• Published 15th Jul 2014
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Strings - naturalbornderpy



Set ten years after Tirek's brief escape, Discord plots his final scheme with the unknown assistance of a villain thought dead.

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Chapter 16: The Fray

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

THE FRAY

1

A mare had just asked her a question and she couldn’t for the life of her recall what it had been.

“Uhh… I’m sorry, what?” Twilight asked, a little red in the cheeks.

“That’ll be seven bits.” The cashier gave her a winning smile, not in anyway agitated by Twilight’s complete lack of awareness.

“Oh, right.”

Twilight had nearly forgotten she was in the midst of shopping in Baltimare that day. A few things she had needed to pick up—or was it only because she wanted out from the house? Either way, she was out and about and the sun had felt great on her face all morning. But with that glowing warmth came all those questions too. And possibly that’s why she could barely pay attention to the most evident of things.

“Here we go!” Twilight hovered her small coin purse onto the counter and counted out each bit. Her cheeks became even redder as she stopped at bit number six. She laughed timidly. “I’ll… go put something back.”

“Nonsense!” the cashier exclaimed, that smile never seeming to leave her face. “What’s one bit between friends?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “I don’t even know your name.”

The cashier began loading her things into a bag regardless. “I know that silly! It’s only what Princess Celestia and Lord Discord would have wanted. You know their saying.”

Twilight scooped up her bag while making a mental note to shop somewhere else next time. “Actually… I don’t.”

“It’s that love with always conquer all! Whether that means friends or family or romantic endeavors…” The cashier stared away longingly, before snapping back. “Have a great day now!”

Twilight smiled as best she could and trotted out from the store. Somehow she thought that smile of hers would haunt her the rest of the day. But was that cashier really that only one in the city acting in such a way? Twilight could remember a time when Baltimare had its fair share of shady ponies and overall rude individuals, yet hadn’t there seemed to be so much less of them today? All since Discord took over most of Equestria?

“Whoa!”

Deep in her thoughts Twilight smashed her hoof onto a curb, her saddlebag flying a few feet from her. Just as she was worrying about her bundles of fruit an odd amount more than her face connecting with the street, a thin white light kept her bag in the air.

“That was a close one, miss!”

“Here let me help you up!”

Twilight turned around from her awkward fall to find one unicorn holding her bag while another held out a hoof to her. She took it and got back to her hooves.

“Thank you,” she said, while grabbing her bag back.

“Not a problem,” the unicorn said. “Always help a friend in need no matter the case!”

Twilight looked around the bustling street, as if perhaps this was all a farce of some sort. “And who taught you that, may I ask?”

“Princess Celestia and Lord Discord of course!”

Twilight shut her eyes and pursed her lips, curious as to why she hadn’t sent Spike on this errand.

“Oh my! Are you an alicorn?”

The stallion that had helped her up had taken to her wings as if never viewing a pair before.

“Actually, I am,” she said bluntly.

“And a Princess too?”

She hesitated. “Yes. That too.”

Twilight had never wanted to seem too egotistical, but were there really ponies that didn’t know each and every alicorn in Equestria? Especially ones that had defended all of civilization countless times before?

“Are you a new one?” Somehow he had become even more fascinated with her.

Twilight said gruffly, “No. I guess I’m still the newest one—if you want to put it that way. But I’ve been an alicorn for over a decade now. Princess Twilight Sparkle. Does that ring any bells?”

The stallion scratched his chin. “I think it does. So why aren’t you ruling in Canterlot or something? Did you retire?”

“I… umm…” She honestly had no idea of how to answer that. As much as she would like to believe on the contrary, had she in some small way packed it all in and called it a day? She truly hoped it hadn’t come so soon… but what had she honestly been up to these past few years?

“Anyway, gotta’ run! Have yourself a great day!” Then the stallion trotted off.

She said to the unicorn still by her side. “He seems chipper. For someone that looks like they’re late for something.”

The unicorn watched the stallion gallop up the sidewalk, barely phased by the small fact that he had just helped an alicorn. “I think like most ponies, he’s found a bit of happiness in his life he might not have felt before.”

“How could you—” she started.

“From the love of Celestia and Discord, of course. Each of them made a sacrifice on ‘That Day’—whether by giving their life away, or by changing their very existence for the better—and they did it all for the benefit of Equestria. I think together they showed the world that love could still prevail over anything. And I think it’s had a nice affect on most. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Twilight stood dumbstruck, again wondering if these were not just some actors in a play. But could the faces and the smiles of most that walked by her honestly be false? Was there not actually more love in this world since the events of ‘That Day’?

“I’m not sure,” she finally said. “But I can guarantee only the smallest of portions of these ponies could have ever met Celestia or Discord. So just how could it all have such a profound affect on them all?”

The unicorn finally fixed his gaze on her. Unsurprisingly, he had been smiling their whole chat. “I think ponies—most ponies—want to feel good. They also like to believe in heroes that can stand for something. If Celestia and Discord could make such a sacrifice, why can’t the rest of us?”

Before Twilight could say anything more, he said, “You have a great day,” and then trotted away.

With slow lips she mumbled, “You too,” but it was already barely a noise.

Somehow she had met some of the weirdest ponies in a long while and had come back feeling all the better for it. So what exactly had happened to her world while she had been cooped inside missing it?

2

By the time she had arrived back home she was nearly prancing through the door. In the short walk from the store to the edge of the city and the bit of green forest beyond, more than half-a-dozen other strollers had wished her a pleasant day—one even going so far as to compliment her prettiness. As much as she had wanted to remind herself it could all have been due to nothing more than her alicorn nobility, she had then watched the same exact ponies greet others in the same way they had greeted her.

“Hello Spike!” she nearly sang, setting her bags in the kitchen.

Spike had a broom and a dustpan in both hands, carefully sweeping around the couch and tables. “You seem happier than when you left. Discounted books again?”

“No exactly,” she said, before thinking. “When was the last time I went into town, Spike?”

Spike didn’t budge from his cleaning. “I don’t know. A long time. Probably sometime before all that Empire craziness. Why?”

Had it really been that long? she thought. Perhaps it had.

“Because everyone seems all nice all a sudden. It’s weird in a way, but it’s admirable too.”

Spike lifted one side of the couch to get under it. “It’s been like that for a while, Twilight. It’s as Celestia and Discord always said—”

The item Twilight had been hovering to a cabinet splattered on the floor. “Oh, not you too, Spike! You follow all that oohey-gooey, feel-good junk?”

Although he didn’t look up, Twilight could tell she’d just embarrassed him. Nevertheless he said, “If I want to read the continuing adventures of Celestia and Discord in my free time, then that’s no one’s business but my own. And what’s the harm, Twilight? If it’s not hurting anyone and its message is simple and nice. Why can’t I like it?”

Twilight had no retort in store, so instead she glanced at the mound of letters on another counter. She got closer and noticed the blackened smudges and heavy amount of dust and soot on each. “Spike, where did these come from?” she asked cautiously.

Finally Spike turned away from his work. “Weirdest thing. I was cleaning out the fireplace after who knows how long, and all these letters were jammed together near the top. Most of them had a royal seal and everything.”

Twilight blew along the stack of envelopes, sending a layer of dust skittering away. All in one whoosh had her good feelings departed.

3

Had it really all come so soon? Had he really chanced it all away? Was this really the first mistake in his plan—the first crack in his otherwise perfect design?

Even while he laughed and closed the door on a more than startled Shining Armor, had Discord’s small bit of giddiness dried away. Returning to his chair he then promptly told himself what he had done had been completely necessary. Completely.

But was it? Was it really?

Discord hated to doubt himself, so he summoned another cup of his blackened drink to help sooth his nerves. A few sips in and he was already giggling at his impromptu performance. Every layer he had unknowingly added—every time, he had surprised even himself with his near perfected acting chops. Tears, snot, all the sobbing he could muster. It had made for one very startled Captain of the Guards.

“By why had I done it in the first place?” he asked his empty office, that odd hard lump in his stomach that had no place existing inside such a creature.

Sure, Shining would have asked his questions like he had countless times before—staring daggers into him the entire time he did. He could have brought up point after point of ‘supposed’ proof, and each one the draconequus could have laughed off and replied with a simple: try again later. The stallion had had nothing on him, he knew. Not a SINGLE fact. So why had he caved like he had? Why had he pretended to cave like he had, just to send him into the snow rightly there after?

True, he had always partially hated the stallion do-gooder in all his do-gooderish ways, but in no certain terms had he ever considered him a threat. No. He had only been a nuisance and nothing more. So why had he given him everything so readily?

“Because I then disposed of him,” he told himself plainly.

Him, his mind echoed back, but not every trace of him.

Cadence would have known where he had gone—even Twilight had overheard that someone from the Crystal Empire had come to see him. How many days could he get away from it all before they started checking in? Two? Three tops?

The draconequus sank in his chair, clutching his warm mug close to his chest.

For the briefest of moments he debated opening that door again—finding Shining and bringing him back, explaining the hilarious joke that somehow flew right over his head. It’s funny! Right Shining? No hard feelings, because it was just a JOKE! Want to build a snow-pony, my friend?

“It’s too late for that, I’m afraid.”

Discord set his cup down on the desk, not all that thirsty anymore. It was then he remembered his short conversation with Sombra, as his dark puppet clung to the last few inches of life on the floor of the Crystal Tower. These were the types of scenes that would tuck the draconequus into bed each night with a smile edged on his angelic face… only now it all seemed to have such greater meaning.

“Chaos needs order,” he had told what remained of Sombra on the floor, before roughly explaining to him that ilk of his kind had never been meant to succeed.

But that had been for Sombra and Sombra alone. He was the villain—meant to lose and go away once the battle was done. Discord had only done what he had done to survive. To live as he was meant to. He was no villain, right? He had only placed certain parties in precarious situations, but he had never actually been the one to give the killing blow. Right?

Discord rose from his desk to stand by his overlong window. For close to fifteen minutes he watched his citizens trot to and fro along their busy lives, greeting each other happily and without care. Order had found its way to Canterlot, and perhaps Equestria too. Order had also found its way to Discord, whether he knew it or not.

Hadn’t his one fear in his long, long life been remaining still while others could move?

Having been encased in stone more than once, he knew it all too well. So is that what was happening now? Was he already growing tired of his sun and moon duties and the overall blandness of ruling a nation? Sure, for over ten years he had bidden his time to get his pieces in place, but he had been overall busy throughout—spreading lies and tormenting Sombra and coaxing Celestia and pushing away Twilight all the while keeping his strings hidden from view.

It had been such a grand game. And now that game was over and he had won. What more had been left in his way besides more questions and accusations? Concrete proof could never have been found.

Still longingly viewing his timely creation, he whispered, “Chaos of the self?,” before promising that anyone else that tried to interfere with him would only drown with him for all their troubles.

4

Rainbow Dash sat at a picnic table near a park close to her home. Both her fillies were flying gracefully in the air, circling one another but never completely connecting. Already they showed promise. Already their Wonderbolts pajamas seemed pre-destined for them both.

“Ten more minutes you two!” she yelled up. “And then we’re going back for lunch!”

Both fillies nodded absently, more concerned with touching the tips of some of lower hanging clouds.

Despite the smile on her face and the heat from the day, Rainbow still felt that chunk of ice in her stomach, one that seemed to only appear when she watched the flight of others. It was sadly something she didn’t know if she would ever get used to.

“Mind if I sit?”

A higher-pitched voice.

Rainbow turned to face them and a full seven seconds passed before it all clicked.

“Scootaloo?”

“Who else?”

Along with her other childhood cohorts, Scootaloo had grown and was now the size of Rainbow Dash and all of her friends during their times of adventure and fun. Her hair she still kept short; her wings had never quite reached where most pegasus’ should.

She took a seat and immediately began to follow the two pegasi in the air. “They’re naturals, Rainbow Dash. But I’m not surprised.”

“Thanks. Their father’s a good teacher.”

Scootaloo turned to her. “I’m sure their mother is too.”

And just like that, Rainbow’s chunk of ice seemed only to expand.

She couldn’t face her then. “Soarin sent you, didn’t he?”

Scootaloo let out a huff and ran a hoof through her mane. “Well… maybe with a tiny, little letter. But I’ve been meaning to see you anyways, after all that’s happened in the past year.”

Rainbow eyed her useless, bandaged wing with venom. “You mean when I went from an expert flyer to a nobody?”

“I think you’re looking at it the wrong—” Scootaloo began.

“I can’t see how I’m doing that, exactly. The evidence is pretty darn clear. My kids are up there and I’m down here so—”

Scootaloo surprised the pegasus by abruptly getting up and standing right in front of her. “Even after all these years it still shocks me how self-centered you can be, Rainbow Dash. Sure, you might have lost a wing and your ability to fly, but that doesn’t mean it gives you license to stop being who you were. It’s not… it’s not just our gifts that make us who we are, Rainbow, or how we interact with the world and others in turn. You think your friends or Soarin for that matter only stuck around you to watch you fly?”

Scootaloo sat back down with a thud, leaving Rainbow to gnaw at the air like a fish out of water.

Scootaloo continued, “When I was younger, all I wanted to do was fly like the rest of you—possibly even become a member of the Wonderbolts in time. For years that was the dream. All I wanted. But slowly as I grew older I just knew that wasn’t in the cards for me. Sure, it hurt at the time. It hurt bad. But I eventually looked past it and still found I had a lot to give.” She looked down at her rump where her cutie mark of a small red scooter stood prominent. “Remember when I got this?”

Actually, Rainbow did. Quite clearly, too. Pinkie Pie had been preparing for an extra large party for close to a month, all the while forgetting that one tiny detail known as sending out invitations. Out from the street she had scooped up Scootaloo and shoved close to a hundred letters in her hooves, different addresses all. Without much expressed between the pair, Scootaloo was off on her scooter, barely thirty-minutes ticking by until each and every letter had been delivered.

When she returned back to Pinkie, her cutie mark had already appeared.

“Looking back,” Scootaloo said, “it should have been obvious. Horrifically obvious. But I had my head in the clouds and not on the ground. Now I deliver items for a living, and I’ve never been happier. I just had to stop focusing on what can’t be changed and start on everything else. It’s not just our talents that make us who we are—especially not to the ones that care about us the most.”

Scootaloo got up again and enveloped her in a hug, mindful of her damaged wing.

She said, “I looked up to you as a filly, Rainbow Dash. And I still do. You just can’t give up on yourself. Not like this. That just wouldn’t be who you are.”

Before another word could be uttered, Scootaloo hoped aboard her scooter and blazed away, sending up small twigs and leaves in her trail. And to think Rainbow had known so little of what she’d been going through all those years ago.

Not exactly knowing how to feel about all that, Rainbow then filled her vision with her tiny fillies once more, strongly hoping at least a fraction of what Scootaloo had told her could potentially be true.

5

Discord was there. Standing and looking at the ground. But what was there exactly?

A second form took shape and the still body of Celestia filled another part of the completely black void. It was the almost the same scene she had heard about from others—the story of how Discord had openly wept while cradling her in his arms.

Only this wasn’t playing out like that. Not at all.

Now Discord was moving away from her, an uncaring expression on his face. He looked up as though another someone had just entered the room. Had it been Sombra? Had this been how it all came to be?

But in no regard had she expected it to all look so casual. So planned. What exactly was this all getting at? And why was she even glimpsing it in the first place?

Then came the burdening notion that she was dreaming again.

But why? And why now?

The scene faded to black and another image took its place. Now she was viewing her cabin—her own self in her kitchen, staring intently at the small stack of letters Spike had just uncovered from the fireplace. Slowly and carefully she had opened and read each one. Six came from Celestia herself, each message becoming shorter and shorter and more to the point. The last few she did not even sign at the bottom. Celestia had needed help unlike any other time in her life, and Twilight hadn’t known a thing. The last letter had been sent by Rainbow Dash and it indicated she meant to go to the Empire to help. She did not beg but instead requested the aid of each of her old friends—the Elements of Harmony summoned anew. At least Twilight now knew how all of her friends had arrived there when she hadn’t.

Yet in no way did it make her feel any better for it.

The Twilight in her dream set down the final letter and stared away into nothingness. Having occurred less than a few hours ago, Twilight remembered clearly what it was she had been thinking. It still doesn’t make sense, she had thought coldly. I still can’t believe Sombra would do this—COULD do this. And then it had only snowballed from there.

Every odd occurrence and happening during Luna’s short visit; the lack of ability to see either Princess during her first visit of Canterlot; the letter that Luna was sent while she received one of her own. A part of her wanted to shrug it all off and let sleeping dogs lie, but she had never been the type to ponder and not come away with an answer.

“Discord?” she had whispered standing over her letters, and even as she watched her dream version cover her mouth with a hoof after just uttering such a travesty, the one that watched it all felt like doing close to the same.

And that was when that part of her dream ended, and she found herself back in a sea of clouds. But unlike her original tepid dream of fluffy clouds and a beautiful full moon, she only watched reddened hills of distorted fog, and a wind that only felt like it wanted to blow her off course.

“Luna!” she tried to yell above the wind.

After she had shouted the weather increased its distress hurriedly. Now Twilight was sure she would be ripped from the sky at any moment. But before she called out again it had ceased completely, leaving nothing but a pitch black expanse.

A tired Luna whispered in her ear. “I am sorry to use you as I have, child. But now I know what must be done.”

The feeling of a sharp drop befell the alicorn and she woke up cradling her sheets in both hooves. She allowed herself two shaky breathes before she bolted from her bed, flinging her small cabin door open with her horn hard enough to nearly break both hinges.

6

It felt like only moments had passed since she had stirred from that terrible dream. Flying as fast as her wings would carry her (as well as nimbly using a short-ranged teleportation spell to cut several hundred meters in a single go), Twilight made it to the lush green forests right ahead of the Canterlot bridge in what must have been record time.

On quivering knees she landed, and gulped in the cool mid-night air. She knew it was still sometime in the middle of the night, and all of Canterlot appeared dark and shut down. Only a few lights in a few small windows dotted its expanse; complete with its many peaks and oddly smooth spires. She had always wanted to meet the architect responsible for its design, just to know how much they drank each night.

She huffed out a shaky breath.

Canterlot looked the same as it always had. Whatever might be happening tonight, she hadn’t missed. If it would happen at all, she thought.

“Thank you for coming Twilight,” said a voice.

Twilight shuddered and spun to face her. Out of the deep shadows of the tree line came Princess Luna, nearly disappearing in her darkened surroundings. Her face looked like one of quiet contemplation—not completely the wrath that Twilight had been expecting.

“What did you do, Luna?” she blurted, a little too loud during such a serine time of night.

Luna peered away a moment. “I will not apologize again for what I did. I merely let you dream and what you dreamed I played witness to. I always knew something had been gravely wrong on the day Celestia fell, but I honestly never expected it to end with us here.” She glimpsed all of Canterlot for what must have been the first time in months. Each nook and cranny she took in, seemingly wanting to reach out and touch each little piece of her city. “Discord will die this time. I will make sure of it. My sister thought she could change him but she had been wrong… and she paid dearly for her mistake. I will not be making the same one.”

She left the veil of shadows and trotted past Twilight to the head of the bridge. She placed a single hoof on the thick wood, emitting a far heavier sound than the dirt path before it.

Luna said, a little more timidly, “That’s why I had to wait for you, Twilight. Discord has always been an immensely powerful being, and since the Elements of Harmony have been lost to us for some time now, I know it will take us both to destroy this monster.” She faced Twilight to give her the faintest of smiles. “But I thank you for this, Twilight. You’ve given me purpose to return. And now I will get to avenge my sister once and for all.”

Luna took another step along the bridge—the sound echoing cleanly in the still night air.

“But…” Twilight began, before swallowing thickly. “What if it actually wasn’t Discord? What if it was someone we just never knew about?”

All at once her heart was beating heavy in her chest, her thoughts feeling a tad too hurried for their own good.

Luna turned to her. “Your own dreams do not lie, Twilight. So why do you try and trick yourself now? Discord has gone too far this time. He has no love in his heart—he never had.”

“But we still don’t know!” Twilight chirped, each word wanting her to cringe. “He never confessed to anything! He said he loved her, Luna.” Then she said quietly, “And I believed him.”

Luna’s worn face had grown hard in the last few moments. She took a step toward Twilight, and Twilight in turn took a step back.

She said sternly, “He never loved her. And if I want a confession from that creature I will get one from him—screaming in agony as he tells me.”

In the face of all that alicorn power and rage, Twilight lost what strength was left in her legs and plopped to the ground. She couldn’t even face her anymore.

Her next sentence came out as a near garbled mess. “But… but what if… what if it’s better this way.”

She heard Luna take a few swift steps in her direction and closed her eyes instinctively. Then, much calmer, Luna asked, “Better that he get away with murder, Twilight?”

Twilight shook her head without completely knowing why. All her life she had made it her mission to carve out answers where others might have found difficulty in doing so. Definitive, clear, question ending answers she had always sought to find. But things had never seemed as complicated as now.

“I don’t mean Discord, Luna. I mean the rest of Equestria. Ponies haven’t been this happy in a long time. They look up to your sister… and Discord. Ponies believe it was love that saved them from Sombra, and out of that they get a little hope that they might not have had before. Like some rainbow after a thunderstorm. Is that so bad, Luna? Is it really?”

Luna breathed out and lowered her head. “It’s all nothing more than a lie, Twilight. Whatever Discord told Equestria was a lie, and any happiness they might be getting from it, shouldn’t have existed to begin with.”

“So then that means we take away the only good thing they have left? One ruler killing the other along with hundreds more just to be in charge? No one would know what to believe if that came to light.”

“The truth cannot always be easy, Twilight. But this time justice must prevail. Or else what message are we sending to ourselves? What message am I sending to the memory of my sister?” Luna lowered herself to lift Twilight’s chin with a hoof. “Are you so worried to lose another of your immortal kind that you would live in Discord’s lie? All the while tearing you up inside? That is not the Twilight I knew.”

Twilight pushed her hoof away. “That’s easy for you to say! You left when we needed you most! You left me all alone!” Now the tears were biting at her eyes. “Who’s to say you won’t do it again, once you’re done killing Discord?”

Luna took a few steps back, obviously shocked by the outburst. “I… I wouldn’t. Not again. I was scared Twilight. Like you… I felt alone once I knew Celestia was gone. I know it was rash, I know, but—”

Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.

The steady clap of a pair of hands. Large and heavy in the night.

Both alicorns turned to find Discord standing at the other edge of the bridge, a single lamppost miraculously right above him. Its sickly yellow light elongated each of his worn facial features—each wrinkle and crevice cut with a deep line of black.

“Oh, please don’t stop on my account, ladies,” he said, “I thought this was just the intermission.”

Luna’s wings flung out to her sides and she lowered a few inches to the ground. She said cautiously, “Discord.”

He bowed. “Luna.”

For a long while no party said a word. Meanwhile, Twilight got to her hooves again and joined Luna near the bridge. She truly had no idea how any of this would proceed.

Discord asked glumly, “What it is you think you know?”

“Plenty,” Luna said. “You’ve destroyed the lives of countless ponies and damaged this land for your own amusement for too long, Discord. You murdered my sister—and somehow set free a King to do your dirty work. You used to be a creature of nasty tricks and simple delights… but now you’ve become something more evil than I could imagine.

“Do you confess to having killed my sister?”

Discord stroked his thin beard. “You might want to rephrase that last part.”

It only took Luna a moment. “Do you confess to playing a part in getting my sister killed, Discord?”

Discord grinned widely. “Now that’s more like it.”

Luna took a step closer. “So you confess then! If that is so then I will strike you down this very night!”

“Oh, actually I never said anything of the sort, Luna,” he said, while strolling from one end of the bridge to the other. “I only wanted to bring to mind exactly what it is you plan on doing here tonight. If you kill me now, not a single soul will have any idea why you did what you did. If you kill me tonight, Luna, then Celestia will have died for no reason other than my latest plan. Have you not heard of the love that is spreading rampant as of late in these parts? The citizens… how they just love me these days!”

“They love a fable and nothing more, Discord!” she spat back.

He chuckled dryly. “They don’t know that. Would you really want to ruin that image in their hearts for all time? That seems oddly mean of you. And who will be left in charge of it all when I’m gone? You? The same alicorn that vanished for over a year once the going got tough? Or how ‘bout you, Twilight? I’m sure everyone would just love to take orders from a Princess who’d rather read alone in her house for years on end, all while she could have been helping the rest of Equestria along with Celestia! Haven’t these ponies been suffering enough as is, Princesses?”

Luna took a few more steps forward. Twilight could tell she would charge at any second. “The only reason they suffer at all is because of your doing!”

“Before you dare leap to strike me, Luna,” he said calmly, “there’s one last notion you should know. If you try and tell anyone of what I’ve done, I will destroy you both… and everything you hold dear… bit by bloody bit. And if you even so much as touch me tonight, both of you will never see Shining Armor again.”

Twilight instantly perked up at the name, her head focusing first on Luna and then Discord, two times over. Had he honestly said that?

“If you want even the faintest hope of finding him, I would put a halt to whatever it is you have planned here tonight. Needless to say… time is of the essence.”

“We don’t believe you, Discord. You’ve always been a master of lies and manipulation.”

“Then how do you explain this little thing?” From behind Discord’s back he pulled out a small silver medal Shining had always adorned on the front of his uniform. It glittered as though recently polished. “Remember when I had a visitor from the Crystal Empire, Twilight?”

“What did you do to him?” Twilight screamed.

Discord was unfazed by the reaction. “If I were you, I’d fly as fast as you can.”

Luna turned to her. “It is all right Twilight. You will go and find your brother and I will stay here to keep an eye on Discord.”

Already Discord was shaking his head. “No. No, I don’t think so. If you truly want to find your brother, you’ll need the two of you, at least. And if you both don’t go, I won’t tell you his location. Plus… what more damage could I possibly do? I live in a kingdom of my own now, ladies. And I would just hate to see it messed up or abandoned… unlike some.”

Awkwardly, both Princesses took a few steps away, unsure exactly of how it had all come to this. Twilight said softly, “I trusted you, Discord. When most others wouldn’t, I trusted you.”

“Then that was your mistake, Twilight Sparkle. Words can never be more than words. You always need actions to back them up. Now go, before you have one more early funeral to attend to in your long, long life.”