//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: An Assistant // by samstermlp //------------------------------// Musica and Discord soon fell into a routine. In the mornings, they would hunt through the stacks, Discord zooming through five or six, and Musica struggling to make it through one before lunch. After lunch, they would go out to the field and Discord would show her some spells and have her practice them. It was hard, but little by little, she was getting better. She could now levitate a small pebble without a million other ones floating upwards as well. Now she was trying to stop lifting up a boulder to accompany it. Musica was perfectly happy. Before she knew it, a month had flown by. But like all good things, it had to end. Discord was hunting through the stacks as usual when a messenger summoned him to the throne room. When he entered the throne room, he saw Princess Twilight. “Morning, Twilight.” She looked at him with surprise. “That’s the cheeriest greeting you’ve given me in years.” Discord shrugged and looked away. “Good morning, Twilight. Hello, Discord,” Celestia greeted them as she entered the throne room. “What was it you wanted to see Discord and I about?” Twilight cleared her throat nervously, something quite uncommon for the confident princess. “Well, you see, I’ve discovered something about, well, Fluttershy.” Discord froze. He turned slowly towards the purple alicorn, eyes wide. Twilight took a deep breath. “Well, as we all know, at the time of her...incident, Fluttershy was in a fragile state. Pregnancy. She was almost ready to give birth. In fact, the due date was in less than a week.” Celestia nodded slowly. “And this is relevant at this time because...?” “Predictably, we were all horrified by the way she...went, so much that we avoided any mention of her. We couldn’t even stand to look at the body, we just asked the funeral home to handle everything, and to have a closed casket. We could hardly stand seeing the coffin, much less her body. I couldn’t even think about her for a year afterwards without bursting into tears. Time healed the wounds her death wrought upon us, though we still have a scar. So after ten years, I can finally think about Fluttershy without constantly seeing her body. Only now have I been able to question the fate of her, no, YOUR child.” Celestia spoke up. “We know the fate of the child. It died within her.” Twilight shook her head. “No, we assumed that. I’ve thought back to it, and I don’t remember seeing her still pregnant. We were too grief-stricken then to realize it, but I have become more and more convinced that her body was no longer round with child. I.. I looked at pictures taken of the body, documenting the death of the bearer of the element of kindness, and none of the photos show her to be pregnant! Discord, I might be wrong, but depending on if she gave birth, and when..” Discord drew himself up to his full height, his eyes glowing with a fiery determination that had not been seen in him for years. “Depending on if she gave birth before Chrysalis got to her or not, the child may have survived! If there is any chance at all that my child is out there, I swear, I will do everything in my power and everything not to find them!” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, Musica was still in the records room, going through her stack. She glanced at the clock. Discord had been gone for a long while. She put down her stack and trotted down to the throne room to ask Discord if she should keep continue working on her own or if she should go eat lunch. As she entered the throne room, she saw Discord, Princess Twilight, and Princess Celestia deep in conversation. They didn’t even notice her as she approached them curiously. “I’ll ask Zecora if she knows anything. She lives in the Everfree near Ponyville, so maybe she noticed something,” Discord said. “I’ll ask the mayor of Ponyville about unusual magic and appearances,” Twilight said. She pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s a list of questions to ask, about unusual appearances, magic, and behavior in the last decade. Oh, and appetite.” Discord snapped his fingers, and he and Celestia both had a list. Musica looked at him in surprise. She’d known he had magic, but he rarely used it, except to fix messes she made with her magic spells. There was something else about him too. He seemed.. different somehow. More determined, like he hadn’t had a purpose and now he did. “What’s going on?” the filly asked. Three heads turned to her in surprise. They hadn’t realized she was there. “Musica! I thought you were in the record room!” “I was! You were taking a while, so I came down to ask you if I should have lunch now. What’s going on?” “There is a little problem that needs investigation.” Musica brightened immediately. “Cool! Are we going on an adventure?!” Discord shook his head. “We are not doing anything. I am.” Musica frowned. “How come? I’m your assistant, after all. Shouldn’t I come with you and help?” “This is a personal matter.” “Then why are the princesses involved?” Discord growled. “Because.” “That’s not an answer! I want to come!” the little filly shouted, stomping her hoof. “You’re not coming, Musica! That’s final!” The little unicorn glared up at him, then turned and galloped out of the room, angry tears in her eyes. Discord sighed and turned back to the princesses. “Where were we?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After she had calmed down a bit, Musica started to pace the library floor. She had ended up here because it had so many nooks and crannies to hide in. As she paced, she thought about what she’d overheard. "Something personal,” she muttered. “Something that involves the princesses. Something that matters, based on the way Discord was acting.” She groaned. “This is getting me nowhere! All I know about him is what he’s told me! I need to get more info about him...” She stared up at the bookcases surrounding her. A small smile came across her face. After a few minutes of magic scanning (Discord’s lessons had helped her control it better), she read through the notes she had. After a few pages, she dropped them with a groan. “This is getting me nowhere! This is all about his villain time and his chaos magic. Not really helpful.” Then she recalled one of his conditions. There is to be no mention of a mare named Fluttershy. “Hmm.” A few minutes later, Musica was reading through her new notes. 1. Fluttershy was the bearer of the element of harmony. 2. She was a member of Princess Twilight’s council. 3. She reformed the Lord of Chaos, Discord, changing him from a powerful enemy to a mischievous friend. 4. She married said draconaquus a few years later. 5. She was murdered by Queen Chrysalis of the changelings a year and a half after her marriage. Musica stared at the paper in shock. Discord had had a wife? She’d been murdered? He’d been mischievous?! She looked at rest of her notes, but nothing else really had anything to do with Discord.She refocused on her original question. What did this have to do with Discord searching for...unusual magic and appearances? “What about that determination he had? I haven’t seen him like that before,” she muttered to herself. But there was something wrong with that statement. What was it? She suddenly realized what it was. “I have seen him like that before! Whenever we find something about Chrysalis that he says he didn’t find before!” Her eyes widened. She hadn’t really understood why finding Chrysalis was so important to Discord. Now she knew. But I’ve never seen that much energy in him. Not even when we find stuff. She gasped. He must have found a solid lead! That’s why he didn’t want me to come! There’s a chance he might find Chrysalis herself! She stood up, and started galloping towards her room. Well I don’t care if it’s dangerous! I am going to help!