I Barely Know Me

by Trinity Copper-Fox

Two: From Recluse to...What?

“WHAT THE HAY IS THIS?!”

Discord stood on my doorstep, smiling as he faced my rage-tinged shock. “Friends visit each other at their homes, or so I’ve been led to believe,” he mused, rubbing his chin as he looked at me contemplatively. “Surely, it can’t be a bad time; you don’t know anypony else.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and shook my head. “How in Equestria did you find my tower? You’d have to know about it to get here, and already know I live here besides!”

He chuckled and walked through the door as though he belonged in my entrance hall. “Once I’ve met somepony, I can find them easily with little more than a thought—unless they shield their existence from me with a spell. Of course, the spell is very difficult and I would have to teach it to you myself. Then again, Sunbutt and Moonbutt mastered it while I was trapped in stone…” He kept talking, but it seemed like he was just rambling to himself so I tuned him out. Eventually, after I’d half-closed the door and rested on my haunches in front of the stairs, he finished his one-pony conversation and returned to looking at me quizzically.

“Lovely,” I grumbled bitterly. “Now, get out of my tower.” He blinked at my blatant hostility, then his face melted into that same pout from the day before—the one that had broken my initial resistance toward him. My eyes widened, only one visible due to my typical mane style, and I hurried to look away lest his expression worm its way past my resolve. “Y-you heard me!” I muttered, trying not to turn back around even though I didn’t want him at my back. “Nopony, least of all you, is welcome in my home.”

“Come now, Lunar Rainbow,” he sighed, his face appearing out of the banister in front of me, inches from my muzzle. I scrambled back, my cheeks warming a bit as he peeled himself out of the woodwork. His expression stayed the same. “I’ve kept your feathery secret, haven’t I? And I won’t tell anypony without your express permission.”

His eyes were so sincere that my determination just died. “Oh, fine!” I snapped, using my magic to slam the door shut as I started up the stairs to my living room. “But if anypony else shows up here, your welcome is gone. You got that?”

“Of course, Lunar Rainbow, why would I tell anypony about my secret alicorn?” He laughed, slithering up the railing next to me. “And since you’re my secret alicorn, I need to visit you every day. I take it you’ll give me the grand tour?”

I looked at him in slight disbelief as I raised a hoof to push open the door on the second floor landing. “Floor one is the entrance hall. Second floor,” I waved my hoof to indicate the room, “is the living room and the first library. The third floor is my kitchen and dining area, and you aren’t allowed any higher up the tower than that.” Sighing, I lay down on a pile of floor pillows, leaving my couch open for Discord as I floated the book I’d been reading over to rest in front of me.

Instead of sitting on the couch like I hoped he would, Discord flopped down on the pillows next to me. My book closed with a light thump as I turned a scowl on him. He had that one-fanged grin on his face, as if he knew something about me that I didn’t know he was aware of. “What?” I snapped, shifting away a little.

“You’re hiding something upstairs,” he replied in a sing-song voice. “And I’m gonna find out what it is!” With that, he disappeared and I shot up onto my hooves, heading for the stairs at a full gallop. I passed through the third floor quickly, knowing he wouldn’t bother with the areas I’d agreed to allow him in, and went straight to my second library and office on the fourth story. He wasn’t there, perusing my romance novels, although my office had been slightly disturbed.

Meaning he was snooping in my fifth-floor bedroom. There was no telling what piece of my past he would dig out. Sighing heavily, I took the final flight of stairs at a slower pace, dreading the idea of reliving more of my past with this draconequus nearby. As I opened up the door to the bedroom that took up the entire top floor, I heard him humming over near the doors to the balcony. When I looked, he was digging in a box that I hadn’t seen in years—because I didn’t want to see it. An assortment of my things were floating around him, some of them having come out of the cursed box.

Including that old cast and a torn and faded letter.

“Get out.” Discord looked at me curiously, a copy of his face morphing out of the back of his head. He seemed to make a point of continuing to dig through the box, and I could almost feel his claws shifting around in my very soul. I squeezed my eyes shut against tears. “I told you to leave!”

Without thinking, I slammed the cast and the letter back in the box with my magic and pushed the lid down with my front hooves. My wings flared out and my face scrunched up angrily. “Get out of my tower!” I shouted into his mildly surprised face.

Rather than obey me, he flashed a little ways away, sprawling out on my bed. “I must say, the more time I spend in your presence, the more interesting you seem,” he grinned, flipping through one of my old research journals.

“So glad I entertain you,” I spat, walking over to stand beside the bed. When he eventually looked over at me, I reared up and shoved him off the bed. “Is there some reason you refuse to leave?”

He stood, brushing himself off, and showed me that mischievous grin again. “Do I have to have a reason?”

“Yes.”

Seeming slightly taken aback by this response, he hesitated a moment before answering. “Well, my dear, I’m here to make sure you keep your promise to visit Ponyville,” he said at length, waving his paw dismissively. “Oh, I should mention that something happened there last night that was most intriguing.”

---

Ponyville was in an uproar still when Discord and I arrived, everypony talking at once as Princess Twilight examined the damage to her library. Both she and the mayor were distraught, nopony around stepping in to take charge. For some reason, though, nopony was actively seeking out another leader at the moment.

I’d seen this situation before, and how it would dissolve if nopony stepped up. First was the panic, which had already set in. then they’d get angry, then violent on increasing levels, and once they had their hooves on somepony they were going to blame for everything, murderous. Sometimes torturous before they decided to kill. I’d been lucky to escape that tiny village near the badlands.

So, despite my discomfort with the situation, I rose up to my full height and made sure to exude an aura of authority as I walked calmly toward the library. The noise level died away gradually as I moved through the crowd. Hopefully, due to the proximity of Ponyville to Canterlot, Princesses Celestia and Luna would arrive soon to take more secure control.

“Princess!” I called, waving my hoof to get her attention. “Princess Twilight, I need to speak with you.”

She noticed me after a moment and swooped down from where she’d been hovering to examine a hole in the wall. “Hi, Lunar Rainbow,” she said, smiling anxiously. “We have a bit of a situation here.”

“Discord was telling me a bit about it on the way here, actually.” I sighed and glanced back at all the ponies gathered. “A more thorough explanation would be nice, but first… Well, the populace needs to be reassured that somepony’s keeping them safe.”

“I’ve written to Celestia requesting her and Luna’s presence. They will arrive within the hour.”

I pointed my hoof toward the crowd, my face scrunched up in anger. “All due respect, your majesty, but an hour is more than enough time for this situation to get more than just a little out of hoof. Somepony needs to let them know that everything is under control now. You need to tell them something.” She frowned at me, as if asking just how bad it could get, and I leaned back, carefully considering my words so as to avoid triggering one of my breakdowns. “You don’t want to know the horrors a small town can produce entirely on their own when normalcy is disrupted.”

“Oh, yes,” Discord crooned, coiling his body around my legs. “Such wonderful chaos; I don’t even need to lift a claw to help it along.”

I stared at him in disbelief, his face next to mine as he grinned at Twilight. That explains why he’s not bothering to help any. “And you all trust this guy?”

The princess rolled her eyes. “He may be mischievous, but the minute any of us is in real danger, he jumps at the problem.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” I muttered to myself, looking down to see if I could climb out of Discord’s coils.

“My dear Lunar, who are you worried about?” he asked, using his tail to make me look at him again. I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or really wanted to know, as I was beginning to see was the norm for him. That made me hesitate, which allowed a look of fear to slip through my careful control—and that was probably answer enough for him. Even so, he just raised an eyebrow and waited.

Twilight cleared her throat, distracting Discord and saving me from having to answer him directly. “Why don’t you two go on inside while I take care of things out here. I’ll have the mayor address everypony for now and we’ll all discuss the situation once Celestia and Luna arrive.” I nodded and reared up to jump over Discord. He chose that moment to stand again and grabbed me around the midsection. I was hoisted into the air and tucked against his side before I could react, my legs flailing instinctively as he carried me into the library.

“Discord, put me down!” I snapped, letting my legs dangle rather than try to kick him. He just ignored my protests, not even looking to see my glare. Instead, he started rambling about…something, so I brought my forehooves up to cover my face—to hold back the memories. Despite this, the flood of memories broke through for a moment.

“She’s the one!” the stallion shouted, pointing a hoof at me. the sudden outburst shocked me, making me drop the letter I’d written and was trying to deliver to the post office. The crowd of ponies took advantage of my shock to—

“Lunar, you’re not listening,” Discord grumbled, dropping me on the floor before I could catch up to what I’d missed.

“Maybe you should have put me down when I asked you to,” I hissed, standing slowly so as not to jostle my cloak with my wings—which were, at the moment, uncomfortable in a way that couldn’t be fixed without revealing them. And, seeing as Princess Twilight’s friends were in the library already, I couldn’t very well do that. Instead, I sighed, walked over to the nearest bookshelf, and pretended to peruse.

“Warning!”

Before I could look over at Discord, he snapped and I was transported to stand in front of him, surrounded by the ponies, baby dragon Spike, and the draconequus.

“Can I help you?” I growled, glaring up at him.

“Everypony wants to know about you,” he replied, gesturing his paw in my direction. “We want to know who Lunar Rainbow is.”

I blinked at him, then sighed. “So do I, Discord. So do I.”

Author's Note:

This chapter has been a pain in my neck. Discord is difficult to write. It took two or three rewrites of one portion of the chapter to keep him in character. Oi. Anyways, hope you all like it! And, if you think I need to rewrite something, let me know and I'll see if a rewrite will fit.
~Trinity Copper-Fox