> The Beast Within
>  by Arreis Of Avalon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Casting Shadows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ball kept bouncing.

It wasn’t anything very unusual. It just kept bouncing. I don’t know why, but it seemed to represent my situation rather well, wouldn’t you think?

I threw it once. Only once. I just let it hit the ground. It hit it hard, then suddenly soared above everything else…

I watched it sail towards the ground again. Up. Down. Up. Down. It wasn’t reaching up as high anymore.

I sighed, lying back against the wall. My room is white. I made it that way, I think. It used to be rather normal – Then it looked stunning, pink and green and orange, neon alizarin even – and now it is white. My shadow sits across from me. His area is a dim grey. He does not like white.

“Are you going to sit here with me all day and watch the ball bounce,” I ask Him.

“Are you,” He responds.

I don’t know how to answer Him – I never do. I used to think I did – But since Celestia had given me a talking to about good and evil, right and wrong… I’m not as sure. How does one confront Evil?

The ball is still bouncing. I’ve counted how many times so far. “Eleven thousand three hundred forty two, by my count.”

“Why have you counted so high?”

“Because I was bored,” I respond logically. After all, I’ve always been very logical. Nopony ever understands how logical I am. Especially not Him.

“If you are bored, then why not go outside?”

“Because I am asleep,” I say dimly, watching the ball tediously. 

“Who said you were asleep?”

“Me.”

“And who are you to say you are asleep?”

“I am Discord.”

The ball bounces, hitting the ground hard, rising high once again. The shadow grins, and I can see His red eyes watching me in the darkness that He lives in. He knows I’m asleep. He knows that I will be asleep for a long time. I try to deny that I will be asleep – I try to tell myself I will wake again. I sit in silence. We sit in silence, simply watching it, He from the shadows, I in the light. 

The room has changed color again. It must have changed when I said my name, I realize. It turned to a light grey, with specks of blue in it. I’ve always liked the color blue. It was the calm before the storm.

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

“It’s not bouncing any higher.”

I jump somewhat as the shadow speaks. He does not often speak for Himself – rather, He hides. He remains in the background, and unbeknownst to others does He pull at the chess pieces. “It would not. It already reached the highest it could go.”

“Who said that,” He asks, a permanent grin etched into His hollow face, His red eyes the only color but His shining fangs.

“Physics. Whoever made the universe. Gravity. There’s millions of answers.”

We are silent again as we contemplate what was said briefly, without hesitation. I am often hesitant. He is not. I think in the silence. I think in noise too. But often, I think in silence. No words need be said. Simply meditation without reflection, thoughts without truly thinking. I see my life pass by. I see it fade. I see nothing.

I open my eyes. 

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

“You’re still dreaming,” the shadow reaffirms. I nod absentmindedly. He tilts his head, still smiling – He always smiled. No matter what, He always smiled. “Why so morose,” He asks. He always thought Himself smart for the language he uses. Always left for somepony else to decipher His riddles.

“I am not sad, if that is what you think.”

“Then why don’t you smile?”

He’s got me there. Why aren’t I smiling?

I think some more. Once again, in silence. 

Bounce. 

I said silence.

Bounce.

“How am I supposed to think with this NOISE,” I shout angrily, rising. 

Bounce.

“You could always stop the ball from bouncing.”

I sit back down, sighing, my outburst already wearing thin. My shadow sits with me. I did not see Him rise, but He always rose with me. “You and I both know what would happen then.”

“Would it be so bad,” He asks. His question is genuine.

“Depends,” I respond.

Bounce. Bounce.

“On what?”
“What?”
“On what does it depend?”
“I suppose it depends on from whose point of view it’s from.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, if it is from my point of view, the ball does not matter. How high or how low it is, it doesn’t matter – It still exists, and sooner or later, it must stop bouncing.”

I shake my head, confused. 

Bounce.
Bounce.

“… Who spoke, just now?”

The shadow smiles. “Who do you think spoke?”

“… Would it be so bad,” I ask him, watching the ball closely.

“What do you think, Discord?”

The room is nearly black now. My face feels wet and cold. I realize there are tears on it. I wonder how they got there. I see the ball.

Bounce. Bounce. 
Bounce.

Bounce.

“… I think the bounces are getting less frequent now.”

“I think you might be right,” He says.

“Really,” I say, a small, grateful smile starting to grow on my face.

“Yes,” he says, his own smile lessening to match mine, but more… sympathetic.

“It’s nice to be believed in,” I say, the words dripping out of my mouth like honey, sweet on the tongue. 

“Yes,” my shadow responds, smiling. We both turn in the silence. The room is black, and it is hard to see Him now. His eyes and his small smile are the only things I can see now. 

I look forward blindly. “I can’t see anymore,” I say softly, hoping He can hear me. It is nice to know someone is there to listen. To hear. To understand.

A pause.

Another pause.


“Yes,” I finally hear, and my heart sighs in relief. “It is hard to see now,” He remarks. As he speaks, the room gets darker still. I cannot see my own claw in front of my face.

We are silent, and the room is silent. There is no light – only darkness. Time is irrelevant in darkness, I learn. We spend seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years in darkness without ever realizing it. It all passes by faster than I can blink – and I could not tell if I could blink. For there was no change in light or dark to know.

My eyes have been open for days now. Weeks. Months. Years.

I saw everything.

Bounce.

Yet I am now blind.


“… Discord?”
“Yes, my shadow?”
“Can you get me my ball?”
“But I cannot see it.”

“That’s alright,” my shadow says. “Do you want me to take it for you? I promise I’ll give it back soon.”

I smile listlessly, my body relaxing as he suggests this. “Thank you, my shadow… It truly is a burden.”

I see a claw in the darkness. It reaches out. 

“Thank you,” I say, “for taking my burden, Discord.”

“Of course… My Shadow…”

*~*~*~*~

“How long has he been like this,” Luna asked. Together, she and Celestia stood in the hospital wing of Canterlot castle. Discord sat before them, his eyes shut and his face stuck with an everlasting smile. Nurses and Doctors of the highest caliber rushed around for a medical explanation to this. 

Celestia sighed, looking at his motionless body. “Ever since Tirek came back, he’s been acting aloof… confused… He started mumbling to himself… I should have seen the signs… He came to me for help, Luna, questioning right from wrong, good versus evil…” Celestia bowed her head, feeling tears rising to her eyes. “He was lost in the dark, and I, the Princess of the Sun and of Light, could not save him from it.”

Luna looked at her sister sorrowfully. She had been horribly concerned about Discord, and Luna had some suspicious of the first embers of love sparking between the two – But now this catastrophe had happened. Celestia sobbed while Discord lie there, presumably in a coma. 

Luna left Celestia to her misery, pulling aside the nearest nurse. “Excuse me, but do you know anything more about his condition?”

The nurse bowed respectively. “I’m sorry, Princess, but the only thing we’re certain about is that he’s absolutely not dead.” She shook her head, glancing over the papers. “it’s so strange... His mind has shut down entirely, but his heart is still pumping. By all rights, he shouldn’t be alive – But he’s still got a beating heart, and he’s still breathing.”

Luna shook her head, glancing at her sister. Celestia stood alone, watching the body for any signs of movement – any at all. A wink, a smirk, anything to show that this is a joke. He would never voluntarily put himself into a coma unless everything was going wrong… Tell me, show me something, Discord… What went wrong??

She jumped as Luna gently laid her hoof on her shoulder. Celestia looked at her, then glanced once at the body. “Come sister,” Luna said softly. “It is time to return to our rooms.” Celestia sniffed and nodded, confused and afraid for her kingdom if even the God of Chaos was in this state.

Both ponies turned and trotted back to their respected rooms. Nurses and Doctors scrambled about, trying to file paperwork and investigate into the mysterious illness that had taken the draconequus. Not a single pony, in all of them that passed him that day, realized that the body left no shadow on the sheets where it lay.

After all, a shadow cannot cast a shadow.

> Kindness And Rain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord sighed contently as he rested his head against the fluffy clouds around him. He drifted with them contently through the sky, watching time simply melt away. He was at peace. He cast no shadow, yet he hardly noticed; shadows simply tethered him to the ground below. He wanted to be free. He wanted to soar. 

“Why do I want to do that again,” he asked no one in particular. An absent little smile filled his face, a smile of sheer bliss, yet of ignorance. “That’s right. I’m perfectly happy on my little cloud in my little sky.” He turned onto his stomach, resting his face in the fluff. He was happy, yes. He was living the life while his body was rotting away in the hospital room.

“Rotting,” said a familiar, soothing voice. He heard it often now. It sounded like Him; the Shadow. “Why, you think I would let you rot?”

Discord chuckled. “Of course not. After all, you’re very nice. You’re letting me stay here while you do all the work.”

A booming laugh echoed through the clouds. All at once, Discord saw the world begin to flood with rain. He saw lightning pierce the sky, and heard laughter turning to roaring thunder, merciless gales of wind. The world drowned in water, and all of the water tasted bitter; salty, even. Almost like tears.

Discord shook his head, trying to shake the image. Before him was a group of ponies, some crying, some confused. They all seemed vaguely familiar, but somehow, he couldn’t place any of them. However, when he looked at them, he felt something deep in himself - power? He felt stronger. Less content, however. What sort of power made him less content when he used it wrong?

Who said he had used it wrong? 

Used what wrong?

The storm faded in a blink; What storm? There had been no storm. Discord smiled at the fluffy clouds around him, the sun shining above: not too dim, not too bright. It was perfect, where he was. He was perfect. Life was perfect. Death was perfect.

The salty rain that fell softly from his eyes; that was perfect too.

*~*~*~

The body lay, perfectly still on the white sheets. His eyes were closed, and his arms had been folded over his chest. They rose, up and down, as air rushed through his lungs. He still breathed. He still could move.

But he did not think.

Discord was nothing.

Fluttershy watched his body, feeling tears rising to her eyes. Her friends watched from outside the hospital room, concerned. They stayed behind, however – she had asked them to. Timidly, shyly, she had requested they stay back – ‘If you wouldn’t mind, of course’.

The nervous little pegasus trotted right up next to him. “D-discord,” she said hesitantly, knowing he would not answer. That didn’t stop her from saying it, though. She still hoped beyond all hope that he would answer her – her of all ponies, his closest friend. He would poof away and surprise her, and laugh about it with her after he had a serious talking to for scaring her like he had. He would wake up, she thought. He’ll wake up. He will.

Discord lay, still but for his breathing. He made no response to her saying his name.

“I-I don’t know if you can hear me, Discord,” she admitted, tears beginning to roll down her face. “But what we’ve shared over the time I’ve known you has been wonderful… I-I hope you wake up, Discord. I want my friend to be safe.”

No response.

She smiled softly and placed her hoof on his claw. It felt cold. He felt very cold. “O-Oh my… Here.” She gently pulled the sheets up to cover his body. “There now,” she said, smiling as she ignored the tears falling at her hooves. “Y-You’ll warm up quickly. I just know it.” She gently patted his head.

No response. His chest continued to rise, up and down and he breathed in softly.

“I-It’s okay, Discord,” she said, as though responding to something he had said in the silence between them. “You don’t have to say anything. I-I know you’re still alive. I know you’ll wake up…”

No response. His chest wasn’t rising as fast, or at least it didn’t seem to be.

“R-right, Discord?”

Nothing.

“D-discord, answer me, please!...”

Silence.

“W-WAKE UP,” she cried out, surprising herself with the volume of her sudden shout. “D-Discord, please, wake up!!!” She hung her head over his body, disregarding the tears that fell on the sheets, staining them with little wet dots as they hit. “Wake up, wake up,” she repeated over and over again, sobbing.

She felt two hooves grab her. She jumped, hoping somehow that they weren’t hooves, but a claw and a paw that had grabbed her. She glanced behind her to see cyan hooves lifting her up. “Come on, Flutters… We should let Discord rest.”

Fluttershy sniffed, tears still rolling down her face. There was so much she wanted to say to Rainbow in that moment. That she was sorry for her outburst. She was sorry for sobbing. She was sorry that she was so emotional, and that she couldn’t take care of herself. She was sorry for everything she was, and that she couldn’t have helped Discord before this. She didn’t save him. She might have reformed him, but she still couldn’t save him from any of this.

But she didn’t say anything. True to her name, she shyly nodded, saying nothing at all. She left with Rainbow Dash in silence, her tears falling deafly on the hospital floors, like salty raindrops on a barren, empty land.

*~*~*~

Discord yawned as he felt his shadow join his presence again. “Yes, Shadow, what is it? I’m being… comfortable.”

“I’m sorry to disturb; I simply wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes, Shadow?”

“Well, we both know you’re asleep right now.”

Discord glanced back at his shadow. “Asleep? No, I’m awake. I’m wide awake, attempting to fall asleep.”

“Well, suppose you were asleep right now. That you were asleep, and you had to wake up soon.” Discord groaned, letting his face fall into the cloud, sending puffs of fluff floating around them. “Well, I was just thinking,” that smooth voice said, practically caressing Discord’s body in it’s softness, tenderness. “Why should you be forced to wake up, be forced to leave this wonderful place?~”

Discord pulled his face out of the cloud without much struggle, turning back to his shadow. “Hmm… Y’know, that’s a good question. Why should I? Nobody down there knows me, right? I’d cause terror, but… It’s such hard work to maintain that reputation…”

“My thoughts exactly! You see… I was thinking I could act for you, only until you’re ready to wake up of course.”

“Act for me?... I suppose you resemble me enough… Yes, you could take my place, and I could rest up and get over… whatever seems to be ailing me.”

“Don’t you remember? Tsk tsk tsk. You certainly need more rest if you’ve forgotten already, Discord.”

Discord sighed, resting his head back tiredly. “Then why am I sick again, Shadow?”

“Because you gave up fighting,” the voice said, lulling him into a seemingly restful, truthfully fitful, sleep. “You gave up fighting for ‘friendship’ a long time ago when you realized the truth; You would never be truly ‘reformed’. You were too easily tempted. So now you’ve given up… And because it hurt so much to give up, you’ve taken a break…”

The shadow chuckled as he let his double sleep. His red eyes shone in the daylight, and his body seemed dark despite the sunny warmth around him. “You’ve taken a break… and you forgot… But in your forgetfulness, you forgot about me... That ‘you’ you kept locked away for,” he gagged, “‘friendship’s sake’. Bah!” With a roll of his eyes, the shadowy Discord disappeared to begin his work.
	
> The Story
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nurse trotted to the next room for the check up, her muzzle buried in her clipboard reports. “Alright, alright… Mixed species, coma patient next…” She sighed. “Why do I have to be the one to check all the brain-dead patients?” With a groan of boredom, she opened the door to his room.

Only to drop her clipboard in surprise as the draconequus before her stood and brushed some dust from his arms.

“W-wha-”

“Oh, hello, there.” Discord grinned. “Would you be so kind as to send for the princesses? I dare say they’d like to know what I’ve been doing this past… How long have I been?”

The mare stuttered and stumbled over her words, her eyes wide. “I-I- p-princesses - A-a week and a half, s-sir…”

“Hm, a full week and a half. Not too long then. And, yes, please send for the princesses.”

“R-right away, sir.”

Discord smirked as she galloped out, her clipboard forgotten on the floor. He picked it up and glanced it over with a small, woeful frown. “My my - how rude of them to call me a vegetable.” With a small wave of his claw, the clipboard disappeared. He stood, stretching, before throwing open the curtains at his bedside window, taking in the bright and sunny Canterlot view. He gagged. “How… orderly.”

He bent backwards, popping his back, but more importantly glancing at the floor behind and below him. His eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into a fanged grin. The floor behind him was bare.

“Rest well, Shadow,” he whispered to himself, chuckling.

*~*~*~

Princess Celestia trotted through the hospital, her face void of any emotion; behind her, her sister followed, worry etched into her face as she watched her older sibling walk. Behind her, the 6 elements of harmony followed, each with their own fair share of emotions. Relief, concern, happiness and fear all mingled and intermixed with each other.  Nurses and Doctors made way for the Princesses and their entourage as they walked through the hallways. Celestia paid them no heed; there was a much more important reason for her being here, now. 

Celestia’s horn began to glow. In a flash, the hospital doors to Discord’s room sprang open, and she trotted in quickly. “Discord.”

Discord sat on the bed, stretching out, yawning. “Ah. Why, hello, Princess,” he said, bowing lightly in his seat, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. Celestia raised an eyebrow as everypony else shuffled in. Discord smiled at them all. “Hello, you all… My, it’s nice to have so many loving friends caring about me.” Everypony glanced at each other; he seemed completely, 100% genuine. 

Fluttershy flew up quickly and tackled him in a hug, tears streaming down her face. Discord looked rather surprised, but hugged her back tenderly. “D-don’t you ever do that again,” she said, sobbing into his fur. 

Discord chuckled softly, stroking her mane. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy; I won’t be causing any trouble anytime soon.” He gently rested his head on hers, holding her tenderly.

Twilight stood back from the group, taking in every aspect of the seemingly fine ‘god’. Something seemed… off. Of course, things seemed off about him all the time; maybe this was just one of those normal off things about him. But she couldn’t shake that nagging feeling that something was well and truly wrong with him. Perhaps it was the way he was acting? Glancing to her side, she saw to her surprise Rarity of all ponies doing the same she was. Her lip was pouting and her gaze was centered, strangely enough, to the floor. Twilight didn’t get a chance to see what she was looking at before she was tied back into the conversation. 

“Me, Luna and Twilight have all been at counsel, trying to derive what caused you to be in this state,” Celestia was saying. Fluttershy moved away from him, wiping away her tears on her hooves. “You have caused all of us great worry, for our safety as well as yours.”

“I’m sorry to have been a bother, truly…” Discord sighed, slumping over slightly where he sat. “I swear to you, I have a perfectly reasonable explanation of why I did what I did.”

“Would you care to share it then, Discord,” Luna said, scowling. Discord shared a glance with her, to which Luna met with a steely eyed gaze. Twilight glanced between the two of them curiously; why was there so much animosity between the two suddenly?

“Well... We'd have to start at the beginning then. The beginning being when Tirek stole my powers." He sighed softly, leaning against the wall. "When I lost my powers, I grew terribly weak. So weak, a darker side of me emerged... Not the one that betrayed you, but... Well, the one that wanted to kill me."

“Kill you,” everyone seemed to gasp - even Celestia looked surprised. 

“Yes… You see, when I was turned to stone, the first time, I was… dark. Evil. Far more than you have seen me, my little ponies. As my body was encased in stone, something else happened. That evil part of me and that… well, ridiculous part. We were separated. Not in the sense you think of. More like… another personality. Another soul inside one body.”

“One soul, two bodies?” Pinkie held her head as her eyes rolled around. “That sounds so, well, discord-y! No wonder you’re so crazy!!”

Discord cracked a small smile. “Yes, that certainly does explain a bit. You see, he and I… well, we rather hated each other. Being split down the middle like that, it’s traumatic, and I absolutely hated that cruel man. He was the embodiment of every harsh feeling, every bitter thought... I wished to make ponies see the joy in the random, circumstantial comedy. He just wanted to see them burn.” He sighed again, shaking his head. 

Rainbow crossed her hooves. “You were really no better. Actually, you were kinda more annoying since you weren’t totally evil - you just weren’t very funny.”

Discord chuckled. “No, they weren’t.” He stood, flapping his wings and whispering something in Dash’s ear. The pony’s eyes widened before cracking up, guffawing at whatever he had said. “But that was.” With a smile, he sat back down, flapping his outstretched wings still. Rainbow giggled, wiping away tears. “See? Funny.”

“And what did you do,” Rarity asked, “when you encountered your doppelganger?”

“Well, we fought in my stone prison for years. We grew bitter, but eventually, we began to talk. Eventually… we made a deal. I would let him remain free in my body, meaning some of his evil tendencies leaked through. In return, I would maintain primary control, and he could only suggest things. Meaning, nopony was burned alive.”

"So... You're sharing your body with a more sinister version of yourself," Twilight asked. 

“Correction - was. You see, going back to Tirek… when he took my magic, he also took away the only thing holding back the other Discord. That was why I was so quiet through that all… I knew something had left me. Tirek had gotten the evil part of me, when he took my magic - but he came back when Tirek was defeated. That’s why I was so genuine when I gave Twilight the necklace - it was well and truly me doing it. For once, all my anger, every pain... vanished."

Twilight gulped. “So because of me, you became evil again?”

“Don’t think of it like that, Twilight. You had to bring magic back to all - without it, how would we survive?” Discord smiled at her. “Besides… it’s all solved now.”

“What do you mean,” Celestia asked.

“Well… That’s why I asked so many questions about right from wrong… I had to be sure, when I put myself in my coma, that I could best the wrong side of me. And I did.”

“HOLD IT!” Pinkie glared at him, straight in the eyes. “You put yourself in a coma to fight the big bad meanie pants Discord, and you didn’t tell any of us?!”

Discord absentmindedly patted her on her head. “Yes, I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you. He would know what I was planning, then. As it was, he only had a faint idea what I might do. It came as a surprise to him that I would put myself into an actual coma, just to regain control.”

“So… He’s gone,” Applejack asked.

“Well and truly gone, friends. It’s the real me at last,” he said with a grin.
> Loneliness and Secret Meetings, Part One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord sighed as he opened his eyes. He felt... strange. A peculiar loneliness had surrounded him. Indeed, Discord felt well and truly... alone.

Now, it wasn't all bad. He could sleep and rest on clouds as long as he wanted. In fact, he was surprisingly comfortable. He fluttered his wings lightly, just to warm them up. Perhaps, just maybe, he would go for a quick flight. 

Not a long one, just a quick jaunt. Surely that couldn't be too bad, right? It would warm him up, at least. He was rather cold. He even made a move to stand before falling back onto the cloud, sending little wisps of cirrus around. 

He just couldn’t leave this wonderfully comfortable resting spot of his. 

He sighed softly, watching the clouds above him drifting slowly past. It was relaxing, certainly, but… he longed for something else. Was it adventure? Or simply some company? It was starting to get to him… this loneliness. No amount of cloud watching could combat that. 

He thought of his first option for why he felt peculiar - adventure. Maybe he simply longed to move from this little haven of his. But his Shadow had told him quite firmly that the world beyond his resting place was too dangerous for someone in his condition. He still wasn’t positive what that condition was, but why would his own Shadow lie to him? He was awfully tired most of the time, and usually had no desire to do much of anything.

That’s right! That had been the question he wanted to ask. Why did he feel so lonely and have such a great wanderlust now of all times? He thought for a moment; that wasn’t as hard a question to answer as he thought. It had been that voice he had heard earlier.

Had he told his Shadow about the peculiar voice? He couldn’t remember. He thought he had. He wasn’t positive, however - it was just so hard to remember things lately. Maybe he would tell him about the voice later.

He tapped his chin. It had been a very kind voice. Soft, like a flower. It reminded him of the taste of butterscotch, although he wasn’t sure when he had last had butterscotch. But it had seemed like the voice was crying. Like it was sad. He hoped the voice he heard wasn’t too horribly sad (although he wasn’t sure why he felt that way). 

He thought about the voice for quite awhile. It made sense why he was so suddenly lonely. Even if he couldn’t respond back to the voice earlier, it had still been there. That was good. Great, even. He hadn’t quite realized how quiet his world here was.
But now the voice was gone. He had already tried calling to it, but it remained stubbornly silent. All he wanted was to hear someone, anyone’s voice…

But that was a dream for another day, he supposed. With a yawn, he settled down into the cloud again. He was still feeling just a bit tired. Maybe a small rest before he decided to take that big adventure was a good idea…

Yeah. Sleep… “What a lovely idea,” he muttered tiredly to himself before shutting his eyes and drifting off into another dreamless yet fitful sleep.

*~*~*~

Twilight glanced around the room. She had never been in this part of Canterlot castle before. It was an old war room, used in much older, much darker times as the place of war plans and peace treaties. She hoped they would never have to use them for that purpose again.

The room was rather bare, particularly on the walls. The only source of light were the dimly lit torches, which blazed with a peculiar teal flame. It shed a sickly light on the walls, reminding Twilight of an undersea dungeon more than a spartanly empty, abandoned room. 

Although the room wasn’t totally empty. She looked now at the ponies sitting around her. Rarity was to her left in the circular room, resting on a bench while talking to Spike. To her right was Applejack, fixing her hat every so often and nervously glancing at the clock. Twilight couldn’t help but smile, knowing for almost fact that her friend was worrying about her little sister back in Ponyville. Lastly, she looked directly ahead at Princess Luna. The princess being there wasn’t too much of a shock. Twilight only wondered why  Princess Celestia wasn’t here too.

Twilight made the choice to speak up about it - no one learns without asking questions, after all. She cleared her throat softly. “Uh… Princess Luna?”

Luna looked at her. “We pray of thee, Twilight, to not be so terribly formal. Thou may refer to us as Luna.”

Twilight sheepishly smiled. “Luna, then. I was just wondering, where is Celestia?”

Luna sighed, shaking her head. “We fear our sister is too… close to the topic we wish to discuss with thee. We believe it best that she remain uninformed of our conversation tonight.”

“Well then why don’t we go on and get this here meeting started,” Applejack said. “It’s gettin’ mighty late, Princess.”

Luna shook her head. “We are waiting for one more pony to join us.”

“Oh?” Rarity sat up a bit more in her seat. “Whom, might I ask?”

Luna smiled softly. Twilight tilted her head - the princesses smirk looked almost… conspiratorial? Like she knew something they didn’t. Which, obviously, she did; she knew who the final guest was. “We believe thou knows him well.”

“Him? Is it Shining?”

“No, dear Twilight,” Luna said with a soft little chuckle. “No, we think only Rarity has so much as spoken to him before.”

Twilight ran through a mental list of stallions in her mind. Not Big Mac, as Applejack was his sister. Certainly not Hoity Toity; there was absolutely no reason for him to be here. Fancy Pants? He had no more reason than Hoity would. She racked her brain, trying to think of any more. 

There came a soft knock at the door. “Ah. It appears our final guest has arrived.” She stood and made as though she was going to the door, but stopped, glancing at Rarity. “Er… Perhaps, Rarity, thou could promise us not to scream when thou sees him?”

“Hm? Why in Equestria would I scream?”

“Simply try to avoid it,” Luna said, a small smile on her face. She opened the door, and the stallion who had knocked walked in.

Rarity’s eyes widened. Applejack couldn’t hold back a snicker. Twilight wasn’t even sure if she was supposed to bow or not. Luna giggled. “Might we welcome Prince Blueblood to this meeting, and get our business underway?”
> Loneliness And Secret Meetings, Part Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity sat, slack jawed. "What in the name of all things good is HE doing here?!" Everypony winced as the shrillness of her voice reached whole new octaves. Luna simply smirked.

Blueblood took a step back as she shouted. "M-madam, please calm down!"

"CALM DOWN?!" Rarity stood quickly, the white fur of her face beginning to shift to a light scarlet in her fury. "How do you expect me to calm down after that AWFUL experience you put me through?! That was absolutely atrocious!"

Blueblood huffed out a sigh. "I'm... terribly sorry, Madam. I should not have treated you as such."

"An apology now is worth nothing," she spat out, turning her back. 

He rolled his eyes with a soft huff, taking his place at the table. His horn sparked to life and his saddle bag opened; out came a scroll. "Then let's just get down to business." Rarity gasped and was about to say something, but he quickly spread open the scroll with a flourish. "I brought the map, Auntie."

Rarity huffed lightly, sitting back at the table. Twilight looked closely at the scroll; the writing was archaic, and the parchment even more so. On it was printed a detailed yet faded sketch of Equestria and the lands beyond. She squinted at it. "What does this say?"

"It says much, Twilight." Luna trotted up next to Blueblood, taking in the scroll. Her previous joviality had all but disappeared, replaced with a serious air. "This is a map of the lands surrounding this kingdom. Generally, each kingdom is comprised of mainly one species; Equestria has ponies, whilst the Outer Lands have changelings." She nodded to Blueblood, sitting.

The prince's horn lit, a speck of light glowing in the parchment. "This is the home of the Draconequui." Twilight looked closely at the name of the kingdom. "Don't bother trying to read it. The Draconequui have a very peculiar language. Or, I should say, had."

"Had?" Applejack tapped her chin lightly, taking in the map. "Does that mean that this here Dracon place is basically gone?"

"Not gone, Fair Applejack," Luna said. "Forgotten." She gently lit her horn, bathing the map in a blue light. It formed another map, one showing much more recent landmarks and places. "A current map of Equestria reveals an unsurprising truth."

Twilight's eyes widened. The home of the Draconequui was gone. In fact, the entire part of that map appeared uncharted - no rivers, no mountains, not even a small village here or there. This was unsurprising?

"As you all can see, this area is now shrouded in mystery." Blueblood brushed away part of his aunt's spell. The Dracon home underneath on the old map was still very plain, though had more markings than the future installment. "This is where Discord originally came from."

"And why is this of interest to us," Rarity said, her voice still bitter. "We, obviously, aren't Draconequui."

Blueblood shook his head. "You might not be, but realize this - Discord could wreak havoc on Equestria with his powers. He can shape whole worlds and dimensions, simply for his own pleasure. And with all he can do, the one thing he did... was erase some maps."

Twilight gnawed on the inside of her cheek, thinking. “But why would a near all powerful God waste his time on some maps? What could be so important that he would erase his home from them? And why not the older ones as well? Surely that’s within his powers!”

“Your questions are sound, Princess,” Blueblood said, “but we can only speculate on the answers.” He pointed at the few markings on the ancient map. “Now, this shows one main settlement. Our information about the Draconequui is limited, but it seems they used to be nomadic in nature. The settlement is one of the only permanent structures of their race.”

Rarity rose an eyebrow, having calmed down visibly by this time. “You keep referring to them in past tense. Just because a few maps are erased does not mean the entire race disappeared. What else do you know?”

Luna smiled softly. “Thine attention to detail is impeccable, Fair Rarity.” She stood, looking at all of them in turn. “As all well know, Discord is extremely powerful. We fear this God is playing us as fools.” She glanced at Rarity. “Thine eyes spotted one discrepancy, I believe.”

Rarity blushed as everypony glanced at her. “Well… I find that when I stand in a sunny room, my eyes are a bit strained. I try to stand in somepony’s shadow usually, just to keep the sun out of my eyes. While I was looking for the closest one, I happened to notice that Discord… well… didn’t have one.”

Twilight frowned. “No shadow?” She tapped her chin, thinking. “That might not be anything bad. Knowing him, he probably thought it was weighing him down and told it to go home.”

Luna chuckled but shook her head. “We are afraid not, Twilight. Shadows are powerful things. Dost thou remember, by chance, Sombra’s malicious powers?”

“How could I forget?” She shivered, remembering that door. 

“Discord’s shadow could use much the same powers. Shadow magic is intensely powerful, but notoriously difficult to control.” She cleared her throat, almost a bit nervously. “We have surveyed each shadow user in Equestria thus far. Our findings have led to many preemptive strikes against darkness.”

Twilight gulped - she had never known about shadow magic, really. She thought it was all just ‘dark magic’. Were there different parts to it all? Applejack coughed lightly. “Pard’n the interruption, Princess, but does that mean Discord’s got chaos magic and shadow magic?”

“We’re afraid so, Fair Applejack.” She sighed. “Even if his story today rings with any truth, we fear his shadow self - the ‘evil half’ - will still retain his powers.” She frowned. “It is altogether possible that the story was a lie, yet even if it is not a fabrication, we must be wary. We fear the reason these maps have faded is due to the fact that Discord has put an end to his people. Perhaps we are mistaken, but we fear we are not. Tell me - has anypony considered the possibility that the Discord who spoke with us today is, in truth, the evil half?”

Twilight sighed and nodded. “I thought of it… I… I just really hope he was telling the truth. I want to believe him, really. After the fight with Tirek, he seemed so sincere, if a bit aloof.”

“Yet hope can only get us so far, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna glanced at Applejack. “What say thou?”

“Huh?” Applejack’s eyes widened. “Why me?”

“Thou art the element of honesty, Applejack.”

Applejack blushed lightly and looked down, somewhat embarrassed. “Er… Ah don’ really know how much that affects all this. Ah’ve never been able to read him real well.”

“Think back, Applejack,” Twilight said, putting her hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. 

Her friend sighed, taking off her hat. “Let’s see here… He was bein’ honest when he said how nice it was t’have caring friends. Ah don’ think that’s a hard thing t’lie about, though. His story about splitting apart sounded true, but Ah feel like he was bending the truth a little. Ah don’t think the evil part wanted to just cause a lotta havoc. Ah think he wanted something else.”

Luna was smiling brightly. “Even better than we expected. We knew we had gathered the right ponies.” She sighed softly. “We have brought thee here for a very specific purpose. Something in the Draconequui homeland has scared Discord, it seems. Perhaps, something in his past - or future - has frightened this evil part of him that we expect still runs free inside his body. We fear the Draconequui may have died in Discord's fright. We are giving you a hard task, my little ponies. Go to Dracon home and investigate.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, as did Applejack’s. Rarity gasped and instantly began her spiel. “T-travel to the chaos center of the world? Princess Luna, surely you don’t expect us to go that far? It’s such a long way, with untold dangers - who knows what sort of horrible monsters we could meet on the way! W-what I mean to say is, a-are we really the ponies you want for this job?”

Luna nodded. “Yes. We chose each here specifically.” She nodded toward Rarity. “Thine attention to detail shall help pinpoint key factors needed to learn more about this elusive kingdom.” She turned to Applejack. “Should thou encounter foes or tricksters in thine path, honest eyes will help reveal all.” She turned to Twilight. “Lastly, the Princess of not only Friendship, but Magic, will be by thine side. We trust, Twilight, that thou wilst protect thy friends to the bitter end?”

Twilight gulped. “Of course, princess.”

Blueblood cleared his throat. “Very well. We will set out in one week’s time.”

“We?” Rarity’s face, although white, seemed to pale slightly. “You don’t mean…”

“Wasn’t that obvious, Fair Rarity?” Luna smirked. “Blueblood will escort thy group safely there. We put all faith in him.”

“HIM!?”

“Why, what on earth is the matter? Prince Blueblood is very skilled in travel. It is why he is oft beyond the limits of Canterlot, truth be told. He has done thousands of missions for us, and we would trust him with all.”

Rarity gulped. She seemed to be shaken. “Very well. We will be ready. Will you, Prince,” she said scathingly. 

“Miss Rarity, I was born ready to travel.” He turned to all those gathered. “I will remind you to pack light. This settlement is far off, and even with magic on our side, it will take a few days to travel there. Heavy baggage will bog you down and will just make the journey last longer than it should.” He smiled softly. “One week from now, we need to be ready. I suggest you all prepare yourselves - it’ll be quite the adventure, I believe.”
> Questions With Few Answers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord looked carefully at the chessboard before him, his head resting on his paw. He analyzed each possible move. His eyes narrowed on his bishop. With a smirk and a wave of his claw, Discord sent his bishop blazing ahead to rest in the perfect spot. "Checkmate, my dear."

"Awwww!!!" Pinkie pouted in her seat, her hooves crossing over each other. "You never used to be this good at chess! How about best 73 out of 147?”

Discord chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m a little chessed out, Pinkie. Oh, I know!” He waved his paw over the board and all of the pieces turned into checkers. “Hm?~”

“Oh, wowwie!!” Pinkie giggled, bouncing in place. “I LOVE checkers!” In a flash, she reorganized every piece to where it should go. “There!” With an intense look of concentration, she stared at the board, trying to figure out where to move her first piece.

Rainbow Dash buzzed past the pair at their spot in the cafe before speeding back, watching them. “Woah, Discord? Celestia let you out of Canterlot already? I thought you were supposed to be on bed rest or something.”

Discord shrugged, crossing his arms and relaxing. “When have I ever been one to listen to authority, Rainbow?” He smirked, chuckling. “What Celestia won’t figure out until later is not my problem.”

“Until later,” Dash muttered.

“Precisely! Until then, I figured I should spend some time with my friends as my true self. After all, you all should get to meet the real me.” He grinned, winking. “Besides. I prefer the open air to stuffy old Canterlot anyday.”

“Heh! Duh.” Dash did a loop midair, grinning. “Flying’s waaaay better than being stuck walking around the castle. The place is cool and all, but the sky’s cooler.” She looked back at him. “Well… Just get plenty of rest, alright? It’s only been like 3 days since you hopped out of that hospital bed. We wouldn’t want our new friend to get hurt.”

“I am perfectly fine, Rainbow Dash. After all,” he said with a smirk, “I am a God.”

“AHHA!” Pinkie nudged forward a piece, smiling brightly. “Take THAT!” She turned to Rainbow. “Dashie! Wanna get in on this game? We can TOTALLY make this 3 players.”

“Er… No thanks, Pinks. As confusing but fun as that sounds, I promised Scoots I would help her train today. I just wanted to see what was up before I flew off.”

“Oh, nothing much, Rainbow Dash.” Discord pushed up his checker, smiling softly. “Just enjoying a friendly game over some small talk.” 

“Alright, alright. Take care, Discord! Oh, and we have GOT to play some pranks soon. I’ve gotta good one!” Grinning brightly, she took off once more, a rainbow streak following behind her. 

Discord watched her go curiously. “Well, she changed her tone about me quickly.”

“Well DUH! You’re our friend, Dissy!” Pinkie Pie giggled, smiling brightly and gesturing towards him. “You’ve really changed, and I think Dashie can see that, because HONESTLY, before you were kiiiiinda a bit of a meanie pants sometimes! But now you’re really FUN!” She pointed to the board. “Now, let’s play! Maybe after this game we can think up new pranks! I’m sure anything you can come up with will be a doozy!”

Discord chuckled softly, his mouth curling into a grin, his fang taking up most of his smile. “My dear Miss Pie, you have NO idea.”

*~*~*~

“Ah jus’ don’ understand why she chose us.”

Twilight sighed, lowering the book in her magical grasp to her face, glancing at the title. She would certainly want to bring this one in case they ran into new and curious types of plants. Frowning, she added it to her ever growing pile. “We’ve been over this, Applejack. She trusts us.”

Applejack groaned, sitting, brows furrowed. “Ah know, Ah know. It’s jus’... We might represent the Elements of Harmony an’ all, but that don’t make us ready to handle this, Twi. And why not Pinkie, or Dash, or Fluttershy?”

“I did notice she excluded a rather large amount of our friend-group,” Rarity said as she worked on lightening the load of her own bags. “Why would she leave so many of us out, and include simply… well, us three? And that pompous mule of a stallion,” she added as an afterthought.

“Consarn it, Rarity, would y’stop mutterin’ ‘bout the prince? We know he wasn’t the nicest at the Gala -”

“Wasn’t the nicest?!” Applejack winced as the unicorn turned to look at her. “He was a complete jacka-”

“Ah’m jus’ sayin’,” Applejack said quickly, cutting her off, “that maybe this here Prince ain’t as bad as y’think. Y’oughta give him a chance. Ah mean, Ah never thought me and you’d manage to be close friends, but look at us now - the farm mare and the fashionesta.”

Rarity huffed softly. “Well… I suppose.” She lifted her nose, ‘hmph’ing under her breath. “But if he is expecting me to forgive him for that vile night, he is most assuredly mistaken.”

Twilight grumbled to herself, reading the title of the next book. “I don’t think I’ll need to bring Magical Maladies and Misfortunes: 101 Curable Diseases, but should I bring it just in case?”

The two mares glanced at her. “Er…” “Um…” Twilight glanced at them both as they pointed to her pile of supplies. It was nearly tipping over, a book tower that was set on toppling if one more tome was placed atop it. 

Twilight took it in and sighed, plopping her flanks down on the floor with a groan. “Ugh. Packing for a trip like this is harder than I first thought.”

Applejack trotted over, glancing at some of the books. “Well, Ah can tell you y’won’t need this one.” She nudged a book away with her muzzle, pushing it towards the bookshelf. She looked at another. “Really? Twi, did’ya really think you’d need ‘1000 Ways to Get Burrs Out of Your Fur’?”

“H-Heh…” She sighed. “I’ve just never done anything like this before. I want to be prepared for anything that could stand in our way when we go!” She shut her eyes, contemplative. “I mean, this is uncharted territory - literally. We have NO Idea what we’re getting into. What if there’s horrible monsters, or creatures we don’t know how to defeat?”

“Ah’m gonna go out on a limb here and say we’ll be fine.” Applejack nudged another book away from the pile. 

“Darling, Applejack is correct. After all, Nightmare Moon was an unknown threat at the time. So was Discord, and Chrysalis, and Tirek. If we defeated all of them, I’m simply positive we’ll be fine now.”

Twilight smiled at her friends. “I just hope you’re right both right…”

All of them worked on packing for almost the entire day, all in varying moods.

Applejack couldn’t help but wonder, why them? And, more particularly, why her? Sure, Luna has said that it was because Applejack could discern the truth from the lies, but how was that going to help if they ran into danger? Surely, having Pinkie, Dash, and Fluttershy along would help greatly. So why only them, and her? Why Honesty?

Rarity scowled as she started unpacking again, sorting through her scarves. She sighed, distracted. She couldn’t stop thinking about that prince. The Gala had been a dreadfully long time ago, and while the prince’s actions had been less than desireable, she was indeed the bigger mare. Certainly, by now, she should have forgiven him. Luna knew full well that they hated each other, but she insisted that Blueblood was necessary in the coming journey. What could that immature oaf of a stallion possible help them do? And why was he so… important? Didn’t Luna have faith in them?

Twilight frowned, finally scaling her mountain of books down. She couldn’t help but wonder, why? Not just why them. Not just why Blueblood. Not even why not Celestia - though she had to admit, she was curious. No, Twilight was mostly concerned with why - and what - Discord could be hiding.

No pony as of yet had been able to delve into the mind of the chaos God. It was just too… well, chaotic! He had always had an air of mystery, something that no one could pierce easily. So what was he hiding? What could make the God of Chaos erase maps like they were secrets? And why had he stopped at the maps? Surely, with his power, if he really meant bad, he could have just destroyed the Dracon home with the same ease she levitated a feather.

So why was he so scared?

*~*~*~

“Auntie?”

Luna looked behind her, her eyes showing Blueblood that she had known he had arrived an instant before he did. How his aunt did that, he would never know; she was never easily startled anymore. “My nephew… Please, sit. Enjoy some biscuits.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Auntie, I really should be preparing for this journey. Do we really have time to waste on sweets?”

Luna allowed a small smile to grace her serious features. “There is always time for sweets, as my dear sister would say.”

Blueblood sighed, crossing over and sitting on the cushion opposite her, allowing himself to indulge in one of the sweet cookies. He did have to admit, it was a nice break from pouring over the maps. But he needed to be prepared. He swallowed the cookie in his mouth and regarded her seriously as she sipped her tea. “You didn’t call me here just for sweets.”

It wasn’t a question, and yet Luna felt a need to answer the unspoken question. “Indeed, you are correct, Blueblood. I have something very important to discuss with you.”

He set down the cookie in his magic and nodded. “Please, discuss away.”

Luna shut her eyes. Her horn began to glow and from the spot next to her fireplace, a scroll appeared, drifting over to the table. “I trust that you realize I… did not speak the whole truth at our last meeting.”

Blueblood’s eyes narrowed. “I suspected, but you are good at hiding things, Princess. I think I was the only to realize you had more to say.”

“I’ve asked you not to call me that.”

“I have every right. I am a Prince after all,” he said, the snobbish Canterlot noble voice entering his register. 

Luna smirked softly. “I see why Rarity hates you.” He gasped in fake surprise. “Do you ever think you will explain to her just why you acted like such an a-”

“I-I think it best to let my feelings be known when we are on our journey,” he quickly said. “I simply… don’t know how to bring the subject up. I fear she might never forgive me. I was well and truly horrible at the Gala.”

“Dances and parties never have been your strong suit. Did you really think you had to be so noble the entire dance, Nephew? Surely nopony would have cared if you ate some simpler fare for the night; are you not more comfortable, in fact, eating ‘carnival fare’, as you so eloquently worded it, is closer to your usual meals either way.”

He scowled softly, huffing. “It wasn’t I who deemed it necessary to attend the Gala. I cannot believe Auntie Tia made me go. She knows just how much I detest nobility.”

“Even me, Blue?”

“Especially you, Auntie Lulu.”

Luna gasped in fake horror, mirroring his same gasp earlier. He smiled at the gesture before looking pointedly at the scroll still in her grasp. She sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid I’ve gotten very off topic.” She unfurled the scroll, laying it down on the floor as the table was currently occupied. It looked almost like a page from a story book, including an illustration that struck an unnatural fear into the both of them.

Blueblood frowned as he looked at the picture before looking at the words with no uncertain surprise. “Draconequish?”

“Good. You recognize the language.” Luna looked at him. “Are you able to read any of it?”

“I’m afraid not; it’s been a dead language. Discord is the last Draconequus is existence. No one has felt the need to learn his language in a very long time.” He looked back at her, concern etched into his features. “... Do you know what it says?”

Luna sighed. “Yes… I am in the unlikely position that, at the time I learned it, it was no more a dead language than Equish.” Blueblood nodded sadly, allowing that topic to drop. She cleared her throat, looking at the scroll. “Not everything translates directly, but… the meaning of this document is terrifying. It’s why I dodged Miss Rarity’s question at our meeting.”

“I had noticed that. What does it say?”

She sighed. Slowly, she began to recite the text. To his credit, Blueblood stayed silent through it all. She spoke at length, her voice only wavering as she reached the final sentences. Blueblood let out a soft whistler, eyes wide as she finished. “... This… is information that they should know.”

“No.” Luna sighed. “We do not know if this is even true anymore; it could be possible these creatures were wrong. It could be possible they had no idea of what was to come of the future. Or it could be true, and this could all be for naught. We cannot allow the bearers of Harmony to grow discouraged. If they do, then we shall have no defense against this eventuality.”

“But Auntie, if this document is true, then we are all in grave danger!” He stood up, beginning to pace; a nervous trait he had picked up from Celestia, no doubt. “All this talk of an Order, of the Guardians… Could this be why Discord erased the maps? Could this be what he was protecting himself from?”

“If it is truth, then I believe so.”

“Then a beast could surely await us at Dracon home. A beast will that much power, and we only have half of the elements!”

“You know why I have excluded the others already, Blueblood. Someone must keep an eye on that foolish God.”

Blueblood laughed, shaking his head. “Evidently, someone should have been doing that all along.”

“Once again, dear nephew, we are not positive this account is truth. You must calm yourself.” Blueblood took a deep breath, nodding. “I never said this mission would be easy, dear nephew. This may indeed be, if not the most dangerous, then the most vital mission you have been given. Your escapades in the Outer Lands have given us fruitful information on the Changelings, certainly, but now you will be going into entirely unmarked territory. I have told you this information not to scare you, but to warn you, to remind you just what might await you in this city of beasts.”

Blueblood nodded softly once more, sitting down. Luna poured him a cup of tea and they shared a brief silence.

Blueblood was the one to break it first.

“... Is this why you haven’t told Celestia yet?”

Luna winced. “I…” She sighed. “I have seen how she had grown attached to the God. Like it or not, she has formed at least a platonic bond with him - if not more. If she were to know just… Just what he is…”

“Then she would be hurt. And you can’t bear to hurt her again.”

Luna let her head hang. “Am I being selfish, nephew? I know she should learn where her faithful student is going. I know she would be terrified to know what is to come. But I cannot bring myself to tell her that if we go through with this, then the beast she has chosen to… to possibly even love…”

“That he might die.”

They shared another brief silence. Blueblood gave her no answer. He made it his goal not to answer questions that he had no answer for.
> Time Flies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight shifted her saddle pack softly around her, yawning. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night - she’d been busy sorting through all of her items again. Still, she’d gotten plenty for the journey to come. She glanced over at Spike. “And you’re sure everything is ready?”

He saluted, standing tall. “Yep! The castle’s all cleaned up, and the library section is closed to the next few weeks. I already talked about it to the CMC, so everyone in town should know by now!”

Twilight smiled softly, nodding. They were sure to spread the news. She glanced around, levitating smaller items like spare quills over to her, stuffing them in her bags. “And the trip?”

“Everyone thinks you’re off with Rarity and Applejack to visit Griffonstone.” Spike chuckled, grinning a bit to himself. “I managed to convince Fluttershy not to come by telling her all about Griffon culture. She spooked herself out of going.”

“Good job, Spike.” Twilight paused and frowned, glancing at him. “Well, sort of.”

“Whatever. Anyways, Pinkie and Dash didn’t wanna come, they’re watching Discord-”

“What?!” Twilight blanched slightly. “Is he here in Ponyville? I thought Luna and Celestia were keeping a close eye on him!”

Spike shrugged. “Seems like he ran away.” Twilight felt her eye twitch. What if he learned what was going to happen? Would he try and stop them? Spike saw her starting to unravel and sighed, walking over and patting her back. “Calm down, Twi, don’t worry. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow have got their eyes on him. Besides, if it all goes crazy, Luna can come down here really fast and put a stop to it!”

Twilight sighed, shutting her eyes. “You’re right. I can’t concern myself with that right now.” She smiled, looking at him before hugging him tight, ignoring his surprise. “Be careful, okay, Spike? If he figures out where we really went… Just don’t get hurt, okay?”

Spike blushed lightly, glancing away but hugging her back. “C’mon, Twi, nothing bad’s gonna happen. Shouldn’t I be telling you all of this? I mean, you’re the one who’s going on a huge adventure!”

“I know, but… Just be safe, alright? I don’t know what I would do without my number one assistant.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna be fine! Now, you should get going, or you’re gonna be late!”

Twilight gasped, looking at the clock on the wall. He was right - it was already 7:40! “Oh god, I can’t be late, Blueblood said we’d be leaving at 8 sharp. I need to get to Sweet Apple, fast! Take care, alright?”

“Just go!” She nodded and darted off towards the balcony, flying off. He waved goodbye to her, shaking his head. “She worries too much.”


*~*~*~


He blinked. 

… What time was it?

He glanced around the clouds around him. Well. There was sunlight. So it was day-time. But that didn’t really narrow it down much, did it?

Still. It was an answer.

But it wasn’t really much of an answer, was it?


Why was he so concerned with time? It didn’t matter in the slightest. It shouldn’t matter in the slightest, anyways. But for some reason, now, it did. What had happened that made him concerned with time?

Well. His Shadow had taken control. And he was left alone.


… How long had he been alone now?

He couldn’t remember.

Was that a bad thing?

Yes. Memory is key. Without memories, you have no recollection, and without recollection…

What was he thinking?

It didn’t matter.


He shut his eyes. It was too bright out there. He just wanted to forget. 

But those voices...



That's right! I'll always be loyal-


-lucky to have friends who want me-


-yummy delicious chocolate milk rain-


-we're wasting our time talking-


-All of my friends-


-Twilight, what were you thinking?!-


-Surely you saw this comin'... 



I didn't. 



“I truly didn't.”

Were those his words?

He couldn’t remember anymore. His head pounded and nothing was making it better. He kept hearing these voices, but calling out to his Shadow wasn’t doing anything. His Shadow had abandoned him and taken his body. 

He wanted to be in control again. It was his turn.

Did they take turns before?

Who had he been, before?


What was his name now?...

No. Didn’t matter. He couldn’t be in control. No, that- It wouldn’t work that way! His Shadow was supposed to be there! That was the way it worked. He needed to forget.

Dormancy.

He needed to forget. His mind screamed to forget. 

He shut his eyes.


… 


What time was it again?

He opened his eyes. 


Well. There was sunlight on the clouds...


It must be day-time then.


*~*~*~


Blueblood checked his pocket watch. 8 o’clock, sharp. He glanced up as Applejack walked up with Rarity. “Perfect timing. I expected you all to sleep in late.”

“This is nothin’ for a farmer,” Applejack said with a bright smirk. “‘Specially a farmer who lives on the farmland where you wanted to meet up.”

“And I usually have to take Sweetie Belle to school,” Rarity muttered, much less enthused about the early hour, “so I’m used to waking up so early.” She yawned, wrapping her scarf closer to her neck. It was a bit chilly out.

Blueblood nodded, glancing towards Twilight (who had been a full 15 minutes early). “Is everything prepared for our departure?”

“It seems like it. I’ve got the maps in my bag - not that they’ll be much help. But on the way, I’ll be marking down where we go so we don’t get too lost.” Now that the journey was beginning, she was starting to grow excited. Uncharted territory - she was going to be making maps of a whole new place! She might even get to learn a bit of Draconequish. 

Still. She had to keep her head about her. This was exceptionally serious, after all. There was no telling what Discord was hiding in Dracon home. They had to be prepared for everything. 

“Very well.” He glanced at Applejack and Rarity. “Now, Twilight will be teleporting us a good distance of the way to get us started. That way, no citizens out for a morning stroll will see us headed that direction.”

“Makes sense. How far out will it take us?”

“It’s already marked on the map. We’ll keep track as we go, as Twilight said.” Blueblood sighed, shutting his eyes. “I hope you all understand the gravity of our situation. This is a matter of life and death.

“We know,” they all said in unison.

“We’ve gotta figure what’s goin’ on down there is bad-”

“And we must put a stop to it-”

“Or else Discord might do something horrible.”

Blueblood nodded. “Prepare your spell then, Twilight. Everyone else, say goodbye to Ponyville. We might not see it for awhile.”

Twilight began to prepare her spell. Blueblood glanced out over the hillside towards Ponyville. He thought of what they had all said. 

Ha.

They imagined themselves prepared, not knowing anything he had learned - all those things he had been sworn to silence of. He couldn’t tell them of the horrors that might await all of them. Of Gods so fierce, entire races of ponies had been sacrificed in their name. Of beasts so terrible their depictions - a false replica of their true form - still sent shivers down his spine. Of Guardians and Cults and of Chaos and Order and Evil and Good. 

How could they imagine themselves prepared, if they knew what he did?

He shut his eyes as Twilight’s spell began to cover them.


Applejack looked over her farm, saying a silent prayer. She prayed that Twilight would make it back, for Equestria, Spike, the Princesses. She prayed that Rarity would make it back for Sweetie and for herself, for all the generosity in the world. She prayed that Ponyville would be fine with a God in their midst who might mean wrong. She prayed that she could do her job. She prayed that she would make it home safe, for Mac and Granny and Apple Bloom.

But if she didn’t, she prayed, even as she felt Twilight’s magic, that Ma and Pa might be there to greet her when she failed.


Rarity looked over Ponyville, fretting as she always did. She hoped everyone would be safe. Had she packed Sweetie enough lunches for this week? Oh, that little sweetheart had been giving out her apples at lunch to the poorer kids, she hoped desperately that Sweetie would save some for herself. Oh, and what about those dresses for her clients, had she added enough rhinestones and made them good enough? She hoped so.

She couldn’t let anyone down, she thought as the magic reached her. Not when she might not be able to set it right, not when she might not be coming back to give everypony her all.


Twilight shut her eyes.


I hope I can keep you three safe.

In a flash, all that was left in the orchard was a faint breeze and the scent of the upcoming harvest in the air.

> Past Influences
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blueblood sighed. Of course it was raining. Why wouldn't it be raining? He cursed the Griffon weather system; too many rainstorms. His fur wasn't made to be this soaked through, being so thin; he was sure to get a cold. That would make it absolutely dreadful to deal with the nobility.

Still. He’s had put up with worse.

“This rain is simply dreadful,” Rarity bemoaned from her spot in the cart. Blueblood fought the urge to snap at her - but, if he could say anything, he would definitely suggest she try pulling the cart instead of him.

Applejack covered it for him, though. “C’mon, Rarity, it ain’t that bad.” She glanced up at the sky, blinking away the rain. “Why, Rainbow Dash makes storms worse than this one all the time.” 

“Oh, I know, dear, but I don't make it a habit to be out and about when it's raining like this.” Rarity pouted just a bit. “My mane is just atrocious!”

Blueblood huffed slightly, ignoring the idle chatter. He wasn't quite used to these scouting trips being accompanied by 3 mares. He wasn't used to any company on these trips, actually. He usually tried to go alone; other people just got in the way. Case in point, had he gone alone, he wouldn't be pulling them all along in a cart (though, he supposed Applejack’s reasoning that this conserved everyone else's strength was sound). 

He glanced back at the girls again. Rarity and Applejack were just chatting. Twilight sat in the very back of the cart, maps around her. Blueblood’s ear twitched as he strained to hear her muttering. “So if we take a left… No, that will take us right into the river… But going around will take another 3 days… I could always- well, no…”

He breathed out slowly, turning to watch the road again. She hadn't spoken much since they left Rainbow Falls. He’d seen ponies pour over their work before (goodness knows his aunts never seemed to pause), but Twilight was something else. Usually ponies did this to avoid thinking about other things, but Twilight just seemed… absorbed into it. He'd never met anyone quite like her. Part of him admired her determination, but, well… 

It still felt kind of weird.

“Hold on, Blueblood.” He gently slowed as Twilight moved slightly to face him. She was staring at one of the maps. “We’re going to run into a border station soon. How are we going to get through?”

Blueblood glanced at the group. “Fair point. Rarity, Applejack, and I should be fine. You, on the other hoof… Well, there's only so many Alicorns in the world. They’re attuned to magic disguises, so that won't work.” He rubbed his chin. “Alright. Twilight, if you pretend to be sick, I can get us through the border without them checking us too much; a bit of money exchanged and we should be fine. If worst comes to worst, I can cast a silencing spell-”

“Hold up.” Blueblood turned to Applejack, who looked less than pleased. “Why’re you sayin’ she's gotta hide at all? And what's this about a bribe?”

“Applejack, it's not a bribe, per se. It's just…”

“A bribe.” She frowned. 

He huffed. “We need to get through without them spreading word of our travel through here. They would be certain to talk about us. It's the same reason why we couldn't just take the train to Griffonstone and make our way from there.” 

Applejack smiled, the flicker of determination in her eyes instantly concerning Blueblood. “Well, why don't’cha just let me handle this one? Ah know Ah can get us through without any nonsense.” 

“Applejack, not to offend, but if this goes badly, we will have to use a less than desirable means of getting past the border patrol. I do not wish to use mind magic, but I will if I must.” Twilight glanced his way, surprised. Many people seemed surprised when they learned of some of his talents in magic. 

“Well then, Ah know not to mess it up, don't Ah?” She stood and stepped out of the cart. “Lemmie handle it. Get your pretty lil’ hooves outta the dirt; Ah’ll take it from here.”


*~*~*~


The stained glass windows were her favorite part of the castle, she knew. 

It wasn't just that they marked a history she was liable to forget. It was that it marked her history with a frank sense of beauty, one that held back none of the agony and strife, nor any of the peace and harmony, that held the past together like a tapestry. She bathed in the light, feeling an odd warmth through the colored glass.

“... Somehow we knew we would find thee here, dear sister.” Celestia blinked, the only sign of recognition she gave that she had heard Luna’s words. “Why must thou insist on wandering these halls alone?”

“Please, drop the formalities, Luna. You know I can't stand that old dialect.” Luna huffed softly, taking her place beside her sister, where she belonged. Celestia did not turn towards her in the short silence that followed, instead focusing on the glasswork before her.

Luna sighed softly, once again breaking Celestia from her thoughts, however briefly - and, truth be told, she did not mind the intrusion. “Dear sister, why are your thoughts restless?”

“Have you been having our dear nephew spy on me, Lulu?”

Luna’s nose scrunched ever so slightly at the nickname. “No, Tia, of course not. It doesn’t take a mind-reader to know the emotions going through your head. It only takes a sister.” Celestia cracked a small smile at that comment alongside Luna. “You’ve avoided my question.”

“Indeed I have. You already know the answer, after all, and I found it more fun to see your face when I used that nickname.”

“You know how much I hate that name, sister. Only our nephew gets to call me that, and even then! It’s illogical, it doesn’t shorten-” She cut herself off as Celestia began to laugh. She allowed herself to smile further; goal accomplished, then. Ever since she had returned, it had been her one goal to hear Celestia laugh at least each day. 

Celestia calmed down slightly, finally turning to her sister. “Very well, Luna; tell me. Do you know what’s been bothering me?”

Luna nodded. “It is, of course, Discord’s… present state of being.” Celestia nodded, beginning to walk. Luna quickly fell into stride with her. “Why are you so perturbed? He’s much better. Better enough to evade the trained health officials at the hospital, even,” she added a tad bit bitterly. 

“You know his way, Luna. He is not one to be tied down, after all.” Luna knew only too well. That was what concerned her, though she would never say it out loud. “To answer your question… I am not sure. Something is different about him.”

“Well, yes… After all, if he is truly free of that evil part of himself, then shouldn’t we be rejoicing?”

“That is exactly the problem. If, and I use that word loosely, he wasn’t lying to us, then what can we expect?” Celestia paused once more at a different window, the lavender light from the colored glass flashing in her own eyes. “Could he be playing an intricate, poorly thought out prank? Could that evil side of him have taken over? Could he truly be, well… himself?” Luna noticed Tia’s eyes flicker over to her, if but for an instant. “That last question is the most concerning to me.”

Luna was somewhat surprised by that. “Why is that, dear sister?”

“Because, Luna… You and I both know that there is no darkness without light.” Luna’s eyes widened ever so slightly. She faced the window as well, not looking at her sister as she felt the sudden gravity of the situation weigh down on her. Celestia breathed in, trying to find the proper words to say.  “... I lived a thousand years regretting my choices, Lulu,” she said finally, her voice softer and gentler than it had been. 

“You no longer have to do so, Tia. I’ve returned. The past is the past and deserves to remain there, as I have been learning as well.” Granted, an area she still needed some help on, but an area she had expertise in nonetheless. 

“I know this, sister. But those thousand years do not leave the mind readily. They still affect me as they do you, though I… imagine in different ways.” There was nothing Luna could say to that. “In those thousand years, I felt… void. Empty. There was a vital part of myself missing, and I only felt the spark of that part when I raised the moon. When I grew closer to you, to the dark, the night… That was the only time I could come to appreciate the light that my… that our little ponies all praise.”

There was another silence between the two sisters as Luna processed all she had heard her sister say. On the first day back on Earth, she and Celestia has stayed up all night, all day, discussing what had happened… What she had missed. And Tia had said much the same thing then as she had here. It was a feeling Luna knew well. She had felt it just the same.

“That is why I fear for Discord,” Celestia finally said. “Because, if he told the truth… if he really is purely good or purely evil… There is an emptiness in this world that I fear none can fill.”

Luna took in the stained glass window once more, a shiver struggling to make its way down her spine. Suddenly, the warm glow felt cold on her fur. As she took in the history of her ponies, those whom she vowed to protect… She felt a small sliver of fear in her very soul as she thought of all her sister suggested.

Celestia bowed her head softly. “Let us hope it does not come to this again.” Celestia turned her back on the glass window, moving away as Luna stayed behind, lost in thought as her sister had been when the discussion began. Celestia paused only briefly, glancing back. “Oh, and Luna?” She smiled softly. “Wish Blueblood luck if he has not left with the others yet. Their secret mission is of vital importance.” With no other words, she made her way out of the hall of windows.

Luna sighed. She had known the secret would be out quickly. Celestia was always perceptive, though it had certainly grown in the years she had been away. But Luna was perceptive as well, and while she might be lacking when compared to her sister, she also had a far better reign on her emotions.

Celestia had been downright miserable when Discord had first fallen into his coma. Quite clearly, something had Celestia in turmoil, and just as obviously to Luna, it was love. But, as she had just seen, it was far more than that. It was simple dread. For, there might come a day when the scene before her eyes, that scene of Discord, ruling over ponies with an iron claw and cruel grin, might play out once more. And, if that were to come to be…

Luna knew that Celestia would hesitate only briefly before eliminating the threat, freezing him in stone as she had done so long ago.

“Please, Nephew… Get them there safely.”


*~*~*~


The griffon sighed, allowing herself to slump just ever so slightly at the gate to the path ahead. “Why did the Weather teams decide on a torrential downpour on the day when I have guard duty?” She shivered lightly, shaking out her feathers to try and dry them. It did absolutely nothing to help, of course, but it made her feel slightly dryer on the inside. 

She craned her neck as she heard something. Was that… hoofsteps? Ponies coming towards Griffonstone? Her eyes narrowed as she stood a bit taller. “Guess no rest for the wicked…”

Sure enough, a group of ponies quickly came up to the sentry station. The griffon held out her spear. “Halt for inspection!” The pony in the lead, an orange mare that was pulling the cart, did so without any fuss, blowing the stray parts of her wet ponytail out of her face. 

She looked at the others. A stallion was in the cart, looking… honestly, rather noble. She had an instant sense of distaste for him, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he was a pony. The mare next to him looked no better, a white furred mare who was desperately trying to style her wet mane. Ridiculous looking, to say the least. And lastly, there was the mare in the back, who…

Who had a horn and wings.

She was an alicorn. 

The griffon’s eyes widened. “Holy crabapples…”

“Howdy!” The orange mare unhooked herself from the cart. “How y’doin’?”

“I uh…” The griffon clearly had not expected that. Most travellers just silently walked up, let her inspect their carts and persons, and then were on their way without a word. “I’m… doing… wet?”

The mare laughed, tipping her hat to let the rainwater out of it. “Same here, partner. My name’s Applejack, and this here’s Rarity-” she pointed to the prissy mare “- Prince Blueblood-” she pointed to the stallion that looked really uncomfortable “- and Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She smiled brightly. “What’s yours?”

The griffon opened and closed her beak, slightly overwhelmed by the hospitality. “I… My name’s Gene?”

“Nice t’meet y’, Gene.” Applejack turned back towards Twilight. “Twilight, y’mind comin’ up here?”

Twilight blinked. “Oh. Uh, sure?” She got out of the cart, walking over. Gene gulped, eyes widening ever so slightly. That was royalty. Oh. Wow. She hadn’t heard any word from her captain that any diplomats were expected! “Hi there,” Twilight said, a smile on her face.

“What…” Gene looked between the two mares, as well as the stallion and mare in the cart still. “What brings you all to Griffonstone? No one told me about any diplomatic meetings to screen.”

“Well, we… aren’t really here for a diplomatic meeting,” Twilight said a bit hesitantly. Gene’s eyes narrowed. “We’re, uh… You see…”

“What Twilight is tryin’ t’say is, this ain’t about meetin’s.” Gene looked over at Applejack. “See… Back in Equestria, we’ve got a small situation on our hands involvin’ a Draconequus. We found some ol’ maps, ones that point out a place we didn’t know was there. We’re on our way there now, but t’get there, we gotta get through this here station.”

Gene… supposed that made sense. But… “If you were sent here, why would you have a princess with you? And why wouldn’t you call ahead with warning?”

“Cause this mission is a secret.” Gene looked taken aback. “See, if word got out that we were headin’ to this fella’s hometown, that Draconequus stirrin’ up trouble might just try an’ stop us. We had t’keep it as secret as possible.”

The griffon frowned. “Then… why would you tell me? And you still didn’t say why Princess Sparkle is with you.”

“I can answer that one,” the stallion said from the cart. “You see, there are likely numerous magical wards on the Dracon home. We need a powerful magic caster to reliably get there safely. That is where she comes in.”

Twilight nodded; clearly, that made sense. “And, as to why we’re telling you… Well, being honest is the best way to get through your sentry station. Had we not told you our reasoning, you would have undoubtedly contacted a higher up, who would have contacted Equestria - which could lead to our enemy discovering our plan.”

Gene looked down slightly. All of this was making quite a bit of sense. She had never had travellers be so open with her before. Gene nodded, looking back up. “I’ll just need to check your cart and then you four can be on your way. I would hate to delay a mission of enough importance to require a princess.” 

All of them smiled at that - the stallion in particular looked relieved. Gene could see why; griffons weren’t really well known for their hospitality. She walked over, checking their cart. Foodstuffs, maps, books, and more books. Gene could also see some adventuring gear and… what looked like a really wonky sword hastily hidden. But, well, that made sense too. Again - hospitality wasn’t a strong suit of griffons, and any seen weapons would usually cause a fight. But weapons, on the road to unmarked territory, made logical sense.

Gene nodded, looking back up at them when her inspection was finished. “Everything checks out. You all can pass through.”

“One last thing,” Applejack said, frowning ever so softly. “See, we gotta keep this mission a secret. This Draconequus… he could have eyes an’ ears everywhere, literally. We can’t let anyone know we’ve been through here.”

It wasn’t hard to know what Applejack was asking. Gene nodded without a shred of hesitation. “Don’t worry. I’ll send word to my Captain that some ponies came through on their way to Griffonstone in my report today. Your real destination is safe with me.”

Applejack smiled in relief. “Thank y’kindly, Gene. Y’didn’t have t’do that, but it helps us a whole mighty lot.”

“I’m not usually one to break protocol, but…” Gene stood a bit taller. “I’m not going to stop an epic quest in the making. You all will have a hard enough journey, by the looks of it, without getting stopped at a border patrol.” She relaxed slightly. “Just be careful out there. Us griffons are made of tougher stuff - there’s some real bad beasties out there if you aren’t being careful.”

“Noted,” Twilight said, turning back to everyone else a moment later. “Everyone ready to keep going?” The others nodded. She turned back to Applejack. “Let’s get going then.”

Everyone prepared to leave, Applejack taking the lead once more with the cart harnessed to her back. She nodded to Gene in farewell. “Oh, and one last thing!” Applejack paused, looking over. Gene gained a sharp grin, slightly sharpened teeth glinting from the few shreds of sunlight that made it past the cloud layer. “If you all are actually planning an attack or something, you can bet I’ll be right there to bring you to justice for lying to me.”

Applejack grinned back, laughing a bit. “Don’t y’worry none. There ain’t been a day when Ah couldn’t be fully honest, and there ain’t ever gonna be.” She nodded in parting one last time and continued on her way, party with her.

Gene stood a bit taller as the ponies left. She would be careful to leave their exact destination and features out of her report. Lord knew, if the Captain got word of an alicorn in griffon territory, her head would be on the chopping block. But something about what that orange mare had said…

As a guard, she was trained in analyzing the truth markers on beasts of all range and size. That Applejack mare… she had been telling the truth the whole time.

“Good luck,” Gene said softly over the distant crack of thunder. Seemed the storm would be over soon.


Blueblood shifted in his seat, frowning. “How did you know that would work, Applejack?”

“Hmm?” Applejack glanced back, blinking the rain out of her eyes. “What? Bein’ honest?” As Blueblood nodded, she failed to hold back a snort. “Easy, Blue.” She faced forward again, smiling. “Ah knew it would work cause honesty ain’t never failed in the past before.”

Blueblood raised his brows in surprise. He… honestly had no response to that. It wasn’t often that he was left speechless, but, to his surprise… He found it a rather pleasant experience this time around.

At least, until he saw Rarity’s smug face at his silence just before her comments about the rain began once more. He sighed, albeit with a small smile. Perhaps… travelling with others was not quite as bad as he had made it out to be. It wasn’t quite hell. Just… mild torture.

He could handle torture.
> Stirrings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was, he quickly determined, torture.

“More sugar?” He broke out of his reprieve to look up from the tea cup and see Fluttershy watching him expectantly. Ah. Yes. That was what he was doing. Tea and cakes at Fluttershy’s now that he was ‘well and truly himself’, a celebration for her and a regular meeting between the two of them. Something to keep in touch. To further the friendship.

Urgh. Disgusting.

“Oh, no, dear Fluttershy, this is perfect.” He daintily sipped at the cup, as obnoxiously as possible, keeping sure to sip the cup and not the tea inside. The tea, he simply let morph into a new, fully filled cup. Fluttershy giggled softly at his shenanigans as she sat down with her own tea. Good - he appeared normal to her. He sighed briefly.

One thing Discord had not accounted for was the sheer… effort this took. The effort of pretending. Granted, it was nothing for a God to handle. The effort expended to pretend to be a fully good counterpart was hardly more than the effort it took to sleep. The problem was how dreadfully boring it all was! 

He hadn’t been built for tea parties and checkerboards. He hadn't been built for 'friendship' and the like. He was a being of Chaos and destruction, for Pete’s sake! He should be burning this world alive. He should be turning the sky into grass and the grass into sky. He should be wreaking absolute havoc. But he couldn’t - not yet. Not while there was still the possibility of his defeat. Not while his other half was still breathing.

He would fix that soon enough.

“Discord?” He jumped again, startled out of his thoughts once more. That had been happening more frequently. He was letting himself get too distracted. He made a mental note to fix that. 

Fluttershy was frowning. “Are you alright? You seem very distracted.”

“I’m just getting used to this again, Fluttershy, dear,” he said quickly, the lies coming to his tongue easily. After all, the easiest lies were the ones with a shred of truth to them, and he obviously needed to get used to this existence. Being physically restrained to a body was certainly new. He settled into the couch a bit more, looking around as a bird flew overhead. These animals were certainly… interesting? 

No. Not really. He was just looking for something to chat about to make this scheduled time go faster. God, he was bored.

“I guess that makes sense.” She relaxed on the couch opposite him, watching her little rabbit wander around. “I’m just glad that you’re finally yourself. N-Not that I didn’t like you before,” she quickly said, looking worried. “Oh goodness, no, you’re one of my closest friends! I don’t want you to think otherwise!”

“Fluttershy,” he said softly, shaking his head at the sheer stupidity of her mindset. “You don’t have to worry. I know you like me enough. I like you too, and I can like you properly now that I’m fully myself.” He internally sighed. Did she really believe this drivel? 

She took a deep breath, mimicking Twilight's breathing exercises. Twilight had clearly been giving her lessons. “You’re right. I’m happy you’re yourself, even if the change had to happen that way.” She frowned at him seriously, glaring. “But you shouldn’t ever hurt yourself like that again without warning anyone! You had us all very worried.”

Discord felt something stir within him. It was almost like an emotion. Odd. He shook his head and made sure to smile. “Of course, Fluttershy. I won’t worry you like that again.”

She sighed and relaxed again, sipping her own tea. Discord drank more of his, more as an excuse to think of something to talk about. It didn't give him any real nourishment. He estimated he still had at least a half hour in this place before he could leave by claiming he was too exhausted by his recent sickness - not that he even needed sleep. Being a God had perks. 

Fluttershy looked at him with a smile. “I’m so happy I was here to have our weekly tea time, Discord. I almost decided to go with Twilight and the others on their trip, but staying was the right choice.”

“A trip?” Discord put down his cup, intrigued. He hadn’t heard about this. 

Fluttershy tilted her head at him, opening her mouth to say something before Angel chittered at her. “Oh? What was that, Angel Bunny?” More chittering. “I gave you a big, juicy carrot just an hour ago! You can’t be hungry already.”

Discord, impatient, raised his paw and summoned a carrot, dropping it onto the floor next to the rabbit. Angel jumped, surprised, before leaping on the carrot and beginning to devour it. “A trip, you said? I didn’t realize Twilight had gone on a little... vacation.”

Fluttershy nodded, frowning at Angel eating. Well, one carrot too many wouldn’t hurt. “Oh, yes, just two days ago. She, Rarity, and Applejack went off to visit Griffonstone, since they never got to see it with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. I… er… decided not to go,” she added with a sheepish smile. 

Discord shifted slightly in his seat, thinking. Griffonstone… It could be a coincidence. He certainly knew of Twilight’s jealousy about Rainbow and Pinkie’s travels there, but he also knew what she was like. She would suspect him at every turn - there was no conceivable way she had gone off on a fanciful vacation while he could be a danger to her friends. No, this wasn’t just a visit to Griffonstone. 

Either something was happening there, or they had found the maps.

“Well, I do wish they would have invited me!” He put his claw to his chest, the air of offense around him. “I happened to be good friends with King Grover. I personally terrified his cook. I would have loved to seen good old Griffonstone again.”

Fluttershy smiled softly. “Well, according to Rainbow and Pinkie, it’s not very majestic anymore… A-And I’m sure that Twilight thought you would still be on the mend.”

“I’m sure.” 

“I thought for sure you would have known, Discord. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have been talking about it all week - those kids will repeat anything they hear, I swear. Scootaloo really wanted to go with, evidently.”

“I’m afraid I’ve been a little out of the loop. Trying to regain my strength and all.” He stretched out, trying to relax. He certainly had been too busy, trying to pretend to be their friend. He wasn't close with those little brats, so he hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to them. “Did Twilight say when they would be back? I do so want to be around all of my friends.”

Fluttershy frowned softly, thinking about it. “Actually… I don’t think she did.” She immediately brightened up, however. “I’m positive Spike would know.” 

“Perhaps I could ask him when I’m done here, then.” 

Fluttershy nodded along pleasantly. Discord thought to himself while she drank more of her tea. He had to get out of here sooner - this was more than a coincidence. He highly suspected Twilight was on her way to his birthplace, and he could not allow that to happen without his careful supervision. His eyes darted to the window. Outside was the chicken coop. He allowed himself a small smirk. Perfect. He snapped with his paw while he sipped his cup, making enough noise with that to block the noise of the snap.

It was seconds until panicked clucking could be heard outside. “Hmm? Elizabeak?” Fluttershy stood quickly, recognizing the sound of her chickens immediately. Discord, of course, looked curious as they both went outside.

Lo’ and behold, the fence had broken apart again and the chickens were running amok due to a board having fallen in the coop. “Oh! I thought this fence was fine… And my coop has been so sturdy…”

“Well, life is unpredictable, Fluttershy my dear. Have there been any particularly windy storms lately?” He chose to float as he asked this question. No sense getting his feet dirty in the dusty, fenced in area.

Fluttershy bit her lip. “Oh… well, I know Rainbow Dash did use more wind in the latest storm to try to dry it off faster…”

“That’s likely what happened.” He snapped again, fixing the coop and fence. “Voila! Good as new.” He patted himself on the back. “No need to thank me, I can do that much.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy beamed at him. “Well, thank you anyways, Discord. I would pat you on the back if I could reach!” He drifted down to her level, causing her to giggle and pat his back lightly. She looked at the still panicking chickens and frowns softly. “Oh goodness… I think we might need to cut Tuesday Teatime short for today, Discord. I need to calm my little hens down.”

“I understand completely, Fluttershy!” He landed now, looking at the chickens seriously. “They’re absolutely wild right now. I can come back for tea some other time.” He yawned visibly. “Besides. I’ve had plenty of excitement for today! I think a good rest in my home will be good.”

“Oh, of course, you poor thing!” Poor thing? Bah! Ridiculous. He was a God. These ponies would be the death of him with their senseless caring. “Have a safe trip home, Discord. I really enjoyed today!” He braced himself just in time for the hug. She nuzzled her cheek into his chest, sighing. “I missed you.”

Once again, he felt something odd within him. A shred of… something familiar. Something that turned his stomach.

Friendship.

He patted Fluttershy on the head. “And I you, my dear. Now!” He poofed a little bit away, carrying a suitcase and waving a hoofkerchief for added effect. It made her laugh, which was the goal. Good moods, less questions. “Au Revoir!”

“Goodbye, Discord!”

He poofed a good distance away this time, losing the suitcase and hoofkerchief. Unnecessary baggage. His eyes narrowed as he then teleported directly to Twilight’s. The crystal beneath his feet clicked sharply and he scowled. 

This place offended his very soul. He disliked it with a passion unknown to the mere mortals he had to play friends with. When he was finally free of his curse, this… thing he was bound for all of these years… This place would be the first to go. 

He wandered, slinking through the hallways, shifting into the crystal structure of the castle. He moved through the walls, his body taking a jagged, sharp form to match the architecture. It hardly took him long to find the object of his search - a small, whistling dragon, cleaning the windows. He smirked and stepped out of the wall. “Why, Spike!”

The little dragon jumped, gasping and dropping the duster in his claw. “Gah! D-Discord!” He grinned brightly, crossing his claws behind his back. “What. What brings you here?”

“Well,” he said, balancing on his tail in a reclined position, “I was just visiting to see where lovely Twilight has gone! I was so wanting to ask her to a game of very advanced chess. 5 boards in the 4th dimension, so fun! But I hear my dear, dear friend went off to Griffonstone without me.” He glared then, shifting his body so that he was nose-to-nose with Spike. “Now, is that true?”

Spike gulped, wide-eyed. He flashed a shaky smile at Discord. “Y-Yep! She went off to Griffonstone with Rarity and Applejack! B-Because they hadn’t seen it yet and Twilight really likes griffon culture and all!”

Discord scowled at Spike before pulling away with a shrug. “Oh, well, I suppose they just forgot to invite me! I can always poof up that way and say hello!”

“N-NO!” Spike quickly shook his head, waving away the idea frantically. Discord raised a brow, smirking a slight bit, feeling his lips curl around his fang. Spike blinked. “Um. I’m sure Twilight will visit again and you should save your strength, right?” He smiled again, having found a good path to go down. “I mean, you did just wake up from a coma, right? Traveling that much might be bad for your health!”

“Oh, fiddlesticks, you’re right.” He sighed and pouted. “Well, fine. I’ll just have to wait and hear all the details of her trip when she gets back. Maybe she’ll bring me a souvenir!” 

“Maybe,” Spike said, eyeing Discord as though he wasn’t about to sigh in relief when this was over with and Discord left.

He was very bad at this, Discord noted mentally. Very, very bad at this.

“Well, I won’t keep you,” Discord said, snapping the duster back into Spike’s claw. “You’re obviously very busy cleaning!” Discord turned his back. “Maybe when you’re done, you can write to Twilight about how put out I am that she didn’t invite me. And tell her that I want to know everything about her trip. And trust me.” He glanced back, eyes narrowing. “I can find out anything about her trip.”

Spike’s eyes widened. There was nothing vague or subtle about what Discord said. He knew - or if he didn’t know, he assumed, and that was dangerous enough. 

Discord smirked, knowing Spike got the message. “Glad that got across. See you later, Spike. We really must chat again sometime.” With that, he teleported home, leaving the dragon to tremble in place before running to Twilight’s room.

It took minutes, really. Minutes where Discord simply relaxed on his own couch in his own house, taking a short breather. Even Gods needed a break now and then. But he felt the tremble of magic after those minutes and snapped his fingers. Intercepting magical letters was a ridiculously easy trick, especially when an inexperienced baby dragon was the one sending them. He grabbed the scroll as it appeared before him, scanning the contents of the letter quickly. He wasn’t one to waste time, after all.




Twilight,

I think Discord figured you out! He suspects you at least. He kept talking about how you didn’t invite him and said he can find out everything about your trip. I think he’s planning on doing something really bad to you guys. I didn’t want to send you anything, but you have to know that he’s planning something. I didn’t want him to ambush you! You should all be really careful.

Stay safe.
Spike.




Discord scoffed, poofing it on its way. So. They were almost certainly finding Dracon home. He supposed it had to happen eventually - those maps had been a certain risk. But this… this was exactly what he hoped for. He knew those maps would be wound, and clearly they would find his birthplace. 

They would find The Gift. 

That was truly the key to his victory - and defeat. He would clearly have to accelerate his plans. He hadn't expected them to set out so soon, he had expected Celestia to wait. But, well, this smelled more like Luna's doing. Curse that pesky, interfering Alicorn. But it was no matter, he could afford to speed things up. His counterpart was still asleep, though the stirrings he had felt today did not bode well for his victory. He would need to stifle the emotions rising inside him if he planned to win this eon long battle, once and for all.

But he couldn’t let those travelers be too at ease. If they met no resistance along the way, they might suspect that it was too easy. That would do him no good. Spike’s letter would alert them to the fact that he knew, and they were likely expecting resistance either way. He would have to plan this well… Something that would show them they’re a threat and keep them moving forward, but something they could still beat. 

A shadow beast would be too much, he knew. The only one who would be near strong enough to defeat that was Twilight, and she would have no grasp of shadow magic, he knew. Windigos would be too easy to defeat, however, with their grasp of harmonic spells. Plus, he did not want Twilight to expend too much magic - she would be crucial to his plans, her and her magic. One of the others had to play the biggest role…

A non-magic user like Applejack would be helpless against a magical beast. No sense focusing on her. That left Rarity. What skills did that prissy little mare have that he could have as a “weakness” to his creations? Sensitivity to high pitched noises was always a possibility, but he didn’t want to subject even the meekest of monsters to her whining. He wasn’t cruel.

Yet.

Prissy mare with…

An eye for detail. 

He smirked and rubbed his hands together. It was time to get some jewels.