The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Old Friend

The Mixer Chronicles

Book Twenty one:

Old Friend

I was outwardly fine after that night, though I don’t think I ever recovered from it emotionally.

A couple of weeks later, Celestia told Luna to gather us together.

“So what do you think Celestia wants?” Trottson asked.

“I don’t know, but I think my armor is dusty,” I said.

“You should wear it more often, then it wouldn’t gather dust,” Phalanx said.

“Aw, leave him alone. I think he looks better without the armor,” Ivy said.

“I think I fly better without it on too,” Thunderlane said.

“I don’t know why you’re all complaining, I have the biggest set out of all of you,” Brick said.

“That’s because you’re the biggest one here,” Rose said.

That got a chuckle out of a few of us.

“I don’t know why you are complaining, you don’t have a horn that’s always rubbing against your helmet,” Star Shine said.

“Ok, that’s enough,” I said.

“Yeah, we’re almost there,” Trottson said.

We walked into the throne room where Celestia and Luna were waiting for us with a large group of the royal guard.

“Good, now that you’re here we can begin,” Celestia said. As you are all aware, after the recent events, I have had need of a more, potent, security measure,” she said, addressing us. “To this end I am going to attempt a course of action that many of you may not agree with,” she said, this time looking straight at me. “I am going to have Twilight and her friends release Discord, and reform him so that we can make use of his special talents.”

There were a few murmurs from the guards, but for the most part they said nothing.

“I have already informed Twilight, and Discord will be moved tomorrow to Ponyville to be released,” she said.

“I hope you don’t plan on us doing it,” I mumbled to myself.

“You are dismissed,” she said, and the guards dispersed.

“You can’t be serious,” I said, walking up to the Princesses.

“I am very serious, Mixer,” she said. “After all, it is you who first showed me that Discord’s power could be used for good.”

“Yes, but sending him to Ponyville? Aren’t you worried that he’ll hurt them?” I challenged.

"They have the Elements, and this time he can’t do anything to them,” she said.

“Alright,” I said grudgingly, “But if he so much as harms one hair on any of them, I’ll make sure that he stays a statue.”

I stalked off angrily, outraged at Celestia being so reckless.

“So, how did it go?” Soulless asked, as I passed him leaning against a wall.

“Celestia has seen fit in her infinite wisdom to free Discord,” I said, trying not to shout.

“Well she is over a thousand years old, that does come pretty close to infinite wisdom,” he said smartly.

“I’m not in the mood for this,” I said.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, falling in behind me.

“I just broke up with Fluttershy to prevent this kind of danger to her!” I shouted, to no pony in particular. “Now Celestia is sending Discord to her! What did I do to deserve this?”

“Calm down, yelling about it is not going to do anything,” he said.

“And you’re not worried? I can pick up on a few things, and you liking Rainbow Dash is one of them,” I snapped.

He looked taken aback, his sunglasses almost falling down his muzzle.

“What? Shocked to see that somepony can penetrate your barrier of apathy?” I questioned.

He bared his teeth, “What did I do? Celestia is the one who sent the embodiment of chaos to Fluttershy, no me.”

“So you’re not denying having feelings for Rainbow Dash?” I countered.

“You’re changing the subject,” he protested.

“No, you’re changing the subject,” I countered.

The two of us would probably gone at it If Ivy and Trottson hadn’t come by when they did.

“What has gotten into you two?” Ivy asked as she held me back and Trottson did the same to Soulless.

“Your friend over there’s taking out his anger on me,” Soulless growled.

“And he’s just being as dense as usual,” I snorted.

“Well maybe if you could have a bit more self control,” Soulless retorted.

“Self control? SELF CONTROL? I’ll show you a lack of self control,” I growled, pushing Ivy aside to take a swing at him.

He rolled Trottson out of the way and blocked it with his forearm.

“Stop it you two!” Ivy shouted, pulling me backwards.

Trottson quickly recovered and put himself between us.

“Mixer what’s wrong? I’ve never seen you like this,” Trottson said.

“He’s worried about his precious Fluttershy,” Soulless said.

“No,” Ivy said, holding on tight to me as I wrestled to get at him again.

“That’s enough!” Luna said, walking towards us with her wings open, making her look even larger than she was.

I stopped struggling against Ivy’s grip, but she didn’t loosen.

“Now, tell me what’s going on,” she said.

“We found these two about to go to blows,” Trottson said.

“It has something to do with your sister’s decision to free Discord,” Ivy said.

Luna sighed, “I knew that she should have been more tactful about telling you.”

“She’s sending Discord to Ponyville, unrestricted,” I said.

“Mixer, I know how you feel about this, but rest assured that we have everything under control,” she said.

I sighed, “Only because you say so.”

“Now, go and take the day off, you seem to need it,” she said.

“I can’t keep taking off duty just because of some stress,” I protested.

“If you can’t control yourself, then what else can I do except relieve you of duty?” Luna countered.

“I apologize for that outburst, I’m just upset at your sister,” I said.

“For what?” Luna asked.

I sighed, “For being so reckless in this matter.”

“Are you sure it’s not something else?” she pried.

“No, that’s it,” I said.

“Ok, then I’ll let you stay on duty, but remember to keep yourself under control,” she said, and left us.

“Well. Trottson, can you do something with Soulless for now? Ivy, come with me,” I said.

“What?” she asked, catching up to me.

“It’s not just this, Celestia told me that I have to take care of Soulless soon, otherwise she’d make me do it,” I said.

“Well, it does need to be done,” she said.

“I know, but I wanted to give him a little more time,” I said.

“I wonder why she is being so hard on you,” Ivy wondered.

“I don’t know, but the sooner this is over, the sooner I can relax again.

“So what was it that you were fighting about?” Ivy asked after a few seconds.

I sighed, “Nothing worth talking about.”

“There you are!” a voice called from behind us.

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Silverwing said, walking up behind Crystal.

“You have?” I asked.

“Yeah, you haven’t been around for awhile,” Crystal said.

“Sorry, I’ve had a lot to deal with,” I apologized.

“It’s ok, I know you have a lot of responsibilities,” Crystal said, smiling.

“That’s no excuse for ignoring you or Silverwing,” I said.

“That’s right,” Silverwing said playfully.

“Gee thanks,” I said.

“Wow, your mood is already improving,” Ivy said.

“Huh? Is there something wrong?” Crystal asked.

“No, nothing you should be concerned about,” I said, rubbing her head.

“Are you sure?” Silverwing asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“So can we play?” Crystal asked.

“Not right now, I have work to do. But I promise, soon I’ll find some time to play,” I said.

“Promise?” she asked.

“I promise,” I said.

“Alright,” she said happily. “I know you will now, you never break promises.”

She scurried away, Silverwing chasing after her.

“I wish I was still so good at keeping promises...” I mumbled.

“What?” Ivy asked.

“Let’s go do a check on the airship,” I said.

“Alright then,” she said.

We went to the caverns and we found clockwork ordering some of the workers around.

“Clockwork, what’s going on?” I asked.

“Oh good, you’re here,” he said.

“What is that?” Ivy asked, pointing to something near the front of the hull.

“Oh, well that is an anti infantry cannon,” Clockwork said.

“What?” I questioned.

“Well, I kept some of the designs from when you were under the Whirlwind syndrome, and this is one of them,” he said excitedly.

“I designed a cannon?” I asked.

“Yes, and it took me quite some time to get the design to to work,” he said proudly.

“So when do you think we will need a cannon on the airship?” I asked him.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re going into battle,” Ivy said.

“Ah, one can never be too careful,” he said.

“So I take it that you accounted for the extra weight of the cannon and its ammunition,” I said.

“Well, I did take that into account, but we’re still working on getting the load to balance out,” he said.

I sighed, “This is why I didn’t put any armaments on it to begin with.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have this all worked out in a couple of days,” he said.

“Here, let me see what kinds of figures you have,” I said.

“Well, when I count that the cannon should have about fifty five pound rounds, plus the weight of the cannon and crew...” he said.

I sighed, facehoofing, “You would need to gut the thing just to keep it in the air.”

“Which is why I’m having some of the best casters make all the fixtures in the hull lighter,” he said.

I looked at the ship and did notice small flashes of light going through the hull.

“Even so, the ammunition would still slow down the ship,” I said.

“Which is why the ammunition racks are going to be levitating, negating the weight from the ammunition,” he said proudly.

“So then with the extra weight shaved off, we can run the bladders cooler, extending out flight time and making it faster,” I said.

“Exactly,” he said proudly.

“I’m impressed,” I said, while Ivy just kind of looked confused.

“The improvements should be done in a couple of days,” he said.

“Keep up the good work,” I said, leaving Clockwork to oversee his project.

“So now where are we going?” Ivy asked.

“I’m going to go work on something, you can do whatever you want,” I said.

“What are you going to work on?” she asked.

“Oh, a few things to apologize to Soulless with,” I said.

“Why? you didn’t get into that big of a beef with him,” she said.

“Oh, but I will,” I said sighing.

“Oh, right,” she said.

“Welp, best get to work, I’m gonna need a pretty big sorry,” I said, ducking into a new workshop that I had constructed.

I began with the potions that I was going to give him to make up for the augmentation. I decided on a strength potion, an energy potion, and a pair of magic enhancers.

I prepared the ingredients, and then began the process.

While they were cooking, I went on to making a special surprise for him.

I heard a knock on the door as I prepared to begin on the surprise.

I went to the door and opened it a crack.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Yeah Mixer, Luna was looking for you,” Thunderlane said.

“What did she want?” I asked.

“She didn’t say,” he said.

I sighed and opened the door wider.

“Do you think that you could get Rose or Ivy to watch these for me?” I asked.

“What are they?” he asked.

“Potions, and if they boil over I’ll have to start all over again. Fortunately they shouldn’t if I’m not gone too long,” I said.

“Ok,” he said.

I left the workshop and went up the lift.

Luna and Celestia were waiting at the top of the lift for me, Luna looking concerned and Celestia looking, somewhat annoyed.

I was tempted to let an ‘oh buck’ slip from my lips, but kept it under wraps.

“Mixer, we were just looking for you,” Celestia said.

Now normally, I’m not one to be nervous with Celestia, unlike most other ponies, but wien Luna looks concerned, that cracks it.

“Princess, what did you want?” I asked, giving a slight bow.

“I wanted to ask you what the disturbance earlier was about,” Celestia said.

“Sister...” Luna began, but was silenced by Celestia putting up a hoof.

“Well?” she asked.

“I got into an argument with Soulless,” I said.

“Have you taken care of that yet?” she asked.

“Not yet, but-”

“I told you that you had to take care of the problem, did i not?” she said.

“You didn’t give me a whole lot of time to prepare for it,” I said.

“Regardless, you should be swift about it,” she said.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.

Luna looked away, while Celestia stared me down.

“Discord was sent earlier today, and he will be staying with Fluttershy until he is reformed,” she said evenly.

It was everything I had to not either scream at her or take off for Ponyville at that instant. I swallowed, suppressing my initial reaction.

“I thought you said that he would be moved there tomorrow,” I said shakily.

“I decided to move it up. That’s not a problem, is it?” she asked.

I gritted my teeth, “Not at all.”

“Good,” she said and turned around.

Luna turned and followed, casting a look back at me.

After they had turned the corner I waited a few more seconds before stamping my hoof, cracking a tile.

“Suddenly, it seems like the ‘sun’ is beeing a little more than oppressive,” Soulless said, materializing next to the wall.

“You have a knack for being inconvenient,” I said.

“What did you do to get her mad at you?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m getting tired of it,” I said.

“So, uh, could I ask you something?” he asked.

I sighed, “What?”

“So you know what you said about Rainbow Dash earlier?” he asked.

“I know,” I said.

“Well, since, you know, you’re kind of her friend, you could, I don’t know...” he said, looking everywhere but at me.

“So, the dark gloomy assassin wants me to get him with Rainbow Dash?” I asked, a little more smug than what should be allowed.

“You’re not helping,” he growled.

“Calm down, I’m just messing with you,” I said. “Of course I can introduce you two, but, ah, you’ll need to lose the glasses, and the cloak.”

He sighed and took his glasses off, revealing slightly reddish eyes.

“You eyes, they look, different,” I said.

“It was a side effect of the augmentation,” he said.

“Oh, and it might not be a good idea to wear the hidden blade while you’re with her,” I said.

“Noted,” he said and tucked his glasses into a pocket in his cloak before taking it off.

“Hey, you already look better,” I said.

“I feel stupid,” he said.

“You’ll get used to it,” I said.

“You wear armor half the time,” he complained.

“I really don’t like to though, and when I do it’s always cumbersome,” I said.

“Oh, and can you explain why you look like somepony took a chunk out of the night sky?” I asked.

“I dyed my coat, it was after joining so I looked more intimidating,” he said.

“Well, it worked,” I said.

“Don’t even think about asking me to change my coat though,” he said.

“Don’t worry, I won't,” I said.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Not now, you’ll have to go as is when you meet her,” I said, handing him back his things.

“Well, thanks,” he said, putting his cloak and glasses back on.

“No problem,” I said.

“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

I sighed, “I have to find something to do for the rest of the day. I doubt it will be any time soon that Discord is reformed.”

“What about Crystal?” he asked.

“Hmm, I have been a little preoccupied the past few days,” I said.

“Well, the lift is right there,” he said.

“I suppose I’ll see you later,” I said.

“Always,” he replied as I started down the lift

I rode down the lift and walked over to my house.

“Anypony home?” I called, opening the door.

“Oh, I didn’t think you would be back so soon,” Silverwing said, “You know, since you were working on that project Ivy was telling my about.”

“Oh! I completely forgot about those,” I said, rushing out to the workshop.

“Oh, hey Mixer,” Ivy said as I flung open the door.

“Did they boil over?” I asked checking the potions.

“No, you were barely gone long enough for me to get here,” she said.

“Do you think that you can follow these instructions?” I asked, getting a piece of paper and a quill.

“Instructions for what?” she asked.

“Instructions for finishing the potions,” I said, quickly scrawling down what to do.

“What do you need those for, can’t you just tell me?” she asked.

“It’s faster if I just give them to you in writing,” I said, finishing up.

“So you want me to finish them for you?” she asked looking it over.

“Yes,” I said, going to the door. “Oh, and if you can’t follow the instructions, just shut it down, I’ll pick it up from where you left off.”

I shut the door and hurried back to Silverwing.

“Ok, now that that’s taken care of, I have the rest of the day off,” I said huffing.

“Yay!” Crystal said.

“Yes, I have the rest of the day to spend with you,” I said.

“Yay,” she said once more before proceeding to run around excitedly.

“So what do you want to do?” I asked.

“Can we run through the halls again?” she asked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, but we can go through the caverns,” I said.

“Ok,” she said.

I created the old seat out of crystal and let her jump up to it.

“You’re heavier than last time,” I said.

“Can I tag along?” Silverwing asked.

“Sure,” I said, heading out the door.

We walked through the tunnels towards the mine center, passing large formations of crystals and old mining tunnels.

“Well, I haven’t seen you down here in awhile,” Gold Rush said, walking up to us. “And who’s this?”

“This is Crystal, and this is Silverwing,” I said, indicating each in turn.

“So, this is the changeling filly we’ve been hearing about,” he said.

“Yep, that’s me,” she said proudly.

“Well, you don’t look like you’d hurt a fly,” he said, patting her on the head.

“She really wouldn’t,” I said.

“So what brings you down here?” he asked.

“Well, I thought I would show Crystal around the caverns a bit,” I said.

“Well, I can give you a quick tour of the newer tunnels,” he said.

“That sounds like fun,” Crystal said.

“Well then, let’s get you three some hard hats,” he said, walking over to the equipment shed.

We followed him over and he handed one to me and Silverwing.

“Hmm, we don’t have one in your size,” he told Crystal.

I formed a protective covering over the seat, providing a substitute.

“Will this work?” I asked.

“As long as she stays under it,” he shrugged.

We followed him to a set of track and we started following them deeper into the mine.

“I’m surprised there is so much activity here,” I said.

“Well, after you first found the new deposits, we started to explore deeper, and found so many more,” Gold Rush said.

“How old is this mine?” Silverwing asked.

“As far as we know, the original mine was over a hundred years old, but these tunnels are newer,” he said.

“There are so many gems,” Crystal said in awe as we passed cart after cart full of gems of all varieties.

“Yes, there seems to be no end to them,” I said.

“This is a great mountain, and there are many caves and tunnels yet to be explored,” he said.

“So how far does this tunnel go?” Silverwing asked.

“Well, this particular tunnel seems to snake through the mountain on a downward path for quite some ways,” he said.

“Interesting,” I said as yet another cart was being pushed by us.

“Hey, there are the two you brought to me a while ago,” Gold Rush said as they were pushing the cart past us.

“Flim, Flam, you two look better,” I said.

Both of their coats were dirty from mining dust, but they both looked healthier and stronger than when I last saw them.

“Mixer! Thank you for giving us this job,” Flam said.

“Yeah, you’re a lifesaver,” Flim said.

“Well, as you can see, these two have been working hard,” Gold Rush said.

“It sure looks like it,” I said.

“Well, it was nice seeing you, but we have to get back to work,” they said, pushing the cart farther along.

“I wondered about those two at first, but you were right, they proved to be hard workers,” Gold Rush said.

“Who were those ponies?” Crystal asked.

“Two brothers who I helped out. When I found them they were living on the street,” I said.

“And you brought them here?” Silverwing asked.

“I couldn’t leave them out in the cold, besides, it was near Hearth’s Warming Eve,” I said.

“Well, we’re almost there,” Gold Rush said.

“Where?” Crystal asked.

“The miners have taken to calling it the Hall of Mirrors,” he said.

“Ohh, what’s that?” she asked.

“A chamber filled with mirror like crystal formations. It’s really beautiful when you have a colored light,” he said.

“Like this?” I asked, making my horn glow.

“Yes, it creates a rather magical atmosphere,” he said.

“I want to see!” Crystal said.

“Well, here we are,” he said a few seconds later as we stepped into a large cavern.

“Wow,” the three of us said, awed by the sight.

The entire cavern was covered with smooth crystals, each reflecting the ponies moving through it.

The walls near us were reflecting the glow from my horn, giving the area around us a blue hue.

“It’s beautiful,” Silverwing said.

“Yes, but it can get confusing to find the real tunnels from the reflections sometimes,” Gold Rush said.

“So what’s past this?” I asked.

“Just some newer deposits that we found, nothing quite like this,” he said.

“Do you think we could go back now, this is starting to make my head spin,” Silverwing said.

“Yeah, it can have that effect on some ponies,” Gold Rush said.

We walked back along the path we had taken and we finally got back to the hub.

“Well, it was a nice tour, but I guess we’ll be seeing you,” I said.

“Take care of yourselves,” Gold Rush called as we left.

“That was fun,” Crystal said.

“I’m surprised how far they have gotten,” I said.

“Well, I’m just glad to be out of the Hall of Mirrors,” Silverwing said.

“I liked that room the best!” Crystal said.

“It was definitely interesting,” I said.

“Well, it gave me a headache,” Silverwing said.

“Well, we’re almost back home, so you can lay down and take a rest if you need to,” I said.

“I’m fine now,” she said.

“Well, I know you have been watching Crystal for me since I’ve been busy, so I won’t feel bad if you want to take a rest for a bit,” I said.

“No, I’m fine,” she said.

“Alright,” I said.

“Ok,” she said.

“Well, we’re back,” I said, letting Crystal get off the seat before turning it into a small crystal.

“Wow, it didn’t feel like we were down there that long,” Crystal said, looking at the clock on the wall.

“Wow, we spent over an hour down there,” I said.

“It didn’t feel like that long,” Silverwing said.

“Well, now its into the afternoon, and that’s all we did,” I said.

There was a knock at the door.

I walked over and opened the door.

“Your potions are done,” Ivy said.

“Oh, I didn’t think they would be ready so soon,” I said.

“Well, I couldn’t ‘finish’ them, but I thought I would tell you since you got back,” she said.

“Ok, I’ll go check on them,” I said.

“Alright,” she said and walked to the barracks.

“Will you be fine while I go check on them?” I asked Silverwing and Crystal.

“We’ll be fine,” Silver Wing said with a yawn.

“Ok, I’ll be right back,” I said, and left for the workshop.

When I got there, I checked the potions. All of them were finished brewing, and just needed the finishing touches put on them.

I finished and bottled them, then went back to the house.

“Ok, I’m back,” I called as I came through the door.

Silverwing and Crystal were both asleep on the couch, taking a nap.

I suppose I could use one too,” I said to myself and joined them.

When I woke up, I was the only one on the couch.

“Oh, you’re finally awake,” Silverwing said.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s time for dinner,” she said. “We were just about to wake you up.”

“Did I miss anything?” I asked.

“Trottson came by earlier and wanted to know where you were. I just told him that Luna gave you the day off, and that you were taking a nap,” she said.

“Well, at least that’s technically true,” I said.

I got up and stretched a little.

“Well, are you coming?” Silverwing asked.

“Yeah,” I said, finishing my stretch.

We ate our dinner, and then I got up and started to leave.

“Where are you going?” Silverwing asked.

“I’m going to take my shift,” I said.

“But you have the day off,” Silverwing said.

“Yeah, but I thought I would give whoever is on duty a break,” I said, heading out the door.

I rode up the lift and walked to Luna’s chambers.

“What are you doing here?” Starshine asked.

“I’m here to relieve you two,” I said to him and Brick.

“But we just started our shift,” Brick protested.

“Then you can stay if you want,” I told him.

“Thanks,” Star Shine said, leaving.

“So what prompted that?” Brick asked.

“I can’t stand doing nothing, and I won’t be able to sleep tonight,” I responded.

He just shrugged.

We spent the rest of our shift just standing there, saying nothing.

When morning came around I was tired, but Brick was as stolid as ever.

“Do you ever sleep?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Then how can you be so awake?” I asked.

“I sleep during the day when I have to,” he said.

“You’ll have to teach me to do that sometime,” I said.

“Can’t you just use some sort of sleep spell?” he asked.

“If I knew one I could,” I said.

“Then learn one,” he said.

“I could if I wanted, but I prefer natural sleep,” I said.

“Fair enough,” he said.

Just then, the door opened and Sombra stepped out.

“Are you two going to keep talking all day?” he asked groggily.

“I didn’t know that you slept in the same room as Luna,” I said.

“Oh, Mixer. I thought Star was on duty,” he said with a yawn.

“He was, but I relieved him last night,” I said.

“Oh,” he yawned.

“So why were you in Luna’s room last night?” I asked.

“We were watching the stars,” he paused for a yawn, “and I fell asleep.”

“Sure,” I said raising an eyebrow.

His face turned red, “It’s not like that!”

“Lighten up, I’m just teasing,” I said.

“You better be,” he said, now more awake.

“Sombra, I’m sure you woke the entire castle with your yelling,” Luna complained sleepily from inside.

“Sorry,” he called back.

“Well, now that I’m up, you might as well tell Mixer the news,” she said.

“What news?” I asked.

“That Discord is already reformed, and that Celestia would go get him shortly after raising the sun,” he said.

“Already?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes, Fluttershy proved to be quite adept at reforming Discord,” he said.

“So he’s on his way here now?” I asked.

“Yeah, Celestia would have already went to get him,” Sombra said.

I took off towards the throne room, leaving Sombra to call after me.

I ran past a few guards, but all they did was get out of the way.

When I slid to a stop in the throne room the door started to open.

“So what do you have planned for me now that we’re on the same side Tia?” Discord asked Celestia as they walked in.

“I told you not to call me that,” she said.

“What? We're friends now right?” he asked in that signature Discord tone.

“Discord!” I said challengingly.

“Oh, Mixer, still playing guard pony I see,” Discord said.

“And I see you’re just as smug as ever,” I said as we walked closer to each other. “What’s the matter, got a chip on your shoulder?”

Celestia got ready to break up a fight as we glared at each other.

After a few seconds we both broke up laughing.

“Discord, you old such and such. How have you been?” I asked.

“Oh, you know how being a statue is, though I did rather enjoy the past day,” he said giving a little stretch.

“Remember when we first met?” I asked.

“Ah yes, you thought you could trick me with some poison joke,” he said.

I laughed, “Yeah, I didn’t have a clue how to get you to drink it though.”

He snapped his fingers and a glass appeared in his hand, accompanied by a small cotton candy cloud.

I created a crystal glass of my own.

“Fill her up?” I asked.

He obliged by moving the small cloud.

Celestia just stood there dumbfounded while Discord and I had a toast of chocolate milk.

Discord started laughing, “What’s wrong Tia, didn’t think we could get along?”

“Discord was the first one I met when I got to Equestria, having him be on our side is like a reunion with an old friend,” I said.

She just stared at us, mouth hanging open while Discord refilled his glass.

“I think we broke her,” I whispered to Discord.

“But...” she said lamely.

While she stood there trying to make sense of it, I took a chunk out of the cloud with magic and proceeded to snack on it.

Discord started laughing uncontrollably, “If I’d know it was that easy to stump you Tia, I would have made friends a long time ago.”

“And now I don’t have to worry, because now you’re with us,” I said finishing my cloudy treat.

“So now you’re friends with Discord?” she asked.

“Why not? Free chocolate milk, the occasional crazy prank, and the best actor in all of Equestria? What’s not to like?” I asked.

“Aw, you’re too kind,” Discord said.

“The only reason I was mad was because I was worried if your plan failed,” I said, refilling my own glass.

I don’t know if it was the situation catching up to her, or just plain confusion, but Celestia just started laughing.

“That’s the spirit Tia,” Discord said, making another glass and filling it.

“It’s good to see you two getting along so well,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye, and taking the glass with her magic.

“To Discord,” I said, holding up my glass.

“To Discord,” Celestia giggled.

“To me,” Discord said, completing the toast.

“There you are,” Sombra said, walking in with Luna.

“Tia, are you toasting with Discord?” Luna asked.

I made two more glasses with crystal and filled them.

“Have a glass,” I said, passing them the glasses.

“So, I take it everything’s alright?” Sombra asked, downing his glass.

“Yes, it’s all good,” I said.

“That’s wonderful news,” Luna said, sipping some of her’s.

“Well, I’m off,” I said.

“Where are you going?” Celestia asked.

“To take care of something,” I replied and left, finishing my glass.

I walked through the castle to the lift, riding it down to the cavern.

When I reached the bottom I was greeted by Ivy and Trottson, going to take their shift.

“What’s going on?” Ivy asked.

“Discord is back and reformed,” I said cheerfully.

“Well, that’s good to hear I guess,” Trottson said.

“Well, have fun,” I said, passing them and heading to the workshop.

When I got there I wrote a letter and set it aside before going to work on my special surprise for Soulless.

Author's Note:

You know what? I hate hiatuses.