Discord Between the Worlds

by Bronyxy

6 No Stone Unturned

“Well Discord” said Celestia once they had arrived at the site of the Grand Galloping Gala, “Care to give it a try?”
He rubbed his chin and focused hard on the floor, clearly thinking about something.
“May I?” he enquired absent-mindedly, deeply locked into his train of thought.
“What …?” had barely left her lips, sensing his question to be complete although he had given no hint what it was he actually wanted.
“Thank you” he acknowledged and suddenly a row of flagstones levitated themselves nine feet in the air.
“Ah ha!” he cried triumphantly as the displaced flagstones suddenly rearranged themselves into a passable replica of Stonehenge, revealing a gully under the floor.

“What have you found?” asked Celestia, overlooking the neat artistry of the pile of flagstones.
“Well, it struck me that there were no traces of Smooze magic on the floor, which isn’t altogether surprising seeing as how the room had to be scrubbed clean afterwards, and then I reasoned that his liquid form would have flowed down to the lowest level, so I lifted the floor to see what was below. Here, let me show you.”

Celestia watched fascinated as Discord materialised a flashlight and passed it to her.
“This shines light that only reacts to Smooze magic. Point it at something and see for yourself.”
Firstly she aimed it at the floor of the Throne Room and saw nothing, then she directed it into the gully that ran under the floor and it shone bright green. Next she pointed it at Discord and noticed he was green too.
“Surprised?” he asked by way of addressing her stunned expression.
“No, not now I come to think about it” she replied, “You were at college together weren’t you? I shouldn’t be surprised if your magic comes from the same roots if you go back far enough.”

As if in answer to a question that hadn’t been asked out loud, she shone the light at herself and noticed no reaction.
“Different magic” he said, knowingly, “I think you’d better let me handle the cleaning up.”
Celestia did not object, but gave him room as he summoned a squad of enchanted brooms that all started scrubbing down the gully with an iridescent liquid vaguely reminiscent of zap apples. The pails that contained this magically charged liquid waltzed merrily along to where they were needed, partnering up with other pails for occasional displays of spin turns whenever their paths crossed each other as they went happily about their work.

He shot a contemplative glance at the Stonehenge replica and snapped his fingers, the flagstones all turning upside down and arranging themselves into a chess board pattern across the floor as more brooms came along to clean them down too. As the magic was leached away from its surroundings, it was collected in other pails ready for disposal, Celestia looked on impressed.
“How long do you think it will take?” she asked.
“About an hour or two” he ventured, “Maybe three. Shall we have tea while we wait?”
Celestia nodded and summoned a couple of unicorn guards to keep an eye on the magical cleaning process and notify them once it was finished, while despatching a serving pony to order tea and cake from the kitchen.

They all followed their hostess into a tastefully decorated reception room, of which the castle had many, but this one was filled with the most exquisite artwork, most of it painted by Luna. Consequently, this was a special place, one into which she chose only to bring those whom she trusted most and therefore it was not by accident that they all joined her there to be served with the finest delicacies from the kitchen.

“Ah, such subtle use of colour, such powerful expression” waxed Discord, glancing occasionally at Luna from the corner of his eye and watching her blush violently once more, “What tender hoof could have ever captured such beauty, other than one so beautiful herself …?”
“Discord!” rebuked Celestia, “I told you before, my sister is not ready for your heavy duty philandering.”
Applejack made a gesture like she was wanting to force her forehoof into her mouth, while Fluttershy covered her eyes. Conversely, Rarity, ever the romantic, was taking it all in, her eyes sparkling as every flirtatious word kissed her ears.
“Oh, very well” he groaned, raising his forehooves in mock despondency, but sending a subtle wink back to Luna and whispering, “Definitely the older sister.”

The tea and cake arrived, and they all helped themselves before settling down to tell stories and anecdotes from their different walks of life. Time flew by and it seemed like they had barely started recounting their stories when a polite knock at the door interrupted one of Rarity’s anecdotes about a truly disastrous fashion show, and a guard entered to say that all the brooms were now stood still in two rows, the ones at the back carrying pails.

Rarity finished her tale a little more quickly than she had intended, and they all filtered out, Celestia last, helping herself to any cake that looked as if it may be wasted when the room was tidied up. When she arrived, Discord was waiting for her with the magical flashlight.
“If you were to check, I think you’ll find everything in order.”
“Thank you Discord” she said approvingly, casting the light around to satiate her curiosity, “But the test for me will be whether we are still spilling Equestrian magic into this other world.”
“Wise words, of course” he concurred, “But trust me, I have no desire to be pulled through into different worlds when I’m minding my own business in this one, if you see what I mean. To be frank with you, I think it was probably only ever Smooze Face and me that were at risk, and we’ll both be able to sleep sounder now, knowing it’s been fixed.”
“I’m not sure in my own mind whether we can say for certain that is the case” pondered Celestia.
”We must remain on our guard” agreed Luna, “We do not know whether others such as Chrysalis or Sombra may be attuned to this magic also.”

“Well we’ve definitely made a start; now the next step is for me to go back and check the portal at the other end. If you forgive me, I have transport to arrange or my favourite mares won’t be getting home until late, and I simply mustn’t be held accountable for them missing their beauty sleep” said Discord, who then turned his attention to Celestia and stared deeply into her eyes, ”To say goodbye is to die a little …”
“You old fraud, Discord” she retorted with a smile, “You’re immortal.”
“Oh, so I am” he replied, turning his attention to address the other ponies within earshot, “Right who wants to come with me?”

The friends all lined up to say their goodbyes to the Royal Sisters and then trotted off after Discord, but as the last one left, Celestia became aware of Luna looking imploringly at her.
“Tia …?” she asked looking up into her lilac eyes, “I know it is my watch, but …”
Celestia could see the expectation etched across her sister’s face, imploring her to give a favourable response before the party left for Ponyville, and knew she wouldn’t be able to refuse.

“Go on then, but watch out for Discord. He can be devilishly charming when he puts his mind to it” she warned, then added under her breath, ”As I found out to my cost.”
“Thank you Sister, I shall return as soon as I am able” replied Luna extending her neck to give her a gentle kiss. When she turned to follow the others, Celestia could almost see the skip in her every step.
She took a few steps to look out of the nearest window to see the ponies all meet up on the Royal Balcony and saw their happiness as Luna came out to join them.
“So much for protocol” she sighed with a smile and a gentle shake of her head, and turned to face the workload of the Night Court.

Once they were all out on the balcony, Sunset turned to the draconequus and asked, “What are we going to ride back on? I mean, those fish were pretty cool, but I don’t see our rides waiting.”
“I was thinking of something a little different this time” he said with a grin, “Now, are we all ready?”
Having received happy nods from all present, he stood at the edge of the balcony and reached out to the horizon, grabbed a hold and pulled it towards him hoof over hoof, or claw over paw in his case.

Each tug brought the scenery of near distance closer and crumpled it in an untidy heap as a further horizon came into view until they all gasped as they saw the Castle of Friendship pulled into sight. He kept pulling until the two balconies were almost touching and then instructed, “Well, hop over then”.
Once the ponies had all crossed safely, he vaulted over the balustrades and let go of the scenery, leaving it to unwind like a large sheet of elastic with a loud twoing sound as it sprung tight.

“Discord” gasped Luna, “That was impossible!”
“No my dear, just highly improbable” he replied with a mischievous grin, “So therefore it is a finite possibility, and all you needed was to add a little chaos to make it happen. You know, it suddenly strikes me that I have spent way too much time fighting off your sister’s advances when it is really you I should have been directing my attentions towards all the time, how can you forgive me …?”
“Firstly” said Luna as they walked along the corridor side by side, “I cannot believe it would have been my sister who made advances to you, and secondly, she warned me about you; I am impervious to your charms and you will not get around me so easily.”
“Ah yes, I recall her saying something very similar too, before she succumbed to my desires” he revealed, watching for her shocked response before snapping his fingers and winding back the last few seconds of time so that she was unaware that the conversation had ever taken place, their light hearted banter continuing along a completely different avenue.

They arrived into the room where the Crystal Mirror was stored and stood before it once more, Discord the Master of Ceremonies, bowing off to one side with a top hat outstretched like a ringmaster ready to introduce his next star act. Sunset was making final farewells to her friends and once ready, led the way. As soon as she had disappeared into the vortex, Luna looked questioningly to the draconequus for reassurance and received a friendly smile in return, then tiptoed timidly in, followed by Discord who put on his top hat and jumped in boldly behind her.