> In Amber Clad
>  by Lucky Seven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Forward Unto Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


For the wassailer and free, hold ye for lesser glee, and the young in amber clad, know not of the many sad.






Roseluck stared down at her drink. The reflection peering back did nothing but taunt her, leaving her with only one option.

"Bottom's up..." she muttered, blood-shot eyes slamming shut as she tilted her head back. It burned, just like every time before, not that that was a bad thing; The pain made her feel alive, if only for the briefest of moments. As always, that sensation was replaced by the feeling of... emptiness.

The table shook as she slammed her glass down, her head quickly following suit and laying itself upon the polished veneer. Stretching her limbs awkwardly, she grabbed hold of her whiskey and went to pour another glass. 

Misery.

That was what she felt, and it seemed as if the feeling would never go away.

"I don't even know why I bother, it's not like anyone cares..."

"Nobody cares? How can you possibly say that, Roseluck?"

The sudden intrusion of a voice that wasn't her own startled Roseluck enough to lift her head away from the table. Taking a moment to scan the room, she found nopony. "... Hello?"

Roseluck shielded her eyes as a bright flash of light sparked in the center of her bedroom. Electricity crackled forth, scaring her enough to fall flank-first to the floor. With a whoosh, the light dimmed out, and Roseluck slowly lowered her foreleg. What she saw scared her even more.

"D-D-Discord?!" She stammered out, trying, and failing, to raise to her hooves.

"Just look at you," the draconequus replied, arms crossed as he stared down the cream-colored mare. "You can't even attempt to run away. The least you could do is make my entrance a little entertaining."

"W-what do you want?"

Discord facepalmed, his lion's paw comically dragging down his chin. "It's not about what I want, Roseluck. It's about what you want," he said, motioning to the drink on her table. "This needs to stop."

Finally, Roseluck was barely able to clamber to her hooves. She could have run, but she elected to simply turn away from the agent of chaos. The outside world met her as she looked through her bedroom window. Taunted her. "What do you care? What does anyone care?"

To her surprise, she felt that same lion's paw come to rest on her head. Ever so slowly, she looked up, her eyes meeting Discord's. "You don't mean that."

"How can I not?" she spit, closing her eyes and pointing her head towards the floor. "My marriage is over, and I have to watch him be happy with another mare. Can you even comprehend how much that hurts, Discord?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I can," he replied, a tinge of sadness in his own voice. "Roseluck, I was trapped in stone for a thousand years. You won't even live for a tenth of that time."

"Good."

"Okay, first of all," Discord snapped his talons, causing a bucket of ice-cold water to appear above Roseluck's head. Without hesitation, he flipped it over. As the water splashed all over her mane, her eyes shot open. "You need to sober up."

"W-why would you do that!?" Roseluck shrieked. "I'm just fine!"

"No, you're not," he replied matter-of-factually. "Do you want to know why I'm here?"

"... Why?" She asked, glaring up at him as water dripped from her soaking mane. "And it better be a good reason, or I'm telling Princess Twilight you assaulted me."

"Oh please. With all the problems she and her friends have caused to your flower business over the years, I think a little bit of water is the least of your concerns."

"Not helping."

"Okay, okay," Discord chuckled. "Roseluck, I'm a being of pure, unadulterated chaos. I could sense your disharmony from miles away. I haven't seen anypony this bad since ole' Celly had to send her sister to the world's longest time-out."

"Yeah, and what about it? Ponies are allowed to be sad."

"Not for two months," Discord shot back. "It's time to move on, Roseluck. So your marriage ended, what's the big deal! If it was truly meant to be, you would still be with him."

"How is that supposed to make me feel better...?" Roseluck asked, the burn of the alcohol causing her voice to sound somewhat raspy. "All that does is reaffirm that I'm meant to be alone."

"And so what if you are?" Discord asked, quickly forming a zipper over her mouth as she went to reply. "And don't answer, that was rhetorical. The point is," he continued, the zipper vanishing, "you have to take what the world gives you, and learn to live with it. Not everypony will even be lucky enough to have the kind of relationship you did, Rosie."

The flower-pony frowned. "First off, don't call me that again—"

"Understood, Rosie."

"Second, why should he get to be happy and already have a new mare? Why do I have to be alone while he's out having fun?"

Discord gave a tsk-tsk, shaking his head at the mare across from him. "Your mistake is thinking that happiness lays just out of reach. The problem is that you're not reaching for it. You have to make your own happiness, Roseluck."

"Huh?"

"You sit here, cooped up every day, putting the onus on your sisters to run your flower stand. Have you actually thought about how many ponies have been asking where you've been?" He asked. "A lot. Ponies care, Roseluck. It's you that doesn't."

"How can you possibly say that I don't care?"

"Because," Discord snapped his talons, teleporting behind the mare. Picking her up, he forced her to look out her window once more. "If you cared, you would be out there, Roseluck."

Unceremoniously, he dropped her to the floor with a thud. "Hey, watch it."

"I have to go, Roseluck, you know how meetings with the princess are. But before I do, let me offer some advice that a friend gave me long ago."

With a flash of light, Discord vanished, leaving only a note on her table. Hesitantly, she moved to open it, her eyes scanning over the contents.



Never forget, Roseluck. Hold on to the pain, and let it push you further in life. It may hurt at first, but you'll come to find that that pain is replaced by happy memories. Memories that you'll forge with the ponies you care about. Oh, and I took your whiskey :)



"What the..." Roseluck put the letter down. Maybe Discord was right. Maybe ponies did care.Maybe she did have to make her own happiness. With a sigh, she trotted forward, opening the door to her living room.