Old Mare Luna

by Leondude

Chapter 4 - Acquaintances

Soon afterwards, Luna and Discord made their way to Griffonstone Station, only to find it was a burnt wreck of what it once was. Their hopes of catching a train from Griffonstone all the way to Baltimare where they can walk to the Badlands from there were dashed when they noticed a busted-up train covered in soot with a big gaping hole in the engine.

"Well..." Discord said while stretching "How about we rest here and continue our journey tomorrow, whenever that is."

"I believe we’ve already had enough rest after that encounter with the lava demons."

"Suit yourself. Just don't complain when you get leg and hoof cramps."

And so Luna followed the train track all the way to the Crystal Empire. As she made her way, the skies eventually became clearer to the point where it almost resembled morning. After spending what felt like hours sleeping, Discord woke up and decided to have a little chat with Luna to pass the time.

"So...how's life been treating you?"

"I have seen better days but I feel like it is an improvement in comparison to my banishment to the moon,” Luna replied. “How about you?"

"Just between you and me, I think Grogar and his underlings should have killed me."

"How so?"

"I have my reasons, some of which are too painful to talk about at the moment, but the number one reason is because I consider it an insult that they spared me, like I was less of a problem in comparison to the Elements and their friends! Starlight Glimmer and Trixie got taken out within the first hour but they basically ignored me! Was it because I used to be an enemy to the Elements or was it because they think I'm a joke? Hello, I can rip the fabric of reality, people! Or I did up until a certain encounter. But apart from that, they didn't call me the spirit of chaos and disharmony for nothing, you know!"

"Regarding that 'certain encounter', if you were so powerful, explain how Tirek managed to take your magic away?"

Discord shrugged. "Sometimes, things happen."

As Luna walked forward, she noticed crowds of helmet-wearing crystal ponies patrolling the Empire. The design of the helmets looked exactly like the ones Sombra used for his mind-controlled forces but with a few key differences, the most notable being a pair of black metal horns that almost resemble those of a ram. Their helmets were also a blue tint in colour instead of the dark grey Sombra's helmets had, and their eyes were glowing yellow instead of green. Luna quickly pulled her hood over her head to avoid gathering attention. Discord meanwhile just grabbed the map from Luna and used it to hide his face. As Luna looked around while walking to her destination, she noticed some ponies who were not under Grogar's control selling figurines and memorabilia of the princesses and their allies.

"Discord," Luna whispered.

"Yeah" Discord said.

"Does it seem unusual that there are ponies selling memorabilia of Grogar's enemies?"

"True, but if it keeps the populace in line and if there's money to be made, he turns a blind eye to it."

"I see."

Luna then faced forward before a unicorn ran up in front of her. The unicorn had a small red moustache and a white coat, along with a pair of blue eyes.

"Ah Discord, my old friend!" the pony said excitedly, facing Discord all the while "It's me, Flibberty! I believe you helped me and my brother Gibbit con some of Grogar's forces out of their hard earned bits. Well, if you consider money pillaged from these poor unfortunate folk as 'hard-earned'."

"Shh!" Discord said while pulling the map down from his face "Could you keep it down? Luna and I are trying to be inconspicuous! Do you have any idea what Grogar would do to us?"

"My apologies, Discord. Anyhow, did you get the message from Praiseworth?"

"What message?"

"I'll take that as a no. So, what brings you to this fine empire of ours? Well, not actually ours, per se, but you know what I mean."

"Nothing much. Luna and I are just heading to the Badlands, we were merely just passing through. Although I suppose a quick pit-stop wouldn't kill us."

"Splendid! Praiseworth's in the garage. I'll lead you there," Flibberty trotted back towards the town.

"Who's Praiseworth?" Luna asked Discord as they followed Flibberty.

"Just somepony who helped me through a tough time. Then I helped her through a tough time."

"Might I ask what that 'tough time' was?"

"For me or for Praiseworth?"

"Whichever one you want to start with first."

"Would you believe me if I told you I once spent half a century as a marriage counsellor?" Discord asked.

"Given your nature, no."

"I won't deny my methods are unorthodox and I have had the odd complaint, but I'll have you know that I had a 100% success rate."

Discord then quickly pulled the map back up to continue hiding his face as he noticed one of Grogar's mind-controlled minions staring at him and Luna. However, the minion did nothing and walked in a forward direction away from them. As Luna continued following Flibberty, she noticed a line of ponies chained up and being forced to carve crystal statues as Grogar's cronies look on. As she continued walking, she also noticed broken statues of King Sombra made out of black crystals, then a statue of Grogar displaying Sombra's head while wearing the fallen king's cloak and armour. They then finally made it to Praiseworth's garage, where an Earth pony with a brown coat and a black mane with hazel eyes was working on a motorized carriage. In contrast to the rest of the Crystal Empire, the garage was not made of crystal but of marble walls painted beige. There were also machine parts everywhere and a toolbox next to the Earth pony, along with the motorized carriage the pony was working on being hooked up in the corner. The Earth pony noticed the travellers Flibberty brought with him and walked up to them. She then pulled down the map from Discord's view and struck him across the face.

"I'm not sure I really deserved that," Discord said, a little disoriented as a result of the slap.

"Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it, Discord?" The earth pony said.

"What do you mean?"

"You giving my husband and daughter ideas about being heroes."

"I don't think I remember that. I remember having drinks with him but that's just it. Everything else is a blur."

"And now they're off on a crusade to take down the rulers of these lands, starting with Chrysalis!"

And at that moment, Discord suddenly remembered having a laugh and a pint of cider with Praiseworth's husband, Settler. They were at a saloon in Appleloosa, which was filled with ponies all wearing fake smiles lest they want to face Cozy Glow's wrath. While most beverages in Cozy Glow's territory are alcohol-free, Discord managed to sneak some booze in.

---

"Now this is real cider!" Settler said while laughing.

"Of course it is! I just snapped my fingers and now we're drunk!" Discord said while hiccuping.

While Discord was downing a big barrel of cider, Settler had a look at the other patrons.

"You know what would be nice, Discord. If you could just snap your fingers and make everything normal again."

"I don't know if I could do that. Last time I tried being normal, I nearly faded from existence."

Both drunkards had a hearty laugh and a sigh before Discord hanged his head low and solemnly stared at the bar they're sitting at. Settler seemed to pick up on Discord’s melancholy and began to feel a tinge of concern.

"You still miss her, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. That pegasus you liked. The one that made you go from being a tyrannical overlord of chaos into one of the greatest friends I ever had. What was her name? Butterfly? No, that's not it. Ah, Fluttershy! That's the one."

A tear rolled down Discord's cheek as he reminisced about the good times he had with Fluttershy. He honestly thought her and their friends could have handled it the same way they handled every other time Equestria was in peril. And the worst part of it is he could have done something to prevent it. But he didn't. Equestria's heroes are dead and it's all his fault. Then Settler put a hoof on Discord's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry, man. Guy-to-guy, if I was separated from Praiseworth, I don't know what I'd do as well."

"Do you really consider me one of your friends?" Discord said while looking at Settler, his eyes starting to water.

"Of course I do! You saved my marriage. Sure, there were some bumps along the way but, in spite of your name, you sure know how to solve disagreements between ponies rather than cause them."

Settler and Discord then hugged and continued to drink their cider.

"Hey" said Settler "I got a crazy idea and I know you'll be with me on this one."

"Go on."

"Flurry Heart and I are thinking we should set up our own superhero group or something like that to take back Equestria. Since she thinks that Chrysalis killed her birth parents, she wants to avenge them. And once we've done that, we take out the other baddies."

"Are you sure? Even if she's adopted and an alicorn, I don't think Praiseworth would be happy about Flurry Heart taking on all those villains. Celestia and Cadence have been dead for centuries, and I don't think one alicorn is enough to take them down."

"Well, I already know that! That's why I'm suggesting we form a team, just like the element bearers of old. What do you say? Sounds like a good idea?"

Author's Note:

In case any of you readers are wondering, yes, Flibberty and Gibbit are descendants of the Flim Flam brothers. Guess the apple doesn't really fall far from the tree, even if that tree has been planted centuries ago and is stone dead at this point.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention regarding the previous chapter. The lava demons and their leader Lavan are based on villains from G1. Just a little trivia for all of y'all.

Comments

[DmitriTheWriter]

Celestia and Cadence have been for centuries, and I don't think one alicorn is enough to take them down."

Have been what? Hiding under a rock? Banished to the Antarctic? I thought they were supposed to be dead.

Also, you should probably separate your flashback from the rest of the scene, like with one of these lines.

---

Or perhaps some italics.

Just some things to keep in mind.

[Leondude]

9630877
Since you're the editor for this story, shouldn't you have noticed that mistake before I published the chapter instead of pointing it out after I have published it?

Anyway, thanks for the advice and congratulations on your story, No Order In The Court, being popular enough to show up on the main page (or mane page I should say).

[DmitriTheWriter]

9630891
I thought I did fix the first thing; that's why I pointed it out. As for the flashback thing, yeah you got me there. My bad.

Also, thanks! I'm glad that Knighty/the algorithm/whoever's responsible for adding to the featured page liked it.

[Hippsterboy456]

So is Cozy Glow still alive or is she long gone

[Leondude]

9631681
Still alive surprisingly. But I won't be going into any details regarding how she is still alive. You'll have to wait a long time until you get some answers to that one. Trust me, it's a doozy.

[Zapper Frost]

"Well, I already know that! That's why I'm suggesting we form a team, just like the element bearers of old. What do you say? Sounds like a good idea?"

Heck no........ LETS DO IT!

[Leondude]

9637105
Now I wish I had Discord say that to Settler.

The things people think of when skunk drunk (although you should see the things I think of when sober, which is 95% of the time, surprisingly).

[Emperor Grogar]

...... The story you created of me taking inspiration from Sombra and using his mind altering helmets is totally ridiculous!
And apparently exactly the kind of thing i needed to read right now. I mean, i love it.

[Leondude]

9760908
Well, if it keeps your subjects in line.

Also, glad you like the story.