• Published 14th Mar 2012
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Learning ABCs - Adorable, Bothersome, Chaotic - Isopod



Twilight unwillingly starts seeing something more that just chaos in a certain Draconequus.

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7) Lesson Kindness

"So Discord, uh... what do you think of Fluttershy?"

The silence Twilight got in response made her suspicious, so she turned around from cleaning the shelves to face the Spirit on the other side of the library - the dumbfounded look on his face was something that she was probably supposed to expect but in fact didn't. She expected a cackle. Maybe some mockery. A roll of his eyes, definitely. Definitely not this.

It was late morning. Twilight and Spike had cleaning duties to attend to so they were stuck in the library, dusting the shelves and rearranging the books for what was probably a millionth time. Deciding he didn't have anything particularly more interesting to do, the Spirit hung around as well, mostly just leading a playful chit chat filled with some of his best puns and occasionally, much to the Unicorns' chagrin, mixing up the books she so nicely rearranged.

Perhaps it was good that she had nothing better to do, because she still had to go easy on her leg - it was much better once Zecora heard of her injury, immediately visited with her own potion that tasted worse than anything Twilight had the chance to drink in her life, including Celestia's secret stash of what she called 'super secretive fun' serum. (Twilight never got to find out what that was.) The potion Zecora brought her however didn't have nearly as bad consequences; it helped her leg recover much faster, Twilight being able to normally run only two days later, though for that she had to go through a night of pain in her ankle, as well as some odd dream where a small creature visited her bed and told her that "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Twilight Sparkle must not be here when that happens". Needless to say, Twilight was reading too much of 'Harry Trotter and the Stable of Secrets".

The mentioned book just so happened to be in front of her as she recalled the events and she affectionately nuzzled it before taking it down, proceedeing with her dusting as she wait for Discord to reply.

Collecting his thoughts, the draconequus let out a curious hum. "Now where did that question came from?" He asked curiously as he flew up towards her. The unicorn bit her cheek, casually and intentionally keeping her eyes on the already clean shelf and dusting it as if it were about the dirtiest thing in her entire home.

"Oh, no where in particular, you know." She regretted the words immediately as she knew no other way to convey this little issue to him. Admitting defeat, she started again slowly, "Well, actually...,"and was interrupted by the knowing 'ah' of realization from the draconequues. Shooting him a small deadpan, she continued: "You see, Fluttershy is really eager to meet you - to get to know you a little bit better and such."

"Oh... Is that so...?" the Spirit pondered, lazily drawing circles on the cover of 12th volume of Equestrian History with his talon finger. The unicorn bit her tongue at the sight and decided to stay on-topic.

"Yeah. I mean just a day or two ago, she told me she saw you around Ponyville and, well, she was concerned you flat out ignored her, I suppose." She tried to sound casual, knowing that if she were to sound as if she were judging him, they would start talking about the do's and the don'ts and why exactly those existed and then the discussion would never end.

Discord shrugged. "She didn't seem all too eager to have to do just about anything with this old fella' which is a surprisingly rare occurrence." He 'modestly' replied. "Little Fluttershy is all too quiet around me. I wonder why?" He ended, feigning innocent ignorance. Twilight heard a click of fingers and a squeal of delight. Spike was dancing around with a new, magically acquired beard. She tried her best to ignore the scene.

"Wait, so you did notice she was trying to speak to you, didn't you? Why didn't you let her, then?"

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle, you really do disappoint me at times for such a smart pony."

The unicorn pouted and shot a glare at the giggling little dragon, who fell silent just as quickly as he began to laugh. The Spirit suppressed a smile. "Now, now, don't get angry dear. You see, I just thought it was pretty obvious that little Fluttershy, as an Element of Kindness and being so naturally meek simply couldn't get along with someone as wonderfully chaotic as I am. Besides," he continued, giving Twilight a deadpan look, "I would most likely make her cry. By Chaos, then I would have to put up with your boring lectures and reprimands, maybe even some form of, uh, 'punishment' and that is all so eternally boring and so on and so forth..."

If she were to be perfectly and absolutely honest, Twilight had to admit that she couldn't quite imagine the two getting along. Poor Fluttershy would probably took all his teasing and pranks too seriously; not to mention that her kind attitude and willingness to help would probably be make a field day for Discord, who enjoyed mocking such behavior mercilessly. Twilight more than once warned him that he'll definitely be in serious trouble if he ever tried to do anything mean to her; Fluttershy was simply too much of a nice pony to be pranked by someone who could be as cruel as Discord.

Having fallen into silence, she returned to dusting the shelves and one of the books fell, raising some dust, enough to make Twilight sneeze loudly. Unfortunately, the force of her sneeze sent her bumping into the nearby table and a small mountains of books, parchment and quills fell to the floor.

"Chaos be with you!" Discord offered his blessings, that didn't truly got appreciated. Thanking Celestia that her bottle of ink didn't spill all over her books and researched, Twilight magicked her books back up and then noticed the forgotten research she was initially so excited about - the one on Discord.

Twilight put it away a while ago, thinking she would get to it these days. But the dusty parchment reminded her of just how much of a slack she cut the Spirit. She put the rest of the books away and dusted the parchment. It contained a few pages, including general information on Discord, a bit about draconequues she could find from the books and everything she ever wrote on his magic. But aside from that, nothing much. Most of the parchemnts were empty anyway, nothing but their title on the top of the page, such as 'list of unidentified spells' or 'draconequus anatomy'.

He once did tell her that all she needed to do was ask, didn't he? Perhaps he was serious about it. She cleared her throat and started as casually and as sweetly as she could, "So, how do you feel telling me about the draconequues and, well, um, your powers and such?" and smile just about the goofiest grin at the end.

The Spirit chuckled at the sight. He would let her know most things without a problem but withholding it held a certain charm to it. "Well wouldn't you like to know." He teasingly responded.

"Oh come on! I really, really want to learn more about your species! And the magic, it's incredible! It has virtually nothing in common with the magic of unicorns or alicorns! There is so much learning potential right here in the tips of your hooves-- I mean paw- I mean- Well, you know what I mean!"

Discord's face shifted into the most reddening fake blush Twilight had ever seen and he waved a shy hand at her. "Oh you flatterer, you!" He didn't keep the shy form for long though and simply leaned on the shelf, looking smugger than ever. "I guess you'll have to look harder~!" The draconequues sang, making the unicorn more frustrated with every second of his teasing.

"Ugh, fine, be like that! Why was I even expecting you'd be of assistance." Twilight turned her back on him, frowning, when his upside down head suddenly popped out in front of her, making her flinch.

"We never got to settle that riddle challenge I proposed, Twilight Sparkle." The Spirit reminded her, his mismatched eyes confusing her even more now that the were upside down. "Perhaps this could be the opportunity you were looking for."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, a bit confused. The Spirit flew up again, the familiar smile on his face - whenever they were about to play a game, or when he was up to something, that smile would come out.

"I'll be giving you a set of riddles!" He started in a very business like tone. "The solution of each one will hint at some information you so desperately crave for your cute little research. Of course, I will add in more because I do so love talking about myself; if you catch me ion a good mood, I might even answer you a question or two, since the solution of a single word can't tell you much."

"You'll be giving me information on my research through riddles?" Twilight asked skeptically. While she loved riddles, she doubted she could learn anything from them.

"Precisely!" Discord seemed happy that she got it so soon. "You'll have the course of precisely one day to solve every riddle and you can ask for more than one of them at a time. And I have to disappoint you but you must use no books for this one," Twilight let a disappointed 'oh', ",nothing but your cute little brains! Should be easy for a smarty pants like you. But!" He dramatically paused. "Should you fail to solve a single one," this time he sneered evilly, "I will be allowed to get away with pranking Fluttershy once."

Even though her brain was instantly screaming at her not to accept the challenge under such conditions, Twilight wanted to think it through; but the Spirit didn't give her any time to think it through coherently, as he leaned in and said: "A pony as smart as you should be capable of solving a couple of riddles, if I am terribly, terribly wrong."

The side of Twilight that was absolutely desperate to prove the world that brains matter just as much as brawn responded for her.

"I did it once and I'll do it again Discord! And I'll do so right now! In fact!" The unicorn was on fire! (not literally) "In fact, I want three of your best riddles right now!" She summoned herself a quill and a piece of parchment. The Spirit seemed just about as excited about the whole thing, laughing silly.

"Oooh, ambitious!" He rubbed his hands gleefully. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Twilight sparkle! Let us start then." He snickered and flew around her happily, narrating his riddle:

"I am what was sought after since the end first began,
in every war, in every battle, I'm the best, impossible plan.
Both the rich and the poor looked all over for me,
But nopony could have what I am, except for the Almighty Three."

Twilight tried to make sense of the confusing riddle and felt nearly cheated when nothing came to her as an idea right away. She was supposed to be good in these things!

"Are you sure you're not pranking me?" She cocked an eyebrow.

Discord deadpanned, smile disappearing momentarily. "Riddles are serious business, my dear." He replied coldly.

Twilight gave him a sneaky glance. "If you say so... alright, I got it down. Ready for the second one."

"Are you sure you're not taking a bit too much of a burden onto yourself? You still have time to satisfy yourself with just one little riddle." He mocked, provoking a frown.

"No way, I want to find out as much about you as I can as soon as possible! And once I solve those three, I just might solve three more for the heck of it!" By now she nearly sounded smug and Discord had to admit he kind of liked this competitive version of the Unicorn.

More than that though, he loved the fact she so blindly rushed into his challenge. "Pranking Fluttershy will be such a sweet, sweet feeling." He said devilishly before narrating once again:

"This time, it's Generosity who can bring you far,
remember the names aren't all they are.
What you're looking for is not as common as it seems,
but it is as usual as every nights' dreams."

Twilight felt excitement in her rise as she wrote down the next riddle, believing she already figured part of it out - he mentioned Generosity and addressed it as 'who' - he was probably talking about Rarity for some reason; maybe she was able to help her. It was worth a shot.

"Right!" She smiled to herself proudly then looked the Spirit in the eyes. "Last one, please!"

As if his own excitement weren't enough, Twilight's smile felt contagious and the Spirit grinned as he narrated the final riddle of his challenge:

"Knowledge and learning, the books and the scrolls,
it is nothing to me, I lie in 'their' souls,
never to be polished, nurtured or tamed.
One of 'them' all shall have my name famed."

Eagerly, Twilight wrote the last riddle down. She felt like a little filly again; when she was very young, her dad oftentimes gave her riddles or puzzles and the two would spend the whole afternoon together, solving them and afterward trying to find different solutions or possible paths to them. The nostalgia was nearly overwhelming and she never noticed the silly smile that crept onto her face but a certain Spirit did.

"Now what is that wonderful smile about? Did you get stricken by a Spring Fever?" He teased, making the Unicorn blush shyly at his suggestion.

"W-what, no! Don't be silly-"

"You're asking for a lot, dear."

"I just remembered the good old times when I was just a small filly... I had these challenges and puzzles of a sort sometimes put before me. They were so much fun to do with my dad." Twilight reminisced the good old times in her childhood.

"Aren't we sentimental today." The Spirit quietly said to himself. "Well, I'll leave you to your little quest Twilight Sparkle - I on the other hand, have some pranks to pull off. When you think you got the solution right, just call say it out loud and I'll be back in a jiffy. Too-dal'oo!" With those words, he left Twilight and Spike in half cleaned library.

"Spike, continue this work without me please, I have a few riddles to rid!" Her pun didn't seem to amuse the little dragon who now had twice as much work on his claws so he merely gazed at her, a mixture of angered disbelief and the kind of face that said 'I don't quite want to live right now'.

"Heheh." She laughed nervously, "See ya," and then she galloped out. Spike let out a weary sigh as his eyes captured the library that suddenly seemed about five times as big as before.

"Discord and his riddles." The little dragon mumbled. "If his plan was to make anyponys' life harder, he sure succeeded."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Placing herself comfortably on her favorite bench in the park, Twilight had been going through the three riddle before her, for the start unsure which one should she try to figure out.

Rarity was mostly busy at this time of the day, so she figured she might leave that one for later. The last riddle sounded a bit too vague, so she decided to go for the first one.

"I am what was sought after since the end first began..." She repeated the first verse. Since the end first began... the first beginning of the end? But what was the end? What was the beginning for that matter?

"In every war, in every battle, I'm the best, impossible plan..." Something like an ultimate weapon, perhaps? Something impossible... something every soldier would want? Something of huge destructive or protective power but unattainable? The choices were many on this one. She continued.

"Both the rich and the poor looked all over for me,
But nopony could have what I am, except for the Almighty Three..."

Both rich and the poor... that was probably a way to say that everyone, regardless of how much money they had or how prosperous or not they lived, wanted it and there were probably ways of seeking it that didn't require money or fortune. But the last part confused her... the Almighty Three? Whoever or whatever that was referring to, those three had something nopony and nothing else had.

"Urgh, I feel like I'm so close to the solution!" Twilight grumbled, countless thoughts running through her head.

The first beginning of the end... the end... the end of a trip, the road... the end of an adventure? Nah, too specific. The end of something, somepony... the end of somepony? The end of life?

"Death?" Twilight asked out loud, wondering if it might be it. It was definitely the closest she got to the solution of the first line. She scribbled 'death' in tiny letters next to it, then continued.

"Best, but impossible plan in every war. What plan could be so great but impossible to pull off, that could bring victory?" Twilight recalled her studies of Equestrian history, remembering the greatest deeds of Equestrian ponies; such as the battle at Thermoponylae, where a mere bunch of three hundred ponies managed to fend of thousands of rampaging manticores. Or the legendary plan where a brave pony Odyhay hid his soldiers into a giant wooden alicorn and presented it to the savaging tribes of Diamond Dogs that tormented the cities at that time as a gift of respect. Over the night, they came out and captured all of the tribes' members, restoring the peace to the region.

But those stuff weren't impossible! Just... improbable, or difficult to achieve.

"According to the next two lines, it is a plan that no pony could ever have... except for the 'Almighty three'..." What or who was that referencing? The only 'almighty' person she knew of would be...

Celestia? Her sister Luna? Who else was the-

"Well of course! It would be just like him, putting himself into the riddle!" Twilight laughed; the Almighty Three, divine Princesses Celestia and Luna that once governed the Elements of Harmony and Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony; the forces that governed Equestria. So, what did the three have in common?

"The ultimate power?" Twilight questioned but concluded it was not exactly right - while both Princesses and Discord were powerful, they were never unstoppable. It would explain the perfect battle plan, though.

"Something similar to God-like status? What would Gods have in-- !" And in an instant, she finally realized, a victorious smile on her face. It was what everpony wanted, but will never have; it was what would bring victory in any battle; and it was something only Celestia, Luna and Discord had.

"The answer to the first riddle is Immortality!"

Her words summoned the Spirit right before her, startling her a little. He was floating in the air in a relaxed position and for some reason, sipping tea with a calm expression on his face. If she didn't know him so well by now, he would almost look like a gentleman.

"Well, well, well, I must say I am impressed; even though it took you long enough to crack the first riddle."

"I told you I would! Now come on," she summoned her quill and parchment and settled herself on the grass, "let's hear your first lesson!" She gave him a radiating smile.

Discord rolled his eyes, sipping some more tea slowly. Then he vanished the cup away and started:

"You see dear, draconequues are fairly rare creatures, much like Alicorns - but while Alicorns are considered royalty and are slowly growing in numbers, draconequues' don't have much of a fame going along with their species. We - well, most of us - are very seclusive creatures, living in places that nopony probably ever got to and survived to tell the tale."

"Survived? You mean you'd--" Twilight gasped, but Discord quickly calmed her.

"Oh no, dear, we're not brutes - well, again, there are exceptions to the general rule. On the contrary, however, the draconequues species is quite knowledgeable of the good and evil, of the world and its ways, despite their detachment from it. The thing is, we live in places that are hard to reach and dangerous to live in; even strong winged pegasi and powerful unicorns would rarely wander into our territory but when they did, most of them would never come back." He paused to summon himself some cotton candy which, in Twilight's opinion, was totally inappropriate considering what he was telling her. "So, while there's no such thing as affirmative information, it is our belief that our immortality was born as a form of immunity against the harsh conditions we live in."

Twilight's eyes practically sparkled - heh, sparkled - from all the information she gathered.

"You seem pleased." Discord noticed with a smile as he flew down next to her, nesting himself neatly on the bench and observing her writing.

"Pleased? I'm much more than pleased! You gave me more information than I expected! Thank you so much!" Discord chuckled, noticing that her excitement was so big even her magic had trouble writing without making the quill tremble slightly. It was a nice sight seeing her so happy for some reason; seeing her so happy just because of his little input. The very next moment, he mentally slapped himself for such a dandy thought.

"But... wait." Twilight was suddenly confused. "I thought you were immortal because you gained the power of Elements of Disharmony. Just what is the difference then--"

"Sorry dear but if you want to know anything more, you'll have to answer the next riddle~!" the Spirit sang, making Twilight groan in the unpleasant surprise.

"Oh~ but I have just one more question!"

"It can wait, can't it?"

"But I'm so curious~" Twilight pleaded, though knowing she sounded silly and that her pleads were futile.

"Oh, you're just adorable when you're invested!" The Spirit painfully pinched her cheek. Twilight glared at him but on the inside, she was burning of embarrassment - adorable? Seriously? The draconequues must've been up to something fishy to sweet talk with her like that. "Feel free to declare your second solution out loud should you manage to solve it but do watch the timing, will you? Before you called me I was in the middle of an excellent prank in the Mayor's Office." He frowned. "Perhaps there's still time to witness the consequences."

Before Twilight managed to question what in the Equestria was up to, he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Having spent quite some time working on the first riddle, Twilight figured Rarity is probably available at this time of the day; she slowly trotted towards to the Carousel Boutique, thinking through the second riddle.

This time, it's Generosity who can bring you far,
remember the names aren't all they are.

While it was possibly about Rarity, she had no idea what the second line might've pointed to.

What you're looking for is not as common as it seems,
but it is as usual as every nights' dreams.

That downright didn't make any sense! So it is both common and uncommon? Both part of every day yet hard to find? Urgh.

When she finally entered the Boutique, she was met with an unordinary sight - Rarity was sleeping on her divan. She must've overdone it again. It was rare to catch her sleeping like this though, sprawled on the sofa, looking like she accidentally tripped into it, fell and just remained there.

I'll just hang around until she wakes up, Twilight thought to herself, sitting in a nearby sofa and studying the riddle once again.

Her attention kept going back to Rarity though and she had spent quite some time not solving anything. More than an hour passed for sure and time just continued to slip. Our of all times she needed a rest...

"Generosity can bring me far, my flank." She mumbled. "You rarely go to sleep during the day anyway, why all of a sudden-- wait. Rarely." She repeated to herself.

"Rarity rarely does rare things." She continued nonsensically, excitement growing.

"That's it! Names are not all they are, each of them has a meaning! Rarity - rarity is 'being uncommon' but then again, there are so many rare things in the world it makes it common! Thank you, Rarity!" She ran out and slammed the door behind her, waking up the fashinosta.

"W-wha? What is going on? Who goes there?" She looked around in confusion but saw nopony. Everything was quiet.

"Oh well... might as well continue with my work now that I'm awake." With those words, she lay back just for a moment and unwillingly fell asleep again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The night has already fallen and Moon was already in the sky when Twilight left Raritys' boutique.

"The answer to the second riddle is Rarity!" Twilight spoke aloud once she found herself in the park again - she really didn't feel like shouting in the middle of the town.

When Discord appeared this time, he was in pose that absolutely gave away what he was about to do - in his eagle claw, a pair of scissors, while his lion paw was in position like it pulled something in the air. Like a ponys' tale, or mane.

"... Oops." He gave her an innocent smile as he made the scissors disappear.

"Discord, please leave other pony's manes alone." She demanded, a disapproving look on her face. He laughed. There was something oddly innocent in his laugh and one of her eyebrows rose to rest beneath her bangs.

"Oh, it is all just in good fun - I would give Pinkie her mane back."

The undeniably funny image of Pinkie with no mane came into Twilights' mind; it was impossible not to smile at the very least but she kept her cool for the sake of getting the message across.

"If you were to do so, I guess it is fine. Just don't freak her out too much."

"Rules, rules, rules." the Spirit sang.

"Anyway, I've solved the second riddle."

"I noticed." Discord replied, not sounding all too happy. "Two riddles in an afternoon and an evening. I wonder if you'll manage to solve the last one before tomorrow at two o'clock."

"You don't have to worry about that." Twilight bragged, as she once again summoned her writing equipment and sat in the grass.

Discord flew around her and descended once more on the bench. "What do you want to know?"

"Just what is the difference between you and the other draconequues?" Twilight shot out, nearly desperate for information. "I mean, where are the limits of their powers? Just how powerful are the draconequues?" It was interesting, the way she wanted to know so much, asking so many questions. It was also kind of amusing to have all that knowledge, as well as being the only one who could give that knowledge to her. But, she solved it fair and square, so he simply stretched before starting to talk.

"Draconequues powers vary strongly from specimen to specimen," he started, "because the draconequues learn, teach and use magic differently than unicorns and Alicorns - or any other creature, for that matter, by different laws. As such, the kind of books you read can not help us. Draconequues are all on their own. Some draconequues never even get to use their magic properly if then don't polish it themselves during childhood."

Twilight's quill was rapidly gliding over the parchment, making small side notes and questions she might have for the Spirit. She had no idea the draconequues' used magic by a different set of laws but she figured since there were no books on it, Discord probably couldn't tell her much about it.

"Wow, I can't believe how much I got in only one day! With this I can already start a proper research paper!"

She continue to ramble something about how proud Celestia will be and started to continuously bounce in circles. Discord slapped himself mentally for the second time that day.

"Ugh enough, you're making my stomach twist." He groaned, using his still limited powers to trip the bouncing unicorn - as she fell in the grass, she was surprised for a moment and he expected her to shot him one of her usual glares - but then just continued laughing.

"... Just what has gotten into you?" Discord wondered out loud."You're acting very out of character and trust me, it means a lot coming from me."

"I can be happy for once in a while, can't I?" Twilight beamed and the Spirit rolled his eyes.

"Well, enjoy your little giggle party while you can, you still have one riddle to solve. Until then, Twilight Sparkle." And he was gone in a flash of light.

Twilight just kept lying in the grass, feeling like she had a day full of accomplishes.

"Twilight?"

"Oh! Hey, Spike! What are you doing here?" As the little dragon walked over to her, she noticed he carried a large basket and that, thankfully, he no longer had a beard.

"I was out to get some things. We were seriously lacking some stuff. I needed some extra rags and wood regenerator and-"

"Ice cream?" Twilight interrupted with a teasing smile as she used her magic to pull out a pretty big bucket of vanilla flavored dessert. Spike blushed slightly and Twilight grinned. "I'm just teasing you, Spike - in fact, I'm really in the mood for some of that. Maybe we can play some games this evening, what do you say?"

His eyes spread in surprise and delight. It was rare that the two of them did game nights, so he definitely wasn't going to miss the opportunity. "Y-yes, totally! Let's go right away!" He exclaimed happily as he placed himself swiftly on her back and held her warmly. Twilight smiled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Mmm... Spike, stop that... hehehe, stooooop." Twilight wiggled and laughed playfully as she felt a tickling, teasing sensation on her neck. "Spike! Stop it already!"

Her blood froze when she heard a familiar snicker.

"Discord?! What the hay!?" She immediately pulled the sheets over herself, watching the Spirit pulling his tail away from her snickering to himself. "Discord, what are you doing here?" She asked, now completely awake - last night she and Spike stayed up late, her trying to teach him how to play Chess Mess - while Spike liked the messed up version of chess, he had no skill whatsoever for it. The two ended up playing mostly ignoring the rules and with personal additions to the rules, much like when Discord and Twilight first played it.

"Oh, I just wanted to remind you you have a riddle to solve, is all."

Twilight laughed as she stood up and approached the mirror, brushing her mane.

"I think I'll manage, Discord. After all, I do have a whole morning to solve it."

"I wouldn't be so sure." The Spirit replied wickedly. The brush Twilight was using suddenly stopped in the air.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked carefully.

"Haven't you checked the time, dear?" He asked back. Twilight's pupils got tiny as she looked out the window - the clock tower was showing one-thirty in the afternoon.

"WHAT?" Her loud questioning of the trick Father Time played on her woke up her assistant.

"Looks like somepony stayed up for too long last night~" Discord said in delight.

"Discord, if I discover you had something to do with this, the deal is off!" Twilight hissed, startling the Spirit.

"I didn't do anything, dear!" The Spirit said playfully as he sat on the window sill. Twilight had no choice but to believe that as she left her mane unbrushed and embarked on a journey to locate the suddenly missing paper that contained the Spirit's riddles.

"Spike, we need tea! Lots and lots of strong tea! I need to solve this riddle immediately or Fluttershy is done for!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Spike seemed to have comprehended the difficulty of the situation as he rushed down into the kitchen. It took the unicorna good few minutes to find the paper she was looking for and she drank nearly the entire pot Spike fetched for her in a few large gulps, the seethingly hot tea burning her throat but keeping her awake.

It made for an awfully amusing sight but she ignored the Spirit, who watched her panic attentively as he munched on a bag of buttered popcorn.

"OK, I can do this... I must do this... for poor, poor Fluttershy... what was I thinking..." She took a deep breath and repeated the riddle to herself under her breath:

"Knowledge and learning, the books and the scrolls,
all that is nothing to me, I lie in 'their' souls,
never to be polished, nurtured or tamed.
One of 'them' all shall have my name famed."

Her brain was racing and she was panicking. Her thoughts incoherent and messed up, she spent- she tried to spend at least fifteen minutes calming herself down with breathing exercises before being able to approach the riddle with rational attitude. "Let's see... the riddle mentioned 'them' two times... it could be referencing the draconequues, unless it has a deeper meaning but that is probably it... alright, something... something that resides in souls... huh..."

Minutes passed, one seemingly faster than the other. Sweat broke underneath her mane.

"For some reason, this riddle sounds so familiar, but I can't point my hoof at it." Twilight mumbled to herself, bitting at her hoof. Discord did his best to stay quiet, for if he were to laugh out right now it would surely throw her into disarray... and for some peculiar reason, he felt the need to play fair.

"One of 'them' shall have my name famed? What, what could it possibly be?!"

"Five more minutes, dear."

Twilight stared at the riddle, confused out of her mind, panic slowly rising in her. Precious minutes passed by and she still didn't have an answer, her mind blank, weird, unsuitable solutions coming back and forth.

"A minute."

There was a lump in her throat.

"Come on Twilight! You have less than a minute left!" Spike bit his claws in anxiety.

Then, suddenly, something started to shift in her mind. The words started slowly to make sense.

"Knowledge as we know it is nothing to it..."

30 seconds.

"It is something that is inside of a person, untouchable, yet available...perhaps..."

15 seconds.

"One of the draconequees shall have its name famed!" suddenly the pieces fell to their rightful place.

3...

"The answer-"

2...

"-to the third-"

1...

"-riddle is-"

0.

Just as her tongue got into the position to pronounce the word, her mouth remained magically stuck together - not the courtesy of cheating, as she initially immediately assumed but of the magical contract that prevented her from busting out the solution when it was too late, and her answer was replaced with loud banging of the clock tower. It never sounded so loud to her, never so terrifying. Once the banging stopped, her mouth opened, and she gasped out the word she had formed half a second too late:

"Magic! The answer to the third riddle is Magic!"

"Ooh~ I'm sorry, my dearest, dearest Twilight Sparkle! Looks like I'll have a lot of fun with Fluttershy this afternoon!" The Spirit giddily flew through the air, swirling and turning. Twilight fell onto her knees, letting out a way too dramatic "noooooo!" that got Spike laughing hard; he shut up the moment she shot him a glare. Almost automatically, knowing her chances to persuade him were pretty much close to zero, Twilight followed Discord who was already heading out with a lot of what she assumed was his 'pranking equipment' - which consisted of just about any item anypony could name.

"Oh Discord, please, please, don't do this!"

He froze in place, seeming pretty dumbfounded by the fact Twilight was literally pleading him for something. The fishing pole he had on his shoulder comically bobbed on his shoulder and he cleared his throat.

"But Twilight, my dear... We had a deal." He said in the most parenting tone he could possibly manage, making the unicorn's face all that more contorted from panic.

"I know, I know! But- but Fluttershy is so timid! The smallest of things scare her! If she finds out about all of this and you prank her, not only will you never get a chance to befriend her but she'll also be angry with me! I'll make it up to you, I promise, I promise!" The unicorn panicked, her hooves making a rapid motion tapping on the wooden floor; this obviously meant a lot to her.

Discord observed her for a second.

"Fine." he pouted.

"Why can't you see how impo-- Huh?" Twilight made the dumbest face without realizing - her funny expression had, like many times before, made the Spirit laugh and he loosened some of that frustrated pout he had fixed.

"Fine, fine. I won't prank Miss Sensitive then. But I can't say the same for anyone else."

"... What are you planning?" Twilight questioned carefully, making Discord chuckle.

You won't believe it dear but I have planned absolutely nothing. My only plan was to prank Fluttershy mercilessly today but that seemed to have gone down the drain." He looked at her and noticed she looked doubtful of that. Raising an eyebrow, he again started lecturing her playfully: "Now now, don't make that face, smile suits you so much better."

"Again with that!" The unicorn finally exploded and the Spirit blinked.

"With what?"

"You're being so nice to me!" Twilight protested his politeness, incapable of understanding such a course of events. Her words seemed to have gotten the Spirit thinking.

"You're right." He suddenly said. Awkwardness ensued as Discord probably wondered why was he so nice all of a sudden and Twilight tried not to show just how strongly her heart started to beat at the sight of the draconequues that got confused by his own ability to show kindness.