Swooosh! Rainbow Dash flew down to where Noir stood dead-still in the shadow of her cloud home. After a deep breath, she laid down a leg and then a large piece of a stone granite tail.
"There," she said. "The last of them. At least the ones I've collected. I figure—at this point—you of all ponies totally deserves to keep them under lock and key."
Noir stared at the shards. The edges of his hood obscured any expression the sarosian may have been bearing—grim or otherwise. "I see..."
Rainbow Dash winced slightly. "They... they aren't capable of harnessing any power right now. At least, not anymore."
"Assuming he wasn't lying to you."
Rainbow bit her lip.
Noir reached a hoof out, turning one of the shards over, examining it. "You put yourself and everypony you loved in grave... grave danger by even trusting him."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "I know."
"I actually find it quite miraculous that all of Equestria isn't in flames as we speak."
She gulped. "I-I know..."
He tilted his chin up, and Rainbow caught the barest glint of fanged teeth. "And yet... after all of the quests you undertook together... you mean to say that he left you and the shards of his own accord?"
Rainbow said, "He had some... thinking to do."
"On his lonesome?"
"Let's just say that there isn't an inch of evil overlord left in him," Rainbow droned. "If there even ever was to begin with." She brushed her bangs back, glancing up at her cloud home. "The dude was frustrated with me... and yet he couldn't bring himself to hate me."
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Last time I saw him, Noir, he said that he needed to go—like—on a journey to figure stuff out."
"What kind of... 'stuff?'"
Rainbow shrugged. "Mortal stuff? Pony stuff?" She gulped hard. "... ... ...loyalty and love stuff?"
"And the shards left beyond the griffon wall...?"
"They're still out there. I was too... busted up from our adventure to figure out where they were dropped," she said. "Only thing in the wasteland that could possibly use them are sentient squirrels and bone-headed dragons. I mean, I suppose they could stumble upon the stone pieces, but I'm not sure they'd know what to do with them."
"And he remains incomplete, then?" Noir remarked. "Without these shards, I mean."
"He didn't really need them, dude," Rainbow said. "Well, sure, he needed some of them. But he was a great deal... uh... more powerful than he let on. Even still..." She nodded. "He won't ever be the real him... or at least the old him that your dusty books speak of... not without the shards. It's like... like h-he purposefully wants to put his restoration on hold."
"Restoration in exchange for reformation..."
"Huh?" Rainbow blinked.
"Hmmm..." Noir gathered the shards and bundled them beneath his cloak. "Just a thought, Rainbow Dash. And quite a striking one at that."
"Would you like to share, buddy?"
"It's just that..." The stallion's jaw clenched. "...Discord has the reputation of being the most dangerous threat in all Equestrian history. Wars have been fought over him. Hundreds of thousands of pony lives have been sacrificed to subdue him. The Princesses banished him for eons inside stone. And yet... after all of that strife and torment... after so many conflicts and battles... the one thing... the one thing that finally gets him to change is a lone pegasus with a brazen penchant for self-sacrifice."
Rainbow Dash blinked.
"At first, I was... quite alarmed to hear of your revelation, Rainbow Dash," Noir said. "But now... I'm quite convinced..." His slitted eyes flickered between them. "...you may have inadvertently saved the entire future of Equestria."
"Uhm..." Rainbow fidgeted where she stood. A crooked smile. "...'yay?'"