> Discord's Con
>  by articunos bitch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Long Con
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Pinkie's "Tree Castle" Party! was winding down as the clock struck midnight. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had already left for the Crystal Empire, Celestia and Luna were sky jousting, Spike was in the middle of his sugar crash and collapsed in front of the fire, and Applejack gave Twilight a congratulatory goodbye hug, saying she needed to wake up in time for market tomorrow. Pinkie left the music running as she reluctantly started taking down streamers, deflating balloons, before Discord snapped his paws. Everything appeared in a box at her hooves, to which Pinkie leaped and gave him a big hug. Fluttershy patiently waited her turn to speak to him until Twilight walked past giving him a frown.
"Twilight? Is something wrong?"
She shook her head. "Oh no. I...hope Discord shapes up soon. You have been a great influence on him so far Fluttershy, keep it up."
Fluttershy looked at him over her shoulder. "I think you have been a much bigger influence than you give yourself credit for." She smiled so brightly she closed her eyes.
Twilight turned away with a slight blush. "Stop."
"No! I mean it. He hasn't changed that much, but he cares about others, and that's much more you than me."
Something tugged on her tail. Letting out a squeak, she jumped around to see a balloon tied to her few longest hairs. Turning back to face Twilight, Discord was leaning back over her matching her facial expressions. "Discord," she started. "Do you have something you would like to tell Twilight?"
"I believe I have already said 'Congratulations', 'Atta Girl', 'Way to go', 'Would you like some punch'(served in a boxing glove), 'Do you work out, it's not working', and at one point I even said 'You'll see it better in the light of day.' Am I forgetting something?" Counting off on his front then back claws, he innocently looked between both mares waiting for an answer.
"Why don't you tell her about Tirek...and Celestia...you know." Fluttershy was losing her patience for this matter, obvious by her volume dropping further than usual.
"Hmm," he scratched at his goatee with his goat leg. "Celestia and Luna can give you the firsthoof story. I was stoned at the time. Speaking of which," Looking at his bare wrist he reached under Twilight's crown and pulled out a bulging bag of dehydrated green vegetation.
"Discord," Fluttershy interrupted before he grabbed more materials from hammerspace. "Maybe you would like to sleep at my home tonight. Make up the couch, set the cottage tumbling again, it will be just like old times!"
He gave her a bright smile before stuffing his bag under a snoozing Spike. "Well, that does sound fun. Dancing candles too?"
"Of course. Maybe something new!"
"Okay, I'll see both of you later. Bye! And thank you again Fluttershy for everything you did today!"
With a snap of his tail hairs they disappeared in a flash of light.

** ** **

Instantly, they reappeared in Fluttershy's living room, the lights conveniently lit, all the animals asleep. Fluttershy hoped they would stay that way, but if Discord tried any more of his games she was not going to stay quiet.
"So when are you going to tell her," she snapped walking to the bathroom.
"Tell who what? Honestly Fluttershy, you act as if I'm hiding something. And what kind of friend would have secrets?"
Turning the sink faucet on, "A friend who doesn't want to hurt someone else. And don't change the subject! When are you going to tell Twilight?" Squeezing a glob of toothpaste onto her brush, she glared at Discord now jumping on the couch.
"Tell Twilight what exactly? My name for her? Everyone already calls her Princess Wingboner behind her back, but I could tell her it was my idea. My new club? It's pretty big." Stretching his arms four times their normal length, he reached into the closet and pulled out a two meter iron rod complete with weight on the front, holding it perfectly balanced in one hand. Unamused by his antics, Fluttershy jabbed the toothbrush into her mouth and scrubbed furiously.
"Maybe you mean I should tell her about Cadances' Romance Plans? Ooh, what fun! She ships everyone and everything. You have no clue how many stallions, or mares for that matter, she thinks would make you happy."
Most pegasi are not known for their strength, but any mare upset enough will make you think she can smash the floor, and Discord swore he heard a tile crack under her hoof right then, bubbles dripping from her mouth. She continued to glare at him until her teeth were brush and flossed, he kept his silence.
"If there is something specific you want me to tell our dear Princess Star Butt, maybe you should spell it out for you. I have a few secrets you don't want to know of."
She squinted sharply, before taking to her wings and gliding onto her favorite easy chair. "Sit," she pointed at the couch. "Are you going to tell Twilight the truth about you and Celestia conspiring Tirek's defeat?"
Claping his front paws together, "Ah! I think I see now. Celestia and I conspiring, but Twilight taking the credit for Tirek's defeat. That, is a very bold claim Fluttershy. Maybe you could go into more detail, just so I don't say something we are both going to regret?"
"Fine." She crossed her forelegs and began. "First, it was a very good trick. You had me genuinely believing you for a little while. Until you winked at Celestia. It might have been a flirt, but you are Discord, I know you, and a wink is FAR below your level. It was a wink of Knowing. You knew, she knew, maybe Luna and Cadance knew, I doubt it. They trust her judgement, and when she speaks, they listen. She said 'Let Discord handle him,' and they did. Celestia said, 'Give our power to Twilight and she will handle him,' and they did, despite her last plan backfiring so horribly. Or so they thought, we all did.
"Something nagged at me about your visit to us. You were going off to fight Tirek, so why did you bring up the diary we had been keeping? You were mentioned in one entry, just one. How did you know we were even doing it? What's more, you pointed out the times we each got an item from a new friend, how did you know about those? And then those turned out to be the exact items we needed for the box to fashion keys for us. I don't know how long it would have taken us to work that out, but with your help we had five keys in a few hours. That is no coincidence, you knew darn well what would happen. Celestia said she had no idea where to look for the keys when the box first appeared, maybe you did. Maybe you, or her, or both worked it out since then.
Discord leaned back on the couch, his paws behind his head, enthralled with Fluttershy's speech.
"If you knew how to unlock the box, did you know what it would do? Discord," Fluttershy leaned forward. "Was the box preparing itself for a threat? Did it KNOW Tirek, or something dangerous would arrive in Equestria soon?"
Silence.
"Well? Did it?"
Stretching out his legs and arms, Discord scratched behind his ear with his club. "You are not done Fluttershy. Continue, I want to see what happens to our brave, cunning hero Discord next."
Sighing, Fluttershy went on. "I think the box did know, and if you and Celestia knew how to unlock the box, you knew more about it than you let on. You might not have known exactly what to expect, but it was a warning for a great threat. You, I think it was specifically you who worked it out, found out about the keys shortly after our trip to Manehattan. When I left to see the Breezie's, you jump right in the middle of Twilight and Cadance at SwirlCon, and convince her she is your friend.
"You left the rest of us alone, maybe because you thought Twilight will need extra help with friendship, maybe another reason you know and I don't. But I would bet it's because her key would be the most difficult to get, and she would need it as much as the rest of us. So you establish quite clearly that you consider her a friend, so later you can give her an object to become a key.
"A few days ago Tirek made himself known, but charging off to fight him guns blazing would be a mistake. Celestia and Luna fought him before, they know what he's like. They know how dangerous he can be, Celestia knew he was what the box was prepared for. But they don't have all the keys yet, so you need to stall for time. Or accelerate things. How am I doing so far?"
Discord smirked. "I am enjoying this immensely. Don't stop now."
"You tell us about the diary, know what will happen. you then go off to confront Tirek, but you know you can't stop him. He might have an ace up his sleeve, a way to deal specifically with you. And Twilight still needs her key, from you, since no-one else has give her one yet. So you con him. You pulled a Long Con on Tirek, there are no Big Cons, they take a while to pull off, so it's called a Long Con. And the key to a successful con wasn't getting people to put their faith in you. It is making them think you have put your faith in them. And the quickest way to do that is to ask for a favor. Tirek asked you to join him, didn't he. And he offered you something in return, didn't he?
"He thought he was conning you, but it was a long con on him, and you knew how it would play out from the beginning. Why else would you bookmark our diary? When he gave you an object he had as a sign of trust, you knew it belonged to his brother. You are no fool Discord, you knew the significance it meant to Tirek right away, and it meant he thought he had you. So you pulled the wool over his eyes, let him grow strong, strong enough to drain your own power, then battle Twilight to a stalemate. You could not tell Twilight, she could have tipped off Tirek in any number of ways. I don't know if you counted on the rest of us being caught by Tirek, but it certainly did not hurt your scheme. Tirek trades all of our lives for Twilight's power, and you give her the final key. Tirek gets hits with an orbital Rainbow laser, everyponies magic is restored, the Princesses return, Tirek's gone, but still not dead, and Twilight has her own Castle. And you knew, Discord.
They sat in their places in silence until, "Finished?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"Well, Fluttershy dear, you have quite an imagination don't you. And you are so detailed! You should write for Somaresworth Weekly. Some of the best artist publis-"
"Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Discord, are you going to tell Twilight it was you? Right now, she's blaming herself for so many ponies being in danger because she did not beat him soon enough. And what happens if she tells herself if she beat Tirek she can do anything? Twilight is living a lie and she doesn't know it. She thinks its a series of happy coincidences, and you need to tell her the truth!"
Discord leapt to his hind legs. "The truth? What truth? Why would you think you know what your talking about? How well do you know me?" He almost hollered, looking her in the eye.
It was Fluttershy's turn to smirk. "Better than I know most ponies. I figured out your riddle(Can we go home now?) when you first spoke to the six of us and Celestia. She knew I would be the one most likely to 'reform you' because I knew how you worked, and would have the most patience. Pinkie could put up with your antics for a loong time, but she doesn't know you like I do. I know what you are, and what you are not. You say your the Spirit of Chaos, but you always have a plan. You let us wander into the maze and turned it against us, so you could turn us against our Elements. You didn't have to turn Twilight against her Element, because once she saw us, she would eventually do it herself. You could not turn me without powerful magic, I saw right through you from the start, even if I could not beat you alone.
"You are no Spirit of Chaos. How chaotic is it if your plans goes exactly as you thought it would? You are a planner. Celestia is a planner. You have great magic, able to do incredible things, and you need to plan things out, because that's who you are.
"I know you Discord. Please, when are you going to tell Twilight the truth." Her eyes reflected the disappointment she felt in her friend.
Discord kept his face blank, snapped his paws, causing a blanket to appear and drape over his long body. "Fluttershy, you called me and Celestia planners. IF that's true, then we would have a plan for who should, and should not know about this. Right? And if that's the case, Twilight would know in due time, if Celestia and I thought she should ever know." He turned away from her and closed his eyes.
Fluttershy thought about his words. "But, what if- I...suppose your right." Getting up to leave for her bedroom upstairs, "Discord, how well does Celestia know you? How well do you know her for that matter?"
Sitting up, he looked her in the eye. "How well do you think we know each other? How long have we know each other? What have we done together that the world will never, can never know about? Do you really want to know that Fluttershy?"
Shaking her head, "No. I don't think so. Discord, why Equestria? Why not somewhere else?"
"Ah, that's a story for another day."
"Okay, goodnight Discord." She trotted up the stairs and closed the door behind her.