//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: Angel of Gold // by Magna85 //------------------------------// Discord suddenly stopped laughing. "Alright you two, enough silliness. What are you going to tell Celly and Lulu?" he asked. It took Tim and I a little bit longer to stop laughing. "Ahem. I was actually going to see if you had any recommendations on what we should tell them. I don't know what might cause a change in the timeline that could be harmful to the world," I stated, still giggling a little. Discord put a hand to his chin. Such a pensive pose for the god of Chaos. "I would probably leave out Starlight Glimmer. That one sounds like Twilight and her friends learn a lesson from their experiences." "And what about the rest of them? We need to get political alliances underway if Void-coat was right about us needing everything we can get for whatever this threat is," I continued the line of questioning. "You let me handle that, I can be serious if I need to be. But as for you and the Song, you need to get prepared for your journey, and alert the rest of the girls that they will be heading out with you," Discord answered. "But where are they?" Tim inquired. "Why, they're right," Discord started, before snapping his fingers. A flash enveloped my senses before I was standing in the throne room. "Here!" he finished. "Celedon, Berserker! You're okay!" Pinkie Pie yelled at us before attempted to pull us both into a hug. I say attempted, because I still weighed over a ton. "Yes, they're quite fine, and our visitor has already left. He had some other important business to attend to, before you ask," Discord stated before anyone could speak on Gilgamesh's sudden absence. "Well, I guess that takes care of that...But still what are you two doing here?" Twilight questioned, a look of curiosity on her face. "I hope you remember the thing about getting everyone on board to go the Mer-kingdom for the contest," I reminded her. "The Mer-kingdom? Oh my, Twilight, are we going to the mer-kingdom? I've heard tales of the many great fashions and sights there!" Rarity said from slightly behind Twilight. Applejack spoke up next by saying, "Well, Ah don't know if Ah will be able ta make it, Ah've got the orchard to think of." Fluttershy spoke up in her whispering voice, "I have all my animals to think about as well..." Twilight looked at her friends and assuaged their inquiries. "It was at Princess Celestia's own request, as Celedon wants to bring Berserker with her." She added in a smaller voice, "I also kind of want to go myself..." "Why can't the big guy stay here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Because it's for the plot!" Pinkie Pie shouted from next to my ear. The rest of the girls took a look at Pinkie before shrugging. "Ah guess I can get Big Mac to keep the farm in order and look after Applebloom. We are in off season as well," Applejack grudgingly acquiesced. "And my animals can take care of themselves for a little while...But I do need to set out some food so they don't go hungry while I'm gone, so could I have a day or two to prepare? Um, if you don't mind, that is..." Fluttershy looked too adorable as she requested her preparation time. Discord spoke up then. "If Celedon leaves by tomorrow, she'll make it easily, with a smooth trip. After that, it would take a bit of finagling to keep up a good pace." "Couldn't you help? Just transport us all there?" Twilight asked with narrowed eyes. "Oh, my dear, I would love to, but that would make me predictable! So I shall just walk along with you and your merry little band of friends!" Discord replied happily, with not too little a hint of smugness. Practically everyone groaned at that, except for Pinkie Pie. She instead cheered and pulled out a glass from somewhere for some reason. Discord snapped his fingers with a smirk, causing a small cloud of chocolate milk to appear over her glass, while it rained cotton candy. Oh dear, sugar rush in a glass, I thought as I smelled the intense fragrance of liquefied sugar. "Yay!" Pinkie said before gulping down the entire glass. She then tossed the glass at Discord, where it turned into a pie. Instead of a white explosion, the pie stayed quite solid as it reached his face. I tilted my head at the insanity that just happened. "Just don't think about it," Tim said beside me with a hollow look on his face. While the girls were discussing their plans, Tim turned towards me and said, "Right, I was going to tell you what Gilgamesh was referring to during the battle after you stomped him into the ground. He was talking about the main antagonist, M.Bison, who used that exact pose you used in order to do the same, if slightly less painful, attack." "Huh. So, if I do that again, I need to say, "This place shall become your grave!" in an over-the-top villain-like manner?" I questioned. "Yup." "Well alright then." I turned back to where the girls had finished saying their goodbyes to Discord and the Princesses and were heading off to get their affairs in order. "Alright, Celedon, we will meet you in the throne room tomorrow evening. Hopefully Discord can take us at least a part of the way up the path." Twilight laid out the plan for tomorrow. I nodded my head and said my goodbyes, Tim doing the same. "So, Celedon, what was it like down there, fighting Gilgamesh?" Celestia asked me. After a few seconds, I answered, "At first, I was apprehensive. Then, I just flowed into the combat where I was needed. It was quite exhilarating after I really got into it." Tim was nodding furiously beside me. "He gave me-ow!" I sharply poked him with a feather on his back. "A good battle!" Tim almost revealed something that the Princesses most likely would not want to hear about him getting two new weapons. I tried covering for him, once again using my voice to influence them. I didn't think it was magical in nature, or at least I hoped it wasn't. The Princesses squinted their eyes at me for a few seconds before sighing as one. "As you can see, Tim here still needs to get a little rest before we head out tomorrow." Tim eventually got my subtle signal and hunched forward slightly. The sisters still looked a little skeptical, Luna more than Celestia, but Discord intervened by saying, "Alright, you two run along now while I discuss some things with Celly and Lulu here." "What things?" Luna asked innocently. I took that as our cue to leave and dragged Tim out of the throne room with me. Discord's expression became grave before I turned completely out of the throne room.