//------------------------------// // Homecoming // Story: Chaotic Neutral // by C-Puff //------------------------------// Chapter 29 The world felt unnaturally quiet after the assault of noise. The town's courtyard was inky black without its bubble. The sky was clear. Somewhere, the faint noise of a family of quails who had been woken up by all the commotion could be heard. There was a strange static to the air, but no more hum, and no more sense of pulsing energy. The clouds of smoke and dust rolled over the cobblestones, but they were heavy and already starting to settle in a thin layer on the ground. “Did we do it?” Pinkie was the first to speak, blinking wide eyed. There was a short pause as the rest of the group looked around, waving dust out of the way, trying to get a better look at the now dark surroundings. “I... I think we did it guys,” Rainbow said, sounding nervous to even believe it. Applejack said nothing, using her hat to fan the air in front of her clear. “It's gone,” Rarity said, sounding more dishevelled than she looked. Rainbow gave a loud burst of a laugh, punching the air with a hoof. “We did it! I can't believe we actually pulled it off!” Pinkie lit up as if somepony had flicked a switch on her. She hopped in a tiny circle which grew wider with each pass. “We did it! We did it! We did it!” She skipped her way over to Rainbow Dash and threw herself around her, picking her up off her hooves in a death grip. “Dashie, we did it! We did it!” Rainbow squirmed, but despite herself could not wipe the smile from her face. Eventually she gave up and hugged Pinkie back with one foreleg while she shook her other hoof at the sky. “Did you see that?!” Rainbow yelled at nopony in particular. “Did you see how we kicked that thing's butt?! Aw yeah! Do not come and throw your weight around here, pal! Because the seven of us are gonna pound you straight into last week!” “I can't believe it worked,” Applejack said, putting her hat back on as she trotted over. “I mean... I guess, yeah, I thought it would but... yeah! It really worked!” Pinkie proceeded to grab hold of her and drag her into the hug as well, as the group broke into uncontrollable giggles, both in joy and relief. “Hold on...” Rarity's voice said, but they did not hear her. “That was one doozy of a pop!” Pinkie said, looking back and forth between the other two, grinning almost too wide for her face. “We were all like 'Zap!' and it was like 'nu uh!' and then it was all like 'Boom!'” “Hold on, a moment,” Rarity repeated, a little louder this time. Applejack turned to her, smile fading at her tone of voice. “Somethin' wrong, Rarity?” “Hey,” Rainbow interrupted. Applejack turned to her instead to find the pegasus frowning at her chest. “Is this thing suppose to look like this?” Applejack turned to follow her gaze, stopping on the Element of Loyalty around Rainbow's neck. The normally red lightning bolt was now a dull, foggy grey. Applejack frowned at it. “Ain't never seen it do that before,” She said with concern. “I never really checked them after we blasted anything,” Rainbow said, pulling free from Pinkie as she started fiddling with the necklace's clasp. It came apart surprisingly easy and she was left holding it in her hooves. “I'm sure it's not suppose to look like this, though.” “That's what I was trying to tell you,” Rarity said, trotting closer. She stopped halfway as her own Element slipped off her neck and fell to the ground with a lifeless 'thunk'. She stared at it for a few moments. A slow frown spread on her face as she leaned in closer towards it. “Maybe we overtaxed 'em or somethin',” Applejack said, removing her own to inspect it. “That was a lotta energy we just shot outta them. Maybe they're just, kinda, drained?” “My balloon's all sad looking,” Pinkie pouted, ears drooping. “I can't pick mine up,” Rarity said. “What?” Applejack turned to her. Rarity was still frowning at her Element on the ground, but she looked up to speak. “I can't pick mine up! My horn still isn't working.” “What d'ya mean your horn isn't working?” Rainbow said, a hard frown on her face. “Exactly what I said! It's not working!” Rarity repeated, her voice becoming shrill. “Why not?” Pinkie turned to her as well. “Didn't we win?” “How in Equestria should I know why not?!” Rarity almost shrieked, straightening. “It's not working! I can't feel anything in my horn at all!” “Alright, calm down Rarity,” Applejack said. “Twilight, what-?” She turned to address her friend but found her not standing in her spot. Applejack looked the courtyard over, fighting down her growing panic. “Twilight?!” “I'm over here!” Twilight called back. Applejack squinted in her direction, finally making out her friend through the settling dust. Applejack trotted over to her clumsily as she used one of her forelegs to keep her Element pinned to her neck. “Twi, what's goin' on?! Our Elements ain't lookin' too good!” “What?” Twilight stopped in her tracks. She had been heading to where the bubble had stood. “Look!” Applejack walked over to her, followed closely by the others. She held up her Element. “Everypony else's is doin' the same thing!” Twilight gave the Element a hard frown, inspecting it closely. “It ain't suppose ta do that, right?” Applejack asked. “We gave that rock one heckuva blast, but I don't think that's right, is it?” “What's happening, Twilight?” Rarity asked, her voice quivering. “I.. I don't know,” Twilight broke her gaze with the Element of Honesty, turning to look over her shoulder at something, “but something seems wrong.” “What is it?” Rainbow asked, leaning to see what Twilight was looking at. “I don't...” Twilight gave a frustrated sigh, turning back to them before trying again. “I don't know. I'm not sure what's happened. Let me get Fluttershy, and we'll figure this out.” “Why? Where's Fluttershy?” Applejack asked. “Over there,” Twilight pointed as she turned to trot forward again. Only a few stray trails of dust and smoke still hugged the ground as the evening air blew the courtyard clear again. Not too far off, Fluttershy was standing in front of an impressive burn mark on what was at once cobblestone. “What's wrong with Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, sounding impatient. “I don't know,” Twilight said again, turning to look back at Rainbow. “She seemed kinda spaced out when everything settled down. Just stay there and... I dunno, Just stay there.” “Where did that Blue Jay go, by the way?” Rarity asked, turning to frown at the scene around them. “Forget that meanie! Where'd Discord go?!” Pinkie asked, twisting her own head almost a hundred and eighty degrees to look around as well. “Maybe he chased the jerk away?” Rainbow said. “Everypony, just calm down.” Applejack said, turning to the others, adjusting her stetson. “Let's get everypony together before we start figurin' out what went wrong.” “Then we need to know where Discord is, silly!” Pinkie insisted. “Otherwise we're not gonna be all together without him, right?” “If he's trying to keep Blue Jay away from us, looking for him might not be very smart,” Rarity said, her frown staying where it was. “I could do a sweep of the town!” Rainbow suggested, taking off to hover. “I can do it in like, eight seconds!” “You stay right here, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack, said, looking dead serious. “But I can-” “We take five minutes and calm down, get us ponies together, and then we'll see where we're all at. So come back down here, put your hooves on the ground, and count ta ten,” She turned to the others. “And that goes for all of ya'll.” Rainbow grumbled something, but she lowered herself until she was standing back on solid ground. The others said nothing. Pinkie was fretting to herself, her eyes puppy-like. Rarity was tapping her horn with a hoof, tight-lipped and anxious. Applejack turned to watch Twilight, keeping her own worries to herself. “Fluttershy?” Twilight asked once she was close enough. Fluttershy did not answer, but she dipped her head so her hair fell over her face. Twilight took this as a sign that she was listening. She rounded Fluttershy until Twilight could properly see her. “Are you alright?” She asked with concern. Fluttershy lifted her head just high enough to meet Twilight's eyes. She looked far from alright. Her cheeks and nose were flushed and her ears were flat against her head. She looked like she was barely holding back tears. “Fluttershy!” Twilight was quick to move forward, putting her forelegs around her and pulling her into a tight hug. “What's the matter? Did you get hurt?” Fluttershy shook her head against Twilight's neck, putting her forelegs around her as well. “Twilight...” She choked out. “Twilight he... he... I saw him... and... I can't... he just...” “Woah, easy there,” Twilight gave her a soft squeeze before pulling back and sitting Fluttershy down in front of her. “Take deep breaths, Fluttershy. What happened?” Fluttershy tried her best to take a deep breath but it was ragged at best. At least it seemed enough for her to get her thoughts straight. “Twilight he... I op-opened my eyes and... I saw the Stone and... we w-were f-firing at it... so... and... so I l-looked a-and... and it wasn't, wasn't working b-but Discord...” She faltered, taking another deep breath. “D-Discord... I mean he said... he was going to help... And... and you said... with the lock... and the troll... and his magic and...” She sniffed. “So he j-jumped and.. and he grabbed it!” Twilight gave her head a shake, running a hoof over Fluttershy's head. “Fluttershy, I can't understand you. This is about Discord? What happened? What did he grab? His... magic?” Fluttershy shook her head, wiping at her face furiously. “No! No.. He... no...” She turned to look Twilight in the eyes again. Tears had started running down her cheeks by now as she struggled to keep it together. “He... Discord, he...” She gave a sob but tried to fight it back, putting her hooves over her face. “Twilight h-he grabbed t-the, the Stone! H-he... and he... and the light and he... Twilight he grabbed it! W-we, we were shooting and h-he... he just...!” She hiccuped, and then completely broke down. Tears rolled down Fluttershy's face as her whole body was racked with sobs. She openly wept, not caring how loud she was or who could see her. She bawled and cried as if her heart had been grabbed and torn in two, ripped open like a piece of fruit. Twilight pulled her close and clutched her, but Fluttershy would not calm down. “He's gone!” She sobbed. She clung to Twilight as if Fluttershy would shatter into pieces if she let go. “He g-grabbed that thing and.. and now he's gone! He's gone!” The words were as physical as if a knife had been sliced into her, and Fluttershy could not get anything else out as she cried. Twilight held onto her friend. Her cheeks prickled as the blood drained away from her face. There was an awful sensation inside of her, as if the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. A tingling cold rushed over her shoulders and the back of her neck. Twilight's grip tightened. “He grabbed it...” Twilight repeated. Fluttershy said nothing, unable to cry any harder than she already was. “What's going on?” Rainbow Dash's voice interrupted. Twilight turned to see her flying closer, concern all over her face. Applejack was hot on her heels, looking somewhere between stern and worried as she unsuccessfully tried to stop her friend from barging into the conversation. Behind them, Pinkie and Rarity were shifting on their hooves, looking desperate to come closer and see what was wrong too, but unsure if they should. Twilight shook her head slowly, unable to think of anything to say. “I...” She faltered. Trying to arrange the actual words of what Fluttershy had said, seemed to shoot straight through Twilight and made her eyes sting. “C'mon, don't scare me here!” Rainbow landed, watching her friend's face. “What happened, Twilight?” She turned to look at Fluttershy for a moment, her ears flattening before she turned back to Twilight, looking desperate now. “What's wrong?” Twilight took a shaking breath, and then another. She let go of Fluttershy to wipe at her tingling face before she answered as best she could. “When we used the Elements...” She cleared her throat, continuing in a clear voice. “When we used the Elements, Discord... he grabbed the Stone...” She trailed off, unable to think of what else to add. “He grabbed the stone.” She repeated lamely. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stared at her, stunned. Rainbow gave her head a robotic shake. “No way...” “What? No! Why?” Applejack gave her head a shake. “No, I mean....” She paused. “I.. I don't know what I mean...” “No way!” Rainbow repeated, this time much louder. She stomped her hoof, glaring at Twilight. “No way!” “Rainbow Dash...” Twilight started. “No way!” Rainbow Dash shook her head, giving her wings a flap. “Not buying it! No!” She took off. “No way! I'll find him! He's gotta be here! I know he's here! No way he'd...! Just no way!” “Rainbow Dash!” Applejack called after her, but Rainbow would not listen. She streaked into the sky, heading straight upwards. “Rainbow Dash, come back!” Applejack ran to where she could get a better view of her, but Rainbow did not look like she had any intention of coming down again. She started circling over the courtyard. “What is she doing?” Rarity asked, trotting over to Applejack with Pinkie close behind. Applejack pulled a grim face before she tried, as calmly as she could, to fill them in on what she understood had happened. Twilight remained where she sat. The tiny, logical voice inside her said she should fly after Rainbow and bring her back. None of the others had wings to do so, except for Fluttershy. And yet, Twilight could not get herself to even let go of of her friend. Twilight's eyes stung, and her vision blurred. She tried her best to keep her eyes clear, but it was getting harder. She closed them instead, nuzzling her face into Fluttershy's hair. “I'm sorry, Fluttershy...” She said with a shaking voice. Fluttershy buried herself harder against Twilight, her voice so broken it almost sounded like a stranger's. “He was my friend.” She sobbed. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut at this, giving a tight nod. “I know...” Something rumbled far overhead. Rainbow Dash circled over the town, flying as high as she could without losing sight of the others. She scanned every street and alley leading from the courtyard, but there were no hints of what could have happened to Discord. “C'mon, Rainbow Dash!” She grumbled at herself, banking hard to look again. “He's gotta be here somewhere.” The streets, alleys and ruined houses hardly looked different than when she first passed over them. One or two had collapsed in on themselves when the Stone broke, but apart from that and the hole Blue Jay had blown in one of them, nothing else had changed that much. Rainbow Dash pulled a face to herself, then gave her head a shake. “One more time! I gotta be missing something!” A third sweep of the area, and still nothing. Rainbow gave a furious growl as she came to a hover, looking in every direction, determined to find what she must have been overlooking. Ignoring the idea that, in truth, she was not overlooking anything, and the situation was exactly what it seemed to be. She turned, first one way, then the other. But the cold realisation was starting to set in that, maybe, there was nothing to find. Her throat grew tight, and her cheeks burned. She gave her head another shake, trying to physically shake off what she was thinking and feeling. “One... one more time!” She said, looking around for the best place to check again. “Just... One more time!” But she did not move. Staring helplessly around her. She tried her best to think clearly, and when that stopped working, she tried to think stubbornly. But neither was helping any more. Her chest felt like lead, and she could feel it dragging her back down to earth. She almost shook her head once again, but gave up. She hovered in place, not bothering to search again, but not rejoining her friends either. She just hovered. Staring at the ground below her, feeling her face flush. There was another rumble above her. She scowled, turning to glare at the sky. She was getting angry, finding the idea of her and her friends getting rained on somehow adding insult to injury. She was surprised to find there was not a cloud in the sky. There was something else though. High above her a ball of light, maybe the size of a beach-ball, was flickering. It hung in the air as its light blinking in random patterns. After a moment, it gave off a spark brighter than the others, and thin tendrils of something that looked like electricity crackled off of it as it gave a rumble. When it quietened down, it looked larger than it had been moments ago. Rainbow Dash stared, unsure what to even make of it. Her initial thought was that it was ball lightning, which was something the weather team always got warned about. But it took less than a second for her to realise it had to be something else. Ball lightning did not just hang in place without any clouds around. The ball gave another rumble and a crackle before growing once more. Then another. The pauses in between each surge were growing shorter each time. The sparks of energy also grew in size, as the thin tendrils started to resemble real lightning strikes. One of these, instead of just fizzling away into nothing, shot out and made contact with the ground below. Rainbow Dash took this as her cue and swooped back down to the others, landing close to Applejack. “Guys! We've got a thing happening!” She said, turning to make sure Twilight also heard her. “Oh no, what now?” Applejack said, turning to her with a bleak expression. “Heck if I know! Look!” Rainbow pointed up at the ball of light only to be shocked herself. It was lowering to the ground, picking up speed. “W-what is that thing?” Rarity asked as she smeared mascara all over her face, wiping her eyes clear. “I dunno, but I don't wanna hang around and find out!” Rainbow said, backing away from it. “I hear ya, Let's get goin', everypony!” Applejack said, heading to Twilight and Fluttershy. “But I don't wanna go!” Pinkie protested. “Do you wanna stay here and find out what that thing wants?” Rainbow snapped at her. “Maybe!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out at her. “Maybe it's friendly!” “It's a giant energy ball, Pinkie!” Rainbow argued. “How's it suppose to be friendly?” “You won't know unless you try!” Pinkie replied, scrunching her muzzle at her. “Pinkie, now is not the time for-” “Twilight, watch out!” Rarity cried. Pinkie and Rainbow both spun to Twilight, just in time to see a comet-like piece of light arc out of the ball and shoot straight for her. Twilight could barely register what was happening before she shoved Fluttershy off of her and out of the way, just as the thing smacked her in the head. “Twilight!” Applejack broke into a gallop. Fluttershy sat up, turning to Twilight with a horrified expression. Twilight buckled where she stood and had to catch herself before she could fall over. She gave her head a dazed shake, reaching up to rub at a temple, just as Applejack reached her. Applejack put her hooves on Twilight's shoulders to steady her. “Are ya alright, Sugarcube?!” “I... I think so,” Twilight nodded, rubbing at her eyes. “What in Equestria was that?” “I've no idea, but-” “Here comes another one!” Rainbow interrupted, running towards them. In fact, there were two more of the comet shaped lights. The first one barrelled towards Rainbow Dash, who reared when she realised what was happening, ready to hit it back. She swung hard with her left, but the light passed straight through her hoof before striking her in the chest, knocking her off balance. “Ugh! That stung!” She grumbled, sitting up again. She reached to rub the spot where it had hit, only to find her Element of Loyalty in the way. The second bolt struck Rarity, who was trying her best to dodge it without any real success. She whined loudly as it also hit her square in the chest. Three more lights shot from the ball. Rainbow Dash, however, was more occupied with her necklace. The red lightning bolt on it looked almost like it was glowing as she brushed her hoof over it. It felt hot, not enough to hurt, but hotter than it would have been simply from her wearing it. Applejack tried to shield Twilight from a second blow, but should not have bothered, as she was struck instead. Fluttershy put her forelegs over her face, but stayed where she was as she received her own bolt. Pinkie was hopping in place and as hers streaked towards her. She bounced extra high, making sure it would hit her dead center. It knocked her out of the air and she tumbled onto her back in a fit of giggles. The large ball crackled again, long arcs of light shooting off of it in every direction. Some slammed themselves into the ground, others tore upwards through the sky, bending to fall down again miles away from the town. A few broke off and headed for the six ponies again, travelling so fast there was not even time for the group to see them coming, let alone avoid them. Twilight tried to shield her face, but only half-heartedly. After the first blast, she was seriously questioning if this was something to be afraid of. The second blast hit her in the forehead. To describe it as getting struck by lightning would be wrong, as getting struck by lightning is generally a bad thing. But it was the closest comparison Twilight could think of, if you removed the idea of pain and damage. Electric energy shot through her and she felt it spit off of her wingtips, hooves and the end of her tail. Most strongly though, she felt her horn flood with something white-hot. It burned, as if charged with more magic than she could gather in her lifetime had been distilled into it, and she felt more than saw the purple sparks burst out from it. The feeling calmed down after a moment, and she became more aware of a new sensation inside her. A swirling, sparkling energy that filled up every hidden corner of her body. It was bursting with power, and made her feel giddy, anxious, and above all, rejuvenated. She took a couple of sharp breaths, turning to the others as she felt herself break into an involuntary smile. The others were looking themselves over, as if in disbelief at their own existence. If Twilight could have sworn they were glowing. Twilight turned back to the ball, lost in disbelief. The light barely resembled a ball any more. So many sparks, crackling energy, and arcs were bursting from it, it now more resembled a sea-urchin, as best as she could describe it to herself. Added to this, it had started to send out circular waves which shot through and past the group, traveling over the houses and the town, rolling over the mountains and hills that surrounded them, and off into the night. A large, much slower arc of light shot up out of the ball, spinning on its axis. It came to a stop and hung in the air in front of them. A second light rose, the two melding into one. The newly formed orb gave a throb. A third light, and then a fourth joined them. A full handful followed, until the smaller ball of light gave a last, powerful throb, and then cracked open. There was a flash, forcing the ponies to shield their eyes. When they opened them again, the smaller ball had vanished. In its place, glowing white for a moment before fading into the more familiar colours, hovered the self-proclaimed King of Chaos. He stared at them, looking bewildered. He blinked, looked down at himself, and then up at them again. They stared back, struck silent. Discord blinked again, then smiled, then burst out laughing. Behind him, the ruined houses shook as green icing and multicoloured sprinkles rained down on them from nowhere. Fluttershy realised she had been holding her breath. She inhaled sharply, then again, and then leapt to her hooves. Discord barely had time to turn to her before she threw herself against him and burst into tears. Behind him, the ball of light was dimming. There were less arcs and streaks of light coming from it, and it was starting to shrink in on itself, fading away. Discord was staring in shock at the bawling pony clinging to him. He reached out to try and pet her, looking almost afraid to touch her. “Erm... hello again, Fluttershy...” He tried, giving a shaky smile. She shook her head violently and pounded a hoof against him, although not very hard. “Y-you big... big... dumb... dumb... big... idiot!” Discord stared at her, pulling his claw back as if he was afraid she would bite it. “Fluttershy, I'm afraid I don't fully underst-” “You're s-so.. so stupid! And...and dumb! And s-stupid!.. I hate you so much!” She grabbed hold of him again and buried her face in his fur. Discord looked as if a house had just slammed into him. He put both arms around Fluttershy and hoisted her off her hooves, wrapping himself around her her. “Fluttershy, dear, I'm awfully sorry! Truly I am! Please stop!” He looked almost panicked. Fluttershy shook her head against him as she tightened her grip. “Y-you.. you s-scared me almost t-to death!.. H-how... w-why did y-you... Why did you d-do that?!” Discord gave his head a shake. “I didn't mean to upset you this much, my dear. I would never even dream of it!” He pulled back to look at her, ears flat and eyes watering. “Fluttershy I'm very sorry. Please... I don't want you to...” He bit his lip, trailing off. “I don't think I could bear it.” He gave her an expression both desperate and heartbroken. “Please... Forgive me?” Fluttershy sniffed, hiccuped, and turned to meet his gaze. In a way, Discord seemed almost afraid of what she was going to say. Fluttershy adjusted her grip and pressed her cheek against his chest, squeezing him. “I'm s-so happy you're okay,” She stuttered. She squeezed him again. “I'm so.. so happy you're alright. D-dont... don't every do t-that again... please.” Discord said nothing, clinging to her. Fluttershy sniffed, nuzzling him. “I w-was so scared I'd never see you again. Y-you're very... very important to me... please don't... don't ever scare me again.” Discord's grip tightened. Fluttershy felt a tremble run through him, and she hugged him back. The others stared dumbstruck at the scene in front of them. But only for a moment. “Discord!” Pinkie exploded, jumping several feet into the air before she tackled him in the back, almost knocking both him and Fluttershy off balance. “Ack!” Discord spun his head to see what had smacked into him. “You're okay!” Pinkie cheered, wrapping her forelegs completely around him in a way that did not really seem possible. “I'm so happy! Yay! You're back!” “I won't be for very long if you don't-” Discord tried to push her off but this was made harder when Rainbow Dash proceeded to grab him in a chin lock and ram her hoof into his skull in what was, supposedly, a show of affection. “Ya big Doofus!” She said angrily. “You gave me a heart-attack, you know that?! I'm gonna be sending you one heck of a doctor's bill when he puts me on anti-anxiety meds!” “Not to mention my psychiatry sessions,” Rarity added as she trotted over and put her forelegs over his tail. Applejack rolled her eyes as she smiled, until Pinkie's hoof shot out and dragged her into the group hug as well. Discord flapped his arms and made several gagging noises. “Would you bunch of twittering ponies stop making me feel my own feelings already?!” There was an off-kilter noise and he popped out of existence, snapping back into view next to the ponies who collapsed into a heap on the floor, whining and yelping as they tried to detangle themselves. “Really!" He gave a huff, dusting himself off. “It's like none of you have ever heard of personal-space before!” He snapped his fingers, a feather duster, brush, and industrial polisher sprung into being beside him and proceeded to clean off whatever imaginary germs he seemed to think they had. “Pinkie Started it!” Rainbow snapped, “Rarity, you have the pointiest elbow in the whole Equestria, could you move?!” “I would if Applejack would pull her hoof out of my face!” “That ain't my hoof.” Twilight laughed, putting her hooves over her mouth to try and stifle the noise. It did not do much good, and she laughed again, shaking her head. She turned and trotted over to Discord, who was watching the pile of ponies with a large grin. She noticed one of the cobblestones near him sprout spider legs and scurry away as another turned into a soap bubble. “Fluttershy said you grabbed the Stone of Null while we were firing the Elements at it,” She said, standing herself beside him. Discord turned to look at her. He stuck out his tongue. “I suppose you're going to scold me about that too! Look, what exactly was I suppose to do?! It's not my fault the Elements of Harmony are finicky baubles that need an extra kick of power to deal with evil stones from outer space! That Blue Print pony practically invited me to put a stop to this myself!” Twilight tilted her head at him with a smile. “I didn't say anything.” “You were thinking it!” Discord wagged a finger at her. “I know how your mind works by now, Twilight Sparkle.” “Oh, well then. I guess that means I can expect a little more understanding from you from now on,” Her smile perked. She sat down, reached out a foreleg, and put it around him in a half-hug. “I'm glad you're still around, Discord. Really.” “Ugh! Don't you start too! That's the last thing I need!” Discord stuck a finger down his throat. “The Princess of Goody-Two-Hoofs who hates me acting all gooey and sentimental! It's enough to make one heave!” Twilight's smile brightened, not letting go of him, “Is that why you've been blushing for almost five minutes now?” Discord fell silent and gave her a dirty look, his face darkening. He disappeared, teleporting beside the struggling ponies. He reached inside the pile and extracted Fluttershy. “Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one would love to start heading home,” He said, rather loudly. “Me too,” Fluttershy nodded with a weak smile, turning to put her forelegs around his neck. “Me three!” Pinkie said, hopping out of the pile to stand beside Twilight, grinning eagerly. “Then we gotta get our bags and make camp somewhere,” Applejack said, freeing herself as the group finally managed to get off each other. “I don't fancy much spendin' the rest of the night here.” “I don't 'fancy' spending the rest of the night outside,” Discord said, holding Fluttershy in one arm as he snapped his other claw. The groups' saddlebags appeared a few feet above the ground before they plopped down in front of them. “So, what do ya suggest then?” Applejack frowned at him, putting hers on. “I thought I mentioned it already,” Discord said, grinning at her. “I'm fed up with this whole 'outdoorsy, roughing it' thing. All I want now is to go back to Ponyville, have a hot cup of Earl Grey, and then go to bed in my own home.” “And we're going to do that... how?” Twilight asked, cocking a brow at him. “With the power of hopes, dreams, and pure imagination,” Discord rolled his eyes, in opposite directions. Twilight pulled a disgusted face at this. “Now, are we all packed and set, my little ponies?” Discord grinned at the others as they finished securing their saddlebags and gathering the Elements of Harmony together again. “Anypony need to use the restroom? Too bad! Here we go!” There was a flash of white light, a discordant sound, and the group teleported away. The town was silent. a light breeze rushing through the empty streets as a trickle of dust rolled off one of the roofs. Somewhere by the lake, a diver that had been woken up started calling out to its neighbours. A ruined cart sprouted a pair of chicken legs and started walking away, as one of the houses turned a sharp shade of chartreuse. Ogham Augur was still awake. He always found he did some of his best writing at night. This caused him to have a terrible sleeping scheduled, but seeing as he tended to keep to himself and never had much that needed attending to during the day, it did not seem like such a bad trade off in exchange for well thought out report, letter or essay. At the moment, he was writing to Princess Celestia. It had been what felt like a very long time since he had seen off Twilight Sparkle, Discord, and the rest of their group for Falabel. He had informed the Princess of what they had discussed and what he had advised them to do. It had taken a while before the message reached her, and a while longer still before a reply came back to him. He was not sure how long it would take for this letter to arrive at the palace, this urged him to write it when he did. He had not heard anything at all since Twilight and the others left, and he was starting to grow concerned. Part of himself was berating him almost daily for being too afraid to go with them. Although when he told Princess Celestia he had stayed behind, she almost seemed relieved by the news. She had said in her letter that, once again, she was deeply saddened by what he had experienced at the hands of the Defectors, and she only wished she knew of a way she could better help him. Despite her understanding though, Oggie could not stop his feelings of guilt. As time went on, he more and more found himself urged to do something, to help in some way. He was not sure what he could do, other than leave and go back to the Defectors himself. The idea of this made him break into a cold sweat, but he almost could not bear just sitting alone in his small tower while Twilight and her friends were doing all that they could to restore magic. And so, he had sat down to write Celestia a letter. Partly, it was to ask her advice on what she though he could do to help, but it was also a veiled way of asking if he should follow the way the others had gone. He was terrified at the thought of going back, but he was finding it harder and harder to live with himself. A commotion from outside derailed his train of thought. He looked to one of the windows. Very few ponies, if any at all, were usually up at this hour. And yet it sounded as if somepony had decided to throw a very loud, very excited party. There were cheers, stomping and clapping of hooves, whoops and hollers and innumerable other noises. Oggie put down his quill and trotted to his front door. He opened it as much as its secuirity-chain would let him, not feeling safe enough to open it fully. It did not look like there was too much to see. Some ponies ran by, smiling widely to each other as they met up with two more before the group disappeared into the night together. Oggie could see what looked like fireworks going off down one of the streets followed by more cheering and merrymaking. He sighed to himself and closed the door again, writing it off as possibly a birthday or house warming he did not know about. He turned to go back to his desk when a bright flash in the middle of the circular room startled him so badly he tripped over his own hooves. He scrambled up again, his heart pounding. “Whoops! Not quite far enough,” Discord said, looking the room over with a slight frown. “Hi Oggie!” Pinkie Pie waved frantically at him before there was another flash and they disappeared again. Oggie sat blinking on his floor, trying to process what he had just seen. He smiled, ran a hoof over his hair, and then broke into a laugh. “Sister! Sister, wake up!” Celestia grumbled and pulled the covers over her head. She was many things, but Celestia was not a pony who got up any sooner than she needed to, unless there was an emergency. If it was not six o'five in the morning yet, she did not want to hear about it. “Celestia, I implore you to wake up, already!” The voice of Princess Luna urged, much louder this time. Princess Celestia gave a long sigh as she lifted her head, her blanket sitting like veil. “I sincerely hope this is serious, Luna.” Luna was standing beside Celestia's bed, out of breath and excited. She looked offended by her sister's comment though and frowned at her. “Would I come and disturb you if it were not? Now listen! Something splendid has happened!” “That's good to hear,” Celestia sat up with a yawn, covering her face with a hoof. “Celestia, would you listen!” Luna stomped a hoof, raising her voice again. “Alright, I'm listening,” Celestia turned to focus on her, slowly waking up. Luna broke into a smile that almost shone, her mane flowing around her, sparkling with its own, inner network of stars. “Sister! I was watching over the moon when I felt something powerful come over me! I saw a wave of light come over from afar and the next thing I knew, I felt myself revitalised!” Celestia frowned, pulling her covers aside and getting up. “A wave of light? What do you mean?” her frowned deepened as she looked her sister over again. Her eyes widened as realisation set in. She turned her head sharply to look over her own mane and tail. They flowed behind her, swirling in the unseen trails of magic that wove through them at all times, making them glow and sparkle even in complete darkness. “Sister, I think we need to wake up the rest of the palace immediately!” Luna urged, still smiling. “I think you might be right,” Celestia nodded. There was a bright flash followed by the sound of several bodies collapsing into a heap on the floor. The Princesses stared speechlessly as the group of ponies groaned and whined. “Ah, there we are,” Discord said with a nod to himself. “Much better. Oh, hello Celestia. Luna.” He added, almost as an after thought. “Discord, I swear, if you pop us halfway across the world one more time, I will grab you by the nostrils and stuff you into a breadbox!” Twilight snapped at him, trying her best to get Applejack off of her. “I think I'm gonna hurl my guts,” Rainbow mumbled, putting her hooves to the sides of her head. “Not on the royal carpet!” Rarity shrieked. “Royal Carpet? Where exactly did you bring us, Dis...?” Twilight turned, spotting the two Princesses staring at them. Twilight turned a bright shade of red, putting her wings in front of her face to hide. “Oh no...” “Hi Princessessesses!” Pinkie waved at them with a wide grin, bouncing forward to give a small bow. “Welcome back,” Celestia smiled, beaming with pride.