> Hate Me
>  by Vynce
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Free At Last
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord stared blankly at the grass and hedges in front of him. When the elements imprisoned him in stone they left his senses intact so that he wouldn’t lose what small ties to sanity he had left by roaming the empty void. While their intentions were pure, Discord wished that they hadn’t done it. At least in the void he would have a blank canvas to paint his imagination upon. However as fate would have it, he was left with the ever-unchanging shades of green, colors left untouched even in the fall. Celestia doesn’t allow her garden to be tampered by the weather. She kept the winter and dead seasons at bay so as to not endanger the polychromatic plants that dotted the emerald terrace. He could do little with his thoughts, it was like trying to draw something new when the art is already present.

He’d spent months sitting there. Of course he wasn’t entirely alone, he was in a public garden after all. There would be ponies trotting through at most hours of the day, ranging from a couple enjoying a romantic stroll to a group of school-aged foals on a field trip. As the days dragged by, they became increasingly tedious, each one seemingly a carbon copy of the last. But today, an unexpected visit from an old friend would break the daily cycle of dull repetition.

A tiny white sphere of light began to materialize in the center of his vision. It grew in mass and intensity before vanishing, immediately followed by an explosion of resplendent energy. Discord’s vision took a moment to return after the radiant blast had engulfed the world before him. His eyes eventually readjusted from the flash of magic, and he instantly recognized the form in front of him. It was nice to see a familiar face.

Long time no see, Celestia. What brings you to my humble prison?

Celestia turned to face him, as though she had heard his thoughts and was readying to give a response.

“Hello, Discord,” she spoke the name as if she was expecting him to be able to respond.

Oh you know I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m very busy today. Life of a statue and all.

Celestia looked at him expectantly for a moment, then gave a disappointed sigh and lowered her head to face the ground. After a few moments of silence, Discord caught a brief glimpse of a tear as it dropped from her cheek into the still blades of grass beneath her, vanishing as quickly as it came. Discord felt a cold touch of pain in his stomach. He hated to see her cry, a sight he had seen only once before and had hoped he’d never again witness.

Why must you cry? It makes m-

His thoughts were cut short as Celestia’s slender horn began to glow. The light seemed to flood onto the ground like liquid before it pooled over to the base of his statue. Discord couldn’t see that the magic was creeping up the sides of his stone prison, slithering in tendrils and vines of soft white light. Discord could feel the magic as it reached his feet and continued coursing up his body, the warmest touch he had felt in so many years. He would’ve shivered if it were possible.

He was almost fully encased in the heated luminance of the goddess’ magic by now. His mind was calm and happy. He knew that right now she was either freeing him or killing him, and either prospect would be a welcome one. The stone cracked once, then made a rumbling noise as chunks of stone tumbled over each other in a race to reach the ground. Discord could feel the breeze touching patches of his now exposed skin, like he was taking his first step into the sunlight after an eternity in the dark.

A few moments of crumbling later and the crying sun goddess had finished stripping Discord of his stone prison. He stretched his limbs and felt his aches fall away from him, not unlike the stones before them. After a gnarly yawn, the draconequus smacked his lips once and tilted his head down to look at Celestia. He laughed a bit.

“I’m glad you could make it! Now I bet you’re all wondering why I gathered you here toda-“

“Quiet, Discord. I didn’t free you so that you could make jokes. Tell me how you did it!”

Discord didn’t let his confusion show. Instead he chose to play this off like he has done with so many other serious issues. Life is a game, after all, even when it may not seem like it.

“Whatever do you mean, your highness? I have done nothing that I can recall. Your precious Elements of Harmonicas saw to that now, didn’t they?” he said in his iconic playful tone.

“Harmony…” he heard Celestia quietly correct him under her breath. He let it go unchecked and listened as she continued to speak. “No games, Discord. You’ve taken her from me, and now you’re going to give her back.” Celestia’s voice shook as she struggled to hold back more tears. “Twilight…” she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

Let’s turn that sadness into anger. I need you to hate me. Discord’s thoughts trailed off into incoherent nonsense as he rifled his brain for a response. No logical reply came.

“Celestia, my dear, I’m afraid I really don’t know what you’re talking about. So how about you show me what it is that’s causing you problems and I’ll try to muster up some small part of me that might care.” The words hurt as they left Discord’s lips. He had wanted to make her angry, not hurt her more. He realized how stupid and poor his choice of words really were, but didn’t let it show on his face. He looked at Celestia as though truly indifferent to the world around him and just waited for her to respond.

She glared at him, a brief flash of burning fury passed over her face before vanishing. Perhaps he had made her angry after all. He was too entranced in her eyes to even notice when her horn began to light up once again. He hadn’t noticed until the light became so bright it blocked her eyes from his view and he realized she was casting a teleport spell. The light grew slowly until it was within arm’s reach of Discord. He reached out his eagle’s talon to touch it, and as soon as he did it exploded in a flurry of blinding white. For an instant he closed his eyes, but then it was gone.

He cracked one eye open, and saw the gray fur of a small pony walking in front of him. After a quick verification that looking around wouldn’t result in his eyeballs burning out of his head, he let them open the rest of the way. He was met with the sight of yet another familiar face.

“Twilight Sparkle! How’s my favorite element of magic? You’re looking a little pale, have you been eating your greens?” Despite the obviously jesting nature, Discord sounded genuinely concerned.

The colorless unicorn just continued to walk, without so much as acknowledging Discord’s presence. Her head hung low and her hooves kicked up dirt, leaving tiny clouds of dust in her wake. Discord finally began to look around the area he had been teleported to. The dirt road in front of him was the only feature for miles around. The grass stretched out far into the distance, not stopping until it reached the mountains, which were so far off that they seemed like no more than little uneven, white-tipped teeth. He turned to study the landscape behind him, but was instead met by Celestia’s furious stare.

Celestia stood only inches away, not breaking her eye contact with him. “Bring her back,” she spoke through clenched teeth.

“Back from where, your highness? Perhaps you hadn’t noticed, but she’s right here, see?” Discord picked Twilight up and placed her in front of him, before forming a smile on her face with his hands. Twilight was doing nothing to stop his manipulation, having lost motivation to do anything. “Oh she looks so happy to see you!”

Choosing when to hold his tongue had never been his strong suit, and this particular occasion was no exception. The fire in Celestia’s eyes turned into a raging inferno. She now seemed to be contemplating various ways to do the good draconequus harm, and Discord knew it.

He gave a nervous chuckle. His ideas failing as he stared at the seething goddess in front of him. With no plans for a quick escape, he looked at Celestia with the most innocent face he could muster. He brought Twilight’s hoof up with his hand, offering it to Celestia.

“Friends?”

Discord’s nervous smile vanished as Celestia stood. After levitating Twilight out of his embrace and setting her gently to the side, her attention turned back to Discord. The terrified draconequus took a few steps back, then tripped over his mismatched feet and tumbled onto the ground. Celestia was still advancing on him, coming to a stop only once she was standing above him looking straight down into his eyes.

“NOW!” she shouted, loud enough to make the Royal Canterlot voice sound like one of Fluttershy’s hushed squeaks.

The ground was still vibrating from the loud burst when Discord quickly scuttled himself out from under Celestia’s imposing stance. He stood and brushed some dirt from the front of his fur coat before silently walking over to Twilight, and with a snap of his fingers a workbench appeared before him. He grabbed Twilight by the horn and tail, tossed her on the table and flipped her over onto her back. Celestia just stared at him as he did it, forgiving his ridiculous theatrics on the grounds that she knew he was making at least some form of progress.

Discord tilted the lamp on the corner of the bench, aiming it down to Twilight’s stomach to illuminate his work area. He then reached to the top of his head, pulling a welder’s mask down over his face that had materialized from nowhere, much like all his other tools. Celestia became a bit nervous at the sight of the mask, thinking of no good reasons he would need such a thing. She stepped around the bench and stood on the side opposite to Discord, looking at him quizzically.

Discord noticed and looked up at her. “Mmph grf thrsh prffy stptrded.” The incomprehensible noise elicited him a confused look from Celestia. His excellent manners caused him to lift the mask from his face.

“I said ‘let’s get this party started.’ Please, Celestia try to keep up.” He watched her for a moment waiting for her to reply when he noticed a smile creep onto her face. Despite all her rage, she couldn’t help but smile at his random antics.

“You know those masks don’t muffle your voice like that, right?” She poked at him.

Discord smiled and put the mask back down over his face. “I know.”

With that, Discord turned his attention back to the mare strewn across his work area. He took each of Twilight’s hooves and strapped them to the bench so that she wouldn’t struggle while he worked, not that she would even bother trying in her current state. After that he looked over the unicorn making sure everything was coming along the way he’d planned. He gave himself an accomplished nod and got to work.

“Scalpel,” he demanded, reaching his paw across the table toward Celestia, never taking his eyes off the unicorn. Celestia nervously reached into the toolbox that had suddenly appeared at her hooves and grabbed the razor sharp object. She lifted it and put into Discord’s paw, scared of where he might be going with it.

To her relief, Discord simply took the tool and tossed it behind him without even glancing at it. He then grabbed a zipper that he conjured just below Twilight’s neck, giving it a yank as it unzipped down her stomach. Celestia winced as she watched and went to stop him, afraid that he would hurt the poor mare. Before she could even call out his name, Discord had launched his hands inside the Unicorn’s body and was pulling out massive amounts of cottony fluff.

He started rummaging through the zippered opening in Twilight’s body, strange clinking and clamoring noises emanating from the hole. After a few minutes Discord paused, before pulling out another piece of stuffing that seemed no different from the pieces before it. He held it up above his head. He reached inside Twilight one last time, this time removing a pair of binoculars. He put the binoculars backwards against his eyes, and began to examine the ball of fluff.

“Aha!” he proclaimed. “That’s the issue right there!”

Celestia’s mood visibly brightened at the notion Discord might have a solution to Twilight’s problem. She cantered around the workbench that the unicorn was still laying open upon. Celestia came up to the side of Discord, and after giving the fluff a quick glance she turned her face to his, which now had no mask and was smiling at her.

“So what is that? What’s causing Twilight to be so… drained?” She asked, her mood was still positive as she questioned him.

Discord turned to the princess, genuine confusion painted on his face. “What? This fluff is just the reason she felt so lumpy when I picked her up. I don’t need to go rummaging through her body to find out what’s wrong with her personality. I know what’s wrong with her personality," he said casually as he dropped the fluff and binoculars, lowering his arms to his sides.

Celestia looked confused once again, but didn’t say anything this time and instead watched Discord as he walked back over to Twilight. He zipped her up, the zipper vanishing as soon as he was done. He then proceeded to unbind each of her hooves from the table, turned off the lamp, and helped her stand up. The workbench vanished immediately after she slid off of it.

Celestia finally broke the silence, speaking up when Discord failed to elaborate. “So what’s wrong with her personality, then? This looks suspiciously like your work, Discord,” she stated bluntly, not even attempting to hide the accusation in her tone.

Discord released Twilight as she got her balance back and looked up at Celestia. “It looks like my doing because it is my doing, except this time… I didn’t do it.” He laughed as he watched Celestia’s face go from slightly confused to utterly lost. “Understand?”

Celestia gave a snort, feeling her anger come back. She glared at Discord once again, making sure he took note of it before she continued. “So if you did it, but didn’t do it, then what’s wrong with her and how do we fix it?”

“We don’t,” he said, still watching Celestia’s eyes. “We can’t. But what we can do, is help her fix it herself. Do you remember when I put the spell on her? Normally I could remove the spell using magic, but she conquered it of her own will. Sadly, there were still traces of the spell hiding somewhere in her mind, and some recent event triggered it and caused it to break out and flourish again. This new infection wasn’t caused by magic, but rather a physical reaction to something that had recently happened. Magic can’t be used to reverse that, it seems we’re going to have to play detective for a while, Celestia.” He began gasping for air after the huge monologue, just to add dramatic effect. After materializing a detective’s hat on top of his head and a pipe in his mouth, he walked over to Celestia and wrapped an arm around her. “Play nicely, and soon we should have this all sorted out,” he finalized, puffing purple smoke from his pipe.

> Chapter 2: Enmity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a flash of white magic they had arrived on the edge of Ponyville. The sun was burning in the center of the sky, but the light wind was just enough to keep the heat from becoming overbearing. They started their walk into town, all eyes they passed focused instantly on the royalty walking through the streets.
 
Discord was amused to see the mixed reactions coming from all of the ponies in Ponyville. Their admiration and respect when they saw Celestia, suddenly transformed to a palpable fear and hate when they noticed him walking a few paces behind her, carrying the limp Twilight in his arms. A couple of the more dramatic ponies even went from a bow to a jumping shriek before they vanished into the nearest building.
 
It’s good to see I still have so many fans.
 
They finally arrived at the treehouse library, and Discord watched as Celestia stepped inside through the doorway. He stood there staring at the now empty entrance, not entirely sure why he wasn’t following her through.
 
What am I waiting for? Go inside now.
 
No… I’m doing this all wrong. I need her to hate me, why am I complying so easily?
 
It’s not so easy to go along with a plan that hurts so much, but it’s what needs to be done.
 
What if I fail? What if I can’t get her to hate me? What if despite what I’ve done to myself to achieve this goal… what if it doesn’t work?
 
Any further arguments with himself were cut short when Celestia stepped out from the library. “I can’t leave you out here alone, Discord. Come in, now.” Her face looked slightly annoyed, but it showed none of the anger that it had earlier. It was strangely content.
 
I’m failing myself. I’m failing her.
 
Discord finally decided to follow the alicorn inside, shutting the door behind him with his tail. Celestia was already browsing the books one by one, magicking them down and flipping the pages briefly before closing them and gently placing them back.
 
“What are you expecting to find in those books, Celestia? It’s highly unlikely that a book is what managed to put her in this state,” Discord said briefly as he walked across the room to the stairs on the other side, eager to put down the heavy pony load that Celestia demanded he carry.
 
She stopped flipping through the book she had in front of her. The faintest chuckle escaped her lips as she turned to face Discord. “You obviously don’t know her. She takes her books as seriously as she takes anypony. I have no doubt that if what you say is true, any of her books could have been what caused her sudden… change,” she shifted and paused before she spoke the last word, as though saying it would somehow make the situation worse.
 
Discord let Celestia return to flipping through the books as he started up the stairs toward Twilight’s room.  He had to duck under the pony-sized entrance before making his way to the bed that was against the wall on the far side of the room. He stood at the edge of the bed with Twilight still in his arms, having another mental bout with himself.
 
You’re doing it again.
 
Doing what?
 
Being kind.
 
So?
 
Kindness is weakness.
 
He ignored his own head, unable to eliminate the thoughts despite his best efforts. He chose instead to ignore them, and continued to lay Twilight into her bed. He covered the gray unicorn with a blanket and stepped out of the room, heading down the stairs to see if Celestia had made any progress with whatever it was she was hoping to accomplish with the books.
 
Celestia was still looking through book after book, nothing but determination on her face. She had obviously gone through hundreds of books, and she wasn’t showing the slightest sign of slowing down or wearing out. Discord slowly moved over near Celestia and began going through the books in a similar manner, taking them down and flipping through the pages, then placing them back on the shelf.
 
You’re still helping her. Stop. For your own good, stop.
 
What would stopping do to help me?
 
Have you forgotten your goals? Have you forgotten that you need her to hate you?
 
No.
 
Then why are you helping her?
 
Because it hurts to say ‘no’.
 
Then let me do it.
 
Discord stopped working, frozen midway through the pages of a book. Then let me do it. How would that work? If he couldn’t do it, how would a voice in his head have any better luck? He was standing there pondering this for a few minutes before he noticed Celestia had stopped as well, looking at him quizzically.
 
Give me control.
 
Give who control?
 
Don’t act like you don’t know who I am.
 
I thought you were just my conflicting thoughts, but I can see that you’re not. Who are you?
 
I am you.
 
If you were me then you would already have what you want.
 
But you don’t have what you want, so why would I?
 
He continued standing there silent, Celestia was still looking at him. After a few minutes had passed, the princess’ face changed to one of worry. Discord isn’t the silent type, and if he was having problems then it was a problem for everyone. Discord isn’t one to be taken lightly, no matter how light his personality is.
 
“Discord?” She finally broke the silence, just hoping to snap the draconequus out of whatever state he was in. When he didn’t respond her worry turned to pure fear. In the thousands of years she had known him he had never once ignored her, and it scared her to think why he would start. “Discord, what’s the matter?”
 
Keep ignoring her. Let her fear feed her hatred.
 
“I’m fine, Celestia, keep reading,” Discord finally responded, none of his regular enthusiasm or giddiness present in his voice. He placed the book back on the shelf and walked over to a chair in the middle of the room, and sat with a huff. “I’m thinking.”
 
Celestia watched him as he stared at his hands. She feared that if she didn’t get his spirits high again, he might do something terrible. A god of chaos was bad enough, but if he was angry or depressed then there’s no telling what he could do. For the good of the world she put on a smile, and reached for a particular book that she had flipped through moments before in her search.
 
Discord noticed as walked over to him, wearing a particularly devious smile on her face. He just looked at her without turning his head, watching as she sat next to him and readied whatever it was she planned to say. She looked as nervous as she was happy, what could be causing that?
 
“Discord…” she started, and then looked down at the floor. She obviously didn’t want to spit it out. She fidgeted for a moment; apparently she wasn’t caring much about her regal image at the moment. After a few awkward seconds she began again, “Discord, did you know that I wrote a book about you?”
 
Discord’s eyes went wide with surprise. His heart beat as though it wanted to escape from his chest. “Really? And what might that book be about?” He questioned cautiously. Despite the fact that he knew it couldn’t be anything good, he was happy to know that she had obviously thought about him quite a bit in order to write an entire book.
 
You realize this can’t turn out well. If it’s a good book then that means she doesn’t hate you, if it’s a bad book then you know it’s going to hurt to hear it. Let me take the blow, let me help you. Just give me control…
 
For the first time since it had began, Discord was able to completely push the voice from his mind. He ignored it with entirely, and suddenly found himself filled with the anticipation and excitement of a foal in a candy store. Of course he wouldn’t let this show, he was a master at hiding his emotions, so Celestia knew nothing of the joy hidden behind his yellow eyes.
 
“Well…” she began with a smile. She had obviously gotten over the nervousness of starting the conversation itself. She still paused, but this time it seemed more of a pause-for-effect than a nervous stop. “It’s about some of your more chaotic exploits.”
 
Oh… It’s a bad book…
 
He didn’t know why he was so disappointed. If she had written a good book about him then it would only make it harder to do what he needed to do. But if it was a bad book, why was she smiling like that?
 
“So why would you write a book about them, why not just leave that to the historians who usually write about that kind of stuff?” His words had put Celestia back into the nervous state. She had obviously expected him to respond differently, but he had asked the question and now he wanted an answer.
 
She looked back down and pawed the floor for a moment. When her head came back to level with Discord’s, she was biting her lip. “They wrote theirs, too,” she said before she stood and took a step toward Discord. “This Is just a list of personal favorites.” her smile was in danger of splitting her face in two.
 
Discord sat for a moment, completely stunned. He had nothing to say, even his thoughts couldn’t complete coherent sentences. He sat motionless for a moment staring at Celestia. Her smile hadn’t waivered, and it became clear that he might not be hiding his emotions so well this time. He smiled back, just as sly and mischievous as it always was. “I knew you liked me,” He joked.
 
You shouldn’t have said that.
 
Why not?
 
Because, what if she does? How much will it hurt to change her mind then?
 
Oh…
 
“I do not,” Celestia said, following along in the playful tone that had comfortably taken over as the mood for their conversation. “I just don’t hate everything you’ve done.”
 
“So, you’re obviously a fan of my work. You can’t deny that anymore. Let’s read this book of yours.” He snatched the book from her magical grasp and stood from his chair. “I’m going to sit somewhere a little more comfortable,” he announced before walking across the room and sitting on a cushion in front of a burning fireplace.
 
“I don’t remember that being here,” she noted, looking at the fireplace that wasn’t present in the room before. “You’re not trying to make this a romantic thing, are you?” she had grown rather fond of poking fun at Discord, it had been thousands of years since she was in company that she could joke around with.
 
“You’re making even more jokes than me, Celestia. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, you know,” he returned quickly, flashing her a smirk. “But no I am not, I’m simply getting comfortable and you’re welcome to join.”
 
After an awkward sounding giggle, Celestia walked over and sat opposite him near the fireplace. Discord opened the book to the first chapter and readjusted his position in the cushions to be more comfortable. He cleared his throat, very audibly, and with one last glance at Celestia to see that she was comfortable, he began to read the book aloud.
 
They spent a few hours laughing at some of Discord’s finest works. Reminiscing on the ‘good ol’ days’ when Discord would cause a catastrophe, and Celestia would stop him. Apparently Celestia had thought it was as much fun as Discord did.
 
She only stopped you because you let her.
 
Discord wasn’t letting his thoughts get to him. They had been popping up all night, but he was so happy that it wasn’t a problem to completely ignore them. When the book had finally finished, though, he couldn’t ignore them anymore. He closed the book, still laughing with Celestia at the final nostalgic entry, and set it on the nightstand that had magically appeared next to him.
 
You’re burying yourself deeper.
 
Finally he was forced to yet again succumb to the nagging voice that had battered at his mind.
 
Then what do you suppose I do?
 
I’ll do it for you. Just let me help you.
 
No.
 
Fine.
 
“That book was terrible,” He said, causing the laughter to stop and the room to enter dead silence.
 
Why did you do that? HOW did you do that!?
 
Think of it as a warning.
 
Celestia looked at him for a moment in silence. “It was my first and only attempt at writing anything of this sort. Let’s see you do better,” she replied in mock defense.
 
You’re lucky she took it as a joke.
 
Lucky? What might you do to me, then, hmm?
 
Discord just smiled at Celestia, between the war in his head and the light and happy mood of the room his confusion was putting a damper on his regularly witty behavior. He was starting to fear the voice. He knew that to overcome it, he would have to find out what exactly it was, and why it was bothering him. So with a sigh, he laid back in his cushions, resting his head on his arms. He welcomed the following silence, it would give him a chance to interrogate himself.
 
Tell me how you did it.
 
A magician never reveals his secrets.
 
So you’re a magician?
 
The voice laughed a little, causing Discord to shift uncomfortably. It was a scary and creepy laugh. Not because of how cold it was, not because it was so calm and confident. It was scary because it was Discord’s laugh.
 
I dabble in magic every once in a while, but I have more power than I’ll let anyone see.
 
You’re a magical being, then. Why are you bothering me?
 
I’m not bothering you, I’m helping you. I’m doing for you what you can’t do for yourself.
 
I don’t want your help.
 
Really? Then why did you create me…
 
Discord was suddenly stricken with fear at the realization. He knew he had created it, but until now he at least had the luxury of doubting it. He knew that the voice wasn’t lying. He knew he made it from necessity to do what he had been trying and failing at for so long. He created it as an emotional barrier, to take the pain of hatred from the one mare he loved.
 
The voice was laughing again. Discord felt a tear streaming down the side of his face as he realized that he created a monster because he was weak, and there was no telling how horrible the monster could become. He looked over to see that Celestia had fallen asleep at some point during his internal ramblings. He smiled at her before turning to face the bare ceiling once again, and closed his eyes.
 
Dry those tears, now. There’s no reason to cry, I’m here to help you.
 
What if I don’t let you?
 
I’m afraid you no longer have a choice.
 
So who are you, really?
 
I am your shield. The animosity you need in order to take the pain you don’t want to endure. Give yourself to me and you won’t have to worry about failure or regret. I’ll do it for you. As for my name…
 
The voice cackled, sending a shiver down Discord’s entire body.
 
You can call me Animos.


> Chapter 3: Keeping Secrets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord watched as Celestia rummaged through the library books. She had abandoned her gentle demeanor and was instead flying through the pages in frantic search. The air in the library had become thick with dust that had been loosed from the pages of books. If they didn’t find what they were looking for soon, they may have to give up just so that the air could settle back into a breathable state.

They had searched almost every book by now, with only a few shelves remaining on the last wall of the library. They were dangling on the last threads of hope having not found anything that could possibly-

“Found it!” Celestia called out, suddenly giddy and practically dancing in place.

Discord moved over her, doing his best to hide the fact that he was equally excited about finding what they were looking for. He stopped just in front of Celestia, her eyes were filled with so much glee.

“Allow me to take a look?” he asked, grabbing the book from her magic before she could even respond. It was only a few pages long, more like a magazine with a hard cover. His brow furled as he read the title aloud, “How to cure Twilight Sparkle.”

That’s... ridiculous. Why hadn’t they thought to just find this book immediately?

He opened to the first page, finding just a simple list of ingredients. He actually remembered all of them to be conveniently located in the kitchen from when he was making breakfast. They already had all of what it would take to cure her, and the directions for assembly were easy as well.

“Well, let’s get cooking!” He announced theatrically, already snaking his way to the kitchen.

He was throwing his arms about in the cupboard, gathering all the ingredients they required and setting them on the countertops. Celestia was sitting at the table behind him watching with a smile, for some reason she was completely trusting of him. He finished grabbing the last of what they needed, and a large pot from one of the cupboards beneath the counters.

On the stove he mixed all of the ingredients into the pot, and began boiling them. It was a terrible stench that wafted from the strange concoction, nearly eliciting gags from both of them. The thick gray substance in the pan bubbled slowly, each pop creating another steamy trail of stink as it floated up towards Discord’s burning nostrils.

“All done,” he stated with an animated tone, turning off the burner beneath the cauldron-like pot.

From the drawer near the stove he retrieved a soup ladle, and a bowl from the cupboards near the sink. He put a large serving of the disgusting slime into the bowl and turned to Celestia. She returned his smile, and they both began up the stairs towards Twilight’s room.

They pushed the door open, a tiny and prolonged creaking noise filled the otherwise silent room. Twilight was sitting up on her bed, just staring at nothing in particular. The alicorn and draconequus slowly and carefully tiptoed their way toward her, as though she would bite if she were startled. She didn’t seem to notice them, or she just didn’t care.

Discord sat on the bed next to her and lifted her face to look into her eyes. They were unfocused and dilated, devoid of any emotion. He was almost lost in her uncaring gaze, her reflected nothing. It was like staring at the embodiment of emptiness. The world seemed to fade to a lonely black, but only just for a moment.

“Drink this,” he started, and lifted the bowl to offer it to her. “It’s going to fix you up.”

Who is this person talking? This isn’t me. This isn’t fun.

Discord lifted the spoon and made some whooshing noises as he spiralled it towards Twilight’s mouth.

That’s a little better.

Twilight ate it reluctantly, and nearly threw it up immediately afterward. She coughed and gagged for a moment, spraying little specks of ‘soup’ on the blanket in front of her. It obviously didn’t taste any better than it smelled, but the effects were immediately noticeable.

Discord watched in amazement as her coat began to illuminate in a soft golden glow. Harps and vocal harmonies filled the air in an angelic musical piece as Twilight slowly hovered up over the bed. It was the second most beautiful thing Discord had ever seen.

Speaking of most beautiful...

Discord turned to see Celestia smiling and tearing up as she watched the unicorn float above the bed. She hadn’t spoken much that day, but it would seem words weren’t necessary. She gave her message in her face, and the message right now was one of pure joy. Discord just smiled, he couldn’t help it. 

“Thank you.” The voice snapped Discord from his daze. It hadn’t come from him or Celestia.

He turned to see Twilight, lowering from her glowy floating onto the bed. She was colored again, and she had a huge grin stretching across her face. “Thank you so much for curing me!” She almost squeaked it out, and she gave Discord an unexpected hug.

He returned the hug, and she sat back down on the bed still smiling. He smiled back and turned to Celestia to see that she was walking towards them, her movements slow but confident. She was smiling, an expression seemingly impossible to avoid with the given circumstances. But her smile was different, Discord had never seen her smiling that way before. Something seemed off.

Before he could make anything more of her strange expression she had completely closed the distance between them, standing so close that he could feel her breath in his fur. “Thank you,” she said, almost a whisper between them.

He barely had time to open his mouth to voice his response when she leaned in and kissed him. The shock cut off his breathing for a moment, but he soon relaxed and gave her the attention she deserved. He forgot the world around him for a moment, just relishing in the feeling of her lips being locked with his.

Warm. Soft. Almost magical. No, it is magical. Hot burning magic, why am I-!?

His eyes shot open and darted around the room. It was dark, he was laying near a fireplace, the fireplace he had been laying on the night before. He’d been dreaming. After he realized what had happened he looked around him in a much calmer manner, able to take in the reality of the layout in front of him.

He looked around for the source of the magical burning, and saw Celestia standing near a window a few paces from the end of his tail. Her horn was glowing brightly and her eyes were clamped shut as she channeled her powerful spell. She was raising the sun, that must have been the magical burn Discord was feeling.

The sun was cresting over the mountains now, peeking just above the white slopes on the horizon. The bright orange light began filling the room, casting long shadows that stretched across the floor. Discord was forced to watch many sunrises during his time trapped in stone, but none were so beautiful as this. None were so beautiful as her.

After a few moments of staring at her, the alicorn stopped casting her magic and turned to walk toward the kitchen area, not noticing Discord still sitting up on his cushions. She trotted with a certain bounce in her step, and Discord knew this to come from her raising the sun. She had once told him how her contact with the sun each morning never failed to fill her with energy.

Discord could smell the food as she prepared it, the dry scent of hay and oats. Quite a simple breakfast, but of course a librarian wouldn’t have much extravagant food in her kitchen. Even the most mundane of breakfast would be welcome at this point, though, as Discord hadn’t eaten in months. He continued to watch Celestia as she prepared the food.

“You should take a photograph, the effects will last a great deal longer,” She stated, so confident in her ignorance that she had almost completely butchered the phrase.

Discord couldn’t help but laugh, her failed jokes were always funny to hear. He turned his head away from her and glanced at the floor for a moment before standing from his cushions. As he did the entire setup that he had conjured the night before began to swirl into a vapor of color. Even the still burning fire was swept up into an orange mist that soon faded and vanished.

He yawned and stretched his limbs before he walked toward the kitchen to join Celestia. He noticed she was smiling as he sat in a chair on the opposite side of the island counter. “What’s got you so happy?” he inquired, meaning to sound playful but slightly failing. His first night of sleep in hundreds of years had only left him yearning more, so it was needless to say he didn’t want to be awake.

“Nothing in particular, just feeling well,” she responded with a smile before turning back to continue working on breakfast.

She shouldn’t be happy right now.

Oh great, you’re awake.

Discord had decided to treat his little voice as another creature entirely, refusing to accept it as a part of himself.

I am, but that’s not the point. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this situation.

“You shouldn’t be,” Discord let out while simultaneously cursing the side of him that willed him to say it. He didn’t bother asking Animos how he had done it this time. Instead he focused on some way to rebound from his outburst.

Celestia turned and gave Discord a look he couldn’t decipher. “I’m aware of that,” she began, and Discord now recognized the face she had adorned, it was defeat. He swallowed his guilt as she continued. “I suppose your optimism is just contagious.”

The stabbing pain of guilt multiplied. She was happy because of me. Discord shook his head and settled his stare back on Celestia’s face. She seemed nervous, yet content. A strange side-effect of her recent confession, he supposed. “I’m not that optimistic, you know. In fact I-”

Discord’s mini-lecture was cut short as the door to the library was kicked open, swinging so wide that it collided with the wall in a huge thud. Standing in the door appeared to be a large stack of boxes with two tiny purple feet. The boxes swayed for a moment before advancing through the door.

“Hey Twi, I’m back from Rarity’s. She asked me to drop these off,” the purple-footed boxes stated before collapsing to the floor, revealing the tiny dragon underneath them. “She said that they’re just a bunch of-” he started before noticing Discord watching him curiously from the kitchen. He froze for a moment, not even noticing the alicorn next to him and focusing on his current object of terror before the baby dragon vanished.

He had turned and left so quickly that a blink of an eye would have missed his departure. He ran with speed that would make a teleporting unicorn jealous, leaving the two god-figures to sit and stare at the spot the baby dragon was standing not a full second prior.

“Well,” Discord decided to break the stunned silence. “I think that went rather well, don’t you?” He joked as he turned back to Celestia, happy to see that she was back to smiling.

Don’t feel so lucky. You know this isn’t what you need.

“Quite.” she chuckled softly, still watching the spot as if expecting the baby dragon to re-appear there.

Another moment of contented silence passed between before Celestia turned back to grab the two plates of food she had finished preparing. She levitated one over in front of Discord, and sat the other plate in front of herself. Discord eyed his meal, both grateful and confused. He thought she was preparing food for herself and Twilight, she had never made anything for him before.

His stare lasted only a few moments before Celestia took notice. “I know you’re hungry, is there something wrong with it?” she questioned.

Discord’s stomach gave an audible growl before he responded. “Starving.” he simply smiled, then grabbed a fork and knife from the thin air and went to spear his simple two-ingredient breakfast.

Destiny had other plans for him, however, and filling his obnoxiously loud stomach wasn’t on the to-do list. Discord had his food half raised from his plate, mouth open in anticipation when the room was suddenly flooded by a flurry of ponies who all seemed to be shouting some form of incoherent war cry.

“Oh, come on!” whined Discord as breakfast was interrupted yet again.

You deserve it.

The ponies seemed to take no notice of Celestia, as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash sprinted behind Discord and held his arms behind his back. Discord attempted to appear disinterested, but was struggling to restrain his mirth as he played along with the ponies’ detainment attempt.

Applejack was swinging a lasso above her head before she tossed it forth and it caught Discord around his arms, pinning them to his sides. Celestia watched the events unfolding, stifling back her own laughter at the ponies that had seemed not to notice her while they trapped Discord.

The five ponies were nearly finished with their smash and grab, and Pinkie Pie hastily began her own particular brand of interrogation. She stomped forward and bounced up onto a chair to become eye-level with the restrained draconequus. She leaned in close and glared at him before shouting “What did you do to Twilight!” and jabbing him in the chest thrice to emphasize her seriousness.

Celestia was done playing passive, and stepped forward to make her apparently subtle presence a little more known. “Have you no faith in my abilities, my little ponies?” she asked in an almost playful tone.

All five of them immediately snapped their attention toward her, stammering about before retreating to a bow. Pinkie Pie fell off of her chair flailing before joining the rest of the group in bowing to the princess that seemed to appear from nowhere.

“Princess,” Rarity spoke first, hiding the shock in her voice and avoiding any un-marelike stutters. “I must apologize, we hadn’t known you were here,” she lifted her head to look at Celestia before she continued. “of course we have absolute faith in your abilities, it’s just that when our friend Spike here came to get us, he told us Discord was back!” she bobbed her head in Discord’s direction to emphasize her point. “He never told us anything about you being here, I do apologize again.” She lowered her head back into a bow when she finished.

“Rise.” Celestia stated, motioning for the ponies to stand. “I understand your commotion, unnecessary as it may be.”

The ponies all stood from their bows and looked at her in unified confusion. The princess took the hint, and decided to elaborate. “Believe it or not, Discord is free on friendly terms,” she began, then glanced towards Discord gave him a smirk. “for now.”

Discord stood from his seat, his restrains maintaining the shape they had previously held as his body seemed to just flow through them. Once he was standing, the now free floating ropes dropped to the floor. “That’s right, I’ve agreed to play along until a certain matter is resolved, but...” he started out, then leaned forward close to the five mare’s faces before he continued “there’s no telling what I might do once I’ve finished.” a smile stretched across his face before he winked.

You shouldn’t even make it that far. Keep in line or I’ll be giving you another gentle push. Discord was becoming exceedingly efficient at ignoring this new monster, and paid it no heed when it spoke.

Celestia rolled her eyes, confident that he was simply playing up on the five mare’s fears. “Anyway,” she started to get the ponies’ attention back, “we’re here because there’s been an incident with Twilight. She’s under the effects of a spell that Discord had cast on her during your last encounter. If any of you know anything, I implore that you speak immediately.”

Discord studied the ponies as they all began to shuffle their hooves nervously. The orange one had a particularly rough looking time, and sweat began to visibly form on her forehead as her eyes darted around the room. Discord took note of her behavior and smiled. “Alright, I understand.” Celestia stated before she turned and began pacing.

“Really, Celestia?” Discord asked as she walked back and forth across the floor. “You haven’t noticed what is so obvious in front of you? Your powers of observation seem to be failing, your highness. I think we have everything we need...” he started circling the ponies slowly, eyeing them pensively. “right...” He stopped behind a particularly sweaty orange mare, then reached out and poked her lightly on the back. She yelped and jumped shortly into the air before Discord reached his lion’s paw beneath the airborne pony, catching her before she could fall. “here.” he finally finished.

Celestia halted her pacing and was staring at the nervous mare sitting on Discord’s paw. “Applejack, do you know something you’re not telling us?”

Applejack just hung her head, “I can’t tell you that, Princess. I promised- I, uh... I just can’t.”

“You’re really going to keep secrets when one of your best friends could be in danger?!” Celestia rapidly elevated to a shocked anger. “I expected much more from the element of honesty!” She dropped all modest and regal behavior as she shouted, almost as if she were getting ready to throw a filly tantrum. “You must tell me, or I-”

“Now now, Celestia. Leave the threats to me, best not get your hooves dirty. Besides, there are much much simpler ways to do this, watch and learn.” Discord laughed as he turned his paw to face Applejack toward him. With his other arm he reached out and pulled on a small chain that appeared to dangle from nowhere.

Applejack looked around her as everything faded to black, there was nothing in the room anymore save for herself and Discord. The draconequus leaned in and whispered into her ear, “You’re meant to be honest, Applejack. There’s something you need to tell me, who did you promise to keep secrets for?”

Applejack bit her lip in fear, not only for Discord but for fear she may slip and ruin everything. “I can’t tell you, Discord. You can do what you want, but I told Twilight that I wouldn’t tell anyone!” She slapped her hooves to her mouth and gasped, she really just said that? Discord just chuckled at her. He had used his interrogation room on ponies before, they can’t keep secrets from him under his magic, and they usually don’t even know they’re spilling all the beans until they’re done. So getting the truth from a compulsive truth-teller is going to be so easy it may not even be fun.

“Thank you, Applejack. Now if you don’t mind, why are you keeping a secret for Twilight? What is it she needs hidden so well that you’re willing to lie to your princess?”

She lied to your princess.

Oh, so suddenly you’re on my side? How does that work?

I’ve always been on your side, you’re just too blind to see it.

“She’s got...” she twisted her head about, fighting now not only against her own inability to lie, but Discord’s spell that makes it impossible. “She did it on purpose!” she blurted out, finally losing the battle against her own will.

Discord raised his brow inquisitively, “She did what on purpose?”

Applejack had stopped resisting, and just let everything out. Discord listened intently as the honest orange mare told him about how Twilight’s condition was self-inflicted. She told him about a discovery that Twilight had made, how she did it for her princess, and how she had only wanted everyone to be happy. 

His eyes flew wide in realization of what was happening. Twilight had meddled in affairs beyond her comprehension, and Discord still had trouble believing it. Not because it was unbelievable, no it was perfectly like that strange purple unicorn to do what she had done. He couldn’t believe it because of how much it complicates things. Applejack wasn’t the only one with a secret, now...

Celestia must never know.

> Chapter 4: Two Tickets to the Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Discord?” Celestia asked, staring at him. He hadn’t moved since he picked up Applejack, none of them were aware of how the interrogation worked, they could neither see nor hear anything taking place inside of the spell zone. To them there was just a still draconequus holding up a frozen mare.

Wake up, Discord.

“Discord, are you alright?” she repeated.

You picked a pretty stupid time to freeze up. I’ll give you a countdown before I salvage the situation for you, because I’m such a nice friend. 3...

“Can you hear me?” her tone began to seep with traces of fear. None of the mares in the room had any idea what was happening with him.

2...

The noise was beginning to overwhelm him in his shocked state. He struggled to recollect his thoughts, the confession from Applejack just moments before had shaken him greatly.

1... You brought this on yourse-

“I’m fine, Celestia.” Discord forced a smile, he was beginning to miss the comforts of his prison right about now. “Better yet, I’ve got a plan.”

And you can’t tell her what it is.

I’ll think of something.

Discord set Applejack down on the floor gently, before patting her on the head and commending her for her obedience like some form of pet. He turned up to Celestia, who was watching him expectantly.

Think of it fast.

“Well, Celestia,” his playful tone began to return as his mind settled. “It seems your student has been keeping secrets from you.”

“How so?” her curiosity showed no signs of anger, she knew Twilight would do not lie to the princess. She would never betray her mentor... would she?

Discord laughed loudly for a moment before regaining his composure, pretending to straighten a tie that wasn’t there and clearing his throat. “Just watch.”

Discord walked over to the side of the room and grabbed a book that was resting on the floor near a shelf. He then walked over to the stairs that lead to Twilight’s room above. “Wait here,” he said as he began to ascend the steps and disappeared around the corner.

“I wonder what all THAT was about?” Pinkie Pie blurted out, offending the silence that had veiled the room with Discord’s absence. “What did you tell him, AJ?”

Applejack squirmed for a moment, scuffing the wooden floor with her hoof. “Ah reckon y’all should be seein’ soon enough.” she dropped her head almost guiltily and walked over to sit in the corner.

Celestia paid her no attention. She figured Applejack deserved whatever guilt she was feeling, she had kept secrets from her princess that obviously pertained to the matter that Celestia was so desperately trying to fix. If whatever she told Discord cures Twilight, then the fact she tried to hide it made the alicorn very unhappy. She must have had her reasons, but what reason could it be that she’d keep it from me and not from him.

Celestia’s inner monologue was cut short as a quiet explosion of light burst from the top of the stairs. It lasted for a brief fraction of a second before vanishing again, just long enough to be a cause for Celestia’s concern.The sudden outburst of voices in the room made it evident Celestia wasn’t the only one worried by the flash.

“What in the hay was that?!” Dash was the first to call out.

After which there was an explosion of noise coming from four of the six mares in the room. Fluttershy was sitting in the corner of the room, not terrified but still visibly shaken. Celestia on the other hoof, was already starting up the stairs toward the source of the bright burst. Her hooves clicked on the wood with an unsteady rhythm as she hastily made her way toward Twilight’s bedroom.

As she rounded the corner into the entrance, she spotted Discord sitting next to her calmly on the bed, a book propped open with his claw while his paw was resting firmly on the unicorn’s back. He was staring intently at Twilight, his lips moving but no sound coming out. He took no immediate notice of the alicorn’s presence, and continued with his wordless speaking.

“Discord, is it working?” she asked relieved to find neither of them harmed, but a tone of fear still faintly evident in her voice.

Discord’s look instantly moved from Twilight to her alabaster mentor standing in the doorway. “I told you to wait downstairs!” he snapped, catching her off guard. An angry Discord was admittedly a terrifying thing.

I’m so proud of you. I didn’t even have to say anything for you to do that! The praise was condescending and dripping with sarcasm.

Shut up, Animos.

“I’m sorry, I was worried for my student. What was that light?” she began slowly walking towards him as he spoke,

“None of your concern, leave now,” his reply was short and cold, but not hateful.

She ignored his orders and continued advancing, trying to get a glimpse of the book he was holding in front of Twilight. “I said GO!” he shouted, raising his paw from the unicorn’s back and holding the palm facing directly toward Celestia.

Suddenly she felt herself unable to move, and noticed her hooves scraping against the floor as her body was slowly pushed away from the objects of her curiosity. Her horn sputtered in her attempt to break the grasp on her, but no significantly powerful magics came. She was sufficiently stuck, the magic pushing her away was far more powerful than would seem necessary. Her mind was suddenly filled with panic as her mind raced. What could possibly be so important that he would be doing this to me? Attempts to voice her concern were met with failure as even her lips were held prisoner to his grip.

“I’m truly sorry for this, Celestia, but you cannot be-” his apology was cut short as another blast of light filled the room. He dropped his grip on the alicorn and returned his focus to the gray unicorn on the bed, resting his paw once more on her back.

Celestia just stood in place, no longer trying to get nearer as she realized Discord was genuinely as concerned for the mare as she was. She felt a smile creep onto her face as she watched him care for Twilight so attentively. The flash of light had emanated from Twilight’s horn, she noticed.  A short pulse of pure unfocused magic that flared only briefly, and when it died out the unicorn was a few shades closer to her lavender self.

Suddenly there was another flash, and then another. The pulses were steadily speeding up until they were strobing so fast they almost seemed like one continuous glow. Any normal pony to enter the room at that moment might have been blinded by the sheer brightness, luckily for the three of them one had their eyes clamped tightly shut and the others were nigh impervious to anything. They stared at the source of strobing magical luminescence, Celestia with surprise and Discord with a sense of prideful success.

After who knows how long the flashing ceased, and the two took almost no time for their eyes to readjust to the sudden change. What lay before them now was a seemingly unconscious, but obviously alive and wonderfully purple mare. Discord looked up at Celestia with a smirk. “I told you.”

Celestia’s eyes were almost watering with joy, and she resisted the urge to pounce on the both of them and crush them in a deathly tight hug. Though Twilight had only been ‘gone’ for three days, to Celestia it seemed like she was getting an old friend back from an eternity apart. “You’re welcome.” finalized Discord, and he was about to stand to walk out of the room when Twilight shifted and murmured.

Her eyes drifted open and locked with Discord’s as she lay still. She took a few moments to take in the image before her, then suddenly it clicked. Her eyes shot open wider than thought equinely possible with both happiness and shock.

“Discord!” she called out, not with the disdain she had the last time she had spoken to the draconequus, but rather with pure glee. “It’s you! And if you’re here, then that means it worked! And if it worked... Oh I’m so happy for you!”

Much to Discord’s surprise Twilight leapt from her bed and wrapped her hooves around him, squeezing him in a hug. Celestia watched the display with pure confusion etched on her face. “Happy about what?” she inquired. Twilight’s reaction showed that she was unaware of Celestia’s presence.

“Well... you know!” she smiled at Celestia as she released Discord from her crushing hug.

“I can assure you, Twilight, I do not.” She wanted to sound serious, but the happy atmosphere was too much to pull it off.

“What do you mean you don’t know? If you didn’t know then that means it couldn’t have worked, and if it couldn’t have worked then I wouldn’t be here congratulating you.” her smile didn’t waiver, but she was becoming slightly confused. She looked up at Discord who was simply raising a brow at her. “I know that you know, at least. It’s impossible for you to not know. How can you know but not her?”

“Know what?” Celestia was beginning to grow impatient. The words being tossed around in the room obviously implied Celestia to be the only one out of the loop, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Celestia’s question went unanswered yet again as Discord began speaking to the unicorn. “Secrets.” he stated comically before lifting the book from the bed with his claw. “Bonk!” he gave Twilight a tap on the forehead with it before giving it a light emphasizing shake, then the book vanished.

Twilight wrinkled her nose at the belittling gesture of being treated as a filly, then sat down on her mattress in defeat. “So you didn’t?” she asked, looking up at Discord from the corner of her eye.

“Sadly, no...”

Just the way it should be.

Funny that you claim to want to help, but at every turn you’re just trying to amplify my pain.

Desensitizing. Conditioning. I’m not just going to be your shield, I’m strengthening you so that you won’t need one.

Sure you are.

“Didn’t what? I don’t know what? What are you both not telling me?!” Celestia was beginning to shout in frustration, her eyes narrowing down on her student as if it would pry out the answers.

Discord and Twilight both looked over to her in unison, and then as if rehearsed they both called out at the exact same time. “It’s a secret.” Discord looked down at Twilight as she continued her part of the story, leaving their little duet in the dust.

“I’m sorry, princess, but you cannot know. It’s bad enough that Discord found out-” she glanced up at Discord for a moment “no offense-” then back to Celestia to continue. “if both of you know then it would completely ruin it. Think of it as a surprise.”

Celestia turned, barely hiding her frustrations as she stormed out of the room in a tantrum resembling something a foal might do. “So much for composure.” Discord nudged Twilight’s ribs as he laughed at Celestia’s expense.

Twilight stirred a little in discomfort, she hated disappointing her mentor. She watched the doorway quietly as Celestia left, and continued to watch it long after she was gone. 

The room downstairs was far from quiet. The five ponies were arguing among themselves over what was going on upstairs, deciding whether to investigate, putting in their opinions on Twilight’s current situation and the like. None of them hushed their clamoring as Celestia entered the room, instead opting to give her a brief bow before returning to their shouting. As such, none of them noticed Celestia’s flustered state, which was probably for the better.

Celestia walked across the room into the kitchen area, electing to clean the breakfast mess she had created earlier, if only to distract her thoughts. With a few sweeps of magic the kitchen was cleaner than before she arrived, and she sat disappointed in the seat near the island counter. It hadn’t taken as long as she had hoped, and now she was left to brew in her anger once again.

Perhaps I’m being immature. Thousands of years old and I just threw a tantrum like some crying foal. It would probably be best if I head back up and apologize for my actions... Wait, what’s this?

Celestia spotted a book lying on the floor in the corner of the room. It sat in the same spot as the book Discord had retrieved earlier before he cured went upstairs and cured her protege. Oh my gosh, Twilight’s better and I’ve just completely ruined her moment of recovery with my... I don’t even want to think of the words that can be used to describe my actions.

She stood from her chair and began to make way for the stairs, before once again glancing at the book in the corner. It’s unlikely, but what they hay. She trotted over to the book, it was giving off a strange aura of energy. She leaned in to the book and gave it a short sniff. Yes. The electrifying and sharp smell of the book indicated it had recently been victim of a teleportation spell. This was without a doubt the book Discord had teleported down here moments prior in teh bedroom.

It was only after this quick appraisal that Celestia finally decided to actually read the title of the book. It was the book she had written. The book her and Discord were reading last night as they shared their closest moment in thousands of years. The book she wrote in depression while her ‘party guy’ was imprisoned in the stone statue that she bestowed upon him herself. What could this book possibly mean?

With newfound determination she grasped the book with her magic and started for Twilight’s bedroom once again, ignoring the quizzical calls of the colorful ponies in the room as she left. She was in the hall just a few steps away from the door to Twilight’s room when she heard the laughing. She slowed her advance, now sneaking in hopes that she could eavesdrop on whatever they were talking about. To her disappointment she was standing just at the edge of the doorframe and still couldn’t hear the discussion taking place in the room. They exchanged what sounded like mutters followed by giggles.

She dropped her subtlety charade and stepped around the corner into the entryway of the room. Twilight was laying on her side on the bed staring at Discord, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed as happy as can be recounting tales from his past with the purple mare, who took them as humorous when she didn’t feel as though he was a threat. Celestia dropped the book as she suddenly felt a small pain in her stomach watching the two laughing together. Jealousy? No, that’s absurd. I’ve just been frazzled lately is all. There’s nothing to be jealous of.

Discord looked up at her with a beam on his face. “Celestia, I’m glad you’re back. I was just telling Twilight-” he noticed the book on the floor that she had just dropped, and his smile was quick to disappear. “Oh...”

“Now do you mind telling me the significance of this book?” she questioned, levitating the tome into the air again and walking towards the now silenced duo. “I can’t see any reason for this to cause such a dramatic effect on you, Twilight.”

“You know I take your words very seriously, Celestia. Especially the written ones, but no it didn’t cause the effects on their own. I kinda... nudged them along.” Twilight was staring down at her blankets, nervous almost to the point of shame.

“You mean you intended for this to happen?” Celestia was narrowing her eyes on her student, as confused as she was shocked. “And how did you know I wrote this book?!” she finally asked after remembering she had written it under another name and never told anypony the truth of it, save for Discord the night before.

“It’s kind of a long story,” she stated, hoping to get out of this little interview the princess seemed to be putting her in.

“I have time,” Celestia wasted no time in getting straight to the point, finally calming at the thought that she may at last be getting some answers.

“Alright, here goes-” she was interrupted by a sudden jolt as she fell a few short inches and landed on her rump on a hard floor.

Looking around she saw that her room was transformed into a giant theater. Countless rows of red seats stretched out into blackness as the only light came from dim lamps on the walls. Celestia and Discord were sitting in the front row just before her as the draconequus was eating popcorn and watching intently. A stage light appeared from above was shining directly on Twilight’s back, making her perfectly visible while the light made the audience nearly imperceptible. “This is hardly fair, you’ve quite literally put me on the spot here.”

“Do it like a musical!” he shouted, ignoring her complaints at his literal theatrics.

“I will not ‘do it like a musical’ Discord,” she rolled her eyes at his ridiculous request before she finally decided to stand up on her hooves.

“Then do it like a dramatic adventure play!” his excitement was unwavering and palpable as he tossed some popcorn into the air and caught it with his tongue.

“No!” she felt provoked as it was, and his badgering wasn’t helping.

Discord was giddy despite her refusals, and decided to sit back a little more relaxed. “We gotta get this show started at some point, do it your way, then! Party pooper...” he rested his arms out along the back of the row of seats, causing Celestia to shift slightly, though not in discomfort. She looked over to see Discord smiling at her, and returned it with an unintended blush before turning back forward to the stage. They both sat quietly watching the nervous unicorn before she finally gave her response through gritted teeth, nervousness laced with anger.

“Fine.”

> Chapter 5: Too Much Too Soon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on, Spike. You know what’s going to happen if we’re late!” Twilight called up the stairs in attempt to wake the sleeping dragon.

“It doesn’t even start for three hours!” he shouted back while pulling a pillow over his head.

Twilight was nervously pacing in the main room of her library. Just because the event doesn’t start for another three hours doesn’t mean that their schedule would permit lazing about. She had written up their schedule days in advance, today had to go right. She could never live down the guilt if she had messed today up for her friends, so it had to be perfectly organized.

“Every second you spend sleeping is a second you lose from breakfast!” she yelled.

She had already eaten her own breakfast, and now she was waiting on Spike before she could move on to the next item on her agenda. Didn’t take long for the purple blur to blaze past her face, and a little baby dragon seemed to appear from nowhere at the kitchen table already diving face-first into his bowl of gems. A threat of inflicted pain will get her nowhere with Spike, but a threat to his stomach is an entirely different matter.

Spike was done trying to munch gems with his face in the bowl, and had decided to use the ‘funnel-directly-down-the-throat’ technique, one he no doubt picked up on from over-exposure to a certain pink pony. Twilight had advised him against such a method, lecturing him on how it could wreak havoc on his digestive system, but sometimes Spike just couldn’t be taught. At least he’s less stubborn than most dragons, and for that she was thankful.

It didn’t take long for Spike to polish off his gems, no pun intended. He waddled over and put his dish in the sink before walking over to Twilight’s side and awaiting the orders he knew were sure to come. Twilight was checking her list for the umpteenth time, and didn’t notice the baby dragon standing just beside her.

After a moment of no reaction, Spike decided to give  her a little nudge in the direction of progress. “Reporting for duty, ma’am,” he said as he stood his body rigid and gave a salute.

-

“Wait a minute, hold your horses!” Discord called out to Twilight on the stage. The purple unicorn paused her story and looked down into her crowd of two. Celestia was staring at Discord and stifling back a laugh at his strange phrase. He paid no attention to the princess next to him, instead focusing his eyes on the unicorn telling the story. “If you didn’t know Spike was standing there, then how are you able to tell it in this story?”

Twilight stood stunned for a moment, then smiled embarrassed. “I guess I kinda got carried away,” she began, folding her ears back and glancing around the room. “I love telling stories.”

Celestia chuckled with understanding, catching the attention of both of the others in the magical theater. “Stop teasing her, Discord,” she said mirthfully. Discord just smiled in response.

“Yeah, stop teasing her!” a familiar voice startled everyone. They all turned to the source of the outburst to find a bouncy pink pony sitting near them in one of the seats. Somehow she managed to look both deadly serious and impossibly cheery.

“How did you get in here?” Discord asked, utterly confused. “I didn’t make any entrances!”

“Well I was downstairs when I heard this noise that was like WHOOSH and I thought ‘Well that doesn’t sound too good, I wonder if everything’s OK?’ so I came up the stairs to check on you guys and see if anypony was hurt but when I got here there was this swirly purple thing on the door and it looked really funny so I laughed but my laughing wasn’t important because it has nothing to do with how I got here but I told you anyway and I suppose there’s no taking it back. Isn’t it funny how that works when you start saying something and you just start talking about something else and even when you realize it you just can’t seem to stop?” she was hopping in place as she managed to get the whole story out in one breath.

Discord gaped at her for a moment, her lung capacity was amazing, but there was something else just slightly more important. “You didn’t answer my question.” He couldn’t help but smile anyway. Her unpredictability was something he loved to see.

“Oh you silly filly, I don’t know how I got here!” she snortled and sat back in her seat as if nothing was amiss, watching Twilight expectantly for her to continue the show. For all anypony knew, this was just another day in the life of pink.

Discord blinked a few times, kinda disappointed that she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell him how she made it inside his illusion. He wouldn’t try to make sense of it, though, because where’s the fun in that? Instead he sat back in his seat as well and rested his arm behind Celestia again, in typical 70’s-theater-flirt fashion. Celestia subconsciously shifted herself to be closer to him.

You honestly don’t think you’re getting too comfortable?

I honestly don’t think there’s such a thing as ‘too comfortable’.

Then you’re more foolish than I thought.

Deal with it.

“You can continue, Twilight,” he called up to the stage once the whole fiasco had settled.

“Alright,” she stated a little flatly. “but I’m skipping ahead to the important bits. That way there’s less risk of trailing off.”

Discord simply nodded.

-

Twilight managed to surface from the sea of books that now filled the library. She looked around at all of the shelves, now standing empty with their books littering the floor instead. The dust that had settled over time was now flying around the room, leaving the whole library with a dull gray tint in the air. She turned her head around to find Spike scrambling his way to the highest peak of book mountain.

“Spiiike!” she growled, stretching his name out to let him know just how angry she truly was.

The purple dragon stopped in his tracks and flinched, then turned slowly and cautiously to face the accusing unicorn. He idly kicked a book aside and twiddled his claws sheepishly. “Yes?”

“Spike I told you we couldn’t have any gems in the house when I cast that spell,” she said sternly.

“But I didn’t-”

“Don’t even try it, Spike. I know about your ‘secret’ gem stash. I even told you specifically to get rid of it!” Twilight seemed almost in tears, her voice was cracking a little bit.

“I’m sorry, Twilight.” Spike hung his head in defeat.

Twilight groaned and pulled herself the rest of the way out of the sea of books. She steadied on her hooves before walking carefully toward the door to leave the treehouse. “I’m going to cool down before I get even more angry, Spike. I’ll be back in a- OOF!” Twilight tripped over a particularly large book.

Twilight picked up the book with her magic and yelled some nonsensical noises at it. Just taking her anger out on it rather than something more sentient. When she was done with her rant she set it gently on the table next to her, so as to not harm it, and turned to leave the treehouse again.

She returned to a clean library, her purple assistant worked fast. Her mood had improved significantly now, she was ready to relax and unwind after such a frustrating day. She cantered over to a shelf to find a nice book to curl up with. Perhaps the dictionary? No, she read that already. She was only on “V” on the encyclopedia, maybe that?

She turned to begin walking toward the shelf with her encyclopedia collection when the book from earlier caught her eye. It was still resting on the table where she had set it after her short bout of rage. What was it? The cover had no title she noticed.

Curiosity got the better of her in an instant. The thought of a book she had never read before was practically nostalgic for her at this point, she’d read so many that something new was entirely too rare. She swept up the book with her magic and eagerly started up the stairs.

Spike was asleep in his basket at the foot of her bed, snoring softly. Twilight had grown used to the sounds of a sleeping baby dragon, the ambient noise had actually become quite relaxing for her. She set her book on her bed and blew out the lights before joining the hardcover tome under the blankets.

She opened up the book to find it lacked any real introduction. The first page had the author’s name, ‘Sunshine Smile’. Peculiar name, but this was a peculiar book. Aside from that name the book lacked any real introduction pages, no table of contents or publisher page. Just a name, and then the first chapter.

Twilight ignored the book’s oddities for now and began reading. It only took a few paragraphs before she knew what the book was. It seemed to be a history book, but it was based from an odd perspective. It didn’t seem matter-of-fact like most history books, but instead was full of opinions from an apparent witness. This method of writing intrigued her greatly, it was definitely a unique book as far as non-fiction goes.

The first chapter flew by faster than you can blow out a candle, and it was all about Discord. Not just any Discord, though; this was about Discord before he seemed to earn his title as the god of chaos. This book must be the oldest written account of Discord in Equestria, but why did the pages seem so new? Twilight again ignored her feelings of confusion at this strange book, and began to wonder a moment which deities the future chapters might hold. Perhaps this was a book of old gods before their reign?

Twilight continued on to chapter two. Discord again. The writer seemed to admire him a little bit in this one, but the unicorn supposed that made sense considering it was obviously written before his tyrannical takeover. Would there be any other gods in future chapters?

Chapter three, Discord.

Chapter four, Discord.

Chapter five, Discord.

Twilight didn’t care that the book was centered around this particular figure, it was incredibly interesting. The writer’s admiration for the god increased with every chapter, and at this point it seemed almost like a fan’s tribute to the draconequus. Each chapter seemed to be from a later period in time, and by now enough time had passed in the book that any normal pony would have died and turned to dust. How was the writer still alive?

Twilight pushed on, and read through chapter after chapter. She couldn’t seem to put the book down, not that she wanted to. As time went on she became more and more focused on the author of the book. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed, Discord had gone from some nice draconequus to evil ruler of Equestria, to a hundred years of self-inflicted exile, and now he was back again. What mortal pony could have possibly witnessed all of this?

It seems whoever wrote this book had an impossibly deep affection for him, one that even tried to forgive him for all the atrocities he committed. After a few hours that seemed to just fly by, Twilight finished the book. It had no real ending, it just seemed to stop out of nowhere and left her a little agitated. She immediately sat at her desk and began to write a letter to the princess about it, telling her that she might be interested to see a witness’ account of her old foe. She also might have put something in there about wondering whether Celestia would be able to find if the book had a sequel, who knows?

Twilight finished her letter and rolled it up, ready to send in the morning when Spike woke from his sleep. She then lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the much needed slumber that await her.

None came.

Twilight stood from her bed and paced, she knew exactly why she couldn’t sleep. A good book had a serious effect on Twilight, and this one was left unfinished. She had so many questions and no answers, and that was something Twilight couldn’t stand.

She continued her pace, wearing grooves into the floor near her bed. Her mind was flooding with ideas and theories, piecing together a million pieces to a thousand-piece puzzle. Sifting through ones that fit, putting them together, taking them apart, forming full pictures just to find they don’t work. It was a puzzle that couldn’t be solved, and she was wasting her time trying to-

Wait.

Twilight stopped her pacing. She’d found it. The pieces that fit together, she finally had them.

The book was written first person, a history filled with opinion. It was written by an individual and never published by any major company, so this could be one of only a few dozen tomes in existence, or even the only one. The writer wrote about the events as they happened, and had seen thousands of years of these events.

No mortal pony could live that long, so the writer was obviously immortal. No normal pony would write such an impressively large book without the intent to make a profit, so the writer must already be wealthy. No normal pony uses such a strange pen name as “Sunshine Smile”.

Immortal. Rich. Respect for power. Ties with great astral bodies.
It’s logical to think our writer is one of the two princesses. Then take into consideration that some entries of this book were written during the thousand years of Luna’s banishment then it’s safe to assume that the writer is Celestia.

-

“And since it’s apparent from this book that Celestia has feelings for Discord-” Twilight stopped, realizing she had trailed off in her own thoughts again. She dropped to the floor of the stage, cowering behind her own hooves. “I’m so sorry, princess! I didn’t mean to make assumptions!”

Discord began howling with laughter as Celestia sunk in her seat next to him, with cheeks that made beets look white. Discord hadn’t seen her, though, much to her relief.

The draconequus managed to calm himself after a few moments, wiping a tear from his eye as his laughter trailed off and quieted. “Miss Sparkle,” he began, his voice still bouncing a little from his fit, “I’m very proud of you.”

Twilight lifted her face from behind her legs, looking at Discord inquisitively. “You mean I’m correct?” she asked cautiously, afraid of the touchy subject they were treading on.

“Absolutely not,” he replied mirthfully, causing the unicorn to droop her head again. “I always love it when ponies lose their minds. Oh, and to think you were so brilliant! Celestia, can you believe-” Discord stopped when he turned to see Celestia’s furious blush and shying face. “Celestia?”

The alabaster mare sat still, not giving any response whatsoever for fear of what she might let slip. Perhaps it’s best the other two make their assumptions, and she’ll see where it goes from there.

“Oh you can’t be serious,” he tried to sound shocked, but everyone could hear how fake his tone was.

“Umm... I’ll be right back!” Pinkie Pie shouted, startling Twilight and Celestia, who had forgotten she was sitting in the theater with them. She seemed to disappear, leaving a pink puff in her seat where she once sat and vanishing from sight.

Ignoring the sudden activity behind him Discord leaned in to Celestia, putting his pawn on her back in what he hoped was a comforting yet reserved action. “Celestia, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” her voice cracked, eliciting a tiny chuckle from Discord.

“If you insist. I suppose the show’s over, we got what we came for.”

I don’t believe we did.

“I don’t believe we did,” Celestia spoke up, startling Discord.

How did you do that?

Great minds think alike.

There’s only one great mind between the two of you. Never compare yourself to her again.

“Care to elaborate?” Discord began, though he already knew what she was going to say next.

“She gave us a reason for what she did, but she still hasn’t told us what it was that she did. We have ‘why’, now we need ‘what’,” Celestia turned to the stage to look at Twilight, who had yet to stop shaking beneath her own hooves. “Twilight, you are forgiven for your assumptions. Please continue to explain yourself.”

Twilight nodded and sat up nervously, biting her lip. “Well, after I found out about that... stuff, I kind of took it on myself to see that you two got a chance to work together on something.”

Celestia raised her brow confused, wordlessly hinting to Twilight that more details were necessary.

“I thought that if you came together to work for a common goal, that you would...” Twilight hung her head again, saying it out loud made her plan seem all the more absurd.

“You were playing matchmaker?” Celestia asked, half shocked and half impressed by her student’s initiative.

“I suppose you could say that. I’m sorry!”

“No need to apologize. I’m just happy that you’re alright. I have some questions, though.”

“Ok, I’ll answer whatever you need,” Twilight became rather nervous at the thought of being interrogated by the princess.

“Firstly, I want to know how you triggered the discordant spell, and why you believed that would work.” Celestia sounded serious, but with a noticeable hint of curiosity.

“After the first encounter with the spell I studied its effects. Turns out that Discord has used that spell hundreds of times throughout history, sometimes even on entire civilizations at once. I found that severe emotional responses can trigger the effect as long as a certain recipient has been under the effects of the spell before, and if they still have dormant traces of the magic.” Twilight paused for breath, she realized she was speaking fast in hopes that a swift answer would mean swift resolution, and this little interview would soon be over. “As for why I thought it would work, it was just one theory in a list of many. I chose to try it first, and from the looks of it I chose correctly.”

“Hmm,” Celestia began to smile at her student’s ingenuity. “I suppose you did. But if it didn’t work, weren’t you scared that you might be stuck that way forever?”

Twilight smiled as she prepared to give her brilliant response. She always loved when she got a chance to prove her own genius, one of her few vain traits. “I was fully confident that I would be able to return to normal had my plan not gone the way I hoped. I informed my friends of my condition, and showed them how they would be able to cure me should any complications arise while I was under the effects of the spell. I had worked out the cause, symptoms, diagnosis technique and the cure.”

Celestia involuntarily clapped her hooves together, the way she used to when Twilight was still a filly, just after becoming the princess’ personal protege. Celestia would always cheer with encouragement when Twilight had any significant success in her studies of magic. Twilight blushed the way she always used to, Celestia’s praise always made her feel more proud than her cheeks could handle.

“I’m very proud of you, Twilight,” the princess began happily, but her tone quickly changed to one more serious. “but I’m still very shocked by you. You had seen what Discord was capable of firsthoof, and still you risked everypony by putting us in a situation where I was forced to release him.”

Discord almost took it as a compliment when she referred to his capabilities, only the term ‘release him’ kept him grounded. He continued listening quietly, however, not wanting to interrupt her mild chastisement.

“I’m sorry, princess. I won’t interfere in the lives of other ponies anymore, I promise.”

“I believe you should meditate on your actions, and I have nothing more to ask of you,” the princess’ tone softened.

Twilight sighed audibly, glad to be done with the questioning. She dared not speak up again, for fear that the awkwardness of the entire moment would only intensify. They all sat in silence for a minute absorbing all of the information that the past hour had brought to light, when a voice called out from the back of the theater.

“How do I get out of here?” Pinkie Pie asked in frustration.

> Chapter 6: Sometimes A Lie is Easier to Take
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The theater began to fade as the walls seemed to close in around them. The seats sunk into the floor while the stage began to shrink and transform into a much more comfortable purple bed. Twilight sat down instinctively when she felt the familiar softness of her own mattress beneath her and looked up to see Discord standing next to the bed. He was staring at Celestia, who was sitting near the door looking anxious to leave. Who could blame her?

The past few hours had been rather awkward for all ponies involved, and Celestia was considering just lowering the sun and calling it a day. The ponies of Equestria could stick their complaints where the sun don’t shine, assuming of course that the sun was still shining in that case. The little daydream of telling off her beloved subjects and immaturely hiding under her giant royal duvet was cut short when Rarity walked into the room.

“Excuse me, your highness, but there are some guards here with a message for you,” Rarity said with as much confidence as any pony was capable of when speaking to the princess, even though they were as close to ‘friends’ as a common pony was capable of getting with the royalty.

Celestia turned to Rarity with a blank expression before her eyes shot wide. “Luna!” she shouted before jumping to her hooves and sprinting out of the bedroom.

Rarity backed away in shock, her jaw nearly broke the floor. “That seemed hardly regal of her,” she thought out loud.

“There’s a time and a place, Rarity,” Twilight rolled her eyes before working her way off the bed to follow her mentor down to the library.

Rarity could only gasp at the rudeness of her friend. First the princess and now Twilight? The nerve of some ponies! She turned to the only other living creature in the room for a look of approval to justify her own shock, but changed her mind when she realized who the only other living creature in the room actually was.

-

“Yes, your highness.” The guard saluted before turning from the library and shutting the door.

The discussion was over by the time Twilight made it down the stairs, followed closely by Discord and Rarity, who only dared to follow after a wordless agreement that being in a room alone with each other could prove rather uncomfortable. Rarity trusted her princess and her friend, but she wasn’t sure if that trust was enough to forgive Discord for the existence of Tom.

The trio stood at the foot of the stairs waiting for Celestia to finish her business with the guards at the door. None of them spoke, not even to ask how Pinkie had made it down to the library before anypony else. None of them knew that this would be the last bit of calm before the inevitable storm.

Celestia turned to the group with her mask of decorum back in place. “I am required back at the castle in Canterlot. Discord I trust you understand that I will not be leaving you here to wreak havoc on my little ponies. You will be riding with me.”

Discord gave a fake gasp. “You truly believe that I would do such a thing? I really am quite offended, Celestia,” he said, smiling.

Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You can come now, unless you wish to stay a few moments to answer questions for-”

“I’m coming!” he hurriedly shouted before she could finish. “I’m allergic to interrogations. What would they even want to ask me about, anyway?”

Twilight saw her last opportunity fading in front of her and gathered the courage to speak up and seize it. “Actually, Discord, I’ve been rather curious-”

“No you’re not!” he interrupted and teleported himself outside of the library, sighing with relief as he was so sure being 10 feet farther away makes him immune to the interview that the purple unicorn had planned.

Celestia chuckled as Twilight slouched in defeat. “Why don’t you join us, Twilight?” she said as a sly grin formed on her face. “You may ask Discord all you would like on the way.”

The unicorn brightened immediately, lifting her face to Celestia. “Really? I mean I would hate to impose,” she said still happily, as if she knew the answer would still be yes.

“It is no imposition. Now come, Twilight, our time is precious.”

-

The chariot began to take off while Twilight waved and gave her final goodbyes to her friends. Discord sat across from Celestia, staring at her for the horrible crime of bringing the purple investigator. Celestia played innocent, giving a face that suggests she has no idea why Discord was so rigid.

The air rushed past as they flew toward Canterlot, nopony had spoken since takeoff for fear their words might be lost to the wind. Discord was appreciating the silence before the storm of questions; a silence he didn’t know would be broken no sooner than he had become completely content with it.

“Discord, I wanted to ask you something,” Twilight shouted over the rushing in their ears.

“What?!”

“I just wanted to know how you and Celestia met!”

“What?!”

“I was hoping you could tell me how you met Celestia!”

“What?!”

“Never mind, I’ll ask you later!’

“Ok.”

Twilight sighed, sitting back in her seat again. The wind was making this pretty difficult, but there is unlikely to be a more opportune moment to ask the draconequus such a question. She’s in a chariot that neither can leave, and both parties are present for input.

She began idly twiddling her hooves and looking blankly at various fixtures and trimmings that made up the chariot they were riding in. Her mind wandered off into nonsensical places, incoherent internal babbling common to anypony of such high intellect; it was annoying. Wait a minute-

“If you couldn’t hear me then how did you respond appropriately to my last statement?”

Discord turned to her again, looking completely puzzled. “What?!”

“Nothing!” she shouted in frustration.

“Alright.” Discord grinned and turned away again. Perhaps this trip could be a little funner than he thought.

-

The flapping of the pegasi wings turned to a flutter as they alighted the chariot on the ground outside of the castle. Immediately after landing a trio of guards approached the chariot, opening the door for the royalty inside and bowing. Worry was visible on their faces when they raised their heads again to look at the passengers of the chariot.

“What is the matter?” Celestia questioned them softly, as though she already knew the answer and was just trying to comfort her subjects.

All three of them lowered their heads at the same time, and the one in the front was the one to speak. “Nothing, your highness. It is not my place to question the company you keep.”

Celestia saw the perfect opportunity to have a little fun. “Who, Miss Sparkle? I see no reason for you to be afraid of her.”

The guard shook his head as if to diffuse some misunderstanding. “No, your highness. I was referring to,” the guard gulped before he could say the name, as if the mere word would evoke some frightful curse. “I was referring to Discord.”

Celestia raised her brow, looking utterly confused and curious. “Discord? You must be mistaken, it’s only Twilight and myself here this evening.”

The guard blinked a few times and swapped his gaze back and forth between Celestia and Discord. “I don’t understand, your highness. Discord appears to be standing just there.”

Celestia turned to where the guard was gesturing, and gave Discord a sly grin. “I’m sorry but I see only my student, captain,” she said, shrugging her shoulders before turning back to the guards in front of her. “Perhaps you could do with some rest. Take the day off, Shining Armor.”

Shining saluted and then bowed, then saluted again. Feeling completely lost and fearing he may be suffering from severe hallucinations. “My apologies, your highness,” he said, bowing one final time before backing away and turning to leave, feeling rather foolish.

Twilight just watched silently as the princess played some form of joke on her brother. Typically she would stand up for him, but as it stands he is in no real danger and it would be unwise to spoil the princess’ fun. She would never admit it, but she was having some fun herself just watching.

When Shining Armor was out of view the princess nodded at the remaining two guards, gesturing for them to leave. The three of them began to walk in the direction of the castle, at a pace that only the larger two of the group could effortlessly keep. They had only walked a few short steps before Twilight’s insatiable curiosity became uncontainable.

“Princess, do you play these sort of jokes often?” she asked, still trotting rather quickly to keep pace with the two significantly larger creatures accompanying her.

“All good things should be treated with moderation,” Celestia responded, not slowing her pace or turning her head. “but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are.”

“But he’s your guard. Wouldn’t it be safest to keep him aware of the situation so that he can protect you?”

Celestia chuckled a little and slowed her walk considerably. “What do you know about Alicorns, Twilight?”

Twilight bit her tongue and concentrated for just a split moment, compiling the list of attributes in her head. “I know they possess substantially powerful magic, and they have both wings and horns. There are very few of them, though nopony knows why because they’re immortal-”

“Precisely, Twilight. Now why would any such creature need constant protection?” Celestia asked, finally stopping and turning to Twilight.

Twilight just stared at her, too afraid to say the name that immediately came to mind. Instead she just sighed with defeat. “I see your point, princess.”

Celestia smiled and continued walking, picking up the pace to its previous state of haste.

-

Beautiful. Twilight had such a huge vocabulary of words, but she felt that one fit best to describe the castle. She had been there so many times in her youth, she practically lived there, but it still struck her as something remarkable every time she saw it. The way the marble on the floor would play with the colored light cast on them by the stained glass windows, complemented by the high ceiling and wide space in any given room of the castle. Even the corridors were incredibly spacious. The Canterlot Castle was truly a feat of pony craftsmanship, a work of art that could never be bested. Nopony could even-

“Sheesh, Celestia. You really let this place go,” Discord teased as he playfully jabbed her with an elbow.

Celestia simply rolled her eyes, but Twilight’s shot wide open. Let it go? How could this place have ever looked any better? It’s perfect! The polished wood, the smell, the various colors that play with each other so well. There was no sight more captivating-

“Twilight, are you coming?” the princess stopped and turned to the unicorn. “You’ve been staring at the library for quite some time now. I assure you we will come back and visit it once our duties are done.”

Twilight shook her head, realizing how long it had been since she had actually moved. “Yes, sorry Princess. I didn’t mean to hold up your work,” she said as she walked toward the group, having trouble peeling her eyes away from the rows and rows of books.

Perhaps Discord was right, now that she wasn’t staring at a library the castle suddenly seemed just a little less amazing. The way the stained glass windows cast their light on the marble in the corridor, with the spacey area and high ceiling. Same traits, but somehow less magical. Lack of literature can have that effect.

-

The enormous wooden doors groaned as the royal guards pushed them open to make way for the princess, bowing as they did so. Celestia acknowledged their respect with a simple nod and proceeded through the doors, signalling Discord and Twilight to follow. The throne room was enormous, with the dais at the far end from the entrance and a long stretch of red carpeting covering the center of the floor leading up to it. Huge pillars lined the path leading up to the throne on either side.

Celestia’s complacent face contorted to one of worry at the sight of an empty throne. “Luna?” she called out to a seemingly abandoned room. She was just about to turn and question the guards when the sound of hoofbeats echoed from behind a nearby pillar.

A deafening shriek filled everypony’s ears as an indigo flash lept from nowhere and tackled an unexpecting draconequus. “I have him pinned, sister! Get Twilight to safety!” the blue blur called.

Twilight yelped in surprise at the whole spectacle, even being friends with the unpredictable pink one can’t prepare you for everything. In shock she looked toward Celestia who seemed to be suppressing laughter.

“You can release him, Luna. He’s here on good terms,” Celestia said after finally beating that escaping chuckle into submission. She glanced at Discord for a moment, then looked back at her sister and smiled. “For now.”

Luna’s cheeks flushed red as she stood back to her hooves. “I apologize. I acted without thinking,” she said, lowering her head.

“Oh yes, I’m perfectly fine. Thank you for asking.” Discord stood and brushed the dust out of his coat.

“What business do you have here, Discord?” Luna asked, ignoring his sarcastic quib.

“He was helping me with a situation in Ponyville. I released him from his prison intentionally,” Celestia answered for him.

Luna looked at her with a mixture of confusion and shock. “Helping you? Why in Equestria would Discord help you? I apologize for my suspicion, sister, but I can’t help but feel that he must have other motives. What does he gain by helping you?”

Celestia paused to ponder the question, and her mind turned up utterly blank. She looked toward Discord curiously. “I can’t help but to wonder that myself,” she started. She seemed lost in thought as if she were putting a great amount of thinking into determining a cause. ‘Why are you helping me so willingly, Discord?”

The draconequus took a step back nervously. He hadn’t expected his motives to be questions.

Good question. Why are you helping her?


You know why.


Yes. But do you?


Discord stood silently for a moment, twiddling his claw and paw. His answer had to be solid, explanatory, believable and to the point. His answer had to be a lie. It was time to rely on his quick wit and ability to manipulate others.

“I don’t know...” he muttered.

Nailed it.