Flitterbee stretched out as the sun began to rise. She opened her eyes and sat up as she remembered the night before.
She sighed and rolled out from under her covers. She felt a tickle in her nose and scrunched it up, feeling a sneeze coming.
"Ah-ah-ah-choo…" She let out the tiniest sneeze. There was limitless humor to her father that she sneezed just like her mother. She opened her eyes and gasped.
Kirby was squeaking indignantly as a watering can chased him around the room. Flitter was unable to move for a second. She was too confused at first to do anything.
Then she blinked and flew towards the watering can and grabbed it. She scowled and looked around her room.
"Ha-ha…okay dad. Leave Kirby alone…dad?" Her room was silent as she looked around. Normally her father would have revealed himself at that moment. Even Kibou would have started laughing.
She frowned and looked down at the watering can.
I wonder…
She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the can. When she opened her eyes, it was still sitting in her hooves. She blew a puff of air to move her bangs out of her eyes and scowled at the thing and her own foolishness.
"Dad can be such a pain in the morning…" She muttered and flew to the window. She opened it and threw the can outside, hoping it would disappear.
She went to her bed and cooed softly to get Kirby back out. He shook his fur dry and chattered angrily.
She giggled and whispered,
"Don't worry boy. I'll get him back later with a good prank. Come on, I smell waffles!" She lifted him up so he could wrap himself around her neck.
She trotted out into the living room and headed towards the kitchen. The others were already up as her mom continued making the waffles.
Her father was standing behind her mom, whispering into her ear and mom was blushing. Flitter rolled her eyes and went to the table to join Kibou. He was already eating his own stack when he looked up at her.
"Don't say I told you so brat." He hissed and she grinned.
"Gave you weird dreams didn't they?" She teased and he snorted at her. She giggled and smiled at her mom as she set a plate of waffles before her.
Flitter dug in, handing a small piece to Kirby which he took and ran off to eat in peace.
Her mom went into the fridge and groaned.
"Which one of you got into the cookies?" She asked as she turned to stare at both of her children, who had frozen in their seats.
Their mother hadn't even touched the box and yet…
"How does she do that?" Flitter whispered and Kibou hushed her before smiling at his mom.
He made a halo appear above his head and Flitter rolled her eyes again as their father laughed.
Their mom was unimpressed and raised an eyebrow at the both of them.
Flitter cracked first, she just got off grounding, and she didn't need to be back on.
"Kibou did it!" She shouted and pointed her hoof at him. He growled at her and pointed his claw back.
"I warned you brat! DL and Cheese kissed Flitter!"
"WHAT!?" Discord shouted, fumes rising from his ears as he bared his teeth. Flitter swallowed and glared at Kibou.
"Thanks a lot."
"You sold me out first." He stuck his tongue out at her just as she was scooped into her father's grasp. She struggled, but his grip was strong as he stared at her.
"That's it young lady, you are officially grounded until you are as old as me!"
"Daddy!"
"Nope, don't give me that cute stare! Nothing will change my mind!" He shouted as he pulled her against his chest. During this whole squabble Fluttershy stood there shaking her head.
"Can't we ever have a normal breakfast as a family?" She muttered before flying up to her husband to rescue her suffocating daughter.
"Now Discord…let Flitter go." She said and he turned to glare at her, but the sternness in her gaze made him comply.
Flitter gasped for air as she was dropped. Fluttershy sighed and looked at her husband.
"Honey, we talked about this…"
"But I thought I still had time. She's my baby!"
"I'm not a…"
"She's growing up and there's no way to stop it." Her mother interrupted her objection and Flitter realized they were now ignoring her. She looked to Kibou and saw him sneaking out of the kitchen before their mother remembered that he had stolen sweets last night.
Flitter rolled her eyes and tried to get her parents attention again.
"Who says I can't keep her my baby forever? I'm Discord! I can do anything I want!"
"Not this time you can't! You know that you aren't supposed to mess with nature!"
"I'm not! Just…just with my…hmm…I'm not winning this argument…at least not this way." He grinned and Fluttershy glared at him, knowing what he meant.
When he tried to grab her she ducked out of the way.
"Oh no you don't! Come here beautiful!" He turned rapidly and wrapped his arms around her laughing.
"Discord!"
"Ew dad I'm still here, gross!" Flitter shouted. She turned to leave and felt a tail wrap around her stomach. She shrieked as she was lifted into the air.
"Not so fast missy. I'm not done with you yet either."
"Dad!"
"Discord!"
He just laughed at the two struggling mares he now held captive. He smiled down at Fluttershy and leaned in to whisper in her ear so only she could hear.
"Careful now darling…you know that when you turn forceful it has dire consequences." As expected her face flushed a deep red and she gave him her best glare, which only made his fur stand up more.
He turned to Flitter and grinned,
"From now on Flitter, you don't go anywhere without my knowing. AND! You will not be allowed to be near those colts again."
"What! But that's not fair! They're my best friends, you can't keep me from them! Dad you are being so unreasonable!" She shouted and struggled against his hold. He shook his head and quickly covered Fluttershy's mouth when she was about to protest.
"No buts my dear. That's the way it's going to be."
"Argh! You are being so…so…so…Ah!" She pulled out of his grasp finally and shouted,
"This is so unfair! You're the worst father ever!" She turned her back on him and pouted.
Discord reeled back as if she had struck him and actually dropped Fluttershy in his shock.
He moved towards his daughter with his hands out,
"Now Flitter…my little one…I know you're upset, but…you don't mean that." He curled around her and nudged her with his muzzle, but she turned her face away and snorted.
"Now little one…I'm sorry…please don't be mad at me. I'm only thinking of you." He pleaded and pulled her bangs away. She glared at him and flicked her tail, which caught his claws and he reeled back again.
At the same time something came flying through the window causing Fluttershy to cry out. At the sound of her shout, Kibou teleported back into the kitchen. His back was arched and his teeth were bared as he instinctively protected his mother.
However his fur smoothed when he noticed it was Storm lying on the kitchen floor.
"Storm!" He shouted as he moved to her side. He helped her up and checked her for injuries.
"What happened?" He whispered and she shook her head and looked outside confused.
Kibou followed her gaze and frowned. Outside the sky was covered in purple clouds and it was raining, but the rain was strange looking.
"Is that?" Kibou asked and Storm nodded as she pulled a gumdrop out of her mane.
"Yeah I got caught in the sudden downpour as I was coming to meet you for our date. So I take it that your parents are fighting again?"
"Not exactly, just dad and Flitter." He turned to the rest of his family and they were all staring out the window in shock.
"Discord! What did you do?" Fluttershy scolded him and he held up his hands.
"That wasn't me! At least I don't think it was?"
"Discord…"
"Okay, yes, yes I know. I'm fixing it." He snapped his fingers and smiled,
"There see now it…" His mouth fell open as it continued to rain candy outside.
"What?" He asked in confusion and snapped his claws again. Still nothing happened, then in a panic he snapped both his hands. After the second fail he included his tail for good measure.
"I-I don't…I don't understand…" He whispered as he stared down at his hands. Kibou came up to his side and looked out at the rain. He frowned and snapped his own claws. Instantly the rain stopped.
Discord looked down at his son and his panic doubled as he realized what was happening. He turned to look at his wife and she had the same scared look as he did.
"I-I…I've lost my magic…"
"How could this have happened?" Discord whispered as he sat on the couch with Fluttershy at his side, Kibou pacing the floor and Flitter curled in his lap; their fight forgotten for now.
The whole family was shaken up, but none more so than Discord himself. He had never felt as helpless as he did right now. His magic, was once more taken from him.
Only this time was twice as frightening, because he had no idea how it had happened.
"Daddy?" Flitter whispered from his lap and he looked down. There were tears in her eyes and he felt his heart squeeze in his chest. He rested his claws on her head,
"Shh little one…It's okay…I'll figure this out." He looked over at Fluttershy and she was also tearing up, so he wrapped his lion arm around her and pulled her closer to his side.
He met Kibou's gaze and the unspoken command passed between the two as Kibou nodded and disappeared.
A few minutes later he flashed back in, but this time Twilight was at his side. She looked over at the family, a worried expression on her face.
"Please tell me this is some horrible joke."
"If it is even I'm not laughing…" Discord muttered and Flitter nuzzled his chest.
"How could this happen? I thought you couldn't lose your magic!" Twilight shouted and Discord shrugged.
"So did I... That's why we need you to help find out what happened." He said and Twilight nodded.
"Of course. I'll run some tests on you to see if it's some strange illness or…" She hesitated and looked down at Flitter a small frown on her face. She looked at Fluttershy and swallowed.
"Anyways…we should get started right away. Kibou, can you send me and your father to my lab? It will be easier to perform my tests there."
He nodded and looked to his father for confirmation. Discord stood up and placed Flitter on the couch.
"You two stay here with Kibou. Don't leave until I get back with answers."
"No. I'm going with you." Fluttershy said as she stood up from her seat. Discord knelt down in front of her and placed his claws on her cheek.
"Please love…I don't want to be worrying about you more than I already am. Stay here where it's safe."
She was about to argue more when she caught the glint in his eyes. She recognized it as pure terror, a look she had rarely seen in her lover's eyes. She hated not knowing what was going on with him and if he was sick she wanted to know right away…
But she also knew that he didn't need to be worried about more than the disappearance of his magic. She sighed and nodded as she looked up into his eyes again.
"Okay…but this time…promise me you'll come back and mean it."
He chuckled and kissed her gently,
"Always…you couldn't get rid of me if you wanted to." He whispered and she smiled as a tear escaped her shut eyes.
He looked to Flitter and smiled,
"Don't worry little one. Daddy's going to be fine. Aunt Twilight is the best egg head around, she'll find out what's wrong with my magic and fix it."
Twilight chose not to comment on that as this was a serious situation and Discord was only making light of it for his girls' sakes.
Flitter threw her arms around his neck and cried against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry daddy…this is all my fault I-"
"Nonsense…If stress and fighting caused my magic to disappear it would have happened a hundred times over since I married your mother."
Fluttershy giggled, but Flitter looked up at her father, her lip still quivering. Discord cupped her face when she opened her mouth to speak and smiled at her.
"Listen to me Flitter. This was in no way your fault and I don't want to hear you say so. Now be a good girl for your mother while I'm gone." He stood up and smiled at his girls once more before turning and nodding at Kibou.
"Keep them safe little hope."
"Always." Kibou smiled as he snapped his fingers, sending Discord and Twilight back to her castle.
Once he was gone, Flitter ducked her head and whispered,
"But it is my fault daddy…me and my stupid wishing…"
Discord growled again as he felt the needle prick his skin.
"Do you really need to take so much?" He grumbled and Twilight gave him a look telling him to stop complaining.
"The more blood I have the faster I can do the tests and the faster you get back to your family so hush." She took the tubes full of his blood and moved towards her chemistry set. She put them all in an organized row and placed labels over each.
Discord sighed and decided he might as well do something in the time he was going to be there.
He moved next to her and mumbled,
"What can I do to help?"
Twilight jumped at his voice, surprised that he was being so calm. Or maybe that was just a ploy? She hummed in thought then shook her head.
"Sorry Discord, but there's really nothing you can do now. Except wait and answer my questions honestly. I'm also going to send a letter to Princess Celestia to see if she has more knowledge on illnesses that affect immortals…"
She finished scribbling the note and rolled it up before turning and calling,
"Dusks! Can you come to the library for a minute?"
It didn't take long for the alicorn to trot into the library, however he froze when he saw Discord standing there and his face flushed a deep red.
"Oh…h-hi Uncle D-Discord…I didn't know you were…um…you needed me mom?" He stuttered and Discord wondered why the colt was so nervous around him?
Then he remembered and his eyes narrowed at the boy.
"We can discuss you going after my daughter later…be sure to tell little cheeseball the same thing…right now I don't have the time…"
Twilight looked between Discord and her son confused. Then she giggled and grinned at her son.
"Finally summed up the courage son?"
Dusks turned a deeper shade of red and swallowed.
"You said you needed me mom…" He muttered, getting his mom back to the present situation. She shook her head and moved the letter towards him.
"Please fly this down to your Uncle Spike and ask him to send it to the princess. It's very important that you get this to him as fast as you can."
"Sure, but why the sudden rush mom? Couldn't you have Wind Chime…"
"No. Normal air mail would take too long…Dusks…" She walked him to the library door, her wing draped over him as she whispered.
"Your Uncle Discord is very sick and we need to figure out what's wrong with him before it gets worse."
Dusks' eyes widened as he glanced at his favorite uncle and frowned. He turned back to his mom and then saluted her, which made him look more like his father in that moment.
"I'll get the letter to Uncle Spike before you know it and…Uncle Discord…" He turned to look at Discord, who turned to raise his eyebrow at the colt.
"I…I…I promise I'll do everything to help you get better. We…we can't lose you again…" With that he turned and galloped out of the castle.
Discord stared after the boy and sighed. He looked at Twilight and grinned,
"You got a good kid there princess. He'll make a fine ruler someday…He's got his mother's heart."
Twilight smiled after her son and nodded.
"He is a sweet thing…Discord, you should know that…Dusk has had a crush on your daughter since the day they met. He told me that she was an angel that was to be worshipped by everypony."
Discord started at this and looked at Twilight.
"They were three…"
"I know…He loves her Discord. If it turns out that she feels the same…he would never hurt her. You wouldn't have to worry about her heart with him. I believe the same can be said for little Cheese Pie." She turned back to her tests and began mixing the ingredients she needed.
Discord thought about what she had said and remembered the times his daughter and her friends had been together. The three were inseparable, maybe even more so than the girls were.
Those two colts followed Flitter around and he recognized the looks in their eyes, he had just wanted to deny it. They were both smitten with his little girl and she was growing up faster each day.
He supposed he couldn't actually keep her from the two colts. They really did care for Flitter and the way that they treated each other reminded him a lot of when he had met Fluttershy.
He realized it was only a matter of time before she was completely out of his grasp and a full grown mare. She couldn't stay his little girl forever and he couldn't fight that fact.
He sighed and lowered his head,
"Doesn't mean I have to like it though…" He muttered.
Dusk had dropped off the letter, explaining quickly to his Uncle Spike and Aunt Applejack the problem. Then he raced back to Ponyville, heading to Sugar Cube Corner, Flitter would need them right now.
He ran it, quickly saying hi to his Aunt Pinkie as he ran into the kitchen to find Cheese.
The colt was baking with a tall chef's hat on his head as he pulled out another batch of cupcakes.
When he sensed DL behind him he turned to see the alicorn huffing from the rush.
"DL? What's wrong? You look like you've raced all over town."
"No…just to….Sweet…Apple…" Dusk was still trying to get breath in so Cheese ran and got him a glass of lemonade. Dusk chugged the whole thing and gasped, but then sighed and smiled.
"Thanks. We have to go see Flitter right now, she needs us." Dusk said and Cheese blushed before turning back to his baking.
"Oh…um…why don't you go without me? I have to stay and help mom…" He muttered and Dusk gave him a strange look.
"I'm sure she'll let you go for this. It's important Cheese, Uncle Discord is sick."
"What!" The shout caused them both to turn and see Pinkie standing in the doorway.
"Dissy is sick! Cheese you go with Dusk. I have to go find your father and start preparing a 'Get Well Soon' party!"
"No Aunt Pinkie wait!" Dusk shouted, trying to explain, but it was too late as the pink mare raced out the shop.
Dusk groaned, knowing that Uncle Discord would be twice as annoyed that he had accidentally sent the last mare he'd want pestering him right now.
"Come on Cheese…we should head to Flitter now."
Cheese swallowed and nodded. He sighed and put his hoof on Dusk's shoulder first.
"Wait DL, there's something you should know first."
Dusk stopped and looked back at his friend confused. Cheese took a deep breath and puffed out his chest, standing at his full height. Which was still shorter than Dusk, since he was an alicorn.
"I-I know that we've talked about this between us for a while now…so I don't want to keep secrets from you. I-I…I KISSED FLITTER!" He shouted as his face flushed bright.
Dusk's mouth fell open and then it started to twitch as he tried not to laugh. He lightly punched his friend in the shoulder.
"Hey, way to finally get the guts kid…But…you're a bit late. I kissed her on her birthday, I didn't get a chance to tell you as I was too embarrassed to leave the castle much after."
The two colts stared each other down and then broke down laughing.
"Oh man! Flitter must think we're both crazy right now! We should get there soon, she shouldn't be without her back up duo!" Cheese smiled and Dusk laughed, nodding as the two ran out of the shop heading for the Chaos Castle.
As they were galloping through the streets Dusk looked over at Cheese and asked,
"So what gave you the guts to finally go for it?"
Cheese grinned and answered,
"My dad. I asked him for advice and he told me to trust my guts and to go for it. He only had one piece of advice that he said I shouldn't ignore."
"What's that?"
"Don't let Uncle Discord catch me."
Dusk started laughing and shouted through his laughter.
"I guess great minds think alike. Dad told me the same thing when I asked him for advice."
The two laughed together as they reached the protected path leading to Flitterbee.
Flitter paced around her room and tried to figure out what she had done.
"I had to be me. It's no coincidence that I made a stupid wish to have my dad's magic and poof! Next day his is gone. Still how can I know for sure if I can't even get the magic to work?" She sighed.
She looked around her room, trying to find something she could test it on. She settled on one of her collection dolls. She picked up the diamond dog and glared at it.
She pointed her hoof at it and whispered,
"Um…I-I…I the princess of chaos command you to speak!" The doll flopped over and she face hoofed herself.
"Really Flitter? That's what you try first? You're so lame…" She muttered to herself and laid down on her stomach, staring at the doll.
There had to be a trick to it. Kibou and dad always snapped their fingers to channel the magic.
She stared down at her hoof and grumbled,
"Well that doesn't help me much…but maybe…" She looked back at her long tail.
She had always been able to maneuver it differently from other ponies and she wondered if it would work as her form of snapping.
She focused on the doll again and stood up.
"Okay…here it goes…speak dog!" She flicked her tail so fast it made a small crack sound and there was a small yellow flash that surrounded the doll.
The diamond dog stood up and howled. Flitter covered her ears and clenched her teeth. She flicked her tail again to stop the dog, but it did nothing.
Instead the dog began to run around her room, knocking things off shelves as it jumped around. Flitter gasped and launched herself at the stuffed toy. She struggled to keep it quiet as a small knock sounded at her door.
"Flitterbee? Sweetie, is everything okay in there?' Her mother called.
"Yes mom! I'm just trying to keep my mind off…dad and his…magic…keep still you little…"
She had her whole body on top of the struggling doll as she covered its mouth.
"Okay…well, if you need anything I'll be in the kitchen."
The dog took its chance and howled once more, only this time it also shouted,
"Your mother was a Salamander!"
Flitter gasped and gritted her teeth in fury.
"What? Flitter did you say something?" He mother said through the door again and she saw the knob turning. In a panic she flicked her tail again and a bright yellow light surrounded her and the doll.
Fluttershy came in to see a small table with Flitter, her dolls (now lifeless thank Celestia), and Kirby all having a tea party.
Fluttershy stopped, completely confused at what her daughter was doing. Tea parties were not something she would ever see Flitter partaking in, even when she was a small filly.
"Uh…what?" Was all she could ask as she met her daughter's almost equally confused look. Then Flitter smiled and hid under the long hat sitting on her head.
"Oh you know me mom…always have to do something unexpected."
Fluttershy hummed in thought, but decided not to question it and turned to leave her daughter to…whatever it was she was doing.
"Okay…I'm going to make some tea. I'm also going to start on dinner okay honey."
Flitter sighed in relief as she took off the hat and flung it away from her. That had not been what she had intended at all, but it had worked thankfully.
There was more to this chaos magic than she thought. Without the proper training she'd never control it.
She shook her head. That wasn't what was important right now! She now knew that it was her that had taken her father's magic. However…didn't Queen Titania say it would only last for twenty four hours?
Flitter smiled suddenly and sighed in relief again. That meant that by tomorrow morning her dad would be back to normal and no one would know what had happened. So…
"So I might as well enjoy this." She whispered and looked around before sneaking to the window in her room.
She lifted the window sill and flew out, smiling to herself. She wondered where she should go to use her newfound magic. She didn't want to chance hurting another pony with her lack of control.
She was so caught up in her thinking that she didn't notice the shimmer until it was too late. She ran face first into the barrier surrounding her home. She looked around and growled.
She should have known that Kibou would put the barrier up once there was even a hint of danger.
She landed on the ground and walked along the edge, trying to find a way through. No such luck, the barrier was solid and she didn't want to alert Kibou so she didn't attempt to pass through.
"Flitter!"
Her head shot up as she heard them calling her. She smiled as she saw DL and Cheese running towards her. She remembered to warm them just in time, before they ran into the barrier.
She walked up to them and smiled,
"Dusk, Cheese…you guys don't know how happy I am to see you."
Dusk smiled back and said,
"We know what's going on with Uncle Discord and figured that you would need some company. Any chance we could go to Sugar Cube Corner and talk?"
Flitter looked back at the house and bit her bottom lip. She knew the answer to that question, but she had so much to tell her best friends and she didn't want to chance either her mom or Kib hearing her.
She turned and examined the barrier again. She just hoped that what she planned worked, if not she would tell Kibou that it was just DL and Cheese trying to get inside.
"Okay but…um…close your eyes for a sec and don't ask why…I'll tell you once we're heading to Ponyville."
The two tilted their heads in confusion, but did what she asked. She closed her own eyes and tried to imagine her father's words. She had sometimes sat near when he was training Kibou on control.
Chaos magic is far different from other magic. It will do what it wants if you can't learn to control it. It is almost like a living thing itself that you have to keep a leash on or it will run wild.
The trick is to be absolute in your resolve, know what you want and focus all your energy on it until you feel your magic flow.
Flitter frowned as that still didn't make much sense to her. She took in a deep breath and tried to do as she remembered Kibou doing.
She focused on the barrier and imagined passing through it. She took a couple steps forward and then slowly opened her eyes.
She gasped when she looked back at the barrier and realized she had passed through it, just as she wanted. Her face broke into a bright smile as she hopped around her friends and then tapped each so they would open their eyes.
Dusk's mouth fell open as he stared between her and the barrier. She shook her head and whispered,
"I'll explain later. Come on guys there's so much I have to tell you."
The three of them left and headed for the protected path. Cheese looked back and stopped a frown on his face.
Flitter and Dusk stopped and turned to look at the spot Cheese was staring at.
"What's wrong Cheese?" Flitter whispered, trying to see what Cheese had.
He shook his head and shrugged,
"I thought I saw something in the tree line, but it must have been one of Aunt Fluttershy's animals or something…"
The three looked back at the spot and Flitter got this strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was a shiver that started from the tips of her hooves to her hair line.
"It was probably nothing…come on, before Kibou realizes I'm leaving." She whispered and continued away from her home, both colts turned and followed her.
She couldn't help glancing back once more and swore she saw something fly into the trees. Something that was too large to be a bird…
It has to just be a creature of the Everfree…at least it can't get into the castle…
Kibou paced around the living room, waiting for some kind of sign as to what was happening. His gut was telling him that this couldn't be some strange illness. He had spent years studying with his aunt and had never come across any such disease.
One that affects chaos magic? Then why didn't it take his too?
No, this was something else and he had to find out what before it was too late. He couldn't risk anything happening to his family again.
But, without a clue as to what was happening…
"There has to be some kind of explanation as to what is happening. Think Kibou, think…"
He sighed and hung his head. There was nothing he could do to stop this and it was scaring him.
He felt a gentle hoof run through his mane and looked over to see his mom smiling at him. He returned her small smile with one of his own.
"It's going to be okay sweetie. Your father has pulled through worse things."
"I'm scared mom. What if this is because of what Morgana did to him or another attack from…"
"Shh…It's going to be alright. I know that this is really scary honey and you're worried about your dad. We all are, but we just have to trust him and your Aunt Twilight to find out what's happening."
He growled in frustration and began to pace again.
"But I should be helping! I should be there trying to figure this out with them! I should…"
She placed her hoof on his shoulder to stop his tirade again. She was looking at him with her large teal eyes full of understanding.
"Then who would be here with me and Flitter? You are helping Kibou. In the biggest way you can. You are here protecting me and Flitter. If this was a personal attack on your dad, then it's very important that you stay here with us. That way your father and aunt can focus solely on getting his magic back."
He sighed again, knowing she was right. It was why he hadn't gone off with them in the first place. He had to stay here to protect his family. That didn't make it any easier not knowing what was happening.
Things were just starting to get back to normal.
"I know honey. I was hoping things would settle back down too." His mother whispered and he chuckled and nuzzled her.
"How do you read my mind mom?"
She giggled and returned his affection before turning back to the kitchen.
"It's my job to know what my family is feeling. How else would I know when one of you are getting into trouble?"
Kibou chuckled again as his mother disappeared into the kitchen. He sighed and went to the window to stare out at the forest.
He looked up at the sky and sent a silent prayer to Celestia. He felt a shiver and growled, this time in warning.
Something was trying to get through the barrier. He flashed himself outside, his hackles raised as he searched out the threat.
"Hey Squirt! Calm down, it's just me!"
His fur smoothed over and he smiled, a genuine smile this time. He flew down and grinned at his fiancée.
"Hey Storm. Sorry for the scare."
She laughed,
"Please. Like I'd ever be afraid of you. You're nothing but a fluffy mess."
He blushed, but chuckled again.
"So are you going to let me in? Or is this a bad time because you still haven't heard anything?" She asked as she looked up at him.
His smile fell as he was reminded of the situation and he sighed as he ran his claw along the barrier. Following his path was a gap in the shield, like he was unzipping it.
Storm smiled and walked through, then waited as he resealed it. He turned to stare at her and his ears fell.
"There's still no word back on dad. I don't know what to do Storm."
She stared at him for a minute and then walked closer to him and nuzzled against his chest. He sighed and sat down, wrapping his tail around them and running his snout through her rainbow mane.
"It'll be okay Kib. Uncle Discord has to pull through this. We need him too much for him not to."
She whispered against his fur and he purred in response. Having Storm near made things a lot easier to handle.
"You're right of course. Hmm, come on Stormy. Mom's started making tea." He smiled and walked towards his home.
He turned to say something,
"Hey Storm can you-oof" He fell backwards as something heavy slammed against his head.
He lay there groaning and opened his eyes just enough to see Storm standing above him with a sardonic grin on her face.
"S-Storm?" He whispered as his surroundings started to fade into blackness. She chuckled and leaned close to his snout as she whispered.
"You're an even bigger fool than your sister not to see through me."
He growled, but it sounded weak even to his own ears as his vision faded more.
"Don't…you…dare…I…won't let…you hurt…them…" He muttered as his vision faded completely and he lay there unconscious.
The imposter smiled and stared up as the sky, watching as the barrier fell from around the castle.
"It's time my queen. Soon it will all be ours."
Fluttershy hummed to herself in order to distract her mind from Discord. She had hoped to hear something from Twilight by now.
True it had only been a few hours, but she was impatient to see him again. To ensure herself that he was alright.
She sighed and took her cup of tea and sat on one of the kitchen stools. She sipped at her tea, not really paying attention to it as she thought of what was happening.
Just when things looked like they were getting back to normal…or as normal as her house ever was…
"Discord…please be okay." She whispered.
Her ears perked as she heard someone moving about the living room. Then she heard a crash and jumped off her stool moving towards the room. She looked around the empty room and frowned.
"Kibou? Flitter? Kids is everything alright in here?"
"Not for you."
She gasped and turned just as she was hit upside the head and knocked to the floor. She felt herself fading in and out of consciousness.
Through the fog clouding her mind she saw two figures talking to each other and caught bits of their words.
"That takes care of them…the girl…"
"She's…here…"
"Find her! Queen…won't like…have…find her…"
"Flitterbee…run…" She whispered as her eyes closed once more.
Discord…