Discord knows something that all of Equestria doesn't know. He's NOT the Bad Guy!
AU. In a world that has forgotten Ponyville, a Kingdom known for their friendships, Discord must prove it's existence and his innocence in a self appointed quest to save his one true love, his precious Lady Fluttershy. Can he battle the forces of darkness, and light, to save the day to bring Harmony back to the land and free his love?
A dark unicorn with a blood red horn turned to face the creature that was still chasing him. "Leave me alone Discord!"
Discord scowled at him, already using his powers to summon a triple edged sword to his hand. "After what you did Sombra!? I will not rest until vengeance is mine! You took my love from me!"
Sombra snarled, his inky black magic leaking from his horn as he stepped backwards to a large city that appeared to be made entirely out of crystals. "You will not get your so called vengeance, they should not have stopped me from gaining world domination in the first place!"
"Do you even hear yourself Sombra? There is no peace or harmony with what you want!" Discord stepped forward, hefting the odd sword up.
Sombra snorted, his voice derisive. "That is king Sombra to you!" With a sudden screech, the wind picked up, the softly falling snowflakes picking up until it was a mighty blizzard.
Discord snapped his fingers, summoning an ice palace to shield him from the sudden storm. Impatient, he snapped his fingers to displace the storm, only for nothing to happen. Alarm flashed through him as he realized that he was dealing with a dark spell, similar to the one that had taken the kingdom that his love lived in and all of its inhabitants away from this realm.
Sombra's voice echoed through the den, his voice tinted with smugness. "After today...No one will remember the Kingdom of Ponyville...including you, Discord! Today will live in infamy!"
Discord shook his head, fingers curling tightly. "You won't get away with this Sombra! I will avenge Fluttershy! If its the last thing that I do!" ~Present Day~
Discord sniggered as he slipped just out of the angry unicorn's reach. Of course, the fact that Discord had changed his horn to a red rubber stick, meant that his magic was plaintively useless. Leaping and bounding across the rooftops of Canterlot, he made his way to his favorite perch. From there he could see the vast, dangerous woods that were covering where the Lost Kingdom was supposed to be.
"Just another day without you my dear..." Discord sighed, his mind turning to the young lady of the Lost Royal Court that he had courted all those years ago.
Glancing down, he spotted a school group of Earth ponies heading to the museum across the street. The teacher was speaking to her class, her voice drifting up on the breeze to him. "Recently a statue that appears to be older than our grand city of Canterlot has been found that has archaeologists of all kinds perfectly perplexed."
"Why are they confused? Is it a unicorn statue?" One of the students asked, disgust dripping from their voice.
Discord nearly bristled at that comment. He stopped himself though, barely. If only he could find a way to get back at Sombra for what he did! "...together." He snapped his head back down, suddenly confused about what it was that she was talking about. He didn't have long before the students answered his question, and for the first time in one thousand years, hope surged through him.
"But why would anyone make a statue of a unicorn with two earth ponies, and two pegasi? Unicorns are snobby, and pegusi think they're better than everyone because they can fly and control the weather!"
"It can't be..." Discord popped down, into the museum. Looking around, he noted the boring paintings and pottery from the past one thousand years. But the statue that they had mentioned was nowhere to be seen. Frustrated, he turned to leave the main room and go see if it was placed in the pegasus section of the museum when a dark blue alicorn approached him.
"Discord...what are you doing here?" Princess Luna eyed the creature of chaos curiously, puzzled on why he didn't appear to be looking for a way to destroy the artifacts that were on display in the main room.
Discord tried, and failed horribly, to keep his voice calm. "Where is the new statue... where is it!?" He nearly picked up the princess and shook her, but once again caught himself. He had to be careful. She would be so disappointed in him if he harmed ponies needlessly. Causing chaos was one thing, causing harm was a whole other ball park.
Princess Luna blinked rapidly, surprise flashing through her. Since when did Discord care so much about historical discoveries? "It is in the Museum's gardens. Why do you..." Discord bolted towards the garden, as if his life depended on it. "Discord! Get back here!"
Discord entered the garden, and immediately froze in place. Right there in front of him was a statue...that most definitely shouldn't exist. He crossed the room reverently, kneeling down in front of the statue of five of the members of the Council of Harmony. Even from where he knelt, he could see the looks of pure terror on their faces... a look that felt so wrong to him. They were supposed to be brave...and yet... Sombra did this. He destroyed their lives. Anger bubbled up inside him as he stared at one particular pegasus. She was crouching far lower than the others, as if to hide from an unseen threat, and yet he could see the three butterflies in her flank that made up her cutie mark."Oh Fluttershy....my love." With that said, darkness rushed up to greet him.
Luna sprang forward, using her wings to propel her body forward faster to catch the villainous master of chaos as he suddenly fainted in front of the new statue. Catching him with her magic, she carefully lowered him to the ground, before glancing over at the class of earth ponies that followed her into the gardens. "Can one of you fetch a doctor please? Discord isn't acting like himself...oh. And he just fainted."
The teacher blanched as she looked at the alicorn princess, clearly surprised that she would even acknowledge her presence. "Right away, your highness." She fled from the gardens, leaving her students in Luna's care.
Luna looked down at Discord's limp form, concern flashing through her. Why was he acting so different today? And what about that statue would trigger such a reaction from the powerful lord of chaos?
Discord moaned as he forced he slowly regained consciousness. Lifting a clawed hand up, he rubbed his forehead. He couldn't remember exactly when was the last time he had fainted...no wait. It was when she agreed to go on an evening stroll with him all those years ago. He was still in extreme denial over that detail though so he decided against brooding over it and concentrate on opening his eyes. His eyelids fluttered open, a bright light shining right above him.
"I did not faint!" Hmm, old habits die hard apparently.
"Sure you didn't..." Luna pressed her hoof against her face, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Sister..." Celestia warned her little sister, cuffing her on the back of the head with her large right wing.
A gray unicorn stallion wearing a doctor's uniform cleared his throat, before using his magic to lift a stethoscope into the air. "Excuse me...but I probably should check Discord's heartbeat to make sure that everything is ok. Ponies...er, I mean... nobody faints for no reason. There must be something wrong with him."
"You mean besides a broken heart?" Discord whispered, his chest squeezing at the thought.
"What was that that you just said?" The doctor paused, concern, most likely fake, no pony has cared about him in a thousand years after all, plastered all over his face.
Discord considered his options, and made a split-second decision. "I said that I want to check out this archaeological site where that statue was discovered. After all, there wasn't any Ancient Ponyese written anywhere on it."
"He's lost it. And you can't go anywhere near the site. The archaeologists are working very hard to keep the findings in pristine condition..." Celestia paused, glancing down where Discord was supposed to be lying. "He already left, didn't he?"
Luna sniggered as she pressed a wing over her mouth to stifle the sound. "Yes... he left the second that you mentioned that he couldn't go there."
"We need to warn Star Swirl the Bearded. He is supervising the site along with two of his best students." Celestia sighed, suddenly feeling very weary over the fact that she was expected to represent all of pony kind...not just the Alicorns. If only there could be peace between the different ponies!
Discord trotted into the startled camp, lifting the tan explorer's hat that he had summoned off of his head. "Good evening my fellow archaeologists! What fine discoveries are we making today? Hmm?"
Star Swirl the Bearded, the most powerful wizard that ever lived, Discord snorted at that thought, Starlight Glimmer had more power in the tips of her mane than he did in his entire body, just about stormed over to him. "Discord! What are you doing here?!"
"I believe that it is elementary dear friend..." Discord patted the wizard on the top of the head as he moved past him, further into the camp. "It has come to my attention that this entire operation is being done by a bunch of imbeciles and as such, you are in great need of my help." Reaching a hand up, he readjusted the glasses that definitely weren't there a minute ago. Oh, how he loved his chaotic magic!
"You can't do that! And what's up with the big words?" Sunset Shimmer, one of Star Swirl the Bearded's star pupils, stepped between him and the frightened unicorn archaeologists. Discord hummed as he looked down at her, a single thought flashing across his mind. She would go so much farther under the tutelage of Twilight or Cadance. Star Swirl just couldn't see the potential that the young unicorn mage had.
"Step aside. I just happen to be over a thousand years old. I know more history from living it than Equestria has been a mediocre kingdom." Discord brushed her off to the side, stomping his way over to the dig site. Peering down into the hole they were standing in, he noted the various artifacts that they were carefully brushing the dust off of...none of which was from The Lost Kingdom. Then again, they were in the middle of the desert, not the Everfree Forest. "Where did you find the statue of the CouncilofHarmony?"
"The statue of what now?" A flustered unicorn wearing a pair of glasses that appeared to be sliding off of his face blurted out as he stared at him in shock. Ah yes, Sunburst. Sunset's cousin and closest companion, and Star Swirl's other star pupil. Rumor was that the two were actually related and that is the only reason why he took the struggling wizard in.
Discord suspected that he would get along much better with Starlight Glimmer. "Ah, Sunburst. Read any good books recently? No? Of course not... there haven't been any good books since..." Before Discord could mention anything about A.K. Yearling and her autobiographies that most ponies believed where just adventure novels, one of the archaeologists called out suddenly.
"I found something!"
Discord lunged forward, using his magic to poof himself there faster, and grabbed the dark purple chest before the others could pick it up. Looking it over, he noticed a familiar symbol blazed across the locked padlock. A laugh bubbled out of him as he lowered the chest, understanding settling in his mind. Sombra, and he had to admit he had thought so to, believed that he had outsmarted the smartest pony to ever live. Only, he hadn't outsmarted Twilight Velvet Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and the Leader of the Council of Harmony. She always had to have the last laugh when it came to the safety of everypony.
"Discord! Give me that!" Sunset rudely yanked the chest out of his hands.
Star Swirl gasped, moving closer to examine the chest. "I do not believe it....this chest has anti-chaos spells and charms all over it. And yet, it appears to be as old as the odd statue that we had found earlier...which doesn't make sense, since those weren't invented for another two hundred years. And we're still having problems with the spells and charms not working."
"Not my fault that my magic is stronger than yours." Discord decided against telling him that the ones that they were examining actually worked...because he had helped create them in the first place. It was difficult to create though, and the key elements in them have been missing for a thousand years.
Sunburst leaned forward, his horn glowing with magic, but nothing really happening. "Nothing." Tilting his head to the side, he examined the chest closer. "Looks like they also placed a bunch of guard spells on it to make it so that no one can open the chest without the key."
Star Swirl shook his head, staring at the chest for a long time. Finally, he sighed as he turned to look at Discord. "I really hate to ask this...but can you open the chest Discord?"
"Do I look like I have a key on me?" Discord arched his brow upwards, lifting his hands up to show that they were empty.
Sunset glared at him as she stomped her hoof. "Come on! Just use your magic to open the box already!"
"I would, but..." Discord paused, staring at the box with barely controlled desperation. "The spells and charms are ones that actually do work with keeping me out of them. Unless my memory is mistaken, which we all know it isn't."
Discord insisted on being part of the group to bring the chest to the Canterlot Museum. The unicorns grimaced as they tried their best not to look over the edge of the hot air balloon that was carrying them to Canterlot. Discord hummed as he lifted his hand up. "You know it will go a lot faster if I just..." He snapped his fingers, poofing them to the courtyard in front of the museum.
Sunburst, who was the one in charge of the moving of the chest, jumped out of the balloon's basket. "Next time give us a warning before you do that..."
"I did." Discord stubbornly announced as he picked up the chest.
"Careful with that!" One of the unicorns yelped as they scrambled after him.
Discord snorted, briefly, before lowering the chest down. "What am I gonna do with it? My powers are useless against..." His front paw brushed against the lock. Immediately there was a bright flash of light as the lock fell open. "It." Flinging his hands into the air, he turned to face the unicorns. "I didn't do it! Honest!"
Sunburst examined the lock, astonishment crossing his features. "I want to say that you did... but there is no residue from your chaos magic. I think you were the key the entire time."
Discord blinked, before muttering to himself. "Of course Twilight made me the key. I wasn't in the Lost Kingdom when everything went down."
"Wait... what?"
Luna and Celestia were standing in front of the museum, surprise flashing across their features. "We were just on our way to warn Star Swirl the Bearded that Discord is on his way...but it looks like he beat us there."
"I had a head start..." Discord grumbled under his breath.
Sunburst jerked his head towards the chest. "If he hadn't come to the sight, we would never have gotten this chest open to see what's inside."
"I only opened the chest by accident right now..."
"Not helping Discord..." Sunburst hissed, before using his magic to lift a single yellow with age scroll out of the chest. "That can't be right..." He stared at the chest, puzzled. "I thought that there'd be more in there."
Discord blinked, before reaching to take the scroll... Celestia zapped him, forcing him to jump backwards. "What was that for!?"
"You are not going to mess up the scroll. Sunburst? What does it say?" Celestia just about growled.
Sunburst carefully unrolled the scroll, his gaze scanning the old parchment. "How odd... it doesn't appear to be written in Old Ponyese."
Discord poofed himself behind Sunburst, staring down at the words on the page. "Uh... Haven't seen Ancient Ponyese in a thousand years..." He stifled a groan as he noticed a small detail about the words written on the page. "And its in code as well as Ancient Ponyese."
Sunburst snapped his head around so fast that it was a miracle that he didn't get whiplash. "You can read this?!"
Discord lifted one shoulder up, the perfect picture of boredom. "Kind of. As I just said, it is in code."
"Can you break it?" Sunburst held the scroll higher so as to give Discord a better view.
Discord frowned, mumbling to himself. "At least Twilight never changed the code. She has no imagination whatsoever."
"Discord? Less grumbling and more translating please?" Luna rolled her eyes skyward.
Discord huffed, before throwing his hands in the air. "Honestly being to think that Twilight has lost. All it says is, Discord, Only you can save Ponyville. To do this you must rebuild the Statue of Friendship in Townsquare. However there is a catch, you must have a representative from each group place the Gems in place. To help you, I placed a spell on the Council of Harmony to keep them safe so that they can aide you. To free them, you must make Lady Fluttershy proud where she can see you." Discord paused, scratching the top of his head. "Yeah none of this makes any since. Anyone got their own translations or suggestions on what it means?"
"None whatsoever. I mean, really? Ponyville? What kind of place is that? And why does this pony seem to think that your the only one that can save it and what does it mean by Statue of Friendship and Gems?" Sunburst blurted out, bewilderment crossing his features.
Discord groaned, but didn't bother explaining what he meant as he poofed himself into the Museum's garden. Turning, he stared at the statue of the Council of Harmony. "Come on... give me a clue here... what am I supposed to do?"
Nothing happened for the longest time. Then the door banged open as the princesses rushed into the room, along with the unicorns that he had just traveled with. Sunburst led the charge, running right up to him. "Discord... we need to know what that means... so that we can explain it to the Museum goers."
"We also need to know what kind of ponies this Ponyville apparently had living in it so that we can place the chest and scroll in the right section." Luna interjected, the smallest hint of annoyance edging her voice.
Discord sighed, before rolling his eyes skyward. "Just place it in the common area. If you were alive and breathing you were welcomed in Ponyville. Didn't matter what type of pony you were, or if you were not a pony at all, you were still welcomed. I had wonderful conversations with Hippogriffs, Changelings, Griffins.... even the yaks were quite friendly with the citizens of the little kingdom of Ponyville." He paused, glancing down at the scroll. "One year, to celebrate the friendships between all of the kingdoms... Princess Twilight of Ponyville instigated that something called a Statue of Friendship be built. All kingdoms, regardless of their species, provided a gemstone to be used to build it. It was a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle really. After a few weeks of it being located in the town square, the different kingdoms took their gemstones back to their respective castles for safe keeping, as well as to remind them that we are all friends." Discord rolled his eyes skyward, trying his hardest not to think about the task given him. A task that Twilight had no idea was a lot more difficult than she remembered it being.
Celestia used her magic to take the scroll and read it, her eyes narrowing as she realized what the majority of the scroll read. "So this Twilight person for some reason believes that you can break some spell by rebuilding the Statue of Friendship?"
Luna piped up, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "Hold on... you mentioned a Princess Twilight. Is it the same one that you mentioned wrote the scroll?"
Discord allowed a good deal of sarcasm drip from his voice. "No. It's her mother, Twilight Velvet." Upon realizing that they were taking him seriously, he slapped his face. "Of course they're the same person! Honestly! The Royal Family of Ponyville ain't ones' to use titles... everyone knows that."
Discord paced as he waited for the train to come in. "I still think going to Yakinstan is a bad idea..." Luna murmured from where she stood just behind him.
Star Swirl shook his head as he glanced over at the lord of chaos. "I agree with you, but we can't let Discord go there by himself."
"I'm standin' right here you know." Discord grumbled as the train finally pulled into the station. Discord darted forward, boarding the train so fast that you would think his tail was on fire.
Luna and Star Swirl followed him, settling in next to him. "Okay, so where do we have to go to find these Gems that you need again?"
"Obviously we need to go to Yakinstan, and we need a yak too." Discord pulled out of thin air a brochure of sorts, flipping it open. "We also need to go to Hippogriffs and get one of them, as well as the Griffins." Discord tapped one of the brochure pages, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Remind me about the Kirins. I always forget about them, really. Oh! Zebras and Buffaloes need to be contacted as well... And we need to hit up on every single kingdom there is...and um... bother that leaves three Gems uncounted for."
Star Swirl tilted his head to the side, eyeing him curiously. "What makes you say that?"
"Because Ponyville is Destroyed, and the Crystal Empire hidden." Discord bluntly pointed out to his reluctant companions.
Luna snapped her head around to look at him, her eyes widening in surprise. "I thought the Crystal Empire was just an old wive's tale, to keep young unicorns under control."
Discord snorted as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Oh no... all that really did happen. Of course the reason for King Sombra to remove the entire kingdom is different than a case of him being power hungry and not wanting anyone to dethrone him..." Discord could feel himself turn bright red as he thought back on that day.
"Oh? What really happened?" Luna questioned him, curiosity edging her voice.
Discord literally shrank himself so that he was the size of a small rabbit. "Well I might have attacked and nearly killed him and he pulled the Crystal Empire back so as to hide from me." Discord scowled, turning back to his normal size. "I should have gotten him back when I had the chance. I mean really, what stallion destroys my beloved and then expects me to just stand there like nothing happened?"
Star Swirl blinked, cuing in on what it was that Discord was saying. "I didn't know that you had a beloved. What was her name?"
"Lady Fluttershy Shy. The most graceful, gorgeous, kindest, young mare to ever grace this world." Discord sighed breezily as he adapted a dreamy look on his face.
Luna gasped, recognition flashing across her features. "That's the name you read on the scroll. Lady Fluttershy."
Discord rolled his eyes skyward, placing one hand over his heart. "Of course Princess Luna! My Fluttershy happens to be very good friends with Twilight, the alicorn princess that wrote the scroll."
Luna started to nod in understanding, when what he said clicked. "Wait... alicorn princess? I am pretty positive that Celestia and I are the only alicorns to ever exist."
Discord shook his head, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "Nope. Twilight, her sister-in-law, Cadance, and niece, Flurry Hearts, all beat you two to the alicorn existence. Of course no one knows how or why Little Flurry is an alicorn." Discord mused aloud, even as the train conductor announced the next stop.
"Next stop Yakinstan! Everyone that's going there for some reason get off now!"
"Perfect! We've reached our stop!" Discord clapped his hands together in excitement, his eyes gleaming.
Luna and Star Swirl glanced over at each other, concern flashing across their features.
"Yaks no friends with Ponies!" The leader of the yaks snapped for the fiftieth time since the trio approached him.
Star Swirl nodded in understanding, trying to once again to move Discord away from the annoyed yak.
Discord huffed loudly, shaking a fist at the stubborn and proud yak. "You have to have the Yakinstan Gem somewhere in your possession! I will know it when I see it!"
"Yaks no friends with Ponies!"
"We are leaving now. Thank you for your time. Come on Discord." Luna used her magic to drag Discord away from the slowly getting angrier by the minute yak.
Once they were back in the freezing cold, Star Swirl turned to face Discord, exasperation flooding his face. "Can't you take no?"
"Not when Fluttershy, and all of Ponyville hangs in the balance!" Discord dramatically placed both hands over his heart.
Right before Luna could point out that he appeared to be more concern about Fluttershy than some unknown kingdom, a voice cut through the frigid air. "Yona holding a yard sale! Come buy Yona's old stuff!"
The three travelers turned to see a young yak standing in front of a house that had several clothing particles and toys that appeared to be for younger yaks than the one that was yelling for yaks to come over to look and hopefully buy the stuff.
Luna felt a smile twitch on her lips, amusement slipping in. "I wonder what her name is? She must be a friend of this Yona's to be helping with the yard sale."
Discord shook his head, shooting the princess a withering look. "Yaks speak in third person. That is Yona."
"Oh." Luna wrinkled her nose, surprise flashing through her.
Discord wandered over to the yard sale, looking over the items for sale with an air of boredom about him. Picking up an old beat up music box that looked vaguely familiar, he turned it over... in time for a smooth, professionally cut piece of kyanite to fall out of a hidden poorly latched compartment. Discord stiffened, grabbing the gemstone with one hand while reexamining the music box. "Starlight's music box..." He glanced down at the gem in his hand, recognizing it for what it was. "The Yakinstan Gem..." Snapping his head up, he stared at the yak that was holding the yard sale. "Yo! Kid! Where did you get this music box, and can I have it and this piece of kyanite?"
Yona blinked slowly as she eyed the music box and the gemstone. "Yona found it buried in backyard in old chest. You have it for free."
Discord hummed as he clutched the treasure, the sign that Ponyville truly exited, closer to his heart turning to face Luna and Star Swirl. Star Swirl arched one eyebrow upwards, seeing a small problem that Discord appears to be overlooking. "You still need a yak to place it."
Discord hummed, for five seconds before snapping his fingers suddenly. Immediately, the four of them were transported back to the Museum in Canterlot. Luna froze at the sight of a yak in Canterlot, before registering how the young yak got there in the first place. "Discord! You cannot go about the place kidnapping yaks!"
Discord shrugged, not really seeing the big deal. "We only need one yak. Besides that, she's fine."
Luna facehoofed herself, before turning to look at her bewildered sister. "We're working on it Celestia...honest."
"I hope so... we cannot rile up our allies... Discord! Where are you going?!" Celestia whirled around to glare at Discord, who was trying to sneak out.
Discord sighed, before clasping his hands together. "I see that I was caught. I was about to leave for the Home of Dragons. We do need a dragon for this to work you know."
"You've got to be kidding me... Fine! But I'm coming with!" Celestia nodded to the worried looking unicorns, her voice softening. "You all need your rest. I am much more powerful than you since I'm an Alicorn. I will go with him and try to keep him in line."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Star Swirl the Bearded bowed low to the ground, his two students hurriedly copying him.
Celestia turned, following Discord out of the Museum. Hopefully he wouldn't kidnap anyone this time around....
Celestia vaguely wondered if anyone had ever traveled as far, and frequently in one night as she just had, or if maybe volunteering to keep Discord out of trouble was too much trouble for her to handle. Celestia stared at Yona, Smolder, a young dragon that Discord had kidnapped after supposedly finding her in procession of the Dragon Gem, Gallus, a griffin, Ocellus, a changling of all things, and just now they just got back from the home of the hippogriffs, with a young hippogriff by the name of Silverstream in tow. "Discord... enough is enough. No more kidnapping children!" Wow... she truly never though she would say that before!
Discord snapped his fingers, a blue piece of paper appearing in his hands instantly. "Don't worry... it's not kidnapping when I take them to help me save the world as we know it! No more windigoes or the like. Think about it... peace everywhere!"
"You're delusional. Just because some... pony... wrote you a letter thousands of years ago asking you to do this, doesn't mean that you should!" Celestia was definitely fighting a migraine here.
"Fine..." Discord deflated briefly, before brightening. "I'll just go to this one Pony Kingdom to retrieve their Gem and someone to place it in place."
"Discord!" Celestia bellowed in anger as he disappeared from view.
Silverstream yawned loudly, blinking sleep from her eyes. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep now..."
Celestia sighed, staring as she curled up, eyes sliding shut as sleep claimed her. "Great...we're going to be in the middle of the world's largest war and my people can't get along long enough to protect the civilians." Celestia settled down near the sleeping kids, closing her eyes shut as well. It wasn't like Discord was going to kidnap someone without someone there to stop him...right?
Discord hummed to himself as he walked through the small village that was now in place where the capital city of a kingdom that he had forgotten no longer exists. Oh well, when the kingdom dissolved to join up with Equestria the Gem must have been left somewhere here. Pulling a magnifying glass out of thin air, he leaned down close to the ground to examine it for a clue... what that clue was he had no idea since it has been close to a thousand years since it had dissolved from existence.
A pair of light green hooves suddenly appeared in his peripheral view, a calm voice slicing through the silence of the night air. "What's ya lookin' for?" Discord snapped his head up to find himself looking at a young pony with a light green coat and duo colored blue mane and tail, a symbol of three turtles on his flank.
"A very precious, one of a kind Gem that is unique to this area. It's also happens to be thousands of years old." Discord straightened up, raising one eyebrow upwards as he wondered why this youngster was out of bed this late at night.
"Cool. I found this really cool Gem that matches that description just earlier today." He tilted his head to the side, interest dancing in his eyes despite how calm he appeared over the whole thing.
Discord felt his eye twitch as he stared at the young pony. "You...do realize who you are talking to right now, right kiddo?"
"Sure do. Everyone knows who you are Discord. Why? Did you forget?" He smiled calmly at the master of chaos.
Discord blinked twice, before asking a very simple question. "What's your name?"
"Sandbar. Do you want me to show you where I found that Gem?" Sandbar responded nonchalantly.
Discord shook his head, exasperation flooding him. "No... I would like you to show me where you put it after you found it."
"Oh... I didn't take it anywhere. Just left it where I found it. It wasn't mine to take you know. That would have been stealing." Sandbar trotted off, clearly expecting a very confused Discord to follow him.
"Didn't take it?! But the others took theirs!" Discord blinked rapidly, before rushing off to catch up with the earth pony.
"Here it is!" Sandbar stopped just outside of the village, where a circle of stones surrounded a blue diamond.
Discord blinked as he stared at the Gem for the longest time, before snagging it up and turning to face the child. "How would you like to save the universe with me?"
"So thing... just let me tell my parents where I'm going and who I'm going with." Sandbar turned to trot back to the village.
Discord groaned at that, he hadn't allowed the others to talk to their parents, but then again he hadn't asked if they wanted to join up with him to save the day. Sighing at that thought, he quickly followed him back to the village, stopping just outside of a small cottage that he supposedly lived in.
A couple was standing outside, chatting with Sandbar easily. "Are you sure that you want to go with Discord, of all ponies, to do what again?"
"To save the universe. He said so himself." Sandbar bluntly told them.
Sandbar's mother turned to face Discord, her gaze piercing through his very soul. At least that is what it felt like. "I expect him to be back within one month. You got that young man?"
"Young man? I'm older than you." Discord was confused about this family's sense of preservation. Most ponies will yell at him to stay away from their kids...not encourage him to take their kids for an adventure.
"You behave yourself, understand Sandbar?" Yeah...these ponies need their heads check.
"I will Mom! Thanks for trusting me to go!" Sandbar eagerly blurted out, before turning to face Discord. "Let's go!"
Discord thought things over, before snapping his fingers, "Okay then." A minute later they were in the Museum, with Discord standing on Celestia's tail.
Celestia woke with a start, a yelp escaping her. "Wha..." She broke off, her gaze latching on the foal next to Discord. "I told you no more kidnapping!"
"It ain't kidnapping when you have the parents permission!"
Celestia awoke to find herself curled up in the museum, surrounded by exhausted unicorns and her sister...as well as more children than she recalled that Discord had taken. Yona, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, Silverstream, and the earth pony named Sandbar were still there, and sound asleep, however they had been joined by a young kirin, a zebra, and a buffalo, as well as an unicorn filly, and a pegasus. "Discord!"
"Yes Celestia?" Discord appeared next to her, casually flipping through a newspaper.
"Who are these children?" Celestia forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to convince herself that blowing up at him wouldn't help with the sitatioun.
"Oh...that would be Summer Breeze of the kirin, Zarina of the zebras, Little Strongheart of the buffaloes... and the last two are Sapphire Shadow of the unicorns." He pointed to the sleeping female unicorn, who had a pale blue mane and a dark gray, almost black coat. "And that one is Cloud Chaser of the pegusas." He pointed to the male pegasus, who had a snowy white coat with a stormy gray mane.
"Why are they here!?" Celestia probably shouldn't have yelled, if the whimpering as the children began to shift and move was anything to go by.
"I need their help to save the world!" Discord appeared to be completely confused on how she didn't know any of this.
Celestia shook her head, bewilderment flashing through her. Why in the world was Discord so positive that the old scroll that was addressed to him were instructions on how to save the entire world? Sapphire Shadow awoke with a start, eyes snapping open to reveal that they were a deep blue color. "Where am I? What's going on here?"
"I need your help to save the world!" Discord cheerfully announced, clapping his hands together with excitement.
"But I wanna go home!" It was Cloud Chaser who spoke up this time, bewildered dull grey eyes staring at Discord with pure panic.
"Discord...you have to take them home." Celestia spoke firmly, even as all of the children huddled together behind her. The unicorns bristled slightly upon seeing that Discord had kidnapped one of their kind's young.
"Hold on! We can't yet! We still have to save all of Equestria! Now then...where is that scroll..." Discord pretending to be looking through many pockets, before pulling it out of thin air, quickly scanning the contents once more. "Okay...we have the gems and the representatives... now we just need to awaken the CouncilofHarmony...how exactly are we supposed to awaken them when to do so I have to be in front of Fluttershy? And I don't even know where they're at...or what she means about making Fluttershy proud!" Discord groaned, frustration edging his voice.
Luna spoke up, her voice tinged with exhaustion. "Perhaps you should take a break Discord..."
"Never! I will do this if it kills me!" Discord whirled around to glare at the alicorn that dared suggest he take a break.
Just then a school tour came into the museum's garden. "...And we have the newest discovery over, a statue of a unicorn with two earth ponies and two pegasi." The tour guide gestured towards the statue, right as she paled at the sight of Discord and both of the royal sisters standing next to it.
"Hey!" A small filly, stumbled suddenly, before turning to glare at two slightly larger stallions, one of which was holding a stuffed doll. "That's mine! Give it back!"
"If you want it...come get it!" The one holding the doll then proceeded to throw it...towards his friend.
"Not funny!" She scrambled, trying to get to the doll, but the two obviously older ponies wouldn't allow her to get anywhere near it.
Discord felt anger surge through him at that sight, recalling how Fluttershy would get so upset when people picked on her, or on anyone else. "Hey you two! She told you to stop it! Give her doll back this instant!" Horror flooded from the two troublemakers as they whipped around to see Discord glaring at them, arms crossed. "Don't make me make you give it back!"
The boys hurriedly gave the doll back to the filly...even as a loud cracking sound shattered the randomly quiet room. Whirling around, Discord's eyes widened in shock as he watched as the stone used on the statue cracked fell away...revealing five familiar colored coats glistening in the light. "Discord...what did you do!?" Star Swirl the Bearded demanded, panic edging his voice at the sight of the statue breaking apart.
"I think we just found the CouncilofHarmony." Discord blinked rapidly, before tapping his claw on his chin. "Uh...actually now that I think about it... there's never been a statue of them before so I should have figured that the statue of them that you dug up really was the real deal."
"Seriously!?" They yelled in perfect unison.
Before Discord could answer, a terrified, familiar voice, spoke up. "Discord? Where are we?"
"Fluttershy!!!" Discord lunged forward, quickly hugging the yellow pegasus.
Fluttershy smiled weakly, before gently patting him on the back with her wing. "Nice to see you too. Though I do believe that I asked a question..?"
Luna blinked rapidly, staring first at the obviously, painfully shy pegasus, then over at the overly zealous creature of chaos. "That's your beloved!?"
Discord hummed to himself, before quickly doing introductions. "Luna, Celestia, StarSwirl the Bearded, Sunset Shimmer, Sunburst, Yona, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, Silverstream, Sandbar, Summer Breeze, Zarina, Little Strongheart, Sapphire Shadow, and Cloud Chaser, may I present the CouncilofHarmony, Rarity Bell, Applejack Apple, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and last but most definitely not least... Fluttershy Shy." Discord turned to face the five ponies, who were for the most part acting as if him tackling hugging the yellow pegasus was normal, quickly gesturing to the gathered audience. "Guys...this is everyone."
"Yes...we can see that darling." Rarity drily announced, even as she readjusted her mane.
"Soo...where exactly are we anyways?" Rainbow flexed her wings, which felt rather stiff after being trapped in stone for a thousand years.
"Well...you see we've been trapped in there for so long a new kingdom called Equestria popped up, and they build this huge museum to keep all things historic in! And when they found us, they thought we were an ancient statue that needed to be preserved in the museum...and that is where we are at right now!" Pinkie blurted out, even as she pulled a cupcake out of her frizzy mane.
"I highly doubt that, Pinkie." Applejack drawled out in a southern accent.
Discord scratched the top of his head as he stared at her. "...Yeah she's right actually."
"How is it that your always right, Pinkie?" Applejack shook her head, amusement flashing in her eyes.
Pinkie grinned crazily as she leapt about the Museum's gardens. "I was just guessing!"
Celestia finally found her voice, a squeak escaping her. "...How..?"
"We don't know darling... as soon as we find out we'll let the whole world know." Rarity assured her casually.
Fluttershy shifted slightly, a frown crossing her features. "Um...is there a little filly's room I could use..? As Pinkie just pointed out, we've been frozen for a thousand years..."
Luna walked over, a tiny smile flashing across her features. "Here...just follow me."
"And we'll wait here!" Discord appeared to be bouncing as if he were a tiny child.
"Down Discord..." Applejack and Rainbow spoke in unison.
Celestia blinked slowly, before glancing over at Starswirl. Starswirl quickly shrugged, just as lost as she was. "Maybe this is normal for them?"
"No...it isn't. We just jinxed ourselves is all." Rainbow rolled her eyes, before remembering a small detail about jinxing oneself. "Oh...we jinxed ourselves. Jinx!"
"Aw man.... why didn't Ah remember to say that first?" Applejack mumbled under her breath.
Sunset raised an eyebrow, confused about what was going on here. "Uh...what's a jinx? And why did you yell jinx right now?"
Gasps rippled through the assembled Council, all eyes turning to gawk at her. "Whatcha mean you don't know what a jinx is?!"
"Um..."
"What she means is that a jinx means two or more people say the exact same thing at the exact same time. Bad luck will plague both of them unless one says jinx before the other. Of course since Rainbow said jinx before Applejack that means bad luck will follow Applejack around all day while Rainbow is curse free. Silly superstition really." Rarity explained hurriedly before Pinkie could continue on her explosive response to the fact that not all ponies knew about jinxes.
"What Rarity said. Just a silly superstition with no real power to it." Applejack nodded firmly, a smile twitching on her features.
"If it doesn't have any power why bother with it?" Sunburst asked as he lifted a hoof up to rub his forehead, puzzled on why they would follow through with a superstition that none of them belief in.
"Because its fun!" Pinkie yelled, not quite as loudly as she had before, but still overly excited.
Sandbar frowned, confusion creasing his brow. Before he could ask what she meant by that, Fluttershy and Luna came back. "What did we miss?"
"Nothing much..." "They never heard of jinxes!!!"
"Umm...that isn't the end of the world Pinkie..." Fluttershy whispered out, forcing everyone that wasn't Discord, and her...coworkers?, Luna was confused on how the five of them could work together on the same council without fighting, to strain to hear what she had to say.
"I know...it's just...who hasn't heard of jinxes?" Pinkie whined, seemingly undisturbed about how soft-spoken that particular pegasus was. "Say...speaking about jinxes... where's Starlight? She owes me a milkshake."
Discord frowned at that, even as Sunset spoke up. "Who's Starlight?"
"Twilly's apprentice. Of course that just means she's more like our apprentice. We all take turns turns giving her lessons." Rarity had by now pulled out a trunk full of clothes out of nowhere and was busy dressing the children Discord had gathered the day (and night!) before.
"Why exactly are you five considered the Council of Harmony? I don't exactly get it..." Smolder spoke up, asking the question on everyone's mind.
"Wait...how can you not know about...surely we're, mentioned in history books!" Applejack demanded, surprise flashing in her eyes.
Discord cleared his throat at that, his brow creasing worriedly. "Ah...yes...about that Sombra may have destroyed all of Ponyville and wiped it from everyone's memory so that it would be like it never existed in the first place... for some reason though it didn't work on me even though he wanted it to work on me."
"Great.... why would he do something like that?" Rainbow grumbled to Applejack, exasperation flooding off of her.
Pinkie bounced slightly, a grin plastered all over her face. "Because Sombra really really didn't like it when we stopped him from invading Yakinstan! As well as the rest of the world..."
"She's joking...right?" Celestia desperately glanced over at the others.
"No....this is one of the few times that she's actually serious."
Luna cut in, bewilderment flooding her voice. "How can she be part of a council if she isn't serious?"
Silence fell as Discord and the Council of Harmony turned to stare at her in surprise. "The CouncilofHarmony isn't one where specific species or societies are represented, but rather the different elements that everybody looks for in a friend. Pinkie represents Laughter, so being serious isn't something she does very well since for her to represent laughter would mean that she is always having fun and finding something new to turn into an epic party. A reason to smile." Discord explained how the Council of Harmony worked to the others.
"So what are the others then? No wait...don't tell me. Rarity represents power?" Cloud Chaser shoots a disgusted look at Sapphire Shadow has he spoke.
Discord winced as Rarity gasped loudly in horror. "Why I never! I represent Generosity! As in I am willing to sacrifice time and resources for my friends, and anybody that needs help!"
"Wait...what?" They were now very confused. Even Sapphire Shadow blinked rapidly at that, recalling how many fellow unicorns she knew would use their magical powers to make work go more smoothly for themselves, and gain more money because of that.
Applejack tugged on her hat, a lopsided smile on her face. "Ah represent Honesty. Ah always tell the truth. It's better to get it out there than to tell a lie."
Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest, a grin making her eyes dance. "I represent Loyalty. I never leave anybody hanging."
Fluttershy spoke up, her voice more firm and sure of itself than it has been so far. "I represent Kindness."
"And you do wonderful at that! Why...I wouldn't be the fellow that I am if it weren't for your kindness!" Discord gushed, a huge grin covering his face.
Discord Probably Should Think Things Through First...
"Okay..." Luna wondered vaguely if she should be concerned about that statement. Before she could ask though Discord spoke up.
"Let's go remove Sombra from his throne!" Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting the entire group to the middle of a snowy wilderness. "Odd... I'm sure this is where the Crystal Empire is supposed to be..."
"Um? Discord? If it's been a thousand years.... the landscape could have easily changed..." Fluttershy whispered softly as she ducked her head, shivering in the cold.
Rarity noticed and once again pulled out a trunk full of clothes, this time winter, out of nowhere. Within seconds everyone was bundled up against the snow. "There you go darlings... that should feel much better now."
"Ah...thank you?" The children were bewildered over her generosity, confused on why she would so much effort in keeping them warm.
"It was nothing, really!" Rarity flipped her mane ever gracefully as she smiled daintily at them.
Rainbow swooped down low to her, her brow furrowing with concern. "Um...Rarity? You might wanna... WATCH OUT!!!!" Rarity whirled around just in time to dodge a rock that was flying straight for her.
"Oh dear... I get the feeling that Sombra is still here..." Rarity murmured softly, before nudging the children backwards, away from where the rock had came from.
Pinkie suddenly began to vibrate, before whipping her head around to Discord. "Discord! Take us out of here now! My Pinkie sense is going crazy!"
Celestia and Luna glanced at each other, confused on what she was talking about. Discord however merely snapped his fingers, teleporting them back to the dig site. The archeologists groaned at the sight of them, before throwing their wide brimmed hats off and leaving the area, the head archeologist turning to face the princesses. "We quite! We don't get paid enough to deal with him!" He gestured wildly at Discord.
Applejack raised one eyebrow upwards, before turning to face Discord. "Discord, what did you do?"
"My name. Like always." Discord responded instantly, waving one hand through the air as if it were no big deal.
"We need to get Twilight back. Discord did she leave you any instructions on how to do that?" Fluttershy appeared to almost shrink back as she looked to her boyfriend.
Discord frowned at that, quickly pulling the letter Twilight left for him. "Um... let's see here.... great. Her instructions don't say nothin' about herself. Just that Ponyville will be revived if I follow her instructio... wait a minute. We don't have the Ponyville Gem."
Groans escaped the group at that, everyone only now realizing that Rarity had changed their outfits to be more mid fall woods appropriate, Sandbar shifting slightly where he stood. "So... where exactly is this Ponyville located and can we go find the Gem for it and a pony to place it in there quickly?"
Discord glanced at him for a second, before snapping his fingers. "To the Everfree Woods we go!"
"What!? No! That place is too dangerous!"
"Too late! We're here! Um... anyone see the path to Zecora's hut?" Discord glanced around, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Thousand years Discord... it probably doesn't exist anymore." Celestia vaguely wondered if she should be concern that she actually was interested in what this Ponyville looked like.
"No problem. Townsquare is right in front of us anyways." Pinkie announced as she pointed straight to a large clearing that had what looked like a hundreds of statues and several rundown buildings inside of it.
"Oh my... is that Starlight?" Rarity walked over, circling one of the statues of a mare unicorn.
Discord sobered up suddenly, his gaze sweeping the area. "I forgot that Sombra turned everyone into statues when he attacked..."
"Well? What are we waiting for! Twilight placed the Gem inside of the Friendship Castle! Let's get going!" Rainbow blurted out, before zipping to the edge of the town, where a small looking castle made from what looked like pure crystals was resting.
"Let's go!" Discord poofed himself ahead of the group.
Luna jumped slightly as she heard a loud crash come from somewhere else in the castle... that was by chance larger than the Palace that she shared with her sister on the inside. Big enough in fact that everyone had to split up to go search for a Gem... inside of a castle that appeared to be made from gems... this was not as easy as one would think.
"Luna!?" Celestia called out suddenly, before appearing around the corner, entering the storage closet, which was the same size as Luna's bedroom... a frown on her face.
"What is it sister?" Luna tilted her head, even as she used her magic to move a statue of a baby alicorn to the side. Since it was in the storage closet, that probably meant that it was a real statue and not a citizen frozen in stone. Though why would they want a statue of an alicorn as a baby she had no idea.
"I found something that I think you might want to see." Celestia kept glancing behind her, as if worried that she had been followed.
"Um...okay." Luna stood up, stretching her legs luxuriously. "Lead the way."
After what felt like forever, Celestia finally ushered her into a large throne room. At least she presumed it was a throne room. It had seven thrones set up around a large table, and a large chandelier that appeared to be made out of not crystals like most chandeliers but rather tree roots. Luna eyed the thrones, noting that five of the seven had the odd council's cutie marks on them. While the sixth throne had a six point star, and the seventh, and smallest, had no symbol to behold.
"You...wanted me to see a throne room?"
"No..." Celestia used her wing to raise Luna's chin towards the chandelier. "Look at the chandelier sister."
Luna frowned not getting it at all... until she noticed something that sent a shiver down her back. The chandelier, while made from tree roots, was decorated with gems, thousands of gems.... and each gem upon closer inspection had a memory frozen within it. A small gasp escaped her, her eyes widening in surprise. "No one would think to look for a special Gem there!"
"I reckon that is why this Twilight pony placed it there in the first place..."
"Discord!" Celestia vaguely wondered when her life turned to where she actually was helping him with...whatever this was.
Discord poofed into existence, alongside of the rest of their group. "Yes?"
"Where's the nearest library?" Celestia was already moving to leave the throne room. "As in public library?"
"Technically we're standing inside of it." Discord raised an eyebrow upwards, clearly puzzled about what she was talking about.
Luna frowned, confused on how the palace could be the public library. As if to answer her unspoken question, Applejack spoke up, slapping a hoof into her face. "Why didn't we think of that? Twilly's a big bookworm! Of course she'll have hidden the Gem in there!" With that said, the mysterious council bolted out of the room.
"Well... that just happened." Luna stated with bewilderment as she glanced over at her sister. The children that Discord was still denying kidnapping hurried after the group of friends, leaving the royal sisters alone with Discord and their unicorn companions.
Discord hummed to himself, before snapping his fingers disappearing from view. Starswirl the Bearded shook his head as he glanced over at the others. "Should we follow him?"
Discord flipped through the rather large encyclopedia, humming to himself when no precious Gem fell out. "Not here."
"I found it!" Cloud Chaser and Sapphire Shadow hollered out in unison suddenly, dropping the thick book of nursery rhymes they were flipping through to hold up the Gem for all to see.
"Perfect! Now back to town square to rebuild the Statue of Friendship!" Discord poofed himself down to where the kids where surprisingly enough working together pretty well. Something about how they were all in the same boat made them want to work together instead of fight.
Cloud Chaser handed the Gem over to Applejack, before pulling out his Gem, and making a beeline for the door. "Let's get going!"
"You guys do realize that you left us in the dust and we don't know where the library is at... right?" Sunset fruitlessly asked as she finally located the library.
"No time! We have all the Gems so we're headed to the town square!" Discord shooed the young unicorn mare out of the library.
"Seriously!?"
Discord decided that enough time passed that he should speed things up and quickly poofed everyone back to the town square. Lifting a finger up, he pointed to the run down fountain that was right smack dab in the middle of the square. "We'll rebuild the Statue here, the heart of the kingdom."
"Ooh! I threw so many parties here in the past! It's the perfect place for a Ponyville is back party!" Pinkie blurted out as she bounced excitedly as she eyed the fountain.
One by one, the children pulled out their Gems and placed it on the fountain. As if by magic the Gems connected and grew until there was only one spot left. Applejack handed the last Gem to Discord, who solemnly placed it in its proper place... as the Gem connected and grew, completing the Statue so that it appeared to be.... all species jumbled together in a hug..... a loud explosion knocked everyone backwards.
Discord groaned pain throbbing in the back of his head as he vaguely wondered exactly what just happened. As if to answer his question, a familiar voice called out to him, worry tinging it. "Discord... Discord... are you alright? Oh dear, can you even hear me?!"
"I hear you just fine Starlight." Discord forced his eyes open to find that... the entire town and been returned to its previous glory, with the citizens moving cautiously around, checking on family and friends. With the short tempered unicorn mare that was trying to study friendship magic hovering over him.
Starlight took a step back, even as Spike rushed forward. "Discord! Starlight! Rarity! Applejack! Pinkie! Rainbow! Fluttershy!" He tackled them in a hug, relief flashing in his eyes. "You're alright" The young orphan, paused, glancing down at his own chest. "I'm alright!"
"Spike!" Relief flashed through the group as the Council of Harmony hugged the dragon hatchling close to them.
"Wait. Where's Twilight? And Cadance!" Rainbow was the first one to realize that the royal sisters that they were used to seeing were nowhere to be seen.
Alarmed, they scanned the area for them, but there was no sign anyway of their existence. Scratch that. A familiar looking stallion from the royal guard was ordering his men nearby to start searching. Turning to face them, Shining Armor trotted over, his eyes darting over to Discord. "Twilly and Cadance are still missing. Same thing with Flurry but I get the feeling that since she was playing her favorite game she'll show up around here sooner or later. Any idea what could have happened to them?"
Discord frowned, perplexed about the lack of alicorns, scratching at his head before suddenly reaching in into it as if it were some sort of pocket and not a head and digging around for a bit. "Gotta be somewhere around here.... ah ha!" He pulled out a random map, unrolling it to show that there were two glowing dots, one pink and one purple, back where the blizzard was at. "Bother. Looks like Sombra is trying to make getting them back as impossible as possible. They're being held prisoner in the Crystal Empire."
"Then get going! I want my sister and wife back... now." Shining Armor tensed at the thought that they were in the hands of Sombra.
"We'll get them! No problem!" Discord assured him as he waved a hand in the air... literally. He pulled his hand off and waved it with his other hand.
"I want to help!" Summer Breeze blurted out suddenly.
"Me too!" Sapphire Shadow, Cloud Chaser, and Sandbar blurted out in unison.
"I wanna show this Sombra guy whose the tough guy!" Smolder and Gallus spoke up.
"Yona help too!"
Dicord glanced over at the last four. Zarina, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Little Strongheart all nodded in the affirmative. "We want to help too."
Luna, Celestia and the grown unicorns from Equestria blinked in surprise that all of the children appeared to have formed a bond of sorts with each other and would be willing to help complete strangers.
Discord was quick to poof everyone back to the place of eternal blizzards. Along with Starlight and Spike, since the Council of Harmony appeared to be close to them for some reason. Luna ducked her head, gritting her teeth as the sharp cold gale of this land tore into her. "How are we supposed to even get in to this Crystal Empire when there's a blizzard blocking everyone out of it!?"
Discord opened his mouth, as if to say something in response to her question, only for Pinkie to leap forward, a loud shout escaping her. "HIYA SOMBRA! WE'RE HERE TO KICK YOUR COWARDLY BEHIND!"
"Pinkie!" Everyone spluttered loudly at that declaration.
Apparently it worked, if the fact that the eternal blizzard suddenly stopped... and a large city that appeared to be made entirely of crystals appeared in front of them. An ugly pitch black unicorn with a blood red horn that was jagged in appearance stepped forward, what appeared to be red flames leaping out of his eyes... literally. "How is this even possible?! I destroyed you! Minions! Attack!"
"Why do ya always send in your innocent civilians to do your dirty work?" Applejack facehoofed herself, a groan escaping her.
Confusion clouded the others as they turned to stare at the Council of Harmony, and Discord... and the unicorn mare... oh, and the baby dragon, as they all wondered what that was about. As if reading their minds, Rarity clarified what it was that Applejack was talking about. "Sombra places enchanted helmets on his subjects head and forces them to fight for him. Once we remove the helmets off of their heads they will be turned back to normal.... and won't fight us at all."
"Okay..."
"You mean Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie bounced where she was standing, even as a large army swarmed towards them.
Glancing at the children that DIscord had kidnapped, Celestia moved to shield them from the fighting. Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash reached a hoof out, stopping her in her tracks. "Yeah... they can help. As Rarity just said, all we have to do is remove the helmets. Just try not to hurt anypony."
"Tell that to them!" Luna gestured frantically at the converging army that was already surrounding them.
"Just leave Sombra to us. Well... Twilly and Cadance. We'll go in and find them while you guys stay out here and free his people." Confidence flooded Applejack's voice as she laid out the plan.
"What kind of plan is that?! What if we fail!?" Starswirl the Bearded demanded as he narrowed his eyes.
Sunset shook her head, giving her mentor a flat look, before turning to Starlight. "How often does this happen?"
"Only when someone tries to break up the magic of friendship... which is ridiculous because everyone knows that friendship is the most powerful magic of them all. Reason why its the Council of Harmony, its their job to protect the magic of friendship which in turn typically ends up being the entire world since without the magic of friendship... well.... you don't want to know what it is that will happen without it." Starlight explained, and at the same time, didn't explain to the confused mare.
"Uh..." Before she could say anything else, the fight began in earnest, making her loose sight of the other mare.
Ducking a blow to the head, Sunset hurriedly used her magic to whip off the helmet her attacker was wearing. Immediately the stallion collapsed to the ground unconscious. "Okay... taking the helmets off works!" Sunset decided to holler out for everyone to hear.
Sunburst dodged nearby, irritation flaring in his eyes. "Really? Never would have guessed that! Where did the Council of Harmony disappear to anyways?"
Discord poofed close to him, casually plucking off two more helmets. "Oh that's easy. They're sneaking into the Crystal Palace to find Twilly and Cadance."
"Yeah... I'm lost on who those two are... besides relatives of that one stallion." Someone commented, though none of them could tell who it was that was speaking.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Council of Harmony, and her sister in law, Princess Di Amore, formerly of Crystal Empire..."
"Formerly of the Crystal Empire!?" Sunset spun around to stare at him, positive that he had lost his marbles.
Starlight huffed loudly as she yanked a few more helmets off of the enemy. "Sombra is Cadance's father. Long story short, she ran away due to him being a control freak and refusing her to visit Shining Armor, older brother to Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"Okay... that is... um... okay then. Let's just get these helmets off of these guys and question your sanity later." Starswirl blinked rapidly, positive that he had probably made a mistake with coming along on this adventure.
Before Discord, or anypony really, could assure him that everything is just fine and normal about this entire ordeal, a colorful explosion suddenly painted the sky. Stunned, everyone stopped fighting, well ripping helmets off, turning to stare at the large palace where the explosion came from. Silence fell as, oddly enough, all the helmets melted away, as if they never existed in the first place. Before Celestia or Luna could ask what just happened, Discord, Starlight, and Spike started whooping and cheering loudly, getting the children wound up in the process. The princesses promptly glared at them.
Cloud Chaser hoofbumped Sapphire Shadow and Sandbar, acting like it was no big deal, even as he turned to hoofbump the other children. Glancing up, he looked to the surprisingly bright blue sky. "Hey! Look! There's two more alicorns!"
Shocked, they all whipped around, following his gaze. Sure enough, the Council of Harmony was fast approaching them, along with two alicorns, one purple and one pink, along with them. Starlight allowed a sigh of relief to escape her, before running up to greet them. "Twilly! Cadance!"
The two alicorns turned to face her... and promptly broke into huge smiles. "Starlight!" They quickly tackled hugged the young mare.
Discord cleared his throat loudly, before sweeping his claw in a grand gesture. "Everyone I would be very pleased to introduce you to Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Di Amore!"
"Discord!" Both princesses turned to glare at him huffing slightly. The pink one trotted forward, raising her head to glare at him. "You know that I much prefer Cadance..."
"And I prefer Twilight... its more personal that way."
"What she means is that it makes us seem more approachable that way and we much prefer it that way over the haughty and mighty way our names and titles imply." Cadance rolled her eyes skyward.
Celestia vaguely wondered how it was that they had somehow missed two other alicorns in their history....
Celestia groaned as she rolled over, sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. The one time she didn't want to get up in the morning. The past two months have been hectic with her trying to reestablish the magic of friendship, and the political fallout of two ancient kingdoms popping back up after how many centuries? The only good thing about it, beyond the fact everyone is friends all of a sudden, would be the fact that Discord was actually helping them settle everything... and was constantly gone to have tea with Fluttershy.
"Sister?" Luna stuck her head into the room, her eyes bleary from a lack of sleep. "Are you up yet? We have that meeting with the Council of Harmony and Discord is going to be there...."
Another groan escaped her as she lifted a hoof up to press against her face. "I'm too tired for this..." Rolling herself out of bed, she waved a hoof absentmindedly at her younger sister. "I will be there in a minute."
"Very well." Luna gave a curt nod, before disappearing into the hallway once again.
Celestia sighed once more, before trotting towards the door. She might as well get the day going now... shouldn't she?
Discord whipped around quickly thrusting a paw out to point at the large stadium to his right. "And that is where the Wonderbolts perform... really you ought to see them in action. Especially you Rainbow, you definitely will like the shows they put on."
The two pegasi mares smiled amusedly at each other, before following Discord to the large open planned auditorium where Celestia and Luna had suggested they meet up for this particular meeting. In truth, the entire Council was with Discord, who was making a big deal about showing them around Canterlot.
Twilight perked up suddenly, moving past him with a huge smile. "Why! Hello there Starswirl the Bearded, how have you been?"
Starswirl, who was overseeing the placement of the welcome banner for them, jumped, having not noticed that they had arrived. "Ah! Princess Twilight! Uh... how nice to see you." For some reason, his gaze darted towards Discord as he spoke.
Discord noticed, and conjured a cupcake out of thin air. "I promise not to cause undue mayhem at this meeting. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Pinkie Pie bounced on him suddenly, a grin flashing across her features. "You Pinkie Promised! And you must NEVER ever break a Pinkie Promise!!!"
"I know that already Pinkie..." Discord gently pushed the hyperactive mare off of himself.
"Ah... you're here already. Perfect. Let's get this meeting going. shall we?" Celestia walked into the auditorium right then, Luna right behind her.
"Of course." Twilight briskly agreed, being the most responsible one out of the Council of Harmony.
A news reporter settled down nearby, setting up his camera for the meeting, which was to be filmed and shown across the country. Turning to face the others, he noticed that they were already all gathered, and hurriedly turned everything on. "Welcome everybody to this every important meeting to finish all the changes we've been undergoing." Taking a deep breath, he nodded to the important ponies, and Discord, that were standing behind him. "As you can see, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the Council of Harmony, along with...uh... Discord, is here already to get the negotiation going."
"Oh, I don't think that would be necessary." Rarity batted her rather long eyelashes at him, a smile crossing her features.
"You... don't think these negotiations is necessary?" The royal sisters somehow managed to speak in unison, shock slipping into their voices.
Twilight shot Rarity a withering look, before turning to them. "What Rarity means is that in the past we hosted a boarding school for all kinds of creatures to come and learn about friendship and all the required academics too of course. Ages six through twelve. The younger they learn, the better. And we always encourage our students to spread friendship everywhere they go."
"That... actually is perfect with everything else going on. Having our own children learn how, and teach the rest of us by example might just be the best idea." Celestia sighed with relief, glad that she didn't have to figure out how to work to get friendship amongst her people back.
"No problem... besides it'll be plain weird this fall when we go back to teaching if we don't have students from other countries." Applejack brushed off her thanks, labeling it as no big deal.
"Wait... you are one of the teachers at this school?" Luna blinked, surprised that a member of the Council of Harmony would be a teacher as well as her duties on the council.
"Um... all members of the Council of Harmony are instructors at the School of Friendship. Since it is our job to promote friendship, it is also our job to teach everycreature how to be good friends with each other." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, confused on how the royal sisters didn't know that since it was common knowledge last she checked.
Discord cleared his throat, drawing all attention to himself. "While that was common knowledge a thousand years ago, nowadays no one knows any of that."
"Right... we were stone for ages. Whoopee... Twilight why is your niece holding onto your left hindleg?" A groan escaped one of the members of the Council of Harmony.
Startled, Twilight whipped her head around to see that there was indeed a baby alicorn wrapped around her hindleg. "Flurry! Please tell me that Shining Armor and Cadance know that you are here..."
The baby merely giggled at that, before using her wings to fly up to her aunt's back for a piggy-back ride. Celestia blinked slowly, before glancing over at Luna who looked completely lost. Luna shook her head, before speaking up. "Okay... I thought she was a statue when I came across her frozen form in that storage closet."
"Well... Shining Armor did say she was playing her favorite game when she disappeared, and everyone knows that is hide and seek. Flurry must have been hidin' in the storage closet." Applejack commented as she nodded in understanding.
Discord cleared his throat, before turning to face Fluttershy, dropping down on one knee. "Fluttershy, may I ask this question that has been burning on the tip of my tongue for the past thousand years?"
An excited squeal of yes escaped the usually shy mare. Discord grinned at that, clearly pleased, even as Celestia and Luna, and everyone that wasn't the Council of Harmony, held their breaths in anticipation. "Would you do me the honor of being my date to the Annual Ponyville Hoedown?"
"I would love to Discord." Fluttershy blushed as she answered the unexpected question.
"Wait... what?" Everyone that clearly wasn't expecting that question blinked rapidly as they stared at him in confusion.
Pinkie Pie patted the broken news reporter on the back. "Clearly you don't know Discord very well. If he's acting like he's going to ask a certain question... expect it to be something else entirely."