my subjects.”
“Are you sure it was her though?”
“Very sure. She signed the papers and everything.” Discord got up from his chair to pace around the room. “It must be troubling to hear, I know. I wish it wasn’t the case, but sometimes when a pony finds themselves in a bind, they can do some very un-rational things. Given enough time and thought, sadly anyone’s capable of the most horrid of things.” He paused. “The only reason I want to find her, Fluttershy, is to bring her home and keep her safe. Stop her from hurting others or even herself. I don’t think she’s beyond saving. I mean, wasn’t there a time when you thought even I was worth saving… friend?”
He held out a hand to her. She took it and stood by her chair.
“I’m truly glad you’ve visited me today, Fluttershy. I can’t tell you how lonely it’s been as of late. Sure, I’m surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of ponies interested in what I have to say, but that’s only because it’s their job to be interested. I miss the friendship we used to have. It might have been unorthodox, but… it still helped to lift me from my darker moments. Who else but you could have honestly befriended the Lord of Chaos?”
Fluttershy blushed, suddenly feeling very warm inside. “Oh, it was nothing. Once I grew to understand you—once I think all of us did—I think we felt better knowing you were our friend. And we all still do, you know. Even after all these years.”
“I’m sure you do, Fluttershy. I’m sure you do. But there’s still one question I want to ask, partially because I feel it wouldn’t be in my Lordly duties if I didn’t.” Discord’s original inviting features grew a little harder. “Has Twilight Sparkle tried to communicate with you since she tried to assassinate me?”
The warmth from her chest rose to her face. “I… already told you. I haven’t heard from her in years.” She searched for a better way of ending it. “The only things I know are what I read in the paper… which lately hasn’t been all that good.”
For a very tense moment Discord held that same expression, until it finally loosened. “That’s fine, Fluttershy. I hadn’t really expected you to. Otherwise, why would you be seeing me now, if you had contact with her? But you know how business is.”
Fluttershy rubbed one foreleg against the other. Her thirty minutes must have been halfway up by now. If she wanted some definite answers, she’d need to try for some right away.
“You know,” she said carefully, “since we’re still good friends and all, if there’s ever anything that’s troubling you—anything on your mind or whatnot—you shouldn’t feel afraid to tell me about it. You know I’m good at keeping secrets. I’m kind of quiet like that. Also, I know from experience just how nice it can be to get something off your chest.” She hesitated. “So… um… anything come to mind, friend?”
“Well, now that you mention it…” He rubbed his chin in thought.
“Yes?” She unknowingly angled towards him.
Something flashed before his eyes—a sharp awakening. He said, “Oh how could I forget? This is just perfect!”
“What’s perfect?”
“The fact that you’re here, my dear! And now that you’re here, I have something new to show you!”
The lone leg rubbing against the other became harsher. “Oh?”
“Yep. Let’s go. It’s just this way!”
Fluttershy froze. “But… your office is so nice…”
Already Discord was walking towards the door. “Pish-posh, Fluttershy. I sit in here too much as is. I need a walk. I need a view. After you!” He held a hand just before the door.
It was then that Fluttershy felt something cold suddenly plop into her stomach.
Discord’s original enthusiasm sank. “That is… unless we’re not friends anymore.”
“But of course we are, Discord!” Fluttershy panicked internally—smiled externally. “But, would you mind… opening the door for me? You know how hard hooves are on doorknobs…”
Discord brightened again. “I can’t wait for you to see.”
10
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Discord exclaimed, holding out both arms. “And it only took two months of construction! I think everyone was on board for the project.”
From his office, Fluttershy and Discord ascended what felt like close to several hundred winding and spiraling stairs. Halfway up—when Fluttershy had already become winded—he scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. For a long while she couldn’t help but shake in his grasp, although after a time she just went along with it. Friends don’t tremble around friends, she told herself.
Right after the blueprints had been drafted and approved, Discord and company got to work on the ‘Tower of Remembrance’—a very tall and thin structure that at its very peak held a wide, circular room with a dozen stained-glass murals allowing light into the place. Each image depicted a different part of the battle at the Empire, from its bloody beginning to its solemn finish. The few murals that remained afterward told of Lord Discord bringing stability back to Equestria. It was a beautiful display. And at the moment it was also close to capacity.
“Since it’s been open there’s been nothing but tourists checking it out,” Discord told her, trying to cut above the murmur of the trotting and talking ponies filling close to the entire wide room. “In a few months it should die down.”
When Fluttershy first took note of just where she was being lead to, her first instinct was to call for Trixie to zap them away. But when she heard the steady movement of dozens of others, she relaxed. Discord would never hurt her, she informed herself. He might have done some bad things in the past, but like before, the power of friendship was always there to save them in the end. What would make this latest time any different?
“See this one?” he asked her, indicating a window with his likeness holding onto a Celestia-looking figure. “This one’s my favorite. They really captured my sorrow on that day.”
“It’s… very sad, Discord,” she mumbled, unsure exactly of how to navigate themselves out of the tower, and perhaps to a more personal local. “You want to talk somewhere else?”
“What was that?” He held a hand to his ear.
“I mean… it’s just so noisy and all, you want to go somewhere more quiet, where we can talk… friend to friend?”
Discord heard her that time. “That gives me a perfect idea. Stand here.”
As light as a feather pillow, Discord gathered the pegasus and set her down near an isolated corner of the room. She was about to ask just what all that was about, when he said, “Now hold still.”
Then he snapped his fingers.
11
For the past ten minutes the Great and Powerful Trixie had been feeling anything but. When she first heard Discord and Fluttershy motioning towards the door, she first hid along the other side of her seat before following them from the distance. Not long after did they start the climb up a seemingly never-ending set of stairs—ones that Trixie herself had trouble reaching the top of.
Once a good dozen steps from the observation room Trixie remained on the stairs, receiving more than a few hard nudges from eager ponies wanting to finish their climb. Trixie nudged back and kept her hooves firmly planted it place. Yet still what good would it all do? She could hear ponies talking—dozens, if not more of them from up above—but that didn’t mean she could hear Discord or Fluttershy at all. What if she gives the signal and she doesn’t even hear it? What if she misses it entirely?
Only a few minutes later did the darkness come, and every voice from up above suddenly vanish from existence. Trixie hitched in a breath and discovered she was still on the stairs, just below the tip of the tower. But what had made everything so dark?
She said minutely, “Trixie doesn’t want to be here anymore.”
12
When the sun suddenly vanished from view Twilight first scanned the sky for the possible appearance of Princess Luna. She wondered if she had waited too long, pressed her luck in keeping her quiet. But something more troubling pulled that thought from her mind.
“The ponies… they’re all…” she whispered weakly.
The courtyard she had been infrequently watching for the last twenty minutes had only seconds ago been bustling with hurried ponies of every make and creed. Now they were gone. And now the moon was up and the sky was dark. Had Discord removed them all just like that? Or had he done something altogether different?
“But why? But why?”
She turned to find both Applejack and Rarity still in their original locations, both viewing her with rising dread. And suddenly it all seemed so simple.
She thought distantly, Discord made it dark because he’s about to do something he doesn’t want ponies to see.
“Oh Fluttershy…”
13
She had heard the snapping of fingers and the first thing she felt was the increase of weight atop her head. Her neck came down a few inches and she heard the gentle rub of delicate materials pressing together.
“Hold still now.”
Discord wasn’t where he had been a moment ago. Now he was leaning against the stone wall between two glass murals. With the fingers of both hands he made a rectangular box in front of his eyes, framing her from where he stood.
“Don’t be scared, Fluttershy,” he said gently. “It’s just a mound of cups stacked atop your head, that’s all. I had some time to kill. Several hours, actually. So I thought I’d see how high I could stack things on your motionless noggin. But it was wise of you to suggest we talk alone.”
He snapped again and the shifting weight from her head disappeared. With hasty breaths she backed away, viewing every inch of the tower with renewed interest. “Why is it so dark out? And where did all those other ponies go?”
Discord grinned. “They went home, silly. The last time we talked was twelve hours ago. I froze you—and your pals waiting outside—just so we could chat alone. I thought that’s what you wanted, friend.”
Fluttershy began to quiver. “I… well… of course I still wanted to talk, but I think that was pretty sudden… but anyway… that was a neat trick. Yes oh yes it was. What a neat trick it was.”
Discord’s smile stretched even more. “Why thank you, Fluttershy. I’ve always wanted to use this trick before, but never had the chance. But come closer, my dear, I can barely see you in this gloom.” He stretched out a hand and the yellow pegasus floated in the air towards him. She landed by his side, not quite able to meet his gaze.
“Let’s talk,” he said happily.
14
A lot of things Trixie wanted to do at once. Firstly, she wanted to run. Secondly, she wanted to cry while running. And thirdly—and perhaps most importantly—she wanted to honestly help the poor pegasus up those stairs.
Twice now she had already given the signal, the one that meant they needed to get away right that instant. But never before had her magic seemed to count for so much. Never had she needed to rely on it as badly as then.
And she covered for you, too, she thought desperately, remembering when she teleported the pair first to the outside of the Twilight’s castle, before teleporting twice more to that blasted well in the market. She could have told Twilight to find someone else, but she trusted you. She thought you would do right when the time came, and now you’re just sitting here, unable to do anything.
“I’m sorry,” she croaked in the dim stairway.
But perhaps it was more than nerves that sullied her magic that sudden night.
15
“We have to do something, Twilight! Something now!”
Once they all regrouped in the center of the courtyard below, Rarity was the first to shout her worry. The rest felt close to the same, but hadn’t exactly figured what words seemed right.
Twilight glimpsed the immense tower again. “I might be seen, but I don’t care. I need to get inside and fast. I just don’t know where they’ve gone.” She faced her head to the ground and concentrated with her horn. A moment later, a spark of light made the others shield their eyes, before viewing with increasing horror the same Twilight before them, only a few inches to the left.
“What happened?” Applejack asked.
“He’s blocked me,” she answered mystified. “Somehow he’s—”
“What have you done, Twilight Sparkle? Why are you all here?”
A harsh voice from above.
Twilight turned to find Luna just regaining her composure since landing.
Taking a step towards her, Twilight said, “I’ve made a terrible mistake, Luna. Fluttershy thought she could—”
That was when a horrible noise from above filled their ears, and words didn’t matter anymore.
16
“I asked you earlier if you had spoken to Twilight Sparkle, and you said no. Were you lying to me, Fluttershy?”
Discord had wrapped a heavy arm around the pegasus, carefully guiding her from one mural to the next. He spoke with care and sincerity. But something underneath it all, as well.
“No. I… I haven’t seen Twilight. No one has.”
She still couldn’t keep her jaw from fidgeting.
The draconequus said, “I know your Element isn’t honesty, Fluttershy, but it is Kindness. Is it kind to lie to your friends?” He regarded her for a moment. “Or is it kind to lie for your friends?”
She stammered out, “I still… I still don’t… that’s a neat trick.”
“I know. You’ve said that a lot. But that doesn’t answer my question, and it’s truly starting to hurt my feelings. Why, even right now, I know every single one of your friends are waiting for you outside my castle. I even know another one—a magical blue one—is waiting for you on the stairs, just a few steps below.” He shook his head. “Such treachery. Such lies, Fluttershy. Really, they are unbecoming of you.”
“I… I don’t…”
He led her to the stained glass painting from before—the one of himself and a dead Celestia. “Back again. How quant. But it’s all right, Fluttershy—friend—you don’t need to talk. We can just be content together.” He set her down in front of the mural, the faint light from the moon creating a colorful pattern on her gently trembling back. “Remember when we first met, Fluttershy? When we played that big game in the maze—all your friends and I?”
She nodded quickly.
“That was fun, wasn’t it? Sure, it might have made for an odd introduction, but look how close of friends we are now. We’ve come a long way.”
Since that first nod she hadn’t stopped.
“Remember when I took away your wings? Oh what irony it was—removing the wings from the one pegasus with butterflies as her cutie-mark. You never really liked to fly, did you? Even now, I doubt you fly unless it’s absolutely necessary. Maybe I’ll do you a favor. What are friends for, after all?”
He brought a hand close to his smiling face and snapped into the still night. Fluttershy felt something disappear from her back, and now a new chill crept up her spine. She backed away until her rump rubbed against the glass.
“There,” he said sweetly, “no more wings to worry about, Fluttershy. No more worries at all.”
“That’s…” Fluttershy gulped dryly, seemingly unable to stare away from those yellow and red eyes; ones which followed every movement, every word. She whispered, “That’s a neat trick.”
Discord’s smile widened. “Wait until you see this next one.”
That was when he shoved her out the window.