Three alicorns and a dragon glided down towards a grassy hill on the outskirts of Ponyville, Luna and Twilight in the lead. If Discord had wiped Celestia’s memory in her sleep, they couldn’t take any chances with him. Twilight wanted to go get the rest of her friends just in case, but there was a problem with that.
“More tea, Fluttershy?” At her nod and happy thank you, Discord lifted the teapot with his claw and refilled her cup. He would prefer to snap his fingers and have the teapot do it itself, but he was on his very best behavior today. After everything that had happened yesterday, Fluttershy was still his friend, and now he knew that he wouldn’t trade that for anything.
“DISCORD!” Luna landed by crashing down heavily on her hooves. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Fluttershy squeaked and dove behind Discord.
Twilight and Celestia touched down at a much more reasonable speed. With a stern expression on her face, Twilight strode up to stand beside Luna, but Celestia stood back, watching with wide eyes. “What manner of beast is that?”
Discord put down the teapot and stood up. “Beast? Really? You’re interrupting someone’s tea party to yell at and insult them? Why, I never – Fluttershy, is there any reason for them to do such a thing?”
Fluttershy peeked out from behind Discord’s tail. Luna was scary. “Um, maybe? I don’t think so–“
“You see? Fluttershy agrees with me. Rude.” He retaliated by sticking his forked tongue out and blowing a raspberry at them.
“Cease your playacting,” Luna seethed. “You know what you’ve done. Explain yourself!”
“What?” Fluttershy jumped out to face Luna directly. “I thought you forgave him for that! He’s really sorry for siding with Tirek!” Meanwhile, Discord’s defiance disappeared and he wilted, feeling unworthy of how Fluttershy was defending him.
It was a hard heart that was able to resist a pleading Fluttershy, but Luna was determined to see justice done. “We shall see whether forgiveness was deserved. I speak not of yesterday, but of a crime committed afterwards.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Afterwards? But, he can’t have, he’s been here with me.” She looked up at Discord for support.
“That does not preclude his wrongdoing, even if he was … with you overnight …” Luna’s anger faded slightly. She looked from Fluttershy to Discord and back again.
Discord straightened up. “Oh, ho, uh, no … I don’t think we’re, ah, quite there yet.” His awkward grin was hard to decipher.
Fluttershy merely looked confused. “What happened overnight?”
Luna seemed to have lost her train of thought, so Twilight stepped forward. “Fluttershy, I was called to Canterlot this morning to help solve a mystery. Someone cast a spell on Celestia to make her forget almost everything!”
Fluttershy gasped. Her gaze moved to the white alicorn watching from behind Twilight. It was true, Celestia hadn’t said anything except to ask what Discord was. “Oh no! Who would do that to the Princess?”
Now that she had to break the bad news to Fluttershy, Twilight was hesitant, but she didn’t have a choice. “Well, I was able to trace the spell, and it looks like it was Discord.”
Fluttershy’s eyes grew round. “No.” She quietly turned to face Discord. “Is … is it true?”
Discord swallowed. His mouth felt so dry that it might as well have been a desert. In fact, a little sand might have fallen from his lips, but he managed to say what he needed to. “Of course not, Fluttershy. Yesterday, I almost lost your friendship because I was foolish enough to listen to Tirek. Please, believe me when I say, I’ll never make a mistake like that again.” She had doubted him for a second, but Fluttershy could tell he was being honest. She wrapped him in a hug, which he gladly returned.
Twilight frowned. Discord had learned his lesson. He had even given her the Rainbow Key of Magic to prove it. Everything she had learned about friendship told her to give Discord a chance, but at the same time she knew that it was Discord’s magic that had been used on Celestia. Probably.
Luna seemed to have come to the same conclusion. She glanced at Twilight. “So, we have found the culprit, yet the culprit seems to be innocent. What are we to do now?”
Spike grumbled. “You know he’s probably just faking it, right?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, if he’s faking, he’s doing a really good job. I mean, how’d we get that big castle if he didn’t really learn the value of friendship?” She waved a hoof at the giant crystal tree palace visible in the distance.
Though the proceedings had served only to confuse her beyond belief, Celestia set aside her bewilderment. She had decided to trust these friends of Luna’s, so she joined their conversation in order to help out. “If that beast isn’t at fault, then perhaps we’ve misinterpreted the clue you found. Is there a way we could confirm one of our leads?”
Twilight bit her lip. “I guess I could take a look at it again, but if Discord really is guilty, he’ll run away when we leave. I’m not sure we should let him do that.”
Luna gritted her teeth in determination. “Then we shall have to bind him such that he cannot escape.”
She knew that was only logical, but Twilight still lifted a hoof apprehensively. “Does he really deserve that?”
“It doesn’t have to be cruel.” Celestia suggested. “It appears that he desires nothing more than to be in Fluttershy’s good graces. If we trust her, perhaps we can just make her responsible for Discord, by making her Discord’s warden.”
Twilight quirked an eyebrow, thinking. “Huh. You know, this isn’t the first time we’ve done something like that …”
She stared at Celestia, not saying anything. Luna and Spike did as well. Just as she was starting to wonder if her idea was horrible somehow, they turned to look at each other.
“Creepy,” Spike said. “Do you think this is what she thought the first time?” It had seemed foolish back then, but it had worked so well that it still sounded like a good idea. Was Celestia just that smart?
“It is very possible,” Luna also looked disturbed. “It seems that only Celestia understands how Celestia thinks.” It was obvious now, but Celestia had somehow predicted this before anypony else. Apparently, she still possessed that ability even after she had forgotten everything about Fluttershy and Discord.
“Well, she was right before. I guess we’ll try it.” Twilight turned back to Discord and Fluttershy, who were waiting for them to finish.
Celestia sidled up next to Luna and whispered, “What did I do?”
“The same thing you did before.” Luna replied quietly. “Let us say this is not the first time you’ve met either of them, nor the first time you entrusted Discord to Fluttershy’s care.”
Twilight spoke. “Discord, I want to believe you, but I still don’t know who wiped Celestia’s memory. I, uh,” she hesitated. Oh, if only there was an easy way to do this! “I want to be completely sure that I can find you if I need to.”
“You don’t trust me.” Discord said glumly.
Fluttershy reached a hoof up and touched his paw to reassure him. “Discord wouldn’t go back on his word now. Hasn’t he proven that?”
Twilight sucked in a breath. “He has, but … this is an opportunity for him to prove it again. I would like to cast a spell that would keep him from leaving you.”
Discord shivered. “You want to put me on a leash? Me, the master of chaos? ”
It wasn’t very comforting to be reminded that she was dealing with ‘the master of chaos,’ but it wasn’t anything he had ever stopped being. Twilight nodded. “Only for a short time, while we figure out how to get Celestia’s memory back.”
“And what if I refuse?”
“Then – I guess,” Twilight looked back at Luna, Celestia, and Spike, but they were waiting to hear what she said. Worry was evident on Fluttershy’s face. “I guess you refuse.” She really hoped he didn’t.
Discord watched her, an unreadable expression on his face, before he took a deep breath and nodded. Twilight cast the spell, her magic linking Discord to Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry. I’ll release the spell after Celestia’s back to normal again.” Twilight said. She turned away, unable to face him any longer.
Fluttershy hugged him. “It’s not so bad, Discord. We were together for the tea party, anyway.”
“I know.” He smiled wanly. “Thank you, Fluttershy.” As the princesses flew away, Discord and Fluttershy returned to their tea party, together.
Hmmm If Discord didn't do it....
So, another being of chaos?
Or, was it simply someone with enough knowledge of magic that they could've imitated Discords magic to an extent?
... It's Starswirl, isn't it?
Seems suspicious.
5364531
I think he might have, but maybe Tirek made him do it or maybe he was hoping to make her forget him so she wouldn't punish him for siding with Tirek?
So how come she doesn't know who Discord is?
They took Equestria from him, and this was when they were younger. Before Luna became (as) jealous of Celestia as Celestia herself still remembers.
At points in this story Luna indicates that she thinks Cadance has reason to worry, but nothing I remember in this indicated that she told Cadance about anything regarding Celestia's memory loss.
5364671
I'm thinking that in this canon, the royal sisters were dethroned by Discord, whom resumed power after his fall.
I honestly do think that having it be Discord, especially learning about it fairly quick, seems off. After what happened, I don't quite see him going right into doing something so mischievous and almost cruel to Celestia. It's so close to the Tirek incident, so he wouldn't want the rekindling of his friendship with Fluttershy to once again fall apart. The only thing throwing me off was his swallow and pause when Fluttershy asked if it was true, because that's always something that can come across as suspicious. Perhaps he is connected, just not in the way they think.
5364468
I'd just say yes, because mlp:fim is a universe where magic is both deep and wide, it's ubiquitous. It's one of the highest magic fantasy settings ever depicted.
Cutie marks are a literal representation of what makes a pony unique, which includes magical potency at their special talent.
During the Tirek episodes, when Tirek strips a pony of their magic they go glassy eyed, lose their cutie marks, and accompanying special talent as well as the natural pony magic of their race. Literally stripping a pony of what makes them unique.
However the ponies mind(or psyche to use greek terminology) remains perfectly intact.
That's pretty big evidence that magic is the soul in the Greek sense, the essential nature of a thing. I'd have argued that from call of the cutie, that magic stems from the soul in the greek sense, because well what else do you call a cutie mark other than the mark of one's essential nature?
And MLP Draws heavily on Greek mythology, though obviously that's just supporting evidence there. But is it really surprising that it uses the greek concept of the soul? (Including the soul/psyche split.)
Occams Razor here, if there's people who were using the magic of harmony long before the ponies why do the ponies have the tree?
Sweet.
Can't wait to read more.
Also. You have made me want to go and watch season 4. I had been putting it off.
Thank you for re-sparking my interest in the latter seasons of the show proper.
DUMB -- Assuming she saw Discord's signature there, Discord should actually be upset at somepony trying to frame him. OR should be upset at some upstart chaos being doing major wrongs in his kingdom. At the very least I would see Discord INSISTING to see the area she was enspelled to refute the evidence for himself.
5365052
You're attempting to apply logic to Discord's possible actions.
Stop it.
Could it be a different take on the vine incident?
I mean, back in the days Discord cast an amnesiac spell on Celestia, but it failed to overcome her and remained dormant... until Celestia lost her magic. Moreover, it makes sense to put the spell on delay until Celestia goes to sleep - either because it's easier to manipulate one's mind during sleep, or because it could be used to pin the blame on Luna. Or both.
That would explain both signature and why he claimed innocency - he simply doesn't really want to remember those days, and back then it probably was just another confrontation in a long line of them.
that was achually cute!
5365197
And what points were those? They said that Celestia and Luna's reaction to this was "bland," but it's quite obvious that the two characters are confused and frightened and that they'd be panicking if they didn't have such an important job to do. They said that there should be more "despair," "denial," and general angst over Luna's banishment, but the story specifically said that Celestia does not remember the banishment. It also shows that Luna is uncomfortable about telling her sister about the banishment, because naturally that's a touchy subject for someone to deal with when they have amnesia.
Which point do you agree with? Or do you agree with Distorted Flare's general point, which is that the reviewers (especially the ones with foul vocabularies)
should dictate how a story should go, rather than the author? Some specifics would be nice, please.
So Celestia doesn't remember Discord...meaning Discord attacked after the two Princesses were crowned. The show never gave us a specific timeline, so I'll accept that as within the realm of possibility.
I still had to wonder how Luna could wield the elements of laughter, honesty, and loyalty if she was already starting to drift away from Celestia. However, looking at the screenshots, her elements do seem to glitter a little bit less than Celestia's. Genius, that.
This is intriguing. I wonder how (or if) Sombra fits into the equation. Was the campaign against the Crystal Empire before or after Discord? Before or after the sisters' coronation? You don't have to answer me directly, I'm just expressing my interest by typing too much.
Tirek stole Mister Harbinger of Chaos' Magic. Tirek used it. Mega win for him, MEGAFAIL for them,\.
5365139
No, I am applying EGO to Discord's actions... Different thing entirely.
5365953
Actually, the Dazzlings are the only evil he deals with. Discord, Tirek, Sombra, and the Wendigos were all defeated by either the Sisters or the Founders.
And as I realized in a later post, we don't even have proof that Starswirl could travel through time, since the time spell is never referred to as his.
5364690 Twilight: "So what did Cadence think about the whole thing."
Luna: "Blast, we knew we forgot something." *sees looks of concern* "Forgot TO DO something. Spike, I need thine aid to send a missive."
5365139
Discord's actions are actually pretty logical. He's the Spirit of Chaos, not the Spirit of Nonsense.
Stealing the Elements, despite Celestia and Discord's lines in the show, made perfect sense.
5365555
Or since it appears Discord is behind her memory loss (or was at least framed), she could have forgotten that memory.
The show seems to indicate Discord ruled before the Sisters, based entirely on the wording Celestia uses. But I guess ot isn't exactly clear.
Very interesting story.
I shall follow this.
5366277
*Inability to grasp jokes incoming*
WAIT! I sense a Fluttercord disturbance in the force...
...please continue! XD
Also, yeah, I doubt it was Discord! Corruption, yes. Memory loss, no. It doesn't seem to fit his type of magic.
5366693
And yet a memory spell reversed his corruption...
5367230 It's weird, I've never seen a story that used
for quotes.
is almost always used for letters, with italics for flashbacks and other formatting for everything else.
It passed the submission process, anyway. http://www.fimfiction.net/writing-guide#Authors-notes
I hope you enjoy the story!
5366271
Starswirl explicitly had a big part in defeating Tirek. It was never specified how Tirek was defeated, but a big deal was made about how Tirek lost the assistance of Scorpan. This means that was a crucial loss for Tirek's plans.
Not every element of victory needs to involve laser beams.
That's 2 out of 6 Mythic Age Apocalyptic Beasts that Starswirl had a personal hoof in stopping. So, I correct myself: Not one half, but one third. Not bad for an old coot who invented a pottery spell.
5367845
Actually, it seemed pretty clear to me that the Sisters snapped some magical chains on him and banished him to Tartarus (since the chains are shown in the backstory and used by Discord). The big deal with Scorpan was that he tipped off the Sisters, not that he was instrumental in Tirek's plan. They most wouldn't have known what Tirek was doing or where he was without Scorpan, and Tirek would have stealthily climbed to power. It's the reason Discord was needed to track down Tirek the second time.
As for the pottery spell thing: It can always be a spell that turns stuff into lambs. Pretty awesome. Imagine if he turned Discord into a lamb, or Tirek. What if he could turn rocks into lambs, and provide Equestria with infinite wool? And there's always the off chance it was a mistake and was supposed to be omniomorphic.
5364946
But they don't lose what makes them unique. Shining Armor continues to try and defend Equestria even after being drained, Twilight continues to look for a solution in friendship, and all the Mane 6 keep their personalities (at least in the sense that the world around them is ending, that obviously affects their attitudes).
What about when Twilight was affected by poison joke? Did it disable her soul?
Maybe there are more trees elsewhere? Maybe the tree just naturally grows there, and is the only one of it's kind? Maybe because this is My Little Pony, and putting it in the Gryphon Kingdoms would be ridiculous? Just because they have a tree in the Everfree doesn't mean they invented Harmony.
5368130
Like I said, not every element of victory needs to involve laser beams (or rainbows).
My money's on Celestia wiping her own memory.
yay Fluttershy now you're chained to Chaos personified! :D you are going to have so much fun
5372097
Why? What would she have to gain from doing that?
7446715
Possibly by accident?