"I was requested here by Princess Twilight to learn for myself about the magic of friendship." Celestia said. Discord then looked around cautiously "I know something bad will happen to those six fillies. I've predicted that there
Celestia is told by Princess Twilight, her faithful student and now Princess of Friendship, that she needs to enjoy friendhship herself, so is invited to stay at Twilight's where she makes some unexpected friends as they become The Guardians of Harmony and, literally, follow in the mane six's hoofprints.
Celestia sighed. She didn't know why in Equestria Princess Twilight told her that she needed to make friends. She had friends, didn't she? Well, Twilight, of course, sent Celestia to Ponyville, the village Twilight's castle was in, to do so. Celestia would be staying at the castle for whoever knows how long, so she had brought a lot of luggage, as if she was moving castle.
"Philamena," Celestia said. Philamena turned to her and squawked. "Do you think I need pony friends? I just...Don't have time. Of course, being as patient as I am, I know the values of friendship, but...I'm much better suited to just being harmonious." Philamena stared at Celestia for a moment then shrugged. She,again, squawked. "Yes, I'll be just fine!" Celestia mumbled sarcastically.
"Is Ponyville the stop you were requested to land at, your majesty?" Asked one of the Pegasi flying the chariot.
"Oh, yes...THANKS." She just couldn't wait...
She had always heard that Twilight could be a bore, but never had she witnessed Twilight being boring in pony; Twilight always seemed so dramatic and worried, she seemed to sensitive to what was going on around her to zone off into things. It wasn't that Celestia wasn't interested in what Twilight was saying, it was that she had repeated the same things more than once; she got that not just anypony can be your friend, they have to actually care about you not that you were sent by a royal pony, or even, in her case, that you are a royal pony. They have to be your friend because they could spend the rest of their lives laughing and talking and sharing and exchanging with you. It was all very clear to her now, especially since Twilight had sent her ALL of the lessons she had learnt in Ponyville, and so had her pony friends, but Celestia had learned something already; Twilight was right, Celestia did need a friend and Twilight guaranteed that she would find one, all she needed to do was be herself.
"Ok, dear Twilight, I understand now." Celestia spoke up. "I am ready to complete my newest task; making a friend."
"Good. Now, the gentlecolts have already packed your stuff away in my guest room for you so...Feel free to start right away!" Twilight told her nicely. Celestia smiled proudly at Twilight, she really was proud of her student...Or now, Teacher! After all they had basically swapped roles, which was always odd, but no matter...Celestia will always think of Twilight as a pupil.
Twilight closed a door behind her, she needed to get ready for her tour of Equestria; to spread the Friendship. Celestia looked to the exit.
"...Nah, I have more important things to do...I'll...handle my mission later." So Celestia wandered into Twilight's library, where she decided to read Twilight's, or rather, The Elements of Harmony's Journal, for she had not read it yet and was curious to see what Twilight learnt before she got her castle, for all Celestia knew was that they would unlock the chest; she was not sure how, but by reading this, she could find out...Something about the pages Discord marked were the important ones, so she knew to remember those ones; they'd be linked and finally she'd know what Discord swore not to tell her; how exactly these ponies are connected to the chest. She and Luna were once, and yet they had never been faced with the chest.
So Celestia spent her whole morning focusing on the Journal...and honestly all she got from it was...These ponies really don't write in detail...She was expecting stories...but no. She had to give credit to Twilight, 1. For having to take on Discord for a whole day and 2. For having the best, most detailed writing.
But other than that, the journal taught her nothing but how special they are...To be honest it made her want to have friends that instant...
LUNA! Yes! Luna was her friend...and her sister, but still her friend! She'd call her over tonight to watch Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship's speech. That would be fun! But now; New friends.
So Celestia put on a casual orange silk scarf, took off her crown, hoofshoes and necklace and trotted outside. It was nice to be relieved from her Princess duties for now. She felt like an ordinary pony, but she soon realised that that would not last very long; already, ponies were looking at her in awe. She guessed it was kind of easy to spot the freakishly MASSIVE Princess pony on the streets of a plain old village, even in her casual outfit. She realised that making true friends was going to be more difficult for her than she first anticipated...
As she trotted past kneeling ponies, she made sure to whisper to them
"No need for that sir/young filly/Miss, please carry on with your afternoon"
With a smile of course, and that would make them smile, get up and keep trotting. Celestia was waving away a young filly (not looking where she was going) when-
BUMP!
"Oh!" Celestia fell back a bit startled, she still could not see who she bumped into, but knew they were taller than her. She was picking up what had fallen with her magic while stuttering apologies and "I wasn't looking where I was going".
Little did she know who she was talking to.
"CELESTIA!...Philamena..." Cried an overly excited voice, suddenly she was lifted from the ground. Not by magic, but by a lion arm and an eagle claw. Discord!
"Hello, Discord!" Celestia chuckled in his overly enthusiastic arms. Soon Discord put on her on the ground and looked at her suspiciously.
"What in Equestria are you doing here?" He asked, still very happy to see her.
"Well, Discord, this might surprise you, but I was requested here by Princess Twilight to learn for myself about the magic of friendship. What are you doing here?" Celestia asked in the same suspicious way.
"Exactly the same, but I'm surprised that Twilight is now your teacher..." Discord then looked around cautiously to see if anypony was around. He became an eerie quiet. He bent toward her ear and began whispering. "Be careful, something bad is happening tonight." He whispered. Celestia suddenly got worried. What was happening? He could be trolling her, but if it was bad...
"Is it bad? Shou-Should I tell Twilight?!" Celestia asked.
"Already have" Discord said picking up boxes of what looked to be luggage for his new short-term study home.
"And what did she say? What is it?" Celestia asked quietly, but still very cautious.
Discord shrugged and moved away from the slightly angry Philamena.
"I can only predict what happens to our Harmonious bundle and what I do...but I know something bad will happen to those six fillies." Celestia was about to but in, but Discord began answering her question. "Don't try to save them now, it's too late..." This news saddened Celestia, she had stopped questioning the draconequus; she trusted him. Discord saw her face. "But don't worry," Suddenly he spoke prouder and quite openly. "I've predicted that there will be a new group of heroes. Oh, and she dismissed it as an old filly's tale"
"Really?" Celestia asked.
"For sure..." Discord said, somewhat knowingly considering he didn't know anything...But little did Celestia know, Discord knew a bit more than what she somewhat questioned him for. He winked at her.
"So...It'll all be fine?"
"Yup!"
"Then I guess I better start finding some new friends..."
Discord eyes widened, he dropped his boxes that teleported just as they hit the ground, presumably to his new house, and gasped. "IJUSTGOTABRILLIANTIDEAINEEDTOGO!SEEYOUAGAINSOON!" He squealed as he comically ran into a teleport. And he was gone.
"I'm useless anyway...As always..." Celestia mumbled as she carried on walking.
As she walked on, Celestia spotted Spike helping decorate the place for Twilight's first speech. Celestia saw how it was all going and thought she'd better see how he was doing.
"Hello? Spike, are you OK?" Celestia asked as gently as possible as Changelings flew all around her, extremely busy.
Spiked turned to Celestia.
"Oh, yes! Of course...I'm so excited about Twilight's speech, and...I really wanted to help out!" He sighed. "But it sure is hard to do it alone, I haven't had a single break!" Spike weased as he wiped the sweat off of his brow.
"Oh, so why don't you now? Go ahead! Have a quick break! You'll have plenty of time to do the rest." Celestia said kindly.
"Oh really? Good idea! Thanks!" Spike said as he shot up in the air. "Let's go!"
Celestia giggled as she poured Spike a big glass of orange squash.
"Oh, I can't wait for Twilight's first speech as uh...A real Princess." Spike told Celestia with a guilty frown.
"Oh, she wouldn't mind, I can't wait either! To see her come this far...It makes me proud..." Celestia sighed. "Also, she's now my teacher...That's why I'm here in Ponyville today!"
"It makes me proud, too!" Spike exclaimed enthusiastically. Suddenly, Spike noticed the time and looked at the clock in the centre. "Erm...We won't have to wait long..." He said nervously. He stared at Celestia concerned. Celestia blinked. "Which means that soon it might be time to lower the sun a bit...? Do you think?" He finished.
"Oh yes! I just...All this relaxation is making me forget my duties! Ha! I'll do that right away." Celestia began focusing on the sun, beginning to work her magic.
"Oh! Oh yeah...Where's Discord? He's supposed to be getting the festivities and party food ready tonight." Spike said looking around.
Celestia paused. "...Uh...He told me he had a brilliant idea...That's probably what's keeping him." She said.
"Oh...Well he'd better get here soon...We have work to do..." Spike said slightly annoyed as he walked away, carrying on with his work. Celestia now thought she'd go; she didn't want to get Discord in trouble, did she?
Soon she wondered what would happen...what was going to happen to Twilight and the others...Who would save them? She set the sun a bit more so it was a cozy type of light; dark blue shaded all of the surroundings, but everypony was up and everypony was getting ready. It was nice to be in the crowd again, to feel cozied up to all of the other ponies. Soon Celestia knew though that she needed to get ready herself, everypony was wearing a snuggly raincoat, so Celestia assumed it would rain a small bit. She went back to Twilight's castle and trotted up to her room, she passed the sound of Twilight and her friends bickering over how nervousited they all were. Celestia smiled and carried on to the guest room. She stepped in and like the rest of the castle, this room was a ominous purple with glowing Rarity's Cutie marks scattered here and there. There was a small wardrobe and celestia pulled out a golden leaf raincoat protected with a thin layer of waterproof caramel. Discord gave it to her all those years ago, knowing it was subtly chaotic. Which was sweet. There was also soiled purple magic decorating it in all manner of thin swirly patterns. It wasn't a massive raincoat; it was more of a display raincoat, that tied up around her waist, and bouncing up just covering half of her flank. It had short frilled sleeves and a cute hood, that on this occasion she put up, as it was now darker and was drizzling slightly outside. She put her hair in a ponytail and hooked it through the hole at the back of the hood; she didn't want it to flow on to the wet ground. So she also tied her tail up in a loose bun and put on matching galloshes. They weren't round and rubbery the were quite thin, but waterproof, for wearing only on wet concrete, which is where she intended to be. She wasn't the mane attraction so she didn't need to put on an important pony dress underneath. She was fine.
So twenty minutes before the Twilight's speech began, she was ready. She trotted outside, eager to find Discord or Chrysalis or Luna. She invited Luna just before she got dressed for the speech, so Luna should arrive soon.
She saw that Chrysalis and Discord had done an amazing job, and as always Discord knew what everypony liked. They all had little snack in their hooves or magical aura. There were a lot of ponies from canterlot there too. She was glad to see FancyPants, who unlike many other very important ponies, supported her harmonious filies before associating them with being princesses or anypony important. She saw Trixie who seemed very happy for Twilight and really couldn't wait to see how great and powerful she was.
"Oooh!" Quickly Celestia turned to what tapped her on the shoulder. Discord.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, also, you look lovely in that raincoat, with your hair back but I always knew you would." He told her with a wink, again he gave some flowers, they were golden with purple centres and some where purple with golden centres; they'd definitely suite her bedroom at Twilight's. She smiled acceptably.
"Thank you. Anyway, I have something to show you...COMEWITHME!YOU'LLLOVETHIS!" Discord, again, squealed, grabbing Celestia's hoof about to drag her to his place.
"Uhm...The speech is going to start in...17 minutes, are you sure you can't wait until after?" She asked a bit unsure of how risky it sounded...She couldn't miss Twilight's speech.
"No, we can't. After the speech we'll be too busy sav-" Discord paused...He stopped saying what he said; he couldn't let her know yet. "Don't worry, you'll get to see every moment of it!" He saved himself with that one!
"Hmmm..."Celestia said unsure. Discord smiled pleadingly. "Ok...But quickly. We only have...15 minutes." Discord held her hoof and they teleported a few rows of houses back to a large twisted tree. It was a tall thin tree with a tall bent rectangular door. It didn't feel at all homey and there was no glass in the door where there should've been, so it must be very cold. It was also dark, you couldn't see anything past the door, but the tree was barely wide enough for Discord to stretch is, so Celestia couldn't fit. The tufts were purple and soily but smoothly curled.
Celestia didn't want to go in...It looked scary and abandoned...
"Are you sure it's...big enough...and safe?" Celestia asked. Discord chuckled.
"It's the most harmless place in all Equestria!"
"Discord, I'm not joking." Celestia said annoyed, yet scared. Discord's laughter stopped and he grew more serious.
"You'll be fine; trust me!" He swirled his tail around her bunned up tail and took her in. The vine door creecked open although it didn't even look solid enough to creek. Celestia's hoof past the door and she immediately closed her eyes and pushed her self in...Not to the back of a tree...but instead a dark purple wood coated the floor, it wasn't flat so you could trip here and there...but how was this room here. She decided it was like a tardis.
The fireplace fire was a light shade of blue and soared and curled in many different patterns and shapes. In a small cot, taht looked to be made out of a thin twisted log or branch, was a snoozing Platypus. She had a purple-y blue, brown body and very dark brown-y yellow bill and feet.
"Who's this sweety?" Celestia asked in a whisper, making sure not to wake up the sleepy baby platypus.. She had left Philamena at home. As a fire bird, she didn't enjoy the rain very much.
"This is my pet platypus, she's called Ka Fuffle," He whispered in reply.
"Fitting. Platypi suite you." She whispered.
"Pheaonix suite you. Doesn't your name mean "ball of fire" or something?" Discord asked in a hushed tone.
"Yep." She whispered. She shook her head watching that baby Platypus was easy; she was adorable. "What was it you wanted to show me?"
"Oh yes! Follow me!" He exclaimed quietly and he flew up the twisted spiraled staircase. Celestia strolled behind him. They walked through, or rather just made it through Discord's bedroom; it was just a hamster wheel. It spun round and round. That was how Discord slept. All night long. Apparently, he loved it! They made it to his balcony which was up very high. It was beautiful up there. This was obviously what he was talkng about. There was a small round table with a big wrapped up box on it. There was a golden, purple patterned tablecloth on it and a chocolate fountain surrounded by bowls of things Celestia loved.
"Aww...Thank you, but we've got to get back. Twilight's speech starts in...4 minutes." Celestia said.
"Oh nonononono! We can watch it from here!" Celestia sat down on a seat and Disocrd joined next to her. They sat infront of the present. "openit,openit!OPENIT,OPENIT!" Discord urged, barely containing his excitement. Celestia chuckled calmly as she unwrapped the purple ribbon. She immediately had use for that. She tied it in a bow around the bun in her tail. There. Much better than just a hairband, she thought. slit through the sellotape and opened the box to find a pair of long golden purple patterned socks, a golden beret and...This one made her chuckle, a vase for her flowers. It was just a thin yet slightly oval vase that looked like a tulip, but it had golden leaf outlines of her cutie mark printed on it here and there and purple outlines of Luna's cutie mark. Luna!...Oh but she couldn't leave..Maybe they could invite Luna up...Oh wait! Where were her manners?
"Thank you so much!" Celestia said. She took off her galoshes and put on the socks and put the shoes back over. Discord was squeeing so much! "See Discord, I told you that it felt nice to do nice things for other ponies." She told him happily.
"And you were right!" Discord exclaimed. Celestia looked at her watch.
"Oooh! Twilight's speech is about to start! Where's Luna?" Celestia and Discord spied around for Luna quickly.
"There!" Discord said.
"Oh yes! Luna! Luna?" Celestia called down. Luna turned to the driection of the sound and when she saw Discord and Celestia waving she smiled a happily at them. She flew over.
"Hello, Dear sister. Watching from afar, I see." Luna looked at the two knowingly. "I'd be more than happy to watch with you. May I?" She smiled.
"Of course you can Luna" Celestia said fondly with a smile as she grabbed the other seat with her magic and put it next to her. Discord didn't fit on chairs anyway, so he just sat on the floor next to them. The three gasped in excitement and anticipation as Mayor Mare introduced Twilight, even though Discord knew what was coming.
Suddenly the crowd cheered as Twilight made way onto the stage. She was wearing a beautiful dress like Trixie's, but transparent and purpley-dark blue. Her hair was almost crysatlised and Luna and Discord smiled at each other for the same reason; Celestia's tears of pride. She was so undeniably proud of her student that she was crying, but what made the two younger gods laugh was what she did about those tears. She quickly grabbed a cocktail stick, stuck on a few pieces of fruit, smothered them with chocolate and stuffed them into her mouth with emotional nom, nom, noms. The speech lasted about 20 minutes, then fireworks were set off and Celestia, Luna and Discord got their very own mentions. Thankfully Twilight could see them; she needed guidance still. Celestia may now be her student, but she was still her mentor.
Discord stepped back. After the final cheer of the crowd...
"Three cheers for Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship!" Mayor Mare cried.
What just happened!? Celestia looked to Discord. He told her. He knew. His eyes were closed in...shame?
"What?! What's going on!?" Luna exclaimed standing up. She looked around ferociously with her wings outstretched in anxiety.
"Luna. Calm down." Celestia said firmly. Luna turned to her sister suddenly and disgusted.
"How!? How can Equestria be calm, when the very ponies protecting us where just sucked into thin air!?" She shouted at her older sister.
"Because they weren't sucked into thin air. Nothing can be." Discord said rather smugly, with a rather proud, proffessional smile on his face.
"WHAT?! THEN WHERE HAVE THEY GONE!?" Luna screamed. Discord slunk, he didn't want to be the one to tell them...
"We have to go to the tree of Harmony." He said. Celestia's face was a face of dread.
"We have to go..." She pointed her hoof to the Everfree. "In there?!" She asked dreading the thought.
"Yes."
"Good."
"What?"
"Good. We know where we'll send the heroes!" Celestia said. Oh dear. Discord raised a talon to stop her, but before he could, she swooped down on to the stage.
"Wait! What heroes?!" Luna shouted down to her sister. Unfortunately, Celestia didn't respond, so Luna turned to Discord curious. He put his claw over her shoulder comfortingly.
"You'll see..." He said. He took back his arm as Luna nodded her head in acceptance of the response and turned back to the Princess of Order on the stage. "But will Celestia?" Discord mumbled concerned to himself.
Ponies stared at her worried and in awe. There was a rush of concerned whispering throughout the crowd that was growing louder and more dreadfully scared. Celestia raised her hoof and tried to calm the crowd for a moment or two.
"We know where the Princess of Friendship is! And her friends! Don't worry!" At these words the crowd grew silent and curious, each one wanting there Princess of Friendship back to be part of the celebration. The crowd stared expectantly at Celestia. She saw this and cleared her throat. "All we need are a few brave heroes!"
...
"Anypony?" Celestia called.
...
She tried to keep her enthusiastic smile. "Anypony at all!"
...
Discord face-palmed as he swooped onto the stage. At the sight of Discord, some of the members of the crowd scowled or snivelled. A few turned their noses up to him, but he decided to ignore them.
"What Princess Celestia is trying to say is; We need everypony just to carry on. Don't get worried. Maybe stay inside, but there is and will be no threat to any of you!" He said, staring out of the corner of his eye to Celestia. She looked confused. He momentarily raised his eyebrows and referenced with his eyes, to the crowd.
"Oh!" She mumbled in realisation. "Yes! Discord's right! Just carry on?" She asked to mostly Discord. He nodded furiously to make her stop sounding so unsure.
But she was unsure.
"No need to stress; we'll soon have Twilight back," She said looking to Discord worried. Were they going to get Twilight back? Discord looked up and around with a smirk and pulled a "fair enough" kind of look. Well they'd better get Twilight back! For Equestria's sakes! "and you'll all be fine!" She waited for the ponies to leave to their houses and immediately turned to Discord. "Are you insane!?" She asked furiously in a whisper.
"Why, yes!" Discord answered with a bright cheery smile.
"You just probably made me send our "new heroes" back to their houses!"
"Am I interrupting something?" Chrysalis asked.
"Ahhh!" Celestia screamed, stumbling backwards, but was caught by somepony. She turned around. Luna."AHHHH!"She screamed louder. Luna scowled.
"Princess! I was accompanying AppleJack and-!" Scorpan stopped in his tracks when he saw Discord.
There was an awkward silence. Scorpan sighed. He still didn't feel safe when Discord was around, he still thought that Discord was evil.
"She disappeared..." He finished. His snake like voice was (Go to top of page for his voice) mildly nervous, yet worried. Celestia sighed.
"I'm aware Scorpan," She said with a fond smile. "Now. Discord." She said calmly. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" She screamed. Terrified and angry.
"It's obvious I came at a bad time..." Scorpan mumbled.
"Don't worry." Discord dissmissed. Then his eyes widened. "Actually, do worry! You haven't worked it out yet!"
"Worked out wha-"
"Maybe somepony should go save Twilight now?!" Spike asked nervously, practically unable to stand still. Celestia turned to Spike. He was right. It was obvious Discord was just wrong, so they should probably go and try save Twilight themselves. For a change.
"Correct, Spike. We probably should. So...To the Everfree Forest!" She proclaimed. "Also, Hello Scorpan!"
"Good Afternoon..." He mumbled back.
"Greetings Scorpan," Luna greeted with a warm smile.
"Hey Scorpan!" Spike said.
"Mmm..." Scorpan mumbled. He wasn't concentrating on the greeting she was recieving, but staring into the face of a certain draconequus. He glared back. They were both just stood threateningly glaring into each other's souls. "Discord..." Scorpan hissed.
"Scorpan..." Discord hissed back. He backed down a small bit and it became less eerie. "So happy to see you..."
"Yes because we're such good friends aren't we...Discord?" Scorpan asked sarcastically. Scorpan hated Discord because of how evil he was to such "innocent, happy, defenceless ponies" and that he could betray friends. He would never have ditched Starswirl. Discord hated Scorpan because Scorpan always made him feel so guilty, and being guilty doesn't feel nice, you know. So the two just didn't like each other, and they never had. Just a few months ago, at Twilight's first royal decree, Scorpan had decided to reacquaint himself with the ponies. But he was most happy to find that Celestia and Luna were still ruling, but most interested in the new bearers of the Elements. That they were given back to the tree and that Discord was let off the leash confused Scorpan, but he paid no mind. Celestia was not dumb.
"Guys, now we've all been happily reacquainted, we should probably go and save Twilight." Celestia announced. Discord smiled. Had she finaly got the picture?
"Because...?" He coached.
"Because you were wrong Discord. There are no "new heroes". Now let's go." Celestia said. Spike, Luna and Scorpan followed her.
No. She hadn't got the picture.
Discord's jaw literally dropped in disbelief.
"I hate that the tree of Harmony has to be in there," Spike said cringing.
"What? The TREE OF HARMONY is in a forest?" Scorpan asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Scorpan, that's generally where trees are found!" Discord replied sarcastically.
"You know what I meant..." Scorpan grumbled.
"You two must stop thou bickering! We grow tired of it!" Luna cried waving her hoof dissmissively in the air.
Celestia sighed. "So..." She began. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step..."
"We're going to be walking a THOUSAND MILES!?"Discord asked in disbelief.
"It's called a metaphor, Dissy..." Scorpan mocked, followed by hissing chuckles. Discord scowled at Scorpan annoyed.
"Shall we begin, sister?" Luna asked. Celestia looked into the darkness of the dangerous maze-like Everfree. She gulped.
"We shall..." She said with an nervous air to her voice.
"It's OK...We'll be just fine!" Spike said, with an enthusiastic swing of his arm, even though he was very nervous, also. Celestia chuckled.
"Brave Spike." She congratulated. Spike blushed.
"Don't even think about it!" Discord snapped at Spike's blush. Spike backed away. Celestia began walking, Luna and Spike following promptly. The trees stooped over her in every possible way. They just seemed to be trying to envelope her in darkness, and being the Princess of light, it's quite expected to dislike the darkness. Luna wasn't fazed by the darkness, but the feeling of concealment and confinement. Spike huddled by Celestia's foot and all Discord could think about was how much he disliked that. Scorpan knew being scared was a bit silly...but that didn't stop him from being so...And unfortunately that was becoming quite obvious...Celestia was trembling with Spike at foot uncontrollably, Luna had her neck bowed defensively, Scorpan held his arms infront of his chest in discomfort, whilst Discord...Pffft...He wasn't scared so didn't show signs of it. It was just a forest.
"Um...Per-perhaps we should...Make our way back," Celestia suggested, trembling and trying to keep herself from showing any effects of being scared.
"Mmm..." Scorpan murmered in agreement
"We shall!" Luna cried.
"U...I-I...Wh-what...ab-bout...Tw-Twilight?" Spike said nervously looking up to Celestia who suddenly looked very guilty. After all the times those fillies had to face more than a forest for her...
"Yes! Why should we turn around?" Discord asked confused. He looked at them for a moment. All trembling, all scared out of their socks. He grinned knowingly. "You're all scared! Of a forest! Haha! You should see yourselves! Hahahaha!" Discord cried. Luna stepped forward angry and embarressed.
"What does thou mean! We are not afraid, and even if we were, how does thou stay unafraid-eth?" Luna said, angrily. Discord shook his head in pity.
"Oh really! Don't you see?" He began giggling.
"When I was a little filly and Celly took the sun dooooown!" Discord began singing.
"He was a filly?" Scorpan snickered.
"Why is he laughing, doth he find this funny?"
"The dull and boring shadows, they would always make me frooooown." He carried on.
"Apparently, he does..." Celestia said.
"I'd try wait till the sun rose, but it always took too long, but I finally found waiting wasn't the way to deal with the dark all!" He sang.
"Then what is?" Spike asked.
"I went, Dissy, you've been waiting far too long, time to have some fuuuuuun! Laugh loud at the things you play, while waiting for suuuuuun!...KHAHAHA!KHEEEE!HEHEHE! HAHAHAHA!" He laughed and suddenly, the forest turned brighter and brighter...
"What?" Celestia said to herself.
"So! Giggle at the shadows, laugh so hard you bellow! Crack up at the darkness, think funny thoughts of niceness, chortle at the dimness, snortle at the gloominess aaaaaaaaand tellthatbigdumbdarkshadowtotakeahikeandleaveyoualoneandifhethinkshecanboreyou,hesgotanotherthingcomingandtheveryideaofsuchathingjustmakesyouwanna..Hahahahhahahaha! ahahaha...Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh! Hehe!"
By the end of Discord's song, they had all been giggling so much that the forest was now as bright as the day itself! They were just fine as they collapsed on the ground in a great big heap, laughing and giggling all the while! Unaware, Discord and Celestia had collapsed next each other, and as they both turned their heads, the ends of their snouts touched while both laughing tiredly, both of their eyes shot open immediately, but Discord soon smirked lazily to which Celestia responded with a giggle.
What am I doing! Celestia thought to herself all giggly and happy as she heaved herself up from resting on her back. She sighed with a blissful smile and looked through the now bright forest.
Ok, so the tree of harmony is just past that welcoming looking hut, over that crevice and through that minefeild...WELCOMING LOOKING HUT!? YES! Zecora! She'll be able to help!
"You four! Look!" Celestia exclaimed as she got up and began to trot to the hut. The others immediately shot up and made a run after Celie. She galloped as fast as her hooves could take her and soon she was standing in front of Zecora's door. Celestia felt a strange kind of fondness and trust for Zecora, because since Luna found the Zebra nation when she was just a filly, Celestia had been especially respectful to the Zebras; they were patient and wise and also very kind, even though they never got the chance to be as old as she was. For that, she respected them; it had taken her centuries of duties to become a true, wise patient guardian of Equestria.
Soon Discord and the others had caught Celestia and stood curious in front of the hut in the middle of a ferocious forest. Discord knew of Zecora and knew that she definitely was an extremely capable zebra. For a species less powerful than the Earth ponies, Zebras were full of surprises. Spike knew Zecora and he too knew that, if she can speak in rhyme non-stop, than she MUST be clever. Yet Scorpan was unsure fo any of this.
"Wh-what might we be doing?" Scorpan asked slightly confused.
"This is where a Zebra named Zecora lives; I'm pretty sure that she was the one destined to save Twilight! Ooooh! Finally, we've found our hero!" Celestia squealed in delight. She then knocked at the door. After a few moments of waiting, Zecora opened the door and gasped.
"What band of oddities have come to my door? I'm most confused, but Celestia's most definately pure. So i'll allow you all in while I mix up a brew, for if Celestia trust's you, surely I can too." Zecora said, finishing with a smile. She held open her door as they all strolled in. They did not realise it, but were all extremely soaked. "Oh dear, you are wet! But I can fix you right up. I'll get you all a towel for your bodies to scrub," She said as she trotted to her towel cupboard and gave them gently all a towel each. They all said thank you to Zecora for being so kind. "You're all welcome, but please if i may, asky why you have come to my hut today?" She asked kindly. Yes! That made celestia remeber.
"I...Well...Twilight has been..." Celestia started. "Look, we need you to save Twilight adn her friends at the tree of harmony! Could you do it? Please?" Celestia asked. Zecora was not sure why Celestia asked her...But why say no? She was willing to be as helpful as she could be.
"Of course I can try, if you've all some faith in I!" Zecora said. The rest all cheered, even Discord. They had finally scooted up their last hero, Discord could feel it! Celestia was so happy that Zecora was in on being their hero...but there was one problem... "But, if I might be so bold, could I possibly ask...Where is this tree i've of been told?"
...URGH! Why didn't Celestia think of that!? How could she expect Zecora just to know where to go and what to do?! She sighed. Celestia supposed that they had to take Zecora...
"...Don't worry, we'll take you." Celestia said.
"Yes, if thou art willing to save our friends, we shall be giving enough to show you the way!" Luna agreed. Celestia smiled proudly at Luna; she was so happy that Luna was growing more and more like her youthful self, she was still having nightmares about Luna becoming Nightmare Moon again.
"Yeah, we should all stick together!" Spike cried.
"It'll be fun!" Discord said jollily.
"And I honestly think that we'll be a lot safer that way..." Scorpan hissed in agreement. Then it was settled, Celestia, Luna, Spike, Scorpan and Discord would take Zecora to the tree. It would be fun, giving, safe, fair and helpful...Hmmm...Celestia shook her head from a rediculous thought.
Zecora thanked them as they all set off, out of her hut. It was strange...there were six totally diverse creatures; not just in personality, but in culture and experience, who knew what they could tell each other of! Zecora probably knew spells for everything and had a brilliant cultural story behind her as a zebra, Discord...Who knows what Discord had seen in his possibly since beginning of time life; who knows what he had lived through or noted down in his mind, only he would know if there were any other draconequui or if they had an interesting culture or why he/they were so magical, Scorpan, well, his brother was practically the devil! His heart was pure and he listened to his conscience. He came from a distant land; who knows how far or where! Or what lived there! Spike, although was a baby dragon, had a LOT to go through yet. He will HAVE to do his century of sleep one day, who knows where he'll fly or what he'll learn after Twilight and her friends...Pass on...Then it hit her. What'll hapen when Twilight and her friends die? Who will protect Equestria!? Will harmony just dissapear!? Will she lose her friends?!
...Friends? Did Celestia really consider these creatures, beside her sister, her friends?
...Hmmm. She couldn't be sure... She looked to them and opened her mouth to say-
Suddenly, she heard a massive roar from behind them that made them immediately run into the tree filled area; they'd be safe there because what ever roared, it was too big to make it's way into this part of the forest!When they looked back to the open, they all gasped; it was Tatzwurlm! What do they do!? Immediately, Luna began shooting the beast.
"Be gone!" She was shouting at it. The guardian of flowers looked at her like "Really?", but soon shook it head and opened it's mouth and, with one big breath, blew her away. Celestia suddenly felt very aggresive, and launched herself at the Tatzlwurm, but simply dodged and she looked foolishly at the tree she slammed into. She groaned in embarressment and a bit of lingering head pain. She wasn't sure if the head pain was from her slamming into the tree or the noise Discord had decided to make. He was swinging from a vine that came from nowhere as he made a noise similar to Tarzan. He was in a kick motion as he swang into the beast.
*Donk*
Discord was simply knocked off the Tatzlwurm's side without if moving. He looked surprised at the monster and immediately fell to the ground.
"No!" Zecora shouted. She was ignored as Scorpan snickered at Discord's failure.
"I'll show you how to handle a monster such as this, Dissy." Scorpan chuckled as he flew smoothly toward the beast. To Discord's annoyance and embarressment, Scorpan succesfully punched the creature in the eye, which made it groan in irritation and rub it eye, in the meanwhile, Scorpan had tied Discord's vine around it's mouth. "Haha!" Sorpan hissed in victory, but suddenly his eyes shot open to see that the Tatzlwurm was now unfazed and simply pried it's jaw open and teared the vine. It then flicked Scorpan into the nearest mountain with it's tail.
"HAHAHA!" Discord laughed as he made his way to help Celestia up from her position next to the tree.
"Uh...Ah...You-You'll pay for that!" Spike stuttered as he began running toward the flower guardian.
"Wait!" Zecora called to him. He immediately stopped and turned to her.
"Huh?" Spike asked, confused.
"Do not threat or worry, young Spike, I know how to make this alright. It seems that the flowers picked by Discord, were what the Tatzlwurm wants as a reward. You see, those rainbow plants were special and were rare, but don't worry Tatzlwurm! I have some right there!" Zecora told the beast as she pointed to her bag. She grabbed a few out that she had grown herself and handed them to him. Immediately, the Tatzlwurm smiled and gently took the flowers in his mouth, he then rubbed his head against Zecora lovingly with she responded to with afew fond chuckles.
Discord, Luna and Scorpan made their way over.
"Bravo, Zecora, we found that especially daring of thee." Luna told her.
"Tatzlwurm responded bad to those who were mindless, yet reacted well when he was just shown a little kindness." Is all that Zecora said. She walked off leaving Celestia with her mouth agape. She rushed after Zecora.
"Zecora! I owe you my thanks, you saved us all! Even the Tatzlwurm from us..." Celestia ended guiltily. Zecora looked to Celestia and smiled.
"It's OK dearest princess, you were just protecting your friends, you did not mean to cause Tatzlwurm harm, but trying to put it to an ends!" Zecora said kindly with a small bow. Celestia giggled like an embarrassed filly and carried on leading Zecora when-
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Spike cried. The Earth felt as if it was cracking open. The six of them were all sliding to the edge of the ledge they seemed to be on. When Celestia had slid far enough to the edge, what she saw made her mouth fall at the corners.
"Everypony! Be careful! It's a crevice!" She cried as she flew off into the air. Luna followed suite, but Spike and Zecora continued sliding with Discord who seemed to be enjoying himself as if it were a slide. Spike and Zecora kept screaming. Scorpan gasped, he had to do something! Quickly he ran after them, and just as they were about to slide into the obis, he grabbed Zecora's hoof and Spike's claws, but he himself was almost hanging off of the edge, and unfortuantely, the encounter with the Tatzlwurm had left his right wing in need of rest and repair, so he could only keep hold of them, and for his recently aggresive limbs, he was already struggling as it was, but he kept his teeth clenched and stared meaningfully into their eyes.
"You'll be fine, but you need to let go!" He choked out.
"But...We'll fall!" Spike exclaimed.
"No you won't! You'll be just fine...Unlike Dissy..." He said unsure. From the bottom of the obis, they all heard Discord tell Scorpan off for calling him Dissy.
"Bu-" Zecora began.
"Trust me." He said as he stared deeply into their souls, which was a gift that only he seemed to have. Spike then bravely let go as Zecora nodded, signaling she was ready to be dropped.
They both fell with their eyes clenched shut, expecting to never see the light again but instead-
*Bomp!* Celestia and Luna caught Zecora and Spike and took them to the other side of the crevice as Discord flew up to a now shaken looking Scorpan.
"Celly can I leave him here?" Discord asked with a twisted smile.
"Discord!" Celestia chuckled fondly. "Come on, help Scorpan down!" She finished in a giggle. Discord giggled along as he scooped Scorpan up and flew him down to the ground...Or almost did. From about five meters from the ground, Scorpan was dropped.
*Crash!*
Scorpan landed on his chest with his legs flung upwards behind him. His tail now swished angrily as he growled.
"NOT appreciated..." Scorpan hissed.
"You're very welcome!" Discord exclaimed. Celestia chuckled and shook her head. Discord noticed this and smiled gently at her. For a minute, they both stared into each other's eyes...
"You both are most certainly fluffing up this fanfic!" Luna chuckled mischievously. Discord and Celestia smirked at Luna knowingly.
They both shook their heads and got going.
Soon, our heroes came to a lovely lake, but for some reason, there were ferocious waves! Celestia was very confused by the waves, so tried to find the source and-
*GASP*
It was Steven Magnet! He looked to be having a nightmare, he was thrashing about in Nightmare-distress.
"We've got to help him!" Celestia cried.
Discord scoffed. "No we don't! We can fly each other across!" He cheered. "MinusScorpan-"
"You SONOVA-"
"Discord, we could do that, but Steven is obviously having quite a frightening Nightmare! We have to help him to not benefit ourselves, but him," Celestia reminded. Discord nodded, now understanding what she meant.
Luna stepped forth.
"Although we need not to help him, I need to save him from the nightmare he be having! I'll be right back." She announced as she closed her eyes tight and pulled a spell that made her vanish into thin air....
It was...an odd dream to say the least...
Luna walked confused through Stephen's dream. There was nothing scary. Or what she herself would consider scary anyway...There were stained shirts and mismatched outfits and mustaches surrounding him chanting "Messy, mismatched, Muddled and stained! Ans this is the way we're going to STAY!!!!!"
In the mist of this, Stephen was wailing and begging them to stop spreading the mess around all the clothes in his underwater wardrobe. He seemed especially protective of a certain sparkly green suit that matched his eyes perfectly! His wail became a squeal as the dirty grey shirt grabbed the green suit and flung it into the toilet...That somehow appeared there...Anyway, soon Stephen was crying and begging for it all to stop...But Luna had a better idea. She always had a better idea.
With a deep smirk, she raised her horn and blasted the dirty shirts into elegant gowns and tuxes. There were a lot and Luna became exhausted quickly...But she kept going for him. She had to make this right.
There were about three more... *BLAST* 1 *Blast* 2 *BLAST* 3! Brilliant.
But Stephen was still cowering. Luna rolled her eyes and walked over slowly. She tapped his shoulder. Immediately, the sea serpent gasped.
"Huh! Princess Luna your highness!" He cried with a bow. Luna tutted and rolled her eyes - not in a fed up way, the same fond way her sister's eyes rolled to Discord's needless comments.
"You don't need to bow to I...Look around!!!" Luna exclaimed knowingly. Soon, Stephen was gasping and laughing and cheering. Luna decided that she'd leave him to his dream...With a smile, she flew out of his dream gracefully. She sighed...It was a shame that soon, he'd wake up...But she tried to give him the best thing possible!
Soon, Luna appeared back where she had been before entering Stephen's dream. Celestia looked curiously into her sister's eyes and Luna smiled with a faint nod as the tides returned to normal and Stephen was left in a blissful sleep. Instead of Discord's previous idea, those who could fly, flew over, while those who could not, hopped on stones over to the other side.
Discord counted down his fingers...Laughter, check. Kindness, check. Honesty, check. Generosity, check! Two more...He sighed. Did Celestia even have a inkling? Apparently, no! It was infuriating!
...And funny...And clueless...Naive...Discord was...Somewhat attracted to this. With a smile and a roll of his eyes Discord followed behind Zecora and Spike as they continued in their journey.
They were almost there! They just needed to simply trot down the stairs and...The stairs! Celestia swore that they were here! But now there were just mountains upon mountains of sheets of ice in a stack from the top of the crevice to the very bottom! Well, it was ok. They just needed to fly Zecora past it! She was their hero!
"Zecora, if you get on my back, I'll fly you down there!" Celestia suggested. Suddenly, Zecora shook her head rapidly and spoke.
"Nononono, I won't find that alright, unfortunately I am afraid of heights!" Zecora rhymed. Celestia's plan was foiled. Now what? All six of them stood there and thought for minutes without end, but only one thought came to Discord.
Loyalty...It MUST be Spike! He doesn't HAVE magic!
"What IF, I flew Spike to the bottom, left him, then slowly, he melted the ice with Zecora upon it until Zecora reached the bottom?" Discord spoke rapidly. Hmm..That was a good idea!
"Would you mind, Spike?" Luna asked. Spike looked nervous. He, for a moment, wanted to ask if Discord could go down there with him, but decided that he'd be less scared alone.
"O...OK..." As soon as Spike finished his words, Discord swooped down and dragged Spike to the bottom of the crevice, plonked him down and left.
It was misty in the crevice, so as soon as Discord was 4 meters above Spike, Spike could not any longer see him. He gulped.
"So...I just slowly melt the ice with my breath?" Spike shouted to them.
At the top of the crevice, Scorpan was escorting Zecora on to the ice carefully.
"Yesssssss!" Scorpan called down.
Spike felt alone, he was alone...yet somehow...
"Spike?" A voice echoed his name...It sounded like...Rarity. But it couldn't have been! He turned to the voice, but because of the mist he failed to spot anything. Soon the voice came so close that he could clearly hear the hoofsteps.
"Hello?..." He quietly called back.
"Spike!" From the mist emerged a white pony with purple, luscious hair and had diamond cutie marks...It was Rarity!...But how? Who cared?!?!
"Hey!" He ran up to her and hugged her. "Thank goodness you're alright! Where are the others?" At this question, Rarity looked at Spike puzzled for a second, but then shook her head and smited herself...That wasn't like Rarity...She'd always understand who "the others" referenced to...
"Oh, them?!? Oh it doesn't matter! Me and you should run away together...FOREVER!!!" Rarity started giggling. Spike's heart sped up. Running away with Rarity was like a dream! They'd run to a place where ponies and dragons could be couples! But..."the others" don't matter? That wasn't right. And even if this was the real Rarity, there were important Ponies...errr...important creatures that he cared about and who were depending on him to do something. Right now. Also, the rest of the Elements of Harmony needed to be saved too! He needed to stay loyal to them! No matter how much he may want this.
Spike stepped back slowly, and "Rarity" looked at him offended and full of hate.
"I'm sorry, but I have a bunch of...creatures depending on me. Maybe another time." Spike said. He now expected some sort of assult, so closed his eyes and covered himself with his arms and waited.
But all he felt was the feeling of dust brush past him. He looked to "Rarity"...But she had gone, and so had the dust.
"Spike? Are you alright? You gave us a bit of a fright." Zecora called down to him.
"Ugh...Yeah! I was just...Never mind! Ready?" Spike called back.
"Ready, am I, ready to try!" Zecora replied.
Spike began blowing with all his might, fire started draining out of his throat, melting the tall pile of ice sheets, bringing Zecora closer to the ground. Breath after breath, sheet after sheet, finally Zecora had reached the ground!
And to Celestia's delight, the stairs were uncovered so that they could get down with her! Because let's face it; Discord is the only one strong enough to carry Scorpan and he wouldn't. So they trotted down and soon joined Zecora and Spike at the bottom.
They all, excepting Discord, stared expectantly at Zecora. She turned to the tree and gulped.
"To tell the truth to all of you, I have no idea what I should do!" Zecora said to them. Celestia knew it was a long shot after all...She sighed and looked to the tree. She felt drawn to the gem of magic...Why?
She sighed. Again. She just wanted Twilight back! Was that too much to ask?!?!?!?!
"What? Who do you need?" Celestia shouted teary at the tree. Discord shook his head. He didn't want to say anything though. The Elements upon the tree glowed. "You want elements? You want some laughter? Have Discord!" She screamed at the tree, with tears filling her eyes. Discord's eyes shot open as the blue balloon gem shot in his direction and swirled repeatedly around him. She had got it! She nailed it right on the head! Discord smiled at Celestia as Celestia stared at what was happening shocked...Suddenly everything she knew tied into place! New heroes! NEW! New heroes = new elements of harmony! Discord...He displayed the element of laughter and laughed in the face of darkness!!! "Zecora! The new Element of Kindness! Showed a ferocious monster kindness with her brave heart to save us; her friends!" Celestia cried at the tree. The pink butterfly gem started glowing and circled Zecora. Celestia's face showed triumph. "Scorpan, not only showed honesty to Zecora a few moments ago to save her, but saved Equestria with his honesty all of those years ago! The new element of honesty! Luna, my dear sister, who is generous enough to spare her time in dreams to make them a happy or helpful place, EVERY night! Represents the new Element of Generosity! Spike! The dragon who's loyalty shined through his whole life! Not only today! Represents the new element of...Loyalty!!! And I...Who am not deserving of this title...Represent the element...of MAGIC!!!" Celestia finished. When I say "new", I mean the ones that'll last...a bit longer and that, as the title suggests, are the back up team to be there just in case...You see! The tree was being smart!!!
The gems were revolving around each of them...But they did something insane...The gems doubled! For Scorpan, Applejack's jewel doubled, but when the double changed into an accessory, it was his belt and the orange gem was in the shape of his two wings with his tail hanging from it! Then from the original jewel, Applejack appeared and the gem shot back into the tree. For Zecora, the light pink gem doubled and became her cutie mark and became a necklace, then Fluttershy appeared next to her and the original gem shot back to the tree. The same happened for Luna, but Rarity appeared. The gem, too, shot back to the tree. For Discord, the blue gem doubled, it was not his tornado, the tree didn't want him to represent chaos anymore, although it would never be able to rid all mischief from him. The gem was his mismatched horns on top of his snaggletooth, mismatched arms, wings, legs and tail and became a dark luminous blue that glowed. Pinkie Pie appeared next to him and her element shot back to the tree. Discord's gem became...a crown...Hmm... For Spike, the red element doubled and and became his fanged mouth spurting fire and his spiked back and tail. Rainbow Dash appeared next to him and her original element shot back to it's spot in the tree. Finally, Celestia's pinky-purple gem doubled and became her sun...but it didn't stay Pinky-purple, it became a luminous yellow and glowed upon a crown on her head. Twilight appeared next to her and the purple element shot back to the tree and the tree closed. And all of a sudden...All the magic.
Stopped.
The tree had snapped it all. No gems were revolving around them...It was just back to normal. Luna, Spike and Zecora had a necklace. Scorpan had a belt. Discord and Celestia...had crowns...What does that mean? Oh well...They'll find out.
Anyway, more importantly, there stood the main six. Within a second, Spike had ran up to Rarity and hugged her.
"I'm so glad you're back!" Spike told her. Rarity's eyes began watering.
"Y...You saved me Spikey-Poo?" She said teary eyed.
"Well of course!!! You mean more to me than the world!" Spike hugged her tight. Rarity snuffled and kissed him on the forehead.
Automatically, the two immortal demigods looked to each other and smiled blissfully into the other's eyes. Discord's talon rested on her hoof as Discord turned to Fluttershy.
"Are you alright, dear?" He asked Fluttershy. Flutterhsy was a bit dizzy still.
"Whoo....Well...I'm a bit...confused to be honest! Hehe!" She giggled to Discord as she stumbled over to him. He hugged her using his lion arm and him and Celestia again stared into each other's eyes. Fluttershy giggled cheekily at the two, knowing that they were the most perfect and chaotic couple she'd ever witnessed, and Fluttershy loved it!
When they got back, Twilight simply made her speech. And nothing about their venture would ever be mentioned to anypony. For they would be the silent heroes of Equestria!
And they'd be the proud Guardians of The Elements!
Twilight was soon finished with writing the guest list for the her After-Coronation-Party. And she put three tickets in an envelope for Celestia so she, Luna and a friend could come along. Philomena didn't need a ticket to enter. She gave it to Spike to run to one of his new friends; Princess Celestia! He ran Celestia's room and knocked on the door.
"Celestia? It's Spike! Letter from Princess Twilight!" He called through the door. Celestia had been drawing all morning, she had woken early, like every morning, to Discord begging her to hurry up a raise the sun. He, apparently, found the night and darkness boring, like he had sung just last week.
"Come in!" Celestia called. Spike slowly pushed through the door and found Celestia sitting at her little white desk she had asked Princess Twilight for, squiggling down drawings in her sketch book.
"Here!" Spike said as he handed her the envelope; Twilight didn't have the time and wanted to remain as far away from Celestia as possible because Twilight couldn't keep a secret! "What are you drawing?" Spike asked, trying to peek in the book.
"Oh! Nothing..." Celestia insisted as a blush crept on to her cheeks and she slammed the book shut. Spike stepped back, startled at the force that she closed the book. "Just...Nothing..." She said with an obvious smile. Spike knew what she drew, but decided that it wasn't all that important.
Dear, Celestia, I, the Princess of Friendship, invite you to My After-Coronation-Party on the 31st of May. Here are three tickets for you, Luna and a friend.
Sincerely, The Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle.
31st of May? That was a month away! Ahhh! Got to have EVERYTHING ready! She took out the three tickets; One for her, one for Luna...And one for a friend...She sighed. Which friend? Coming to think of it, Celestia couldn't wait!
"Whoa!!! You got a spare invite? That's awesome! I wish I was invited...But Twilight said to wait and see..."
"Oh...Well..." Celestia began when Spike's eyes opened pleadingly. "We'll see...I don't know who to invite yet...But your definitely in top 4!"
"OK, well, gotta bunch o' things to be getting on with sooooo...See ya round!" He said as he walked out, half closing the door behind him, half leaving it open. Celestia didn't mind. She just simply tucked her sketch book under her bed and decided that she'd go to see Luna and give her the invite and talk things over with her.
Spike ran back down stairs and saw Twilight and the rest of the Elements Of Harmony having an important disscusion. He decided to stay out, if he was needed, they would've called him in earlier, so instead he went to his bed to have a quick nap.
"Are you sure we need to test The Princess, Twilight? I mean...She probably knows A LOT about friendship!" Rarity told Twilight, unsure of her setup.
"I have to agree, we're risking all of Celestia's friend's invites as well! They can't be allowed to miss out if Celestia fails to do the right thing! That's just not fair!" Fluttershy agreed. Twilight was just about to respond when-
"I think they might be right, doing this to The Princess seems awful disrespectful..." AppleJack agreed, lowering her hat to her chin.
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said unsure to argue with the egghead.
"I AGREE WITH FLUTTERSHY!!! WE DON'T WANT OUR FRIENDS TO BE MISSING OUT ON OUR BIG PARTY!!!" Pinkie added.
"Look girls, I understand. But the Princess is now the Guardian of Magic! She and her friends need to understand not only the great side to friendship, but also...The difficult side...I just feel like, if they're going to be the ones protecting us, even if they'll never be needed, they need to be ready! I'm doing this for their benefit. Not ours." Twilight told them.
They looked at one another unsure, but then realized that Twilight was right; these tests might save Equestria one day, and the fate of everypony will rest in the Guardians paws/hooves/talons/claws, so they need to be ready!
They had agreed, and the conversation was over.
"Wow!!! I didn't really get to see your gem necklace thingy! It looks lovely, Luna!" Celestia commented as Luna proudly showed her what she had received after saving the Elements of Harmony. It was a light sparkling blue-star necklace and the gem was purple in the shape of her moon in the middle star. It suited her beautifully!
"Thank you! And I must add your crown is quite the peace de resistance! I love the decorative flame design of the crown, with your glowing, sparkling, cutie mark gem in the middle!" Luna was right. She had described Celestia's crown exactly. The outer metal was a flame pattern and was gold with the bright, yet light yellow gem in the shape of her cutie mark. Celestia chuckled.
"Thank you, Luna. Oh! And I have something for you!" Celestia added as she reached down to her side and grabbed the ticket. "Here! For Twilight's "After-Coronation-Party"! Can you make it?"
"Can you?" Luna asked.
"Of course!" Celestia responded.
"Can I go with you?" Luna asked.
"Of course!" Celestia responded.
"Then of course I can make it!" Luna replied happily.
"Brilliant!" Celestia said as she took a sip of her tea and bit a bite from her cake. "But I do have one problem..."
"Hmm? What is it?" Luna asked.
"I don't think any of the others have been invited..." Celestia told her reluctantly. By now they knew what "the others" meant. It meant Scorpan, Discord, Spike and Zecora. The remainder of the guardians.
"What makes you think that?" Luna asked.
"Well...I'm sure that Discord would've bursted out the news by now to me. I think Zecora would've checked if I had an invite too, I also have a feeling that Scorpan would've asked me if Discord was going because-"
"They have a...Yes...Anyway, do think Spike is invited?" Luna asked.
"I...I don't know! He didn't seem to know either..." Celestia spoke. Still contemplating whether or not he was going.
"But what troubles you about them not being invited so much?" Luna asked.
"Well...I was given an extra ticket for a friend..." She said with a nervous smile as she held up the two other tickets with her magic. Her's and a friend's.
"Yes?" Luna insisted.
"And I can't decide who to give it to..." Celestia told her.
"Well it's out of Scorpan, Spike and Zecora. Don't even think about inviting Discord!" Luna snapped.
"Oh, Luna!" Celestia giggled. "You were fine with him last week!"
"Last week was before he came into the castle at my rare time of sleep and began begging me to remove a splinter from his behind!" Luna continued.
"Oh dear...Not in your rare sleep time?" Celestia couldn't believe Discord could be so brave!
"Yes!!! I know! It's unbelievable!! But...What can you expect?" Luna asked.
"Exactly." Celestia replied. "He's Discord!" Celestia sighed fondly. Luna smiled knowingly at her. Everypony knew. After their coincidental dissapearings, after Twilight became the Princess of Friendship and Discord began flirting with her, of course they did! But nopony ever said anything. It was too cute and clueless to disrupt, so Luna didn't say anything either.
"But seriously, you can invite him if he's who you choose." Luna finished. She didn't mind Discord's shenanigans so much anymore because he never did them to make Luna genuinely upset or tired or angry like he used to.
"Who would you invite?" Celestia asked.
"Well...Spike has always been loyal to us and could be the most deserving, but I get on very well with Scorpan and I did ever since we first met all of those years ago, he also desrved it because he saved Equestria for the price of his own brother, and we have never given anything back, but I adore Zecora and...Mare power for the win!!! Hehe! Whereas Discord...Isn't quite as deserving, but he's really changed so much and for him, that's probably very hard, and I can imagine that would prove as quite the extra reward for him!" Luna told her.
"Wow...This is going to be hard..." Celestia said.
"I would help...But...I need to stay here in Canterlot to keep the castle...Royalty reserved." Luna told her. She looked at her watch. "Erm. I had better get to bed for my quick 2 hour nap..." Luna finished as she walked off.
"'G'Night Luna! Err...I mean..." Celestia said.
"Have a good day, Celie!!!" Luna called behind her.
"Yeah..."
Celestia whistled to herself as she attempted to casually walk down the streets, but no matter how normal she acted, ponies always couldn't help but glance and stare at her. Yet it made her giggle when she heard somepony go "That was really strange a week ago, Twilight Sparkle disappeared and then reappeared out of nowhere! Nopony knows what happened!" It was nice to finally be a silent hero. It was a nice feeling. Feeling OK with never being anything more...The lack of desire was a calming feeling. She liked it.
"Heyloooooooooooooooo, Celly-Belly!!!" Discord appeared out of nowhere! He hovered around her happily.
"Hey, Dissy." Celestia replied happily.
"Whataya dooooooooooooooooooiing?" He asked curiously.
"Nothing..."Celestia replied nervously.
"Well, that's strange. It looks like you're walking..."Discord said suspisciously.
"Yes!!! That's exactly what i'm doing! I'm just having a walk!" Celestia replied.
"Oh! Sounds fun! Can I join?!?!" Discord asked. Celestia giggled.
"Of course!" She told him. So Discord got on all fours and trotted beside her, head held high, acting just like her.
"So, Celly, have you made up your mind?"
"You don't get to call her Celly." Discord snapped.
"Huh?" Celestia asked the suddenly appeared dragon.
"Have you decided? Who to give your extra ticket to?" Spike asked.
"Um..."
"What ticket? To what? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN KEEPING SECRET FROM ME?!?!?" Discord dramatically raged to Celestia.
"Celestia was given an extra ticket to Twilight's After-Coronation-Party. To give to a friend. And that friend's gonna be me!" Spike told Discord.
"Me!" Discord argued.
"Me!"
"ME!"
"ME!!! Why do you want to be invited anyway? Why have you got to be there?" Spike asked.
"I could ask you the same question!" Discord growled.
"Well," Spike started stepping back, looking to Celestia who was covering her eyes and ears from their bickering. She got up "I need to go to support my friends! I'm the Guardian of loyalty! I need to be there for them! And if I'm not, can you picture it? The looks on their faces?" Spike said, and he had a point.
"I need to be there for exactly the same reason! Think of Fluttershy! I'm like a father to her! She needs me!" Discord raged. Both were good points, but this just added to why she couldn't make up her mind. She knew they were both deserving and now she knew they both had very good reasons to why they needed to go. The decision was growing ever harder. She decided that she needed to talk to somepony who would tell her the truth...But who?
Scorpan's house was a strange cave like territory in the Everfree forest. She had sent him a letter to tell him that they needed to talk and he had replied with an OK. She walked through and to the quite distant right of the Tree of Harmony, not in it's crevice, there was a long strange slope of rock he lived underneath/in. It was hard to explain...
"Hello Scorpan." Celestia said. Scorpan jumped, startled at the sudden voice he heard behind him. "What are you doing?" She asked trying to peek around the object he was now hiding, or trying to hide, behind him.
"Oh...It doesn't matter?" He said with an unconvincing smile. Celestia cocked and eyebrow. Scorpan smiled.
And smiled some more.
And carried on smiling.
And gave an extra smile.
And continued to smile.
And the smiling kept going on.
And the smile grew bigger and less convincing every second.
But still the smile remained.
"......"Celestia was not convinced by the less convincing smile.
"...." She gave him one last glance...
"If you say so!" Celestia concluded happily as she trotted over to Scorpan's table. It was well crafted and...was that Tirek and Scorpan on the top? Playing happily and harmoniously? It was in a cloud bubble. Did this mean that it was a dream? "What's this?"
"A table...? Hand crafted mind you..." Scorpan said unsure.
"No! What's this picture?" Celestia asked.
"Uh..."Scorpan leaned over and gawked at it. "Oh! That's me and Tirek!!!"
Celestia almost facepalmed.
"I know it's you and Tirek!!! But what does it mean? Why did you make it?" Celestia asked, her curiosity growing more and more.
"...It's us playing...I guess?" He was unsure. I frowned, I knew that, too!
"Did you always used to play?" Celestia asked sympathetically.
"Yes...When we were only very young, but I think this image is more of a wish...Something that won't actually happen. To be honest with myself..." He said half sadly and half like he didn't really care.
