//------------------------------// // Pleasant Walk To Nature's Door // Story: What Is This Strange Feeling? // by PonySage86 //------------------------------// A flash of light appears in the middle of Ponyville, it quickly fades revealing Discord, he puts on a smile and raises his dragon leg to get walking, but before he can he notices one of the ponies he was looking for. "Ah! My oh Celestia! Moonlight what happened to you!?" Discord shouts as he zips over to his friend, he stares at her with wide eyes. The glowing mare has cupcake crumbs in her hair, spaghetti tangled in her tail, a red mark on her nose (Discord can tell it's from a ghost trap), and... Discord sniffs the air, she reeks of garlic. Moonlight just looks bored as Discord examines her. "I had a few run in's with some very annoying ponies." Moonlight says her irritation clear in her voice. "Who would do such a thing?" Discord asks as he snaps his fingers, Moonlight flashes for a second as Discord's magic cleans her. "That was us." Discord and Moonlight turn to look at the voice, Discord's eyes widen as he sees Fluttershy was the one who spoke. He just gawks at her as she and Pinkie Pie walk up to them. "Fluttershy why would you do this to Moonlight?" Discord asks, his eyebrow detaches from his head so it can raise higher. Fluttershy stares at her feet and shuffles them nervously, she doesn't want to tell Discord the real reason why her and Pinkie have been messing with Moonlight all day. She decides to lie, she looks back up at Discord hoping that he didn't notice her strange reaction to his question. No pony thought she was acting strange, she is Fluttershy after all. "Umm... Pinkie Pie was helping me practice...." Fluttershy smiles sheepishly up at Discord. "My pranking." "Huh?" Pinkie Pie looks over at Fluttershy, confused by her friends lie. Moonlight looks at Fluttershy skeptically, but says nothing, Discord seems to buy it though. "Really Fluttershy!?" Discord places his hands on her shoulders and brings his face very close to hers, which causes her to blush. "Does that mean you'll join me and Moonlight when we go pranking?" "Um..." Fluttershy's smile becomes more nervous. "I've been thinking about it." "Woo!" Discord releases Fluttershy and leaps into the and starts cheering, but after a moment he suddenly stops and lands back on the ground. "Oh right we can't." "Huh?" Both pink haired mares say at once. Discord sighs heavily and rubs the back of his neck. "Well not for a few days anyway." Discord smiles at his friends. "I got some important business to take care of, I'll be gone a few days, possibly a little over a week." "What!?" Fluttershy gasps, she throws her hooves over her mouth like she just heard the worst news ever. Moonlight just smiles. " But if your gone that long that means you'll miss-" "Don't worry my dear." Discord cups her cheek in his paw, Fluttershy sees Moonlight scowling at her, which only makes Fluttershy smile as she leans her head into Discord's palm. "I'll be back in time for hearths warming." "You promise?" Fluttershy asks her eyes begin watering. Discord chuckles at her. "Cross my heart and hope to fly." Discord pulls a cupcake out of Fluttershy's ear and smashes it into his eye. "Stuck a cupcake in my eye." "Okay." Fluttershy giggles as she wipes her eyes. "Where you going anyway?" Pinkie Pie asks with a raised hoof, Discord turns a toothy grin in her direction. "I'm glad you asked Pinkie because..." Discord raise his talon into the air. "I'm not telling!" "Hey!" Pinkie Pie dives at Discord, but he's already vanished, she lands with a thump on a Discord shaped pillow. "Oh Discord he never tells any pony what he's up to." Fluttershy playfully shakes her head and lets out a giggle. "I know what he's up to." The pink haired duo turn in surprise at Moonlights comment. "You do?" Fluttershy asks hesitantly. "Yep I'd tell you, but." Moonlight levitates a saddlebag onto her back. "I'm leaving town right now for a week and a half." Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy watch as Moonlights walks down the road, after a while her horn glows and she teleports away. "Huh. Her and Discord left town at the same time and are gonna be gone for the same amount of time. You don't suppose their gonna go hang out alone do ya?" Pinkie Pie asks as she scratches her chin, Fluttershy's eye twitches at her friend. With a scowl on her face Fluttershy reaches up and grabs another cupcake out of her ear, then silently she chucks it at the back of Pinkie's head. Canterlot Castle: Random Hallway Princess Luna walks down the hall of Canterlot castle, she doesn't really have anything to do, she just likes admiring the castle every now and again. A few moments after she walks past a hanging picture of Discord, she realizes that they didn't hang any pictures of Discord. Luna flips around and is met face to face with the god of chaos. "Hey Lulu." Discord says with a smile and a wave. "Ah!" Luna jumps back in surprise, her horn ignites with magic. "Discord what are you doing here?" "Um..." Discord scratches his chin with his talon. "I kinda work here." "Oh." Luna says as her horn stops glowing. "Right." "So anywho wanna help me out with something?" Discord asks sweetly, with a matching smile. Luna blinks in confusion. "Me?" Luna raises an eyebrow at Discord. "Why not Celestia?" "Ugh Tia." Discord sticks his tongue out and makes a farting noise. "I have to deal with her almost everyday, but you my friend I almost never see." "I suppose that's true." Luna puts a hoof to her chin, she looks at Discord quizzically. "What do you need?" "I just need a fellow immortal to come with me to talk to somebody." Discord says as he suddenly appears much smaller in Luna's mane. Luna doesn't flinch as she turns her attention to the small Discord using her hair as a swing-set. "Who?" Luna asks, her face stern, showing she's tired of Discord's vagueness, Discord rolls his eyes. "That's a surprise Lulu, now." Discord appears upside down above her head. "Are you coming or not?" "I don't know." Luna looks out the window nervously. "No pony ever asks me to come on adventures." "That's why a Draconequus is inviting you." Discord says with a toothy grin. Luna smiles back at the Draconequus, touched by his invite. "Alright sure." Luna puts out her hoof and Discord shakes it. "I'll go with you." Later In The Ever-Free Forest "You've got to be kidding me." Discord turns back to look at the Princess of Night. "What's up Lu?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow. "You brought me all this way just to talk to the zebra?" Luna asks angrily, as she gestures toward the hut their standing in front of. "Zecora is my name." Luna and Discord turn to look at the Zebra walking around the hut. "Now how about a game?" "Zecora there you are!" Discord flies over to greet the zebra, completely ignoring the deck of cards she has. "Ah Discord right on time." Zecora shakes Discord's paw. "As always your timing is sublime." "So does that mean it's ready?" Discord asks excitedly, Zecora smirks at the Lord of Chaos. "Yes I've been as busy as a bee." Zecora holds out her hoof expectantly. "Now my fee." "Oh right of course." Discord rummages through the pockets he now has and pulls out a magazine. "Here you are the latest issue of Ponies Magazine. Fresh off the production line." "Ponies Magazine?" Luna asks while looking at the Zebra reading it. "Yeah it's like people magazine except for ponies." Discord says matter-o-factually, Luna just looks at him for a minute before shaking her head and deciding to ignore him for now. "Darn Dr.Midnight and Bubble Burst were so close." Discord says as he reads the magazine from Zecora's mohawk. "They guessed two of the characters from the chapter but not the right one." "Yes they were close." Zecora closes the magazine and places it on a nearby stump. "Now to business, Princess could you hand me those." "Uh..." Luna looks around the area around her, she levitates some small bags of herbs into the air. "You mean these?" "Yes, now Discord get the cheese." Discord does as he's told and then him and Luna follow Zecora around the hut to the back yard. "What the?" Luna asks as she stares wide eyed at the large runic symbol craved into the dirt. Zecora takes the bags of herbs from Luna's magic and places them around different parts of the symbol. Next she takes the cheese from Discord and places it in the exact center of the symbol. "There we are ready." Zecora says as she stands next to Luna and Discord outside of the circle. "Everypony hold steady." "Wait I thought you said you had everything ready." Discord says with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah what about that being busy as a bee stuff." Luna asking looking at the zebra skeptically. Zecora looks between the Princess of the Night and the Lord of Chaos slightly annoyed. "Oh do not start." Zecora gestures toward the large symbol carved into the earth. "I already did the hard part. Now if you want me to open the door. I ask that you say no more." "What do you-" Luna is cut off by Discord covering her mouth with his paw, she looks up at him angrily, but Discord just puts his talon to his lips signaling her to be quiet. Luna narrows her eyes at Discord displeased with his actions, Discord seems to take the narrowing of her eyes to mean she's on board as he gestures for Zecora to continue. The zebra nods as she faces the symbol craved in the ground, she stands up on her hind legs and raises her front hooves into the air. Zecora begins speaking in a strange language that Luna can't understand, she can't even tell if it is language or if Zecora forgot how to speak. Discord nods his head as if he understands, but Luna thinks hes probably just as lost as she is. Suddenly Zecora shouts one final 'word' and slams her forehooves onto the ground, the large symbol in the dirt cracks and wiggles, and then the ground collapses into it's self creating a hole in the ground. Luna stares in awe at the large hole in front of her it extends down into the earth further then she can see. "What is this?" Luna asks as she turns back to look at Discord and Zecora. "This is the way to the woman we need to speak with." Discord says as floats over to stand next to Luna. "Woman?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow. Discord starts walking down the sloop of the hole, seeming to ignore her question. "You coming?" Discord asks while looking over his shoulder at the motionless Princess of Night. Luna blinks at the question, annoyed by Discord's habit of ignoring her questions Luna decides she needs to see where this is going. "Yes I'm coming." Luna says as she walks up to be in line with Discord, once she joins him they both begin walking down the path. "It's going to be a long walk." Discord scratches his chin with his talon. "Mind if I tell you about a dream I had the other day?" "Actually I don't want to-" "Perfect alright so it all started in Ponyville square." Discord says gesturing dramatically with his paw. Luna puts a hoof to her face and groans. Fluttershy's House Fluttershy is sitting on her couch a large multicolored blanket across her lap, a sewing needle held in her hoof she hums happily as she works. Suddenly a small ball of white fluff hops up onto her lap, Fluttershy yelps in surprise as some of her sewing supplies fall off the couch. She looks down at the little white rabbit looking at her sternly. "Oh hi Angel what's the matter." Fluttershy asks, a sweet smile across her face. Angel points angrily at the clock hanging on the wall, Fluttershy follows his paw and gasps when she see's the clock, it's nearly six thirty. "Oh I'm sorry Angel I was so busy working I didn't even notice it was dinner time, I'll get your food right away." "You'd better." Angel seems to say with his rabbit noises. Fluttershy stands up and lays the blanket down on the couch, she gives Angel a little kiss on the forehead and then hums as she heads toward the kitchen. Angel turns to the blanket, it's not quite a blanket, Fluttershy made it unique so she made it a blanket with sleeves, the base color of the blanket is brown like Discord's fur, several patterns are woven into the fabric, Rainbows on one of the arms, sparkles like Twilight's cutie mark on the other arm, diamonds, balloons, and apples dot the back. Finally a butterfly in a big light pink heart sits on the front right where Discord's heart will be. Angel scowls at the Hearth Warming gift that has been taking all his owners attention the past two months. Let your envy out Angel. Angel's eyes go wide at the sound, he looks around frantically for the voice. "Angel. Dinner." Angel turns his head and jumps off the couch toward the kitchen, completely forgetting the voice he heard. Back In The Tunnel Zecora Created "Alright so there I am about to talk to Francesca you remember her the cupcake monster from earlier, anyway before I can say two words this giant iron-clad fish pony just shows up and eats half the building. Me and Francesca both know we can't handle him alone so I whip out my walkie-talkie to radio Tom for back up when-" "For the love of Celestia! Please shut up!" Luna screams loudly, her voice echoes off the walls of the cave. Discord just stares down at the Princess of Night. "Okay Lulu, geez I didn't mean to make ya mad." Discord puts his hands up defensively. "I thought you liked talking about dreams." "I spend all night looking over every ponies dreams Discord, it's my job. I don't do it because I like it" Luna looks down at the ground solemnly. "Or because I want to." "Oh yeah your dream protecting." Discord taps his chin with his paw. "That's new isn't it?" "What do you mean?" Luna asks as they continue walking. "I don't remember you protecting ponies as they slept a thousand years ago." Luna's eyes go wide as her cheeks turn red. "Oh... well... I just figured..." Luna turns her eyes back to the ground and doesn't say anymore. Discord looks down at the solemn Princess with a knowing look. "You want ponies to know your good now." Luna's head snap up and she looks at Discord in shock. "Hey I use to be a villain to ya know." Discord takes his turn to look at the ground solemnly. "I know it ain't easy, ponies still fear ya, it can make ya feel like you have to be a villain cause that's the only way any pony sees ya." "Yeah." Luna joins Discord in his staring contest with the tunnel floor. "One mistake can mark you for life." "And our lives don't end so it kinda sucks." Discord and Luna share a chuckle over that. "Yeah and no pony ever forgets the bad stuff you do." Luna says a bit jokingly. "Cause they write it down in books." Discord huffs angrily. "And only the bad stuff, have you noticed that." "You have a point only my transformation into Nightmare Moon was in the books." Luna puts a hoof to her chin. "Now that I think about it Twilight and her friends didn't even know about you or Sombra or Tirek." "Huh..." Both Luna and Discord stop walking and face each other. "You ponies really need a better historian." Discord taps his chin with his paw. "I think I know a purple and black dragon that can help with that." "Well we can worry about that later." Luna looks straight ahead as she continues walking. The pair of immortals walk in silence for what seems like hours before Luna speaks again. "I'm kinda glad I didn't tell Celestia I was coming with you." "You didn't?" Discord asks a bit surprised. "Yeah." Luna smiles up at Discord. "Guess I just wanted a break from her ya know." "Believe me I know, you should try working for her some time." Discord chuckles to himself. "That's why I invited you, I thought we could both use a few days break from Princess Sunbutt." "I suppose." Luna says with a nod, but after a minute something Discord said registers In her brain. "Wait did you say days?" "Yeah I did." Discord raises an eyebrow at Luna. "Why?" "You didn't say we'd be gone for days!" Luna shouts at Discord, who just scratches his chin. "I didn't?" "NO!" "Oh well too late now." Discord says with a shrug "We've already been gone for two days." "What?" Luna says her mouth agape. "N-no we haven't." "Silly Luna that's why I brought you I need a fellow immortal, because we live forever we don't notice the passage of time as other ponies do." Discord taps the side of the tunnel. "Especially when we can't see the sky." "B-but Celestia doesn't know I'm here." Luna begins pacing back and forth across the tunnel. "I didn't tell her, she'll be so worried!" "Relax I left her a note." Discord says nonchalantly. "A note!?" Luna asks angrily. "Well it must be a pretty long note to explain all this." "She'll get the gist." Discord says with a shrug. Canterlot Throne Room Yo Tia I burrowed your sista. BRB Lolz. Celestia looks at the strange letter made out of cut out magazine letters, her face showing nothing but confusion. "What is this?" She looks around the throne room. "And where is Luna." Back In The Tunnel "How long is this going to take?" Luna asks as she walks down the tunnel with Discord. Discord taps his chin with a cotton candy tube. "Not sure, it took me about five days the last time I came down here." Discord says. "The return trip was only half the time." "That long?" Luna asks wide eyed. "Can't we just fly or teleport?" "If we could teleport there we wouldn't have needed Zecora. Also it doesn't matter how fast we move we'll get there in the same amount of time." Discord sighs heavily. "The woman we're going to see loves her privacy." "Who are we going to see?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow. "You know Tia doesn't blame you." Luna blinks. "She doesn't blame me for what?" Luna asks nervously, Discord turns to look at Luna. "Becoming Nightmare Moon." Luna gasps. "What do you mean she doesn't blame me?" Luna asks confused. "She doesn't." Discord points at himself. "She blames me." "What...?" Luna stares at Discord in disbelief. "Why would she-" "Well I can manipulate ponies minds make them fall prey to their greatest character flaws. She thinks I did that to you and that's why you became Nightmare Moon." Discord says all this without looking at Luna. "Discord-" Luna begins but Discord interrupts her. "Did I?" Discord asks finally turning to look at Luna. "W-what?" Luna asks caught off guard. "Tia came to yell at my statue a few times after you were banished, I don't remember messing with either you or Celestia's minds, but if I was the reason you became Nightmare Moon then." Discord looks Luna in the eyes with all the sincerity he can muster. "I'm sorry, can you forgive me." Luna and Discord just stare at each other for a while, after a moment Luna lowers her gaze back to the floor. "No." The cave falls silent. "B-but..." Discord begins stammering. "Because..." Luna looks back up at Discord slight tears in her eyes. "You didn't do anything." "Wha..." Discord blinks at Luna. "I was jealous of Celestia before you came into our lives. It was just a coincidence that I finally snapped after we met you." Luna continues walking after shes done, Discord follows her silently. Again the tunnel is silent for what seems like hours, which it might very well be. "Are you still jealous?" Discord asks looking at Luna out of the corner of his eyes, Luna leans her head back as if thinking. "Yeah. A little." Luna says sadly. "Anything I can do to help?" Discord asks sincerely, Luna locks eyes with Discord touched by his actions, she sighs. "I don't think so Discord." Luna says looking forward again. "But we're friends theres got to be something I can do to cheer you up?" Discord puts his paw to his chin and begins thinking. "We're friends?" Luna asks wide eyed, she looks down at the ground, she didn't really have any friends other then Celestia, she and Twilight didn't really hang out, and she went to get a massage instead of going to Cadences wedding. She gets brought out of her thoughts when Discord places his talon on her shoulder. "I don't know if we are but I'd like to be." Discord looks off into the distance deep in thought. "Having friends makes being good easier, but just having one friend isn't enough, even the best like I had and having a bunch isn't necessarily better. You need high quality friends to keep you happy. I mean just look at me I got like seven friends now, which basically makes me the best good guy." "Oh really." Luna giggles to herself. "Fancy yourself a patron saint do you." "I don't mean to brag or anything." Discord says smugly with a paw on his chest. Luna and Discord share a laugh. "I suppose we can be friends Discord but it won't change anything." Luna looks straight ahead again. Discord scratches his chin once more, then a thought comes to him. "Oh my... Luna." Luna snaps her head around to look at Discord. "I've got an idea." "What did you say?" Luna asks wide eyed. "Oh my Luna." Discord grins at her. "It's what I'm going to say instead of oh my Celestia." "Your going to change your vocabulary to make me feel better?" Luna asks skeptically, Discord shrugs. "It's what friends do right." Discord says with a grin, Luna can't help but grin back at him. She raises an eyebrow when he holds his paw out to her balled up into a fist. "Former villains?" Luna smiles at Discord as she giggles once more, she raises up her hoof and bumps his fist. "Former villains." Awhile Later "Welp here we are." Discord says as he gestures toward a large stone wall covered in vines. Luna stares at the wall in awe. "What is this place?" Luna asks as she examines the doors design. "Oh you'll see." Discord touches the door, and it glows gold before opening and revealing the room beyond. Luna gasps at what she sees the room is a giant sphere with a small ledge right inside the door, floating in the center of the middle of the room is a giant swirling green ball of energy. "Behold Luna! The powerful-" The ball of energy starts moving and changing shape. "The Immortal-" The giant swirling mass of green floats right in front of the ledge their standing on. "The all knowing-" The mass of green starts expanding and stretching into a humanoid form. "Mother Nature!" The swirling green energy has completed forming into a giant human woman, she stands over fifty feet tall, her body is made up of swirling green energy, and her hair is made out of vines and leaves and extends all the way down to her feet. Mother Nature smiles down at the two immortals who just walked in. "Oh my Celestia." Luna says her mouth agape. "TheMother Nature." "Well that's just what you pony calls her." Discord says while crossing his arms. "What do you call her?" Luna asks not taking her eyes off Mother Nature. "I call her Mom." "Oh." Luna nods. Her eyes go wide as what he just said registers in her brain. "What!?"