Friends should be happy when their friends make new friends, and Fluttershy is happy for Discord making a new Friend... At least that's what she says.
By: The Twin
Fluttershy was out of Ponyville for a couple days, to deal with Starlight Glimmer's weird cutie mark Nazi village, and when she gets back she finds a surprising turn of events.
Discord has made a new friend... all by himself!!!
At first Fluttershy is happy and proud of Discord, but soon she starts getting a funny feeling in her chest. As Discord spends more and more time with his new friend the feeling only gets stronger.
Could Fluttershy?
Could she be?
Jealous?
Impossible Fluttershy doesn't have a reason to be jealous after all this new pony is nice and wants to be friends with Discord, and Fluttershy has always wanted Discord to make more friends and for other ponies to treat him kindly.
So why does this pony make her feel this way?
Could the fact that it's a Mare have anything to do with it?
Things take a turn when it appears that Discords new friend might be more then she appears to be.
Discord hums happily as he fly's through the air above the Everfree Forest, he clutches a tray of cucumber sandwiches in his talon, and a pitcher of lemonade in his paw, despite his incredible speed the sandwiches and lemonade don't move at all, the lemonade doesn't even splash around. He smiles happily as he descends toward the cottage outside of Ponyville, he lands with a thud, the ground around him turns into pink and white tiles, he gives a sheepish chuckle and stomps his foot returning the ground to normal. He teleports the remaining distance to Fluttershy's cottage, he let's go of the tray and it sprouts wings to stay in the air. He reaches out his talon and knocks on the door, he looks around the area as he waits patiently. After a minute of waiting he decided to call for Fluttershy.
"Hey Fluttershy!" Discord shouts cupping his mouth with his talon. "You ready for Tuesday tea?" As Discord asks this question, he finally notices a small piece of paper hanging on the door, the pitcher of lemonade sprouts wings as well, he reaches out with his now free paw and grabs the paper. It's a note from Fluttershy.
Dear Discord
I was called away by Twilight for an important meeting, I thought I'd be back in time for our Tuesday tea but I won't. Some weird table showed up and we're heading out on some harmony related mission, I had Rainbow Dash fly this letter back to my cottage before we left so you'd know. Hopefully we'll be back soon, take care of yourself.
With Love, Fluttershy
P.s. I promise I won't miss a Tuesday tea again. Sorry.
Discord snaps his paw and the letter vanishes, he snaps his talon and the tray of sandwiches and the pitcher of lemonade disappear as well. Discord sighs heavily, he turns his back to the cottage and begins walking back down the road.
"What do I do now?" Discord wonders aloud, he turns his head in the direction of Ponyville, a smile creeps onto his face. "I suppose some harmless pranks wouldn't be too boring."
Discord snaps his fingers and is suddenly standing in the town square of Ponyville, ponies jump in surprise, many run away at the sight of the spirit of chaos, others turn away and awkwardly try to continue what they were doing, they occasionally turn back to look at him. Discord sighs, he expected this, after all his betrayal was only a couple months ago, but it still didn't feel good. He turns away from the ponies and looks toward the ground, maybe it wasn't the right time to cause trouble, besides Fluttershy would just scold him when she got back anyway. Discord begins walking absentmindedly looking around for something to do, he looks at sugar cube corner, as he continues walking. He stares at a sign in the window that is advertising a few new flavors of cupcake, as he reads the list he fails to look where he's going. Suddenly he trips over a wagon left in the road, he topples forward and his head crashes into a watermelon. He pokes his head out of the melon and turns an angry face back toward the wagon he tripped on, the small wagon is just sitting in the middle of the road, and the watermelon is also just laying in the middle of the road. He turns his head at the sound of laughter, some ponies were giggling at the sight, but they quickly stopped as he turned his gaze on them, but one laugh did not stop.
"I can't believe somepony fell for that!" Discord turns in the direction of the voice, he glares at the mare would had spoken, and who is still laughing. She's a unicorn, her fur is silver and seems to glow, not as bright as a crystal pony, more like the glow of the moon, her hair is short and pitch black, it twinkles slightly making it look like the night sky, her eyes are a bright crimson, and her cutie mark is a big red heart . Discord snaps his fingers and the wagon explodes into flying lollipops, another snap and the watermelon appears over the silver mares head, she stops laughing as the broken melon smashes on her head.
"Ha! How do you like it?" Discord asks, while laughing, the watermelon glows red and vanishes into nothing. Discord smiles smugly at the unicorn, his smile drops when he sees that she doesn't look angry or even annoyed, in fact she's smiling back at him.
"That was pretty fun, most ponies just say some angry comment after I prank them, no pony has very returned fire before." The mare covers her mouth with a hoof and gives him a bubbly laugh. Discord gives a slight chuckle at the strange mare.
"Well this is surprising most ponies just run in fear of me." Discord says scratching his neck with his talon.
"Well after what happened a couple months ago I'm not surprised." Discord looks unhappily at the mare.
"You're aware of that?" Discord raises an eyebrow at the mare.
"Of course I am." The mare rolls her eyes. "Everypony is."
"So why aren't you running?"
The mare chuckles. "Partly because I wasn't affected by it."
"What do you mean?" Discord asks his quizzical stare intensifying. "Ponyville was probably the most effected."
"I don't live in Ponyville." The unicorn mare waves her hoof as if to erase that comment. "At least I didn't, in fact I just moved to Equestria, imagine my surprise when I arrive in Equestria, and I see a giant rainbow explosion, followed by a castle appearing."
"So you were only here for the last battle?" Discord puts a talon to his chin. "That's quite lucky."
"I suppose so." The mare shrugs her shoulders. "Although I wish I'd actually got to see the fight, I hear it was awesome."
"Yeah..." Discord looks away and frowns. "I hear that too."
"Anywho enough about the past let's talk future." Discord returns his gaze to the mare.
"What do you mean?" Discord asks his quizzical expression returning, the mare just chuckles.
"I mean." The mare smiles up at him. "Can I buy you a cupcake?"
"Huh?" Discord looks down at the unicorn, his eyebrow raised so high it's detached from his head. The mare looks at his puzzled face and frowns.
"You do know what a cupcake is don't you?" Discord scowls at the mare.
"Of course I know what a cupcake is." Discord magically makes one appear in his paw. "I conjure them all the time." The cupcake sprouts teeth and little spider legs and runs off down the street, chopping at ponies, until Big Mac accidently stops the rampage with a misstep of his hoof. Discord chuckles as Big Mac stops to check his hoof, he hears the mare giggle once more and turns to look at her, her smile turns mischievous.
"Your cupcake fought bravely." The mare levitates a pie off a near by stall and aims it at Big Mac. " He shall be avenged." The pie flys through the air and smacks Big Mac in the back of the head, he turns and scowls in the direction the pie came from, the silver mare points a hoof at Discord, Discord looks between the mare and Big Mac, he holds his hands up defensively.
"Hey now. She did it not me." Discord points an accusing talon at the mare. Big Mac just rolls his eyes and lets out a grunt, he turns forward a keeps walking, he brushes the pie out of his mane with a hoof as he goes. Discord turns his head to scowl at the mare, she smiles smugly back at him.
"Look's like I don't get in trouble when your around." Her smile turns into an even more smug grin. "Wanna hang out?"
"No thanks miss......" Discord puts a paw to his chin in thought.
"Moonlight."
"Huh?" Discord returns his gaze to the mare.
"My name is Moonlight." She holds out a hoof, Discord looks at it for a moment before shrugging and shaking her hoof with his talon.
"I am Discord." Moonlight gives him a smile, Discord gives one back. Moonlight stops the hoofshake and places her hoof back on the ground.
"So how about that cupcake?" Discord looks at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You were serious about that?" Moonlight raises her eyebrow back at him.
"Of course I was." Moonlight tilts her head to the side. "Why would I ask you if I didn't mean it?"
Discord taps a talon to his chin. "Don't know." Discord shrugs. "I'm only use to one pony ever seriously asking me to join them."
"Oh and who's that?" Moonlight asks putting a hoof to her chin, Discord grin's as wide as possible.
"Only my best friend Fluttershy." Moonlight gives Discord a sweet smile.
"Why don't you tell me all about her over some cupcakes." Moonlight's smile turns mischievous once more. "On you of course."
"Sure why not?" Discord happily says, as he begins walking toward sugar cube corner, Moonlight follows behind him, licking her lips and rubbing her stomach.
Twenty Minutes and Seventeen New Flavors of Cupcakes Later
Moonlight and Discord are sitting on a bench outside sugar cube corner, Discord smiles while wrapping up his last story about Fluttershy, while Moonlight smiles happily while patting her slightly extended belly. Discord gives a loud chuckle as he finishes the story, he then looks at Moonlight and laughs at her belly, Moonlight frowns at him, but lets out a giggle anyway.
"Did you just use me to score a free meal?" Moonlight grins up at him.
"And what if I did?" Discord returns the grin.
"Then you'll have to get the next bill." Moonlight gasps at him.
"What? I have to pay?" Moonlight exclaims putting a hoof to her chest.
"Yeah I got this one you get the next one, that's how it works right?" Discord says grinning smugly.
"Not when somepony can create bits at will." Moonlight points an accusing hoof at Discord, he laughs at her.
"Okay, okay, I'll think of something less then." Discord puts a furry finger up to his chin.
"I don't look forward to what you come up with." Moonlight groans, as she facehooves. The two of them continue talking for a while longer, but soon Discord looks up toward the sun and frowns.
"Welp I gotta get to work." Discord says sighing heavily, Moonlight raises an eyebrow at him.
"You have a job?" Discord shrugs his shoulders.
"Kind of I do things for Princess Sunbutt every now and again." Moonlight stifles a giggle.
"Sunbutt?" She releases her giggle. "I'll have to remember that one."
"See that you do." Discord smiles, as he stands up off the bench and stretches his arms, Moonlight stands up as well.
"Well this was fun." Moonlight says stretching her fore hooves, the two smile at each other.
"Yeah it was." Discord looks back toward the sky. "Thanks for hanging out with me."
"No problem." Moonlight shrugs. "What're friends for." Discord looks down at her and blinks.
"Friends?" Moonlight stretches her fore hooves over her head and looks at him through one open eye.
"Yeah." Discord smiles sheepishly.
"You sure about that?" Discord asks raising an eyebrow. Moonlight puts a hoof to her chin taking a second to think.
"Ah, what the hay." Moonlight gives Discord a wide grin. "Let's Be Friends."
Fluttershy yawns as she walks down the road to her cottage, she hadn't gotten much sleep the last couple days, dealing with that scary unicorn who stole ponies cutie marks hadn't left much time to rest. The sun has started to set over the horizon, because of how late it was when they got back to Ponyville her friends were all staying in Twilight's castle tonight, Fluttershy had turned down the offer, she had said it was because she wanted to check on her animals, while she really just missed her own bed. She rubs her eye and gives out another yawn as she walks up to her front door, after unlocking it she pushes the door open, she jumps back in surprise as a bright light shines through the door.
"WELCOME HOME DARLING!" Discord shouts as he smiles happily at Fluttershy, he snaps his fingers and Fluttershy suddenly has a business hat on her head, a briefcase in her hoof, and a brown jacket draped over her shoulder. Fluttershy giggles as she looks at Discord, he's wearing a long dress with an apron around his waist, he looks like a house wife.
"Hello Discord." Fluttershy smiles as she takes the hat off her head and puts it on a hat rack that just appeared out of no where. Discord zips across the room, and smiles brightly at Fluttershy as he takes her coat and briefcase.
"Hello to you to honey, now you sit on down and tell me all about your trip." Discord puts the coat up on the hat rack, he then places the briefcase on the coffee table. He gently pushes Fluttershy on the back, guiding her to the couch. She sits down on the couch and smiles at the Draconequus who sits next to her. Discord snaps his fingers and some tea and cookies appear on the coffee table.
"What's all this?" Fluttershy asks raising an eyebrow and a hoof at the food, Discord grins at her.
"Well we didn't get to have our Tuesday morning tea so i figure a Thursday night tea would be good to." Discord says smiling happily, Fluttershy frowns at the memory of missing Tuesday tea, but the frown doesn't last long as she thinks about Thursday tea.
"Of course Discord that sounds wonderful." Fluttershy says happily as she smiles up at Discord.
"Excellent now tell me all about your trip." Discord says grinning big.
Fluttershy smiles at Discord as she tells him everything her friends and her had been through the last couple days, Discord nods along as she talks occasionally making a comment that makes her giggle. At the end of Fluttershy's story Discord crosses his arms and lets a disgruntled huff.
"I can't believe the nerve of that Starset Shimmer."
"Starlight Glimmer." Fluttershy corrects.
"Whatever." Discord waves a dismissive paw at the comment. "The fact she had the audacity to steal my best friends cutie mark."
"She stole more ponies cutie marks then just mine." Discord gives another dismissive wave of his paw.
"Yeah but i don't care about-" Discord had begun rolling his eyes but stopped as a voice interrupts him.
"Discord!" Discord flinches at Fluttershy's raised voice, he gives the pegasus a sheepish grin, he rubs the back of his neck as he looks at her disapproving glare. Discord try's to think of a way out of trouble, suddenly his face lights up as he remembers something.
"Oh yeah Fluttershy I've got some big news." Fluttershy drops her disapproving stare for a curious one.
"What is it?" Fluttershy asks smiling up at him, Discord gives her a big grin.
"I made a friend." Fluttershy gasps and her face lights up.
"Oh my gosh you did?" Fluttershy squeals at Discord, he gives a smug nod, she suddenly jumps up and wraps her hooves around his neck in a strong hug. Discord's eyes widen in surprise but he smiles and returns the hug anyway.
"Surprised?" Discord says his voice smug, he feels Fluttershy shake her head in his neck.
"No I'm just glad it happened." Fluttershy pushes off of Discord and stares into his eyes, a big smile on her face. "Okay tell me about your new friend."
"Okay so I met them on Tuesday, I went to Ponyville after I discovered you weren't home." Discord puts a talon to Fluttershy's lips to silence the, I'm sorry, he knew was coming, Fluttershy pouts at being preemptively silenced. " I was just walking along when I tripped over a little wagon and met a very interesting unicorn."
"Oh your new friend is a unicorn?" Fluttershy asks muffled by his talon, he moves it away from her mouth. "What's their name?"
"Moonlight was their name." Discord gives a toothy grin. " Quite fitting with glowing fur and hair that looks like a starry night sky. Anyhoo, we talked over cupcakes at sugar cube corner, then I had to go do some stuff with Celestia, so I met back up with Moonlight the next day, we also hung out today before you gals got back."
"That sounds nice what did you guys do?" Fluttershy asks her eyes shining like stars, Discord looks away and rubs the back of his neck.
"We may have pulled some prank's some ponies." Discord smiles sheepishly at Fluttershy, to his surprise she smiles back.
"Oh you mean just like Pinkie and Rainbow Dash do?" Discord smiles at her.
"Yes exactly like those two... you know except with magic."
"You guys didn't do anything too mean did you?" Fluttershy asks looking a Discord with concern, Discord just rolls his eyes.
"Of course not my dear." Discord averts his gaze. "Of course there was some temptation."
"Discord." Fluttershy warns, Discord puts up his hands defensively.
"I promise Fluttershy I didn't do anything too mean." Discord whispers under his breathe. "I think."
"Okay that's good." Fluttershy let's out a sigh of relief. Discord suddenly brightens up.
"Okay now let me tell you some of my favorites we did." Fluttershy rubs her eye and gestures with her hoof for Discord to continue, He smiles happily before he continues. "Okay, so one we did was make one apple in every tree at sweet apple acres taste like a peach, another good one was we made Octavia's violin make wub noises, and also made Vinyl's sound board play classical music, although they seemed to enjoy it, didn't even stop their concert, we reorganized Twilight library, by adding new books that I may or may not have made up. I slipped Berry Punch a pill that'll make her sick when she drinks alcohol. Oh I think my favorite was-"
Discord looks down as he hears a yawn, he gazes at Fluttershy as she rubs her eyes with her hooves, he chuckles as she moves her hooves away from her eyes, and both her eyes are closed as she gives Discord a sleepy smile.
"That sounds really nice Dis-" She lets out another yawn. "-cord." Discord smiles down at the sleepy little pegasus. He reaches out and pick's her up princess style, she lets out a small grunt of protest, but is too tired to push him away.
"Don't worry Flutterbuddy I'm just taking you to bed." Discord says chuckling at her resistance, she makes another grunt that seems to mean she just remembered who picked her up, she rests her head against his warm fur, she sighs peacefully at the softness of his fur. Discord smiles happily as he walks Fluttershy across the room and up the stairs to her bedroom. He opens her bedroom door and carefully walks across the room he places her down on her bed, he gently covers her with her blanket. Fluttershy smiles and gives a gentle sigh.
"Thank you Discord." Fluttershy says sleepily, Discord stares down at the peaceful looking pegasus, he watches the light from the moon shine of her silky hair.
"No problem Fluttershy, we'll talk more tomorrow." Discord smiles down at her, Fluttershy yawns again.
"I can't wait to hear more about this new friend of yours." Discord chuckles lightly.
"Yeah Moonlights pretty cool." Discord laughs a little, before speaking in a joking tone. "For a mare."
"Huh?" Fluttershy's smile suddenly disappears, she doesn't know why, but she quickly puts on another one as she can feel Discord leaning over her, she can't tell what he's doing but it seems like he's deciding weather or not to do something, a blush appears on her face as a thought crosses her mind, suddenly she feels a cold talon pat her forehead, her smile fades again, and once again shes not sure why.
"Good night Fluttershy." Discord says standing back up, he takes a couple steps back from her bed. He speaks happily one more time before teleporting away. "I'll see ya tomorrow."
"Good night Discord." Fluttershy says after a yawn. She opens one of her eyes a crack, after Discord's teleport flash has dissipated, she looks around the room checking to see if shes alone, she closes her eye again and places a hoof to her chest. She can feel a strange pain in her chest, it doesn't actually hurt, at least not physically, Fluttershy frowns as she thinks to herself, Discords new friend. The pain seems to increase. Is a mare? The pain only gets worse, she groans in frustration, she covers her head with her blanket.
Fluttershy walks down the streets of Ponyville, two saddlebags strapped to her, one is full of groceries and has a loaf of beard sticking out of it. The second one is closed and even has a lock on it, Fluttershy stops walking and looks down at the closed bag to make sure it's still sealed she shakes the bag slightly, she can feel the tulle's of fabric bounce around as she does so, she smiles happily satisfied that all the fabric is still there. She looks forward once more, she raises an eyebrow as a mare with a grin on her face seems to be walking directly toward her. What interests Fluttershy about the unicorn that stops right in front of her is that her silver fur seems to glow and her short black mane twinkles like the night sky. She scratches her chin trying to think of where shes seen this mare before, she so wrapped up in thought that she almost doesn't notice the mare has started to speak.
"Good day ma'am." The unicorn gives Fluttershy a slight bow, Fluttershy hastily returns the gesture.
"Oh, um, hello." Fluttershy stammers out, confused by the sudden conversation. The unicorn mare smiles at her sweetly.
"You see miss I'm going around selling flowers for the Total Botanical System." Fluttershy returns her hoof to her chin, where have I heard that name before? Fluttershy shrugs and looks back at the mare, she looks at the mares back, she couldn't see it before but now that the mare was closer she can see a small basket of flowers sitting on her back, the basket is full of pretty red roses. Fluttershy smiles at the mare.
"I'd love to take a flower." Fluttershy says opening her grocery saddlebag, she pulls out a small bit purse. "How much for one?"
"Um... just one bit." The silver mare says after rubbing her chin, after she speaks she shrugs her shoulders and holds out a hoof to take a bit. Fluttershy smiles as she plops a bit into the mares open hoof. The mare smiles happily as she stuffs the bit in her own purse. One of the roses glows with a shimmering red magic aura, the rose fly's out of the basket and toward Fluttershy. She smiles happily as she reaches out to take the rose, Fluttershy doesn't notice that the mares smile has turned fiendish.
"Thank y-" Fluttershy is suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.
"FLUTTERSHY DON"T!!!" Fluttershy and the mare jerk their heads in the direction of the voice. Discord zooms up to the pair and grabs the floating rose with his paw, he grips it hard and swiftly flings it straight up into the air. The aura around the flower dissipates as it soars through the air, Discord grabs both mares and tackles them to the ground, he covers their ears and shuts his eyes tight. Fluttershy she stares at him in bewilderment, shes about to speak when the rose lands on the ground a few inches away from them, Fluttershy stares at the flower with a raised eyebrow.
"Was something suppose to happen?" Discord opens his eyes and looks at the rose in confusion, he stands up from the ground, no longer holding onto the two mares. He floats over to the fallen flower and picks it up. He flinches seeming to think something was gonna happen when he did so. He turns a puzzled look at the silver unicorn, who is now standing next to Fluttershy.
"Moonlight I thought these flowers-" Discord is interrupted from his question, by the flower in his paw suddenly exploding into maple syrup and marshmallows. Discord scowls as he and a small circle around him is now covered in the sticky mess, he turns his scowl at the mares, Fluttershy is covering her mouth with her hooves a look of shock on her face, while the unicorn is clutching her sides laughing. Discord glares at the laughing mare.
"Moonlight I thought I got rid of all the syrup bombs." Discord says raising an accusing eyebrow at her, Moonlight just grins at him.
"Well I may have hid just one." Moonlight's grin turns smug, Discord lessens his glare a little.
"And what pray-tell was wrong with the other rose bombs I made?" Discord asks putting his hands on his hips, Moonlight rolls her eyes at him.
"Please Discord." She waves a hoof at him. "I just wanted to see the syrup bomb once, before having to use these stupid things." She gestures to the basket of roses she is picking up off the ground with her magic. Discord puts a talon to his chest in mock hurt.
"Hey I like the chocolate bombs." Discord grabs one of the roses out of the basket and chucks it at Pinkie Pie, who was walking up to talk to them, she catches the flower and it immediately explodes into a mass of chocolate that traps the party pony in a cage of chocolate and peanut-butter, Pinkie Pie smiles and starts devouring the confection prison. Moonlight gestures a hoof toward the display.
"Yeah and so do other ponies." Moonlight places a hoof on her forehead. "What's the point of a prank if the pony getting pranked likes it?"
"So everypony will enjoy it?" Moonlight and Discord turn toward the soft voice that had spoken. Discord brightens up upon seeing the pale yellow Pegasus standing in the road, after a quick cleaning spell Discord zips over and scoops Fluttershy into a big hug.
"Oh Fluttershy I'm glad your okay, when I saw Moonlight handing you that flower I felt the syrupy magic I placed in it." Discord doesn't seem to notice the big smile and the blush that appeared on Fluttershy's face, she giggles happily as Discord gives her a quick twirl through the air. After one rotation Discord gently puts her back down on the ground. Fluttershy smiles up at Discord, she can feel the warmth on her face, she looks down at the ground, she also feels a warmth in her chest, What is that? Fluttershy shakes her head deciding to think on that later. She looks back up from the ground, she looks past Discord, she gasps as she suddenly remembers where she had seen the unicorn mare before. She hadn't seen her before but the mare matched Discord's description of his new friend, she walks around Discord and sticks a hoof out to the mare.
"Hello you must be Moonlight my name is Fluttershy it's a pleasure to meet you." Moonlight takes a step back out of surprise, she grabs Fluttershy's hoof and shakes it.
"Yeah I'm Moonlight nice to meet you." The two break their hoofshake, Fluttershy is about to speak but Moonlight walks past her and begins talking to Discord.
"Hey buddy where you been?" Moonlight lightly punches Discord with her hoof. "You were suppose to help me out with the Total Botanical System."
Discord laughs and rolls his eyes. "Ah yes the Total Botanical System, or as I like to call it." Discord and Moonlight grin at each other, Fluttershy's face lights as she remembers something else.
"TOTAL-" Discord and Moonlight begin to shout in unison but are interrupted by a quiet voice finishing their sentence.
"B.S!" Discord and Moonlight turn to look at the pale yellow pegasus who had just spoken, Fluttershy blushes and averts her gaze. "Sorry I just remembered the joke name Discord gives to fake charity's to prank ponies."
"I can't believe you remembered that." Discord chuckles as a large grin appears on his face, Moonlight just rolls her eyes. Moonlight smiles up at Discord and pokes him in the side getting his attention once more.
"So buddy wanna go to sugar cube corner?" Discord blinks at her, Moonlight frowns. "You promised to show me the other flavors of cupcakes they have there."
"Oh right, of course." Moonlight smiles and begins walking down the road, but the next thing Discord says makes her frown return. "You coming Fluttershy?"
"Huh?" Fluttershy hides herself behind her mane. "I wouldn't want to impose on you guys." Discord waves a talon dismissively.
"Please and miss out on the chance to have my two friends become friends." Discord shakes his head disapprovingly. "Now what kind of Princess of Friendship would I be if I missed this opportunity."
Fluttershy giggles at him. "Discord Twilight is the Princess of Friendship." Discord puts his hands to his face and gasps.
"What!? If that's true then what am I?" Discord asks pretending to have a crisis.
"I believe you're the spirit of chaos." Moonlight chimes in, Discord slaps his forehead with his paw.
"Oh right duh." He smiles brightly, Moonlight shakes her head.
"What was all that about?" Moonlight asks raising an eyebrow, Discord chuckles.
"Oh that was just a distraction so you gals wouldn't notice that I transported the three of us to sugar cube corner."
"What?" Moonlight and Fluttershy both look around, it was true somehow they had arrived in sugar cube corner without noticing. Discord picks them both up and places them in a booth in the corner of the room.
"Now you ladies get to girl talking or whatever, I'll go get us some cupcakes." Discord happily fly's off to the counter after he's done speaking. Fluttershy looks nervously at the pony sitting across from her, Moonlight is just staring at Flutters, her face not revealing what she might be thinking. Fluttershy looks over at her friend ordering cupcakes, she steels her resolve and turns a happy smile back to Moonlight.
"So Moonlight it's nice to meet you. Discord told we so much about you when I got home yesterday." Moonlight smiles happily at Fluttershy's comment.
"Oh that's nice I'm glad he told you about me." Moonlight's smile fades, and she looks away. "Although.."
"Although what?" Fluttershy asks confused and strangely nervous. Moonlight looks back at Fluttershy and shakes her head.
"Oh nothing I shouldn't say it." Fluttershy's happy smile disappears.
"Um... what do you mean?" Moonlight looks at the confused pegasus with a sympathetic look.
"Well it's just you say Discord told you all about me and..." Moonlight averts her gaze. "He didn't tell me anything about you."
"W-what?" Fluttershy whispers, Moonlight doesn't seem to hear her, Fluttershy looks down at the floor her long mane hides her face and her hooves, she clutches her chest as the pain from last night returns, she wipes a tear from her eye, she shakes her head and pushes away the feeling in her chest. She looks back up at Moonlight, who doesn't seem to have noticed Fluttershy's reaction, Fluttershy tries to give her a smile but she barely manages to not frown. "That's ok, I'm not really that interesting to talk about."
"Oh don't say that Fluttershy." Fluttershy brightens up at Moonlights very friendly response, the unicorns smile makes Fluttershy feel a bit better... until she keeps talking.
"I mean Discord was probably just so excited to have some pony want to be his friend who hasn't turned him to stone." Fluttershy's heart sank at her words, she opens her mouth to speak but stops when Moonlight's smile seems to get sweeter.
"Yeah Discord told me about the elements of harmony turning him to stone." Moonlight frowns. "Can you imagine being turned to stone just for being yourself, and being aware the whole time? How awful."
"Y-yeah... must have been." Fluttershy looks down at the floor, suddenly very interest in her hooves. hidden under her hair once more she puts a hoof to her chest, the terrible feeling in her chest nearly doubles as she closes her eyes and sighs. At least this feeling can't get any worse.... But Moonlight keeps talking.
"Oh and did you hear that the element of kindness, whatever her name is, was charged with befriending Discord." Fluttershy brightens up from the comment, she looks up from the floor and smiles, the feeling in her chest lessens some what.
"Yes that's right I-" Moonlight pouts as she interrupts Fluttershy, she doesn't even seem to notice that Fluttershy had begun to talk.
"How bad must that make Discord feel?" Fluttershy blinks in confusion unsure of what Moonlight means.
"W-what do you mean?" Fluttershy stammers out, her heart aching in fear of the response.
"I mean the element of kindness, the pony that embodies the very idea of being kind and friendly to others." Moonlight looks seriously at Fluttershy. "Had to be ordered to even try and be friends with Discord."
Fluttershy averts her gaze back to the floor, the feeling in her chest intensifies, tears begin to form in her eyes. Moonlight doesn't seem to notice as she continues talking.
"I mean come on she was ordered to be friends with Discord so the Princesses could use his powers, some element of kindness." Moonlight grunts in anger. "I mean she couldn't even be a fake friend well enough to stop him from betraying Equestria to-" Fluttershy slams her hooves down on the table.
"I'm sorry I have to go!" Moonlight flinches at the sudden outburst, Fluttershy quickly hops out of her seat and runs out the front door of the building, Moonlight can hear some soft sobs and she notices some tears fall on the floor. Discord zips over to the door, a tray of cupcakes in his talon and looks out the door.
"Fluttershy!" Discord calls out the door, but Fluttershy keeps running without turning back. Discord looks over at Moonlight who is still sitting at the booth, he floats over and stops right in front of her, he raises an eyebrow and his voice is full of concern. "What happened? Why did Fluttershy leave?" Moonlight smiles up at Discord.
"I have no idea. She just said she had some something to take care of and ran out." Moonlight grabs the tray of cupcakes from Discord, Discord doesn't notice her take the tray his attention is on the door.
"That's unlike her I should go check on her." Discord goes to leave, but he turns back toward the table. "You understand right?"
"Of course that's what friends are for." Moonlight says as she waves a dismissive hoof at him, Discord smiles at her.
"Thanks Moonlight you're awesome." Discord turns to leave once more, but he flinches and turns back once more. He points at a pink frosted cupcake. "Oh yeah, don't eat that one it's lemon flavored. I know you hate lemons."
"Thanks Discord you're so sweet." Moonlight and Discord share a smile. Discord snaps his fingers and disappears in a flash, Moonlight smiles sweetly at were he had been standing. She turns her attention to the cupcakes in front of her.
Moonlight's horn glows and the pink cupcake Discord had pointed too lifts into the air, she uses a hoof and removes the wrapping paper. Her smile gets even sweeter as she gazes at the fluffy yellow cupcake with pink frosting. She floats the cupcake up to her mouth and takes a bite, her smile remains through her puffed out cheeks, she turns her gaze back to where Discord had been standing.
"Mmm." Moonlight moans, her smile gets wider as she savors the terrible taste in her mouth.
Fluttershy sits on the couch in the living room of her cottage, the saddle bag that she had been carrying groceries with sits on the coffee table in front of her, although upset she had managed to put away the groceries. Fluttershy has her face buried in the locked saddle bag she was carrying earlier. She reaches toward the the bag on the table, after rummaging through the bag she pulls out a small key and quickly unlocks the bag she's holding. Fluttershy gazes in at all the tulle's of fabric she bought from the market. She sighs deeply and stashes the bag under the couch, she then looks over at the remaining saddle bag. Fluttershy reaches out a hoof to grab the bag, but she stops as her conversation with Moonlight replays in her head. Her eyes well up a little and she flops down on the couch burying her face in the couch pillow, she screams into the pillow... most ponies would call it a light whimper.
"Why do I feel this bad!?" Fluttershy shouts into her pillow, her anger subsides as she sighs deeply. She knew what Moonlight had said shouldn't have upset her, and they did, they had really upset her. Fluttershy sighs deeply, she didn't believe what Moonlight said, she really liked being friends with Discord it may have been a mission from the Princess but Fluttershy never thought of it that way. She did feel bad about turning Discord to stone, in fact she felt terrible, and everyday she hangs out with Discord just makes her regret her part in turning him to stone. What really bothered her about what Moonlight said was what Discord thought. Did he have the same thoughts, the familiar pain returned to her chest, did he think Fluttershy was only friends with him because of Celestia's orders, did he call her his best friend because she was his only friend, did this mean Moonlight was his new...
"NO SHE IS NOT!" Fluttershy screams as she bolts up from the pillow and slams her hooves onto the couch, she immediately covers her mouth with her hooves, her face turns beet red. She looks around the room embarrassed that somepony could have heard her. Fluttershy moves her hooves away from her mouth and looks down at them, a look of bewilderment on her face. Where did that come from? Fluttershy doesn't have time to ponder that thought as a knock on the door grabs her attention. She hops off the couch and runs over to the door, she flings it open and instinctively looks up, she frowns when she doesn't meet the gaze of the Draconequus that always shows up to brighten her mood. Fluttershy frowns as she lowers her gaze and comes face to face with Ponyville's resident mail pony. The mail pony smiles at Fluttershy oblivious to her disappointment.
"Good afternoon Fluttershy." Fluttershy smiles at the mail pony.
"Good afternoon Fed Ex." Fluttershy's smile drops and she raises an eyebrow at Fed Ex. "What brings you here so late?"
"I have..." Fed Ex rummages through his mail bag, after a minute he pulls out a letter the size of a folded up post it note. Fluttershy looks at the tiny letter in confusion. "A letter for ya, it was dropped off about an hour ago."
"An hour ago?" Fluttershy looks up from the letter and back at Fed Ex. "But the post office is closed shouldn't you have waited till tomorrow."
"Well Fluttershy I was still at the office, so I decided to deliver the letter before heading home." Fed Ex looks at her nervously. "I was not at home minding my own business when the sender showed up at the door and threatened to turn me into cotton candy if I didn't deliver this letter as soon as I could."
"Um..." Fluttershy blinks at Fed Ex in bewilderment, Fed Ex looks at her sheepishly.
"The sender demanded that I clarify that when I delivered the letter." Fluttershy continues staring at him in confusion, but she just shrugs at smiles at him.
"Thank you Fed Ex this was very kind of you." Fed Ex smiles and gives her a friendly nod.
"My pleasure." Fed Ex tips his hat and then turns around and begins walking down the road, Fluttershy waves goodbye and head back inside.
"Alright Discord." Fluttershy says happily, a huge smile on her face, she places a hoof on the seal of the envelope. "You can come out now." Fluttershy holds the letter away from herself and carefully open it, as soon as the flap is all the way open she drops the letter and covers her ears... after a minute she uncovers her ears and looks down at the envelope on the floor. She carefully picks it and looks inside, she sees nothing inside, she opens the tiny letter further and begins searching ever inch of it. She's so distracted she doesn't even notice that somepony is hovering right over her shoulder watching her search.
"Hey, whatcha looking for?" Discord asks into Fluttershy's ear, Fluttershy continues searching the envelope in vain.
"I'm looking for you Discord, I know this letter is from you, and you always pop out of them when you sends envelopes this small." Fluttershy gives a huff as she looks over the letter once more, Discord taps his chin with his talon.
"I do?" Fluttershy sighs and turns to look at Discord.
"Yes you do." Fluttershy rolls her eyes and looks back at the letter. "Now let me focus your not gonna... surprise... me... this..." Fluttershy turns back to look at Discord. "Time?"
"Surprise." Discord flashes her a toothy grin, Fluttershy gasps as a huge smile appears on her face. She flings herself at Discord wrapping her hooves around his neck hugging him tightly.
"Discord I'm so glad your here!" Fluttershy giggles happily as Discord wraps his arms around her. And not with Moonlight. Fluttershy stops giggling and her smile drops as the thought crosses her mind. It's true she was glad Discord was here, but she was even happier that he wasn't with Moonlight. Fluttershy's smile returns and she squeezes Discord a little harder, she felt guilty at the thought that Discord had chosen to be with her over Moonlight but at that moment she didn't care, she was just glad he was there. Her smile fades slightly as Discord stops the hug, he holds her under her fore hooves so their at eye level.
"Are you okay?" Fluttershy blushes at the level of concern in Discord's voice, she gazes at his eyes, the shining red of his eyes seems to float like rubies in a ocean of liquid gold.
"Y-yeah I'm ok." Fluttershy averts her gaze suddenly embarrassed, Discord raises an eyebrow at her, not fully believing what she said.
"Did Moonlight upset you?" Fluttershy's eyes widen as she returns her gaze to Discord.
"What? No, no, no!" Fluttershy flails her arms around, Discord can't help but chuckle at how adorable she is when she's flustered. Fluttershy stops flailing her limbs and averts her gaze once more. She didn't like what Moonlight had said, but she didn't want to ruin Discord's friendship with her. Then a thought suddenly struck her, she frowns at the thought, not because it's a bad thought but of how nervous she was about the answer. "It's just..."
"It's just what?" Discord asks raising an eyebrow at Fluttershy, she looks back up at him determination in her eyes.
"Is Moonlight really your friend?" After asking her question Fluttershy immediately loses her nerve and hangs her head in shame, Discord just blinks at her.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy fidgets around in his arms.
"Are you doing what you did at the gala again?" Discord's eyes widen in realization of what Fluttershy is asking him.
"What?! No!" Discord puts Fluttershy down on the couch so he can throw his hands up defensively, he wasn't actually offended by her question, it wasn't surprising he did try to make her jealous by having a fake friend before. But he didn't want Fluttershy to think he was still that insecure about their friendship. "Moonlight is genuinely my friend Fluttershy, I promise."
"Oh." Fluttershy blinks up at Discord, her heart sinks at the answer and she mentally frowns at herself because of it. Some part of her wanted it to be fake, but she didn't know why she wanted that awful thought to be real. She smiles up at Discord. "Sorry Discord I-I just had to be sure."
"It's okay." Discord smiles down at her. "I would've thought the same thing. Now is there anything else bothering you?"
"Well..." Fluttershy averts her gaze once more, the conversation with Moonlight plays over again in her mind, her eyes begin to water at the memory. Fluttershy flinches as she feels Discord's paw wipe the tears from her eye, she looks up at Discord, she stares into his ruby like eyes, he stares into her eyes his concern is obvious, when he speaks it's in a voice so tender it makes Fluttershy blush.
"You can tell me anything Fluttershy." Discord uses his talon to wipe the tears from her other eye. "You know that, Right?"
Discord flinches as tears begin streaming out of Fluttershy's eyes faster then he can wipe them, she closes her eyes and begins crying. Discord just stares at her unsure of what to do, he opens his mouth to speak,but he is interrupted by Fluttershy flinging her hooves around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry Discord! I'm so sorry!" Discord just blinks at as he stares forward more confused then he has ever been.
"W-what are sorry for Fluttershy." He tries to pull her off him so he can look her in the eyes but she won't budge.
"I'm sorry I had to be ordered to be your friend!" Fluttershy, starts sobbing into his shoulder once more, but she stops when she feels Discord start shaking. She blinks had what she said upset him, she didn't want to make him cry. Fluttershy's ears are suddenly filled with the sound of laughter, she pushes off of Discord so she can see his face. Discord has thrown his head back in laughter, Fluttershy just stares at him, tears have stopped forming in her eyes but her eyes and cheeks are still wet. Discord slowly lowers his head back down as his laughter subsides, he wipes a tear from his eye.
"Oh Fluttershy you are too funny sometimes." He uses his paw to wipe the tears from Fluttershy's eye and cheek, as he wipes her face Fluttershy just stares at him.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy blushes as Discord uses his talon to wipe the other side of her face, Discord just smiles at her.
"Fluttershy can I ask you a riddle?" Fluttershy blinks at him.
"I-I guess so." Discord grins at her.
"Who's purple, currently a princess, and listens to everything Celestia says?" Fluttershy just blinks at him and tilts her head to the side.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy asks unsure of where he was going with this, Discord nods happily.
"Excellent!" Discord claps his hands together. "Now are you ready for riddle number two?"
"I suppose." Fluttershy says still very confused.
"Now who was told to reform me?" Fluttershy points a hoof to herself, Discord smiles and then gestures with his talon. "And?"
"And..." Fluttershy thinks for a moment, before answering nervously. "My friends?"
"Bingo! Now onto our final quest-" Discord is suddenly interrupted by a pale yellow hoof covering his mouth.
"No more riddles please." Fluttershy looks at Discord with big pleading eyes. "Just tell me."
"Ok." Discord sighs heavily at being defeated. "My point is your friends listen to Princess Celestia, Twilight more then any of them right?"
"Yes."
"Well what was the first thing miss always obeys Princess Sunbutt said to me when I was released?" Discord chuckles as he thinks of the nickname.
"I think she... uh..." Fluttershy looks away she remember s what Twilight said she just can't repeat it.
"She threatened to turn me back to stone right?" Fluttershy nods a frown appearing on her face. "Now why would you obey Celestia's command but not Twilight."
"I..." Fluttershy stares into Discord's eyes again, but this time she notices how pretty they really are, she finishes her sentence in a distracted tone of voice. "Don't know."
"It's because Fluttershy." Discord smiles at her sweetly. "You didn't care about her orders. You saw an opportunity to help someone. Someone who didn't deserve a second chance, but you gave me one anyway despite what I'd done to you and your friends."
"Discord..." Fluttershy whispers in awe, Discord just continues smiling.
"You did something no pony would ever do, something no pony could ever do." Discord puts his talon to his chest. "You became my friend, my best friend." Discord reaches out and cups her cheek with his paw. "I know I've made some mistakes, but I want you to know that you and our friendship are the most important things in the whole world to me, so I don't want you to be sorry for making me the happiest Draconequus on the planet."
"D-Discord." Fluttershy stares at the spirit of chaos, her eyes begin to water once more and her mouth bends into a huge smile. Fluttershy throws her hooves around Discord once more and nuzzles her face on his neck. "What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you?"
"I don't know Fluttershy." Discord chuckles to himself as he returns her hug and pets the top of her head with his paw. "But it must have been pretty bad."
Fluttershy smiles brightly at her Draconequus friend sitting on the picnic blanket next to her, they are drinking from their tea cups and enjoying their cucumber sandwiches. She gazes up at the clear blue sky and just takes a second to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin.
"What a beautiful day." Fluttershy says sighing blissfully.
"It is." Discord nods, he turns his attention to Fluttershy. "But not nearly as beautiful as you."
"Oh..." Fluttershy blushes a deep shade of red and gazes at the ground. "T-thank you Discord."
"Your quite welcome my dear." Discord smiles brightly at his Pegasus friend. Fluttershy matches his gaze and smiles sweetly.
"Do you really think I'm pretty?" Fluttershy asks, she nervously rubs her forehooves together, Discord chuckles and reaches across the blanket and grabs her hooves with his hands, his smile is small and tender.
"Fluttershy I have been alive for thousands of years, I have seen and created some amazing things in my time. But out of all the places, ponies, and things I've seen, you my dear are by far the..." Fluttershy raises an eyebrow as the world seems to shimmer red for a second, but she doesn't focus on that as Discord continues after the strange pause. "Second most beautiful pony I've ever seen."
"Huh?" Fluttershy's eyes widen at this comment. Fluttershy didn't think too highly of herself most of the time and she certainly didn't think she was the most beautiful pony in the world, but for some reason hearing Discord say she wasn't made her heart sink. She suddenly becomes very curious. "W-who's the first?"
"Oh Fluttershy." Discord flashes her a sweet toothy smile. "Moonlight is of course."
"...oh..." Fluttershy's heart sinks even lower, she drops her hooves from Discord's grip and places them on her chest. She suddenly finds herself breathing a bit heavier, but what really surprises Fluttershy about her reaction to Discord's answer is that she is getting angry. Very angry. Fluttershy is snapped out of her thoughts by Discord getting closer to her and cupping her chin in his paw, she looks up into his tender gaze, the anger seeps out of her body as she gazes into his pools of gold.
"Fluttershy. Moonlight may be beautiful but theres only one pony I have ever wanted to ask the following question." Fluttershy's heart starts beating faster, she holds her breathe in as she waits anxiously for the question, she isn't quite sure why.
"Fluttershy will you be my special some-" The world seems to shimmer red again, Discord's tender gaze seems to lose it's sincerity. "Mare who holds the rings at my wedding?"
"What!?" Fluttershy shouts, she jolts up out of Discord's paw. Fluttershy immediately clamps her hooves over her mouth and her eyes open as wide as they can, her heart feels like it had just been ripped out, she can feel her eyes begin to tear up. She stares at the Draconequus sitting in front of her, she can feel the tears begin streaming down her face as he just stares at her obliviously, as if he doesn't notice her reaction. Fluttershy opens her mouth to speak, but the world sparkles once more, except this time the red shimmering doesn't go away.
Fluttershy sudden finds herself standing at an alter, she looks to her right as sees the other five elements of harmony all smiling and wearing matching red dresses, she looks down at herself, she wears the same dress as her friends but what surprises Fluttershy is that she's holding two rings in her right hoof.
"Fluttershy?" Fluttershy turns her head to the left and meets Discord's gaze. Her eyes widen, Discord is wearing a white tuxedo, but shes not paying attention to how handsome he looks in it, at least not much. Instead Fluttershy is staring at Moonlight who stands to the other side of Discord right next to Princess Celestia, Moonlight is wearing a long black silk wedding dress and thin black veil over her face, Fluttershy takes one moment out of her state of shock and heart break to notice that no pony is standing on Moonlight's side of the alter. "Uh Fluttershy?"
"Huh? Y-yes?" Fluttershy returns her gaze to Discord, he smiles at her.
"The rings please?" Fluttershy doesn't speak as she slowly nods and lifts her hoof toward Discord, he smiles and takes the rings from her and faces back toward Celestia and Moonlight. Fluttershy can feel her eyes welling up again, she puts her hooves on the sides of her head and shakes herself. Your friend is getting married be happy! She looks up at Discord and Moonlight at the alter through her blurry eyes, she can't focus on what their saying, she closes her eyes and shakes herself once more. Why do I feel this way when I see those to together!? Why does seeing Discord marrying her hurt me so much!? She opens her eyes and stares back at the alter, she watches as Discord moves Moonlight's veil out of her face. Her heart sinks as she watches Discord lean forward toward Moonlight's lips. Just before their lips touch Fluttershy suddenly leaps towards them and screams. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"STOP!" Fluttershy suddenly feels her blankets get flung from her body as she plummets out of bed, she lands on the floor with a loud thunk.
"Ooowww." Fluttershy groans as she rubs the top of her head as she stands up from the floor, she looks around at her pitch black room, she turns herself toward the window and opens the curtains letting the light from the moon pour in and illuminate her room. She sighs blissfully and puts a hoof to her chest. She has never been so happy that something was just a bad dream, her eyes suddenly pop open. That was a dream? She gazes down at the hoof that had been holding the rings. Everything had felt so real she can remember the feel of the dress on her body, the weight of the rings in her hoof, the tears on her face.
Fluttershy is suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as she hears a knock on her front door. Her face immediately brightens at the thought of who it could be, after all she only knows one pony who always shows up when she needs some cheering up. She rushes to the door, not even thinking it odd that Discord would knock on the door instead of just teleporting into her room. She has a wide grin on her face as she throws the front door open... her smile drops upon seeing the glowing pony on the other side of the door.
"Hello Fluttershy." Moonlight smiles, she tilts her head to the side and puts a hoof to her mouth as a quizzical expression crosses her face. "Is this a bad time?"
Fluttershy blinks at Moonlight, she turns her head and looks at her wall clock. She turns back to Moonlight and answers her. "It's midnight."
"Oh right!" Moonlight smacks her forehead with her hoof. "Equestrian's like to be asleep at this time."
"Equestrian's?" Fluttershy asks, but she shakes away her confusion, as she remembers that Discord told her that Moonlight had just moved to Equestria recently.
"Anyway Fluttershy I just wanted to come and apologize." Fluttershy raises an eyebrow at the pony in front of her. "I didn't know you were the element of kindness when I said those things this morning."
"Oh..." Fluttershy blinks at the pony in surprise. "I-It's okay."
"I just want you to know that I never would have said those things to you if I had known." Fluttershy doesn't know why but she doesn't like the way Moonlight emphasized that she wouldn't have said those things to her. Fluttershy begins to wonder if this mare is actually apologizing. Fluttershy mentally chastises herself for thinking something like that, she needs to be kind and believe in all ponies.
"Thank you Moonlight that's very nice of you." Fluttershy smiles at the pony in front of her. Fluttershy takes a good look at the pony in front of her, seeing her at night really shows how bizarre her appearance is, her skin really does glow like the moon, she shines even brighten in the dark, and her black starry mane, seems to blend perfectly with the night sky, Fluttershy can't tell where her hair ends and the night sky begins. It kinda makes her look bald. Fluttershy smiles, but immediately gasps and clamps her hooves over her mouth for thinking something so mean.
"Yes I thought it might be." Moonlight nods while smiling, Fluttershy returns her smile. The two mares stare awkwardly at each other for few minutes, after awhile Fluttershy decides to break the silence.
"So uh..." Fluttershy taps her hooves together. "Where did you live before-?" Moonlight puts a hoof into the air to silence her.
"Don't." Fluttershy stares at the cold expression on Moonlight's face. "I didn't come here to make friend's with you."
"Oh." Fluttershy blinks at the pony in front of her. "Well I just thought, sense we're both friends with Discord-"
"I only want to be friends with Discord." Moonlight interrupts coldly, Fluttershy stares at Moonlight unable to respond. Fluttershy only becomes more confused as Moonlight suddenly smiles sweetly at her. "Of course that's just for right now, I've never had any friends before but after Discord and I get closer I might try to make more."
"Oh you've never had any friends before? Just like-" Fluttershy is interrupted once more.
"Yep just like Discord." Moonlight sighs blissfully. "Just another thing me and him have in common."
"Right." Fluttershy says her face turned toward the floor and her heart sinking slightly. Moonlight glances at Fluttershy and smirks.
"Of course out of respect for Discord." Moonlight looks bored as she stares at her hoof like shes inspecting a hooficure. "I'll answer one of your questions and I'll even say something a normal friend would say."
"Um..." Fluttershy tilts her head unsure of how to respond to such an odd statement. "O-okay."
"Alright you may ask your question." Moonlight gestures her hoof toward Fluttershy indicating her to speak.
"Well..." Fluttershy puts a hoof to her chin and takes a minute to think about what she doesn't know about Moonlight. A question pops into Fluttershy's mind and she can't stop herself from asking it. "How do you feel about Discord?"
Moonlight flinches taken back by the question, but she smirks as if she had been excepting it. She puts her hoof back down on the ground and turns her full attention to Fluttershy. Fluttershy taps her fore hooves together anxiously.
"I love him." Fluttershy's face turns beat red, and both her heart and her jaw drop to the floor.
"I've loved him since the first time I saw him." Moonlight answers coldly.
"You mean a few days ago?" Fluttershy curses herself for not being able to control her mouth.
"Sure." Moonlight narrows her eyes, that combined with her smirk makes her look very sinister. "Let's go with that."
"What do you mean by-" Fluttershy begins.
"Well I gotta go." Moonlight abruptly turns and begins walking away, Fluttershy opens her mouth to speak, but she can't before Moonlight suddenly turns around. "Oh right the friendly thing I was suppose to say."
"Oh Moonlight that's okay, you don't have to." Fluttershy says waving her hoof.
"No Fluttershy I want to." Moonlight smiles sweetly, but it makes Fluttershy uncomfortable.
"O-okay then." Fluttershy stammers. Moonlight tilts her head and her smile gets bigger.
"I wish all your dreams come true." Fluttershy's eyes pop open as wide as they can, her mouth drops open. She just stares at Moonlight, whose sweet smile as been joined by a sinister look in her eyes. Fluttershy's door is enveloped in a familiar red shimmering light, just before Fluttershy's view of Moonlight is completely gone, she swears that Moonlight's sweet smile had turned sinister.
Fluttershy continues staring at the door for a few minutes, she let's her mind wander. She thinks of the dream she had just before Moonlight showed up, and about Moonlight's answer to her question. At that moment Fluttershy had the answer to her own question, the one that had been in the back of her mind sense the wedding she had dreamed about. Tears enter her eyes, and she slaps herself in the face for taking so long to figure out why seeing Discord with Moonlight hurt so much. She hangs her had solemnly as she makes her way back to her room. Once back in her bed she pulls the covers up over her face, she closes her eyes and let's some tears out.
Fluttershy seems to only be getting more and more confused by Discord's new friend, two weeks ago Moonlight had said she didn't want to make friends, yet the morning after her night time visit Fluttershy saw her and Discord playing with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. The day after that she helped Applejack paint the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, with her magic she was able to get anything too high for the apple family. She asked Rarity to make her a dress and much to Rarity's delight Moonlight had given her complete creative control, Rarity was so happy that she had invited Moonlight to the their weekly visit to the spa, Fluttershy had never felt like a third wheel at the spa before. The only one of Fluttershy's friends Moonlight hadn't befriended yet was Twilight and Fluttershy just assumed that was because Twilight had left town the morning after Moonlight's visit.
Right now Fluttershy was sitting at a table outside the Ponyville Cafe alongside Rarity and Applejack, but her attention was not on her dear friends sitting next to her. Instead Fluttershy found herself scowling at a group of three ponies and a Draconequus snickering to themselves as they hide behind a bush and wait for the Mayor Mare to walk into their trap.
"Fluttershy?" Applejack voice enters Fluttershy's ear but she doesn't seem to hear it. Fluttershy's scowl intenfies as the scheming ponies trap is sprung and they all begin laughing at the newly airborne Mayor. Fluttershy begins grinding her teeth as Discord drapes his talon over Moonlight's shoulder as he holds his side.
"Fluttershy?" Rarity calls out to her friend, but again Fluttershy pays her friend no mind. Fluttershy had realized her feelings for Discord the night Moonlight came to visit, it took her a bit longer to realize that she was jealous of Moonlight's friendship with Discord. She could do things with Discord that Fluttershy couldn't, Fluttershy didn't know how to prank ponies, and she didn't really want to. The talks the two of them had about magic just made Fluttershy's head hurt, and Moonlight seemed to know everything as she could talk to Discord about anything, history, magic, she even knew a lot about plants and animals. They really did have a lot in common, and Fluttershy did not like that at all.
"Fluttershy!?" Rarity and Applejack nearly shout at their friend, but Fluttershy is still off in her own little world. Rarity sighs in defeat and turns her attention back to the farmer sitting next to her.
"It's no use Darling she's in full jealous mode." Rarity says as she stirs her tea slightly, Applejack groans.
"Really? Again?" Applejack puts her face in her hooves, and sighs heavily.
"I'm afraid so." Rarity turns back to her disgruntled friend. "Third time this week."
"Shouldn't she just talk to Discord about what's bothering her?" Applejack says, she moves her hooves off her face and places them back on the table, Rarity shakes her head.All of Fluttershy's friends had picked up on Fluttershy's behavior over the last two weeks and had immediately figured out what it meant after all Fluttershy was not being very subtle. Her friends knew she was jealous, and they all understood after all Fluttershy is Discord's best friend and now he's spending a lot of time with a new friend, her friends believe she just misses how things use to be.
"She doesn't want to, she's worried that telling Discord that she's jealous of Moonlight will ruin their friendship, Moonlight and Discords and Fluttershy's and Discords." Rarity looks back at Applejack.
"Ya got a point there." Applejack looks past Rarity toward Fluttershy. "I just hope she gets back to normal soon."
"Unfortunately that won't happen until her and Moonlight start getting along, or if Moonlight leaves town." Rarity says, she slightly chuckles to herself as Fluttershy smiles at the last part of her sentence.
"Why do you suppose Fluttershy is jealous anyway?" Applejack asks raising an eyebrow, hoping that her more romantic friend can shed some light on the situation.
"Well it would be unladylike of me to reveal Fluttershy's true reasons." Rarity says dramatically putting a hoof to her chest for emphasis, Applejack just rolls her eyes. "I'll just say that I see a triangle forming here."
"A triangle?" Applejack raises an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
"You'll understand when your older darling." Rarity giggles to herself, Applejack glares at her friend.
"Your a year younger then me!" Rarity starts laughing at her friend, but before either can speak again the third pony in their group speaks.
"Hey Discord!" Fluttershy shouts happily, well as close to shouting as Fluttershy can get. Rarity smiles at her yellow pegasus friend's over excited reaction to Discord's approach. Applejack watches as Discord, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie approach the table she notices that their group is short one.
"Hey y'all where'd that glowin' girl go?" Applejack asks her eyes searching for the pony shes talking about. The three ponies... two ponies and one draconequus sit down at the table, Discord transforms his chair into a bizarre throne that seemed to be made out of iron swords, he doesn't seem to notice that Applejack asked him a question as he focuses his attention and Fluttershy, the two begin having a conversation about their weekly tea party tomorrow. Lucky for Applejack Rainbow Dash decides to answer the question.
"Moonlight said she needs somepony to talk too." Rainbow Dash says as she waves over the waiter, Rarity raises an eyebrow.
"Somepony to talk too? Who does she know other then the six of us?" Rarity asks gesturing to the ponies sitting at the table.
"We don't know the meanie wouldn't tell us who it was." Pinkie Pie says while pouting, she smiles when the waiter brings over a tray with two cups, one is chocolate milk (with whipped cream) for Pinkie Pie, the second is a glass of root beer for Rainbow Dash.
"Maybe Discord knows?" Applejack asks putting a hoof to her chin and turning toward the Draconequus in question, who is busy literally spinning a yarn for Fluttershy.Rainbow Dash catches Applejack's attention with a dismissive wave of her hoof.
"Nah he doesn't know either." Rainbow Dash says nonchalantly before taking a sip of her soda.
"Oh well it's Moonlight's business, I'm sure she'd tell us if it was something important." Rarity says matching Rainbow Dash's dismissive wave, as her friends nod in agreement Rarity turns and looks at Fluttershy and Discord, whose chairs have moved closer to each other they're smiling and laughing about the story Discord just finished. Rarity smiles happily at her friends. "I'm don't think Moonlight has much of a chance here."
Ponyville Train Station
"Thanks again Iron Sprocket." Twilight says as she steps off the friendship express, the personal train of the elements of harmony, the engine car is iron gray and copper, matching the conductor and his wife's colors, it has six cars attached to the engine. the first houses a library and is purple with large metal wings attached to it, the second is white with purple gems painted on it which holds a dining room, the third is blue with a rainbow roof it holds an arcade it also has large metal wings attached, the fourth is orange and is decorated like a barn this one is where the sleeping area is, the fifth is yellow with a pink roof and yellow metal wings which houses a green house and is perfect for animals, the last car is pure pink and is covered in paintings of balloons the inside of this car is much larger on the inside and has a chocolate fountain and a ball pit along with lots of party supplies.
"It's my pleasure your highness." A iron gray stallion with chrome hair and dark blue eyes says as he steps out of the engine car and dusts off his striped conductors hat. "It is my job after all."
"Well still thank you anyway, if it wasn't for you and Copper Bolt's train I wouldn't have been back until tomorrow." Twilight smiles at the conductor pony.
"Well I got to head back to Canterlot but give me a holler whenever any of you need a lift." Iron Sprocket and Twilight wave at each other once more as he boards the train once more. Twilight turns to walk into Ponyville as the train begins to move, she yelps in surprise as she is suddenly face to face with a bizarre glowing white pony, with a equally bizarre starry black mane, and piercing red eyes. Twilight is immediately able to tell that this is Moonlight, Discord's new friend that Fluttershy told her about in a letter, although Twilight couldn't tell if she was a mean friend stealing mare just yet, Twilight puts a hoof to her chin still a bit confused as to why Fluttershy had said that in her letter.
"Um hello Moonlight." Twilight says a bit nervously, Moonlight blinks slightly taken aback by Twilight already knowing who she is, Twilight notices her surprise and decides to explain. "Oh um Fluttershy sent me letter telling me about you."
"Oh." Moonlight forces a smile. "How nice of her."
"So... um... whats up?" Twilight asks, shes a bit surprised anypony is here, not even her friends knew she was getting back in town today, so she was confused as to why Moonlight was at the train station, as far as Twilight knew no trains were scheduled to come or go today.
"Oh I just wanted to talk to you a minute." Moonlight says her forced smile becoming more genuine, Twilight blinks in confusion, Moonlight was here to see her, but how did she know she was gonna be here. Twilight decides not to ask for now.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Twilight asks smiling at the strange pony.
"I just wanted to say thank you." Moonlight bows her head as she thanks Twilight, Twilight just blinks in confusion.
"Thank me for what?" Twilight asks raising an eyebrow.
"For defeating Tirek the way you did." Twilight blinks in confusion. "With the power of the four alicorn princesses who could have killed him."
"Wha?" Twilight's eyes widen, she had thought prepares she could have destroyed Tirek back when they fought, but she hadn't told anypony.
"But you chose to sacrifice your power for Discord... and the rest of your friends." Moonlight says proudly, she smiles sheepishly at the end of her sentence.
"Oh well theres no need to thank me." Twilight says rubbing the back of her neck.
"Oh yes there is your highness, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be friends with Discord right now." Moonlight gives Twilight one of the sweetest smiles the alicorn as ever seen. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be here right now."
"Y-your w-welcome." Twilight stammers out in confusion, Moonlight nods happily as she turns to walk away. Twilight watches the unicorn disappear around the corner, suddenly very curious Twilight teleports to the corner and looks in the direction Moonlight was walking, but before she can ask Moonlight any questions she notices that Moonlight isn't there, the street is completely empty. Twilight looks around for the pony but can't find her anywhere, she scartches her head. Twilight puts a hoof to her chin thinking about the last thing Moonlight had said, If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be here right now.
"Why doesn't that sound right?" Twilight ponders out loud as she begins walking toward her castle.
Fluttershy sits on a picnic blanket in the front yard of her house, Discord has just arrived and is sitting across from her, he snaps his fingers making a couple trays of snacks appear. He snaps once more and a pitcher of tea appears on the blanket as well. The two look to the left and right nervously, after a few quick glances they sigh contentedly. Discord opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by a bright flash of light appearing in front of him, after it fades him and Fluttershy stare at the floating letter with the royal seal in front of them.
"UGH!" They both groan in frustration and fall backwards onto the ground, Discord shoots right back up and grips the letter in his talon.
"What is it this time!?" Discord asks angrily as he rips the seal off the letter and begins quickly reading it.
"Probably some disaster." Fluttershy pouts as she looks off into the distance as Discord reads his letter, she gazes at the beautiful trees, their leaves have changed colors for the fall. She thought about the last few weeks, her and Discord hadn't had anytime together for awhile now, Fluttershy was so busy with a lot of new animals that had been put in her care, she was caring for them and finding them new homes, she had to find them all a home before winter came so she had to focus all her time on them. Discord had been busy working with Celestia, working on construction projects, entertaining foreign leaders, and fixing damage caused by storms and monsters. It started to seem like the only time they were going to have alone was their weekly Tuesday tea, but that didn't work out so well. This was the fifth week in a row that their tea had been interrupted, first it was a hurricane forming off the coast of Manehatten Discord had gone to stop it, next it was a surprise earthquake in Saddle Arabia again Discord had to prevent it from doing to much damage and repair the damage it did do. Next it was Fluttershy's turn to miss tea as her and the elements were called to deal with a problem in Appaloosa, although the disagreement between the settler ponies and buffalo was petty and disappeared over night. And last week it was back to Discord having to leave as he had to go fix a rain storm in Canterlot that had turned into an out of season hail storm, and this week...
"Well that's not good." Discord says seriously, as he looks up from the letter, Fluttershy looks away from the trees and stares into Discord's eyes.
"You have to go?" Fluttershy asks sadly, although she surprised herself with that question, for one second she had been selfish she wanted Discord to stay with her more then she wanted him to go help ponies. At least she did until he spoke again.
"Yeah." Discord stands up from the blanket. "The Cloudsdale weather team lost control of a scheduled tornado and now it's heading toward the city."
"Oh my Celestia! My Parents! you have to help them!" Fluttershy pauses for a moment as something occurs to her. "And my brother he needs your help too."
"Don't worry my dear I'm heading over now." Discord scratches his chin with his paw. "Dashie is already on her way there, I'll beat her there but I might need her help with this one."
"You will?" Fluttershy tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "Can't you just snap your fingers and make it go away?"
"I hope it's that easy this time." Discord says under his breathe as he raises his talon into the air, before Fluttershy can ask what he means by that, Discord snaps his talon and vanishes into thin air.
"Oh Discord." Fluttershy sighs happily and shakes her head, while she didn't always like it when Discord kept her out of the loop, she had to admit that it was a kinda cute quirk of his. She begins folding up the picnic blanket, as she does so the trays of snacks and pitcher of tea vanish into thin air. Once she has the blanket all folded up she reaches down and pick's it up, but before she can begin heading toward a voice catches her ear.
"Oh no what happened to your tea?" Fluttershy turns to look at the voice, she subconsciously narrows her eyes when she realizes it's Moonlight who had spoken. Moonlight is walking toward Fluttershy a look of mock sympathy on her face. "Did Discord stand you up?"
"What!?" Fluttershy gasps as if she just heard the most unbelievable thing in the world. "No he had some important business to take care of."
"And what was that?" Moonlight smirks at Fluttershy. "Tornado perhaps?"
"Uh..." Fluttershy blinks in confusion at the mare's perfect guess. "Yes exactly... how did you know?"
"Kind of funny how these disasters keep ruining your time together huh?" Moonlight says nonchalantly as she investigates a nearby rose bush.
"It is unfortunate but I'm proud of Discord for looking out for Equestria." Fluttershy smiles sweetly as she talks, she isn't going to let Moonlight bother her like she usually does.
"Yeah it sure looks like that's what he's doing isn't it." Moonlight says not taking her eyes off the rose bushes, Fluttershy raises an eyebrow at Moonlight.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asks as she places the blanket down on her front porch, she remains calm.
"Well it's just that Discord runs off all day to fix these disasters, but can't he just snap his fingers and fix everything?" Moonlight turns to look at Fluttershy a smug look on her face. "Since he doesn't, doesn't it make you think he might be-"
"Go away." Moonlight blinks in surprise at Fluttershy's sudden demand.
"I'm sorry did I say something wr-" Moonlight begins speaking but is cut off again.
"I'm asking you nicely to leave." Fluttershy glares at Moonlight. "I know what your trying to do here Moonlight and it's not going to work so please leave."
"Hmm." Moonlight looks at Fluttershy, her eyes showing a hint of respect. "Very well, have a nice day ."
"Have a nice day." Fluttershy says her smile is sweet but her tone is not genuine. She watches Moonlight start to walk away, a bird suddenly takes flight drawing Fluttershy's attention for a second, when she turns back to Moonlight the glowing unicorn is no where in sight.
Shortly At SugarCube Corner
"I'm going to find out what she is." Fluttershy states nervously, she just had this feeling that Moonlight wasn't a normal pony and not just because her body glows and her mane looks like the night sky. But she has this weird air about her that makes Fluttershy uncomfortable, and she remembers seeing Moonlight's red magic glow right before her dreams change into that reoccurring nightmare about Discord and Moonlight getting married. Fluttershy just has this feeling that Moonlight is trying to drive a wedge between her and Discord, Fluttershy knows Moonlight is in love with Discord but Moonlight doesn't know Fluttershy is... very close to Discord... does she?
"I know it's crazy but I can''t help thinking that Moonlight is responsible for these disasters somehow, I love all my friends but I felt like you were the only one who would believe me and help me find out what she is. So what do you say?" Fluttershy smiles nervously at the pony across the table from her. Her fellow element of harmony puts a hoof to her chin and thinks deeply for a moment, after a minute a huge smile appears on the pink pony's face.
"Of course I'll help you Flutters what are friends for?!" Pinkie Pie shouts at the top of her lungs as she jumps into the air and lands with a thud on the table.
"So you believe me about Moonlight not being a normal pony?" Fluttershy asks with a nervous smile, Pinkie Pie's face becomes more serious as she looks down at Fluttershy from her spot on the table.
"Of course she's not normal Fluttershy, She challenged me to a cupcake eating contest the other day and she almost beat me, she can really eat y'know? But the weirdest part was after the contest she smiled at me and said, 'I am impressed by your glutenny.' Now what does that even mean?" Pinkie Pie has her hoof on her chin as she speaks as if she is trying to think of an answer to her own question.
"Glutenny?" Fluttershy puts a hoof to her chin and thinks for a moment, her eyes brighten up as she realizes something. "Do you mean gluttony?"
"Yeah that's what she said!" Pinkie Pie shouts happily jumping up and down on the table.
"So how do we find out what she is?" Fluttershy asks putting a hoof to her lip, she looks up when Pinkie Pie slams a notepad down on the table.
"One theory at a time." Pinkie Pie says while taking a pink glitter pencil out of her hair.
Theory One: Changeling
Two pink haired ponies poke their heads up from behind the apple family cart, Big Mac is manning the cart in the town-square, if he notices the two ponies using his cart for camouflage he doesn't let them know. The two ponies are spying on a glowing white unicorn purchasing cupcakes from Sugar-Cube Corner.
"So Octavia how's your lust for Vinyl doing?" Octavia does a spit take in response to Moonlight's question, Octavia turns to face Moonlight her face beet red. Pinkie Pie puts down her noise amplifying ear piece, she turns to Fluttershy and gives her a target acquired hoof gesture.
"So how do we test if she's a changeling?" Pinkie Pie whispers into Fluttershy's ear, which isn't really a whisper at all. Fluttershy puts a hoof to her chin.
"Actually Pinkie Pie I don't think she's a changeling." Pinkie Pie raises an eyebrow at Fluttershy.
"But this was your idea." Pinkie Pie whispers at Fluttershy while pointing an accusing hoof at her.
"Well it's just that changelings can't control the weather, or mess with dreams like she can, and they don't eat food like she does." Fluttershy gestures at Moonlight. " And Twilight said that when she saw Chrysalis when she was disguised as Cadence that her magic was still the changeling green not red like-"
"Hey what are you doing!?" Fluttershy's head snaps up at the sound of Moonlight's voice, she looks over toward Sugar-Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie is floating in mid air surrounded by a glowing red aura, Moonlight is glaring up at the party pony a pink cupcake is stuck in her mane.
"Uuuhhh... making sure your magic isn't green." Pinkie Pie smiles sheepishly down at Moonlight, who just scoffs in annoyance, without another word the magic around Pinkie Pie forms into a glowing slingshot, which launches Pinkie Pie through the sky, Pinkie Pie throws her hooves in the air and yells, woo. Fluttershy screams in panic and flies off after her friend, Moonlight just watches the pink haired ponies fly into the distance, a smirk crosses her face as she levitates the cupcake out of her hair.
"And I thought she wasn't going to let her envy get to her anymore."
Theory One: Changeling - Negative
Theory Two:Ghost
"I'm quite surprised perfect examples of greed exist here in Ponyville." Moonlight says curiously to the two twin unicorns wearing red and white striped clothes.
"Uh.. thanks?" The Flim Flam Brothers say in unison, unaware that Moonlight isn't the only pony that can hear them.
"You really think she could be a ghost?" Fluttershy asks Pinkie Pie from her hiding place in alley their spying on Moonlight from, Pinkie Pie nods.
"Yeppers, it makes sense, she glows just like ghosts do in the movies, ghosts can effect the weather (I think), and they can give you nightmares." Pinkie Pie gestures with her entire body to clarify each ability. Fluttershy nods in understanding.
"Okay I guess that makes sense." Fluttershy tilts her head in confusion. "But how do we prove it?"
"With this!" Pinkie Pie shouts as she pulls a strange box out of her hair, Fluttershy raises an eyebrow at her friend.
"What is that?" Fluttershy asks very confused, Pinkie Pie just smiles.
"It's called a ghost trap, usually I have my proton pack too but just in case she's not a ghost I don't want to roast her." Pinkie Pie says with a shrug, and a smile.
"Well let's not rule anything out."Fluttershy gasps at herself, she bonks her head with her hoof trying to knock the negative thoughts out of her head. Pinkie Pie doesn't seem to notice her friends inner battle, she runs out into the street and stops right in front of a now grumpy looking Moonlight.
"Hello Pinkie Pie what do you want?" Moonlight asks in a monotone, Pinkie Pie gives her a wide smile and holds out her ghost trap.
"Check this out." Pinkie Pie says as the ghost trap pops open and a swirling vortex appears inside, Moonlight just raises an eyebrow as she stares into the machine. After an awkward moment Moonlight looks away from the vortex and up at Pinkie Pie.
"And what is this exactly?" Moonlight asks a slight edge to her voice.
"Uh... just checking something." Pinkie Pie laughs nervously to try and make the situation less awkward, when that doesn't work, she gets a better idea. Run.
"What are you check-" Moonlight is cut off by Pinkie Pie flinging the machine at her face, the box snaps shut right on Moonlights nose. She cries out in pain and begins thrashing her head around to dislodge the machine from her body. Pinkie Pie takes the distraction and runs off back down the alley Fluttershy is hiding in, as soon as Pinkie Pie vanishes from sight Moonlight stops thrashing her head around, her face falls from a panicked look to one of boredom. Pinkie Pie's machine glows red before being torn in half. Moonlights huffs as she walks away. "Those two are starting to make me wrathful."
Theory Two: Ghost - Negative
Theory Three: Vampire
"Pinkie, Moonlight is not a vampire." Fluttershy states from their current hiding spot in a tree, Fluttershy looks down at Moonlight talking to Applejack.
"I really admire how much pride you have Applejack it's refreshing to see." Moonlight says with a smile from her spot on top of a barrel, the farm pony smiles back at the glowing unicorn.
"Well thank ya Moonlight that's awful nice of ya to say." Applejack says as she finishes loading the last of the apples up on the cart.
"How do you know, I think Dracula could control the weather or something like that." Pinkie Pie says matter-o-factly, Fluttershy just points up at the sky.
"Because the sun is out Pinkie, if she was a vampire she'd be burning up." Pinkie Pie looks nervously at Fluttershy.
"Well what if vampires don't burn up in the sun what if that's why she's glowing?" Pinkie Pie says defensively, Fluttershy narrows her eyes at Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Pie that's not how vampires work, and if Rainbow Dash was here she'd say that was dumb." Pinkie Pie looks down at the ground ashamed, Fluttershy blinks as if she just remembered something. "Besides she glows at night to."
"Look I know it's a long shot but I really think we should throw this garlic at her and see what happens." Pinkie Pie says hopefully while holding up a bag of garlic marked ammo. Fluttershy is about to protest but the idea of Moonlight stinking like garlic all day makes her smile. Pinkie Pie takes Fluttershy's smile as a sign that she can go ahead... although neither of them thought for a second that throwing things at a unicorn might back fire.
It did.
Theory Three: Vampire - Negative
Theory Eight: Nightmare or Tenebris
Due to copy right laws we can not legally show you the events around this theory, all you need to know is that the answer is no.
Theory Eight: Nightmare or Tenebris - Negative
Theory Ten: Give Up And Ask Twilight
"You guys have been doing what?" Twilight asks her pinked haired friends as she looks up from her book. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stand in the library of Twilight's castle, Twilight sits in a comfy reading chair while Spike sits in the corner reading a comic book.
"We followed Moonlight around all day trying to find out what exactly she is and Pinkie Pie kept throwing stuff at her." Fluttershy says while hanging her head sadly and gesturing toward her fellow pink haired pony. Twilight sighs heavily and shakes her head.
"Look guys I know Moonlight looks different then other ponies and she's a bit weird, I mean she was here earlier today and she said she was glad that Spike was acting sloth today. I mean who talks like that." The three elements of harmony in the room share a puzzled look before Twilight continues. "But you guys Moonlight is just a normal pony, no pony can effect dreams except Princess Luna, and only Discord can control the weather to the effect it has been."
"But Discord would never-" Fluttershy begins but Twilight cuts her off with a raised hoof.
"I'm not saying he did Fluttershy." Twilight smiles at her friends."What I am saying is that all these things you think she's done are just freak accidents that she's taking credit for to get under your skin, that's just what friends do we all bug each other some times right?"
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy smile at each other and nod, Fluttershy turns back to Twilight. "You're right Twilight we were just being silly thanks for listening."
"Anytime guys ." Twilight smiles and waves as her friends head out the door, once her friends are out the door Twilight's smile fades. She stares out the window, her friends couldn't feel it but ever since she had become an Alicorn she had a stronger sense of the energy of the planet and something was going on, she knew it wasn't Moonlight, she didn't possess the power needed to influence the environment like this, and she knows Discord didn't do it. But who or what could be effecting the environment?
I'll need to ask Discord about this when he gets back. she stares out the window in the direction of Cloudsdale. I wonder how he's handling that tornado.
Outside Of Cloudsdale
"Can't you stabilize this thing!?" Rainbow Dash shouts over the howling wind.
"It's about as stable as it's going to get!" Discord shouts back at the rainbow pony, his hands are glowing with golden magic energy and pointed at a large tornado that is nearly half a mile across, the tornado is also surrounded in the same magic Discord has on his hands, the wind beats against the magic as the tornado yearns to move closer to Cloudsdale but can't. Discord growls as a small ball of blue magic appears in the center of each hand, he smiles triumphantly as a similar ball of energy forms in the tornado, he turns his head to look at Rainbow Dash.
"You all set?" Rainbow Dash asks expectantly, Discord smiles at her, which makes her smile too.
"Yep have at it Dashie!" Discord shouts as he refocuses his attention on the tornado, without another word Rainbow Dash... dashes into the tornado, pushing her wings as hard as she can, she makes her way to the ball of blue energy in the center of the tornado once there she curls her body into a ball and releases all her energy in one massive Buccaneer Blitz, Discord smiles as the light from Rainbow's signature move reacts with his magic causing the tornado to disappear.The magic from Discords hands fades away as Rainbow Dash flies back to meet him.
"Dang that was crazy." Rainbow sighs heavily as she wipes the sweat from her forehead, Discord chuckles at the sight.
"You did good Dashie could've used you when I dealt with that hurriccane a couple weeks ago." Discord says with a joking smirk, this time Rainbow Dash chuckles.
"No way man I'll leave weather fighting to you from now on." The two share a laugh at this. They don't speak for a while after that Rainbow Dash grabs a nice cloud to lay on while Discord begins cleaning up the mess the tornado made, he isn't sure what the area lookecd like before the tornado hit so he just replaces the dirt and fixes the trees. Awhen his work is almost done Rainbow Dash asks him a question. "Did you cause this thing?"
"What?" Discord asks confused, not so much by the question, he figured ponies would start blaming the guy who could control the weather when the weather started acting weird, he was just confused why it was Rainbow Dash of all ponies to ask him first. Rainbow decides to answer his question before he can speak again.
"Were you just bored? Cause normally you just snap your fingers and make the problems go away." Rainbow Dash asks as she flips upside down on her cloud.
"No Dashie I didn't cause this, if I had the tornado would've been turqoiuse and up side down and full of sharks or something stupid like that." Discord puts a talon to his chin. "No something else caused this... and those other disasters too."
"What could be doing-" Suddenly a voice cuts through the air and grabs their attention.
"Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Das's face lights up, without a word to Discord she zooms off to hug the pony that had just shouted, with his keen eyes Discord can see a dark grey pegasus with very long blue hair hugging Rainbow Dash, she then immediately starts fussing over some sticks in the rainbow pony's mane. From his conversations with Fluttershy Discord dedoses that the pegasus must be Rainbow Dash's mother Morning Dew., he decides to be nice for once and leaves them alone so they can talk.
Discord stares down at where the tornado had once been, Something strange is going on here, that tornado wasn't naturtal none of these disasters have been. Discord scracthes his head with a claw from his paw. Normally I can just poof storms away but not these onres if it wasn't for Rainbow Dash it would've taken me all day to disenchant that twister. Discord rubs his head with both hands in frustration. AGH! Why can't I sense any magical influence on these storms!? I'm Discord lord of chaos I'm so intuned to the magic of the world that it hurts. So why can't I tell whose causing these. Discord sighs heavily as his arms drop to his side, he stares straight down at he ground, he sighs once more.
A flash of light appears in the middle of Ponyville, it quickly fades revealing Discord, he puts on a smile and raises his dragon leg to get walking, but before he can he notices one of the ponies he was looking for.
"Ah! My oh Celestia! Moonlight what happened to you!?" Discord shouts as he zips over to his friend, he stares at her with wide eyes. The glowing mare has cupcake crumbs in her hair, spaghetti tangled in her tail, a red mark on her nose (Discord can tell it's from a ghost trap), and... Discord sniffs the air, she reeks of garlic. Moonlight just looks bored as Discord examines her.
"I had a few run in's with some very annoying ponies." Moonlight says her irritation clear in her voice.
"Who would do such a thing?" Discord asks as he snaps his fingers, Moonlight flashes for a second as Discord's magic cleans her.
"That was us." Discord and Moonlight turn to look at the voice, Discord's eyes widen as he sees Fluttershy was the one who spoke. He just gawks at her as she and Pinkie Pie walk up to them.
"Fluttershy why would you do this to Moonlight?" Discord asks, his eyebrow detaches from his head so it can raise higher. Fluttershy stares at her feet and shuffles them nervously, she doesn't want to tell Discord the real reason why her and Pinkie have been messing with Moonlight all day. She decides to lie, she looks back up at Discord hoping that he didn't notice her strange reaction to his question. No pony thought she was acting strange, she is Fluttershy after all.
"Umm... Pinkie Pie was helping me practice...." Fluttershy smiles sheepishly up at Discord. "My pranking."
"Huh?" Pinkie Pie looks over at Fluttershy, confused by her friends lie. Moonlight looks at Fluttershy skeptically, but says nothing, Discord seems to buy it though.
"Really Fluttershy!?" Discord places his hands on her shoulders and brings his face very close to hers, which causes her to blush. "Does that mean you'll join me and Moonlight when we go pranking?"
"Um..." Fluttershy's smile becomes more nervous. "I've been thinking about it."
"Woo!" Discord releases Fluttershy and leaps into the and starts cheering, but after a moment he suddenly stops and lands back on the ground. "Oh right we can't."
"Huh?" Both pink haired mares say at once. Discord sighs heavily and rubs the back of his neck.
"Well not for a few days anyway." Discord smiles at his friends. "I got some important business to take care of, I'll be gone a few days, possibly a little over a week."
"What!?" Fluttershy gasps, she throws her hooves over her mouth like she just heard the worst news ever. Moonlight just smiles. " But if your gone that long that means you'll miss-"
"Don't worry my dear." Discord cups her cheek in his paw, Fluttershy sees Moonlight scowling at her, which only makes Fluttershy smile as she leans her head into Discord's palm. "I'll be back in time for hearths warming."
"You promise?" Fluttershy asks her eyes begin watering. Discord chuckles at her.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly." Discord pulls a cupcake out of Fluttershy's ear and smashes it into his eye. "Stuck a cupcake in my eye."
"Okay." Fluttershy giggles as she wipes her eyes.
"Where you going anyway?" Pinkie Pie asks with a raised hoof, Discord turns a toothy grin in her direction.
"I'm glad you asked Pinkie because..." Discord raise his talon into the air. "I'm not telling!"
"Hey!" Pinkie Pie dives at Discord, but he's already vanished, she lands with a thump on a Discord shaped pillow.
"Oh Discord he never tells any pony what he's up to." Fluttershy playfully shakes her head and lets out a giggle.
"I know what he's up to." The pink haired duo turn in surprise at Moonlights comment.
"You do?" Fluttershy asks hesitantly.
"Yep I'd tell you, but." Moonlight levitates a saddlebag onto her back. "I'm leaving town right now for a week and a half."
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy watch as Moonlights walks down the road, after a while her horn glows and she teleports away.
"Huh. Her and Discord left town at the same time and are gonna be gone for the same amount of time. You don't suppose their gonna go hang out alone do ya?" Pinkie Pie asks as she scratches her chin, Fluttershy's eye twitches at her friend. With a scowl on her face Fluttershy reaches up and grabs another cupcake out of her ear, then silently she chucks it at the back of Pinkie's head.
Canterlot Castle: Random Hallway
Princess Luna walks down the hall of Canterlot castle, she doesn't really have anything to do, she just likes admiring the castle every now and again. A few moments after she walks past a hanging picture of Discord, she realizes that they didn't hang any pictures of Discord. Luna flips around and is met face to face with the god of chaos.
"Hey Lulu." Discord says with a smile and a wave.
"Ah!" Luna jumps back in surprise, her horn ignites with magic. "Discord what are you doing here?"
"Um..." Discord scratches his chin with his talon. "I kinda work here."
"Oh." Luna says as her horn stops glowing. "Right."
"So anywho wanna help me out with something?" Discord asks sweetly, with a matching smile. Luna blinks in confusion.
"Me?" Luna raises an eyebrow at Discord. "Why not Celestia?"
"Ugh Tia." Discord sticks his tongue out and makes a farting noise. "I have to deal with her almost everyday, but you my friend I almost never see."
"I suppose that's true." Luna puts a hoof to her chin, she looks at Discord quizzically. "What do you need?"
"I just need a fellow immortal to come with me to talk to somebody." Discord says as he suddenly appears much smaller in Luna's mane. Luna doesn't flinch as she turns her attention to the small Discord using her hair as a swing-set.
"Who?" Luna asks, her face stern, showing she's tired of Discord's vagueness, Discord rolls his eyes.
"That's a surprise Lulu, now." Discord appears upside down above her head. "Are you coming or not?"
"I don't know." Luna looks out the window nervously. "No pony ever asks me to come on adventures."
"That's why a Draconequus is inviting you." Discord says with a toothy grin. Luna smiles back at the Draconequus, touched by his invite.
"Alright sure." Luna puts out her hoof and Discord shakes it. "I'll go with you."
Later In The Ever-Free Forest
"You've got to be kidding me." Discord turns back to look at the Princess of Night.
"What's up Lu?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You brought me all this way just to talk to the zebra?" Luna asks angrily, as she gestures toward the hut their standing in front of.
"Zecora is my name." Luna and Discord turn to look at the Zebra walking around the hut. "Now how about a game?"
"Zecora there you are!" Discord flies over to greet the zebra, completely ignoring the deck of cards she has.
"Ah Discord right on time." Zecora shakes Discord's paw. "As always your timing is sublime."
"So does that mean it's ready?" Discord asks excitedly, Zecora smirks at the Lord of Chaos.
"Yes I've been as busy as a bee." Zecora holds out her hoof expectantly. "Now my fee."
"Oh right of course." Discord rummages through the pockets he now has and pulls out a magazine. "Here you are the latest issue of Ponies Magazine. Fresh off the production line."
"Ponies Magazine?" Luna asks while looking at the Zebra reading it.
"Yeah it's like people magazine except for ponies." Discord says matter-o-factually, Luna just looks at him for a minute before shaking her head and deciding to ignore him for now.
"Darn Dr.Midnight and Bubble Burst were so close." Discord says as he reads the magazine from Zecora's mohawk. "They guessed two of the characters from the chapter but not the right one."
"Yes they were close." Zecora closes the magazine and places it on a nearby stump. "Now to business, Princess could you hand me those."
"Uh..." Luna looks around the area around her, she levitates some small bags of herbs into the air. "You mean these?"
"Yes, now Discord get the cheese." Discord does as he's told and then him and Luna follow Zecora around the hut to the back yard.
"What the?" Luna asks as she stares wide eyed at the large runic symbol craved into the dirt. Zecora takes the bags of herbs from Luna's magic and places them around different parts of the symbol. Next she takes the cheese from Discord and places it in the exact center of the symbol.
"There we are ready." Zecora says as she stands next to Luna and Discord outside of the circle. "Everypony hold steady."
"Wait I thought you said you had everything ready." Discord says with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah what about that being busy as a bee stuff." Luna asking looking at the zebra skeptically. Zecora looks between the Princess of the Night and the Lord of Chaos slightly annoyed.
"Oh do not start." Zecora gestures toward the large symbol carved into the earth. "I already did the hard part. Now if you want me to open the door. I ask that you say no more."
"What do you-" Luna is cut off by Discord covering her mouth with his paw, she looks up at him angrily, but Discord just puts his talon to his lips signaling her to be quiet. Luna narrows her eyes at Discord displeased with his actions, Discord seems to take the narrowing of her eyes to mean she's on board as he gestures for Zecora to continue. The zebra nods as she faces the symbol craved in the ground, she stands up on her hind legs and raises her front hooves into the air.
Zecora begins speaking in a strange language that Luna can't understand, she can't even tell if it is language or if Zecora forgot how to speak. Discord nods his head as if he understands, but Luna thinks hes probably just as lost as she is. Suddenly Zecora shouts one final 'word' and slams her forehooves onto the ground, the large symbol in the dirt cracks and wiggles, and then the ground collapses into it's self creating a hole in the ground. Luna stares in awe at the large hole in front of her it extends down into the earth further then she can see.
"What is this?" Luna asks as she turns back to look at Discord and Zecora.
"This is the way to the woman we need to speak with." Discord says as floats over to stand next to Luna.
"Woman?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow. Discord starts walking down the sloop of the hole, seeming to ignore her question.
"You coming?" Discord asks while looking over his shoulder at the motionless Princess of Night. Luna blinks at the question, annoyed by Discord's habit of ignoring her questions Luna decides she needs to see where this is going.
"Yes I'm coming." Luna says as she walks up to be in line with Discord, once she joins him they both begin walking down the path.
"It's going to be a long walk." Discord scratches his chin with his talon. "Mind if I tell you about a dream I had the other day?"
"Actually I don't want to-"
"Perfect alright so it all started in Ponyville square." Discord says gesturing dramatically with his paw. Luna puts a hoof to her face and groans.
Fluttershy's House
Fluttershy is sitting on her couch a large multicolored blanket across her lap, a sewing needle held in her hoof she hums happily as she works. Suddenly a small ball of white fluff hops up onto her lap, Fluttershy yelps in surprise as some of her sewing supplies fall off the couch. She looks down at the little white rabbit looking at her sternly.
"Oh hi Angel what's the matter." Fluttershy asks, a sweet smile across her face. Angel points angrily at the clock hanging on the wall, Fluttershy follows his paw and gasps when she see's the clock, it's nearly six thirty. "Oh I'm sorry Angel I was so busy working I didn't even notice it was dinner time, I'll get your food right away."
"You'd better." Angel seems to say with his rabbit noises. Fluttershy stands up and lays the blanket down on the couch, she gives Angel a little kiss on the forehead and then hums as she heads toward the kitchen. Angel turns to the blanket, it's not quite a blanket, Fluttershy made it unique so she made it a blanket with sleeves, the base color of the blanket is brown like Discord's fur, several patterns are woven into the fabric, Rainbows on one of the arms, sparkles like Twilight's cutie mark on the other arm, diamonds, balloons, and apples dot the back. Finally a butterfly in a big light pink heart sits on the front right where Discord's heart will be. Angel scowls at the Hearth Warming gift that has been taking all his owners attention the past two months.
Let your envy out Angel. Angel's eyes go wide at the sound, he looks around frantically for the voice.
"Angel. Dinner." Angel turns his head and jumps off the couch toward the kitchen, completely forgetting the voice he heard.
Back In The Tunnel Zecora Created
"Alright so there I am about to talk to Francesca you remember her the cupcake monster from earlier, anyway before I can say two words this giant iron-clad fish pony just shows up and eats half the building. Me and Francesca both know we can't handle him alone so I whip out my walkie-talkie to radio Tom for back up when-"
"For the love of Celestia! Please shut up!" Luna screams loudly, her voice echoes off the walls of the cave. Discord just stares down at the Princess of Night.
"Okay Lulu, geez I didn't mean to make ya mad." Discord puts his hands up defensively. "I thought you liked talking about dreams."
"I spend all night looking over every ponies dreams Discord, it's my job. I don't do it because I like it" Luna looks down at the ground solemnly. "Or because I want to."
"Oh yeah your dream protecting." Discord taps his chin with his paw. "That's new isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Luna asks as they continue walking.
"I don't remember you protecting ponies as they slept a thousand years ago." Luna's eyes go wide as her cheeks turn red.
"Oh... well... I just figured..." Luna turns her eyes back to the ground and doesn't say anymore. Discord looks down at the solemn Princess with a knowing look.
"You want ponies to know your good now." Luna's head snap up and she looks at Discord in shock. "Hey I use to be a villain to ya know." Discord takes his turn to look at the ground solemnly. "I know it ain't easy, ponies still fear ya, it can make ya feel like you have to be a villain cause that's the only way any pony sees ya."
"Yeah." Luna joins Discord in his staring contest with the tunnel floor. "One mistake can mark you for life."
"And our lives don't end so it kinda sucks." Discord and Luna share a chuckle over that.
"Yeah and no pony ever forgets the bad stuff you do." Luna says a bit jokingly.
"Cause they write it down in books." Discord huffs angrily. "And only the bad stuff, have you noticed that."
"You have a point only my transformation into Nightmare Moon was in the books." Luna puts a hoof to her chin. "Now that I think about it Twilight and her friends didn't even know about you or Sombra or Tirek."
"Huh..." Both Luna and Discord stop walking and face each other.
"You ponies really need a better historian." Discord taps his chin with his paw. "I think I know a purple and black dragon that can help with that."
"Well we can worry about that later." Luna looks straight ahead as she continues walking. The pair of immortals walk in silence for what seems like hours before Luna speaks again. "I'm kinda glad I didn't tell Celestia I was coming with you."
"You didn't?" Discord asks a bit surprised.
"Yeah." Luna smiles up at Discord. "Guess I just wanted a break from her ya know."
"Believe me I know, you should try working for her some time." Discord chuckles to himself. "That's why I invited you, I thought we could both use a few days break from Princess Sunbutt."
"I suppose." Luna says with a nod, but after a minute something Discord said registers In her brain. "Wait did you say days?"
"Yeah I did." Discord raises an eyebrow at Luna. "Why?"
"You didn't say we'd be gone for days!" Luna shouts at Discord, who just scratches his chin.
"I didn't?"
"NO!"
"Oh well too late now." Discord says with a shrug "We've already been gone for two days."
"What?" Luna says her mouth agape. "N-no we haven't."
"Silly Luna that's why I brought you I need a fellow immortal, because we live forever we don't notice the passage of time as other ponies do." Discord taps the side of the tunnel. "Especially when we can't see the sky."
"B-but Celestia doesn't know I'm here." Luna begins pacing back and forth across the tunnel. "I didn't tell her, she'll be so worried!"
"Relax I left her a note." Discord says nonchalantly.
"A note!?" Luna asks angrily. "Well it must be a pretty long note to explain all this."
"She'll get the gist." Discord says with a shrug.
Canterlot Throne Room
Yo Tia I burrowed your sista. BRB Lolz.
Celestia looks at the strange letter made out of cut out magazine letters, her face showing nothing but confusion.
"What is this?" She looks around the throne room. "And where is Luna."
Back In The Tunnel
"How long is this going to take?" Luna asks as she walks down the tunnel with Discord. Discord taps his chin with a cotton candy tube.
"Not sure, it took me about five days the last time I came down here." Discord says. "The return trip was only half the time."
"That long?" Luna asks wide eyed. "Can't we just fly or teleport?"
"If we could teleport there we wouldn't have needed Zecora. Also it doesn't matter how fast we move we'll get there in the same amount of time." Discord sighs heavily. "The woman we're going to see loves her privacy."
"Who are we going to see?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You know Tia doesn't blame you." Luna blinks.
"She doesn't blame me for what?" Luna asks nervously, Discord turns to look at Luna.
"Becoming Nightmare Moon." Luna gasps.
"What do you mean she doesn't blame me?" Luna asks confused.
"She doesn't." Discord points at himself. "She blames me."
"What...?" Luna stares at Discord in disbelief. "Why would she-"
"Well I can manipulate ponies minds make them fall prey to their greatest character flaws. She thinks I did that to you and that's why you became Nightmare Moon." Discord says all this without looking at Luna.
"Discord-" Luna begins but Discord interrupts her.
"Did I?" Discord asks finally turning to look at Luna.
"W-what?" Luna asks caught off guard.
"Tia came to yell at my statue a few times after you were banished, I don't remember messing with either you or Celestia's minds, but if I was the reason you became Nightmare Moon then." Discord looks Luna in the eyes with all the sincerity he can muster. "I'm sorry, can you forgive me."
Luna and Discord just stare at each other for a while, after a moment Luna lowers her gaze back to the floor.
"No." The cave falls silent.
"B-but..." Discord begins stammering.
"Because..." Luna looks back up at Discord slight tears in her eyes. "You didn't do anything."
"Wha..." Discord blinks at Luna.
"I was jealous of Celestia before you came into our lives. It was just a coincidence that I finally snapped after we met you." Luna continues walking after shes done, Discord follows her silently. Again the tunnel is silent for what seems like hours, which it might very well be.
"Are you still jealous?" Discord asks looking at Luna out of the corner of his eyes, Luna leans her head back as if thinking.
"Yeah. A little." Luna says sadly.
"Anything I can do to help?" Discord asks sincerely, Luna locks eyes with Discord touched by his actions, she sighs.
"I don't think so Discord." Luna says looking forward again.
"But we're friends theres got to be something I can do to cheer you up?" Discord puts his paw to his chin and begins thinking.
"We're friends?" Luna asks wide eyed, she looks down at the ground, she didn't really have any friends other then Celestia, she and Twilight didn't really hang out, and she went to get a massage instead of going to Cadences wedding. She gets brought out of her thoughts when Discord places his talon on her shoulder.
"I don't know if we are but I'd like to be." Discord looks off into the distance deep in thought. "Having friends makes being good easier, but just having one friend isn't enough, even the best like I had and having a bunch isn't necessarily better. You need high quality friends to keep you happy. I mean just look at me I got like seven friends now, which basically makes me the best good guy."
"Oh really." Luna giggles to herself. "Fancy yourself a patron saint do you."
"I don't mean to brag or anything." Discord says smugly with a paw on his chest. Luna and Discord share a laugh.
"I suppose we can be friends Discord but it won't change anything." Luna looks straight ahead again. Discord scratches his chin once more, then a thought comes to him.
"Oh my... Luna." Luna snaps her head around to look at Discord. "I've got an idea."
"What did you say?" Luna asks wide eyed.
"Oh my Luna." Discord grins at her. "It's what I'm going to say instead of oh my Celestia."
"Your going to change your vocabulary to make me feel better?" Luna asks skeptically, Discord shrugs.
"It's what friends do right." Discord says with a grin, Luna can't help but grin back at him. She raises an eyebrow when he holds his paw out to her balled up into a fist. "Former villains?"
Luna smiles at Discord as she giggles once more, she raises up her hoof and bumps his fist. "Former villains."
Awhile Later
"Welp here we are." Discord says as he gestures toward a large stone wall covered in vines. Luna stares at the wall in awe.
"What is this place?" Luna asks as she examines the doors design.
"Oh you'll see." Discord touches the door, and it glows gold before opening and revealing the room beyond.
Luna gasps at what she sees the room is a giant sphere with a small ledge right inside the door, floating in the center of the middle of the room is a giant swirling green ball of energy.
"Behold Luna! The powerful-" The ball of energy starts moving and changing shape.
"The Immortal-" The giant swirling mass of green floats right in front of the ledge their standing on.
"The all knowing-" The mass of green starts expanding and stretching into a humanoid form.
"Mother Nature!" The swirling green energy has completed forming into a giant human woman, she stands over fifty feet tall, her body is made up of swirling green energy, and her hair is made out of vines and leaves and extends all the way down to her feet. Mother Nature smiles down at the two immortals who just walked in.
"Oh my Celestia." Luna says her mouth agape. "TheMother Nature."
"Well that's just what you pony calls her." Discord says while crossing his arms.
"What do you call her?" Luna asks not taking her eyes off Mother Nature.
"I call her Mom."
"Oh." Luna nods. Her eyes go wide as what he just said registers in her brain. "What!?"
Luna just takes a few moments to process everything in front of her, she stares at the giant woman in front her. Mother Nature, a being Luna wasn't even sure existed a few days ago. But here she was in her fifty foot tall swirling green glory, her hair might be even longer as it extends all the way down to her feet, if she should even call the mass of vines, leaves, and flowers coming out of her head hair, but what Luna found herself staring at the most was Mother Nature's eyes, she didn't have pupils, her eyes just looked like pools of glowing water, so calm and peaceful. Luna is brought out of her dumbstruck state by Mother Nature's voice.
"So my little Dissy Poo what brings you here to see your dear old mum?" Discord groans in embarrassment as his mother pinches his cheek with the tips of her fingers, meanwhile Luna just continues to stare at Mother Nature, she can't believe that the being that controls the planet sounds like such a mom, literally her voice sounds exactly like the stereotype for what moms sound like.
"Look Mom we need your help finding-" Discord begins explaining but his mother interrupts him.
"Oh is the moon to close do I need to move it further away?" Mother Nature asks sweetly, the two immortals blink at her.
"Uh no mom that's not-" Discord begins but he is interrupted again.
"Or is it the sun? Is the light to bright? I could dim it if you want." Mother Nature says putting a finger to her chin.
"No mom that's not it either." Discord says slightly annoyed.
"Well Honey if it's not the moon or the light what is it?" Mother Nature asks as she places her arms on the ledge and rests her head on them. Before Discord can speak Luna chimes in.
"Wait, you can control the sun and the moon?" Luna asks wide eyed, Mother Nature smiles at her.
"Well they orbit me there for they are subservient to me as well." Mother Nature looks nonchalantly at her finger tips. "Just as I blessed the pegasi with the power to control the weather, I also let you and Celestia play with the sun and moon."
"Incredible." Luna whispers in awe, Mother Nature looks at the Princess of Night sweetly.
"But my sweet little night flower I know you two didn't come all this way to learn what the soul of the planet can do." Discord nods in agreement to this.
"That's right, we want to know if you know anything about the strange weather we've been having." Discord says with his arms folded.
"Oh strange weather, that's why you came to see me." Mother Nature says with a pout. "You never just come to visit me."
"Well that's..." Discord stares at his Mother as she continues to pout at him, after a moment he sighs and looks away guiltily. "Sorry Mother."
"Oh it's alright sweet heart I understand it is quite a trip down here." Mother Nature's expression turns serious. "It has to be otherwise anyone could come down here and find me."
"Are there ponies you don't want to see you?" Luna asks curiously, Mother Nature turns her gaze to Luna.
"Yes there are little one." Mother Nature's expression softens a little. "I cannot interact with mortals."
"Why is that?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow, Mother Nature sighs in response.
"If I interact with mortals directly it could have unknowable effects on them." Mother Nature looks between her son and the Princess of Night. "Only immortal beings possess the power to be near me without becoming overwhelmed by my magic. You probably didn't notice but you'll find it slightly harder to breathe while you're in my chamber."
"It is?" Luna asks, she takes a moment to examine her breathing, and its true she is breathing heavier it feels like something is pressing down on her chest.
"But my affect on mortals isn't why you two came down here." Mother Nature pushes off the ledge and claps her hands together. "So lets get down to business."
"Right of course." Discord nods his head. "Now mom I can't seem to sense anyone manipulating the weather, but I was hoping you could tell us whats causing these storms."
"But sweetheart you share my magic, you can sense everything I can sense." Mother Nature leans back in the air as if she is resting in a lawn chair. She looks at Discord from the corner of her eye. "So how could I know something you don't?"
"Well you've been around a lot longer then I have so I was hoping you could sense something I missed. A trace of who is causing this maybe." Discord puts a claw to his chin in thought, he is about to speak again when he suddenly jumps back in surprise from his Mother quickly moving herself in front of him, her huge smile covering his field of vision.
"Oh sweety your missing something but it's not something you can sense." She looks down at him slyly. "It's something you can't sense at all."
"What do you mean he already said he can't sense anything." Luna says a bit confused, Mother Nature smiles at her.
"That's exactly it my dear." Mother Nature straightens herself up to her full height so she towers over the two. "Me and my son are in-tuned to the magic of the world so we can sense all magic, especially abnormalities in the flow of magic."
"Like Tirek." Luna says with understanding, Discord and Mother Nature nod happily.
"Right but that doe-" Discord begins.
"Except their is one form of magic not even we can sense." Mother Nature says interrupting her son, both immortals in the room turn to look at her.
"A form of magic I can't sense?" Discord asks with a blink. "I thought maybe they were just covering their tracks."
"What kind of magic is that?" Luna asks equally confused, Mother Nature just chuckles at the two.
"I'll give you a hint." She lowers herself to eye level and winks at Discord. "It turned you to stone twice."
Discord and Luna's eyes open widely at this. "What!?"
"Don't worry I'll explain." Mother Nature smiles at the pair. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Back at the dawn of time, I was alone, I was nothing but a ball of burning rock trying to form into something better. I have no idea how long I was in that state but eventually I took shape. At first I felt nothing, I was nothing just a frozen ball of stone spinning in an empty void, I didn't know what but I wanted something else. That's when he arrived, a small star that had somehow begun drifting through space, he was impressed by my size, he wished to serve me. I was annoyed by this star, I wanted something I didn't know what but I knew it wasn't him. I was about to send him away, back into the void... when suddenly I didn't feel so stiff, the ice that covered my surface had begun to melt from the heat of the star. I was happy, for once I felt warmth, I thought maybe that's what I wanted, so I told him he could stay if he orbited me and melted all the ice from my body, of course he couldn't reach the top and bottom of my mass but I didn't mind. Soon I was covered in water.
So there we were a ball of stone covered in a ball of water and a small star spinning through the universe. It was nice for a while... but it still wasn't what I wanted. I don't know how long it was just the two of use, but it was a shorter amount of time then I was alone. But soon we were joined by a third, she was large, for a moon, almost the same size as the star that already orbited me. Once again I knew she wasn't what I wanted, and again I was going to send her away... when I noticed that her gravity was effecting the water on my surface. It was nice, larger sections of my stone were raised above the water so I could feel the warmth of the star. So I decided she could stay if she too agreed to serve me, as was normal of a moon she had no objections.
It wasn't long after that, maybe a few centuries, when I finally realized what I wanted. The star had melted my body, and the moon and created my oceans, but I wanted to change my body for myself. I took some time to study my mountainous body, it only took me a day to realize I wanted to add color. So I used my magic and created the first vegetation, I didn't know how it worked at the time, I was just making wishes and they seemed to come true. It wasn't long before my entire surface both below and above the water was covered in plant life. I was content, I had finally gotten what I wanted... But then I wanted more. I was able to talk to the star and the moon, but not to the plant I had created, sure I can feel their presence and sense what they want and need, but they spoke no words. So I decided to take it a step further and create more life, life that could move on its own, and speak.
My first attempt was the humans, beings I created in my own image... but they sucked so I got rid of them. But while I had been raising the humans I created other life for them to interact with, dragons, dogs, chimeras, etc. So I just enjoyed watching these animals live their lives for a while, unlike the humans I could understand the animals, I couldn't speak to them, as I had realized with the humans mortal being can't hear my thoughts as the star and moon do. Everything was fine for a while, until I noticed that three of the species I had created we're slowly gaining intelligence, the horses, the winged horses and the horned horses had begun to communicate in more complicated ways then simply living in a herd. So I decided to help them, I blessed the horses with a close relationship with my stone, the winged ones I let control the clouds and the horned ones I gave them the power of magic. With each generation I made them smarter, more adaptable, with their increased abilities I decided to rename them earth-ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns respectfully, a fourth kind of pony, the crystal ponies appeared over time even I'm not sure how or why. I began to increase the intelligence of other animals as well, dragons were the second race I chose although they didn't take to it as well as the ponies had done, third was the griffins they took to it as well as the ponies had. Changelings were fourth, and chimeras were suppose to be fifth but they did little more then master language. After awhile other species like cows, buffalo, donkeys, zebras, and a few others joined the ponies as well.
But it wasn't until I had raised up all these races that I learned what had sparked the initial growth in the horses, that was the time I met the sisters. Two spirits not unlike myself, although much smaller, they revealed to me that they had been on my stone from the beginning of time. They had been in a dormant state awaiting the day I created life on my surface, they had awoken when I created the humans, but after I got rid of them they searched for the next creature with the next highest potential, they were drawn to the horses multiple species. What was their purpose? I wondered, what did they want with my creations?
It turned out that they were there to give the dominate race on my surface their blessings, one of the sisters glowed white with her magic, she and her sister had no form they were just clouds of magic, that sister wanted to make sure each creature on the planet treated the others right. She offered her six virtues, loyalty, honesty, kindness, generosity, joy(laughter), and friendship(magic). Her sister on the other hand was a being of pure dark magic, she wanted each being on the planet to look out for themselves above all else, she offered her seven 'virtues' pride, greed, wrath, envy, sloth, gluttony, and lust. I figured everything had been going well so far, so I let them stay, but because I did not create them I could not sense the two spirits.
But as is always the case soon the two sisters grew to hate each other, each believed that her virtues were better, they fought constantly. I didn't care at first but after awhile they started bringing the innocent beings of my planet into their fight, that's when I stepped in. I told the two of them that if they wanted to remain on my planet they had to find a way to get along... I had no idea what they would choose. The two sisters decided to take physical forms, but the only forms they could manifest were stones, in their physical forms they'd have even greater influence over the ponies but because they would essential be killing themselves by becoming the stones they wouldn't be able to make the ponies do anything. So the light sister took the form of a tree and manifested her virtues as six individual stones, which she named the Elements of harmony, she believed that only teamwork could bring out the true power of her virtues. Her sister the spirit of darkness chose to manifest all her powers in one stone, which she called the Element of Sin, believing that all those that had the courage to stand alone were worthy of wielding her virtues.
I wish I hadn't given them the idea, because after they took their physical forms I noticed an increase in evil in my world, the whole race of changelings suddenly became aggressive to the other races, Griffins became un-trusting of the others, and the dragons began to hoard gems and other treasures. To balance out the rise in evil I chose to bless the world with champions, I asked my friends the star and moon to grant me power, they agreed as I knew they would. I combined the powers of the three first races and created the first two alicorns, but even I was surprised when the elements of harmony chose them as there bearers. I was so glad, they did exactly as I had wished they would, protecting the world from evil beings like Tirek and Sombra. Even my own son who had a bit too much of his father in him.
But the Element of Sin can choose a bearer too, just as the new bearer of Sin is out there now causing havoc by messing with the weather, a thousand years ago the Element of Sin caused untold devastation to the planet by choosing Princess Luna as its first bearer. But now the Element has-
"Wait! What!?" Luna blurts out in surprise, Mother Nature looks at the princess of night curiously.
"What is it my dear?" Mother Nature asks a bit confused.
"I was never the bearer of any Element of Sin!" Luna shouts throwing her hooves in the air. "I've never even heard of it until now."
"That's true mother I've never heard of it either." Discord adds in with his arms crossed.
"Well of course you haven't sweet heart, the elements were created long before either of your times, and no one has ever found the Element of Sins resting place." Mother Nature explains sweetly.
"B-but when did I become the bearer of the Element of Sin?" Luna asks sounding a little scared, Mother Nature pats Luna on the head softly.
"The Element sensed your envy of your sister, that's how you became Nightmare Moon." Mother Nature explains. "The Element fueled your envy, made your hatred grow until you could no longer control it. Even with the Elements of Harmony help I didn't think anypony could break free of Sins grasp. I'm impressed, and I don't impress easy."
"Oh thank you ma'am." Luna says her cheeks slightly tinted purple.
"You mentioned that their was a new bearer of Sin?" Mother Nature and Luna turn to look at the Lord of Chaos. "Who is it?"
"Oh my dear." Mother Nature pinches Discord cheek again. "I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You must figure it out for yourselves." Mother Nature says sternly as she raises to her full height once more.
"Can you give us a hint?" Luna asks, Mother Nature smiles at her.
"Yes my sweet I can." Mother Nature says happily, she holds out her hand to Luna, an image of Nightmare Moon forms from her green energy. "Just as you changed when the Element chose you, this new bearer's physical form will have changed as well, perhaps not as drastically as you did."
"So we just need to look for somepony who doesn't look like any pony else?" Luna asks with a hoof to her chin. Discord stiffens as he suddenly thinks of a rather unique mare he knows.
"Exactly." Mother Nature smiles at Luna before her face turns serious. "Now there is one more thing I must tell you two before you leave."
"What's that?" Luna and Discord ask in unison, without looking at each other they do their signature 'former villains' hoof bump.
"You may not tell any mortal about this meeting or the Element of Sin." Mother Nature says with a glare in her eyes.
"What?" Luna's eyes go wide. "Why not?"
"If anypony knew about the Element of Sin somepony might try to use it, imagine if Chrysalis had known about it when she attacked Canterlot. Or Sombra when he attacked the Crystal Empire." Discord says his seriousness etched into his face, Luna looks down at the ground.
"I don't want to imagine that." Luna says sadly, she looks back up at Mother Nature. "I Get that but why can't we tell anypony about this meeting?"
"You're immortals and powerful ones at that, the Element of Sin can't kill you, but mortals are vulnerable to its magic." Mother Natures expression becomes sad. "No matter how powerful they are."
"I thought no mortals knew about the Element of Sin." Discord asks with a raised eyebrow, Mother Nature looks slyly at him.
"There was one Mortal that actually discovered the origins of the Elements of Harmony himself, following the clues, the unicorn made his way down to me, I told him about the Element of Sin and then he left, he did as I asked and kept it a secret. But he studied the Element of Sin anyway, despite my warnings, he wrote all his findings down in a journal, it might contain even more information then I know, you must find it." Mother Nature looks down at the ground sadly. "But the Element of Sin used it's dark powers and placed a curse on him. It killed him."
"Oh my Luna." Discord says in disbelief, Luna looks extremely shocked.
"But enough about the past." Mother Nature smiles sweetly at the two immortals. "You two should get heading back."
Discord shakes his head back into focus. "R-right of course, come on Luna, we got work to do."
"Oh right coming." Luna says as she blinks the shock out of her eyes. The former villains begin heading toward the mouth of the cave.
"Oh Princess?" Mother Nature calls from her spot by the ledge, Luna turns to look at the core of the planet.
"Yes ma'am?" Luna asks heading back to talk with her.
"I want you to take this." As Mother Nature speaks a flower bud emerges from the ground, it slowly opens and reveals three seeds inside its petals, Luna looks at the seeds before levitating them out of the flower.
"What are these?" Luna asks as she places them in a pouch, Mother Nature smiles at her.
"One burns, one drowns, one is buried alive, but all three allow communication with me." Mother Nature says sweetly, Luna tilts her head confused by the way she phrased it, but Luna doesn't ask any questions because she understood what she meant.
"Thank you ma'am." Luna says with a bow. "It was an honor to meet you."
"Same to you my dear." Mother Nature says returning the bow. Luna turns to leave but stops short.
"Ma'am?" Luna asks nervously.
"Yes my dear?" Mother Nature asks raising an eyebrow.
"The unicorn who came down here and researched the Element of Sin..." Luna averts her eyes. "Who was it?"
"You want to know if it was somepony you know." Mother Nature states not really asking, Luna nods. Mother Nature sighs heavily as she averts her own eyes from the Princess. "It was."
"Who was it?" Luna asks looking up at Mother Nature with a hint of anger in her eyes, Mother Nature takes a minute to answer seeming to debate if she wants to actually answer the question, but eventually she sighs and locks eyes with Luna.
The Lord of Chaos and the Princess of Night step out of the mouth of the tunnel and into the light of the afternoon sun, but before Luna can enjoy the sunshine she feels a frigid breeze blow through the forest, causing her to shiver in surprise. Luna glances around at the snow covered trees, Luna can see the Zecora give them a nod of acknowledgement from inside her tree home, but the zebra shaman makes no moves to join tgem in the cold outdoors. A loud cracking sound draws both immortals attention behind them, the cavern entrance collapses back into the ground. The earth seems to warp and soon any evidence that the tunnel had ever been there was gone. Luna turns to look at her companion.
"Well that was fun." Luna says with a smile. The Lord of Chaos smiles back.
"Was it?" Discord asks with a raised brow, Luna nods which causes Discord to take a bow. "I'm glad. I was worried you'd find all the walking boring."
"I'm usually stuck in the castle all day." Luna takes a deep breathe of the cold winter air. "It's nice to get out and do something for a change."
"Ugh I can't imagine being in the same place for a whole day." Discord groans and rolls his eyes as he talks. Luna looks at her Draconequus friend with a sly grin.
"Not even if it was Fluttershy's home?" Luna asks in a teasing tone, Discord turns his head three hundred and fifty nine degrees so he can stare at Luna.
"What do you mean by that Lulu?" Discord asks nervously, Luna only laughs as she walks past the flustered Lord of Chaos.
"You know I can't go talking about ponies dreams Discord. " Luna says with a teasing wink, which causes Discord to blush, which for him means growing tomatoes on his cheeks. Luna gives a triumpant laugh before spreading her wings. "Now enough play time, we gotta hurry."
"Where are we going?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow. The question stops Luna from taking off, she looks back at her friend with a look of confusion that matches his.
"Um... to Canterlot." Luna says while pointing a hoof in the direction of the city. Discords eyebrow detaches from his head so it can raise even higher.
"Why?" Discord asks, his eyebrow vanishes from view as it raises ever higher.
"Well we have to tell Celestia about the Element of Sin." As Luna says this Discords eyebrow rockets back down and reconnects with his face, as soon as the eyebrow reattaches to Discord his eyes go wide.
"Whoa! Hold on there." Discord exclaims as he suddenly appears by Luna. "We can't tell Tia about this."
"What?" Luna blinks in confusion. "Why not?"
"Because Lulu what is her solution to every problem that shows up in Equestria?" Discord asks with an annoyed look on his face, Luna can tell he's not annoyed at her but more at the Alicorn their talking about. Before Luna can so much as begin to think of an answer to Discord's question he continues talking. "No need to guess cause I'll just tell you. It's Twilight and her friends."
"Huh?" Luna raises an eyebrow in confusion, she puts a hoof to her chin. "Twilight and her friends?"
"Yeah really think about it, stopping you, Twilight and her friends, stopping me... Twilight and her friends, and guess who she got to stop Sombra." Discord creates some holograms of the several situations he describes.
"Twilight... and her friends."Luna says her eyes widening in realization, but it is short lived as she snaps her attention to Discord. "Hey wait a minute I volunteered to go fight Sombra!"
"And Princess Sunbutt still only sent Twilight and her friends, sure Cadence and Shining Armor were there too, but why didn't she let you go with them or go herself?" The two immortals share a moment of silence which is quickly interrupted by Discord. "That's a serious question, I honestly have no idea why you and Celestia didn't go to help stop Sombra."
"Neither do I." Another moment of silence falls between the two, this time Luna stops it with a shake of her head. "My sisters questionable habit of putting Twilight's need to learn a lesson over the safety of the Kingdom aside. I don't understand why that means we shouldn't tell her."
"You heard what my mother said." Discords head transforms into Mother Natures head. "You're immortals and powerful ones at that, the Element of Sin can't kill you, but mortals are vulnerable to its magic."
"Oh that's right." Luna puts a hoof to her chin and gestures with the other as she talks. "And she said not to tell any mortals about our meeting or the Element of Sin. But can't we still tell my sister, and just tell her not to tell them?"
"No. Because if we tell her we can tell immortals she'll want to tell Twilight and we can't risk Twilight caving in and telling her friends." Discord punctuates his sentence with a firm shake of his head.
"Wait aren't Twilight and her friends the Elements of Harmony shouldn't that protect them from the Element of Sin?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow. Discord looks away from Luna, images of his six friends flash through his mind, his mind lingers on a certain yellow Pegasus. He answers Luna without looking at her.
"I'm not willing to risk it." Discord almost growls, Luna blinks at Discords suddenly serious voice, before she can respond though Discord turns to face her a smile on his face and his voice much nicer. "Besides I think we should find out some more info before we tell everypony else and start a panic."
"I suppose you're right." Luna chuckles at the thought of Celestia and Twilight getting those surprised looks on their faces. She clears her throat and looks up at Discord. "What do you propose we do?"
"Hmm." Discord taps his talon against his chin. "Well I have a lead on who the bearer of the Element of Sin might be..."
"You do?" Luna's eyes go wide. "Who is it?"
"That's not important right now." Discord says with a nonchalant wave of his paw, this causes Luna it raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"How is, who the Bearer of the Element of Sin is, not important?" Luna says slightly annoyed, Discord rolls his eyes at the princess of the night which makes her scowl at him.
"Because Lulu I have something much more important to do tonight." Discord turns away from Luna and starts walking away. "So we'll have to pick this up some other time."
"Wait, what is so important?" Luna asks as she walks toward Discord with a raised eyebrow. Discord turns back to look at her with a bright smile on his face.
"Why my dear Lulu don't you know it's Heath's Warming?" With that Discord raises his talon and with a snap he's gone, leaving Luna alone in the snow covered forest. She scowls at where the Lord of Chaos had just been standing and gives a huff. She turns her gaze to the horizon in the direction of Canterlot and gives a slight smile.
"I suppose it is a good idea too enjoy Hearths Warming before we get to work." Luna takes off into the night sky, thinking about what she should tell her sister about her trip, and where she could find the journal that Mother Nature had told them about. Sensing the time, Luna begins raising the moon as she flies, at the same moment she can feel her sister begin lowering the sun. Soon the dark of night has covered the land.
Inside Fluttershy's Cottage
Fluttershy is sitting on the couch calmly petting the sleeping white rabbit in her lap, she shifts her gaze from the sleeping creature to the clock hanging on the wall, it was late in the afternoon, soon the sun would set and the night sky would get to enjoy Hearths warming. A soft crack draws her attention to small fire burning in the hearth, she takes a moment to watch the flames dance, before shifting her attention to the tree to the side of the hearth, more specifically the delicately wrapped gift underneath it, as her thoughts drift to the Draconequus she made the gift for, her eyes return to the wall clock, a worried look enters the young mares eyes.
It's OK Fluttershy, Discord said he'd be back in time for Hearths Warming. Fluttershy's look of worry is replaced with one of confidence, for she knows her friend will be there any minute. Suddenly she hears the flash of a teleport followed immediately by a knock on the front door.
"Oh thank Celestia! He's here!" Fluttershy gently pushes Angel off her lap as she leaps off the couch, despite how gently Fluttershy pushed him Angel still woke up from his nap. Angel scowls at the door his care giver is rushing to open. A bright smile appears on Fluttershys face, replacing the faux confidence she had been wearing before.
Fluttershy swings open the door and smiles brightly as she looks up high. But her smile vanishes and is replaced with mild confusion, as instead of Discords face all she can see is the afternoon sky. Fluttershy lowers her gaze when she realizes somepony is standing in front of her, she lowers her gaze to see her visitor, her confused expression immediately turns into a slight scowl as she locks eyes with the glowing pony on her door step.
"Good afternoon Fluttershy, how are you today?" Moonlight asks with a smile, Fluttershys not sure if Moonlight is being genuinely nice or not. But she decides to be kind in return.
"I'm fine Moonlight." Fluttershy flashes her least favorite pony a smile. "How was your trip?"
"It was fine." Moonlight speaks with a shrug as she walks past Fluttershy into her home. Fluttershy can't help but watch her uninvited guest with wide eyes as she walks around her home seeming to examine everything, the glowing pony stops and glances down at the present at the base of the tree, a small smirk crosses her lips, her smirk is gone when she turns back to look at Fluttershy. "It was pretty boring without Discord though."
"Well he does make everything more interesting." Fluttershy says a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, Moonlight nods.
"He certainly does." Moonlight walks near the couch and glances down at the grumpy little rabbit sitting on it, she gives him a sly grin that makes him raise an eyebrow.
Angel looks up at the strange glowing mare in annoyance and confusion , Angel doesn't like this pony, then again he doesn't like any pony. His eyes widen as the bizarre mare's eyes suddenly turn completely black, before he can make any noise his vision goes fuzzy and he begins to pass out. Before Angel completely loses consciousness he hears a familiar voice echo in his mind. Your wrath and envy are delicious little bunny, you'll prove useful to me.
"What a cute little bunny you have here Fluttershy." Moonlight looks over at Fluttershy her red eyes shining brightly in the glow of the fire. Fluttershy walks over and smiles down at her sleeping friend.
"Yeah that's Angel, he's my little sweetheart." Fluttershy says happily, she doesn't notice Moonlight roll her eyes.
"Yes he does look..." Fluttershy blinks as Moonlight momentarily sounds like Discord. "Very sweet."
"How did you do that wit-" Fluttershy begins to speak but is cut off by Moonlight.
"I have something for you Fluttershy." Fluttershy turns to the glowing pony with a look of confusion.
"For me?" Fluttershy asks gesturing to herself. Moonlight nods in confirmation, which causes Fluttershy to raise an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I believe it is Hearths Warming, a time to give ponies gifts. Correct?" Fluttershy nods quietly, still confused.
"Then I wish to give you a gift, I know we haven't gotten along that well. Despite my best efforts you seem to almost hate me." Fluttershy's eye twitches, not just because that last part was a lie, but Fluttershy is once again getting the feeling that she shouldn't trust Moonlight. Fluttershy can't pin point it but there is a small part of her deep down that just seems to know that Moonlight can't be trusted. Fluttershy is snapped out of her thoughts by a bright flash of light, she refocuses her attention toward Moonlight, who is now holding a small round package in her magic. Moonlight speaks cheerfully. "For you."
"What is it?" Fluttershy asks as she takes the gift in her hooves, Moonlight smiles brightly.
"Open it and find out." Fluttershy begins carefully removing the warping on the package, as she removes the paper she notices that the covering is very warm, after removing the final layer of paper Fluttershy has to shield her eyes as a bright light flows from the package, after a moment Fluttershy can get a good look at her gift. The object looks like a snow-globe, except instead of the glass bubble having water and fake snow, it is instead full of swirling red fire. Fluttershy just stares at the beautiful flames wide eyed.
"What is this?" Fluttershy has never seen anything like it, the fire keeps burning despite being in an air tight bubble, the waves of fire produced seemed to dance in a mesmerizing fashion, and while the bubble was being heated by the fire it stayed at a nice comfortable temperature.
"It's something I created recently, I call it a fire globe." Moonlight takes the gift out of Fluttershy's hooves with her magic and places it on the mantle above the fireplace.
"Thank you Moonlight I love it." Fluttershy frowns at the glowing mare. "But I'm afraid I di-"
"I know you didn't get me anything Fluttershy and it's OK." Moonlight says interrupting Fluttershy mid sentence, which makes Fluttershy enter sorry mode.
"Are you sure it doesn't seem right for you to give me a gift and for me to not give you one, my parents always told me it was polite to give gifts to those that give gifts to you, but I'm sorry Moonlight I don't have a gift to give you, if I had known you were-"
"Stop it!" Fluttershy freezes at Moonlights sudden outburst, the glowing mare quickly replaces her angry look to one of sympathy. "I mean it's okay Fluttershy we haven't known each other that long, besides I don't even celebrate Hearths Warming."
"Really?" Fluttershy tilts her head in confusion. "Why not?"
"I just find all these new traditions that some ponies come up with to be a tad silly." Moonlight gestures with her hoof as if she is trying to shoo the traditions away. This explanation only leaves Fluttershy more confused.
"New tradition? But Hearths Warming has been around for-" Before Fluttershy can finish her thought both ponies hear the familiar sound of teleportation. Before either can react a giant blast of guacamole explodes right above their heads covering every surface in the room, the green goop flies off the walls and floors and fuses into the shape of human. Before either mare can voice their confusion a tiny Discord bursts from the stomach of the guacamole human. Discord laughs as the green human screams while it clutches its stomach before falling over and vanishing into the floor.
"Hellooooo Fluttershy and happy-" Discord is swiftly cut off by something yellow crashing into him for a hug.
"Oh Discord I'm so glad you're here, I was starting to think you weren't gonna make it." Fluttershy nuzzles Discords chest as she speaks, Discord smikes warmly before hugging her as well.
"Hey I promised didn't I? And what kind of Chaos being would I be if I didn't keep my promises?" Discord asks with a sly grin, which makes Fluttershy laugh.
"A normal one I suppose." The embracing pair both turn to look at the glowing mare who spoke. Moonlight just stares blankly back at them, after a moment she blinks in realization. "Oh. I'm sorry was that not a real question?"
"Moonlight... I uh... wasn't expecting you to be here." Discord says as he lowers Fluttershy down to the ground.
"Oh I think deep down you knew I'd be here." Moonlight tilts her head and gives a sweet smile, Discord gives her a nervous smile in return.
"Well that's true I knew I'd be seeing you after I got back to Ponyville. I just wasn't expecting it to be this soon." Discord continues his nervous smile. And I was really hoping it wouldn't be around Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy could you show me where your tea set is?" Fluttershy turns toward the glowing mare who spoke.
"Huh? Why do you nee-" Moonlight interrupts Fluttershy once more.
"I want to give Discord the gift I made for him." Moonlight lights up her horn and with a quick flash summons a small collection of tea bags. "Which as you can see is a delicious brew of tea, one of my own invention."
"Oh how nice, hold on I'll go get my tea set." Fluttershy smiles as she makes her way toward the kitchen. Discord watches Fluttershy leave with a happy smile, before turning his attention to the now grinning Moonlight.
"Hello Discord." Moonlight says sweetly, Discord gives her a half hearted smile, Moonlight doesn't seem to notice. "I missed you while I was gone. Did you miss me?"
"Of course I did we're friends after all." Discords smile becomes a bit more genuine. Discord may suspect that Moonlight is the bearer of the Element of Sin, but when he looks at her he can't help but see nothing but his good friend. Discord focuses his attention on the bag of tea the mare is levitating, he pretends to seem interested with it seeming to study it, while in reality he is mentally scanning the tea for signs. Discord doesn't notice any magic on the tea, Discord sighs disgruntled, the Lord of Chaos knows he can't sense the elements magic, so there being no magic on the tea doesn't tell him anything.
"I'm glad we're friends." Moonlight says happily through half lidded eyes and a sly smile. Discord flinches a little, Moonlights smile coupled with her tone of voice, make Discord feel a little uncomfortable. Discord zips his eyes around the room to find someway to not reply to her. Finally his eyes fall upon the bag of tea once more.
"So a present huh?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow. " I thought you didn't celebrate Hearths Warming."
"Oh I don't." Moonlights says with a shrug. "I just happen to like two of the traditions that go along with it."
"Like giving gifts?" Discord asks while gesturing toward the bag of tea.
"Honestly I prefer receiving gifts." Moonlight says with a mischievous smile. "But I'm making an exception this year."
"I see, how nice of you." Discord nods his head with a pleased smile on his face.
"So Discord." Moonlight looks at the Lord of Chaos expectantly, which only confuses him.
"So what?" Discord gestures with his talon for her to continue, Moonlight sighs.
"So... What did you get me?" Those words make Discords blood run cold, he slowly turns toward the glowing unicorn, sweat forming on his brow.
"W-what did I get you?" Discord asks nervously, Moonlight nods in response. Discord nervously taps his fingers together. Honestly Discord hadn't been planning on getting anypony but Fluttershy a gift, even then he's been so busy with work and all the disasters that he hasn't had time to think of what Fluttershy would want. He especially hadn't been thinking of getting a gift for the one pony he knew that didn't even celebrate the holiday. After a few moments Moonlights smile turns into a frown, she looks up at Discord with big puppy dog eyes.
"Did you not get me anything Discord?" Moonlight says with a whimper, Discord winces in shame.
"I'm afraid so." Discord nervously rubs the back of his neck with his paw. "What would you like?"
"Hmm..." Moonlight takes a moment to think, although Discord has the feeling she already knows what she wants. She turns her head and grins at Discord. "How about you come berry picking with me on Monday."
"T-that's it." Discord asks in disbelief while raising an eyebrow.
"Yep that's all I want, just promise me you'll go berry picking with me, and you can't back out of it." Discord shrugs.
"Okay I promise." Moonlight smiles, still curious Discord asks a question.
"So what is the other tradition you like?"
"You really want to know?" Moonlight asks coyly.
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know." Discord says frankly.
"Okay. Come closer and I'll tell you." Again Discord feels uncomfortable due to her smile and voice, but curiosity wins in the end and Discord steps closer.
"Ok so what's the other tradition you like?" Discord asks quizzically, Moonlight's smile turns mischievous, suddenly her horn lights up and something flies out of her hair, and stops in the air between them, before Discord can react Moonlight lunges forward and plants a kiss on Discords lips. After a moment she leans back and smiles again, while Discord's eye twitches.
Fluttershy sighs in frustration, she cann't find her tea set anywhere, it isn't in the cupboard like it's suppose to be, it isn't in the sink, the pantry or on the kitchen table. As a matter of fact it doesn't look like the tea set is in the kitchen at all. Thinking maybe Discord took it for a prank or maybe she left it on the coffee table by mistake Fluttershy decides to leave the kitchen, but she stops next to the door to the living room and listens for Discord and Moonlight voices. She can hear them, they seem to be talking about Christmas presents or something, relieved to hear such casual conversation Fluttershy preoaresto open the door when suddenly she hears a loud flash from behind her. Fluttershy quickly turns to see what made the noise, she is quite confused to see her tea set sitting on the kitchen table. A little puzzled Fluttershy walks over to the table and grabs the tea tray, with a shrug she turns back towards the living room, because of who she was friends with Fluttershy had grown accustomed to this kind of thing by now. As she returns to the door she can once again hear the two in the living room, again they are speaking about tradtions but Fluttershy doesn't like the tone of voice Moonlight is using. Just as she opens the door her eyes go wide, there in front of her in her living room are her least favorite Pony and her favorite Draconequus, kissing, Fluttershy feels a knot form in her chest. After an agonizing moment Moonlight separates from Discord and Fluttershy can feel the unicorns eyes on her, even though she's not looking at her, a grin appears on Moonlights face, right before she speaks one word.
"Mistletoe." Tears form in Fluttershys eyes, the tray slips from her hooves, it strikes the floor with a loud thud, while the tea set on top shatters into pieces. Moonlight and Discord immediately turn to look at Fluttershy, Discords eyes are wide with surprise and fear, while Moonlights grin grows wider, her eyes showing pure joy.
Literally Two Seconds Earlier
Discord was screaming internally, immediately after the kiss had started his eyes bugged out and his brain froze. Not only did his brain freeze after the kiss but time froze too, Discord had frozen time for everything except his brain. Discord was appalled to think he the Lord of Chaos had been caught off guard, he is the almighty Discord he's never been caught off guard before, well except the first time he was turned to stone... and the second time he was turned to stone... and the time Tirek stole his magic... and that time he was playing hoofball and Rainbow Dash blindsided him... and that other time, Discord mentally slaps himself Getting off topic! Gotta focus! What am I gonna do?
"Yeah what are we gonna do?" A familiar voice says, before Discord can respond a small version of himself appears in his vision, Discord doesn't even bat an eye, after all he summons tiny versions of himself to talk to. But this is the first one he's summoned since he found a some pony to talk to, one that isn't just a figment of his imagination.
"What just happened why did she do that?" Discord mentally asks his double, Tiny Discord shrugs.
"Maybe she's got the hots for ya." Tiny Discord says, Discord scoffs at him.
"Please, don't you think I'd know if some pony was interested in me, I'd know about it?" Tiny Discord turns away from Discord and looks at the reader, and gives you a this guy has no idea look.
"Regardless just what in the tartarus are you doing letting Moonlight kiss you man?" Tiny Discord asks, he narrows his eyes at the immobile Lord of Chaos.
"It's not like I wanted her to she just kinda did it." Discord retorts.
"Dude we came to Fluttershy's to get a smooch from her not the Element of Sin." Discord mentally blushes, as his physical body is still frozen in time. Discord internally coughs
"We don't know Moonlight is the Element of Sin, besides I came to spend time with my mar- I mean best friend and give her the present I made her, I'm not here to kiss her." Discord says defensively, Tiny Discord isn't buying it.
"You remember I'm you right?" Tiny Discord gestures to himself and then to Discord. "So I know everything you know."
"And some things I don't apparently." Discord says with a mental roll of the eyes
"Nope I know everything you know, even the stuff you don't want to admit." Discord averts his mind's eye from his tiny doppelganger.
"Oh shut up." Discord says under his mental breathe. "I'm going to unfreeze time now, and as you can see I have a situation to deal with." Tiny Discord looks off into an area that Discord can't see.
"A bigger situation then you think." After speaking Tiny Discord raises his talon and snaps his fingers, causing him to vanish and time to restart. As time slowly begins to flow again Discord focuses his attention on Moonlight ready to sort all this out, but a split second later he hears a loud thud along with the sound of shattering glass, he turns his head in the direction Tiny Discord had been facing and his eyes widen, there standing with her hooves covering her mouth and tears forming in her eyes, was Fluttershy.
"F-fluttershy..." Discord whispers under his breathe, a knot forms in his chest as he realizes what she just saw, but what hurts him more then Fluttershy seeing him kiss the wrong pony, is the look on her face. Discord doesn't really understand why Fluttershy looks as hurt as she does, but at that moment he doesn't care. The knot in his chest seems to have claimed all those useless organs, as Discord can feel them all forming a literal knot in his chest to go with the metaphorical one. Discord and Fluttershy just stand there staring at one another in complete silence, neither of them is the first to speak, that's the third ponies job.
"Ah Fluttershy you found the tea set." Moonlight says happily, she walks over to Fluttershy who has returned to all fours, her face turned towards the ground her hair obscuring it. Moonlight picks up the broken tea set with her magic, after quickly zapping it with a repair spell she makes her way into the kitchen. Before disappearing behind the door she turns around says in a sing songy voice with a suggestively smile and a wink. "~Let me know if you want to celebrate that tradition again~."
Once Moonlight is out of the room Discord focuses all his attention on Fluttershy. "Look Fluttershy it's not what you think she just-"
"It's okay Discord." Discord flinches a little, Fluttershy lifts a hoof up and wipes her face.
"What do you mean?" Discord asks confused.
"You don't need to explain yourself." Fluttershy timidly kicks the carpet. "After all she is very pretty."
"Wha-" Discord raises an eyebrow, unsure of where that came from. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"It doesn't matter if you kiss other ponies, after all..." Fluttershy wipes her face again. "Just friends."
"Urk- " Discord has to try as hard as he can to not have a knife literally stab him in the heart, to match the metaphorical one Fluttershy just threw. "B-but Fluttershy."
"If you'll excuse me Discord I need to feed my animals." Fluttershy bows her head even lower and then quickly starts running toward the back door.
"Fluttershy wait!" Without using his magic Discord swiftly grabs Fluttershy by the shoulder and spins her around to face him. What Discord sees surprises him, he had a feeling Fluttershy was upset but he wasn't expecting, tears are fresh in Fluttershy's eyes, her cheeks are wet from where Fluttershy wipes her face. After a moment Discord speaks. "Fluttershy I... I need to... tell you something."
"Wha..." Fluttershy stares into Discords eyes, they look so sincere, full of both concern and fear, it's a look Fluttershy has never seen Discord make this face before. A warm feeling forms in Fluttershy's heart, the pain from seeing the kiss is still there, but the warmth has diminished it some what. Words fail her, she becomes lost in Discords gaze. The two just stared at each other for what seemed like a couple minutes, after a while Discord finally continues.
"There's... there's something I've..." Discord moves his paw from her shoulder to her cheek, Fluttershy blushes slightly when he uses his thumb to wipe her tears. "I've been wanting to tell you for a long time."
"What is it Discord?" Fluttershy tilts her head to the side, so her cheek is resting gently in the palm of Discords paw. Fluttershy subconsciously leans a bit closer to Discord.
"I know we've been friends along time now." Discord says nervously. "And I know what you just saw but..."
"But what?" Fluttershy asks a bit confused and worried by his hesitation.
"It's not important." Discord says with a shake of his head.
"What is important is that your more then just a friend to me Fluttershy." Discord pulls Fluttershy a little closer to him.
"W- what do you-" Fluttershy is cut off by Discord pulling her closer and continuing to speak.
"Fluttershy I..." The two lean closer.
"Y- yes Discord?" They lean closer.
"Fluttershy..." They both start closing their eyes. "I..."
"Yes?" Their mouths mere inches apart.
"I lo-"
"~The tea is ready.~" Fluttershy and Discord immediately push away from each other, they are both blushing, avoiding each other's gaze the two turn to watch the glowing mare who just sang her way into the room. Moonlight places the tea tray on the table, then she turns to face the two other 'Ponies' in the room. "Come sit down you two, I made enough for the three of us."
"Oh right yes." Discord reaches out his paw to Fluttershy. "Shall we have some tea, my dear?"
"Um." Fluttershy doesn't look at Discord, instead she keeps her gaze on Moonlight. Moonlight stares a Fluttershy obviously waiting to see if Fluttershy takes Discords hand or not. Fluttershy does something she never thought she'd do, but after reminding herself what Moonlight had just done, she decided to go for it. Fluttershy smiles at Moonlight, causing her to raise an eyebrow, Fluttershy's smile slowly turns into a smug grin, well not so much smug, and it's not even really a grin... Fluttershy's smile slowly turns into the closest thing to a smug smile that Fluttershy can make, sort of a semi- confident smile. As she reaches out to take Discords paw, once her hoof is in Discords paw, she turns to face him. "Yes lets."
Discord and Fluttershy make their way over to the table and sit down. Discord finds himself sitting in between Moonlight and Fluttershy, the air grows tense as they all sit in silence, after a minute or so Moonlight speaks.
"So Discord how was your trip?" Discord blinks, he's been so focused on Fluttershy and Moonlight that he completely forgot to come up with something to tell his friends where he had gone without telling them anything they weren't suppose to know. A light bulb appears above Discords head as an idea pops into his head. I don't need to tell them where I was, just that I had a good time.
"Oh..uh.. it was a good trip, real relaxing, very educational." Discord leans back in his chair and smiles proudly. There, now i'm home free.
"Where did you go?" Fluttershy asks curiously. Discords eyes bug out of his head. Drat! Hiding informations one weakness! Discord clenches his teeth and shakes his fist at an invisible enemy. Follow up questions!
"Oh... ah... I went to uh..." Discord mentally curses his mother for making him keep his visit a secret. Truthfully if Fluttershy was the only one here he would've spilled the beans the second she asked...but. Discord looked at Moonlight out off the corner of his eye.But there's a wild card in the room. Discord still wasn't sure if Moonlight could be trusted, was her glowing a result of the Element of Sin, or was it just a unique thing about her. That kiss did not help, Discord couldn't understand why she had done that, Tiny Discord had said she might have a crush on him, but Discord didn't believe that. He believed Moonlight was a bit more straightforward thaln other ponies. Discord turns his eyes to face Fluttershy again, realizing that an awkward silence has filled the room while he was thinking, Discord quickly thinks an excuse and is about speak, but some pony else speaks first.
"I hear he was with Princess Luna." Discords eyes go wide as he and Fluttershy turns to look at Moonlight.
"Princess Luna?" Fluttershy asks curiously. Moonlight smiles at her fellow mare.
"That's right." Red magic envelopes the tea kettle and Moonlights horn as she begins serving the tea. "That's what I heard while I was in Canterlot."
"And where exactly did you hear that?" Discord asks a bit skeptical. Moonlight continues smiling as she fills her cup first.
"Why everywhere of course." Moonlight says with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "So many ponies saw you two fly out of Canterlot."
"We teleported out of Canterlot." Discord says eyeing Moonlight suspiciously.
"So you admit that you were with Princess Luna." Moonlight says returning Discords look. "From what I hear, you were with her the whole time you were gone."
"Well yes that is true." Discord says, he decided to just be honest, since Moonlight already knew about his trip. Discords eyes widen as something accrues to him. Fluttershy got really upset when she saw Moonlight kiss me. Then how's she gonna take the news that I almost missed Hearths Warming because I was with another mare. Discord turns to look at Fluttershy, and is slightly taken back by her pleasant smile.
"It's nice that you and Luna got to hang out." Fluttershy nods in appreciation as Moonlight fills her cup. "I'm glad your making more friends Discord."
"Oh uh." Discord grins and scratches the back of his head. "Me too."
"But doesn't it bug you that Discord was gone for so long, won't tell you where he went, and he was with another mare?" Moonlight asks a bit annoyed.
"Not really, Princess Luna is a friend of mine, and Discord does what ever he wants. And I don't want to change that about him." Fluttershy blushes and looks away from the two others at the table. "Being able to do things no matter what anypony things of you, I think it's the thing I admire most about Discord."
"Oh Fluttershy." Discord leans back in his chair and smirks. "It must have been very hard to pick that among all my wonderful qualities."
"Yes indeed it must have been." Moonlight says smiling at Discord before turning to face Fluttershy. "But Fluttershy you don't mind Discord being alone with Luna for that long... at all."
"Nope, I don't mind him being with the Princess." Fluttershy says with a nod.
"Or your friends?" Moonlight says with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course I don't mind that."
"Or The Crusaders."
"Not at all."
"Celestia?"
"Nope."
"Just me?"
"Yep." Fluttershy gasps and immediately clamps her hooves over her mouth, Moonlight gets a sinister smile on her face. Discord doesn't seem to notice the smile as he is staring at Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy wh-" Discord begins, but a very flustered Fluttershy interrupts him by rapidly waving her hooves.
"N-no I-I didn't mean t-that I-I meant-" Fluttershy's face turns beat red, not that anypony can see it as she as set her sights on the floor.
"Oh it's quite alright Fluttershy." Discord and Fluttershy turn toward a now very serious looking Moonlight. "I feel the same way about you."
The two mares glare at each other, but before can act Discord speaks up.
"Hey that's enough chit chatting." Discord says while pushing the mares back into their seats. "Why don't we have some of this nice looking tea and call it a night. What do say?"
"Sounds good to me." Moonlight says with a smirk toward Fluttershy. "How about you Flutters?"
"Uh... s-sure." Fluttershy says nervously.
The three at the table reach out and grab their tea cups. Moonlight immediately takes a sip, quickly followed by a content sigh. Discord and Fluttershy each stare at their respective cups. Discord takes a second to scan his tea for magic, he sighs in relief, the tea is completely clean of magic, he then sighs in annoyance as he remembers that he can't sense the Element of Sin so his scan tells him nothing. Discord looks at Moonlight out of the corner of his eyes. She is my friend... and friends trust each other. If Fluttershy and her friends can trust me, then I can trust her. Discord reaches down and grabs his cup, he brings it too his mouth to take a drink.
Fluttershy looks at her tea cup nervously, she had been all set to drink the tea a minute ago... but now that it was here in front of her, something was telling her to not drink it, it was the strange feeling she got earlier that told her not to believe. Fluttershy knew it wasn't jealousy because it didn't hurt. Fluttershy places her hooves on the table and slides the tea cup away from her. Moonlight and Discord put down their cups and look at her, she smiles sheepishly.
"I'm uh... not thirsty." Fluttershy says with an innocent shrug, suddenly red magic envelopes her tea cup, Fluttershy looks across the table and is greeted by Moonlights scowl. Fluttershy braces herself for Moonlights anger, but to her surprise it never comes.
"That's alright Fluttershy." Moonlight levitates the cup over to her side of the table and replaces her empty tea cup with Fluttershys full one. "More for me."
"Are you sure Fluttershy?" Discord asks a bit surprised that Fluttershy of all ponies was rejecting somepony elses act of kindness. Discord takes another sip of his tea before looking back to Fluttershy. "It's very sweet."
"Huh?" Fluttershy turns to look at Discord her eyes slightly. Very sweet. The way Discord had just said that mirrored the way Moonlight said it earlier perfectly. For some reason this made Fluttershy very uneasy, she began trying to remember when exactly Moonlight had used Discords voice to say that earlier. Fluttershy catches some movement out of the corner of her eye, she looks toward the living room were she had seen the moment, she sees Angel bunny jumping off the couch and moving out of view. Fluttershy looks back at the table, then back at the living room, then back at the table. Discord looks at Fluttershy with a puzzled look on his face.
"Everything ok Fluttershy?" Discord asks placing his cup on the table.
"um... y-yes... i mean no... i mean." Fluttershy turns back toward the living room, she stands up from the table. "I'll be right back."
"Um." Discord watches Fluttershy leave the room with a raised eyebrow, Discords look turns serious, he turns toward Moonlight who simple smiles at him. "Moonlight?"
"Yes Dissy poo." Moonlight says with a flirtatious batting of her eyelashes. Discord cringes, he doesn't like it when Moonlight calls him that.
"Why did you kiss me?" Discord asks obviously a bit nervous. Moonlight giggles att him. ugh he knows answer, Moonlight grins at him.
"Oh Discord I'd love to answer that question." A glint of malice appears in Moonlights eye. "But."
"Angel stop don't touch that!" Discord turns at the sound of Fluttershys voice.
"That's my cue to leave." Discord flips back around, but Moonlight has already vanished. Before Discord can do anything he heats the sound of shattering glass, followed by a high pitched shriek. Discord instantly teleports without even snapping his fingers.
"Fluttershy what's-" Discord is cut off from his question by the sight in front of him, Fluttershy is standing on the couch in living room desperately trying to grab her little bunny of the fireplace mantle with a stick. Why a stick? Because that's the only way she can reach him without being burned by the fire... oh yeah the Hearths Warming tree and half the living room is on fire. Fluttershy looks at Discord with tears in her eyes.
"Discord do something!" Fluttershy begs, her eyes never leaving Angel. Discord quickly snaps his fingers, a tornado of water sweeps through the room, the flames are extinguished and all the scorch marks that would've been left behind never appear. The only evidence that the fire ever existed was a charred box sitting beside the tree. Fluttershy flys over and scoops her precious bunny into a hug.
"Oh Angel I'm so glad your okay." Fluttershy happily spins her bunny around in a circle, but after two spins Fluttershy stops and looks at Angel sternly. "Why did you do that Angel, that was very dangerous."
I don't know. Angel seems to say with his eyes, Fluttershy sighs at Angels sad little face.
"Run off to bed Angel, we'll talk about this tomorrow." Fluttershy places Angel down on the floor, Angel takes one more sad look at Fluttershy before hopping off to bed. Discord clears his throat to get Fluttershys attention, she turns to look at him.
"Sooo what happened in here?" Discord asks while scratching his chin.
"Angel knocked the fire globe Moonlight gave me off the mantle." Fluttershy says while gesturing toward the broken glass on the floor. Discord looks down at the glass on the floor, he bends down to get a closer look.
"Fire globe?" Discord asks as he turns one of the shards over in his hand.
"Yeah it was like a snow-globe except it had fire swirling around inside." Discord stands up and glares down at the glass on the floor.
Nothing... no magic at all... Discord shuts his eyes and sighs heavily, with a wave of his hand the glass vanishes. There's no denying it anymore, Moonlight is definitely the Element of Sin.
"Discord are you ok?" Fluttershy asks with a worried look on her face. Discord looks at Fluttershy out of the corner of his eye.
I should come clean, the Elements of Harmon- No... It's too dangerous for them I can handle this myself. Discord smiles down at Fluttershy. "Everything is fine my dear, I'm just relieved your not hurt."
"Oh thank you Discord." Fluttershy blushes slightly, her eyes wonder to the Hearths Warming tree, once she spots the charred box her eyes widened. "Oh no."
"Hmm?" Discord watches as Fluttershy runs over to the tree, saying oh no the whole time. She grabs the box and begins taking off the charred wrapping paper.
"Please be okay, please be okay." Fluttershy repeats to herself as she manages to get the top open. Discord peers over her shoulder at the contents of the box, inside is nothing but ashes. "No..."
"Fluttershy it's okay." Discord puts a paw on her shoulder, she turns around at the touch on her shoulder, Discord flinches slightly when he sees the tears running down her face. She grabs the box and hands it to Discord.
"Discord you need to fix this." Fluttershy pleads at him, he reaches out and places his talon on the box, he realizes some magic onto the package, he scowls when nothing happens.
"No." Discord growls, Fluttershy looks up at Discord with concern, he takes his talon off the box and stares at it. I could put out the fires, even clean up the scorch marks, so why can't I fix this? He flex his talons muscles. I don't understand, why do this at all, manipulate Angel to set the house on fire right after she leaves, then use a small amount of the Elements power so I can easily put out the fire, but prevent me from fixing the gift Fluttershy got for me? Discord clenches his fist. What does this accomplish? Why even use the Elements power for something like this. Now I know for sure that shes the bearer. Why destroy the present Fluttershy got for me!? Discord swings his fist into the wall.
"What are you playing at!?!" Discord glares daggers down at the ground, and begins to growl.
"D-discord?" Upon hearing Fluttershys voice Discord immediately snaps out of his rage, he looks up from the ground excepting to see Fluttershy looking at him with fear in her eyes. But as always she only looks at him with that tender look of concern. "Are you okay?"
"Oh um." Discord blushes slightly and nonchalantly coughs. "Y-yes I"m fine my dear, unfortunately I can't repair the gift you have there."
"B-but I made this for you." Fluttershy looks sadly down at the gift she is holding. "I've wanted to give this to you for so long."
"Oh Fluttershy." Discord lifts her chin up making her look at him. "You being my friend is the only gift I've ever wanted."
"R-really?" Fluttershy asks her face turning a deep shade of red.
"Yes really... besides." Discord reaches into the ashes of the box and pulls out a small burnt strip of brown cloth, embroidered on the cloth is a Butterfly into a pink heart. "Some of it survived."
"B-but it was suppose to be a blanket with sleeves." Fluttershy says through her pout, Discord chuckles lightly.
"A blanket with sleeves?" Discord asks curiously. "I like the sound of that, but seeing how only this survived I have another use for it."
"What's that?" Fluttershy asks, Discord conjures a thin strip of cloth and connects it to the burnt cloth, he then raises it above his head and slips it on.
"Why a tie of course." Discord quickly conjures a runway and shows off his new accessory with several ridiculous poses. "How do I look?"
"It suits you Discord." Fluttershy says between giggles, suddenly Discord and the stage vanish from sight, before Fluttershy can question anything Discord reappears next to her.
"For you my sweet." Discord holds a small misshapen box in front of Fluttershys face, she grabs it and looks at it intently, None of the sides are the same size, the lid is crooked and too small for the box. she carefully lifts the lid up and gasps at the sight inside. The only thing in the box is a necklace made of flower petals with a lopsided oval locket on the end, Fluttershy opens the locket and smiles at the pictures of her and Discord the decorate the inside.
"Oh Discord I love it." Fluttershy says as she hugs the necklace to her chest, Fluttershys face nearly bursts into flames when Discord suddenly leans in and kisses her on the cheek.
"And I..." Discord hesitates a moment before speaking. "Knew you would."
Fluttershy wraps her hooves around Discords neck and nuzzles his face, Discord blushes from the hug, he pauses for only a moment before returning the Embrace.
"Happy Hearths Warming Discord." Fluttershy says tightening her hug, Discord smiles as he nuzzles the top of her head.
A single candle burns low in the night, it illuminates a lone unicorn stallion sitting a desk in a dark library, he silently writes in a book with his magic, while flipping the pages of another with his hoof. His body is blue and his white mane is cut short, a thin beard matches his mane perfectly. He continues on for minutes on end silently reading, silently writing, until everything suddenly goes black. The stallion doesn't seem bothered by this at all, he simply smiles and reaches up and touches the small hooves covering his eyes.
"Peek-a-boo guess who." The voice of a young filly rings in the stallions ear, he rubs his chin with his hoof pretending to be deep in thought.
"Hmm, I can only think of one pony who would be up this far past their bed time." The stallion reaches up and grabs the filly by the waist. "And that pony is." The stallion flips her up over his head and plops her down in his lap, the filly is dark blue with medium length pale blue mane, she giggles the whole time. "Luna."
"Starry that's cheating." Luna giggles, 'Starry' looks down at her playfully.
"May I ask what your still doing up my little princess?" 'Starry' with a raised eyebrow, Luna giggles at him.
"Nope you may not." Luna says with a big grin, 'Starry' puts a hoof to his chest in mock hurt.
"Oh come now Princess what must I do to learn this most vital of information." 'Starry' says in an over the top manner, Luna puts her hoof to her chin and thinks for a minute, her eyes light up as she gets an idea, she hops from 'Starry's' lap and lands on the desk.
"If ye wish to learnth my secrets thou must swear fealty to me." Luna says while making dramatic hoof gesture for emphasis, 'Starry' chuckles at the young filly.
"Very well I pledge my loyalty to you oh great and powerful Luna." 'Starry' bows his head, Luna picks up on of the quill 'Starry' was using.
"Then I Princess Luna dub ye." Luna touches the feather of the quill on one of his shoulders and then the other. Sir 'Starry' The Bearded."
"The Bearded?" 'Starry' un-bows his head and raises an eyebrow at the small Princess. "Why, Bearded?"
"Well you do have a beard." Luna says matter of factly.
"But why not something cool like 'Starry' The Magnificent, or 'Starry' The Amazing, or-" 'Starry stops talking when he sees that the young filly is pouting at him.
"But I think your beard is cool." Luna says while showing off her best puppy dog eyes. 'Starry' doesn't have a heart of stone so he caves before the cuteness immediately.
"You know what your right, The Bearded is pretty cool, I'll have to use that from now on." Luna's face lights up upon hearing this.
"You really like it?" Luna asks, her frown turns into a big smile.
"Yep I sure do." 'Starry' looks at Luna expectantly.Now are you gonna hold up your part of the deal and tell me what your doing up?"
"Oh ok. Ya see, the reason for that is... Escape!" Luna suddenly jumps off the desk, flapping her wings she soars out of library and into the hall, 'Starry' wastes no time quickly hopping out of chair and giving chase.
"Luna get back here!" 'Starry' shouts as he pursues the filly down the hallway, Luna turns down corridor after corridor, 'Starry' is right behind her, his long legs help him keep up with the much smaller pony. The two run/fly through the halls of the castle, 'Starry' could just grab her with his magic, Luna doesn't know why he doesn't. Luna turns around a corner and slams into something, the impact throws her off balance causing her to fall out of the air, 'Starry' rounds the corner just in time to see her fall, before he can grab her with his magic, she is enveloped in a gold aura and placed gently on the ground. 'Starry' moves his gaze from the small Alicorn rubbing the top of her head, to the pony she ran into, 'Starry' flinches when he sees the long pink hair and disapproving stare of a much taller pony, a white Alicorn.
"Celestia." 'Starry' says nervously. "I'm sorry did we wake you?"
"Luna." Celestia ignores 'Starry' and focuses her attention on the small Alicorn sitting on the ground, the sound of the older mares voice causes Luna to freeze. She slowly turns her head to face the pink haired giant, upon seeing the scowl being directed at her she forces a smile and a laugh.
"H-hey Sis whatcha doin here?" Luna tries another forced laugh but that only makes Celestia scowl more.
"Go to bed Luna." Celestia seems to finally notice 'Starry's Presence. "I need to talk to 'Starry' or a moment."
"Celestia don't be mad at Starry I'm the one who-"
"It's ok Luna." Luna turns to look at 'Starry' his gentle smile makes her feel a bit better. "You go on to bed, I'll come tell you a story in a little bit."
"You promise?" Luna says with a pout, 'Starry' chuckles at her.
"Yes I promise." 'Starry' pats her on the head. "Now go on now."
"Ok." Luna chirps with a bright smile. She quickly dashes off, she only hears one sentence spoken by her sister.
"Why do you put her through this?"
Later In Luna's Bed Chamber
Luna bolts up in her bed as she hears the door open, she smiles at the unicorn stallion walking through the door.
"I got you in trouble didn't I?" Luna asks, she hangs her head sadly, but a sudden chuckle from 'Starry' makes her look back up.
"Of course I didn't." 'Starry' sits down on the edge of the bed. Celestia just wanted to talk to me a bit."
"Your not fibbing are you?" Luna asks with another pout, 'Starry' waves a dismissive hoof.
"Of course." 'Starry' claps his hooves together. "Now let's get to that story."
Before 'Starry can start telling the story he feels a small pair of hooves pull on his fur, he turns around to look at Luna her face face is downcast, mostly hidden by her hair. 'Starry' opens his mouth to question the Princess, but she beats him to the punch.
"Are you going to die?" 'Starry' freezes upon hearing these words, the room falls eerily silent as 'Starry' just stares at Luna in shock.
"Luna what are you talking about?" 'Starry' asks with a sympathetic look in his eyes.
"Your not a Alicorn like me, so that means y- your gonna d- die some day right?" 'Starry' sees tears fall from the small filly. 'Starry' sighs heavily.
"Yes I am." Luna looks up at the stallion, her tearful gaze meets his sympathetic smile. "I may die some die Luna, neither of us can control that, but I will do everything in my power to make the day I leave this world is as far away as possible. 'Starry' reaches out a hoof a wipes the tears from the young Princesses eye. "So please smile Luna, because No matter what I will always be here for you."
'Starry' smiles at Luna, glad to see that his words have stopped her tears, he flinches in surprise when her tears suddenly start up again even faster then before, her mouth covers up into a huge smile, she flings her hooves at 'Starry' wrapping her forelegs around his neck in a tight hug, 'Starry' just sits their surprised silently listening to the young filly cry into his shoulder, he can only make out one sentence.
"I love you big brother!" 'Starry' chuckles lightly to himself before returning the embrace.
"I love you too little sis."
Luna slowly opens her eyes, she lifts her head from the desk she was laying on, she carefully wipes her tear stsined eyes as she gazes at the book her head had neen laying on. The Journal Of Two Sister's, a book that had been written after her banishment, no mention of her brother was in this book, at leadt no mention of him being her brother, she turns her head and glances at a large stack of books nearby, all studies and theorys about all kinds of magic, all written by a stallion she used to call Starry. The sight of the books causes her eyes to water as memories of her brother flash before her eyes, but the memory stuck in her brain doesn't involve her brother instead it involves Discords mother.
But the Element of Sin used its dark powers and placed curse on him. It killed him. Tears begin falling from Lunas eyes. You knew him as Starswirl The Bearded. Luna covers her eyes with her hooves, she tries to will the tears and the thoughts away, but one last memory slips into her mind, which only makes more tears. The Element of Sin caused untold devastation to the planet by choosing Princess Luna as its first bearer.
"Big Brother... " Luna quietly whispers, a sob rocks her entire body. "I-i'm sorry."
Discord shifts around hesitantly unsure of his next move, he glances down from his hiding place in the ceiling at the Princess of Night below, his plan was to sneak up on her while she was napping and jump scare her awake, but before he could she had woken up and... started crying for some reason. This confuses Discord to end, he doesn't know what to do when a mare cries, the only mare he's ever seen cry is Fluttershy, and all he has to do when that happens is get rid of the thing that sacred her. But Luna is far different then Fluttershy. He starts thinking about his friend the Princess of Friendship, but decided Twilight's way of doing things probably wouldn't help here, whatever her way is... Discord only listens to about every fifth word Twilight says. His mind wonders back to Fluttershy, the one pony he does pay full attention to, whenever one of her animals is upset Fluttershy talks to them and finds a way to cheer them up, sometimes it's food other times it's breaking their neck, Fluttershy calls it a massage, Discord doesn't believe her, but that's not important. Discord finally makes up his mind, with a flash he leaves his hiding spot.
Luna has her head buried in her hooves, she felt a little better, but fresh tears were still coming from her eyes, she was ready to give in to another wave of sobs as thoughts of her brother return to her mind, but before she can she hears something that makes her freeze.
"Hey Lulu?" Luna recognizes Discords voice, she quickly wipes her tears away before looking up to face him.
"I'm fine why do you ask?" Luna asks while hoping he didn't notice she had been crying.
"So uh... " Discord scratches the back of his head. "Why were you crying."
"Oh." Luna covers her face with her hooves again trying to hide her embarrassment. "I was hoping no pony heard that."
"Well I more saw it then heard it." Discord enlarges his eyes and shrinks his ears for emphasis. "Being in the ceiling makes it kinda hard to hear."
"Of course." Luna says with her face still covered, she doesn't seem bothered by Discords hiding place, a silence over takes the room after she speaks.
"Sooo... uh..." Discord rocks on the heels of his feet, unsure of what to do next Discord just decides to go for broke and just ask. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Huh?" Luna uncovers her eyes and looks at Discord, she smiles at her friend. "That's oddly nice of you Discord."
"I know, you ponies are a good influence on me." Discord pretends to gag, Luna chuckles at Discord as he continues in a joking tone. "Still not sure I like it."
"Don't worry, deep down you're still the same old Draconequus." Luna says with a smile as she wipes her eyes, Discords eye twitches.
"What do you mean by that?" Discord asks a bit harshly, Luna blinks at the sudden tone change.
"You've always been a prankster." Luna looks around utterly confused that she needs to explain this. "And you'll always be a prankster."
"Oh yeah." Discord puts a paw to his head and shakes his head a little. "Duh."
"Discord are you ok?" Luna asks as she stands up from the desk, Discord looks over at Luna.
"Oh uh yeah I'm fine." Discord takes his paw off his head and gives Luna a grin. he coughs. "So what's wrong?"
"Oh it was a..." Luna averts her eyes as she thinks about the dream she just had. "Good dream, or I guess it was a memory."
"A good dream made you cry?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow, Luna chuckles.
"Yeah." Luna says with a nod and a shrug.
"That doesn't even make sense to me." Discord says with a roll of his eyes.
"You'll understand when it happens." Luna says with a shrug, Discord snaps his fingers, suddenly Luna is laying on a therapy couch and Discord is sitting in a chair dressed as a therapist. He summons a clipboard and a pen.
"Alright Miss Night." Discord peeks at Luna from behind his clipboard. "Wanna talk about it?"
Luna sighs heavily before smiling at her friend. "Yeah I wanna talk about it..."
"Alright then let's do this thin-" Discord says while excitedly clicking his pen and prepareing to write stuff down."
"But not with you." Luna finishes while interupting Discord, Luna suddenly hears a snap, she turns to face Discord, her eyes go wide when she sees the death glare on his face and the broken pen in his head. "Uh... Discord? You ok?"
"Why can't you talk to me about this huh?" Discord growls at Luna. "I ain't good enough to talk too?"
"What?! No!" Luna sits up on the couch just staring at her enraged friend.
"Oh really then why can't you talk to me about this, Huh!?" Discord nearly shouts.
"Because this a personal thing I need to talk to Celestia about!" Luna shouts back, this only seems to make Discord angrier.
"Oh of course you'd rather talk to Celestia over me!" Discord snaps his fingers causeing the chair and couch to distintagrate. "No pony ever comes to Discord with their problems!"
"I'm not talking to you about my problem because it doesn't concern you!" Luna yells using her royal canterlot voice. "This is between me and my sister!"
"Fine! If your problem doesn't concern me then my problem doesn't concern you!" Luna blinks in surprise at Discord.
"Wait what do you mean by that?" Luna asks suddenly feeling a bit nervous.
"I mean your fired! Off the case!" Discord pauses momentarily to clutch his head with his paw, without removing his paw from his head he growls out the rest. "I don't need your help anymore! I never did!"
Luna just stares at her friend unable to believe what he just said, she can't that the one pony who has ever invited her to help on an adventure just fired her... Lunas wide eyed stare suddenly narrows. Luna grinds her teeth and growls out her reply. "What did you just say?"
"I said your-" Discord notices a dark aura begin forming around Luna, he is suddenly much more nervous when he says the last word. "...fired."
"So let me get this straight, you ask me for help out of no where." Luna asks without looking at him.
"Yes." Discord answers nervously.
"Knowing full well that I never get to do anything, and would love the chance to go on an adventure." Lunas voice becomes cold and monotone.
"Uh yes." Discord removes his paw from his head.
"And now you want to just drop me from the team, thus ruining the one adventure I've been on in a thousand years?"
Discord takes a few cautious steps backwards as the dark aura continues to grow. "Well when you put it that way."
Discord yelps in surprise as Luna suddenly locks eyes with him, her eyes have become sli and the dark aura has nearly consumed her entire body. Discord feels his blood run cold. His eye twitches as a throbing pain starts up in his head, the pain makes it feel like his brain is shouting at him. I'm the embodiment of chaos, I won't be intimidated by a Princess. With this thought Discord narrows his eyes and matches Lunas intense glare, magic begins swirling Discord similar to the dark aura around Luna, the entire room seems to shake at the pressure of the most intense staring contest ever, the auras around the two continue to grow until each has claimed half the library.
"Is this really what you want?" Luna growls through her teeth.
"Yes it is." Discord growls in return, to Discords surprise the dark aura around Luna suddenly starts to shrink soon it's gone completely. Luna sighs heavily before turning away from Discord.
"Fine." Luna quietly walks back the desk she was napping on and sits down in the chair, Discord watches as she silently grabs a book of the stack and seems to start reading. The pain in his head subsidies as he watches his friend quietly flip the pages, he is relieved to see her eyes have returned to normal. Discord scratches his head in confusion, he's glad he seems to have won the argument, sad that he has probably hurt Lunas feeling, and confusion over the fact that he doesn't regret his decision to go solo, in fact he feels a bit proud of himself, which also confuses him.
"What is going on in here?" Discord and Luna turn to look at the door, Celestia is standing in the door way wixe eyed. Her eyes scan the room , the library is a complete mess, It looks like the library had it's own personal earthquake.
"Nothing sister just a slight disagreement." Luna answers coldly without takung her eyes off her book, Celestia takes notice of Lunas tone of voice and decides to dig any deeper for now. Celestia turns her attention to Discord.
"I'm glad your here Discord I have an important task for you." Celestia says in a serious tone, Discord sighs.
"Oh what now?" Discord grumbles in response. Celestia ignores Discord comment and continues.
"Another hurricane has formed off the coast of Manehattan." Discord and Luna exchange a knowing glance, Celestia doesn't seem to notice.
"Alright i'll go take care of it." Discord proclaims as he heads for the door, but something Celestia says makes him stop short.
"Oh Rainbow Dash will be meeting you there." Discord turns to look at Celestia.
"Why?" Discord asks a bit harshly, Celestia blinks in confusion at his tone.
"Well since you two took care of that tornado very quickly last time I figured she could help you deal with the hurricane this time." Celestia says with a smile. Discords eye twitches as he feels his brain screaming at him again.
"What Celestia don't you think I can handle it?" Discord asks with clenched teeth.
"Um... no I know you can hadle it." Celestia raises an eyebrow at the Lord of Chaos. "I just thought you'd like some help."
"Oh so I don't do a good enough job for you is that it?" Discord thrusts an accusing finger at Celestia interupting her before she can speak. "I am Discord the Lord of Chaos, I am the single most powerful veung in the entire world, I don't need anyones help to do anything! So you better mail that rainbow maned show off and tell her not to waste her time cause Discords got this shit in the bag!"
Before Celestia can speak Discord vanishes in a puff of smoke and cinnamon rolls, she just stares dumbfounded at the place he'd been standing. Slowly she turns her head to look at her sister.
"What was all that about?" Celestia asks with a look of shock on her face, to Celestias surprise Luna doesn't seem bothered by Discord behavior at all.
"You'll have to excuse Discord." Luna speaks flatly as she looks back down at her book. "He's letting his pride get the better of him today."
"I see." Celestia looks at her younger sister slowly flip through the book in front of her. "So what are you reading Luna."
"Just one of our brothers brilliant novel's." Luna notices Celestia flinch at the mention of their brother.
"I see." Celestia looks around the room attempting to avoid eye contact with her sister who isn't seeking it. "Any reason for the sudden interest in those old books?"
"Well these 'old books' are the only thing we have left of our brother, and I never took the time to read them a thousand years ago, so I thought I should now." Luna wasn't being one hundred percent honest, the main reason she was going through the books was to try and find the journal Mother Nature had told her about. Even though Discord had just fired her Luna was still focused on finding that journal, after all he had to have been writing it up till his death... Luna stares off into space.
"The death I caused..." Luna stares at the book shes holding, she had just flipped to a picture of Starswirl The Bearded, she smiled at the thought that he had actually used that name. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Celestia speaking to the librarian. But everything is silent as she focuses on the face of her departed brother.
"Did the curse make him suffer...? Did it hurt...?" Tears begin forming in Lunas eyes. "Did he know I caused it?"
Luna turns her head and looks out the window, she stares at the cloudless sky and asks the question she wishes to know the answer to most.
Twilight slowly closes the book on her lap a content smile on her face, she levitates the book back to its spot on the shelf, as soon as shes satisfied it's in the right spot she turns to the stack of books next to her, she grabs the next book off the stack and flips to the first page, she sighs happily.
"Alright book thirty seven let's see whatcha got." Before Twilight has completed the eighteenth page, (most ponies would still be a page one), she hears the doorbell ring.
"Spike can you get that?" Twilight shouts without looking away from her book, after a few minutes she's a bit puzzled why she didn't hear the door open, but she hasn't heard the doorbell again so assumes its been dealt with. After a few more minutes she places her book back on the shelf, but before she grabs her thirty eighth book of the day, she feels a tap on her shoulder, she turns her head and is suddenly face to face with a yellow muzzle. Twilight screams out in surprise and falls out of her chair, her visitor also screams in surprise however her scream is much quieter.
"F-fluttershy what are you doing?" Twilight asks as she quickly gets to her hooves. Fluttershy bows her head sadly.
"I'm sorry Twilight I didn't mean to scare you." Fluttershy looks back up at her friend. "But I need to talk to you and nopony answered the door, I hope it's okay that I let myself in."
"Your my friend Fluttershy of course it's okay." Twilight nervously rubs the back of her head. "Sorry you were waiting for so long, I told Spike to get the door but he must not have not heard me."
"Oh I saw Spike on my way here." Fluttershy points as if trying to show Twilight where Spike is. "He was on his way to Raritys to help her with some fashion show coming up."
"Oh..." Twilight puts a hoof to her chin and tilts her head in thought, thinking back she does remember Spike saying something about fashion about a dozen books ago. Twilight shakes her head and turns her attention back to her yellow friend. "So what's up Fluttershy?"
"I was hoping you could help me with something." Fluttershy opens a saddle bag that Twilight just know notices.
"What do you need help with?" Twilight asks as she tries to peek in the bag for what Fluttershy is grabbing.
"This." Fluttershy says as she pulls a tea pot out of the saddle bag, Twilight just stares at the ceramic object.
"And what do you need help with exactly?" Twilight asks with a raised eyebrow, Fluttershy sighs softly.
"It's complicated."
Soon In Twilights Basement Lab
"So what happened exactly?" Twilight asks as she messes with a strange machine on one of the tables, the basement has barely anything in it, several desks outline the room most are empty but there are some machines on three of them, in the center of the room are two couches facing each other, each couch as a small book shelf next to it.
"Well you see Discord and-" Fluttershy scowls as she says the next word. "Moonlight... came over for Hearths Warming."
"Oh that's nice." Twilight immediately regrets saying that as Fluttershy scowls at her, Twilight chuckles nervously before correcting herself. "I-i mean that sucks."
"Well it wasn't all bad." Fluttershy smiles slightly while blushing. "It was fun having Discord there."
"And then... then she... she..." Fluttershy starts grinding her teeth. "She-!"
A loud clap pulls Fluttershy out of her thoughts, she looks at Twilight a bit confused, Twilight smiles nervously and gives a light chuckle. "I meant what happened with the tea pot?"
Fluttershy stares at her friend in confusion, before something clicks in her head. "Oh right, I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Twilight says as Fluttershy begins retrieving the tea pot once more, Twilight silently thanks Celestiathat she got out of that situation.
"Okay so Moonlight made some tea on Hearths Warming and she used this pot to do it." Fluttershy places the tea pot down on the table next to the strange machine.
"And?" Twilight gestures with her hoof for Fluttershy to continue.
"And I don't like it." Fluttershy says flatly.
"The tea or the fact she used your tea pot?" Twilight asks a bit confused, Fluttershy puts a hoof to her chin.
"Both, I guess." Fluttershy concludes.
"I thought you liked all tea?" Twilight looks at the tea pot. "How bad could it be?"
"It's not the taste Twilight." Fluttershy looks at the tea pot nervously. "Theres just something about it that makes me uncomfortable."
"Hmm..." Twilight watches her friend nervously eye the tea pot, without saying a word she levitates the tea pot over to her and opens the lid. She peeks inside a instantly regretted it. A strange feeling of danger forms in her stomach as she gazes at the ordinary looking tea, Twilight suddenly closes the lid and the feeling fades as quickly as it appeared.
"Do you see what I mean?" Fluttershy asks curiously, Twilight nods.
"It's like something deep inside me is warning me to stay away." Fluttershy nods in agreement.
"That's how I feel too." Twilight looks away from the jar and back toward Fluttershy.
"So what do you need me to do?" Twilight asks while putting a hoof to her chin in thought.
"Well I was hoping you could use your magic to see what's in it." Twilight nods in understanding.
"Alright well lucky for us I have just the machine for the job." Twilight turns to the machine she was messing with earlier. "Behold the automatic ingredients and pieces inator."
"Oooo" Fluttershy looks at the machine in awe, before bluntly asking. "What does it do?"
"I'm glad you asked Fluttershy you see the automatic ingredients and pieces inator or A.I.P.I for short breaks things down to their base ingredients, for example if I put in a cupcake it would break up into flour, sugar, eggs, etc."
"That's amazing." Fluttershy says with an accompanying applause, but then something dawns on her. "Why did you build this?"
"Oh well you see..." Twilight rubs the back of her neck and chuckles. "Granny Smith always says that her apple pies are so delicious because she bakes them with love, so I uh... wanted to see how she did that."
The two friends stand awkwardly in silence for a minute or two, before Fluttershy turns to look at Twilight.
"You know when she says that she doesn't mean it literal-"
"I know that." Twilight says defensively, before turning away a whispering under her breathe. "Now."
Canterlot Castle: Hallway
"Luna where are you going?" The Princess of the Night turns back to look at her elder sister.
"I am off to Manehattan." Luna says as if its the most obvious thing in the world. Celestia catches up to her sister and stops.
"Why on earth are you going there?" Celestia asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Because of her stupid son." Luna says with a groan, she notices Celestia puzzled expression, she quickly coughs and waves her hoof as if to be rid of her previous sentence. "I mean Discord needs my help."
"Discord said he could handle this on his own." Celestia says with a smile. "So there's no reason to trouble yourself."
"Discord can't handle anything when he's the trouble that needs to be handled." Luna turns and continues down the hall, Celestia follows after her.
"What do you mean?" Celestia asks as she looks down at her little sister.
"It's complicated, but only I can help him." Luna says bluntly. The two sisters pass through some doors and walk out onto one of the castles many balconies.
"Luna I insist you stay at the castle, if your worried about taking care of that hurricane, don't worry Rainbow Dash proably ignored my second letter and is already there to help him." Celestia says confidently, Luna looks at her sister with a frown.
"Have you not been listening, I need to go." Luna says with a hint of anger.
"Luna I insist you stay, I can just get Twi-"
"Do not say Twilight and her friends." Luna interrupts with a jab of her hoof. Luna places her hoof back on the ground and spreads her wings. "I have to do this."
"Lu-" Before Celestia can speak Luna flaps her wings and takes off into the sky, Celestia watches her fly for a moment before stomping her hoof.
"Mr. Sentry?" Celestia calls into the castle, a golden pegasus stallion with blue hair and gold armor emerges from the door way.
"Yes your majesty?" Flash Sentry asks with a quick bow. Celestia gestures towards the sky.
"I want you to follow Princess Luna." Celestia looks Flash Sentry straight in the eye to emphasize her next point. "And make sure you aren't seen."
"You want me to spy on Princess Luna?" Flash asks with wide eyes.
"I need to know what Luna and Discord are hiding from me." Celestia looks at the dark blue dot in the distance. "Whether they want to tell me or not."
Twilights Super Secret Lab Where Nothing Bad Ever Happens And It's All Legit And Please Don't Worry About The Red Stain In The Corner
Twilight and Fluttershy sit quietly on the couches in the middle of the room the only noise is the hum of the A.I.P.I., and the occasional flip of Twilights book, the have foregone the typical pot of tea and decided to just have some apple juice, their glasses rest on the coffee table. Fluttershy shifts awkwardly in her seat as the time ticks away. Suddenly the A.I.P.I. makes a beeping noise, Fluttershy looks at her friend excitedly and opens her mouth to speak but is cut off.
"No, it's not done yet." Twilight says flatly without looking away from her book, Fluttershy slowly closes her mouth, but it pops right back open as the A.I.P.I. makes another beep, but again she is cut off. "Still no."
"Ugh." Fluttershy falls back into the couch with a sigh. Twilight peeks over her book to look at her friend.
"Why so impatient Fluttershy?" Twilight asks as she closes her book and places it on the table. "It's almost like you want something to be wrong."
"You felt the weird vibe from the tea too." Fluttershy points out. "Don't you want answers as much as I do?"
"Of course I do." Twilight says sincerely. "But I get the feeling it's more then that."
Twilight reaches over and places a hoof on Fluttershys. "I'm here if you wanna talk about it."
Fluttershy stares at her friend touched by the sincerity in her eyes and voice, with a heavy sigh Fluttershy decides to tell her friend what's going on.
Fluttershy tells Twilight about everything she knows Moonlight has done, and everything she thinks Moonlight has done. She told her that she's been having nightmares but not tell her exactly what they were about. She also didn't mention her jealousy or her feelings for Discord.
"Wow." Twilight says a bit surprised, her eyes wide. "You really think Moonlight did all that?"
"Yeah." Fluttershy answers with a nod, Twilight shakes her head in disbelief.
"Hold on this is crazy, controlling the weather, causing nightmares, no pony can do that." Twilight puts a hoof to her chin and thinks for a moment before correcting herself. "Well no pony can do all of the things you mentioned."
"I know it's hard to believe but I'm positive that Moonlight is behind it." Fluttershy looks at Twilight, her gaze turning serious. "She always shows up whenever Discord leaves in the middle of our date, and she knows why he left before I tell her, and everything else she says and does around me only makes me more suspicious."
"Umm..." Twilight heard everything Fluttershy had said, but one word seemed to actually register. "Did you just say that you and Discord go on dates?"
"W-wha-" Fluttershy's face turns beat red as she realizes her mistake. "Well you by that I meant um you see we don't we're not-"
"Fluttershy are you and Discord dating?" Twilight asks nervously, Fluttershys face goes even redder. Fluttershy looks down at the ground and shakes her head. Twilight nervously asks another question. "Do you want to?"
Fluttershy silently nods her head. Fluttershy jumps as Twilight suddenly slams her hoof down on the table.
"Darn it!" Twilight grumbles as she lifts her hoof from the table. "Now I owe Rarity fifty bits."
"W-what?" Fluttershy asks with a confused blink, Twilight continues grumbling about her lost bet. After a moment Twilight notices Fluttershys puzzled look and chuckles nervously.
"Oh you see me, Rarity and Pinkie made a bet about why you've been acting so weird lately, I said it was because you were jealous of Discords new friend, Rarity said it was because your in love with him and don't want to see Discord around any other mare." As Twilight explains Fluttershy becomes redder and redder, normally she'd hide behind her hair and get all flustered but she was a little to curious.
"W-what d-did Pinkie bet?" That question makes Twilights eyes go wide and a blush appear on her face.
"Oh um she uh..." Twilight avoids eye contact and rubs the back of her head while laughing nervously. "You know Pinkie with all her uh eccentric ideas, it's really not worth bringing up."
Fluttershy looks at her nervously chuckling friend, she raises an eyebrow. "What did she bet?"
"Well she uh..." Twilight looks at the ground and whispers the next part so gently that only a professional whisperer would be able to make out what she said. Fortunately Fluttershy is a professional whisperer. "She thought you might be-"
*Ding*
"Oh the A.I.P.I. is done, let me just go check that right now." Twilight decides she can't run out of this conversation fast enough so she decides to teleport to the A.I.P.I.
Fluttershy walks over to the machine, Twilight pushes a few buttons on the machine, soon some images appear on the small screen attached to the machine.
"So what's in it?" Fluttershy asks, Twilight pushes a couple more buttons.
"Let's see basic stuff, water, mint leaves, lavender, winter berries." Twilight taps a few more buttons. "And now let's see if there are any magical ingredients."
Twilight's eyes go wide as two images appear on the screen, a red liquid and a swirling ball of black energy. Twilight begins quickly taping buttons. "No that can't be right."
"What? What is it?" Fluttershy asks as she looks over Twilight's shoulder, but she can't understand anything the screen says.
"This red liquid is blood." Twilight says in shock, Fluttershy's eyes go wide.
"Blood? I thought this was magic?" Fluttershy asks in confusion.
"It is, this blood is made of magic." Twilight touches a few more buttons. "The blood is made of magic that has been corrupted by this other ball of magic, I can't tell what kind of magic this swirling ball of energy is but this magic blood is made out of-" Twilight taps another button, and her eyes go even wider. Fluttershy looks from the screen to Twilight and then back again.
"What? What's it made out of?" Fluttershy asks getting a bit scared, Twilight points a hoof at the blood on the screen.
Discord flashes into existence high above the harbor of Manehatten, he takes a deep breathe of the salty air, Discord has always loved the ocean,and why not it's water something ponies usually see as safe and refreshing that is the exact opposite, very chaotic. Discord shakes his head, "Focus Discord, now is not the time to get distracted." Discord turns around and looks at the open ocean, in the distance, but not nearly as far in the distance as he thought it was going to be, was the fast approaching hurricane, hurricane Sparkle as the ponies called it. Discord chuckled ad he imagined is purple friends face when she found out about that one.
"Hmm." Discord puts his talon up to his chin and thinks for a minute. "This is a lot more serious then I was expecting."
"Maybe we should have let Rainbow Dash come help us." Tiny Discord says while suddenly appearing in Discords field of vision. Discord scowls at his tiny replica, Discord puts a paw up to his head as the throbbing pain in his head returns.
"I don't need Rainbow Dash." Discord says while he crosses his arms. "I can handle this all on my own."
"But we know how hard it is for us to dispel one of Moonlights storms." Tiny Discord looks nervously out to see. "Do we have enough time before it hits the city?"
"Of course we do I'm Discord I can do anything." Discord smiles smugly. "Besides even if we don't have enough time I can just make more."
"More time?" Tiny Discord asks with a raised eyebrows.
"But of course." Discord says with a shrug.
"Um we know we can't do that right?" Tiny Discord asks a bit confused, Discord scowls once more at his mini me.
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do." Discord snarls at Tiny Discord. "I can do anything."
"What is up with us today?" Tiny Discord shakes his head in annoyance. "Why are we so snippy."
"I'm not snippy your snippy!" Discord shouts at Tiny Discord.
"Are we kidding us!?" Tiny Discord shouts back. "We are the same Draconequus!"
The two Discord glare daggers at each other, they would continue on like that but something brightly colored makes herself known.
"Um... am I interrupting something here?" Both Discords turn to look at the new pony in the air, Tiny Discord smiles at his rainbow colored, while normal sized Discord scowls.
"What are you doing here Rainbow Dash?" Discord says a bit snarky, Rainbow Dash ignores his snark.
"Well duh I'm here to kick hurricane booty." Rainbow Dash stretches her wings and forelegs, she looks between the two Discords. "So uh we doing this or what?"
"No I'm doing this." Discord points at Rainbow Dash with his paw. "You're going home."
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash blinks at Discord. "What do you mean by that?"
"You'll have to excuse us Dashy." Tiny Discord jabs a thumb toward full sized Discord. "We are being a bit of an ass today, we're glad your here to help."
"Hey you don't speak for me." Discord grabs fun sized Discord and throws him straight down toward the ocean. Discord points a talon at Rainbow Dash and growls "And you."
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash blinks in confusion as Discord brings his talon fingers together, she realizes what he's about to do and dashes at him.
"Go home." A loud snap rings through the air, Discord smiles smugly as Rainbow Dash is enveloped by the light of teleportation, much to his surprise however she doesn't teleport, instead his magic is repelled by a sudden burst of rainbow energy in the shape of a lightening bolt. Before Discord can so much as blink in confusion or utter a puzzled comment he is rammed into by Rainbow Dash. She pushes Discord back a ways and pins him to a storm cloud.
"What is your problem dude!?" Rainbow Dash shouts over a sudden gust of wind, Discord glares down at her.
"Your my problem, I can handle this myself!" Discord shouts back.
"That doesn't matter dude!" Rainbow Dash jabs a hoof in the direction of the approaching storm. "That thing is almost here, so we don't have time for you to be an idiot!"
"Your the idiot for getting in my way!" Discord growls at his friend, Rainbow looks sternly at him, she suddenly releases her grip on him and floats away from him.
"Fine." Rainbow Dash says coldly her face not changing, Discord blinks in confusion.
"What?" Discord asks a bit surprised by the sudden shift.
"Go ahead." Rainbow Dash she jabs her hoof toward the hurricane again. "Stop it."
"Oh." Discord looks over at the hurricane, he smiles smugly. "Fine I will."
Discord throws his hands up toward the hurricane, his hands start glowing golden followed soon by the hurricane, Discord glares at the hurricane as it continues approaching, his hands begin shaking as he pumps more and more magic into the vortex. The hurricane is nearly upon the city now, the winds and waves begin shaking the boats around the harbor, heavy rain is pouring all over the city, the wind has begun picking up smaller items near the ocean. Discord notices this and starts pouring more energy into the hurricane.
"What's taking so long Discord!?" Rainbow Dash shouts over the howling wind.
"This isn't as easy as it looks ya know!" Discord barked at his rainbow colored friend, truth be told dispelling a magical hurricane really wasn't that hard... when you can sense the source, but since Discord can't sense the magic keeping this storm together he's left with two options. I can try overloading it like I did the last one. Discord shakes his head with a scowl. No that won't work this storm is too big, it would take way to long to find the right amount of magic, overload it by too much and I could make things even worse. Option two... spread my energy out as much as I can and hope I stumble upon the source.
"Or option three we get Rainbow Dash to help us like last time." Discord scowls at Tiny Discord as he returns to the sky. "What? We did say she made things easier last time."
Discord jabs a finger at Tiny Discord. "Look buster that was diff-"
"ARGH!" Both Discords turn to look at the screaming mare, Rainbow Dash is vigorously rubbing her head with het hooves while she screams, she stops and locks eyes with Discord. "I am tired of hearing you bitch!"
Both Discords flinch from the sudden outburst and stare wide eyed at the rainbow pony.
"If you ain't gonna stop this thing, I will!" Rainbow Dash suddenly flaps her wings and bolts straight toward the hurricane.
"Rainbow Dash!" Both Discords shout as they watch the rainbow trail vanish into the vortex.
The Eye Of The Storm
Rainbow Dash flaps her wings as hard as she can as she flys in the opposite direction the wind is spinning. Rainbow Dash mentally scolds herself for not building up a sonic rainboom before coming in here. Rain pelts her wings making it harder and harder to fly.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Rainbow Dash states out loud, now that she thinks about it, she didn't have a plan at all, the idea in her head was to fly in the opposite direction and get rid of it like her and the other pegasi did with that tornado a while back. But this is completely different, this time the vortex was much larger, she was all by herself, and it's really wet inside a hurricane. For one moment Rainbow Dash thought about giving up, flying out of the hurricane and just leaving it to Discord... but only for one moment and after that moment had passed she slapped that thought right out of her head.
"I ain't giving up that easy! Every ponies counting on me!" Rainbow Dash exclaims to herself. Rainbow Dash begins flapping her wings even harder, but no matter how hard she flaps she can't seem to gain much if any speed. Until suddenly the dark interior of the storm begins to be illuminated by a bright glow, Rainbow Dash looks down and notices that the bright light is coming from her chest, right where her element use to hang. Rainbow Dash feels the power of the element building up inside her just like when she was with her friends fighting villians. But Twilight wasn't here to control the energy like those other times, this time Rainbow Dash had to do herself this time. So she closes her eyes and focuses on the energy welling up inside her, she calls it forth, she feels a sudden bolt of energy jolt through her body, her once wet and tired are instantly dry and flapping harder then ever, she feels her mane and tail grow longer and when she sees a small bolt of lightening zip past her eye that's when she realizes what that energy was.
"I activated my harmony form!?" Rainbow Dash exclaims both confused and over joyed. "I didn't know we could do that."
Filled with renewed conviction Rainbow Dash flys even faster against the wind, she feels her speed jump ad she suddenly starts a sonic rainboom. Rainbow Dash knows that she can't stop the hurricane this way but it's all she can do to help without Discord. Suddenly Rainbow Dash's eyes go wide.
"I am such an idiot there is something I can do!" Rainbow Dash shouts over the wind. She quickly makes her circle smaller and smaller until she is the center of the vortex.
"Alright." Rainbow Dash tucks her legs up into her chest and summons up her most powerful technique. "HERE GOES NOTHING!"
The hurricane is filled with an intense light as Rainbow Dash unleashes her buccaneer blitz.
Outside The Vortex
"Will we please stop being so stubborn and please go save our friend?" Tiny Discord asks in exasperation, Discord just scowls at his mini self as he continues to scan the vortex for it's source.
"It was her decision to go in there she can save herself." Discord says dismissively.
"Then can't we at least create the ball of energy so Rainbow can buccaneer blitz it away like with the tornado?" Tiny Discord nearly begs to his larger self.
"And give Dashy the satisfaction of thinking I need her for this?" Discord scuffs at tiny him. "Please."
"Oh for the love of Luna, is our pride really worth the life of our friend?" Tiny Discord asks beginning to get angry. Discord opens his mouth to respond but is cut off by bright flash of light from inside the hurricane, the storm seems to wobble slightly but the vortex continues on its path, Discords eyes go wide as another flash goes off inside the hurricane.
"She must be using her buccaneer blitz." Tiny Discord frowns as a third flash goes off. "We've got to do something, who knows how long-"
"I SEE IT!" Discord interrupts as loud as he can, Tiny Discord blinks in disbelief.
"We see the source?" Discord nods. "How?"
"Whenever Dashy uses the buccaneer blitz, her magic envelopes the entire cyclone." Tiny Discords eyes light up as he catches on.
"And sense we can't sense the Element of Sin." Tiny Discord says excitedly.
"The spot that I sense as blank is the spot where the source is." Discord finishes with a smug grin.
"So where is it?" Tiny Discord asks with a happy sigh.
"I need Dashy to use her blitz one more time to be sure." Discord says while never taking his eyes off the vortex.
"But that would mean five buccaneer blitz's in just a couple minutes, even with her harmony form does she have that much energy?" Tiny Discord asks nervously.
"She does." Discord says confidently, but his face shows concern.
The two Discords watch the hurricane, in mere moments it will make land fall and cause devastation to Manehatten, then after two minutes of agonizing waiting Rainbow Dashs fifth buccaneer blitz goes off, the flash illuminates the vortex once more, in that instant Discord spots the ring of magic he couldn't see before he quickly grabs it with his magic and shatters it before the buccaneer blitz was even done. The hurricane vanishes as the final buccaneer blitz fades out of sight, the seas begin to calm and the rain lessens, but Discord doesn't notice that the only thing he notices his brightly colored friend falling from the sky unconscious.
"Rainbow Dash!" Discord shouts as he dashes toward his friend, he reaches out his talon to grab her but when his talon makes contact with her giant harmony fueled hair he recoils in pain as the electricity in her mane snaps him, Discord glares at is hand but shakes the anger out of his head. He reaches for her again this time with his paw but right before he grabs her she is caught by somepony else, Discord stops and stares at the pony who caught Rainbow Dash, a yellow pegasus he was not expecting to see here.
"F-fluttershy?" Fluttershy is floating in the air holding Rainbow Dash in her hooves, she smiles sweetly at Discord, at the same time Rainbow Dashs giant hair shrinks as she reverts to her normal form.
"Hey Discord." Fluttershy closes her eyes and smiles even sweeter. "I'm glad your okay."
"Uh, um." Discord just stares dumbly at Fluttershy, the throbbing pain that has been bothering him all day lessens. "Fluttershy what are you doing here?"
"Discord could you teleport Rainbow Dash to Twilight's castle please?" Fluttershy holds Rainbow Dash out to Discord, seeming to be unburdened by the weight. Discord blinks in confusion, then he suddenly he realizes what Fluttershy asked, he quickly snaps his fingers and this time Rainbow Dash does teleport.
"Now Fluttershy what are you doing here?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I wanted to come and make sure you and Rainbow Dash were ok." Fluttershy says happily, Discord smiles at Fluttershy the throbbing in his head lessens.
"Oh we're just fine Fluttershy." Discord says a bit nervously, he looks around to make sure Tiny Discord doesn't rat him out, oddly enough Tiny Discord is just floating to the side watching the conversation.
"I'm glad to hear it." Fluttershy says with a smile. "I'm glad my friends are ok."
"Yes your... friends." Discord says a bit sadly, he flinches as Fluttershy is suddenly floating right in his face.
"Oh are you a little disappointed Discord." Fluttershy says while smirking.
"I um uh what?" Discord says sudden a bit flustered.
"Do you want to be more then friends Discord?" Fluttershy asks floating slightly closer.
"Oh uh well you see..." Discord stammers out.
"Go on Discord you can tell me." Fluttershy says as she floats even closer, her eyeing becoming half lidded.
"Y-yes! I-I mean no, I mean yes, I-I mean-" Discord chuckles nervously. "What was the question?"
"Well if you do want to be more then just friends." Fluttershy closes the distance between and whispers into his ear. "Prove it."
Fluttershy moves away from Discords ear and back to his face, Discord becomes immediately aware of two things one Fluttershy has her eyes closed and two, and far more important, she has her lips ready for kissin. Discord gulps down the lump that has formed in his throat, Discord is more nervous then he has ever been in his incredibly long life, and he's not even sure why, him and Fluttershy did almost kiss on Hearths Warming and he wasn't nervous then so why now? Steeling himself Discord leans forward... but right before his lips make contact with hers Fluttershy suddenly blurts out. "Found it!"
"Huh?" Discord stares at Fluttershy in confusion, the voice that just came out of her mouth was familiar but not Fluttershys. Before he can ask her anything the voice continues.
"Don't worry my friend this won't hurt a bit." Fluttershy averts her eyes and whispers in the non-Fluttershy voice. "Proably."
"Wha-" Discord suddenly feels intense pain it's as if something just shot straight through his brain, although it only lasts a second it does cause him to stumble forward and for his mind to go blank for a moment. When his vision returns to him, he finds himself laying face first on the ground, he quickly gets up and looks around for Fluttershy but she is no where to be seen, however he does find the source of the non-Fluttershy voice.
"Ah excellent your awake." Princess Luna says from her position nearby.
"Luna?" Discord asks a bit confused. "Whats going on?"
"Ah good it also seems I did not accidently lobotomize you." Luna smiles proudly. "Go me."
"Lobotomize?" Discord raises an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Where's Fluttershy?"
"Fluttershy?" Luna looks a bit confused until something seems to dawn on her. "Oh was she what you were daydreaming?"
"Daydreaming?" Discord scratches his head in puzzlement.
"Yes daydreaming." Luna nods, again seeming proud of herself. "What ever you just saw was nothing but a datdream created by me."
"What?" Discord asks with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well I needed to get in your brain and the only way I can do that is when your dreaming." Luna waves her hoof nonchalantly. "And I didn't feel like waiting for you to fall asleep tonight."
"Sense when can you even create daydreams?" Discord asks suscpially.
"Well after you left the library I did some research to see if I could help you with your little mind problem." Luna explains causally. "So I flipped through my brothers book on dream magic, and that gave me the idea to use daydream magic."
"That's a thing?" Discord asks a bit surprised.
"Apparently." Luna says with a shrug, suddenly something Luna said finally clicked in Discords mind.
"Wait you were in my brain?" Discord asks feeling bit violated.
"Well I had to get the corruption out of your brain somehow." Luna explains as if it's the most obvious thing ever.
"Corruption?" Discord asks a a bit puzzled.
"You didn't think all your yelling today as been a bit weird?" Luna makes a grumpy face ad puts on her best Discord impersonation, which isn't very good. "Grr I'm Discord, I'm awesome, I can do anything and don't need any help from anypony, grr."
"Oh uh." Discord rubs the back of his head a bit embarrassed. "Right, sorry about that."
"It's okay I figured out what was going on pretty quickly." Luna shrugs. "That's why I just gave up in the middle of our argument earlier."
"Oh ok..." Discord scratches his chin in thought. "But what exactly happened."
"Near as I can figure out the Element of Sin probably got into your brain somehow." Luna puts a hoof to her chin as she speaks. "The resulting corruption seemed to heighten two sins inside of you, those of wrath and pride."
"Yes that certainly explains all the yelling." Discord nods in understanding, he winchs in discomfort as a pressure appears in his head.
"But what I haven't been able to figure out is how it got in your system and why the bearer even did this too you." Luna looks at Discord hopefully. "I don't suppose you know?"
"Unfortunately no I don't." Discord says sadly, the pressure seems to get warmer.
"Okay and your investigation into who the Element of Sin is?" Luna looks at Discord curiously.
"I was investigating that?" Discord asks a bit confused, he can no longer feel any pressure on his head but head feels much warmer.
""You don't remember?" Luna raises an eyebrow at Discord. "That's what you said you've been doing sense we got back from your mothers."
"My mother?" Discord wipes some sweat from his forehead. "Why would I take you to see my mother?"
"Discord." Luna looks at him sternly. "If this is some kind of joke you need to knock it off."
"Ugh..." Discord closes his eyes as his head grows even hotter.
"Discord?" Luna looks at the Lord of Chaos with concern. "What's wrong?"
"My brain feels like it's on fire!" Discord groans in pain.
"Oh this is not good." Tiny Discord says while biting his nails. Luna turns to acknowledge the mini lord of chaos which she as been ignoring this whole time.
"What is it?" Luna asks with growing concern as her friend seems to clutch his head tighter.
"It appears that the corruption in our brain wasn't the real plan." Tiny Discord says a bit agitated.
"What do you mean?" Luna asks.
"When you entered our mind and destroyed the corruption, it must have left our mind open to outside forces, although only momentarily." Tiny Discord rubs his chin in thought. "She must have known all this would happen and set her real plan to activate once the opening was made."
"Okay so what is 'she' doing to him?" Luna asks frantically, Tiny Discord looks at Luna his eyes grave.
"What do you mean she's burning away your memories?!?" Luna blurts out.
"We mean exactly that." Tiny Discord says while turning to look at Discord who is still clutching his head. "We are losing our memories and soon we will only remember what the Element of Sin wants us to remember."
"Well alright I'll just hop back in his brain and take care of this curse like I did the last one." Luna says, trying to act nonchalant, Tiny Discord shakes his head.
"We advice against that." Tiny Discord gestures to himself. "Only we can handle this."
"Really?" Luna asks with a death glare that makes Tiny Discords blood run cold, he gulps hard before stammering out a reply.
"W-what w-e meant w-was-" Tiny Discord gulps again as the glare intensifies. "Inside our brain is far to dangerous for you right now."
"How so?" Luna asks while lowering her death glare to a regular glare.
"As you saw how our brain is very disorganized and confusing" Luna nods recalling the maze of hallways and water coolers she'd seen eariler. "Well try pictureing that except everything is on fire, and that this fire could erase your very existence."
Lunas eyes open wide. "What?"
"The fire is burning away at our memories eraseing them, it stands to reason that the fire could erase you too." Tiny Discord says solemnly.
"Are you sure theres nothing I can do to help you?" Luna asks sadly.
"We wish there was." Tiny Discord chuckles. "We really mean it we are so scared right now."
"Really?" Luna asks a bit surprised, Tiny Discord nods.
"Yep petrified actually." Tiny Discord gives the fakest cobfident grin Luna has ever seen. "But we got this."
"I don't suppose you could tell me who the Element of Sin is, so I can go get her while you deal with this?" Luna asks hopefully, Tiny Discord shakes his head.
"Nope her identity is the first thing she burned up." Luna raises an eyebrow.
"What's stopping her from just erasing the memory that your good now?" Luna asks with a hoof to her chin in thought.
"We are." Tiny Discord says while gesturing to himself. "We are a back up for all of our most important knowledge, it how we know that our memories are being erased."
"Is there anyway to recover the memories you've already lost?" Luna asks.
"If we were normal ponies, no. But sense we are Discord all we have to do is jog our memory like we're suffering from amnesia, then we just destroy the source of the fire and we're good."
"You get on that while I find the Element of Sin." Luna glares with stern confidence Tiny Discord grins at the Princess of Night.
"Aye aye Captain." Tiny Discord salutes before vanishing into Discord head, the God of Chaos instantly teleports away. Silently Luna takes to the sky and heads toward the Everfree Forest.
After both immortals are gone a golden pegasus stallion leaves his hiding spot and takes off toward Canterlot.
The Everefree Forest: Near The Tree Of Harmony
Luna lands softly on the ground near the Tree of Harmony, she takes a quick look around to make sure the area is as isolated as she thought it was. Once Luna is satisfied that she is totally alone she ignites her horn and levitates a small pouch from a hidden pocket on her chest piece. She opens and looks inside the pouch, resting at the bottom of the pouch are three seeds one brown, one red, and one blue. She levitates the brown seed out of the pouch and floats it down to the ground, she makes a tiny hole in the dirt with her hoof, she then places the seed in the hole before covering it up. Luna silently places the pouch back in her hidden pocket.
"Ah Luna I didn't except to hear from you so soon." A female voice says from seemingly nowhere, Luna looks around for the source of the voice but isn't surprised to here it. Luna catches some movement as she is looking around and her attention is brought back to the hole she had just filled in, the ground seems to bubble like water, the bubbling ground begins to take shape, after only a minute the ground has finished forming, before Luna is a dirt replica of Mother Nature, at least her upper half.
"It is an honor to see you again Miss Nature." Luna says with a respectful bow, Luna takes a moment to study the dirt construct in front of her, it truly is Mother Nature even if it is only her arms, torso and head, even though it is a much smaller version of the goddess her body is still as tall as Celestia, instead of swirling green energy her body is made of dirt and moss, while her hair is now grass instead of elegant flowers, oddly enough her eyes are still pools of water.
"So how is everything?" Mother Nature asks sweetly.
"Something tells me you already know how everything see." Luna says bluntly, Mother Nature gives Luna a pout.
"You know I can not just give you the answers you seek." Mother Nature says sternly, Luna stomps her hooves in annoyance.
"This is about your son." Luna says with a hint of anger. "Don't you want to help him?"
"What I want does not matter." Mother Nature smiles confidently. "Besides I am confident my son can overcome this on his own."
"But isn't there something I can do to help?" Luna asks desperately, Mother Nature opens her mouth to speak but is cut off. "Let me guess I need to find the book?"
"My, you do catch on fast don't you." Mother Nature says with a smile.
"I don't care about the journal right now." Luna starts pacing. "What I care about is finding the Element of Sin and stopping the bearer so I can save my friend."
"Oh my little Nightflower." Luna stops pacing and looks at Mother Nature a bit confused. "You already have all the information you need to find both of those things."
"What?" Luna asks wide eyed. "What do you mean?"
"Just think for a moment." Mother Nature smiles at Luna the way only a mother can. "And I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Luna puts a hoof to her chin and starts thinking, she starts with the journal. She looks over all the facts in her mind, her brother was on an adventure, he met Mother Nature and learned about the Element of Sin, he began researching the Element of Sin's effects, the Element of Sin didn't like that he was doing that so she cursed and killed him... Luna groans as she realizes that none of the information helps at- Lunas eyes open wide as she whispers. "He never made it back to the castle."
"What was that dear?" Mother Nature asks with a hand to her ear. Luna doesn't seem to notice the question.
"He died the same day I was banished." Luna puts a hoof to her chin. "And since I never saw him that day, that means he couldn't have hidden the journal in the library like I thought, he must have hidden it somewhere else."
"And where might that be?" Mother Nature asks innocently, Luna seems to hear the question, but when she speaks Mother Nature can tell she's not talking to her.
"He must have hidden it somewhere that the Element of Sin can't find, otherwise she'd have destroyed it by now... but where?" A lightbulb seems to go off in Lunas head, she looks straight ahead and finds her answer. "The Tree of Harmony... of course."
"He hid it by a tree?" Mother Nature asks with a raised eyebrow, Luna waves away the comment with her hoof.
"No... no, my brother is smarter than that, magic tree or not a journal wouldn't survive out here for a thousand years." Luna places a hoof on the tree, she can feel the magic coursing through the bark. "He must have used magic to hide the journal within the tree."
"No..." Luna shakes her head. "My brother had a knack for predicting ponies moves.. maybe..." Luna looks around the clearing once more, she examines the trunk of the tree, the branches, and even the Elements. But nothing sticks out to her until she locks her eyes onto a certain container, something the Element of Sin would never have been able to find much less open. She walks over and places a hoof on the mystical chest, just like that Luna had her answer. "Twilights castle, he hid the journal in the magic of the tree and when the castle was created the journal must have gone with it!"
"You're sure about that?" Luna turns to look at the goddess who just spoke, she smiles confidently.
"Yes I am." Luna raises her wings and is about to take off.
"Wait." Luna freezes in place, she looks back at Mother Nature a bit confused. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"You mean the Element?" Luna asks plainly, Mother Nature nods.
"Do you know where it is?" Mother Nature asks with a smile, Luna frowns back.
"No." Luna scowls. "Discord knew but he didn't tell me."
"Why didn't he tell you?" Mother Nature asks with a raised eyebrow, Luna shrugs.
"I don't know." Luna shrugs. "He's Discord he likes to be cryptic."
"Really?" Mother Nature scratches her chin. "Sounds a little to simple of a reason to hide information from a friend."
"Well I can't think of any other reason why he wouldn't tell me." Luna rubs her chin in thought. "Unless."
"Unless?" Mother Nature asks with an encouraging smile, Luna doesn't look at Mother Nature as she continues to think.
"Since he told he was going to see if he was right about some pony being the bearer of Sin right after we left your domain." Luna closes her eyes and taps her forehead with her hoof. "That means..." Lunas eyes snap open and she flicks her hoof in an aha kind of way. "He knows this pony!"
"Doesn't my son know everypony?" Mother Nature asks sarcastically, yet somehow also nicely. Again Luna waves off her comment.
"No I mean he knows them personally, if I'm right." Luna rubs her chin again. "Then the reason he didn't tell me sooner is because he wanted to be wrong about her being the Element of Sin." Luna stomps her hoof in annoyance. "But since me and the Elements of Harmony are the only friends he has, that I am aware of, that means it's somepony I don't know."
"Too bad you can't ask Discord who it is." Mother Nature says sadly. Luna turns to look at Mother Nature, a smile of confidence on her face.
"That's right I can't." Luna raises her wings. "But I know a certain purple Princess who will know.
Luna flaps her wings down and takes off into the sky, Mother Nature watches her leave with a small smile on her face. Her dirt and grass body begins to crumble, bit by bit returning to its original place. Just before the face crumbles away Mother Nature speaks softly. "Glad I could help."
Canterlot: Throne Room
"The Element of Sin?" Celestia asks with a raised eyebrow, her gaze is locked onto the golden pegasus stallion bowing in front of her. Flash Sentry straightens up before he answers.
"Yes your Highness." Flash Sentry says respectfully, Celestia rubs her chin in thought.
"And this Element of Sin is burning away Discords memories?"
"Yes your highness that is the jist of what I heard." Flash Sentry answers with another bow.
"Thank you for all your hard work." Celestia says politely. "You are dismissed."
"Good day Princess." Flash Sentry replies with a bow. He turns to head out of the throne room, but stops when the Princess speaks again.
"Mr. Sentry?" Celestia calls out.
"Yes Princess." Flash turns around before replying he sees that Celestia has a serious air about her.
"Would you please keep this information between us?" Flash can tell she isn't really asking as much as she is telling.
"Of course Princess." Flash says with a quick bow, Celestia relaxes into her throne smiles again, Flash takes this as his signal to leave.
After the throne room doors slam shut Celestia simple sits still and thinks for a moment. Without saying a word Celestia levitates a quill and paper from wherever she keeps them in the throne room, she writes a quick message and then sends it off.
Ponyville: Twilights Castle
Luna gently lands on a small balcony high up on the tree castle, she pushes open the balcony with her magic and begins to walk inside, but before she sets a hoof inside a loud boom echoes through the air. Luna flips around to find the source of the somewhat familiar sound. She is a bit surprised to see a long seemingly lightening charged rainbow trail stretching over Ponyville. Luna concludes that it must be Rainbow Dashs Sonic Rainboom, why she caused one from what looks like Sweet Apple Acres, and why she is flying so fast Luna can only guess, if she felt like it was important... which she doesn't.
Luna shrugs and turns back to the castle, she decides to just ask Twilight about it after getting the Elements identity. When Luna walks into the castle she discovers that the balcony she landed on was to the castle library, which she would remark looks almost identical to Twilights previous home, if she had ever been in Twilights previous home, regardless, Luna smiles triumphantly. "Excellent."
Luna begins looking through the book shelves with her magic. Each book with her brothers name on it gets her hopes up, but none of them are the right ones. With a loud groan Luna rests her head on a desk in the center of the room, she takes a quick mental note of the bizarre decoration on the desk, some kind of snow globe full of fire, a fire globe? Luna shakes her deciding to ignore it for now. Luna buries her face into the desk and groans out loudly, "Ugh! Starry where did you hide it?!"
Click
Luna pulls her head off the desk after hearing the noise, she looks around for the source of the noise, after a moment she spots a bit of wall that is now hanging loosely. Luna bolts over to the wall and flings open the hidden door faster then a filly on Hearths Warming. And just like a filly on Hearths Warming who ended up getting clothes when she wanted the newest toy, Luna was disappointed. For instead of the old dusty book she was excepting to find, instead she found a gorgeous crystal that shines like the stars... Luna chuckles at how silly that is. Nether the less Luna grabs the crystal with her magic and brings it out into the open, once it's close enough she grabs it with her hoof, the crystal looks a lot like a diamond but is much clearer almost like glass, the center of the crystal is emitting a soft white light.
"A secret compartment?" Luna chuckles lightly as she shakes her head. "I should have known."
Crack
Luna flips around, unlike earlier she can tell exactly where that sound came from. Her eyes lock onto the strange fire globe she saw earlier, her eyes widen as she spots a large crack that suddenly appeared on the side with several smaller cracks branching out from it.
"Shit!" Luna quickly unfolds her wings and quickly prepares to take off, but before she can the fire globe explodes covering the library in flames.
"Ugh..." Rainbow Dash rolls as she groans loudly, her wings ache as she streches them out, with another groan she opens her eyes. She is a bit surprised to see books right in front of her face, she turns her head to the right and sees more books, rows and rows of books. Rainbow Dash assumes that she must be in Twilights castle, after all Twilight is the only pony Rainbow Dash knows, that would have this many books. Also theres the fact the Twilight is sitting in a chair nearby reading a book. At the same time Rainbow Dash notices her lavender colored friend, Twilight noticed her cyan blue friend, Twilight quickly puts down her book.
"Oh thank Celestia." Twilight says as she rushes over to Rainbow Dash. "I was starting to get worried."
"Twilight?" Rainbow Dash looks around the room before focusing on Twilight. "What am I doing here?"
"I was hoping you could tell me." Twilight sits down next to Rainbow Dash as she sits up. Rainbow Dash scratches her head as she thinks for a moment.
"Last thing I remember is being in a hurricane." Rainbow Dash speaks nonchalantly, but that statement made Twilights eyes go wide.
"Why were you in a hurricane?!" Twilight blurts out in surprise, Rainbow Dash ignores the outburst and continues.
"I was helping Discord save Manehatten." Rainbow scowls. "At least I was trying to."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asks curiously, Rainbow Dashs scowl remains as she begins to answer.
"Well ya see-"
Shortly
"That's incredible!" Twilight shouts excitedly, Rainbow Dash grins at Twilights reaction, she gazes at her hoof and acts as nonchalantly as she like, as if she does this kind of thing everyday.
"Aren't I always." Rainbow Dash says smugly, Twilight nods in agreement.
"But to think you were able to active your harmony form." Twilight puts a hoof to her chin. "No magic, no elements, no mythical chest?"
"Nope nothing." Rainbow Dash gestures to herself proudly. "It was all me."
"Remarkable..." Twilight begins tapping her hoof on her chin, as she thinks to herself. If our harmony forms really can be tapped into then we won't have to worry about defending Equestria without the Elements... I'd better check before I get my hopes up. Twilight stops tapping her chin and looks directly at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you do it again?" Twilight asks seriously, Rainbow Dash blinks at the sudden question.
"Uh... do what?"
"Transform." Twilight gestures with her hooves to emphasize. "Like when you were in the hurricane."
"Oh... uh..." Rainbow Dash taps her chin in thought. "I don't know."
"Would you mind trying?" Twilight asks eagerly, Rainbow Dash grins.
"You bet." Rainbow Dash lets out a breathe and cracks her... knuckles? "Alright stand back and watch the awesome."
Twilight takes a few steps back and almost hides behind her desk. Rainbow Dash closes her eyes and focuses as hard as she can. After a minute or so Twilight steps out from behind her desk, she stares at her Rainbow haired friend as she attempts to power up, sparks occasionally shoot off of her and her hooves are a tiny bit off the floor.
"Rainbow I thi-" Before Twilight can finish her sentence the door to the library slams open, Twilight and Rainbow Dash jump at the noise, Twilight whips around to look at the noise while Rainbow Dash falls the inch or so she was off the ground and falls on her flank.
"My Dear there you are!" Twilight jumps out of the way as Rarity runs past straight to Rainbow Dash. "Are you okay Fluttershy told us..."
Twilight chuckles as she looks at Rarity fuss over Rainbow Dash, with a shake of her head and a smile she turns away from the couple and towards the three other ponies that entered the room.
"Ah Fluttershy you're back." Twilight says as she meets her friend half to the door. Fluttershy opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by the other pink haired pony in the room.
"Hey Twilight what's up!" Pinkie Pie says suddenly right in Twilights face. "Fluttershy said you had something really important you wanted to talk to us about. Is it really important, or RrrrrEALLY important."
"Well you see Pinkie it's-" Twilight begins but guess what happens.
"Wow it's that important that's crazy, who would have that something that important would happen today, I mean come on today started so normal with me getting up eating some cupcakes and then I skipped down the stairs to see -mhmhrrggehm." Applejack sighs as she feels Pinkie Pies mouth keep moving under her hoof.
"Sorry Twi this ones been jabberin non stop since we met up with her." Fluttershy nods in agreement. Twilight raises an eyebrow.
"Uh any particular reason?" Twilight asks a bit puzzled.
"She said it was her Pinkie sense making her lips move uncontrollably." Fluttershy says as she moves Applejacks hoof off Pinkie Pies mouth to reveal that she has stopped talking yet her mouth keeps moving. "Could it be about our problem?"
"Knowing Pinkie it just might." Twilight says with a smile and a sigh.
"What is the problem exactly?" Twilight turns around to see Rainbow Dash and Rarity walking toward them.
"I'll explain everything in a moment but first." Twilights face turns serious. "Does anypony know where Moonlight is?"
"Uh yeah shes meditating in my orchard." Applejack asks a bit confused. "Why?"
"I'll explain on the way." Twilight starts heading out the door. "Come on."
On the Road to Viri- I mean Sweet Apple Acres
The six Elements of Harmony walk together down the road, Sweet Apple Acres just coming into view. Once Twilight was sure they would not be overheard she explained her and Fluttershys discover, Rarity was the first to speak.
"So Moonlight put blood in her tea?" Rarity says more then slightly appalled. "Why would she do such a thing?"
"I'm not sure." Twilight says as she puts a hoof to her chin. "And I'm not sure which I'm more worried about, where the chaos blood came from, or what that strange magic encompassing it is."
"Could it be Moonlights blood?" Applejack asks. "She is kinda funny lookin, maybe she's a chaos thingie like Discord."
"Not likely." Twilight looks back at her apple farming friend. "Discord is the only chaos being... as far as we know."
"Then could the magic be hers?" Twilight shifts her gaze to the fashionista that had spoken.
"I'm not sure, it was weird." Twilight turns her gaze to the road again. "The magic felt so familiar... yet completely different."
"Ugh." Rainbow Dash groans. "So is there anything we do know?"
"Well... no." Twilight says a bit disappointed as Rarity scolds Rainbow for being rude, she shakes her and then speaks with more determination. "But that's why we're going to see Moonlight. She'll give us the answers we need."
"If you're just gonna talk to her why do ya need us?" Rainbow Dash asks dryly.
"Because if me and Fluttershy are right..." Twilights face turns serious. "Then we're going to need all of us for this."
Before long the six friends have made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, once there Applejack begins to lead them into the orchard to the last place she saw Moonlight. It doesn't take them to long to find the glowing pony in question, she is sitting on a stump in a small clearing in the trees, her back hooves are crossed and forehooves are out stretched, while they can't see her face from behind her, Twilight assumes her eyes are closed. Twilight walks towards the mare.
"Moonlight?" Moonlight flinches in reaction to the sudden voice. "It's Twilight can we talk?"
The group hears a loud sigh as Moonlight hangs her head, she turns back to look at the group upon seeing the six mares her face twists into a scowl.
"Oh what the Tartarus do you clopping ponies want?" The group is taken back by Moonlights language and venomous tone. Recovering from her momentary shock Twilight steps toward Moonlight.
"We need to talk." Moonlight gives the Princess an unimpressed look.
"Go away." Moonlight turns her back to them. "I've got far more important things to do then to talk to ponies."
Twilight narrows her eyes at Moonlight. "What kind of stuff?"
"None of your concern." Moonlight grunted in reply, Twilights gaze turns to a glare.
"Anything to do with enchanted tea?" Moonlight flinches at the comment, which makes Twilight grin a little.
"What do you mean?" Moonlight asks without looking at her.
"Fluttershy showed me the tea Moonlight." Twilight says sternly. "I know about the magic and the blood."
"I see..." Moonlight lowers her fore hooves to her sides. "I can honestly say that I did not foresee this."
"Yeah we know you did something to Discord!" Rainbow shouts angrily, Fluttershy walks up to join the other winged ponies.
"What did you do to him!?" Fluttershy asks while she activates the stare on the back of Moonlights head. Moonlight flips around to meet Fluttershys stare, to every ponies surprise Moonlight doesn't recoil at the stare instead she grins.
"Not much yet really, but when I'm done with him." Moonlights grin turns into a sinister sneer. "He'll be all mine."
Fluttershys scowls and opens her mouth to shout at Moonlight when Rainbow Dash suddenly flies past her and stops right in front of Moonlights face. "Listen here missy messing with my best friends stallion is the same as messing with her, and if you mess with her then your messing with me, and you don't wanna mess with me."
"Oh Rainbow I would never dream of messing with someone like you." Moonlight says innocently. "Your much to tough."
Rainbow Dash grins triumphantly. "Alright now fix Discord and-"
"Your mother on the other hand." Rainbow Dashs eyes go wide at Moonlights words.
"What did you say?" Rainbow Dash asks all the fury gone from her voice, Moonlight doesn't react to her question and continues to speak.
"Must be dreadful." Moonlight speaks as if she genuinely pities somepony. "For a mare of her questionable health to be living all alone in Cloudsdale at 1354 Storm ave, sure hope no one sends her anything dangerous in the mail."
"What did you do!" Rainbow Dash growls, small streaks of electricity begin sparking through her mane, Moonlight smirks at her.
"Why don't you go check?" Rainbow Dash turns her head in the direction of Cloudsdale, before she can make a decision some pony grabs her attention.
"Don't listen to her Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shouts. "She's just playin' ya tryin' to spilt us up."
"Oh very good Applejack, very sensible, as I've come to except from you, Moonlight turns her attention back to Rainbow Dash. "But is Rainbow Dash really going to risk her mothers safety on whether or not I'm lying."
Rainbow Dash looks between her friends and the direction of Cloudsdale, her face is etched with concern and anger, she throws her face up to sky and screams, lightening shoots off of her as her harmony form suddenly activates. Rainbow Dash turns toward her friends and frowns. "... Sorry guys." Without another word Rainbow Dash zooms off into the air.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouts after her friend, but it's too late as Rainbow has already launched into a sonic rainboom. The Princess of Friendship turns back to glare and the now laughing unicorn.
"Oh that was priceless!" Moonlight clutches her stomach as she continues to laugh. "Oh I forgot how amazing it feels to mess with you ponies."
"What is wrong with you!?" Rarity shouts as she steps closer to the glowing mare. "Threatening a sweet mare like Morning Dew, and enjoying it so much is just repulsive."
"No Rarity all of you and your friendship is repulsive." Moonlight snaps back. "And you should all be glad, after all she made the right choice."
The remaining elements eyes go wide, Twilight is the first to speak. "You actually sent Rainbow Dashs mother something dangerous!?"
"Of course obviously I needed a back up plan in case I got caught before I finished my work." Moonlight explains nonchalantly.
"W-wait who else did you send stuff t-to?" Fluttershy asks while dreading the answer, Moonlight smiles at her.
"And somebody give the shy pony a prize, shes catching on." Moonlight says with a clap of her hooves. Pinkie starts jumping up and down excitedly.
"Ooo what she win?! What she win!?" Moonlight gives a twisted smile before responding.
"She won the chance to see." Moonlights eyes and horn begin glowing red. "Her village burn to the ground!"
"WHAT!?" All of the non princesses shout in alarm, the singular Princess flips around to face her friends.
"Guys go back to Ponyville!" The elements all jump at their leaders sudden order.
"But Twi-" Applejack begins, but Twilight cuts her off.
"We don't have time you four go back to Ponyville and evacuate." Twilight turns her head to glare at Moonlight. "I'll deal with her."
"Hmm... alright Twi." Applejack turns away from the Princess of Friendship and towards the other three Elements of Harmony. "Come ya'll let's go."
Twilight watches her friends as they disappear down the road, she turns her attention back to Moonlight when the sarcastic slow clapping starts. "Very impressive Twilight I never pictured you as the dramatic sacrifice type."
"What did you do?" Twilight asks with a sharp edge to her voice, Moonlight smirks playfully.
"I gave out my wonderful fire globes to most of Ponyville, I was even nice enough to send one to Rainbow Dashs mother." Moonlight eyes and horn glow brighter. "Isn't that the neighborly thing to do."
"Why are you doing this?" Twilight charges up her own horn. "I thought you were our friend."
"Well that was your mistake wasn't it." Moonlight says with a smirk, Twilight growls at her.
"I won't let you get away with this!" Twilight shouts before firing a beam from her horn, Moonlight teleports out of the way and reappears to Twilights right.
"And I would love to see you try..." Moonlight sighs heavily. "But unfortunately without your friends you're no match for me."
"What do y-"
"So I'll tell you what Princess, I'll make it easier for you." Moonlight smiles sweetly. "I'm going to count down from ten, if I reach zero the globes detonate, if you manage to hit me just one time I won't set them off."
"I have no need to burn your village, it benefits me in no way." Moonlight holds out her hoof to Twilight. "So what do ya say Twi do we have a deal buddy."
Twilight glares at Moonlight, but holds her hoof any. "We are not buddys."
Moonlight smirks. "I'll try not to cry over it."
The two magical ponies jump away from each, Twilight continues to glare at Moonlight, the glowing mare gives one more grin before beginning.
"Ten..."
Twilight rushes forward and swings her hoof at Moonlight, she ducks under it and jumps back, Twilight fires a volley of magic blasts, Moonlight effortlessly dodges between them. Twilight growls as Moonlight continues to grin.
The wind roars through Rainbow Dashs ears as she zooms through the sky, she sighs as Cloudsdale appears on the horizon. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Eight..."
Twilight appears far above Moonlight and sends a blast down at her, the ground erupts into dust, Twilight senses a shift in Moonlights magic and turns and zooms through the orchard and blasts an apple tree sending it falling over, Moonlight seems to slide along the ground as she evades the toppling trunk.
"Seven..." Twilight grinds her teeth angrily. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainbow Dash comes to sudden a halt as she arrives at the edge of Cloudsdale, her eyes scan the streets looking for the right one, she grunts in annoyance, she can't see her mothers house from this spot, she flaps her wings as she heads for the center of town. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Six..."
Twilight slams her hoof into the ground. I can't catch her like this. Twilight shakes her head I need more power if I could just activate my harmony power like Rainbow Dash. Twilight closes her eyes and silently screams at herself. But I can't feel the energy inside me like Rainbow Dash was talking about.
"Five..."
There's got to be another way, more magic I can tap into. Twilights eyes widen. "That's it!" She closes her eyes and focuses her energy. "I hope to Celestia that this works."
Rainbow hoof bumps the air as she spots her mothers home among the clouds. "Don't worry Mom I'm coming!" _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Three..." What gives? Did she give up... never pictured Twilight as the quitting ty- The dirt next to Moonlight explodes into the air, she quickly hops away from the dust, she quickly ducks her head to avoid a magic beam that flies through the cloud of debris. Was that beam darker then normal?
Rainbow zooms through the sky her mothers house getting closer by the millisecond, she reaches her hoof out ready to open the door. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight suddenly appears in front of Moonlight, she flinches in surprise, before Moonlight can do anything Twilight teleports again, Moonlight sees more and more teleport flashes going off all around her.
"On-" Moonlight is cut off mid word as something strikes the back of her head, the blow sends her flying into a tree creaking the trunk. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Mom!" Rainbow Dash yells as she bursts through the cloud door into her mothers cloud house in the clouds, Morning Dew (Rainbow Dashs Mother) jumps in surprise, her long dark blue hair falls over her eyes. She yelps again as Rainbow Dash suddenly curls her hooves around her in a big hug.
"Mom I'm so glad your okay." Rainbow Dash says through tears, Morning Dew pats her back.
"I'm fine Dashie." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Moonlight stands up from the ground and wipes some dirt off her fur, she seems to be unaffected by her impact into the tree. "I will admit Twilight that was quite impressive, I didn't think you had it in you."
"You lost Moonlight." Moonlight smiles at the darker voice coming from Twilight.
"Yes I lost our little game." Moonlight looks over the Alicorn in front of her, Twilight's purple fur is darker now, and her eyes have lost their pupils and are now a solid green with purple energy coming off them. "But it looks like you had a little help."
"That doesn't matter Moonlight." Twilight says sternly as her eyes and fur return to normal.
"Yes I suppose you're right I did make a promise." Moonlight chuckles to herself. "And I am nothing if not a pony of my word." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"A gift?" Morning Dew asks a bit surprised, Rainbow Dash nods.
"Yeah any packages from Ponyville?" This time Morning Dew nods.
"Well yes I got a bizarre globe the othe-"
"Where!?" Rainbow Dash lightly shakes her mothers shoulders.
"The uh living room on the coffee ta-" Rainbow Dash turns around and glares at the small table in the room next to her, a small globe full of fire sits on the cloud in a decorative cloud stand.
"It is quite lovely isn'-" Morning Dew gasps as Rainbow Dash sudden dives at the globe and tackles it through the floor clouds, moments later an explosion goes off underneath the clouds. "Dashie!" _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Do you guys see that!?" Pinkie Pie shouts as the four continue to run toward Ponyville, Applejack nods at the plumes of smoke raising from Ponyville.
"I see'em Pinkie." Applejack charges forward as fast as she can possibly go, Pinkie is close behind. Rarity and Fluttershy aren't far behind them.
Fluttershy suddenly gasps but doesn't stop running, Rarity turns to look at her. "What is it FLuttershy?"
"Look!" Fluttershy points at a plume of smoke a bit farther from town, Rarity's eyes widen.
"Fluttershy go your animals need you!" Rarity shouts, Fluttershy looks back at her friend in concern.
"But Rarity what about-"
"We will handle Ponyville, only you can help your animals right now." Fluttershy nods somberly, with another nod from Rarity Fluttershy flies off in the direction of her cottage. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight turns her head as loud booms echo through the air, she places her hooves over her mouth and gasps as she notices large pillars of smoke raising into the air. She turns back to Moonlight with a glare in her eyes. "YOU MON-!"
Twilight suddenly feels something impact her chest knocking the breath out of her, the thing that hit her continues to drive through forcing Twilight through the air, she can feel herself flying through the air as she smashes through an apple tree, much to her relief she doesn't pass through the second one, instead she slams into it and lands on her flank on the ground. She groans loudly. "Ow my head."
"Oh I do so love you ponies so." Twilight hears Moonlights cheery voice, but can't see her as she lacks the energy to raise her head up. "You honestly believed I wasn't going to detonate them didn't you."
"Why?" Twilight chokes out through the pain, she hears Moonlight step closer. "You said it had no benefit to you."
"Why?" Moonlight asks with a dark tone, Twilight feels something grab her hair and pull it forcing her face up to look at Moonlight, Twilight's eyes widen at the twisted look in Moonlights eyes. "Because I wanted to."
"That's it?" Twilight growls out as she narrows her eyes at the glowing mare, Moonlight grin matches her eyes.
"Of course, I do whatever I want." Twilight feels a hoof press against her neck. "Like for example I want to crash the life out of you for daring to lay one of your filthy hooves on me."
Twilight's eyes go wide in fear as the hoof presses down harder on her throat, she looks back and forth between Moonlights twisted smile and her sinister grin. Twilight tries to speak but can't, so it comes out as a cough, Moonlight seems to smile at this.
"But I won't." Moonlight says dryly, the hoof leaves Twilight's neck causing the Princess to take several deep breathes to refill her lungs. "If I did that he would feel your magic vanish and that would only cause me problems."
Twilight glares up at the sinister pony. "What are you?"
Moonlight chuckles darkly. "What I am Twilight." Moonlight has a grin that rivals Pinkie Pie as she raises a hoof into the air. "Is Sin."
As the hoof comes down Twilight's entire world goes black.
A lone earth pony mare walks down a road in a wooded area off in the country. Her fur is a light purple, her mane a deep red with bright pink streaks, her eyes a calming brown, and on her flank rests a cutie mark of a paint brush painting a cherry blossom tree on a canvas. She hums happily as she walks, she looks back to make sure her grocery bags are still in her saddle bags. Suddenly her attention is drawn to the sky as she hears a loud scream, way up in the air a large ball of magical energy explodes into view, the mare sprints away from the blast, wanting to get home instead of getting blown up.
High in the sky the God of Chaos has no idea he's scary nearby ponies, and at this point he doesn't remember if he cares or not. Discord is floating in midair with his arms outreached, a large bubble of magic surrounds him, his eyes are flying around his body with little helicopter propellers searching for something. After a moment Discord growls and his eyes sprout jet boosters and zoom back into his eye-sockets.
"Where is it?" Discord grips his hair and grinds his teeth. "Her influence can't be coming from nowhere, I obviously can't find... her is it a her?"
Discord puts a claw to his chin, after a moment he shakes his head and sighs. "It's not important what they are, I just gotta find the source before all of my memories are gone."
Discord looks around the sky again. The plan I used to find their magic with Rainbow... something, isn't working. "Hmm..." Discord uses his talon to scratch his chin. The spell is acting like real fire, so if I can snuff it out I should be fine for a while, but I can't snuff out memory fire the same way as normal fire. Maybe if I do something that causes me to regain all my burnt memories at once maybe that'll work... but how do you regain memories?
Discord taps his chin in thought. "I remember me and Twilight talking about this once, I believe you can regain memories in a similar fashion to how you lose them. Hmm... what's the best way to lose memories?"
A loud whistle from the ground below gets Discords attention, far below him is a seven car train, counting the engine. The engine is gray and copper, the first car is purple, the second is white with purple, the third is blue with a rainbow roof, the fourth looks like an orange barn, Discords eyes linger on the yellow and pink fifth car before going to the final bright pink car. Upon hearing the train blow its whistle again, Discord remembers something. "Blunt force trauma." Discord smiles brightly. "That's it."
Without a second thought Discord flys down to the tracks below, he tilts his head forward, as the train gets closer Discord just keeps smiling. "This is a really good idea."
Discord hears the brakes on the train start screeching as the driver catches sight of the Draconequus on the road, Discord smirks to himself as he knows the train won't stop in time. Suddenly sees and hears the flash of teleportation, he blinks in confusion as the train tracks he was standing on have been replaced with bare grass, but before he can dwell on that he hears somepony call out to him.
"What the tartarus were you doing in the mi-" The steel gray pony clamps his mouth as he recognizes the figure before him, his dark blue eyes widen as Discord locks eyes with him.
"Did you just teleport me?" Discord gestures between himself and the place he had been standing, hes a bit impressed by how fast the train has stopped, the stallion before him suddenly becomes very flustered.
"Oh... uh well, yes technically, but if I had known-"
"If you'd known it was me you would've hit me with a train?" Discord asks dryly, which makes the stallion stammer even more.
"What n-no I meant I-I would've um asked permi-" The stallion cuts himself off mid sentence and hangs his head. "I'm sorry sir I didn't mean to offend."
Discord is taken back by this no pony has ever called him sir before... at least he doesn't think any pony has. He waves off the stallions apology. "Don't worry about it your train wouldn't have hurt me anyway."
"R-really?" The Stallion says surprised, Discord nods smugly.
"But of course I am the Lord of Chaos after all."
"Of course how silly of me sir." Discord chuckles at the Stallion.
"Please call me Discord." The Stallion smiles brightly at this, he looks over at his train and then back to Discord with a raised eyebrow.
"If you don't mind me asking si- I mean Discord why were you on the train tracks?" Discord looks at the Stallion pointedly, before shrugging.
"I'm having a bit of trouble with my memory so I wanted to give my brain a jolt." The Stallion opens his eyes wide.
"Um sir Discord I think getting it by a train is more likely to make you lose memories then... remember them." Discord looks sternly at the Stallion.
"Oh really well then Mister..." Discord stares forward blankly, he gestures to the stallion to fill in the blank, to Discords relief the stallion seems to get the hint easily.
"Oh I'm Iron Sprocket." Iron Sprocket says with a smile.
"Thank you, well then Mister Iron Sprocket why don't you tell me a better way to recover your memories then getting your skull bashed in by a speeding train." Discord blinks in disbelief at just how stupid his plan sounds, he then begins to wonder if his burning brain might be effecting his decision making. Iron Sprocket is unaware of this thoughts so he just answers the question.
"Well Sir Discord when I want to remember something I usually look at old pictures or other things that remind me of stuff from my past. For Example..." Iron Sprockets horn glows and his conductors hat floats off his head, once the hat is in the air something falls out of it, Iron Sprocket quickly catches it with his hoof, he holds the item out to Discord. "This."
Discord leans forward and raises an eyebrow at the small metallic object in the stallions hoof, he turns his gaze to Iron Sprockets face and looks very unimpressed by the ponys item as he speaks dryly. "A train whistle."
"Yep." Iron Sprocket says with a big smile.
"And what good does a train whistle do?" Discord asks with a bit more of a snap then he had intended. Iron Sprocket is slightly taken back by the edge in his voice, but he presses forward anyway.
"To most ponies it looks like a normal train whistle, but when I look at it..." Discord notices that the stallions eyes seem to get a bit misty. "I see my wifes face when we first met, our first date when she gave me this, our wedding day, the day our son was born."
Discord raises an eyebrow at Iron Sprocket as the stallion sighs blissfully, Discord clears his throat loudly getting the ponys attention. "You remember all that just by looking at a whistle?"
"Well yeah." Iron Sprocket says cheerfully, he places the whistle back into his hat and then puts the hat back on his head.
"Why is that?" Discord asks more then a little interested, Iron Sprocket puts a hoof to his chin.
"Its sentimental y'know?" Iron Sprocket more states then asks, Discord seems even more interested by this.
"Sentimental huh?" Discord scratches his chin with a fork made out of a candy cane. "Seeing objects with Sentimental value causes you to remember things?"
"I think that's the case for most ponies." Iron Sprocket says politely, Discord throws away his fork, as soon as it leaves his paw it sprouts large bat wings and quickly tunnels through the earth and out of sight.
"So where can I get some sentiment?" Discord asks with a smile, Iron Sprocket rubs his neck nervously.
"Well you can't get sentiment it just kinda happens when you get something important, like when my wife got me this whistle for our first anniversary." Discord frowns at the grey stallion before him.
"Its bad enough I had to learn how to hold ponies near and dear to my heart now I gotta do it with stuff too?" Discord asks loudly, the two males stare awkwardly at each other, Iron Sprocket keeps looking from his train to Discord and back again. After another moment Iron Sprocket sighs.
"Got any pictures?" Iron asks with an awkward smile Discords face lights up with christmas decorations.
"Of course, tons!" Discord exclaims happily.
"Those should work." Iron Sprocket says with a sigh.
"Excellent!" Discord shouts before vanishing into thick air. Iron Sprocket stares at where the lord of chaos had just been, his face slowly lights up into a big grin as he begins to snicker.
"Wait till I tell Copper Bolt." Iron Sprocket begins walking back to his train. "She's gonna be so jealous."
Discords Chaos Home
A blast of confetti explodes out of nowhere revealing Discord, the confetti swarms together like bees which then fly off to a field of licorice flowers while hiccupping. Discord floats through his living room, he absentmindedly loosens his make shift neck tie that he got for Hearths Warming. As he floats trough the room he is only vaguely aware of the pure chaos that is his home, his pet cracker calling for a parrot, the cards playing dog poker, an inside out table tap dances in the corner, and many more chaotic things. But Discord makes his way past all those things and past all the other super awesome chaotic thingys in his house that I was to lazy to come up with. He stops in front of a trap door, he quickly pops it open and hops inside.
Discords bedroom is much less chaotic then the rest of the house and much more simple with only a bed, a nightstand with two picture frames on top, and a dresser. The bed is on the wall, the nightstand on the ceiling, and the dresser is on the floor. The dresser drawer suddenly opens up and Discord pops out. He zips over to his bed and reaches underneath, with a smile on his face Discord pulls a shoebox out from underneath his bed.
"Alright let's reignite those memories." Discord puts a paw to his head and feels the heat of the fire burning his mind. "Hmm poor choice of words..."
With a shrug Discord opens the shoebox and pulls out a large photo album. "The stallion said pictures will help, and I got a lot of pictures."
Discord flips open the book and smiles at the first picture, a group shot of him with the Mane Six the only friends he has, he looks at the small purple dragon in the picture, after a moment nothing comes to mind so he flips the page. The next picture Discord stops at puzzles him it's a shot of him with the Princesses, and their all smiling for some reason. Another picture of him with his friends Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack... and some other unicorn and dragon.
Discord sighs angrily, he's halfway through the book and no memories have returned, but he did find another group shot with his friends Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow something, and two other ponies with a dragon. "Ugh I hate it when ponies photo bomb my pictures."
Later
Discord closes the second photo album with a grunt. "This isn't working at all I'm just looking at pictures of ponies I don't know hows that gonna help me... uh... help me..."
Discord scratches his head in thought. Why was I doing this? He looks around at all the papers scattered around the room, the photo albums opened to random pages, and the shoe box in his lap that he knows has more stuff in it. Discord groans in annoyance, he grabs a photo from the shoe box and stares at it. The picture is of Discord with six ponies, a purple Alicorn that just confuses him, a white unicorn next to a rainbow pegasus, a pink earth pony, an orange earth pony, and finally up in Discords claws caught in a tight embrace a yellow pegasus with long flowing pink hair. Discord runs his talon over the image. "Flu..."
Discords eyes snap open in alarm. "Flu- what, whats the rest!?"
Discord begins rapidly flipping through every album going over picture, but each page is full of more ponies he doesn't remember, the yellow pegasus, Flu as he knew her, was on almost every single page, but no matter how many times he sees her he can't remember the rest of her name. Flu, the partial name stuck there in his mind defiantly, neither Discord nor the memory burning flames could move it. Discord closes his eyes and sighs in defeat. "Maybe Moonlight knows who she is."
Discords eyes snap open so fast that his eyelids break off and hit the ceiling. "I remember Moonlight... perfectly..."
Discord thinks back, he can only remember his Mother and Father and Moonlight perfectly, Celestia and Luna get kind of fuzzy after the time they defeated him... Defeated... Discord taps his talon against his chin. Wasn't I defeated more then once? Discord tries to recall any other times a giant rainbow of stony death was hurled at his face, other then the sisters there was only one other time. "The Elements of Harmony! That's who she is!"
Discord grabs the picture of him and the six mares again. "If these six are the Elements of Harmony why am I posing with them?" Discord narrows his eyes at one pony in particular. "And why am I not made of stone right now?"
Discords eyes lock onto the smiling face of Flutt- again, seeing her smiling face brings a smile to his own. Discord suddenly throws the picture away and scowls, he grabs the shoebox from his lap and chucks it at the wall, or is it the floor, Discords not sure at this point, the box moves through the air in slow motion. "I'm never going to get any answers this way I'll just go find these Elements of Harmony and make them tell me what's going on."
Discord raises his paw to snap, but before he can the shoebox hits the wall/floor/ceiling and fills the room with the sound of rustling papers, banging books and the clang of metal hitting metal. Metal? Discord flips around and stares at the mountain of papers and photo albums, sitting on top of the pile is a pair of pony ice skates. "What the?"
Discord floats over to the pile to get a closer look, sure enough there sits the four skates needed for a pony to go ice skating. The skates are small but long, whoever skates these are they are slightly taller then normal ponies but also a bit slimmer, no where near the size of any pony Discord has ever disguised himself as. Discord reaches out to grab them, but as soon as his fingers touch the skates there is a bright flash of light. Discord throws up his paw to shield his eyes. "Agh."
Discord moves his paw after the flash fades and he is more then a little surprised to see ice in front of him. He glances around as he quickly realizes he's in a frozen forest, no wait Discord notices the uniform spacing of the trees, he deduces that this isn't a forest but an orchard of some kind. An orchard that appears to have been flooded and then flash frozen. Before Discord can ponder why he is here he hears some voices. When he turns to look at the voices he is just in time to see a pair of ice skates hit the ice, the yellow pegasus from all the pictures is the one who threw them, she speaks before turning away in a huff. "I am not your friend!"
For reasons unknown to Discord that sentence pains him to hear. Discord reaches out to stop Flutter- from leaving, but before he can touch her everything flashes again. Suddenly Discord finds himself in a grassy meadow he looks around a bit before a soft sob catches his ear, he turns and looks at the source, sitting in a cage in the middle of the field is Fluttersh- she's being held by the orange mare Discord saw in the pictures, three of the other mares are there as well. Suddenly Discord feels his mouth move and hears his own voice. "Oh come now you must have seen this coming."
The crying Pegasus looks up at Discord with tears in her eyes, her sorrow seems to drive daggers into his heart. "No." She looks away from him and covers her eyes with her hooves. "I didn't."
A stabbing pain shoots through Discords heart, his eyes are glued to the weeping pegasus, as tears begin to well up in his own eyes Discord forces his eyes closed. "What is going on? Why am I seeing this!?"
Tears begin rolling down Discords face. "I don't want to remember this..." His thoughts drift to the crying Pegasus.I never want to see Fluttershy cry again. Discord wipes his tears. "Why am I remembering these things I can't fix anything."
"You need to fix this." Discords eyes snap open at Fluttershys pleading voice. He looks down and finds himself staring into Fluttershys shining teal eyes. She's staring up at him with a burnt box in her hooves, Discord looks around to find the grassy meadow has been replaced by Fluttershys living room, he looks down and sighs as he remembers how this went last time. He reaches out his talon and places it on the box before releasing some energy into the box to try and fix it, but just like before nothing happens. Discord clenches his paw into a fist and growls. "I can't fix it."
Discord is prepared to lash out at the wall just as he did in reality, but something stops him, a quiet voice asking. "Why?"
"Huh?" Discord stares at Fluttershy in surprise, as he remembers that she didn't ask that before. She's staring up at him with her big sparkling eyes. "W-what you did say?"
"Why?" Fluttershy repeats the same voice.
"Well because it's been destroyed." Discord says somberly.
"Why?" Fluttershy asks again.
"Because uh... somepony wanted to destroy it." Discord says a bit confused.
"Why?" Fluttershy repeats her voice unchanged.
"I don't know." Discord says disappointed.
"Why?"
"Because I don't!" Discord clenches his fist at his confession.
"Why?"
"Because it makes no sense." Discord says clutching his aching head.
"Why?"
"Because she has nothing to gain from doing it." Discord nearly shouts as he begins grinding his teeth. He waits for the next why to come, but instead he hears.
"Doing what?" Discord sighs in annoyance.
"Burning my-" Discords eyes snap open as far as they can without involving chaos powers. "Son of a Chrysalis."
Suddenly everything seems so clear to him all the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly, the fire on Hearths Warming wasn't just to ruin Discord and Fluttershys evening or just to wreck Fluttershys gift. No, Discord now realizes that the fire was a tool to implant a conduit for Moonlights magic something she knew Discord would always keep on him but would never suspect. Discord looks down and grabs the makeshift tie from around his neck, he stares it a moment and then scowls at it. Clever Moonlight. Without another thought Discord crushes the tie in his talon causing it to disintegrate into nothing. As soon as the tie is destroyed the fires in Discord brain halt their advance and quickly go out.
"Ahhh..." Discord sighs contently as he lays down on Fluttershys floor, of course it's not actually Fluttershys floor he is still in his flashback, minus Fluttershy, for some reason, Discord shrugs it off as him subconsciously transforming the room to match his flashbacks.
Discord smirks up at the ceiling/wall as he feels his brain begin to fix itself with a team of microscopic Discords. His smirk fades as he thinks of Moonlight. She was so close to having me there, if it wasn't for Fluttershy...
Discord sits up and grabs the pair of ice skates again, luckily they don't set off another flashback.
Everytime I see these I remember that moment... the moment Fluttershy said we weren't friends. Discord rubs his chin in thought.
Is this what Iron Sprocket meant by sentimentality, I was excepting to remember happy memories but instead I remembered my two worst... but... Discord sighs heavily. But if it wasn't for those two memories I might not have remembered Fluttershy... and without her...
Discord shakes his head wildly, he stands up deciding that he's got more important stuff to do then worry about what might have been. Discord raises his fingers and imagines Fluttershy house in his mind. "It's time to tell her, to tell everypony what's going on, and to take care of Moonlight." And just like that Discord is off.
........
In a lush green field a young Draconequus hums to himself as he sits on a large rock, he is kicking his mismatched feet to the beat of his humming, his arms are patting on his knees, and his pair of horns is doing nothing as his horns are just stubs at this point. The little Draconequus stops humming as a familiar but broken voice echoes in his ear.
"Hello Discord.." Young Discord looks up from his lap and smiles at the open air.
"Hey your back." Young Discord stands up, he is about half the size of grown up Discord. "Where have you been?"
"I've been working." The empty air replies.
"Oh yeah my Mom said your really important to the ponies." Discord raises in eyebrow. "What exactly do you do?"
"Hmm Isuppose you could say I help ponies make up their minds." The empty air replies slowly, Young Discords eyes light up in excitement.
"You mean you get to play with their heads and make them do stuff." Young Discord jumps up and down happily, the air chuckles at him.
"Basically yes."
"No way that's so cool." Young Discord moves to the edge of the rock and leans as close to the empty air as he can. "Can you teach me how to do that?"
"Hmm I suppose you could learn how." Young Discord has a feeling that the air is scratching its chin in thought. "Yes."
"Hooray!" Young Discord jumps into the air and falls in a loop. "Oh thank you invisible lady, don't worry I'll be the best student ever."
"Oh my dear sweet Discord." Young Discord feels a soft hand cup his cheek, but he can't see it. "Please call me..."
Luna releases her breath, through her closed eyes she can see the bright glow of the flames all around her yet they aren't burning her, matter of fact she doesn't even feel hot. As she opens her eyes she is surprised to see a bubble of blue magic surrounding her, she glances down at the crystal in her hoof, she smiles when she sees the crystal is also glowing. Always looking at for me aren't you big brother. Luna shakes her head refocusing on the situation, her horn begins to glow followed shortly by her wings, she raises her wings as far as they'll go and then flaps them releasing a strong gust of wind that blows out the fire spread around the library, the protective bubble vanishes as soon as all the fires out. Luna quickly looks around the room a bit distressed by the damage she let befall Twilights library, she promises to look for a book restoration spell later.
Luna looks to the table where the fire originated, she spots the orb she saw explode laying shattered on the table, but before she can examine the remains the door to the library slams open.
"Twilight! Fire!" Spike rushes into the room panting heavily clutching a scroll in his left hand, he freezes in place when he sees who is here instead of Twilight. "P-Princess Luna?"
"Greetings Spike what appears to be the problem?" Luna asks as she crosses the room to him. Spike shakes off his surprise and speaks his message.
"Fires have sprung up all over Ponyville, almost half the town is burning!" Spike flails his arms as he shouts in a panic, Luna spots the scroll in Spikes claw immediately realizing that it must be from her sister too Twilight, before she can think too much about what the scroll could be she turns her head and narrows her eyes to glare at the shattered globe on the table.
"Very well... here." Spike jumps in surprise as the princess suddenly lobs the crystal she was holding at him, lucky for him she threw it with her magic so it gently floats into his claws. "Please put that somewhere safe."
"Um okay..." Spike scratches his head. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure yet but it is very important to me so please take care of it Spike." Luna flaps herself into the air. "Help the fire teams once you're done."
"Yes ma'am." Spike salutes, the Princess nods in agreement before flying up and out the window. Once she's gone he runs off to put the crystal in the most secure location he can think of... under his bed.
With a few quick flaps Luna finds herself outside the castle, looking around the town she sees pillars of smoke flow from all over. several fires have been dampened by the citizens, but none have been put out yet. Luna spies Rarity by the town well and swoops down to her hoping for answers. Upon her landing she notices that Rarity is not alone, as the Element of Generosity fills up buckets from the well another mare grabs them and places them on a platform for other ponies to grab, Luna is impressed by the speed at which Ponyville has started fighting the fires. As she walks up to Rarity she spots some Pegasi flying in with clouds. Luna does not recognize the mare standing next to Rarity, she is a tall Pegasus with a black coat and long braided purple hair, her cutie mark is a few bright yellow stars, as the two turn to face Luna she can see the mare also has bright purple eyes.
"Princess Luna?!" Rarity exclaims loudly. "What are you doing here?"
"I was here on a personal matter when all this transpired, what has happened?" Luna speaks with stern authority Rarity shakes off her surprise and continues working on the buckets while she talks to the Princess.
"Somepony we thought was our friend set these fires all over town." Rarity scowls at the thought. "Twilight stayed behind to deal with her while the rest of us came back to deal with the fires."
"Who is this friend?" Luna asks feeling she has a good idea already, but before she can get an answer Applejack comes running up to the platform.
"Rarity we got a problem the fires have spread to Berry Punches house!" Rarity covers her mouth with her hooves to cover her gasp.
"Oh lord if the fire reaches her wine cellar-" Rarity flips around to the Pegasus standing next to her. "Night Fly quick fly up to the weather patrol and have them take the clouds to Berry Punches immediately."
"Right." Night Fly takes off and soars toward the other pegasi in the sky, Rarity cups her mouth with her hooves.
"PINKIE!" Rarity shouts as loud as she can, to Luna's surprise Pinkie Pie appears a mere moment later, but even more surprising then that Pinkie Pies hair is far bigger then usual with several high lights in her mane. "Quick Pinkie go with Applejack, take as many buckets as you can."
"Okie dokie lokie." Pinkie Pie salutes before dashing off with Applejack, both carrying more buckets than the other ponies, Rarity turns back toward the Princess, she yelps in surprise as she finds Luna glaring, though she notices she isn't glaring at her but at the sky. Luna's horn ignites and she launches an energy beam at the sky, it explodes in midair, instantly a large storm cloud begins forming in the sky, Luna turns her glare towards Rarity who yelps once more.
"Where is Twilight?"
Outside Fluttershy's House
Discord suddenly pops in on Fluttershy's door step, he clears his throat and prepares to knock, but he freezes right before his knuckle hits the door. He glances around Fluttershys property and sees nothing, not a single animal around, usually it's a chorus of noise when he teleports in. Before he can think too much on that the front door suddenly opens, Fluttershy's eyes go wide in surprise when she spots Discord.
"Discord what are you doing here?" Fluttershy raises an eyebrow at him, Discord smiles down at his friend.
"Fluttershy my dear I have something very important I need to tell you." Fluttershy looks at him for a moment before smiling.
"Of course come on in I was just about to have some orange juice." Fluttershy opens the door wider so Discord can float inside. Moments later the two are sitting in the living room in their usual places, a tray of cookies and a glass container of juice on the coffee table. Fluttershy happily nibbles on a cookie before speaking again. "So what's going on?"
"Well you see." Discord scratches his head awkwardly. "It's about Moonlight."
Fluttershy stiffens at the mention of the name, but only says. "W-what about her?"
"Well she's not quite the pony everypony thinks she is." Discord animates one of the cookies and has it walk itself into his mouth.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asks while placing her cup back onto the table, she crosses her hooves and gives Discord her undivided attention.
"W-well ya see she is uh..." Discord looks around the room nervously he raises his claw to speak when he suddenly stops again as a thought occurs to him. "Um Fluttershy where are all your animals?"
"Oh-" Fluttershy looks away nervously. "The fire scared them away."
"Fire?" Discords eyes widen. "What fire?"
"Well you see-" Fluttershy avoids eye contact. "I think Moonlight set Ponyville on fire."
"What!?" Discord bolts up from the couch, he clenches his paw fist. "I didn't think she'd stoop to hurting other ponies!"
"The others went back to Ponyville to deal with the fires there while I came home to deal with them here." Discords eyes widen.
"Your home was on fire!?" Discord shouts in alarm.
"J-just a little bit." Fluttershy blushes, Discord stomps around the living room before freezing once more.
"Wait." Fluttershy looks up at Discord in surprise.
"W-what?" Fluttershy stammers out, Discord looks at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow.
"Where was the fire?" Discord asks, Fluttershys eyes widen.
"Um..."
"Why aren't you out looking for your animals?" Discord takes a step toward Fluttershys chair.
"I was about to before you showed up." Fluttershy says avoiding eye contact again.
"You said you were about to have juice before I arrived." Discord continues moving toward Fluttershy.
"I meant-"
"Where is Fluttershy!?" Discord shouts at Fluttershy as he stands right in front of her, Fluttershy chuckles.
"I guess I'm not that good at improvising huh?" Fluttershy suddenly meets Discords eyes, he flinches in surprise as Fluttershys teal eyes have gone blood red. Discord feels something crash into the back of his head, his head is suddenly soaked by the juice from Fluttershys cup, he glares down at Fluttershy but before he can snap his fingers he falls over onto the floor.
"Ugh what the?" Discord clutches his head, his eyes widen in surprise as the Fluttershy before him begins morphing, her skin turns white and begins to glow, her hair shortens and turns black, her wings reside into her back and a horn sprouts from her head.
"Tatzlwurm venom, I was hoping to get you to drink it, but throwing it at you will have to do." Moonlight grins down at Discord, and Discord glares up at her.
?????
Darkness... Twilight turns around at the voice. Darkness... Twilight can't see anything, everything around her is pitch black. Darkness... is truly powerful isn't it? Twilight glares into the void. "Who are you!?"
You don't recognize me Twilight? Twilight jumps in surprise as a pair of glowing green eyes with purple smoke appears in front of her. Twilight ignites her horn, but doesn't see any light.
"Sombra!?"
The voice chuckles. I suppose that will do for now. Suddenly Sombras face appears where the eyes are.
"What do you want Sombra?" Twilight asks as she ready's herself for battle, the voice chuckles again, but Sombras mouth doesn't move.
I only want to help Twilight, you've tasted my power before Twilight. And you didn't need your friends to use it, with this power you can protect everypony you care about. Twilight un-ignites her horn, but before she can think on what the voice said.
"Twilight!" Twilight's eyes shoot open, much to her surprise the voice that woke her up belongs to Princess Luna. "Thank goodness I was getting worried."
"P-princess Luna?" Twilight sits up and looks around, as she sees Sweet Apple Acres orchard around her she remembers how she got into this situation, which reminds her. "Where's Moonlight?"
"Moonlight?" Luna remembers what Rarity said earlier and assumes that Moonlight must be the one who started the fires. "Twilight what happened here?"
"I tried to stop her, but she tricked me." Twilight clutches her side as pain shoots through it, Luna quickly ignites her horn and illuminates Twilight's side removing the pain.
"Who is this Moonlight?" Luna examines the rest of Twilights body with her magic, none of the damage is life threatening, but she does apply a pain killing spell to the worst of the injuries.
"She's a friend of Discords, shes been around for a while." Twilight sighs in relief as Lunas spell kicks in. "I always thought there was something off about her."
"What do you mean?" Luna asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Well she glows for one thing, and I don't mean like a crystal pony, it's like her whole body is a horn that's always using magic." Twilight struggles to her feet, Luna doesn't help her as she is lost in thought.
Luna rubs her chin in thought. So that's the physical alteration not nearly as drastic as my transformation into Nightmare Moon... Lunas eyes widen a bit. Which reminds me.
"Twilight?" Twilight looks up at the sudden mention of her name.
"Yes Princess?" Twilight asks as she finishes standing up, Luna looks at her with a serious look in her eye.
"I need you to tell me how you got the Elements of Harmony."
Fluttershys House
"I am quite impressed Discord." Discord glares up at the glowing mare walking around him, Discord figures she wants to keep a safe distance from him while the Tatzlwurm venom finishes soaking into him. "I always knew you were clever, and your chaos magic makes you very unpredictable, but to think you'd actually figure out my curse and destroy it."
Moonlight grabs Discords muzzle with her magic and forces him to look at her, her eyes match her voice, cold and unfeeling. "I worked really hard on that you know."
Discord narrows his eyes at her as he growls out. "Sorry too disappoint you."
Much to Discords surprise she smiles at him. "Oh you didn't disappoint me Discord, if anything I find you even more interesting then before."
"Lucky me." Discord rolls his eyes, Moonlight drops Discords muzzle after that.
"So..." Moonlights horn ignites and Discord flinches at the sight. "How did you free yourself from my tea and then my burning curse? Luna could only have helped you so much."
Discord grins at Moonlight. "Something tells me you already know who helped me."
Moonlight glares down at the Lord of Chaos, but her smile doesn't waver, instead it grows into a twisted grin. "Ah yes your precious little Fluttershy!"
Discords eyes widen as he stares at the twisted look in Moonlights eyes, and for some reason her voice sounded more familiar. "Where is Fluttershy!?"
"You don't have to worry about her anymore Discord." Discord is suddenly roughly brought up face to face with Moonlight, he can see a red and black portal open up behind her. "Your all mine now!"
"Wait yo-" Discord is suddenly cut off as a beam of dark blue energy strikes Moonlight directly in the right eye sending her flying backwards, her concentration broken her portal dissipates, and Discord falls to the ground. Discord looks from Moonlights newly limp body to the massive hole that was blown in Fluttershys wall, moments later the Princess of Night comes floating in. "Luna!?"
"Discord are you alright?" Luna asks with a touch of concern, Discord just gaps at her.
"Luna why did you do that?" Discord gestures toward Moonlights body. "She was being manipulated by the Element you didn't need to kill her, and she did something to Fluttershy!"
"Relax Discord she isn't dead." Luna says as she walks over to his side.
"But you just blew up her f-"
"And she isn't being manipulated." Discords eyes widen.
"What do you mean?" Luna locks eyes with Discord, her eyes hold an air of anger about them.
"Something has been bugging me since we talked to your mother Discord." Discord raises an eyebrow at Luna.
"What's that?" Luna turns away from Discord and stares at Moonlights body.
"Your mother said no one has ever found the Tree of Sin in all these thousands of years, and yet somehow I became the bearer of the Element of Sin." Luna returns her gaze to Discord. "I talked with Twilight, and she confirmed my suspicion, she and the others had to find the Elements of Harmony themselves, they didn't even call to them."
"What are you getting at?" Discord asks a bit confused.
"What I'm getting at Discord is that I was never the bearer of the Element of Sin because there has never been an Element to bear." Luna jabs a hoof at Moonlight. "She's not the bearer like Twilight and her friends, she's not wielding its power like my sister did, and she is not possessed by it like I was!"
"Wait you mean?" Discords eyes widen even more.
so you figured it out
Discord and Luna snap their heads towards the broken voice that just spoke, there standing before them is Moonlight right where she was just laying down a second ago, half of her face is missing but instead of blood and bone her insides are nothing but swirling blackness, her right eye is nothing but a glowing red light in the inky blackness, a bone chilling laugh begins coming from her lips. Luna glares at the creature before her.
"You know of all the things that have happened to me since I got this body, This." Moonlight sticks her hoove into the hole that was blasted into her face for emphasis. "Has to be the most unexpected, so coodoes to you Luna."
"H-how..." Luna gaps at the sight before her, she knew she had gotten a direct hit but she didn't think that blast would take off half her face. On a normal pony yes but she thought the Element of Sins body would be tougher. Luna also notices that Moonlights voice isn't distorted anymore, this makes Luna wonder. Did her true self shine through when she was damaged?"
"Am I alive?" Moonlight asks as she removes her hoof from where eye socket should be, Moonlight scuffs at Luna. "The condition of this mortal shell means nothing to me."
"Where did you even get a body?" Discord grunts as he succumbs to the Tatzlwurm venom, his body turns pale with green dots all over, Luna looks down at her sick friend sadly, before returning her gaze to Moonlight.
"And why are you doing this?" Luna asks as she slowly inches away from Discord.
"And where's Fluttershy!?" Discord growls between clenched teeth. Luna looks back at Discord with wide eyes, she didn't know anything had happened to Fluttershy. But before she can ask about it her attention is brought back to Moonlight when the glowing mare begins chuckling again.
"Oh my such big questions, and rather important ones too, I'm going to need a moment to decide which one to answer first." Moonlight puts her hoof to her chin and begins thinking about it, her head bobs left to right as she internally debates which question she should answer first. Suddenly it hits her she ignites her horn and raises her horn to proclaim. "None of them."
...Then the house exploded.
Ponyville Sqaure: By The Well
"What the hay was that?" Applejack glances around town but can't see where the explosion came from.
"I don't know darling." Rarity says before shaking off her confusion and continuing to fill buckets, though at this point the bucket brigade and rain clouds have dealt with most of the fire.
"Think it was Twilight?" Pinkie Pie says suddenly joining the conversation. This gives the other two Elements pause.
"Could she and Moonlight still be fighting?" Rarity asks a touch concerned, Applejack sees the concern on her friends and gives a warm smile to try and help.
"Don't ya worry none." Applejack says while giving her friends big pats on the back. "Remember Princess Luna went to help her."
"Your right." Rarity smiles back at her friend. "I'm sure Princess Luna can handle it."
The Sky Above Fluttershys House Crater
"Whoa!" Luna shouts as she dodges a bolt of red magic, with a scowl she looks down at the pony that fired at her, the bizzare glowing mare who had just recently annihilated the Element of Kindnesses home leaving only the small space she had been standing untouched. So now there is a five foot deep crater with a pillar of earth in the center of it topped with a coffee table. I just barely managed to avoid that attack, if she had just fired it off without thinking. I don't know how powerful she really is so I'd better play it safe for now. Her eyes lock onto the pale green spotted mass of Chaos Lord laying in the crater. "Then again I wouldn't even be in this mess if somepony had just told me about Moonlight earlier!"
Discord turns his head to look up at Luna, and replies dryly. "I'm going to assume that was directed at me."
"Your damn right it was!" Luna shakes her hoof at Discord. "Why didn't you just tell me before?!"
"I needed to be sure." Discord says nervously as he avoids eye contact.
"She is glowing Discord, clopping glowing!" Luna gestures wildly in Moonlights direction. "That didn't seem a bit odd to you?"
"Look I'm sorry." Discord remakes eyecontact. "Now can you please help me stop her, or are you just gonna keep yelling at me?"
"Oh don't think for a second that I can't do both." Luna shouts at Discord before turning back to where Moonlight is standing, except she's not there. "Huh?"
"Y'know, right now I don't think you can do either." Before Luna can turn to the sound of the voice she feels a hoof slam into her back, sending her toward the ground. With a quick glow of her horn and a strong flap of her wings, Luna stops herself before she collides with the ground. She flips around and glares at the mare floating where she had just been, Moonlight is surrounded by a shimmering red aura.
Luna fires a blast of dark blue energy at her opponent, who fires a blast of red energy in return. The blasts explode when they collide momentarily blinding Discord, once he has his vision back he can see that the two mares have vanished. Sudden a loud bang rings through the air as Luna and Moonlight's hooves collide, this happens several more times as the two mare battle it out in the air. Normally Discord could keep up with the action but the venom in his system is making it hard for him to focus enough to keep up with their movements. Which he doesn't have to worry about for long as the two combatants land on opposite sides of the crater.
"Answer me at least one thing Moonlight." Luna demands, Moonlight smirks.
"Depends what you want to know." Luna scowls at the Element of Sin.
"Why me?" Moonlights smirk turns into a preplexed stare. "Why did you possess me all those years ago?"
"Hmm." Moonlight puts her hoof to her chin. "I suppose it was because we're so alike."
"Alike!?" Luna blurts out. "We are nothing alike!"
"I guess you're right, I mean we're just, both younger sisters to far more beloved figures, and we are disliked because of the dark undertones of our powers, polar opposites me and you." Moonlight glares at Luna for a moment before shrugging. "As for why I wanted to possess anypony, I needed a body so I could free Discord and start puttin the moves on him."
"Wait a minute." Lunas eye starts twitching and face contorts into a look of disgust. "You were going to use my body to mate with Discord?"
"Yes, obviously." Moonlight rolls her eyes as the two former villians lock eyes, Discord smiles nervously unsure of how to react to this news, he quickly notices that Luna is blushing a deep shade of green making her puffed out cheeks a dark teal... just as Discord remembers that blushing isn't green nor does it involve puffing out your cheeks Luna runs off to vomit in the nearest bush, Discord scowls at the spot his friend had just been.
"Oh come I'm not that bad!" Discord shouts as loud as he can despite the poison, Luna comes back to the edge of the crater while using a napkin from the coffee table to wipe her mouth.
"I'm sorry Discord it's just that the thought of us as a couple..." Luna uses her eyes to gesture toward the bush she had just come from.
"Makes you vomit." Discord says dryly.
"Exactly." Luna says with a smile.
"Come on I thought we were friends." Discord whines from his spot in the crater.
"Yes and as your friend I find the idea of kissing you revolting." Luna shrugs her shoulders. "It's nothing personal."
"Using the word revolting makes it feel pretty personal." Discord lowers his gaze and pouts, Luna rolls her eyes at her friends whining.
"Look Discord-" Before Luna can speak another word something strikes her back sending her flying into the crater, she lands face down right next to the sick Draconequus. Discord raises his head and looks at his friend sprawled out the ground.
"I'm starting to think you can't do both." Discord says sarcastically.
"Shut... up." Luna mumbles through the dirt.
Ponyville Square
Colors explode through the air as Rainbow Dash bursts through the storm clouds over Ponyville, as she lands in Ponyville's Town Square her harmony mode shuts off returning her mane to normal. Before she can take one step a white and purple blur suddenly crashes into her embracing her tightly.
"Oh my dear Rainbow Dash I'm so glad your back I've been so worried." Rarity says in her usual dramatic fashion Rainbow Dash smiles and returns the embrace.
"I'm okay Rare..." Rainbow looks away from Rarity to see the other three ponies walking towards them. "Hey guys what happened around here? There weren't suppose to be any rain clouds today."
"It was that varmint Moonlight." Applejack says with a huff.
"What was threating my mother not enough for her, she had to rain out Ponyville too?" Rainbow Dash scowls at the foe that isn't there. "How'd she get all these clouds here anyway?"
"Actually we had the weather team bring these in." Rarity loosing her grip on Rainbow Dash slightly.
"After you left that big old meany decided to try and burn down the whole town." Pinkie Pie adds with a big pout.
"Wait I'm confused what happened to your mother?" Night Fly asks joining the conversation. "And who's-"
"Luckily nothing." Rainbow says interrupting the ebony pony's second question. "I got there in time and got the fire globe away from her before it could explode."
"Uh...?" Night Fly stares at Rainbow Dash in confusion as she doesn't know what a fire globe is or why it would explode. Much to her dismay the Elements of Harmony continue their conversation without explaining.
"Well that's good partner." Applejack chimes in with a nod. "Finally some good news today."
"How'd you get rid of it?" Pinkie Pie asks her in usual bubbly tone.
"Well as soon as I saw it I dove across the room and-" Rainbow Dash is suddenly interrupted by the shouts of an adolescent dragon.
"Guys! Guys!" The five mares all turn to see the short purple dragon running toward them. Applejack is the first to react.
"Whoa Sugarcube what's wrong?" Applejack exclaims as Spike begins panting heavily. He holds up a claw with a scroll.
"Fought fires... forgot to... deliever... letter." Spike gulps in air with each pause.
"A letter from who?" Rarity asks as she releases Rainbow Dash from her embrace but does not leave her said.
"It's from Princess Celestia." Spike says after catching his breath, he looks between the mares gathered before him and raises an eyebrow. "Um... where's Twilight?"
"Last I saw her she was at Sweet Apple Acres." Rarity says a bit worried, Applejack scratches her chin.
"Ya don't rektin her and Princess Luna are still dealing with Moonlight do ya?" Rainbow turns to face her country friend.
"Princess Luna? What's she doing here?" Rainbow Dash looks at everypony gathered, but before any of them can respond another voice speaks up.
"She was here looking for Discord and Moonlight." All five mares and one dragon turn toward the source of the voice, they all gasp in surprise and all but Nightfly dash over to the slightly worse for wear Princess of Friendship.
"Twilight!" The Elements of Harmony shout, along with Spike, as they reach their friend.
"What happened to you, sugarcube?"
"Darling where's Princess Luna?"
"Did you kick Moonlights butt?"
"Are you okay?"
"Do you want some cake?" All ponies present turn to look at Pinkie Pie, who just shrugs. "What you guys took all the good ones."
"Spike can I see that letter?" Twilight's question surprises the young dragon but he nods and hands it to her.
"So sugarcube you gonna tell us what happened." Twilight doesn't notice that Applejack spoke her eyes are fixated on the letter from Celestia.
"I'll tell you on the way." Twilight closes the scroll in her hoof. "We need to find Fluttershy."
Back at Fluttershy's Crater
"Honestly I don't know why you two are putting up such a fuss." Moonlight lands next to the ill Lord of Chaos and the face down Princess of the Night. "So I'm trying to kidnap Discord and have done something mysterious to Fluttershy, that's far from the worst thing anypony has ever done."
"Actually hurting Fluttershy is the worst thing anypony can do." Discord declares from his spot on the ground. Moonlight grins at him and leans in close to his face.
"Then I guess that's another thing we have in common." Discord narrows his eyes at the Element of Sin and swings his paw at her, but due to the poison she can easily evade his lethargic swipe. "Don't be that way Discord you'll be mine soon enough I'd rather you be in a good mood."
"Why are you doing this I thought we were friends?" Discord snarls at the glowing mare, who frowns back at him.
"I don't want friends." Her tone serious, she reaches out with her hoof. "I want you."
"Luna help!" Discord shouts as loud as the venom will allow, he looks over where Luna was laying down causing Moonlight to do the same, they are both surprised to find the ground bare of any sign of the Night Princess.
"Huh?" Moonlight looks around the area , but can't see Luna anywhere not even above her. "Where did she go?"
"Hmm?" Discord looks down at the ground at Moonlights hooves, the dirt is glowing a dark blue. Discord opens his mouth to question this when the ground suddenly erupts sending a pillar of dark blue magic straight into the air taking Moonlight along with it who screams in anger the entire way. Moments later Luna bursts forth from the hole in the ground taking in a gasp of air.
"Oh my Me! Dirt is not good for the lungs." Luna says between coughs, Discord stares wide eyed at his Princess friend.
"Luna!?" She turns to look at him.
"Yeah?" She looks away from Discord and toward the beam of magic still carrying the glowing pony with it as it falls into the Everfree forest. "What?"
"How did you get down there?" Discord raises an eyebrow at his friend as she dusts herself off and heads over to him.
"Teleportation trick my brother taught me." She helps Discord sit up as she talks. "Concentrate hard enough and you can teleport into the space between the dirt, do it wrong and you teleport into the dirt which can be really bad if there's too much of it."
"Your brother comes up with the weirdest tricks." Discord grunts as he drops onto his rump in a sitting position. "For ponies anyway."
"He liked to push the limits of what magic is capable of." Luna flops down on the ground next to the Spirit of Chaos, both immortals sigh heavily.
"Any idea how we can get rid of her?" Discord says hopefully, Luna smirks at him.
"Well my brother used to throw every magic problem he had into the human world." The two Immortals share a chuckle, followed by a sigh.
"Hmm now that's an idea." Discord smiles and then immediately frowns. "But I don't think that would work."
"What the hay happened here!?" The two immortals turn to see five of the Elements of Harmony standing at the edge of Fluttershy's crater, with Spike of course.
"Princess Luna? Discord!?" Twilight looks between the two ancients with a look of shock. "What's going on!?"
"Uhh..." Before the two can respond a glowing red sphere bursts from the Everfree treeline and stops over the center of the crater, within the glowing sphere is Moonlight a fresh black scar along her belly and pure rage in her eyes. The duo of ex-villains point at the Element of Sin. "That."
"Oh great now these twits are here too." Moonlight scowls at the gathered ponies. "I was hoping that fire would get you out of my hair, I didn't want to have deal with my sisters little vermin too."
"So it's true." Twilight glares up at Moonlight. "You are the Element of Sin."
"Oh." Moonlight raises an eyebrow at the Princess of Friendship, while the two immortal pals look at her in surprise. "That's an excellent guess, how did you know?"
"Ever since Fluttershy showed me your tea I thought your magic was similar to our harmony magic, our battle confirmed my hypothesis, while Princess Celestia's letter gave me the name." Moonlight claps at the Princess explanation.
"Impressive Princess you're a lot smarter then I gave you credit for." Twilight jabs a hoof a Moonlight.
"And as the Elements of Harmony we have the power to defeat you." This statement causes Moonlight to stop clapping and groan instead.
"And what makes you say that?" Moonlight asks dryly, Twilight smirks at her.
"Cause it's five on one." Twilight and the others all strike battle poses.
"So you better step away from the Princess and Discord." Rarity adds.
"And give us back Fluttershy." Applejack says.
"Or your going down!" Rainbow Dash and Pinkie say in unison.
Moonlight looks between the five present Elements of Harmony with a bored look. "Ok I was wrong, you're just as dumb as I gave you credit for."
"Huh?" Twilight blinks in surprise, Moonlight groans.
"When have you ever been able to do anything with only five Elements of Harmony?" Moonlights asks as she floats closer to the team.
"Since now!" Rainbow shouts as she dashes forward her hair exploding into its long harmony form, Pinkie dashes forward at the same time also popping into Harmony mode, they both collide with Moonlight sending her backwards through the air. Moonlight explodes her sphere of magic sending the two Elements flying back, Moonlight quickly grabs Rainbow Dash with her magic before diving toward Pinkie Pie and pinning her to the ground with her hooves.
"You idiots really don't understand anything do you!?" Moonlight shouts at the ponies in her grasp.
"Let them go!" Moonlight looks up just in time to see the orange hoof collide with her face, much to the surprise of the now Harmony form Applejack Moonlight doesn't flinch from the blow. Applejack suddenly realizes why, her hoof went straight into the hole in Moonlights face and just barely touched the back of her head. "What the-"
"Not a damn thing!" The swirling mass of magic inside Moonlights body seems to grab Applejack by the hoof and forcibly shove her backward pinning her to the ground, with her remaining eye Moonlight looks up to see a newly harmony form Rarity running at her, with a bit of body manipulation she launches her mane to grab Rarity, catching the Element of Generosity off guard and lifting her into the air. Moonlight gives her four captives a manic grin, but before she can do anything to them a swirling beam of purple and dark blue crashes onto her from the sky.
"Take this!" Twilight shouts as her and Princess Luna intensify their beams forcing Moonlight to release her hold on the others. Twilight and Luna land next to the freshly freed Elements. "Careful guys we can't just rush in, she has a lot more power then I thought."
"We need Fluttershy." Luna speaks to the five mares near her but doesn't take her eyes off Moonlight. "You each only carry one sixth of the Spirit of Harmony's power, while Moonlight has all of her power."
"You mean we don't stand a chance without Fluttershy?" Twilight asks while also making sure to keep her eyes on Moonlight.
"Exactly, but not only do we need her, we need her and you to reach the Harmony state." Luna looks over at Twilight. "Can you do it?"
"Uh..." Twilight remembers what happened back in Sweet Apple Acres when she tried to use the Harmony power, and the power she reached instead. "I-I'll try."
"GAA!!" Rainbow Dash suddenly dashes forward and collides hooves with Moonlight. "Where is Fluttershy!?"
"It doesn't matter!" Moonlight and Rainbow Dash exchange blows for a short time before Moonlight blasts her away with her magic, a small crack appears in the air above them. "You'll never see her again!"
Before Moonlight can pursue Rainbow Dash Applejack and Pinkie Pie collide with her on opposite sides, the strength of Applejack's blows and Pinkies unpredictable pattern pushes Moonlight backward. The glowing mare jumps into the air and slams a wave of magic onto the two earth ponies. The crack grows larger, Moonlight suddenly feels a beam of magic blast her side, she turns to find Rarity firing another one, Moonlight easily deflects the blast with her hoof before launching her own Rarity moves out of the way to avoid a direct hit but is still caught in the blast radius. The crack continues to grow, suddenly Luna flies out of the smoke caused by Moonlight's blast and punches Moonlight in the face, Moonlight returns the favor with her attack but can't attack again as a blast hits her from behind taking this chance Luna slams Moonlight toward the ground, Twilight fires more blasts at the falling form of Moonlight. But Moonlight teleports before they can hit her, before Twilight can react she has been grabbed by her tail and flung into a swirling red portal, she comes out directly in front of her own energy blasts. The crack in the air now looks like a window that's been hit by a baseball. Luna flies into Moonlight and they both go hurdling toward the ground, they strike each others bodies as they fall Moonlight manages to get free of Luna and shove her away but she can't stop herself before she collides with the ground. The crack grows even more.
"Ugh these ponies." Moonlight pushes herself off the ground and rubs her head. "Mortals are more stubborn then I remember."
"HEY MOONLIGHT!"
"Hmm?" Moonlight looks up at the sky, high in the sky is Rainbow Dash slamming her hooves together in a challenging gesture. A stream of purple magic flows up from Rarity on the ground, it wraps around Rainbow Dash, she grins and points down at Moonlight.
"This is the part where you fall down." The stream of magic finishes it's transfer and Rainbow Dash dives down straight at Moonlight gaining speed rapidly. Moonlight rolls her eyes at the Element hurling herself at her.
"It's a shame for her to be this stupid." Moonlight aims her horn at Rainbow Dash and begins channeling her magic, a sinister grin stretches across her face as her spell fully charges. "Goodbye Rainbow Dash!"
As the Rainboom cone begins to form around Rainbow Dash Moonlight begins to launch her spell, but before she can her head is suddenly struck and pushed to the side so her beam misses Rainbow Dash. The familiar sound of a Sonic Rainboom going off fills the air as Moonlight turns to see what struck her, she narrows her eyes at the small purple dragon who just breathed fire. You little bas- When Rainbow Dash collides with Moonlight it causes an explosion of magical rainbows.
When the dust settles the four elements of harmony run to find Rainbow Dash laying down in the crater her harmony form has faded away, Spike emerges from a pile of dirt and Luna arrives with the sickly Lord of Chaos. Rarity helps Rainbow Dash to her hooves, Rainbow gives the closest thing a pony can to a thumbs up. Luna places Discord down among the ponies gathered.
"Good job ladies that was really impressive." The gathered mares all smile at each other, they all jump in surprise as the crack in the sky makes an audible crack. They all turn to see the large crack in the air, but before any of them can react or form a sentence Moonlight erupts out of the ground surrounded in a blood red aura.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!!!!" Tendrils of magic shoot out from Moonlight and pin everypony to the ground, bolts of red lightening shoot through the tendrils and shock all the ponies present, Moonlights eyes and smile turn twisted and manic as she begins to laugh.
Suddenly the crack in the sky explodes outward opening a large red and black swirling portal, a large fist of black swirling energy erupts from the portal and slams into Moonlight but she manages to teleport away before it slams her into the ground, the strike still interrupts her spell on the others. All the ponies quickly get back up and stare at the black fist that just crashed in, even Moonlight floats nearby watching the strange object. The fist opens up and quickly returns to the portal which quickly closes after it, but none of them notice the portal as they stare at the long flowing mane of pink with teal high lights and the bright shining eyes of the owner of the mane, Discords face breaks into a giant smile.
Fluttershy zips through the air as fast as she can, her home getting closer with each passing second. The smoke coming from all the windows causes Fluttershy's heart to sink. After all the smoke could damage the lungs of the local animals and the fire could hurt Angel. With these thoughts in mind Fluttershy pushes herself even harder as she nears her house.
With as mighty a push as she can muster Fluttershy shoves her front door open ready to face the flames. Instead she ends up staring blankly at her living room, her non on fire living room. Fluttershy looks around the room, not a trace of fire or smoke anywhere. Her windows aren't even open so the smoke couldn't have been going out them anyway. Fluttershy blinks a few times in confusion. "What's going on?"
"Wow I can't believe your actually here." Fluttershy flips around to face the voice. There standing in her doorway is Moonlight.
"Moonlight, but I thought Twilight was-" Fluttershy is interrupted as Moonlight shoves her way past the yellow pegasus.
"Honestly I was worried you would remember that the fire globe I gave you already exploded." Moonlight walks into the kitchen and starts taking things out of the cabinets. "Or that you'd bring one of your friends, which would suck, because then I'd have to get rid of her too and thats just more work for me."
"Get r-rid o-of you don't mean..." Fluttershy looks at Moonlight with wide terrified eyes. Moonlight seems to ignore this comment until she's done arrangeing the dishes she got out on a tray.
"Don't worry I'm not going to kill you." Moonlight leaves the kitchen, much to Fluttershy's confusion she leaves all the stuff on the counter. "Not if I want my plan to go right."
"What plan?" Fluttershy asks, her mind already making some guesses.
"I'd love to tell you, but it doesn't really matter if you know or not." Moonlight smirks at Fluttershy. "So why bother telling you anything."
"You're after Discord aren't you?" Fluttershy asks as defiantly as she can despite her fear. Moonlight seems a bit surprised by this.
"Excellent guess." Moonlight says with a sarcastic clap of her hooves.
"Why threaten me Moonlight?" Fluttershy narrows her eyes at the glowing mare. "How does getting rid of me help you?"
"Discord is quite fond of you." Moonlight stares out the window in thought. "Even now in his memory deprived state the mere thought of you is helping him break my spell."
"M-memory deprived?" Fluttershy's eyes widen. "What do you mean by tha-"
"Oops said to much." Moonlight chuckles to herself as she ignites her horn with shimmering red. "There must be something about dealing with the heroes that makes you want to answer their questions."
Moonlight fires a blast from her horn, it explodes in mid-air and creates a swirling red and black portal. She shrugs. "Oh well."
Moonlight turns to look at Fluttershy with a pleasant smile on her face. Moonlight gestures toward the portal with her head. "Alright in you go."
"I-I'm not going in there." Fluttershy plants her hooves on the floor and glares at Moonlight.
"Aw that's cute." Moonlight narrows her eyes at Fluttershy as her mouth grows into a devilish smile. "You think you have a choice."
Suddenly multiple metal rings fly out of the swirling vortex and go straight for Fluttershy. She attempts to evade in the air, but being indoors prevents her from out maneuvering them. The rings catch her easily and clamp down on each of her hooves, while one closes around her belly. The five metal rings all have chains attached to them that extend back through the portal. Fluttershy struggles against the chains, they are clamped on tight but don't hurt when she stands still. "W-what's going on?"
"This is the getting rid of you part." Moonlight stomps her hoof and the chains begin pulling Fluttershy toward the portal. "I just need you out of this realm of existence for awhile."
"What is that!?" Fluttershy shouts at the portal. "Where are you sending me!?"
"Oh nowhere too bad... just Tartarus." Moonlight speaks nonchalantly as she watchs Fluttershy struggle against the chains.
"T-Tartarus?" Fluttershys eyes go wide. "Why?"
"Well I would just kill you but I can't risk Discord finding out, he might sense your magic disappear." Moonlight groans in annoyance. "That and my sister would probably stop me anyway."
"Wait you can't send me to Tartarus." Fluttershy looks between Moonlight and the ever nearing portal. "You just said Discord would notice I'm gone!"
"No I said Discord would notice your magic is gone, but..." Moonlight walks up to Fluttershy and places her hoof on the pegasus's head. "If I do this."
Both Moonlight and Fluttershy are covered in a red aura. Moonlights hair begins to change from black to pink and starts to grow longer, her skin stops glowing and changes from white to yellow, her horn sinks into her head as wings grow from her back, her blood red eyes turn a calming teal. Fluttershy gasps in surprise at the sight of Moonlights transformation. "H-how did you?"
"Sorry no time for anymore questions, come on off you go." Moonlight stomps her hoof again causing the chains to pull harder.
"Wait please you don't have to do this." Fluttershy looks at Moonlights new Fluttershy form with pleading eyes. "You can still stop this you can still be our friend!"
"..." Moonlight looks at Fluttershy in bewilderment. "I burn down your town, threaten your life, assault your princess, give your coltfriend amnesia, and I am currently trying to literally send you to Tartarus... and you think we can still be friends?"
"Yes." Fluttershy looks at Moonlight hopefully. "It's never to late to turn things around, the others might be angry for awhile but you can always make up for what you'v-"
*SLAP*
Fluttershy falls to the ground from the blow to her cheek, the chains momentarily stop trying to move her. She looks up to see her own face glaring down at her, nostrils flaring, and eyes a vicious blood red. As Fluttershy rubs her cheek she can see something in Moonlights eyes, two thin rings circling her pupils one green and one red. Before Fluttershy can ponder the bare visible rings the shouting begins.
"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" Moonlight screams at Fluttershy. "WHY DO I NEED TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT I'VE DONE!?"
"I'M JUST DOING WHAT I WAS CREATED TO, BUT NO WHATEVER I DO EVERYONE ALWAYS GETS MAD AT ME!"
"SIN, DON'T SHOW THE CHANGELINGS THEY CAN FEED ON LOVE!"
"SIN, DON'T FEED THE DRAGONS GOLD ADDICTION!"
"EVERYONE ALWAYS DOES THIS! MOTHER NATURE! THE MOON! THE SUN! ALL THE HUMANS AND PONIES... AND.. ANd... And... and..." Moonlights eye fall to the floor and go soft. "My... my... sister..."
Moonlight turns her eyes to Fluttershy. "...You remind me of her."
"...Moonlight?" Fluttershy raises off the floor and stares at Moonlight with slight concern. Moonlight turns away from Fluttershy.
"Just go." Moonlight waves her hoof toward the portal and chains begin to pull Fluttershy towards the portal again. As Fluttershy begins to struggle against the sudden pulling of the chains, Moonlight ducks her head to the side as a book fly's past her. She quickly flips around and her eyes ignite like her horn would if she was her normal self. "And take this with you."
Fluttershy sees something small and fluffy flying toward her, she quickly reaches and catches her little bunny. "Angel?"
"He'll just get in my way." Because Fluttershy caught Angel she wasn't focused on preventing herself from being pulled into the portal, with her front hooves occupied by Angel she doesn't have enough strength to fight the chains anymore. With one final scream Fluttershy is yanked through the portal. As soon as Fluttershy is pulled through the portal, it vanishes.
Moonlight stares at where the portal was a frown on her face. "Harmony..." A small tear forms in her eyes.
The familiar sound of teleportation near the door draws Moonlights attention, she quickly wipes her face with her hoof and grins at the door.
??????????????
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!" Fluttershy screams at the top of her lungs as the chains pull her through the air. Everything is a swirling mass of red and black as she is yanked through the portal. Upon emerging through the other side her vision gets even darker, jagged rock formations wiz past, the only light coming from pools of molten magma. Before too long her back collides with a rock, the rock is surprisingly soft, the collision doesn't even hurt. The chains all retract into their holes in the rock, pinning Fluttershy to it and forcing her to drop her bunny. The rock is just big enough to hold Fluttershy so Angel doesn't fall very far, but Fluttershy looks concerned anyway.
"Angel are you ok?" Angel hops onto his feet and nods. Fluttershy lets out a sigh of relief. "That's good."
Angel hops up onto one of Fluttershys hooves and begins kicking and pulling on the ring holding it. Fluttershy smiles at her sweet little bunny before looking around area. Stalactites cover the ceiling, not many stalactites though, large pillars are littered throughout connecting the top and bottom of this cave like area. The glow from large rivers of flowing magma can be seen, the rivers are being fed by waterfalls of the molten rock.
"This is Tartarus?" Fluttershy continues to survey the place. "It's a little spooky, but not much worse then the caves in Equestria."
"That's cause you're only on the first floor."
"First flo-?" Fluttershy freezes mid word, she slowly turns her head in the direction of the voice she heard, not too far away from her is a cave between two of the stone pillars. Inside the cave are two glowing white dots. "Who are you?"
"I wish to be of assistance to you young miss." The deep voice from the cave is unerving to listen too, it sounds distorted like Sombra or Queen Chrysalis. "I can free you from your bonds."
"You can?" Fluttershy asks hopefully, she was not excepted help from anypony.
"Yes I can."
"Oh thank you so mu-"
"But I'll need something in return." Fluttershy heart sinks.
"I don't have anything to give you." Fluttershy says sadly, her eyes go wide as she hears a slurping sound.
"Oh that is where you are wrong young mare, you have something soft, tender and." The sound of licking lips echoes from the cave. "Deeelicious."
Fluttershy looks down at the only thing she has with her at the moment, Angel has stopped attacking the chains and is glaring at the creature in the cave. Fluttershy turns to glare at the creature as well. "You can't have my Angel!"
"Oh you silly fool." The creature steps one of it's limbs into the light, the limb is black and has the structure of a leg but the foot is like the knuckle of a gorilla with long jagged talons.
"I don't want your rabbit." The creature moves it's upper half out of the shadows, it's body is similar in build to a baboon, while it's size is closer to that of a bear. It's torso is hard like stone but looks like the flesh is hanging off the bone. It's head is like a pony with an elongated mouth, it's mouth has threads of flesh connecting it's top jaw with it's bottom jaw. those jaws are a mess of thin, broken, and jagged teeth. Long sharp ears are misaligned on the sides of it's head, it's eyes are pitch black with tiny glowing white dots for pupils.
"I'll free your hooves little pony." A long forked tongue flicks out of his mouth and licks its lip-less mouth. The creature steps completely out of the cave revealing it's hairless goat legs and long rat like tail. "The price? I will devour each hoof I FREE!"
The creature extends it's talons at Fluttershy and charges towards her, Fluttershy shuts her eyes and screams as loud as she can, she hears Angel scream as well.
*BANG*
The creature whines in pain and growls in frustration. "Huh?"
Fluttershy opens her eyes and stares in awe at the sight before her. A large barrier of crystal clear bubble gum surrounds Fluttershy and the rock she's chained too. The creature rubs it's now bleeding nose and continues to whine, it glares at Fluttershy, but as soon it looks in her direction it's eyes go wide and it begins to shake. It falls onto it's back and points its talon at Fluttershy and stammers out. "C-chaos m-magic."
Fluttershy notices a glow at the bottom of her vision, she looks down and sees that the flower necklace Discord gave her is glowing brightly. The light is warm and comforting and lessens the pain in her limbs from the chains. Fluttershy smiles at the necklace. "Discord."
"Fascinating." Fluttershy looks back at the creature that tried to attack her. It is standing back up and possibly smirking at her, it begins walking backward into it's cave. A sinister chuckle echoes through the air as it begins to vanish. "Devoratrix remember it well..."
The creature vanishes into the shadows. "We will meet again."
Fluttershy feels Angel cuddle into her neck, she nuzzles her bunny back. "It's okay Angel we're safe now."
Fluttershy looks at the bubble shield around them. "Because of-"
"DISCORD!?!?!"
Fluttershy 'jumps' in surprise as a loud booming voice erupts through the air.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DECIDED TO SHOW YOUR FACE AROUND HERE!!!"
The ground begins to shake violently Fluttershy and Angel begin frantically looking around. Five giant black spikes erupt out of the ground and wrap around the bubble shield. Angel yelps and dives into Fluttershys hair as the spikes drag the bubble and everything inside it through the ground. Fluttershy watches in horror as the spikes pull her through severals floors of Tartarus. Pools of lava, slime, and what she hopes isn't blood, are all she can see of each floor as they fly past in a blur.
Suddenly Fluttershys trip through the ground ends as quickly as it began, as her protective bubble is released from the spikes grasp. Fluttershy stares at the spikes as they move away from her, they aren't spikes at all, they're fingers. Fingers that belong to a giant black creature that is currently looking away from her. The creatures spike like fingers are connected to two long muscular arms that lead to a large torso with equally large dragon like wings, its head is bald with two twisted horns going to the sides and then straight up. Its legs are non-existent as the lower part of its torso seems to extend toward the ground but doesn't seem to end. The next thing Fluttershy notices is the room around her the large spherical room her and the giant creature are in, is covered in ice. Before she can think too much about what's going on the giant speaks.
"YOU KNOW DISCORD I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK I'D NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN." The creatures booming voice echoes throughout the room as the giant shrugs his shoulders. "I WAS WORRIED YOU'D JUST USE MIRROR CALLS FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!"
The creature seems to grab something before turning around toward Fluttershy. "BUT NOW THAT YOUR HERE WE CAN CATCH... up?"
Fluttershy and the creature stare at each other in silence. Fluttershy can now see the creatures face and more detail about its body. Its eyes are bright pools of lava, the same with the inside if its mouth. Its teeth are shark like and seem almost metallic. With the creature being closer Fluttershy can see a pattern on his skin, cracks run all over his body with the dim glow of lava beneath them. The creature is holding two cups of bubbling purple sludge, which vanish as he places his hands on the platform her bubble is on.
"A pony?" One of the creatures long black nails tap on the bubble protecting Fluttershy. "With Chaos magic?"
"U-um... I d-don't actually have c-chaos magic, i-it's my n-necklace." Much to Fluttershys surprise the creature seems to hear her, despite her stammering and low volume.
"Hmm..." The creature scratches its chin in thought, with a low growl it leans in filling Fluttershy's vision with its right eye. Fluttershy beings to sweat nervously as the creature seems to examine her. With a familiar snap of its fingers the creature removes the chains from her hooves and the bubble from around her, as soon as the bubble is gone Fluttershy suddenly feels a heavy pressure push down on her entire body, she begins gasping for air and clutching her body in pain. Her necklace begins to try and form a barrier around her once more but the creature pushes the barrier away seeming to want as close of a look at her as it can get. "Why look like someone I've heard about before, what's your name?"
Fluttershy can barely hear the question as the incredible pressure around her as popped her eardrums, she squeezes her eyes shut as it begins to hurt to keep them open. The pressure begins to sting so bad that tears begin leaking out of her eyes. "H-help..."
"Hmm..." The Large Black Being raises an eyebrow at the tiny pony in its hand. "What's wrong with you?
"I-it h-hurts..." Fluttershy whimpers, the creature looks around its spherical chamber for anything that could be causing the tiny yellow pony any harm. Before it can find anything its attention is drawn back to the pink haired pegasus in its hand. She seems to glow for a spilt second, then after a moment she does it again. The creature watches as the petite pegasus begins to flash a bright white over and over, each time quicker then the last.
"What is thi-?" Suddenly a blinding light erupts from Fluttershy, searing pain jolts through the giants body from the palm of its hand. Despite the pain the creature does not move its hand.
Fluttershy pants heavily as the terrible pressure on her body lessens to that of a mild headache. She opens her eyes and finds that the giant black creature has leaned back away from her. She is a bit surprised to see that the creature is smiling at her.
"Pink mane, yellow skin, teal eyes, and a powered up form." The creatures eyes flick to each thing on its mental list as it says them. "That seals it you are defiantly Fluttershy."
Fluttershy blinks in confusion. "...Huh?"
Canterlot Castle: Throne Room
Princess Celestia calmly sits upon her throne going over some documents, occasionally taking a sip of her tea or nibbling on a selection of small cakes. She seems disinterested in her work, as if shes waiting for something. There is a loud bang as Flash Sentry comes bursting into the room, Celestia doesn't seem to notice. Flash Sentry runs up to the throne and bows quickly.
"Your Majesty I bring urgent news from-"
"Iron Sprocket." Celestia finishes for the guardsmen, Flash Sentry blinks in surprise.
"Yes ma'am he says that-"
"He can't find Twilight or the others." Celestias interruption gives Flash Sentry pause before he continues.
"Yes and it seems Ponyville has been-"
"Set ablaze." Celestia stands up from her throne and walks over to an open window. "Fear not Flash Sentry the fire is already out by now."
"Huh?" Flash Sentry stares at the Princess in disbelief. "How do you-"
"I am heading out now." Celestia spreads her wings and places her hooves on the window sill. "Please inform Iron Sprocket that he has done a wonderful job and may return home now."
Without another word Celestia flys off into sky, leaving behind a very confused Pegasus.
Tartarus?
"You know who I am?" Fluttershy asks as she examines her harmony form, she checks in her mane Angel seems to be unaffected by the intense pressure while inside her hair.
"Yes." The giant seems to roll its eyes. "My son talks about you every time he calls, I'm just disappointed I didn't recognize you sooner."
"Your son?" Fluttershy stares wide eyed at the giant, before she can ask who it's talking about she remembers the first thing the giant said as it was pulling down here. "...Discord...Discord, You're Discords Father!"
"Huh, you are as clever as he said." Discords Father says with a smirk. "I must apologize I forgot that mortals can not be around beings such as myself without harm."
"Beings like you." Fluttershy looks at Discords Father with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"You can call me Father Tartarus." He stares down at her with a sad smile. "Chaos, destruction, manipulation these are the gifts I gave my son... thank you for giving him more purpose then I did."
"What purpose?" Fluttershy says with a slight blush, Father Tartarus smiles gently at the Element of Kindness.
"The same one his mother gave me millennium ago." Father Tartarus shrugs off his previous statement and attempts to change the subject. "So Miss Fluttershy what are you doing here?"
Fluttershy tries to understand Father Tartarus's words, but he succeeds in changing the subject. Fluttershy tells Father Tartarus the tale of Discord meeting Moonlight, her and Twilight's discovery of the tea, and Moonlights attack. Father Tartarus nods along with the story.
"Hmm... seems like Sin is losing it." Father Tartarus lets out a sigh. "Well let's check and see how things are going then."
Father Tartarus swipes his right hand against the wall and the ice turns clear and shows a large crater with a coffee table in the middle of it. Within the crater are a spotted green Discord and Princess Luna. Just then the other five elements of harmony run onto the mirror followed shortly by Moonlight from the other direction. Fluttershy immediately notices that Moonlight has a massive hole in her face, and that the coffee table is hers. Her eyes go wide as she watches the fight between Moonlight and the elements of harmony unfold.
"W-what's going on? What happened to Discord!? Why is everyone fighting? Where's my house!?" Fluttershy's eyes go as wide as possible, she begins frantically looking from the mirror to Father Tartarus and back again.
"Huh this is kinda cool, I haven't seen a brawl like this in centuries." Father Tartarus smiles at the battle going on in the mirror. Fluttershy turns to face him again.
"Can you send me home!?" Fluttershy shouts at the giant.
"Huh?" Father Tartarus turns to face the element of Kindness.
"My friends need me." Fluttershy puts her hooves to her chest and adverts her eyes. "Discord needs me."
Father Tartarus's gaze turns stern as he stares down at the tiny yellow Pegasus. "Young lady do you realize what asking me that means?"
"Huh?" Fluttershy turns her gaze to meet Father Tartarus's.
"To send you home I would need to violate the ancient agreement between Tartarus and Equestria." Fluttershy blinks in confusion.
"What agreement?" Father Tartarus sighs deeply.
"To preserve the balance of the worlds me and Mother Nature are no longer allowed to traverse to other worlds or even open portals to them." He taps the mirror with his hand. "The barrier is designed to repel my power, so unless you can open portals your stuck here with me."
Fluttershy looks sadly at the dark abyss below her, she looks over to the mirror and watches as her friends battle against Moonlight. The mirror momentarily focuses on Discord as he watches the battle helplessly. Fluttershy narrows her eyes and clenches her hooves. "That's your excuse?"
"Huh?" Father Tartarus turns and is surprised to find Fluttershy glaring at him.
"That's your excuse your not allowed to that's why you won't do it!?" Fluttershy flys up to be eye level with Father Tartarus, who does not flinch at her approach. "What happened to Chaos, Destruction, and Manipulation! You're the core of Tartarus realm of evil! Why are you letting somepony tell you what you can or can not do!?"
Father Tartarus looks at Fluttershy with a neutral expression...
"BWA HA HA HA HA!!!" Father Tartarus erupts into a deep hardy laugh as he clutches his side with his right hand. "SO THAT'S THE MOXIE DISCORD WAS TALKING ABOUT!! I KNEW THAT BOY WOULD FIND A GOOD WOMAN ONE OF THESE EONS!!"
"I-I um... uh... um." Fluttershy's face turns bright red at Father Tartarus's comment.
"ALRIGHT GIRLY YOU'VE CONVINCED ME!! AGREEMENTS BE DAMNED LET'S GET YOU HOME!!" Father Tartarus closes his hand around Fluttershy, tight enough to keep her still but not tight enough to hurt her.
"R-really?" Fluttershy stammers out as Father Tartarus winds his fist back.
"YEP THIS WILL TAKE A FEW SWINGS...If it works at all."
"Huh?"
"NOTHING TINY HORSE!!"
Fluttershy feels each blow as Father Tartarus strikes the wall with his fist.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four times.
Five times.
Six times.
When Father Tartarus strikes the wall for the seventh time it gives way, the next thing Fluttershy knows the fist has hit ground and opens up to reveal the brightly lit world of Equestria. Her eyes immediately find Discords, her heart soars as she sees the joy on his face, her mouth moves words barely leaving her lips.