S4 CH 4. Value
“Tea?” Discord asked. “It only sings a little bit.”
“I’ll pass,” Moondancer said softly before lightly swimming through the air. “Are we in a dream? This feels a lot like dream walking.”
“No, no, but close enough,” Discord said with a light chuckle. “Now them, who shall we start with?”
“I still don’t know what game we’re even playing,” Moondancer said.
“Oh, you’ll like this,” Discord said. “A quiz game. But you need to make it through to the end to answer the question. So then, shall we? Which of your friends will we start with?”
“What are you going to do to them?” Moondancer asked.
“They’ll be fine, you have my word. Cross my heart, hope to cry, turn cupcakes into eyes,” Discord said innocently, a small halo appearing over his head.
Moondancer gave a soft sigh. She didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him if he didn’t let her throw him. “Fine. Bon Bon.”
“A fun choice!” He snapped his fingers and the two disappeared.
------
“I’m… I’m fine…” Bon Bon said, though she looked exhausted and hurt. She had at least a dozen cuts across her body.
“Wait, what?” Moondancer asked. “When did she… what’s THAT?”
“A shake,” Discord said, lightly drinking the straw.
“No, THAT!” Moondancer snapped, pointing towards the creature buried under what looked like a collapsed building.
“Ohhhh, a bugbear,” Discord said. “Nasty creatures, them.”
“SHE did that?” Moondancer asked. “Wait, is that how, she said it was a skiing accident!”
“Oh, and you believed her, how cute,” Discord said with a light snicker. “Ugh, right, let’s move this along.” He twirled his finger and the ponies moved faster and faster. She saw Bon Bon in the hospital, then eventually getting out though she still wasn’t fully healed. One leg was even in a sling. Things kept getting faster and faster. Bon Bon was struggling, trying to do everything herself. Even shopping seemed to be difficult for her, eventually she yelled at a pony in a super market, though it all happened so quickly that Moondancer couldn’t see what it was about.
Then Bon Bon was on the ground, gasping for air, struggling to fight off another unicorn. Around his throat was a strange talisman and his eyes were glowing a light green. She gripped his hoof with hers, struggling to fend him off. But with only one front hoof, it was a losing fight.
Then THWACK! A chunk of wood slammed into the side of the pony’s head and he dropped like a sack of bricks. Bon Bon coughed and hacked, her good hoof coming up to her throat and she gasped for air. A moment later she looked up at the pony who saved her. “W-who? What? Why? What?”
“Are you okay?” Lyra asked.
“I… I had it handled,” Bon Bon said.
“You really didn’t,” Lyra said.
“I… yeah, I guess I didn’t,” Bon Bon said before looking back up at her. “Uhhhh… I’m Bon Bon. Thanks for, um, that. Err… Lyra, right?”
“Yeah, Lyra.”
“I’m Bon Bon. Sorry for yelling at you earlier,” Bon Bon said before getting, gingerly, to her hooves and walking to the stallion. She reached out and tugged the talisman off his neck before smashing it on the ground.
“It’s, uhhh, okay. I really should have asked before just helping like that,” Lyra said sheepishly.
“Thanks for not asking this time,” Bon Bon said before giving a small smile. “Hey, uhhhh. I need to talk with the Canterlot Guard about this pony. After would you like to get a thank you drink or something?”
“I’d like that,” Lyra said. “So what was wrong with him, anyway?”
“No idea,” Bon Bon said. “Dark magic, likely. I guess I just kind of over estimated myself, huh?”
“Yeahhhhh… wait, do you mean about the bag of coffee on the top shelf or taking a stallion twice your size under the effects of some magic mumbo jumbo?” Lyra asked.
“… Both, I think,” Bon Bon said. “Both is good.”
“Wait, THAT’S how they met?!” Moondancer asked. “Why didn’t they tell me?”
“Did you ever ask?” Discord asked.
“I… well, no, but… I…” Moondancer sighed. “Is this what you wanted me to see? Are we done?”
“Yeah, more or less,” Discord said. “It gets sappier from here and, frankly, I’d prefer to avoid that. Lots of boring talk about accepting her limitations and things like that. Ugh. Character development. Who’s next?”
“Minuette, why not? At least SHE won’t be fighting monsters or ancient dark magic!”
“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Discord said before snapping her fingers.
------
Minuette grabbed her pillow and screamed into it before, finally, flinging it across the room. She then collapsed onto her bed. “I just can’t do it. I can’t I can’t I can’t!”
Moondancer blinked a few times before glancing over at Minuette’s desk. She trotted over and then let out a soft gasp when she saw the homework strewn across it. “I… I remember this assignment.”
“Oh. You remember your homework. What a surprise,” Discord said in a tone that borderline screamed that he wasn’t surprised.
Moondancer rolled her eyes before looking over the paper. “I don’t understand, why’s she so upset? She’s done it. Heck, most of her answers are even correct.”
“They’d kill me,” Minuette said before walking through her and picking up the homework. “Maybe if I started to fail?”
“FAIL? Intentionally?! Minuette, no!” Moondancer yelled. “Is, is that what happened? Is that why you left Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? I-I thought--”
Once again everything started going faster and faster. Then Minuette was in the hall, talking with a younger Moondancer.
“Can you believe it?” the young Moondancer asked. “Isn’t the time leap theory absolutely fascinating?”
“Hm? Oh. Yeah, right,” Minuette said. “Absolutely fascinating.”
“Ohhh, I remember that,” Moondancer said. “We were talking about time magic theory, but she just kept focusing on that mare with the braces. Heh, silly now that I think about it. I thought she had a crush on her.”
“Oh?” Discord asked. “So this memory is a romantic one too? Gag.”
“No,” Moondancer said before rolling her eyes. “This is about Minuette leaving the school and becoming a dentist, isn’t it?”
Discord paused before flipping through reality to the end, then coming back. “Apparently, yes.”
“I don’t see why it was such a big deal,” Moondancer said. “She seemed pretty happy with it.”
“Let’s see then, why don’t we?” Discord asked before time sped up once again. They were in the unicorn’s room again, Minuette pacing back and forth.
“O-okay, mom, dad. I know you want me to grow up and become some great time mage. I mean, it’s why my cutie mark means, right?” Minuette asked. “And I have that spell, so it only makes sense. I mean, I’ve spent the last… I’ve spent my whole life working towards it, didn’t I? So it’s the only thing that makes sense, right? It’s… what I have to be. It’s… ughhhhh!” The unicorn jumped on the bed and banged her head against the pillows a few times. “Stupid, stupid! You’re supposed to convince them to let you do this! Not make them want you to stay!” She took a slow, deep breath and tried again.
“Okay, mom, dad, I know I’ve been at Celestia’s school for years and I have learned a lot. I’ve made great friends and I know more about magic than I ever wanted to know. But I don’t think being a mage is in my future. I want to become a dentist. Teeth fascinate me. I know it’s weird, but I really want to focus on oral hygiene. Yes, I know it’ll set me back a few years and not everything I’ve learned will transfer over. But I think it’s what’s best for me. No. I know it’s what’s best for me. It’s what I’m passionate about.”
“Oh, if you’re sure, dear,” a voice said from behind her, making her jump. She whipped around to see her mother in the doorway. “By the way, dinner’s done. You should come and get it before it gets cold.”
“W-wait, what?” Minuette asked. “Do… do you mean that? Not the dinner, but the transfer? You’re… okay with it?”
“Of course, dear,” her mother said with a laugh. “We only want what’s best for you.”
Minuette blinked a few times, tears welling up in her eyes before she got to her hooves and ran off, giving her mother a big hug. “T-thank you, mama. T-thank you… s-so much!”
Moondancer just stared, tears welling up in her eyes. “I never… noticed that Minuette was… struggling so much with all of that. I thought she… just one day she said she was going to become a dentist and that was that. I never…”
“You ponies do tend to have a tendency to blow things out of proportion, don’t you?” Discord asked before snickering. “Can you believe she spent weeks agonizing over how to tell her parents, only to have them overhear? How pathetic was that?”
“Yeah, I guess we do tend to… over do it sometimes,” Moondancer said, though her eyes were locked on Minuette and her mother. “Can we… go… to the next one, please? Just… I don’t care who. Please.”
------
A filly Lyra was giggling as she trotted into her home, two other unicorns behind her. “Moooom, I’m home!” she called out. “My friends came over! Mom?”
“Oh, honey,” a voice called down the stairs. “Your friends? They…” there was hushed mumbling from up the stairs before she called down again. “They can stay until dinner, okay? But then they need to go home. Your father and I need to talk with you.”
“Yeah, skipping that,” Discord said before twirling his finger through the meal. After it, however, Lyra was sitting on the couch with her mother.
“So, you know what your father does is very important, right?” her mother asked.
“Of course, mommy,” Lyra said. “He plays for a band!”
“An orchestra, but yes,” her mother said. “But, well… you see a great opportunity has come up and we can’t pass this up.”
“Huh?” Lyra asked.
“We’re moving to Manehatten,” she finally said, almost spurting it out. “Now, I know this is a big change, but you’ll get used to it, I’m sure.”
“But… but what about school? What about my friends?” Lyra asked.
“You’ll go to a new school, make new friends,” her mother said.
“This one is about her moving?” Moondancer asked. “I already knew about that. She--”
“Yes, yes, but that’s not the point, is it?” Discord asked before he started fast forwarding it again. Moondancer sighed.
But it wasn’t long before it became clear. The first time they’d moved Lyra had cried. The second time, she’d full on bawled. The third she’d thrown a tantrum.
By the fourth she didn’t even question it or object. She didn’t have any friends anymore. The fifth she just kind of shrugged. Then Lyra was, finally, in Canterlot. Quiet, reserved, almost hidden away from everypony.
Until Minuette reached out to her.
Lyra turned her down, refused to even try. But that had been something she’d always loved about Minuette. She wouldn’t force you, but she’d try enough times. Even if you were scared, she’d keep offering the hoof until you took it and gave it a chance.
Moondancer felt another niggling wound in her own heart. She’d been a lot the same way. Nervous. Scared that the ponies around her would leave her. She knew how hard it could be to open yourself up to them. Minuette had managed to even make her believe that, maybe, she was worth it.
Unlike her, though, Lyra had the courage to eventually fully take that plunge. To open herself up to those ponies. Moondancer hadn’t been there, she’d likely been studying for some test. But Minuette, Lemon and Twinkleshine had been there. When the unicorn had cried her heart out and told them how scared she was that she’d lose all her friends again.
Moondancer pulled back a little bit. “Why are you making me watch this?”
“It’s not my idea,” Discord said. “Take it up with the tree. I’m just playing the role of guide in this one.”
“Is this a punishment? Because I wasn’t good enough? My friends hurt, okay? They hurt, they suffered, they needed a pony to be there for them and it was NEVER me! Okay? I was a terrible friend! I was a terrible student! I was a terrible sister! I’m a terrible pony! Are you happy?!”
Discord snapped his fingers again.
------
“STOP THIS!” Moondancer yelled. “I get it, I NEVER HELPED--”
“Didn’t you, though?” Discord asked.
“What are you--” Moondancer stopped when she realized where they were. The screaming. The walls tinted red. The fire. “O-oh no. Please no.”
“Ohhhhh yes,” Discord said, his paws rubbing together in excitement.
Moondancer turned around and she saw it. Twinkleshine. The young unicorn, practically still a filly. Staring up at the massive red, bipedal monster made of flame. A single massive eye in the center of its massive head.
Twinkleshine was staring at the monster.
Finally, it let out a roar and slammed a fist down. A whip of fire formed, slashing a red hot gash across the tile.
Twinkleshine shrieked and started flipping through her summoning books. “E-everypony stop panicking! It’s fine! It’s fine!”
“No no no!” Moondancer said softly, giving a light whimper and her cheeks turning red.
“I have it under control!” Twinkleshine yelled. A moment later the whip slashed through one of the doors, cleaving it in half.
Moondancer felt shame wash over her. A moment later a younger her, barely older than a filly herself, barged into the room and yelped when she saw the monster. It had turned away, giving her the opportunity she’d needed. Its whip raised high…
She galloped forward and tapped the summoning circle with her horn. A simple reverse summoning spell. Even she could do it at that age. She’d been so proud of herself. For a second. She’d really thought she’d ran in and done something good. Useful. Helpful. For once.
“I had it under control!” Twinkleshine snapped at her.
Any pride she’d had was shattered in that moment. The younger Moondancer froze in place, the smile falling from her lips. “W-what? I thought--”
“I could have done that! I knew what I was doing! I didn’t need anypony else’s help!” Twinkleshine snapped at her.
The younger Moondancer took a small step back. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry. I was just trying to help. I--”
“Nopony wants your help! Nopony NEEDS your help!” Twinkleshine snapped.
The young Moondancer quivered for a moment before, very slowly, her head lowered and she turned to leave. “I… I’m sorry.” She fled the room almost as quickly as she’d come, trying to escape before they saw the tears.
Once she was out of the room, however, things changed. “That wasn’t very nice,” Minuette said.
“What?” Twinkleshine asked. “I had it--”
“Oh, you definitely did not,” Minuette said. “How did you even SUMMON that?”
“I don’t… know,” Twinkleshine said softly. “But I didn’t need her to just butt in. She--”
“She saved all of us and then you yelled at her!” Minuette said. “… Also, where’s our teacher?”
“I… I think she fainted,” Lemon said. “We… we should get the principal.”
“Awwww, you ruined all the fun,” Discord said.
“That wasn’t fun,” Moondancer said softly. “I… helped?”
“You got rid of a fire demon, possibly saving a bunch of school ponies from a rather amusing, if gruesome, end and you ask if you helped?” Discord asked.
“I-I mean, she was so mad. I just thought she had it… handled,” Moondancer said softly.
The world sped up again and a moment later the younger Moondancer and Twinkleshine were standing in front of each other. “I ummm… I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Twinkleshine said sheepishly. “I was just… really upset that I messed up that spell so badly. Thank you for saving us. Really.”
Moondancer blinked a few times. “I… remembered it differently in my head.”
“Oh? How did you remember it?” Discord asked. “Wait, let’s see.” He snapped his fingers.
Once again the two young ponies were standing across from each other. “Gee, I’m sooooo sorry I yelled at you,” Twinkleshine said before rolling her eyes, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “I was just really upset that YOU messed up my spell. Thanks for saving us. Really.”
“Geez,” Discord said before shaking his head. “Even I can’t mock something that pathetic. I mean, I can and I will, but I might almost feel bad for it. Shall we move onto the last one?”
“So I did help though, right? I was… I mean… this was kind of why they started… I thought it was just out of pity because I didn’t really have any other friends,” Moondancer said softly.
“Likely both, even I almost feel a bit of pity for you at this point and I’m the Lord of Chaos,” Discord said before readying to snap his fingers. “One more to go and we can get through this gag inducing clip show. Ugh.”
------
Lemon grinned as she walked into the building. Dozens of other ponies were moving around, filling envelopes, signing paperwork, delivering--
“NO!” Discord said, the memory turning gray and getting a big red X across it. “If you wanna do sappy first meetings? Fine. If you want to do cutesy wutesy origins? Fine. Even over dramatic and floofy ‘Oh woe is me, I have no friends because I move all the time’ bleghness, whatever. But I draw the line at, ugh, politics.”
“What did you expect?” Moondancer asked.
“She organizes parties!” Discord said.
“Political parties,” Moondancer said. “Fundraisers, things like that. She’s not Pinkie.”
“Ughhhhhhh… Fine. But we’re doing it my way. It will make this whole thing less bland and boring. And slightly less repetitive.”
“And what exactly is your--” A moment later everything disappeared to be replaced by a very confused looking puppet cart. On the background were a bunch of papers with the words ‘boring’ and ‘annoying’ written on them. A small yellow sock puppet popped up a moment later.
“Oh yay! I get to work for this pony who for one reason or another I always admired and think his method is, for some reason, better than others that nobody REALLY cares about but they all pretend they do at cocktail parties.”
“First of all,” Moondancer said. “His name was Silvertongue and his ideas were… sound. But, well…”
“Are you telling this story, or are the puppets?” Discord asked before tossing some popcorn into his mouth.
“Ugh,” Moondancer said before rolling her eyes.
“Oh nooooo,” the sock puppet said. “Despite what I thought, it turns out that Silverflank’s--”
“Silvertongue’s,” Moondancer corrected.
“Whatever’s goals were all a big lie all along! None of the things he promised or agreed to try are actually happening! Oh no, what should I do?” the sock puppet asked.
Moondancer froze, her mouth falling open. “Wait, what?”
Another sock puppet came onto the stage. “Listen here, Lemonlime--”
“Lemon Hearts,” Moondancer corrected.
“Whatever!” Both the sock puppets said at once. “Listen here. If you tell anypony about this, you’ll never be touched by anypony in this line of work again. Do you hear me?”
“Oh nooooo,” the Lemon sock puppet said. “I better sing a sad song about the struggles of finding out that the person and organization I used to admire isn’t just wrong, it is actively bad and causing untold damage to ponies across Equestria. How bad could it possibly be? Oh, woe is me. But, I know. If I talk to my friends about this, surely THEY will be able to guide me on the correct path!”
“Lemon… never talked to me about any of this,” Moondancer said softly.
“Hmmm?” Discord asked. “Let’s see why.”
“Oh, err, ummm, Moondancer? Can I ask you something?” Lemon puppet asked.
A moment later a yellow, ratty sock puppet with her mane rose up. “I’m a little busy right now, Lemon. I’ve got to get this report filed, not to mention I’m working on this research assignment for Princess Celestia’s upcoming meeting with the griffon ambassador. On top of that I need to figure out just how much I can drain the fun out of fireworks so I can ensure that everything around the world is boring and dry as my studies.”
“I was not!” Moondancer said, her cheeks burning. “We had a meeting with the yaks and we were trying to find a safe way to use fireworks WITHOUT creating an avalanche!”
“As the sock puppets said, boring,” Discord said with a light chuckle. “Pop corn?” he asked, offering the small, brown snacks to her. She nervously took one and gave it a lick. It tasted like buttery soda. It didn’t turn her into a canary, though, so it wasn’t as bad as she’d worried.
“But fine, I get it,” Moondancer said. “I was a terrible friend.”
“You know, it’s not just about you,” Discord said. “Usually it’s about me. But I digress.”
He snapped his fingers.
“I just… don’t know what to do,” Lemon puppet said. “I tried singing a song and wallowing in my misery, that did nothing. I talked to my friends, but their suggestions are scary. I’ve always dreamed of working for this, because I am a bland, boring pony who’s only motivation is working for a political organization.”
“That’s not fair!” Moondancer said, glaring at Discord. “She didn’t want to work for them! She wanted to HELP ponies!”
“You say tomato, I say boring--” Discord said before getting cut off.
“That’s right, I do want to help ponies!” Lemon puppet said. “They may be wrong, but those goals ARE noble! It doesn’t matter if they refuse to follow through on them! Even if I never get another opportunity to work in my dream job, I won’t let them taint the kind of pony I want to be! I’ll stop them and work in my own way to make up for what they’ve done!”
Discord rolled his eyes, but held his tongue.
“That’s right, little sock Lemon!” Moondancer said firmly. “And you… oh. Wait. Does that mean that… Lemon was behind… Why Silvertongue just dissolved the…”
“And then I never worked in politics again, yayyyy! Instead I got to organize political parties in Canterlot,” Lemon said. “Which is only slightly less boring!”
“I never knew that, either,” Moondancer said softly. “Is that… was that the point of this? The test? To show I was just a terrible friend? That--”
“No, not particularly,” Discord said. “These weren’t insights into you, Moondancer. You weren’t even involved in one of them.”
“Yes, but I was a terrible friend in all of them,” Moondancer said softly.
“Still, not the point,” Discord said. “You nerdy types really can be thick, can’t you? The point, my little wannabe student, was to see the moments that helped make them the ponies they are. The things that helped them become the ponies they were… when this happened.” He snapped his fingers once more.
------
Moondancer wilted when she saw herself. Kneeling down by the five Elements of Harmony. Her horn glowing when she tried, desperately, to make them spark. Nightmare Moon suddenly appearing in front of her.
She watched helplessly when she was thrown away from them, skidding along the floor. That moment of triumph when the Elements started to spark… only to go dim.
Then when Nightmare Moon shattered them. “You little foal. Did you truly believe you could defeat us?” the ruler asked. “Now you will never see your princess or your sun. The night will last forever!”
She’d failed. She’d failed in every meaning of the word. She could hear her friends approaching. But it didn’t matter.
The Elements were destroyed. She had failed. Everypony had depended on her. Everypony had trusted her.
Moondancer had let them down. Just like she always did. She collapsed to the ground, covering her face with her hooves and giving a soft, pathetic sob. None of them should have ever been her friend. She’d never deserved it. They’d deserved so much better than her.
“That’s it?” Discord asked. “That’s truly your answer? After everything, that’s what you take away from this?”
“What else is there?” Moondancer asked, not opening her eyes. “I failed. In the end, they’d trusted me. They’d come for me. They’d BELIEVED in me and I let them down. Just like--”
“Enough of this!” Discord said, tossing his popcorn away. “You’re ruining my fun. We’ve seen what made your friends the way they are. Now, why don’t we see what made you the way YOU are?” He snapped his finger.
------
Moondancer went entirely still. She couldn’t even breath. She was on stage. Overhead there was a great glass moon. She, a far, far younger her, was adjusting one of the ropes. Her sister, not much older than she was at the time, was reading over the script. Her mother and father were in the stands, watching the final rehearsal.
“N-no,” Moondancer said. “P-please, by Celestia no. Please no.”
“What?” Discord asked. “A play? That’s it?”
“P-please, don’t, don’t, stop it, don’t, don’t watch! STOP THIS!” Moondancer screamed.
Discord chuckled before shaking his head. “Oh, no I’ve got to--”
“AGH!” Moondancer screamed before she fled. She galloped as quickly as she could, running as far, far away as she could. Struggling to ignore the sounds that had haunted her years for so many years. She just ran and she ran and she ran. She didn’t know how long she ran, though she was certain if she was in the real, waking world she’d have passed out from exhaustion. At least, she would have once. Perhaps the earth pony in her would have meant she didn’t.
But she kept running, trying to escape. Trying to get away from it. Trying to escape the one thing that, no matter how desperately she longed to, she could never be free from.
Despite her running, she heard it. The giddy, excited screaming of a filly who just got her cutie mark.
Followed by the frantic, terrified screaming of everything going wrong in every possible way. The shattering of glass. The tearing of ropes. The crunching of metal.
Moondancer just kept running, kept trying to escape it. Kept trying to flee. But nopony could escape their cutie mark. Nopony could escape what they were. Their destiny. Some ponies were destined for greatness, for achievements. For making the world sing and dance and swirl.
She was destined to never be enough.
Far, far too late the world around her began to fade away.
Moondancer was left in an endless, hollow void. “W-well?” she asked. “Discord? Where are you? A-aren’t you going to come and mock me? A-aren’t you going to tell me h-how terrible I am? Aren’t you g-g-going to laugh at me? Tell me h-how funny all that was? WELL?” she yelled, the tears flowing down her face so much they blurred her vision. “A-aren’t you going to say something? Aren’t you… g-going to… mock me… o-or… or yell… or t-tell me how… terrible… I am? H-how I never… never s-should have been d-depended on?”
She finally collapsed onto her stomach and rested her head on her hooves. “D-Discord? Are you… t-there? Aren’t you going to s-say something? Please… please… s-say something. M-mock me. Scold me. Insult me. T-tell me I d-deserved it all. Just please…”
“S-say something,” Moondancer begged, but she was greeted by silence.
“DISCORD!” Moondancer screamed. “SAY IT! SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT! JUST SAY IT! Say I deserve it! Say everything that happened is my fault! Say that Nightmare Moon is what I deserve! Say that I was the wrong pony for the job! SAY THAT CELESTIA WAS WRONG! WHY WON’T YOU SAY IT? SAY I WASN’T IMPORTANT! SAY I NEVER HAD ANY VALUE! THAT NOPONY SHOULD, COULD, EVER LIKE ME AND WANT TO BE MY FRIEND! SAY THE ELEMENTS COULD HAVE NEVER RESPONDED TO ME!”
Moondancer looked around the void but there was nothing. No laughing draconequus. No mockery. No angry Nightmare Moon. Nothing. She collapsed again and sobbed into her hooves, the tears flowing again.
“Just say I’m a monster,” Moondancer said softly. “Just please. Please. Say it. Celestia put all of her hope into t-the hooves of a useless, pathetic pony. The Elements didn’t respond to me because I… I never was worthy of being a friend. All I ever did, all I’ve ever done, is hurt the ponies by me. All I’ve ever done is stand in their way. The Elements knew it just as well as I did. I just… was too scared to admit it. To realize it. T-thank you… Discord. Y-you’re right. I… I need to--”
Her words were stopped by a paw to her lips. Discord stared down at her. He opened his mouth to speak, only to stop himself and sigh. “I… don’t… do… that. Any of… that. Comfort isn’t my strong suit,” he said. “You’ve failed this test. But… I think I’m beginning to see what the Tree of Harmony means.”
“W-what?” Moondancer asked. “W-wait, f-failed? Again? W-what does that--”
“It means… nothing happened, Moondancer,” Discord said before snapping his fingers.
------
Moondancer groaned, slowly opening her eyes. Around her, her friends slowly opened their eyes as well, giving confused and disoriented groans.
“I feel like I just went three rounds with that cragadile,” Lyra said before shaking her head.
“Huh?” Moondancer said. Everything hurt. Her head especially. She reached up and then frowned. Was she crying? She wiped her eyes for a moment.
“The tree!” Bon Bon said.
“W-what?” Moondancer said before turning to see. True enough, the tree was there. The vines were gone. They’d done it. She didn’t know how, but they’d done it.
“You know,” Minuette said. “It’s dusk now. If we camp out here for the night, we can head back in the morning. We’ll still get back almost a full day ahead of schedule. Maybe we could make her royal highness swallow her words after all.”
“I… I guess,” Moondancer said, though her eyes were locked on one thing in particular. A six point star. Twilight’s cutie mark.
“What’s wrong?” Twinkleshine asked.
“Just… Twilight’s cutie mark,” Moondancer said, pointing at it. “It’s on the tree.”
“… It’s a six point star,” Bon Bon said. “In our group alone there are two ponies with star cutie marks. You have four point, Twinkleshine has five point. Stars make up about a tenth of the cutie marks in Equestria.”
“Besides, if you’re going to go for something that vague,” Lyra said before motioning down the tree. “Your cutie mark is on it too.”
“What?” Moondancer asked before glancing down towards a sun and moon marking. “I mean, those are obviously Princess Celestia and… Nightmare Moon’s marks and ummm… okay, point.”
“No need to overthink everything,” Bon Bon said with a light snicker. “Six elements, six point star. Come on, let’s get a camp setup. I don’t wanna go through these woods in the dark a second time.”
“Me either,” Moondancer said, though she cocked her head to the side and stared at the tree. She felt she was forgetting something important. Something… terrible.
“Moondancer, come oooooon,” Minuette said. “We could really use some of that all around versatile ‘I studied half the magic books the school had’ princess’ prized student magic for this!”
“What? Oh, right! Coming!” Moondancer said before turning and trotting away from the tree.
Once she was gone Discord appeared and laid down on one of the branches of the tree. “I think it’s safe to say I won our little bet,” he said. “Hm? Why? Because she failed.” The spirit gave a light snort. “Oh, you can’t be serious. Me, the Spirit of Chaos, feeling pity over that? Don’t make me laugh. I just didn’t want to listen to her spend the next two years whining and moping about how nopony could ever love her. Push came to shove and she gave up. Such a drama queen.”
Discord gave a little snort and a small, malevolent smirk formed on his lips. “Well, I can’t deny a part of me is tempted to give her hometown a little… visit. But only for the most dastardly of chaotic endeavors, I assure you. What? Getting soft? Me? Ugh, you must be suffering root rot. You’ve grown delusional in your old age. It’s the crystal, you know. Crystals make horrible minds, even magic ones. Besides, if we’re going to talk about going ‘soft’, you’re the one trusting me to help. Hm? Us, friends? Please. We all know I’m only in this for the tea and laughs. Speaking of, did I ever tell you the one about the oak and the princess? Why, it’s downright tree-sonous.”
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in the sense of "Only a few chapters left."? earlier you said that the 4th season will be the last for this story. But at the moment there are still too many unfinished storylines and the final is not yet visible on the horizon. How can you complete a story in a few chapters without breaking it off in mid-sentence?
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No no, only a few chapters left of the opening arc. Like, the first two episodes of a season, basically.
Poor Moondancer. Thank goodness Discord is showing his soft side. I think HE kinda failed the test there - he definitely did not help matters along AT ALL. Too bad Moondancer won't remember the correct version of events from when she helped her friends as a filly, though. I think that alone would help her understand her value a little better, separated from whatever disaster that was. I'm interested to see it and hopefully see her get some healing. Also, despite them not TECHNICALLY solving the problem themselves, I look forward to Nightmare Moon having to follow through on her promise to let them see each other and give a (hopefully GOOD) reward to Moondancer.
Which episode of the series are you referring to when you say Moondancer's episode?
Also, can we get the source of that song? Thanks.
Ooh shoot, poor poor moondancer. World's largest violin for someone who can't quite wrap their head around how they have done good in the world