The Element of Concord

by Loyal Defender

Destiny Calls

Starlight had made her way to the park. She knew this was Loyal's favorite spot to come to after visiting Sugarcube Corner. He had become predictable to her. But the real challenge was finding him IN the park. He had many different spots he would sit at, but they were never continuously growing in numbers. She had looked in the northern, southern, and eastern parts of the park. She only had one direction left to look in. She had searched plenty of the western section. She was just about to give up when she saw Loyal sitting on a bench in front of the park statue, talking to another pony. She hid behind the statue, and waited a few minutes for the pony to leave. After Loyal offered her a drink, she left to go off and do whatever she was doing. This was her chance. She took a deep breath, stepped out from behind the statue, and approached Loyal.

"Umm, hi, Loyal! Fancy meeting you here, huh?"

"I'll say. Didn't expect you to be up this early! Special occasion, or just pure luck?"

Whichever answer she used, it wouldn't change the fact that it was nice to see Starlight during the morning. Something about her being around made things a lot better. I wasn't sure how or why. But I wasn't one to question it.

"Errr... special occasion..."

"Hmm! Mind informing me what this occasion is?"

"Well, i... I wanted to... talk to you about something..."

"Oh? What about?"

"Well, it's just..."

She took a deep breath.

"I really admire you and I feel like I connect really well with you and it's like you're this GREAT hero here in Equestria and it feels like you aren't acknowledged enough for your part in all this and I don't see how anyone can just look past that I mean hello? I'm rambling aren't I…?"

"Actually....no. You're saying the right words. I haven't been acknowledged much, have I? But you...the fact you really appreciate what I do changes that."

"Other than the statue, nopony has ever really told legends about me or even put my story in an ancient book of anything. It's like I saved everypony and they forgot in he past year. But you really do admire what I do, don't you?

"Yeah... I do."

"Honestly, Starlight...it's really nice that you feel like recognition was something I needed. I never really thought about it, but knowing you care it just...." This was a really touching moment. And I didn't commonly have those.

"All I can really say from a short but meaningful message like that is..." I knelt down into the grass and pulled Starlight into what I would call the most heartwarming embrace of my life. "Thank you. It makes me feel better knowing somepony like you fought about what I've done, and figured I'd need to get acknowledged for it.

Starlight realizing it was actually indeed sweet of her. She came all this way just to find me and tell me this. That definitely deserved some acknowledgement. And an embrace was no better way to do it.
"Heheh... oh, stop it..."

I let go of Starlight and looked at her. "Really, though, you clearly know me better than most ponies do. It's almost as if you'd been studying me, trying to find the right thing to do for me. Well, you've certainly found it. You must be proud of yourself for getting the message off of your chest."

"Have you had that message on your mind for the past few days?" I asked.

"...Kinda..."

"You do know you coulda just told me from the beginning, right?"

"...Really?"

"Sure! I would have still understood! Were you afraid I wouodnt? That I'd probably mock you?"

"Eh... yeah..."

"That's really surprising to hear. You know I care about you girls, so why would you think I'd make fun of you?"

"Residual social anxiety stemming from a failed childhood friendship catalyzing a descent into villainy which was doomed to failure at the hooves of Twilight and her friends and ultimately lead to me being a social outcast who hardly knew basic pleasantries, for one thing..." She said, with a chuckle.

"Everypony makes mistakes, Starlight. Even me. The best thing is to forgive and forget."

"Well yeah I know that now, but it's not easy for anxieties to just... GO AWAY, y'know?"

"You have me and the girls to help with that. There's not much to worry about. You're actually letting yourself worry and take control over what you do."

"Heheh... yeah..."

"I was worried trying to do anything to make a difference to fit in wouldn't work, and everypony would just see me as what they originally saw me asa threat or monster. But when I saw how kind and caring the girls were to me, I decided I wouldn't let any pony get to me, or get me down. Because of that, I was able to forget about what I would be seen as and I enjoyed my life. You can do the same, can't you?"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, appreciate who you are, and you'll go far." I said. "Don't let anything stop you from doing anything. Just like nothing will stop me from doing this." At that, I reached out, and ruffled her mane as a joke, chuckling a bit. It wasn't to be mean or anything. I just proved a point is all.

"Alright, I think I understand what you're trying to say," she said with a chuckle.

“Well, I’m happy to hear you understand, Starlight. It makes me feel a lot better, too. Now, while you’re here, why don’t you sit with me. I figured we could talk about a thing or two before I head back to the castle to plan the rest of my day, or check for any more friendship problems?”

"Alright, works for me. I don't have any plans."

"So, I'm guessing you saw the pony I was talking to before you arrived?"

"Yeah, I did actually... who was that?"

"That was Frisk. She was looking for her lost brother, a small yellow flower named Flowey."

"Her... brother's a... flower...?"

"I know, it doesn't make much sense, but...honestly, we've all seen, heard of, and dealt with weirder and crazier stuff. There was the whole 'Chrysalis taking over Equestria' thing you girls told me about, your Equality Cult, the Crystalling storm cloud disaster, there's been Midnight Sparkle, etc. Having a flower as a brother is on the lower levels of weird." I said, trying to personally imagine how a pony like Frisk could have a sibling relationship with a marigold.

"I don't think anything sounds quite as crazy as that though."

"Well, the only way it'd get any worse is if he were after something to make him powerful enough to rule over us. Because that's never happened several times before. Still, Frisk seemed pretty nice. But the interesting thing is, only she can see Chara. Admittedly, it's a little creepy."

"Come to think, if you heard anything, how much of our conversation did you hear?"

"Oh, I didn't hear anything. But it sounds like Chara's an imaginary friend...?"

"I wouldn't say imaginary. It sounds like only Frisk can see it, otherwise she'd have said 'meet my imaginary friend, Chara', or something along those lines. You think she's just a subconscious part of Frisk's mind or something?"

"Well, don't kids tend to act like their imaginary friends are real?"

"Yes, but she'd have been really making it realistic. It sounds like Chara doesn't really trust humans, though, from what I gathered."

"Really? That's strange..."

"I don't know why. I heard Frisk say 'I don't care if he is a human, we've been over this. But how in Celestia's name do they know what a human is? From what I recall, humans and pastel ponies haven't been together before. It really is strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah... that IS kind of strange, now that you mention it..."

"And I actually get a bad feeling about this Flowey character.."

"I feel like I know him somehow, even though I know I haven't met him in person..or plant-son."

"Well, what do you suppose is the worst that could happen because of him?"

"Well....I don't know. But it might be that I feel like I know him somehow, even though I know I haven't met him in person..or plant-son."

"Something strange is going on here, and I, for one, plan to get to the bottom of it all, even if it kills me. Which, considering the past events, there's a chance it will."

Starlight giggled at that. "Well, maybe you just feel that way cuz you've seen the kind of flower he looks like before?"

"Actually, no. I've seen dandelions and daisies, but never what I'm guessing is marigold."

As false as that sounded, it was true. I had never seen a marigold before in my life. Well, in person. Or plant-son.

"Hmm..."

"Still....it makes me wonder...could Frisk have.....no, that's ridiculous.."

"What? What are you thinking?"

"It made me wonder....could...could she have been a *human* being before? I mean, she knew what my kind was, and so did Chara. And no human except me has lived here for the past year with no new news of other human beings...so it might be possible that Frisk was human before."

"Well... I suppose it could be possible... But would it make sense...?"

"Yes, it would. Do you happen to know any ponies who would know a thing about humans?"

"....Well..... Twilight has this magic mirror in her castle.... She says it leads to another world, but....."

"Oh, I know what world you're talking about. I happen to have a good friend there.." I said, unknowingly blushing. "She's rather nice..."

"Y-yeah..." I said, the blush fading, thankfully. "But it's no time to discuss my.....ahem encounters. In fact, perhaps later we should talk to Twilight about Frisk, and for now, we can go see if any friendship problems have arisen?"

"Well, sounds good to me."

Afterwards, we both got up and started back towards the castle, eager to continue with whatever we (well, I, really, because Starlight didn't have anything planned) had planned. I was going to see if there were any friendship problems to resolve.

But I had the strongest feeling things would somehow go according to plan without any logical reason. I hoped that would happen for something, like Diamond being found while we discussed how we'd find her, or that I'd be sent someplace interesting for a friendship problem.

"Do you think we'll get lucky, and somehow, one of our problems will be resolved by chance without much action needing to be taken?" I asked Starlight. A pony's opinion never hurt.

"Well, it's possible. Not particularly likely, but possible."

"I hope it does. I'm mostly just hoping Diamond will be okay, and that she's not hurt or lost or anything."

I didn't say much else on the way to the castle. I couldn't stop thinking about what was happening with Diamond. So as I walked up the castle's front steps, I looked behind me, just picturing her sitting there, waiting for me to embrace her out of sheer happiness and joy. A tear or two would be shed during the moment. I cared that much for her. I didn't want anything bad to happen to my sweet, shiny gemstone of a friend.

We silently walked up the foyer stairs and into the main hall. I half expected Twilight to be in it, waiting to greet me. But if she wasn't (which was the case here), she'd be in the main throne room, sorting papers or trying to find more friendship lessons for either me or Starlight. So, upon entering the room, I cleared my throat and greeted Twilight. "Good morning to you, Twilight!"

Twilight looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Loyal! Looks like you had another good start to your day."

"I did! I managed to get up early, grab two Morning Mugs at Sugarcube Corner, had a nice conversation with Starlight, and best of all, I met a new friend named Frisk. She's very mysterious, really. And has good taste in striped clothes, from what I gather."

"Well that sounds interesting! Anything more about her?"

"Well, she has this, what I call an 'invisible' friend named Chara. But I don't think she really likes me all too much..."

"Wait, why wouldn't they like you?"

"Beats me. But Chara.....only Frisk can hear her, but based on Frisk's responses...

"I don't care that he's a human, we've been over this, and Frisk saying she's not telling me something..probably not nice...

I can gather she likely doesn't trust and/or hates humans. Isn't that terrible?"

"That's awful... I can't imagine what would've happened to make her not trust humans...."

"Yeah. I wouldn''t wanna get on her bad side. But, I *did* have quite the interesting theory about Frisk...if you're interested in hearing it. Care to hear my little....theory?"

"Well, I'm always open to hearing theories."

"So, everypony who knows, knows that for the past year, I've been the only human in Equestria. Well, I had a thought. Considering Frisk somehow knew what I was, as did Chara ,and since I've been the only human here, it was usually not impossible, but very unlikely another human would be here. And she wears a striped sweater, even though it's not sweater season, meaning she normally wears clothes, unlike a lot of ponies. So, my thought is....what if Frisk was once human?"

"Hmm.... That's.... actually really well thought out...."

"I know, I feel proud of it. But do you think it means that there is actually another human in Equestria, if not directly?"

"It's.... possible.... We'd have to ask her ourselves, though, but that topic can be hard to bring up...."

"Yeah...we should probably give her some time to settle before we ask...she might make other friends in the meantime, too. Oh, speaking of which, have any friendship problems come up yet? I've been eager to set out to resolve one!"

"Well, I haven't actually checked on the map today, but if it needs anypony, it'll let them know."

"Oh, okay! That works, then." Well, with that cleared up, there wasn't much else to do. One other thing I could do was read from my Pony Jackon novel. I did love me some mythology. So..

"Well, in that case, I'ma head back to my quarters and read until something happens. If ya need for anything, just let me know."

"Starlight, if you don't have anything planned, care to join me in my mythological fictional adventure?"

"I don't see why not."

I nodded, and waved to Twilight as I headed out of the room, with Starlight following closely behind.

I walked down the hall, and went back to my room, where Chrysalis was sitting on my bed, waiting for me. I hadn't seen her since I got back from the Everfree. I felt like practically pouncing on her in a hug, since we often did that as a joke; usually we didn't expect one another to do it, which made it kind of funny how every so often. But she had the same idea, apparently, because before I could get a running start, she engulfed me with her magic, dragging me over to her, where she tacklehugged me onto the bed.

"LOYAL, it's such a relief to see you again! You have no idea how WORRIED I was about you when you didn't return to the castle for a few days. I missed you so much. And this is coming from a bug pony who doesn't even show true feelings. Well, formerly."

".....you're crushing me."

As I sat up, pushing Chrysalis upwards and off of me, I just hugged her back. "I'm so sorry I worried you like that, Cheeselegs. But as you can see, I'm safe and unhurt."

"Well you're--didn't I tell you not to call me Cheeselegs?" Chrysalis asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Aww, come on, you know you like that nickname!"

"No, I don't. I dislike it. It just sounds stupid. But that doesn't matter. You owe me for worrying me like that."

"Would spending time reading suffice?"

"Not unless you read it with personality and make it sound realistic. I like how annoyed Twilight eventually gets with that."

"For a reformed villain, you're so evil to make me read in a way I find fun, but causes Twi to become irritated. Especially when I would do the opposite."

"I know, that's what makes it funny."

"I don't really have anything much planned for today, unless something happens, which has a decent chance."

"Well, until then, it's best you start reading. I've been eager to know what happens in Chapter Six."

"Oh, I bet. Well, get comfortable, and let's continue Percy's journey. Get comfortable if you like, Starlight. There's plenty of room on the Princess Andromeda."

Once everypony was comfortable, I began reading from the book. I opened up the bookmark, cleared my throat, and began reading.

"Ahem! Chapter Six: I Become Supreme Lord of The Bathroom. I'm not even kidding, it's actually...the chapter title is actually called that."

"Funny." Chrysalis remarked.

"After getting used to Chiron being a horse, Percy explored Camp Half Blood with whispers and pointing in his direction. As they passed the volleyball court, Percy looked back at the farm house and movement in the attic window caught his attention. Chiron denied there was anyone up there, but Percy knew better than to believe him."

Meanwhile, outside the room, Spike sighed. He had seen how she acted towards Loyal just now, and didn't really deem it....acceptable....no matter what he tried, he felt unsettled being around Chrysalis. Sometimes he felt like she was more of a ruler to Loyal than a friend. He just didn't like her being with him. Sure, she seemed reformed, but she could easily manipulate Loyal into doing her bidding. Such as reading realistically on purpose. Even if she said he owed her.

He walked back to the throne room, where Twilight was now stacking papers neatly. "Twilight, do you ever feel like Chrysalis is a bit more sinister than she was when she was evil? Personally, considering he didn't even reason with her in the other universe, he just defeated her, it's like because she hadn't had her mind and ambitions changed, she's not completely changed. She's still kind of manipulative, even rough a bit towards Loyal. Do you think we should do something about that?" Spike knew the answer Twilight would use would be the opposite of what he wanted to hear, since she probably thought they were, pardon the word, horsing around. Twilight gave most villains and reformed villains a chance. But it never hurt to ask. Even if Twilight's answer was--

"No," Twilight said. "If we don't give her a chance, she might never change. And don't forget how Discord can be, even today."

It was worth a shot, even if it was going to be worthless. "Believe me, I know. Last week, he made my mirror look like I was losing muscle each time I looked into it. But how do you know she'll even manage to change? Don't you remember what she did last year? She tried replacing all of the important ponies, including yourself! I just don't see how you can just, with difficulty, let that slide, and give her a chance."

Twilight glanced to Spike. "Spike, even if she didn't mean to, Starlight almost caused the apocalypse, and I let THAT slide."

"So, you're willing to give anypony a chance, even if they're purely evil is your point?"

"If it seems like there's even a shred of goodness inside them, why not?"

Spike just sighed. "There's just no convincing you, is there?" He really didn't any other points to make by now.

"It's tough to convince me of anything Spike."

Spike tried to think of something to easily convince her with, but came up empty clawed. "Errrr....yeah, I got nothing. But I know something's gonna happn to change your mind. You know that, right?"

"My mind is an open book, Spike. With compelling evidence, anything I thought I was sure of can be rewritten, but it's tough to do."

"So, in short, something to prove me right."

"More or less."

Well, it was worth a shot. But there was no way Twilight could have been convinced as of now. Spike would need proof to change her mind. Right now, she didn't seem convinced. But eventually she would be. All he needed was proof. But for now, priorities came first. "Hmm...well...I still have some things needing to be done around the castle, so I'll....sigh...see you in a few hours...?"

Spike didn't wait for a reply, and walked out of the room. For now, perhaps performing a few chores would take Chrysalis off of his mind. Somehow, he'd convince Twilight. Even if it meant going to extreme measures.