When Snow Falls

by Prophet Of Doom

Chapter 45: Good Question

The carriage swayed gently as the train made its way towards Ponyville. Amongst its passengers were Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Both were glum at the prospect of returning home. Tales of Ponyville being set to the torch had been murmured amongst the ponies of Canterlot, which inevitably was heard by Twilight and her friends. Guards that had been under Nightmare Moon’s spell confirmed these rumours to be true. Adding more misery to the already depressing month.
Ponies fit enough to travel back home to Canterlot and the surrounding towns did so at the earliest opportunity. Twilight, Spike and friends had joined them on one of the many trains that had departed from the Crystal Empire. The two, however, got off at Canterlot instead of continuing on to Ponyville, in order to help Celestia and Luna reestablish order but found themselves ushered onto the next train.
In the surprisingly dusty great hall of Canterlot Castle, Celestia told Twilight that she was needed most in Ponyville, especially as the stories appeared to be true.

“We’re coming up on Ponyville now,” Spike said, peering inquisitively out the window. Twilight sighed and slowly sat upright. She dared a peek out over Spike’s head, as the train cleared the last of the trees that obscured their view of the town.
Instead of the scene of deviation that she was expected, she saw Ponyville. Seemingly intact, “”Do you see any fire damage?”
“No,” Spike replied. “Maybe it happened further in town.”
A small amount of hope that had built up in Twilight was inadvertently dashed by Spike’s observation. The worrying that she had was famous for returned.
The train slowly glided into the station with a squeal of brakes. Spike jumped off his seat as Twilight stretched out, put her saddlebags back on and then followed. Leaving the carriage they both inspected the station building. Like the ones they had seen from the train, it was undamaged. They both shrugged at each other.

Instead of going straight back home, the two wandered around Ponyville. Looking for the area affected by the fire but yet they found nothing.
“So the stories weren’t true then?” Spike asked Twilight.
“Well, the buildings look fine but look at the ground.”
Twilight scraped the ground with her hoof. Spike looked at her scrape and saw that the ground and frosted grass was discoloured.
“There was a fire here,” Twilight continued. “A serious one and yet, only the ground seems to have been affected…”
“Hey, guys!!!”
The call drew their eyes skywards, to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying towards them, landing just beside them.
“Hey girls,” Twilight greeted them.
“I’m surprised to see you back so soon,” Fluttershy commented. “I Thought that Celestia and Luna would keep you busy for a while.”
“Actually, there was not much that needed to be done in Canterlot,” Twilight replied, “And with the stories of Ponyville being burnt to the ground, it was thought best that come here to help but it looks like they were false.”
“Oh no, they were true,” Dash chimed in. “Most of the buildings in Ponyville were reduced to ashes.”
Twilight and Spike looked at each other and at the pristine buildings around them. Spike scratched his chin, “Are you sure? Cause this place looks fine to me.”
“Oh, it had Spike,” Fluttershy continued. “But it was all repaired a few days after Nightmare Moon burned it all down.”
“Wait a minute. Ponyville was burnt to ashes but was restored completely in just a few days!” Twilight summarised. “Who could do that?”

In a blink of an eye and with no warning, Twilight and Spike found themselves on a brightly light stage. Each behind a podium with their names written on them. The backstage had the words ‘Guess Who’ written in bright yellow lights
“What a good question contestant number 1,” Came a booming, energetic voice. “Who could rebuild Ponyville in such a short space of time?”
Twilight looked around with mild irritation on her brow, “Discord!!!”
“Is the right answer!”
Twilight face-hoofed, releasing that she had inadvertently joined in his game. The stage she was on disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She and Spike then found themselves in Discord’s hugging arms, “It’s so good to see you guys again, I was starting to worry.”
Spike raised a sceptical eyebrow, “You were worried.”
“Well of course,” Discord protested, as self-playing violins started floating behind him and produced a harrowing tune. “When I came round to visit Fluttershy and saw most of Ponyville had become black ash, I grew really concerned at your well-being.”
“What did you do then?” Spike queried.
“I looked for you guys in town but I couldn’t find any of you guys anywhere,” -Discord transformed himself into a binoculars version of himself, which panned around- "And by the time that I was told of Nightmare Moon's return, it was already over.”

“And you rebuilt Ponyville?” Twilight asked.
“He did, Twilight,” Fluttershy beamed. “All of it.”
“Well, after I saw the faces and tears of the ponies that had returned to their destroyed homes, how could I not. It was so disheartening to see them like that.”
“But you're the spirit of chaos,” Spike pointed out. “I thought you were into this kind of thing.”
Discord gave him an off look, as if insulted, “My little dragon, what resulted here was not chaos but malice. Pure cynical malice, of the most distasteful of sorts.”
Spike looked away from his gaze. Twilight, however, stepped up to Discord with a relieved smile, “Thankyou, Discord. This means a lot to us.”
Discord physically went red, “Oh Twilight, you're making me blush.”
Twilight giggled and gave him a hug. Spike also offered his apologies.
“Don’t worry about little one,” Discord mused, levitating Spike in front of him. “I know, let's go to your home! You two must be tired from your journey.”

With a flick of his fingers, Discord teleported all of them to the entrance of Twilights castle. She and Spike eagerly inspected their home.
“It’s all in one piece!” Spike exclaimed. “Good job.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit,” Discord stated. “The tree of harmony had already repaired the outside. I just restored the interior, to the best of my knowledge anyway.”
Twilight opened the front doors and stepped inside. Everything was as she had left it, much to her surprise, “It's perfect Discord.”
Discord grinned, which drew Fluttershy’s attention.
“Well, I better get going. I promised Scootaloo that I’d see her when I got back and that was well over a week ago,” Dash announced. She gave her trademark salute and took off. The others said their good days as she soared into the sky.
Twilight and Spike stepped into their home yet, Fluttershy and Discord remained outside. She was looking at him as he looked at Dash with his mischievous smile, “Discord."
He reacted like a filly with its hoof caught in the cookie jar, “What!?! I was only going to help her along, that's all.”
“And?” -Fluttershy gave him one of her dry stares- “What else have you done?”

“DISCORD!!!”
Twilight’s shout reverberated out the castle, drawing a snigger from the spirit of chaos. This ended when he looked back at Fluttershy and got the stare.
“All I did was restock her library with some exciting books,” He explained, yet the stare remained. “And some of these books may actually be alive.”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes but returned to her stare.
“Ah you're no fun today,” -Discord folded his arms- “Fine. I’ll fix it.”
He walked towards the castle doors. Fluttershy sighed, “And here I was going to say that I’ve never been prouder of you.”
Discord stopped in the doorway and glanced back. He smiled warmly with newly found pride, before entering Twilight’s castle.